Chapter One – Iduna
It was a beautiful day in the southern interior of British Columbia. The mountains were dappled green-and-yellow, the contrast between the deciduous and coniferous trees painting a picture of the transition between summer and winter. Iduna Hudson sat on a bench just outside the library in a rare moment of enjoying the beauty around her, rather than keeping her nose in a book
It helped that there wasn't anyone around to try to draw her into conversation and then act like they didn't want to talk just as she was explaining why leaves turned color in the fall.
Her baby kicked her, making her wince, and the Bear put a hand over her belly. At eight months pregnant, she couldn't wait for the next month to pass by. She was tired of being pregnant. As much as she enjoyed the sensation of being a little person move inside her, the backaches and swollen feet and her body's refusal to get comfortable at night was wearing on her nerves.
But she didn't regret the decision to get pregnant. She wanted a baby, and she was going to have one.
Iduna inhaled the fresh air. Her small Bear Shifter community was fairly isolated, made up mostly of farmers and orchardists, and they preferred to go about their business on foot or with their Bears. Rarely did people around here use vehicles, even though everybody had a car. The result was that the air was clean and fresh, and the community cozy and quiet. It was one of the reasons why Iduna enjoyed living here so much. She could breathe without worrying about the effects of pollution on her lungs.
An unfamiliar scent caught her nose and she turned.
Her eyes widened and her heart rate spiked when she saw the man walking towards her. He wasn't a Bear. That was clear. He walked with a certain amount of dominance and grace, not the heavy-footed steps that she was accustomed to. His dark hair was just starting to gray at the ends, and crow's feet spread from the corner of his eyes. Iduna guessed he was around forty. His skin was a milky color, indicating he was more of an office worker than an outdoorsman.
And he was beautiful. Iduna willed her heart to slow down, a little concerned about her reaction. There were plenty of good-looking men in the community, so why were hormones flooding her system now? That in itself was odd. She could count on one hand the amount of times she had been sexually attracted to someone.
Well, it would be over soon enough. As soon as they started talking he'd start sounding like an idiot and her attraction would die as suddenly as it had blossomed.
"Hello," she said.
"Hello." He took off his ball cap. "Are you Iduna Hudson?"
Iduna blinked in surprise. "Do I know you?"
"No. I… this is weird, I know, and I apologize if I make you uncomfortable. But I'm the donor."
What donor? Iduna gasped as her baby kicked again, eyes going wide. Of course. "You mean the sperm donor that I chose when I was artificially impregnated?"
"Yeah. I'm that donor."
"I see." She peered at him closely and nodded once. He was just as she had been assured of at the clinic. "How did you find me?"
"You signed some papers that let the clinic tell me how to contact you. May I sit?"
Iduna nodded, shifting to give him room. The man sat. Now that he was closer, the Bear could smell ink toner and a spicy scent to him. She leaned forward unconsciously, sniffing. Her heart rate picked up again and she felt her hands start to tremble. Her reaction surprised her and frightened her a little bit.
She had ultimately decided to go ahead with AI at her young age because she wanted to be able to do the things with her baby that her parents had never been able to do with her. Everybody had asked why she chose AI instead of finding her mate. The answer was simple. She had met every Bear shifter for miles around, and quite a few humans, too. None of them were for her. None of them had her blood roaring like this man.
And she didn't even know what his name was.
"You're a Wolf!" she cried in surprise, detecting the distinctive scent of dog around him. "Or you live with one."
"I'm a Wolf," he confirmed. "Didn't the clinic tell you?"
She shook her head. She had requested a Bear Shifter's donation, but apparently either the sperm samples had gotten mixed up, or they didn't care. Given the way she was treated after revealing she was a Bear herself, the latter wouldn't surprise Iduna. Anti-Shifter tensions were high around here.
"So." Iduna looked at him. "Who are you?"
"I'm sorry. My name is Stephen Jackson."
"Stephen. It means crown, honor. A kingly title. It's Greek."
"Is it? I never knew." Stephen's smile was relaxed. "I don't think I have any Greek ancestry, but my grandfather's name was Stephen. Strange, come to think of it. The way names end up so far from their origins."
Iduna nodded. "Yeah, it’s strange how names can spread through cultures. But why are you here? All your donation records were sealed. I thought it meant you didn't want to be contacted."
"I didn't. When I made the donation I was feeling… frustrated. I don't have a mate, and the idea of having a child anyway was appealing to me."
"And why look me up now?"
Stephen looked away. "I was in an accident recently. It left me infertile."
"Oh." Iduna clasped her hands on her knees. A rush of sympathy went through her, mixed with some disappointment as well. But what did she have to be disappointed about? "Just infertile or impotent as well?"
Stephen's jaw dropped. "What?"
"Are you still able to have sex?"
Iduna's brow furrowed. It was a simple, straightforward question, wasn't it? Why was he shocked? Sometimes people baffled her.
"I, uh…"
"I said something wrong, didn't I?" Iduna bit her lip. "I'm always doing this. Mommy says I don't have a filter."
"Mommy? How old are you?"
"Twenty-five. I like the phonetics of Mommy better than other maternal nicknames."
"I… see." Stephen ran a hand through his dark, graying hair. "Well, to answer your question… I can't have children anymore. And that's why I sought you out. I was hoping that I could be part of this baby's life somehow. I always wanted kids, and this is my only chance now."
Iduna bit on her lip, stopping herself from blurting out an immediate yes. She couldn't just answer based on the sexual attraction she felt towards him. A commitment based on hormones was not a chance worth taking.
"We need to get to know each other better first," she decided. "If you are going to be a part of the baby's life, you'll be a part of my life as well, and I want to make sure that our personalities are compatible before any decision is made."
"Fair enough," Stephen said. " I mean, I understand if you don't want to. You must have a reason why you chose to go with AI rather than with your mate…"
A scowl crossed her face. Her parents had made her wait two years after she decided to go with AI to make sure that she was certain she didn't want to wait for her mate. The fact was that everybody else she knew already had found their mates by the time they were her age. Twenty-five wasn't old by any means, but she had her life planned out and it didn't involve pining around for somebody she didn't even know. The chances that there was even a mate out there for her were slim to none.
Besides, she didn't like to be around people. She would want to share everything with him, and she'd drive him crazy like she drove everybody crazy. A mate would only be one more person who didn't really understand her.
"I don't have a mate and I'm not looking for one," she replied, a little more harshly than necessary. "I was just heading home. You can come meet my parents."
Stephen had the familiar surprised look that people had after talking with her for a little while, but he smiled at her invitation.
"Good." Iduna nodded. "Let's go, then."
***
The Hudson home was in the middle of town. Well, the residential area of town, at least. It was only a ten-minute walk from the grocery store, fifteen minutes from Main Street, twenty to Iduna's favorite restaurant, and forty from the library. Sixty-five if Mrs. Hart saw her walking and decided to demand to know every little detail of how her father's business was going.
Stephen insisted that he drive her, even though Iduna had told him that exercise was vital to a healthy pregnancy and that she was far enough along that if labor was induced the baby would still be plenty developed. For some reason, that didn't change his mind at all.
Her parents were working in the greenhouse garden like they did every day since the two of them retired as teachers at the local high school and started a flower nursery. Both her parents looked alarmed when Iduna introduced Stephen to them and told them who he was and why he was there. Her mother, Charity, shook her head when Iduna was finished.
"I know that this is all a surprise," Stephen said. "It's a surprise for me as well. But I want you to know that everything is up to Iduna. I'll respect her decision, no matter what decision she makes."
Iduna clasped her mother's hand. "I invited Stephen to stay for supper."
"I hate to intrude," Stephen said. "I don't want to put you out at all."
Iduna's father, Tyson, made a low noise in his throat the way he did when he was upset, but her mother intervened, smiling at Stephen.
"It's no trouble. And you," her mother pointed at Iduna. "Go sit down and put up your feet. Don't argue with me, just because you've read every baby book written doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. I hope you've been drinking water today."
Iduna sighed but went inside as her mother followed. Her father and Stephen lingered outside.
"Mr. Jackson and I will talk a little," Tyson said.
Iduna couldn't help but be disappointed. The last thing she wanted was for Stephen to be driven away by her father, who could be a little overprotective at times.
In the living room, her mother made her sit on the couch with a pillow under her feet and sat next to her. She had the 'we need to talk' expression on her face and Iduna flinched. She was twenty-five years old, but her parents still treated her like she was a teenager–or even younger–sometimes.
"What are you thinking?" her mother asked.
"That water retention is paradoxically caused by not drinking enough water."
Her mother sighed. "I mean with this Jackson man. He's far too old to be your mate."
"Mommy, I never said that he was my mate. I said that he was the sperm donor who fathered my child."
"I heard what you said. But I also saw the way you looked at him. He's old enough to be your father!"
Iduna frowned. "He can't be more than fifteen or twenty years older than me. I suppose technically he's old enough to be my father, but on average—"
"Don't get smart with me."
That again. Iduna folded her arms and was silent. She wasn't trying to 'get smart', she was just being logical. Her parents were teachers, they should know these things. Unfortunately, Iduna had been cursed to live in a community that thought she was a know-it-all. Just because she knew more than them. But there was so much she didn't know and wanted to. If they only knew what facts she kept inside her head…
"The point is that I saw how you looked at him. It's the same look you get when there is a new shipment of books in at the library. He's too old. You tell Mr. Fancy Pants to pack up and go, do you hear me? I'm not going to have a man like that take advantage of a naive girl like you."
"I am not na—"
The crack of a gunshot interrupted her.