Chapter Four
Luna
“Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon?” Luna asked as Melody calmly painted the lifting solution on her roots. She wanted her hair to look perfect for the live event she was hosting, and that meant a root touch up.
Melody smiled at Luna in the mirror. “Rafe is working on a bobcat sanctuary. We have plans to go to the coast next week. Besides, like I would miss this for the world?”
For a moment, Luna stared at Melody blankly. Miss what? Had word gotten out about her and Jason’s. Well, what was it, really? Assignation seemed old fashioned. Affair? Moment of unbridled passion?
She giggled at the term but straightened in her seat when Melody only looked confused. “Uh, miss what?”
“Your go live with the interviews and new blog posting,” Melody replied, a hint of a smile on her face. “What did you think I meant?”
Luna felt her eyes grow wide. She totally needed to work on her poker face. At this rate, the entire town would know why she was here. “Uh, nothing.”
Melody opened her mouth to argue, but just then, Lacey came into the shop. Quinn’s mate was in a pair of yoga pants with a T-shirt of a llama doing yoga on it with the phrase “llamaste” on it. “Oh, girl, do I have news for you.”
Lacey skidded to a stop when she saw Luna sitting in the chair. “Oh, hey, Luna. Fancy meeting you here. What. Um.” Lacey’s eyes darted to Melody’s. “What are you doing here?”
The too-familiar feeling of being unwanted hit, Luna. She thought she was over the helpless feeling of never quite fitting in anywhere. In a heartbeat, she was the girl without a father. The girl whose grandmother cried over the husband who never came back from Vietnam. She was the ten-year-old with reflexes faster than her peers. Who could run faster than the boys?
The freak no one played with, no one liked, and no one, not even herself, understood.
Calmly, Luna lifted her chin and took a deep breath. The hurt was still there, but she was no longer the vulnerable girl who cried over other girls snubbing her. She didn’t need them. She didn’t need anyone.
“I’m getting my roots touched up. With a name like Luna, everyone expects you to have white-blonde hair.” Luna was pleased her voice didn’t wobble with distress. Learning to control her wayward emotions was a skill she had learned early in life.
Melody smiled, trying to ease the tension. “That must have been awkward in school to have a name like Luna with dark brown hair.”
Luna lifted one shoulder as Melody continued to methodically apply the solution to her hair. “I blame J.K. Rowling,” she said lightly.
Luna watched the interplay of expressions between Lacey and Melody but decided to tune them out. Another lesson she’d learned long ago was there was nothing she could do to make people like her. Instead, she pulled out her phone and began responding to her fan mail.
“All done. Do you want anything to drink? Water? Wine?” Melody offered as she pulled off her gloves and cleaned up her tray.
Luna shook her head. She’d be damned if she’d accept anything from yet another glorified mean girl. “No, thank you. How long to process?”
Melody bit her lip, sensing the coolness of Luna’s tone. Her eyes darted back to where Lacey sat looking through a hair magazine. “Are you sure?”
“So, who do you have an interview with first?” Lacey asked with an artificially bright smile. “My father is ready in Raleigh to bounce the ball as soon as you go public with it.”
“Is Quinn going to join him?” Melody asked.
Lacey nodded, her face drawing tight. “Yeah, he is. As the de facto leader here on the mountain, he thinks it’s his duty to represent us. And the fact that he’s not an apex predator is always a plus.”
“It was supposed to be with Dan and DeShawn,” Luna said, going back to Lacey’s original question. “But I’m not sure DeShawn will show up. Not after what happened last night.”
Melody growled loud enough to rival her new husband. “Those boys. Fighting. And at my reception, too!”
“I’m sorry,” Luna said, looking at her lap with embarrassment. It occurred to her that if she hadn’t flirted with both men, the incident wouldn’t have happened.
“Don’t apologize,” Melody said returning from cleaning her supplies. She handed glasses of water to both Lacey and Luna. “DeShawn overstepped. And I don’t know what’s going on with you and Jason.”
Lacey squeaked at the mention of Jason’s name.
Melody looked at her friend in curiosity before continuing, “But that’s between you two. DeShawn was just trying to get Jason’s goat.”
Luna didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure what was going on with her and Jason except for a decidedly sensual foot massage and a burgeoning attraction.
Melody checked to make sure Luna’s hair was processing before raising an eyebrow. “Does anyone want to fill me in on what’s going on?”
Luna blinked innocently. Had they figured out her secret?
But Lacey blushed a bright red. “Well.” She cast an apologetic look towards Luna. “I’m sorry. I should mind my own business, but when I saw bear tracks around Little Yellow this morning, I had to come down and share the news with Melody.”
It took Luna a delayed second to put Lacey’s words together. “There was a bear around the cabin?”
“Probably not just any bear,” Melody said with a smirk. She took a seat in an empty chair. “So, wanna’ dish? What’s going on with you and our favorite bartender bear shifter?”
“What do you mean?” Luna asked. She frowned. “Do you think Jason was watching me?”
Lacey grinned. “Or watching over you.” She tilted her head, looking chagrined. “I’m sorry. I was just so excited that Little Yellow’s magic would inspire another couple that I couldn’t resist coming to dish.” She looked up and smiled. “You aren’t mad, are you? I was just excited.”
Realization dawned on Luna. It hadn’t been rejection in Lacey’s eyes. It wasn’t repulsion. Lacey had simply been in possession of a juicy piece of gossip and wanted to talk about it. She supposed, if the situations were reversed, Luna would have done the same thing.
“I’ve never had a girlfriend to gossip with or to,” Luna confessed. “I lived with my grandmother, and she was.” Luna shrugged, searching for the best word to describe Nana Dorothy. “She made it difficult to make friends.”
Lacey and Melody exchanged another look. “I’m a hairdresser, honey,” Melody said, getting to her feet to check on how Luna’s hair was processing. “You can tell me anything, and it stays with me.”
Lacey made an unladylike “hmpf” sound. “And it’s annoying, too.” She reached out to touch Luna’s hand. “But, girl, if you want friends you have at least two right here.”
The moment grew pregnant with emotions as Luna sensed the genuine affection coming from the other woman. She nodded, blinking back a few tears.
“Okay, let’s get you rinsed out. You look good,” Melody announced, effectively breaking the moment.
And as Luna stood to finish the process on her hair, she realized Melody’s words were more important than she could have known. Luna wasn’t just good, she was taking baby steps to building a future she could be proud of. One where a sexy bear shifter protected her and two strong women wanted to be her friend.
Now, if only she could figure out how to resolve her Nana’s mystery without exposing her secret.
Jason
Jason hoisted the keg up to his shoulder with a soft grunt. After making sure Luna slept undisturbed by any other bears, he’d headed back to his own bed around dawn. His eyes were tired, but he felt more alive than he’d felt in all of his thirty years.
But as he walked the keg into the bar to finish his prep work, he stopped as the undeniable scent of his mate called to him. His eyes scanned the bar, bright and cheerful in the afternoon sun, and found her.
Her white-gold hair fell in shimmering waves below her shoulders, and she smiled up at Dan, a hawk shifter who lived with his mate on the outer edge of town.
“And did you help rescue the kids from the burning building last summer?” Luna asked.
Jason grunted. He’d been there for the fire, too.
“Yes,” Dan answered, brows creasing in a frown. He indicated his eyepatch with one finger. “Since I lost an eye in an explosion injury, I can’t really fly much. I don’t have the depth of field or the visual acuity I’d need.”
Luna nodded and took notes while her recorder picked up Dan’s words. “There was nothing they could do?” Luna asked.
Dan shook his head. “No, the injury was.” He paused and shifted in his seat. “Life changing. It took the sky away from me.”
“But you were able to provide support for the water planes?”
“I could let them know when we cleared an area of kids. Where it was okay to spray.”
Admiration shone in Luna’s eyes, and Jason felt an odd twist in his gut. Bear shifters had brute force on their side. They were on the front line. Bullet catchers. Used for on the ground military maneuvers when the government didn’t want to risk their fully human soldiers.
Jason wondered if Luna’s eyes would shine with as much admiration when she got around to interviewing him. Or would she look at him in horror when she realized the monster he had been? Absently, Jason rubbed the area over his heart where the twisty feeling ended.
“Yo, Jace, do you need another case of beer?”
Jason looked up at his boss, Cree.
“Yeah, thanks, boss. I’ll get that on ice.”
Jason’s bear didn’t like the other males being so close to her. Didn’t like her encouraging smiles or the way she giggled when one of them told her a joke. Jason knew his bear was being irrational but didn’t seem to be able to stop the thorn in the paw feeling.
DeShawn entered the bar for his appointment with a cocksure stroll. Jason watched the other man with wary eyes. Would he behave? Or would he need to knock some sense into the younger man? The fingers of Jason’s left hand itched to form a fist.
“Have a seat,” Luna said with a smile. Something on her face tightened when Cree walked past her. Almost like she held her breath. Jason shook his head. He must be mistaken.
“How old were you and what kind of animal did you receive?” Luna asked, beginning with her starter questions.
“I was nineteen,” DeShawn explained. He patted his left shoulder. “I was in for three years when I took a bullet for my country.”
Luna’s eyebrows raised to encourage him to talk while Jason rolled his eyes in disgust. Shifters healed fast as fuck. How bad could the wound have been?
DeShawn unbuttoned his flannel shirt, exposing a large scar over his clavicle. “There was an explosion. Took a three-foot splinter of wood through my shoulder.”
Jason frowned as he took in the striations of muscle beneath scar tissue. Luna reached across the table to gently touch the skin. This time both Jason and his bear felt the low stirrings of envy. He wanted to see Luna’s hands on his skin, not DeShawn’s.
“That must have been so painful. How long did it take you to heal?”
“Over a year,” DeShawn said. “After the first nine months, they transferred me to the Shifter Veteran’s Hospital in Nashville. I passed through Silver Fells. Met up with Cree. And I guess the rest is history.”
Cree passed by the table and paused when he heard his name. “Don’t let him kid you, Miss Flowers,” he said, his eyes roving over the two. “I didn’t want another stinking bear in my neighborhood.”
Luna shrunk back, and every protective instinct in Jason’s body clamored in response. Jason leaped over the bar in an easy hurdle. Luna’s grey eyes met his in a desperate bid.
“What’s this about too many bears?” Jason asked, not so subtly inserting himself between Cree and Luna. He didn’t know what was going on just that he was called to protect his woman.
Luna stood up to get out of the booth and hid in Jason’s shadow. He felt her tremble as her eyes darted from him to Cree to DeShawn.
Cree snorted. “Way too many bears but at least some of you are good for drinking and serving up drinks.”
Jason opened his mouth to give Cree some shit but stilled when Luna placed her hand on his forearm.
“Wait. You’re a bear shifter, too?” Luna asked, gaze sharpening as she focused back on DeShawn. She gazed between DeShawn and Jason. “Weren’t you calling Jason a bear as though it was a dirty word?”
DeShawn snorted as he slid out of the booth, too. “I’m an Ussuri brown bear. He’s just a stinking Kodiak.”
Luna gasped. The Kodiak was the biggest of the brown bear family. Bigger than the grizzly and almost as big as a polar bear.
“I can still take you, can’t I?” Jason asked, nudging Luna behind him in order to protect her.
“Knock it off, both of you,” Cree said. He reached across the table to grab the dirty glasses. “Did you want to interview me for your blog?” When he stood back up, he knocked Luna’s bag to the floor.
Jason tried to catch it, but it fell faster than his reflexes. Luna’s money, a few pens, and several photographs spilled out. Ignoring the cash, Luna fell to her knees in an absolute panic to grab the pictures before anyone else could see them.
“What’s this?” Cree asked, finding one last photograph lodged in a crack at the base of the banquette.
“Nothing,” Luna said, grabbing at the picture Cree held.
Jason frowned at the panic in her voice. Whatever was in those pictures, she was frantic to hide them.
“No, I think I recognize this,” Cree began, frowning and tilting his head as though running through his database of familiar faces.
Jason pulled the photo out of Cree’s hands. “It’s Luna’s.” His voice was deliberate. Final.
“I need to go.” Luna stuffed the things back in her bag without care. Her hands shook, and every pore seemed to demand freedom.
“I’ll walk you to your car.” Keeping his body between Luna and Cree, Jason got his mate out of the bar. She took a calming breath as soon as she was out in the open. “What’s going on?”
Grey eyes darted to meet his. “On? Nothing. Why?”
“You seem tense.” Jason tapped a long finger against the bag she clutched like a Victorian-era woman holding her pearls. “And something is up with this bag.”
She looked at her small feet encased in worn canvas. “Nothing is going on.”
Jason was quiet as he opened the door for her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I. What?”
“You didn’t interview me.” He jerked his head towards the bar. “I was on your schedule, too.”
“Oh. Yeah. You were.” Luna started the car and took a deep breath. She nodded, wisps of hair pulling from the loose twist she wore. “Uh. What time?”
“I’ll be up at eleven. Wear jeans. Boots if you have them.”
“Boots?” She blinked at him as though she’d never heard the word before.
Jason bent down and brushed a kiss against her forehead. “I’m going to take you up the mountain to the waterfall for a picnic.”
“A picnic,” she repeated.
Jason tilted her chin, his eyes never leaving hers. “A date,” he clarified.