Chapter 9

Charlotte made a sound like a squeak and then covered her mouth, realizing that she had alerted Jaxson and Rio both to her presence.

"You can come out, Charley. I can smell you." The rough voice belonged to Rio.

Charlotte stood up from where she was leaning against one of the barn doors and walked just inside. Where both men stood. Both built the same, packed with muscles and tall. Both handsome, but the younger of the two is who her attention was drawn to. Looking at him, she knew that the news didn't bother her. In fact, it kind of made sense when she thought about how he would growl or always know what she was feeling.

Taking another step into the darkened barn, she looked from brother to brother. "Werebear?"

Jaxson and Rio both nodded their heads.

"The both of you?" she asked.

Again, the bothers nodded.

"Just you two?"

This time it was Rio who spoke up. "No. Our parents are bears. Most of the town is made up of bears, wolves, foxes, and even a cat or two. Some are just human," he said as he watched her carefully for signs of distress.

Looking at Jaxson, she took her time and drank him in with her eyes, and felt herself grow warm. Then she asked the question that was plaguing her mind the most. "Are we mates, Jaxson?"

Jaxson stood still. He was afraid to breathe. Afraid he would wake up and this would prove to be a dream. Charlotte was taking this incredibly well. Better than he thought. He quickly sniffed the air to see if there was any fear, anxiety, or other negative emotions coming off of her. All her smell was her. Her natural sweet smell of lilacs and mint.

"Yes. I knew the minute I touched you when I found you that day," he answered, trying to swallow past the lump in his throat.

"When were you going to tell me?" It was spoken so quietly. Almost like she was afraid to speak it.

"Today. While we were out for our walk. I knew I couldn't wait any longer. My bear is impatient and he doesn't understand that you might be frightened of him, or that you might not be able to deal with what we are." He reached out with one hand in an entreating manner. Charlotte did the one thing that felt right to her. She walked to the outstretched hand and placed her own in it. When she did, she heard Jaxson's breath catch in his chest.

The small shock that went through her startled her. But not enough to cause her to let go of his hand. Looking up at Jaxson's face, she saw his bear trying his best to come forward. His eyes were glowing a dark amber color and his facial features were elongating. She could see the struggle that he was having with his bear.

Charlotte didn't know how this would work, but she did something neither man expected. She reached up and tapped the end of Jaxson's nose and spoke directly to the bear.

"Please wait. I don't think the animals here in the barn would appreciate such a large predator being in here with them. Let me have Jaxson for a little while, then you can show me what you look like. Okay?" She smiled as she said it.

Jaxson, incredibly could feel his bear retreat. He had never heard of that happening before. A mate that was not yet claimed to have that much control over his beast. He would have to talk to his dad about it.

Rio, also stunned by what he had just witnessed, laughed. "Well, that definitely proves she's your mate, little brother. Not even Mom can get Dad's bear to back down that quick. Mom's going to love her." Rio smirked.

Holding her hand in his, Jaxson watched his mate clutch his hand. Then he turned to his brother and said, "Call Dad and tell him and Mom to come up here as quickly as they can. We all need to talk." At Rio's nod, he turned and led Charlotte out of the barn.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes, letting each other digest the things they'd discovered just minutes earlier. After walking some distance from all of the livestock, Jaxson decided it was time to show his mate his beast. They had walked out into the orchard of apple trees. It was warm out and he thought Charlotte would enjoy the shade after their walk. Feeling apprehensive, he turned to her and said, "I have to take off all of my clothes, Charlotte. If I don't, I'll destroy them all. Will you be okay with that?"

She felt a blush cover her face and knew she was a bright red, but that didn't stop her from answering him, "Yes, I suppose it will have to be, won't it? I mean, it's either strip or destroy your clothes. Either way, you will be naked. I'm sure that I can handle it." Charlotte took a deep breath and said, "Maybe."

Jaxson smirked, feeling like ten feet tall. Her words had said a lot about her. Se just didn't realize what she had just told him. Thinking about it, he wanted to know. "Just how many men have you seen naked, Charlotte?"

Before she could answer, Jaxson began to second-guess himself and the question. What if he didn't like the answer? What if she was just naturally shy? Then she told him something that blew him away.

"None." Charlotte hesitated before continuing. "I've never been with anyone. Male or female. The only people who have seen me without my clothes are my mom and my doctor, and they are female."

Charlotte watched as the tension left Jaxson and he began to relax. Suddenly thinking of an idea to help her, he grabbed the hand that he had released minutes before and said, "I have an idea. While I undress, just keep your eyes on mine. That way you won't be too embarrassed." Watching her turn the idea over in her mind was fascinating. He could literally see her weighing the idea, her mind trying to come up with different options and rejecting them.

Suddenly, she smiled at him and he thought his heart would stop. "Okay."

It was one word. But the weight of trust in that word was enough to humble him and his bear. Their mate trusted them. He took a deep breath and looked at her. "Eyes on mine."

At her nod, he began to disrobe. Down to kicking off his boots and socks. the last thing he had on was his underwear. Charlotte couldn't help herself. She let her eyes stray down the wonderfully defined chest, to his perfect abs. At his hips, where the band of his boxer briefs was, there was the vee line of his hips and she could swear she was drooling. At the sound of Jaxson's chuckle, Charlotte blushed again and looked back up to his eyes.

Jaxson took the opportunity to drop his boxers and let his bear come forward. Having done this his entire life, it was swift and seamless. The faint sound of popping and cracking where his bones snapped and realigned was over quickly.

Charlotte gasped. Where Jaxson had stood was a massive grizzly bear. He was making a sort of grunting growling sound that quickly turned into a whine. That's when she realized it. He was waiting on her approval to approach her.

She smiled and said in a low tone, "Well, aren't you just a big boy?" She hesitated for just a minute before reaching her hand out to touch the large bear. His head was even with her shoulders, so she decided to stroke the side of his face. Moving as gently and calmly as possible, Charlotte let her hand rest on the side of the bear's face. When she did, something she would not have suspected happened. He rubbed his massive jaws against the palm of her hand.

As he did, she felt the tell-tale tingles. "So, even in this form, I will know your touch." It wasn't a question, so much as a statement spoken in wonderment. Charlotte laughed as the bear seemed to nod its head and nudge her for more pets. Giggling, she did as the animal requested and ran her hands down its body. The fur was coarse in some places and soft in others. She discovered that like most other animals, he liked to be scratched behind his ears, on his upper chest, and between his shoulder blades where he couldn't reach to scratch.

They sat together like that, girl and beast for an hour, getting to know each other. When Charlotte noticed that the day was getting hotter, she said, "It's getting into the afternoon and I'm getting hungry. Can you change back and we go home?"

Jaxson changed back and pulled on his clothes while Charlotte blushed and turned away. Chuckling at her innocence, he slipped his hand in hers and together they walked back to the house.

When they got back to the house, Charlotte noticed a truck in front of the cabin and instantly tried to hide behind Jaxson. Realizing that she was unaware that the truck belonged to Henry, he pulled her close to his side and wrapped an arm around her.

"It's Henry's truck, Charlotte He's here to take that SD Card out of your body." He felt a small shiver of fear run through her body as he told her this. "It's okay, Charlotte. We aren't going to let anything happen to you."

Looking up at him, she nodded. Together they walked into the house and into the kitchen where the couple could hear voices coming from. In the kitchen was Henry and he was having a glass of tea with Rio.

Rio, realizing that his brother's mate was still uncomfortable around him was getting up when she held out her hand. "Please stay Rio. We can't keep doing this. It's going to affect your and Jaxson's relationship and I don't want that. I have to learn to be in your presence and to trust you."

The surprise on Rio's face spoke volumes and said that this was very unexpected. He smiled gently and said, "Ah Charley. I am so sorry."

Charlotte smiled back and said, "I understand why you did it, Rio, and I'm thankful that you didn't let the other two do it." She drew in a shaky breath and continued, "And something good came out of it. You get your evidence and can leave your deep-cover job. Plus, I met Jaxson." Turning, she smiled up at her mate, who pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

Turning to the other man seated at the table, she gave him a small smile and said, "You must be Henry." At his nod, she continued, "When do you want to do this?"

"After we eat. You'll be less nervous with some food in you." Then as if thinking of something, he asked her, "Who did you find to do that, anyway?'

Charlotte frowned. Thinking back to the Indian reservation she had broken down at. "A First People's medicine woman did it on a reservation in Arizona. For some reason, she took a liking to me and sent me to a chain of reservations across the country. She said that I would meet my destiny near the Cherokee Nation." She paused and thought about it. "Are we close to it?"

"Indeed we are. Less than a few hours' drive from here. In fact, when all of this blows over, we'll go and visit." Jaxson said.

"I'm hungry, let's eat." Charlotte walked over to the fridge, gathered things for sandwiches, and laid them on the table. She turned and pulled plates and glasses from the glasses.

After eating in mostly silence, they cleaned up. When everyone was finished, Charlotte turned to Henry. "I'm ready, sir. Where are we doing this?"

Henry looked over her shoulder to Jaxson, who nodded. "In here, Charlotte. Do you want to lie down or try to do it sitting up?"

"Sitting up, I think. I'm ready to have some control over my care." She simply stated.

Henry had Charlotte sit on the kitchen table and take off her shirt. At which time, Rio said, Well, I think that is my cue to leave." Giving her some privacy. Lifting her arm, Henry ran his fingers over the upper portion of her rib case, feeling for the uneven small ridge. Having located it, he marked it with a pen and turned to his bag and pulled out a syringe and bottle of lidocaine. Filling the syringe, Henry looked over at his patient and said, "This will sting a bit. But it will hurt more without it." At her nod, he continued.

When the needle first made contact with her skin, Charlotte hissed. When Jaxson realized that his mate was in pain, he growled. "Calm down, it just was a shock."

In no time, Henry finished and they chatted about her other injuries while he waited for the anesthetic to work. After a few minutes, Henry had her raise her arm and put it over her head, "Can you feel that?" He asked.

"Feel what?" She asked.

"That's good. The anesthetic worked. I'm almost ready to get you stitched up." Charlotte watched as Henry took a pair of fine-tip forceps and pulled the SD card and set it on a piece of gauze. Suddenly, she heard, "All Done. I'll leave a few pain pills for the next day or two. But this should heal relatively quickly and with minimal pain since it was just under the skin."

Henry patted Charlotte's shoulder, then began to clean up his instruments before he left to go back to town.

Looking at the small black piece of plastic, Charlotte realized that this would change so many people's lives, and set some free while imprisoning others.