Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Beck

I needed to walk and take a breather, Misty was only seeing a portion of what I had those few days I spent with Adelaide. The one-sided bond made it hard for anyone stuck on the depleting end to want to do anything to survive. She struggled to force herself to eat, she was just as skinny as she had been two weeks ago if not worse, which meant she was drowning, nothing outside of a miracle would save her if she didn’t find an anchor. Someone to at least relieve the depression that caused mates to feel this way.

I understood what Misty was doing by advising Adeladie to push this guy away, but Misty didn’t fully understand the peril Adelaide was in. The thing was, neither did Adelaide. Now that was fucked up. Was I going to tell her? No. She had enough shit to wade through. The wolves had a thing about packs, young packless wolves became latent, some never shifted. I wondered about the number of humans who bore dormant shifter genes, it was different in other species, that's why Misty’s situation was so critical. Female bears were rare, even rarer were humans that could produce them. Bears didn’t need packs, but as young they needed family, their mothers, to be precise, bear or human it didn’t matter. A female bear that didn’t have that mother figure in her life would never shift, the fact that Cricket already had the scent of a bear proved two things. Misty could bare children that could be bears and that she was enough to support the shift. Both were rare commodities. Male bears on the other hand, if the genetics were strong enough, would develop without the maternal figure.

There was no scientific reason. Some debate was that a female needed to learn the nature of motherhood first hand for their bear’s instincts to kick in. Bear mothers were known to be fierce protectors of their children, the fact that at the age of six Cricket’s animal was already developing proved not only that Misty had the make up of being able to create a bear with her  human pairing but also develop any female children into maturing bears. They sold women like her on the black market for millions to sleuths dying off without females to expand the gene pool. Desperate bears, succumbed to the unthinkable in the name of keeping their bloodlines from dying out. Those that found females, able and willing often treated them well. They were cherished and doted on as matriarchs.

The entire thing just made me more determined to get through this thing with Creedon and get the girls away from the slueths that would monopolize on them. If I had to take care of them first, I would. It was out of my normal character but a good bear would do what was right by them. Unfortunately, outside of taking Creedon out which was not on the horizon yet, I couldn’t help Adelaide in the way she needed. She required her own people for that.

I wandered past a few shops down the street not straying too far from the apartment. I’d hear the bikes or smell them coming long before they got here. The sound of music caught my attention and I noted the little coffee shop that had an A-frame sign written in cursive chalk writing in various colors. Seems they had a new theme every night. From comedy to karaoke to poetry and music. It seemed like a chill vibe. That's when a thought occurred to me. When was the last time Misty went out? Every moment of every day seemed to be filled with Cricket’s routine, work, and laundry. She didn’t have a TV, and I’d never seen her spend any time being unproductive. A few beers at night while she toiled over code and chatted with me was the most downtime the woman ever seemed to take.

Today had been rough on her and I had a feeling she would be blaring music and taking her frustrations out on the apartment. She wasn’t necessarily a messy person or a clean freak but she had a rhythm to how she did things. I had a feeling after the last argument she and Cricket had and she rage-cleaned the kitchen, that the dust bunnies had better prepare for their end tonight.

I found myself walking inside. The place was comfortably but dimly lit, tables and booths housed people working on their computers and sipping drinks while a band was practicing on the stage. I ordered two coffees and a couple of pastries, remembering Misty took hers black and scanned the QR code on the back of a paper menu to look at later.

When I got back to Valentina’s shop it was still moderately busy. I bypassed the crowd and leaned over the counter to whisper in Valentina’s ear. I was eyeing Misty the entire time as she busily moved about filling orders.

“Misty has had a rough day,” I murmured, holding up the bag of pastries and coffees. She eyed me out of the corner of her eye as she was punching in an order on the register. She nodded back giving me permission to venture into the area of the assembly line,  but I paused. “You wouldn’t happen to be up for babysitting tonight?” I asked. Her eyes went wide and she looked at me. I gave her a sheepish smile. She could think whatever she wanted, if she agreed. The truth was, I think we all needed a break from monotony.

“As long as you show her a good time,” she insisted, suggesting more. I let out a breath.

“I promise it will be a reprieve and we will be just up the road.” I made light of it, not entirely sure why.

“Oso elstúpido,” she murmured under her breath. “I’ll watch her,” she added after I guess she swore at me. I’d take my wins where I could get them. I took that as my ticket to push behind the counter and set Misty’s coffee and the bag of pastries right in front of her face, her eyes met mine confused.

“I’ll see you later,” I said, squeezing her shoulder and walking out.

“Oh, Misty, I didn’t take you for one to go after silver foxes,” the young woman next to her teased.

“He's not a fox, he's a bear, and rest assured he's made me very aware of how sex starved I’ve become,” she murmured back. The door had swung shut behind me but I paused listening.

“I don’t blame you, he' s got ‘Daddy’ and violence written all over him.”

“Shut up, Camila, you have no idea what you're talking about.” Misty replied.

“Don’t I though… you can’t tell me you haven't been thinking about those muscled arms, those thick thighs or how those jeans hug his ass,” Camlia went on.

“We are working here,” she tried to steer the conversation. However, her scent left little room for the lies she wanted to tell herself. I decided I liked Camila.

Misty huffed in response. I chuckled to myself. I expected nothing of Misty, I just knew she needed a break. If I could be honest with myself, so did I.

Making things messy wasn’t my intention, after today though we both needed a moment to release some pent up feelings or just exist outside of the people we were forced to be. Cricket would be fine with Valentina, the bears wouldn't dare encroach on her den. Valentina knew what I was asking of her and she had agreed, which surprised me. Wolverines were not the least bit accommodating. However, for Misty, this one was. It confused me. I would get to the bottom of that later.