An Unexpected Affair (11 page)

Derek's eyes remained fixed on hers, the intensity in his gaze filling her stomach with butterflies.

"I do," Derek answered, his voice slightly hoarse with emotion. "Clarice, please accept this token-" Derek pulled out a short, very aged looking dagger from his pouch and presented it to Clarice with both hands. "This blade, to keep with you for protection at all time, as a symbol that I'll always look after you as your mate and father to our family, as long as we both shall live."

As often as Derek had gone through the exact words with Clarice, their meaning had not lost gravity. If anything, she felt his intentions more deeply now than before.

"I do," Clarice responded. She wedged the dagger carefully in between her belt and the soft fabric of her dress, just as Derek had taught her to do earlier. Once back inside she would keep the weapon safe somewhere, available to her whenever she would need it - which hopefully would be never.

Now, it was time for the second item, something that was a lot more familiar to most humans, including Clarice. The rings. Clarice pulled the bigger one out of her pouch, weighing it in her hand. It was made of white gold and was very heavy; the peculiar spiral design ensured it would expand and become big enough to fit Derek's finger even after shifting.

Derek followed suit, holding up the much more delicate counterpart meant for Clarice's finger. Hers was a simpler, non-expanding design, adorned by a cut ruby set on top.

"With this ring, I become yours, and you become mine." Derek slipped the precious ring around Clarice's finger, the sight of it sparkling against her pale skin almost taking her breath away. Although the design didn't look all that unusual to Clarice's eyes, Derek had explained that any bear would recognize it as a mate's ring, a clear sign that she belonged, even if not everyone would approve.

"With this ring, I become yours, and you become mine," Clarice repeated, putting the bigger, more masculine and complicated ring onto Derek's finger, while trying but failing to conceal the tremble in her hands.

Next to them, Elise's emotions took over, and a sob escaped her lips. "Remember when we did this, Jack?" she whispered. From the corner of her eye, Clarice could see Jack taking her hand into both of his. The stone giant evidently had a soft spot after all.

A few years down the line, who knew, perhaps Clarice and Derek would be the more experienced couple, remembering their own special day while observing another bear perform the ritual with his mate, Aidan perhaps?

Clarice looked up at Derek, whose face failed to hide the pride and admiration he felt for her. They were one now, officially. A lone tear collected in the corner of her eye as she realized the importance of what had just happened.

Human marriages ended in divorce more often than not, despite most people going into them with the best of intentions. With Derek, there was no doubt in her mind that they were truly destined to be together. Their connection would never fade because something held them together that ran deeper than the shallow infatuations people tend to mistake for love. Fate. Or biology, whatever you choose to believe in.

They would be mates forever, and nobody would ever come in between them. She tiptoed, and they shared a kiss, not because it was tradition, but because they couldn't help it.

Then, Elise came up to the two of them and congratulated them, hugging Clarice tightly and welcoming her to the family. Jack shook her hand, as well as Derek's but remained mostly quiet, nodding his congratulations at the two of them.
That went well,
Clarice thought, relieved not to have to deal with any disapproval from Derek's relatives.

As all four of them made their way back inside the house, the phone rang.
That'll be Aidan.
He'd declined their invitation, stating he had urgent business to attend to but said he'd give his best wishes on the day. She kept her senses locked on Derek as he walked into the kitchen and answered the phone, focusing as best she could to try and figure out if her assumption was correct.

"Hello?" Derek said.

Yes, that's Aidan all right,
Clarice sensed, as she entered the room behind Derek.

Almost instantly, Derek's mood, which had been triumphant and celebratory until now, turned darker. She couldn't tell what was going on, but his emotions tugged and pulled at her, telling her that something had gone horribly wrong.

"I understand. I'll be there." Derek hung up and looked over at her.

Problems?
Clarice thought. Derek crossed the distance between them, resting his hands on her shoulders upon reaching her.

"Aidan needs my help. His mate is in trouble. I'll ask Elise and Jack to stick around while I'm gone. I'm so sorry about this."

She nodded, sad to see him leave without the chance to celebrate their new status, but there was no room for jealousy or speculation in her mind. She could feel that the situation was serious, and the thought to question Derek's actions didn't even occur to her. There was no room for secrets between them, so in time, she'd hear all about today's troubles as well.

"Go. I'll be fine. Just..." She tiptoed to reach him again, wrapping her arms around his shoulders tightly. "Be careful," she whispered.

Derek returned her embrace, kissing her forehead a couple of times before releasing her again. "Of course. Everything will be fine." He forced a smile, but Clarice didn't feel it. There was a change about Derek, he was tenser than she'd ever seen him before, almost hostile, though of course not towards her.

He was readying for a fight, and there was nothing she could do to help.

I love you, please come back to me,
Clarice thought.

Always,
Derek responded.

With that, he made his way to the lounge to talk to Elise, leaving Clarice in the kitchen.

Everything was going to be fine. It had to be, right?

~ THE END ~

The Scottish Werebears Series continues with Book 2, 
A Dangerous Business
  which focuses on Derek's brother Aidan and his mate, Heidi. 

Genuine customer reviews are really important for indie authors such as myself.
If you take the time to leave a review for this book, I would love to send you an early review copy of Book 2 as soon as it's ready! Please contact me at 
[email protected]
 (please send me the link where I can read your review, this is very important!) and ask for your free copy.

Dear Reader,

Thanks for reading Scottish Werebear: An Unexpected Affair, Book 1 in the Scottish Werebears Series. Although this is my debut release, I'm not new to writing in general. In fact, my mom still tells me to this day about how I would make up stories, and attempt to record them in my clumsy, shaky handwriting from the moment I learned to read and and write. From there I went on to write fan fiction and other stuff meant for my own eyes only.

I've always enjoyed stories of the paranormal. Vampires, shape shifters, witches and magic, all featured in the books I loved the most, even when I was still growing up. But it wasn't until much later that I got into romance. One of the first writers (a self published author just like me!) I came across was Tina Folsom, via her Scanguards Vampire series. I was hooked. From there I went on to read more paranormal romance until I found a new favorite kind of hero: bear shifters, like the kind written by Milly Taiden, Zoe Chant, and T.S. Joyce. What I love about bears is how they can be all strong and independent, a bit reclusive, and almost grumpy, but they always end up having a heart of gold (plus they tend to know their food, and we all know that a man who can cook is doubly sexy). All that (except for the shifting into a powerful bear) almost exactly describes the sort of man I ended up falling for and marrying in real life, so it's no surprise that this is what I started my publishing career with.

As thing stand right now, I plan to release all my work on Amazon Kindle and make it free of charge as part of the Kindle Unlimited programme, though this may change in future. All my books will also be available as paperbacks, as well as in audio.

To find out more, check:

eXplicitTales.com

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x Lorelei