Bear with Me (#2, Completed)

6. Two sides of the same coin 🌶️

CALLUM

I was not sure if I was more shocked or pleased with the turn of events. The attraction and fascination that I had felt towards her made complete sense now that I knew that she was my mate, and I was certainly happy to have found her and, on top of that, that it was Flame. She definitely was fire, and both Mahon and I were excited about having her by our side once we were mated.

Yet, I also couldn't deny my surprise in discovering that my mate was human. I couldn't care less what she was- the Sun Goddess had matched us together and that meant that we were perfect for each other- but it was something extremely unusual in our world, unheard of even. Well, until her best friend ended up mated to a wolf and a dragon.

Of course, Scarlett running out like that was not ideal, but I decided against going after her as I needed to give her space. Not to mention that I also had to figure out how I was going to explain everything to her.

Mate, Mahon roared once again in my head, rising to the surface and wanting to take over so that we could find her. But I knew that would only backfire- if she got freaked out by the mating text, she was certainly not going to be more thrilled to discover that she was mated to a shifter. A bear shifter, a being of whose existence she knew nothing about.

I pushed him back, calming him enough for him to stop pacing anxiously, even though he wasn't exactly thrilled that I had denied him the opportunity to get to our mate. Getting back to the sleuth was a bit of a blur thanks to the adrenaline that was coursing through my veins but I was content to find Jack waiting for me on the veranda.

"There you are! Where on Earth did you go, Callum?" His eyebrow pulled together in question before his forehead creased with concern. Only then did I remember how I had stormed out because of the rumours that Jack had shared with me. I set out to get more information from Aiden that would have helped me track down my mate but clearly, the Goddess had it all planned already.

My hand landed on Jack's shoulder as I patted his back with a smile. "I found her, Jack." My tone did nothing to hide the elation in my voice.

"Who?"

"My mate."

He whipped his head around to look at me. His eyes widened, and his mouth slackened. "What do you mean? You know who she is?"

Oh, I certainly knew who she was. I had known all along. "Yes, I do. And I met her. She said the words, so I am sure it's her."

Jack's brows furrowed in confusion while he listened to me. He was evidently trying to put the puzzle together with the pieces that I was giving him.

"I don't get it. There are no other sleuths close by and you haven't been gone for that long, so where did you find the she-bear that is your mate?"

"She is a friend of Riley's," I stated matter-of-factly as I walked past him along my veranda. An amused expression quirked up the side of my mouth when I stopped to study Jack's reaction.

His head whipped around so fast that I could have sworn that I heard a crack. "Moreau? Hold on, is she a wolf?"

I chuckled heartily- this was a fun game. "No."

"A dragon? A fox?"

"No." My grin grew wider the more his eyes bulged out with every guess.

"Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me that your mate is a human? Goddess!" He sounded more astounded by this than opposed to it, so that was a good start.

No one could ever change my mind about my mate but it certainly made my life easier if my Beta and, of course, the rest of the sleuth accepted her without me needing to persuade them. Not that it would have been difficult- my Flame was stunning, funny, feisty and, underneath all that bravado of hers, there was a kind and caring person. Yes, she was the perfect mate for a bear like me.