Bear with Me (#2, Completed)

7. Family

CALLUM

The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled my cabin as I finished fixing myself a late breakfast of fried eggs, bacon and toast. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, so I poured myself a generous cup of the dark brew, grabbed my full plate and headed out to the veranda to enjoy my food and the weather.

The Alpha's cabin was at the top of the hill, overseeing all the other log cabins that were nestled between the giant redwood tree and that formed the Highland Sleuth. Bears in the wild preferred the solitary life but bear shifters thrived living together, just like many other shifters.

Our hierarchy was much simpler though- there was the Alpha, leading the sleuth, and his Beta, who was usually his right-hand man. Unlike many other shifter kinds, for bears, the Alpha position was not passed from an Alpha to the heir. No, for us, it was something that every Alpha had to legitimately win by facing off other contenders- men and women- just like I had when my predecessor had to step down.

The first year that I took over the sleuth was not easy- I had to prove to my bears my worth as the Alpha, even if I had won the title fair and square. With time, the sleuth learnt to trust me and I, in turn, gave my everything to ensure that we thrived and prospered. The wood construction business that we ran expanded three-folds in just a few years under my leadership and all the bears were content with how our sleuth was doing.

Yet Jack's comments from the previous days put me at unease- it was not that I was attached to the position but I was not happy with anyone doubting my ability to lead because someone was spreading false rumours that I was not deemed worthy enough by the Sun Goddess to have a mate.

I dug into my food, although I was practically stabbing it with my fork, thanks to my annoyance. The flavours burst into my mouth until I washed them down with a sip of coffee. Caffeine didn't really work on shifters but a nice cup of coffee was still refreshing.

Everyone in the sleuth was busy, running around with various errands, but I enjoyed taking a moment to appreciate the rhythm. I took another bite of my food when I spotted Fergus and his mother, Catriona, approach.

Catriona was one of the female elders of the sleuth and a mother figure to many of us, including myself. She became my mentor and one of my most trusted advisers when I took over as Alpha. But even long before that, it was Catriona who raised me and filled the void that was left from never knowing the family that had abandoned me at the doorstep of the sleuth when I was a baby- a fact that Fergus was never too pleased about.

"Callum, my dear, I am happy to see you are taking the time to feed yourself," she exclaimed from a distance, pulling me in for a hug when she reached me. "I keep on telling you, son- you need to find a mate to take care of you finally."

Without meaning to, I found myself noticing as Fergus rolled his eyes, huffing and puffing over the fact that his mother was fretting over me.

"Callum," he muttered politely, not saying more than he had to.

"Fergus."

The two of us never had the best relationship but it certainly felt like things had become a lot tenser ever since I became Alpha. The pride that Catriona took in my leadership of the sleuth seemed to rub Fergus the wrong way, the way it did when a child thought that his mother preferred his brother. Still, we always remained civil for her sake. I treasured her guidance and support too much to upset her with a silly spat between her son and me, forcing her to pick sides.

"Look at this place," Catriona continued, rearranging things inside my cabin as she spoke."It really needs the touch of a woman. And your bear needs its mate, dear boy. You can't stay a bachelor forever."