Brave Bear Mated

Chapter One



Years ago…

“It won’t always be like this. It won’t always be bad.”

Theron, one half of the Ursa Gemini twins of the Deadclaw bear clan stared across the damp darkness at his other half, Thames. He didn’t believe a word of his brother’s statement, but still, his heart soared with hope. Hope could be a damned wicked seductress if you let it, tempting and plying you into expecting things to change.

“How do you figure?” Theron asked, looking around them. At their reality.

Reality was the only thing that could bitch-slap Hope into her rightful place.

And reality was, they lived at the edge of their clan’s community behind a dumpster that they’d draped a tarp over for nights like this when the precipitation was heaviest. They each had a small area to sleep on, built up with leaves and random scraps they’d found around the mountain village.

A discarded sweatshirt.

A baby blanket someone had dropped in the mud.

Some carpet scraps.

They used whatever they could find and tried to ignore the smell, deciding it was better than the cold ground. Besides, if they used trash, things nobody else wanted, they wouldn’t have to fight for it or be punished.

The Mother Bear and her people were most brutal when rules were broken.

“How do I figure? Well, I think things are only allowed to get so bad before they have to get better,” Thames said quietly, his eyes looking away to focus on his hands. He rubbed his thumb against his palm over and over like he was trying to smudge away his own handprint.

But his logical explanation did the worst thing: it made the hope in Theron’s chest grow bigger at the idea. Maybe it was some unspoken law of nature. Maybe it was true, that things could only go down so far before they bounced back up.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Theron argued, but he could hear the treacherous hope in his own voice.

He wanted to kill it. Be done with useless wishes. But hope kept coming back, again and again, bringing disappointment on its heels. He’d never learn, would he?

Thames shook his head, still rubbing at his hand. “No. I don’t. But it makes sense don’t it? Things can’t keep getting worse. There has to be a stopping point. A time when they’re at their worst, and then what comes after that?”

Death, Theron thought. But that was actually better, wasn’t it? Maybe that’s what Theron meant. Maybe they were just waiting for the sweet relief of death.

Like mama and pop.

They were taken from them when they were only nine years of age. Killed by the Mother Bear for bearing twins that she didn’t approve of. He and Thames used to cry for them, but now they were just damn happy their parents weren’t around to see this. The rejection and social torture the gemini were forced to endure. The resentment and brutal life they lived due to being labeled the Ursa Inferior. The bears outcasted.

Mama and pop were spared by their death. Maybe one day the same thing would happen for Theron and Thames.

“I got an idea,” Thames said, settling onto his side on his makeshift sleeping area. The rain dripped in through a tiny hole in the tarp and he shifted backward to avoid the water. “Why don’t we think of our future mates. That helped last time, didn’t it?”

Theron blew out a slow breath. Helped? If by making his heart grow soft for a female he hadn’t even met yet was helping, then yeah.

“It’s useless,” he grumbled. “What female would ever choose us?”

The mating ritual for bear shifters began when an unclaimed female found a male she deemed worthy enough to take a risk for. When she made her claim on him public, it was the male’s job to prove his worth by caring for her needs and seeing her happy. Eventually, the process would end in a physical claiming. A forever promise to remain faithful.

Theron picked at a loose fiber of carpet, thinking. He couldn’t imagine what it must feel like for someone to love you that much. For someone to have that much faith in you, that they’d stick around forever.

For all of your days.

If you looked over in the morning, they’d be there. When you went to bed at night, they were there. Accepting you, even with all your flaws.

He eyed Thames.

His brother was that for him.

But a mate would be different. A mate would give you a family of your own. One you could love and hold and teach. All the things Theron had missed out on over the years.

Thames was quiet when he answered. “I’d like to think I’ll get a chance to prove myself worthy someday. If a female took a chance on me, I’d give it my best shot, wouldn’t you?”

He would. If a female put her faith in him, he’d try so damn hard for her. No matter what she looked like or where she came from. Theron would do his utmost to love her like she deserved.