Page 8 of Once Upon A Bear

“I have some research to do,” she announced to the bear, who was staring at her in consternation. “I’d like you to join me at my home tomorrow—it’s just on the other side of the ridge—and hopefully I’ll have something to share with you then.”

Then, without further ado, she turned and marched away, feeling rather pleased with herself.

She had met the bear, and it had gone better than before.

Now all she had to do was break his curse.

Chapter four

Gideon

Sounds of merriment filled the air as Gideon made his way into the drawing room where his family had gathered. It was odd for so much gaiety to be happening. But then he realized that Caspian, his youngest brother, and his wife, Sophia, were there, which explained everything. When Caspian and Sophia were back from Riyel, everyone was overjoyed—especially his mother and sister.

“Everyone’s here,” Sophia said, turning to him with a bright smile. “Hello, Gideon.”

“Hello, Sophia,” he said gruffly. He liked Sophia, too, but he still felt odd around her. Sometimes it was hard to know how to act around her or what to say.

His brother was a completely different person now that he’d met Sophia. It was always interesting to discover which version of his brother he was going to meet each day. With Sophia here, it would be the happy family man.

“We have some news to share with everyone,” Caspian said, his deep voice booming through the room.

Were they moving back from Riyel?

“We are going to have a baby,” Sophia said softly, her eyes aglow.

Gideon stared at his brother in shock. A baby.

His brother was going to be a father.

The thought was overwhelming.

Who would have guessed that of the three of them, Caspian would be the first to have a child of his own?

Everyone around him was offering congratulations, exclaiming loudly, but Gideon couldn’t. He was frozen, unable to say or do anything.

When his brother turned to him, he shook his head slightly, as if to wake himself up.

“Congratulations,” he said automatically. “I’m sure you will have the cutest little cub.”

Everyone stopped talking to turn and look at him, and Gideon froze. “I meant child.”

The curse was beginning to affect his thoughts and his language in ways he hadn’t expected. He hated it, but even as he hated it, he couldn’t escape the thought of his own little cubs rolling around on the floor.

Not that he planned to have children anytime soon or even expected them to be bear cubs—hopefully they wouldn’t be. He would hope that if he did ever have children, they would be fully human, his curse would be long since broken, and he wouldn’t be trapped in his bear form the way he sometimes feared he would be.

But if he thought about it too much, he could see himself with a pile of little bear cubs, and while one them had fur the color of his own pelt, the other had honey-colored fur that matched the hair of a certain young woman who seemed determined to turn his life upside down, whether he wanted her to or not.

Gideon stayed with his family for a bit longer, joining them for a celebratory meal that Cook must have thrown together as soon as she heard Caspian and Sophia had arrived before escaping—not because he thought he might turn into a bear, but rather he was afraid his emotions might get the best of him.

He wanted children, if he was being honest. Gideon had wanted children and a wife for longer than he dared to admit. While most of his playmates and his brothers had always acted as if they never wanted to get married, Gideon had wanted a wife ever since he’d watched his parents show just how much they loved each other.

From the way his father would pull his mother into his arms for a kiss or a dance at any moment, to the way his mother always ensured his father’s favorite chair was empty for him…they’d been an example of everything he’d wanted for years.

It was unusual for a man in his twenties, he knew that, but he didn’t care, and he couldn’t help the sadness overwhelming him at the thought that with his curse, there was no guarantee of him finding someone who could love him.

Maybe he would find a lovely bear someday.

He grimaced at the thought as he made his way out the front door and took off toward the front gate. The guards no longer stopped him or asked where he was going. They’d learned that he wouldn’t tell them, and he’d learned that no one cared anymore.