Page 6 of Harvest Magic

Pepper’s eyes bounced between us, and somehow I knew she was worried that I’d shift right here and drag my mate back to our den.

Great idea, my bear said, pushing against my skin.

Play it cool, I answered back. She’s human.

That wasn’t completely true though. I could see the magic in her aura, it was weak, but it was there.

“Kind of. Shifters believe that fate brings them the perfect mate,” Pepper explained. “When a shifter meets their fated mate, there’s an instant recognition and a strong urge to immediately… uh, mate with that person.”

“Mate? Jane and Gabriel used that term, but I thought it was just local slang.”

“It’s not,” Pepper confirmed.

“What are you saying?” my mate asked, still watching me carefully, eyes wide.

“I’m saying that Ollie here is a bear shifter, and his bear believes you are his fated mate. The one he’s meant to spend the rest of his life with. He wants to claim you.”

“What?” The word came out as a high-pitched screech that hurt my sensitive ears. “Are you saying this random guy, or bear or whatever, wants to, what? Have sex with me?”

Pepper shook her head. “It’s more than that. He basically wants to do the shifter equivalent of getting married and living happily ever after.”

Sex sounds good too, my bear said. We need to claim our mate now.

My mate shook her head so hard that some of her hair slipped out of her ponytail. She took a step back and held her hand up, palm out, as if stopping an advance.

“Look bear, I’m too old for all that romance crap. Not interested.”

She enunciated the last two words carefully, as if she was speaking to a dim-witted child. Of course my standing there ogling her probably wasn’t helping with that impression. Remembering my human manners, I stuck out my hand.

“Hi, I’m Ollie.”

She looked at my hand, then my face, then took another step back. My bear let out a pitiful whine. Her muscles bunched like she was going to make a run for it. Pepper noticed it too.

“Nora, don’t run,” she said, grabbing my mate’s arm. “That will just trigger his hunting instinct.”

Nora. My mate’s name was Nora. I turned it around in my mind, liking the sound of the old-fashioned name.

“She’s Sage’s niece,” Marie told me softly. “She just moved to town and is staying at Rosewater Manor.”

That must be why I sensed magic around her. It also meant I knew exactly where to find her.

“I’m going home,” Nora said, pulling out of Pepper’s grasp and taking two more steps back. “I’m sure you’re a nice guy Ollie, but I came here to find myself, not hook up with someone. Good luck finding what you’re looking for.”

Heeding Pepper’s warning, she turned and walked away slowly, her spine ramrod straight. After a few seconds, Pepper and the other woman they were with followed her, one on each side of my mate. Every few steps Pepper turned back to look at me, but my mate continued staring straight ahead. It took everything in me not to follow them, but I’d spent enough years in the military to understand the value of a strategic retreat.

I’d let her go for now and give her some time to get used to the idea of being my mate, then I’d figure out what my next step should be.

We could run over to Rosewater Manor and claim her, my bear suggested hopefully.

Patience was going to be hard.

Nora

“What the hell was that?” I asked once we were in the car.

Pepper snorted from the backseat. “You explain it, Jane. I’ve gotta text Charles and tell him my mate locator magic struck again.”

I wasn’t sure what my cousin was talking about, but since she sounded annoyed I didn’t ask.