Healing Wounds 🌶

HELEN

Tove moved slowly across the pit, ready to deliver the coup de grâce.

Jack had no more fight left in him and lay there, blood gurgling from the gaping wound in his neck.

That’s when the unexpected happened. Someone leapt down into the pit and was now facing off with Tove.

The crowd gasped and thundered in surprise.

And even I had to blink a few times before I could admit the truth to myself.

~That’s my mom!~

Standing naked in the spiked pit, facing off with a ginormous grizzly.

I was afraid for her, sure, but I also realized that I’d never felt more proud to be my mother’s daughter.

If Tove knew my mother, he would’ve been fleeing the other way, trying to climb out of that pit as quickly as possible.

But Tove hadn’t gotten the memo, and now he was raising his paw, extending his blood-covered claws, ready to tear my mother in half.

“Stop him!” I yelled while Sam held me back, clutching me tight.

But another voice was louder than mine.

“Toooooovvve Blumquist!” shouted one of the council elders. “Stop now or die!”

This elder was actually younger than Tove and a great deal bigger—there was no doubt in my mind that he would be capable of delivering on his threat.

“That’s the Wise Elder,” Sam said. “He speaks for the spiritual conscience of the council.”

And as the Wise Elder’s words echoed through the air, all movement in the bear pit came to a halt. The three of them stood there silently—Tove panting, Jack gurgling blood, and my mom shivering with fright.

The wise elder continued, “I speak for the council when I state: Bear Justice has been served. You have no right to harm the human.

"Furthermore, with her courageous action today, she has not only proven that she’s not a spy, but indeed, that she is an ally to all bears.”

Then, turning to the rest of the crowd, he continued, “Tove was right when he said that these are dangerous times. Which is why we must cherish the allies we have.”

The gathered crowd of werebears roared in unanimous approval.

“They’re saved,” Sam muttered with great relief.

“Both of you shift back to human form,” the Wise Elder commanded, pointing down into the pit. He looked around. “Where is Jack’s son? Come here, boy, and heal thy father.”

Sam pulled me through the crowd with him and, leaving me by the council table, jumped into the pit.

He then jabbed his hand onto one of the spikes and began applying his own blood to Jack’s wounds. Then he called for a roll of beeswax gauze.

By this point, Luke had sidled up to me and was explaining how when a werebear is gravely injured, it’s tradition to be healed with the blood of your blood. It was lucky that Sam had made it here in time because if he hadn’t, Jack would have surely died.

Sam’s blood had an immediate effect on Jack. He was already back on his feet and climbing out of the pit.

Once everyone had climbed out, the council elders gave their final judgment. Jack and Mom would be allowed to return home and remain a part of the community.

By jumping into the pit, Mom had proven that she was willing to sacrifice herself for her chosen mate, and because of this, she and Jack were allowed to sign the official Book of Mates, under the watchful eyes of the whole community.

During this process, I kept my mouth shut, trying to hide my humanness.

But hoping for this was a little too much to ask for.

As the book signing ceremony wrapped up, Tove spoke, “I accept the resolution we have all come to, but I must bring the council’s attention to another unauthorized human in the room.”

And all of a sudden, all eyes were on me.

“Who can speak for this girl?” Tove thundered.

“I can,” Sam said.

But my mom spoke over him. “She’s my daughter. Let me speak for her.”

“She intends to live with you and your husband?” asked the Wise Elder. “Up here in Bear Creek?”

“She has to finish college in Boulder first,” my mother said, “and then, I don’t know what she intends to do.”

“I see,” the Wise Elder nodded. “Perhaps it’s best for everyone’s safety if your daughter stays in Boulder until the security situation at Bear Creek has calmed down?”

“But that’s not fair,” I cried.

“Life’s not fair,” Tove snapped in response.

“Be quiet, all of you,” the Wise Elder pleaded. “This is not about arguing over fairness and”—turning to me—“this is not about separating family members. We simply must take precautions…for the time being.”

“Perhaps in three months, when Helen finishes college,” Jack said, “we can come here for an appeal?”

The wise elder nodded his approval.

Three months without seeing my mom was a scary prospect, but the elders were right.

Knowing now how vicious and cold-blooded the hunters were, I couldn’t risk the safety of the community by going back and forth between Bear Creek and Boulder.

***

Back at the cabin, the mood was tired, but happy. Mom and Jack seemed happy to have their freedom back and grateful to have each other.

And of course, Sam and I were relieved that neither of our parents had been torn to shreds.

Since getting back from Ursa Hall, we hadn’t had a chance to be alone, so we had to keep our romantic thoughts to ourselves.

Last night, entwined in each other’s arms, I remembered feeling happy, but also a bit unsure.

I was falling in love, but it was an uneasy feeling.

Love had always been so easy before.

It had always been instant and without any obstacles.

This time it was different.

Not because Sam was my stepbrother. I didn’t care about that anymore.

I was more worried about having to keep Sam’s werebear secret. Or being trapped in Bear Creek forever.

But now that we were all back home and I could see Mom and Jack together…

See how in love they were… How happy…

I began to think that maybe, ~just maybe~, things could work out for me and Sam as well.

After seeing all that violence in the bear pit, I was a little weirded out by the barbaric nature of Bear Justice.

But deep down, I also understood that it was a necessary extreme to counterbalance the gentle, peaceful life I saw all around me in Bear Creek.

The other thing that amazed me was Jack’s quick recovery.

By the time we’d gotten back home, his limp had gone away and the bruises had faded from his face.

As for his throat, Jack was already back to speaking and making jokes.

“You can probably take the bandage off by tomorrow, Dad,” Sam said.

“How is it that Jack’s throat healed so quickly?” I asked. “A few hours ago, it was completely ripped open.”

The four of us were sitting around in Jack’s kitchen, mugs of chamomile tea all around.

“Because our blood has special healing properties,” Sam said. “Remember how I cured your bee sting?”

“Oh, wow,” I said, “that wasn’t just a healing property. I felt almost high.”

“Yeah, the blood also sometimes has a narcotic effect,” Sam said.

“And that’s why the elders are so concerned,” Jack chimed in.

“Those hunter incursions ~really have~ gotten worse and worse lately,” Sam said.

“And you think it’s your blood that they’re after?” I asked.

“Yes, Helen,” Jack said. “For a long time, hunters have known of these healing properties. In the old days, when we were still on good terms, we would trade pints of shifter blood to keep the peace.”

“But now we think they’re planning something bigger,” Sam said.

“It’s almost like they want to bleed the whole town dry,” my mom added, worried.

“But what do they want so much shifter blood for?” I asked.

“Industrial scale medicine? Pharmaceuticals? Who knows,” Jack said.

“Well, whatever I can do to help keep you guys safe,” I said, “even if it means I can’t see any of your beautiful faces for a few months.”

We sat there in sad silence for a few moments before my mom chimed in, “Let’s not be so glum,” she said. “We’ve still got our health, and we’ve got each other, and I know when we’re reunited again, we’ll all be a big happy family.”

“A toast to that!” Jack said.

“A toast!” Sam said, and we all clinked our tea mugs together.

***

Later that night, I was in my bedroom packing up the last of my things before I had to head back to college in the morning when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“Hey, babe,” Sam peeked his head in. “You still up?”

“I thought everyone was asleep,” I said.

“Nah, I’m too wired from the day,” he said, sitting down on my bed. “How are you holding up?”

“Same,” I said as I moved around folding the last of my clothes. “Grateful that everything worked out, but I’m definitely shaky.”

Sam held out his arms. “Come here.”

“Are you sure our parents are asleep?”

“After the day they had, I don’t know how they could possibly be standing.”

I walked over to Sam and parked myself on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Oh, Sam, what are we gonna do?”

“Do about us?” he asked. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe we can start with kissing. And then we can get naked. And once that happens, I’m sure we’ll have ~other~ ideas.”

I slapped him playfully on the arm. “You know that’s not what I mean. Sex is one thing, but what the hell are we gonna do about the feelings we have?”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too,” Sam said. “And all I’ve come up with so far is that we really don’t have to figure it out tonight.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“You go back to school tomorrow, and we’re alone for a few months,” he said solemnly. “I figure that if what we have is the real thing, then three months ain’t really that long to wait.”

Sam looked me straight in the eyes and continued, “Now, considering we don’t have much time left together, why don’t we try to make good use of it?”

I leaned over to him, hovering my lips over his, “Oh yeah, is this what you have in mind?”

Our lips locked together, and instantly, we were exploring each other with our tongues.

Sam’s hand quickly found its way under my shirt to cup my naked breast, and I could feel his cock getting hard under my ass.

God, his body—with that smell of honey and smoke, how quickly he could rile me up.

I shifted a little on his lap so that I could place my hand on his cock and stroke it through his jeans.

Meanwhile, his hand had shifted downward, nestled comfortably between my legs, rubbing my warm slit through my panties.

And all the while, our eyes closed and our mouths open, I felt like I was being teleported out of time, to a place of pure pleasure.

And then out of nowhere, our little paradise was shattered with harsh throat clearing.

“AHEM! Children!”

I hadn’t even heard the door open.

But there were our parents—watching us!

We’d been caught!