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Leeson

He didn’t want to leave her now that he had finally found her. He had come to the city to arrange the next contract for Bear Logistics, then he’d caught the sweet scent of his mate before he suddenly lost it in the rain. He had been sure he wouldn’t find her again when her scent had been washed away.

But then she had tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a coffee and a daisy cookie, reminding him that the mating season was in full swing. But she seemed embarrassed and she was obviously human. He had to contain his bear when he was faced with her, and it took him longer than he wanted it to.

By the time he had regained control, she had returned to the coffee shop and had laid her head in her arms in embarrassment. He had heard the conversation of her being selectively mute with strangers before he had entered the coffee shop, which helped when she still couldn’t seem to get the words out.

He could see how uncomfortable she was with the situation, so he made sure to get her number and made sure she understood he intended to take her out. Then he left, though every fiber of his being wanted him to stay.

He was just outside the store when his phone rang, and he answered it, knowing who it was without checking the caller ID. “Brother, why are you so deliriously happy?” He heard Mason’s voice over the hum of his truck’s engine. Clearly, he was still on the road and hadn’t found a place to sleep for the night.

Leeson chuckled. “I knew you would contact me soon.”

“How can I not when your excitement and joy is practically seeping through my own psyche? I’m guessing you found her?”

“Yes, and she’s amazingly beautiful and as sweet as pie. Only two problems: she suffers from selective mutism, and she smells very sick; as in dangerously sick.”

“Well, the sickness is easily fixed. Once you turn her, it’ll be in the past. The mutism could make communication a problem. Just looking at Mom having to drag information out of Dad is enough perspective. Do you have her number? I’m assuming you are not close to her right now otherwise you wouldn’t have answered my call.”

“Yeah, she was uncomfortable, and I had to find a place to stay while I woo her; I planned to leave the city as soon as my business was taken care of. Yes, I made sure she understood I wanted to take her out on a date and got her number. Why?”

“I don’t think the mutism extends to texts, so let her get used to talking to you over text and then maybe the selective mutism will go away around you if she feels a little more comfortable.”

“Thanks, Brother; that’s a great idea. Now, how to have a date with someone who can’t speak around me and not make it weird…”

“Might ask Dad for dating ideas. He’s pretty good at dating Mom…” Mason answered.

“That’s a good idea. How’s your route going?”

“Eh, it’s going slow and long. But I intended it that way with checking out sleuths on the route.”

“Any luck finding your mate?”

“No, nothing yet, but there’s still about three sleuths to visit before I’m home, so maybe she’s there.”

“Well, there aren’t a lot of female bears anymore, so don’t be surprised if she’s human, like mine. Maybe it’s to get fresh blood into the bear bloodline. You know, Aunt Sandra and Aunt Nora were humans too.”

“Yeah, I just don’t want to wait as long for my mate as Dad had to wait for Mom. You know he was thirty when he found her. That’s a lot of mating seasons to deal with alone.”

“You’re telling me; the other challenge is finding your mate during mating season, when she’s human and in my case, sickly. I’m fighting myself the whole time, even more now because I’m terrified I could hurt her more because she’s sick.”

“Yeah, I get that. I mean she’s your gift, and you want to treasure her. I think it’s easier to have mating season with no one tempting you, than to have mating season with your mate and not be able to claim her. Now, call Dad and see if he has any ideas on how to woo your mate. If I recall, he and Mom got together pretty quickly once they met, even though she didn’t know she was a bear.”

“Yeah, I’ll phone them now. Let me just see if this hotel has a room for me. Take care of yourself out there, Brother. You’re loved and needed at home.”

“Only because you don’t want to be sleuth leader.” Mason chuckled. “See you soon, Brother; and you’re loved too.”

With that, they hung up, and he stepped into the hotel lobby and approached the reception desk. Aside from the receptionist offering, he sleeps in her room with her. They had no rooms, and he was not surprised. They were big, strong males and women were drawn to them, but neither he nor Mason saw the need to be with anyone but their mates.

He ignored her blatant invitation and left, looking for the next hotel. He phoned Dad while he was walking through the rain, looking for another hotel. The phone rang a while before Dad answered a little out of breath. He’s answer was a growl of: “What’s wrong?”

“Hey, Dad. I won’t be home for the foreseeable future.”

Dad grunted in question.

“I found her, Dad. But she’s human, has selective mutism and is sickly. So, I will need to win her over and find out what’s wrong with her. Do you have any ideas about what I can do to win her over? You and Mom got together quite fast, and she thought she was human.”

At that, Mom giggled, and he realized belatedly that he might’ve interrupted their mating season with his call, but they always kept each other in the loop; it was a rule that no one would be lost. “Lee, baby, your dad is the wrong person to ask for dating advice. The first time we met he glared at me like I had stolen his breakfast. I thought he wanted to kill me.” Mom answered as she clearly took the phone from Dad.

“What? But you guys always have these great dates that Dad plans.”

“Oh, he’s great at planning dates, now. Back then, he needed Uncle Riggs to smooth things over, since I was running from a madman and your Dad didn’t know how to approach me in human form, so he stalked me as a bear.”

“No!” Leeson chuckled with amusement, hearing that his father was a slow coach when they met.

“It was mating season…” Dad retorted, as if that was explanation enough.

“Awww, Mr Bear, you’re still my favorite bear…” Mom teased in a sweet tone, and he heard her plant a kiss on his skin.

“You mentioned her being sickly?” Mom went straight to the health thing; she was the female doctor in the shifter community in Alaska. The only bear doctor in their area, which wasn’t a surprise, since touching others when mated was sort of insulting to mates, but Dad handled things pretty well, all things considered. Probably since most of her patients were females whose mates didn’t like other males knowing too much about their females.

“Yeah, she smells sickly, but I don’t know what’s wrong exactly. And she’s got selective mutism, so Mason suggested sending her texts to make her more comfortable around me to help with that.”

“That is a good idea; he should’ve trained to be a doctor; he has the right personality for it…. No one said that the eldest had to be the sleuth leader…”

“Mom, everyone in the shifter community takes the eldest as the next in line.” Leeson chuckled.

“Doesn’t mean it’s right. You take the one with the talent for it. No point forcing someone into a role that makes them miserable,” Mom retorted indignantly.

“But Mason is better equipped as a leader, and he likes that type of thing.”

“You haven’t decided what you’re going to do. I know there’s time before you have to find your passion, but what are you going to do when we step down?” Mom asked with hopeful interest.

“I’m fine with managing the contracts, Mom. I’ve already passed the bar, so why not continue in my line?”

“But what else?”

“Woo my mate and raise my cubs.” He answered with a faint smile at the thought of having little girls like his beautiful mate.

“Fine!” Mom sighed when he cut off her questioning like he always did. They all knew his mom had hoped he or his brother would also become doctors. “Let us know the plans, Leeson.” A moment later he heard her squeak, and the line went dead. Yeah, Dad had had enough talking. He chuckled and continued on to find a hotel to stay in while he solved his adorable mate conundrum.