Fairly Bear

Eight – Caring for Her

Ulrich

It was late afternoon when he had finally worked out his annoyance with Rupert. They went to shower off the blood and dirt; Rupert was limping slightly still, but at least their wounds were healed. They pulled on the pants they had spares of everywhere; well, he did, because no one else was his size, so he needed to keep his own pants everywhere he usually went.

Sometimes, being the only bear shifter was a problem, mostly when it came to clothes after shifting.

He stopped off at their favorite eatery in the pack grounds and ordered three large fries and some medium rare steaks cut into ribbons. He added some apple pies and fruit with frozen yoghurt to go with it; he wanted to make sure that his Tessa would not go hungry again. It was his duty as her mate to keep her safe and healthy. He asked them to put everything together in large containers so they could all eat out of the same container and she could see it wasn’t drugged.

She might know what they were now, but it didn’t mean that she trusted them. Rupert had told him that Miranda was about to come off duty, so they could all eat dinner together to help smooth things over with his mate. He wasn’t sure what to do or say around her; he wasn’t particularly good with words, which was why Miranda and Rupert had learned to read his grunts and growls more than expecting him to speak what he thought.

As he entered the room, his Tessa let out the most adorable growl a moment before she slapped both her hands over her mouth in surprise. It was obvious she had not expected to make that growl; he guessed it was her bear getting excited over the scent of food since she had all but starved herself since she woke, aside from their sugar binge.

Rupert shoved past him and rushed over to her, holding up his hand for her. “High five on your first growl, Tessa!”

She giggled and slapped his offered hand, making Ulrich and his bear annoyed with the contact his mate was giving to Rupert instead of him. Why didn’t she want to be so open with him? He’d been keeping vigil next to her bed since he’d found her; did she not want him?

“My man, Ulrich, bought us all dinner so we could have another picnic here. You’re going to love dinner; this place has the best steaks in the world! And he brought dessert, too!” Rupert hyped him up for bringing dinner.

Alright, he might not be as pissed with Rupert anymore; just a little less pissed for being a half decent wingman, but still pissed for touching his mate.

“Why do you never wear shirts? Can’t you afford shirts?” She asked, genuinely curious; his little mate was coming out of her shell! At that moment, Miranda entered and she glanced at her. “Wait, she’s wearing a shirt. So it’s that you can’t find shirts in sizes huge and humongous!”

Ulrich couldn’t help smiling at her rapid-fire questions and comments while Miranda and Rupert chuckled. She was adorably talkative when she wasn’t scared.

“Our mate is perfect! She called us humongous! That’s a compliment! And she hasn’t even seen us in our bear form.” Unger all but preened in his mind.

“You got a smile out of Ulrich!” Miranda squealed with excitement. “He actually smiled!”

Even Rupert was staring at him with wide eyes and his jaw slack in his amazement. He was slightly insulted at their reaction. “I smile.” He grunted indignantly. They acted like he never smiled.

“No…no, you quirk one side of your lips up in something akin to a grimace…that was a smile, teeth and all.” Rupert answered. “My girl, Tessa got a smile out of Ulrich!” He grinned at her and held his fist to her for a fist bump, which caused him to growl.

Why did he always have to touch his mate?

“And grump is back…” Tessa pouted cutely.

“Eat.” He grunted, opening the container with the steaks and fries, taking one out of the container to prove it wasn’t drugged, while Miranda rushed out of the room on a mission. Maybe she was called to an emergency?

Next thing, she returned with some paper plates and handed them out. She even brought tongs to dish out steak and chips to everyone, but Ulrich growled in warning.

“Oh, right! Sorry!” She gave him an apologetic smile before she held the tongs so Tessa could take it. “I forgot; female bears get first choice of the food before anyone else gets to eat.” She smiled faintly at Tessa.

Tessa was confused as she stared at them. “Orsa says it depends on their rank…?”

“Orsa…” Unger sighed dreamily in his head. “Our little she-bear! Her name is perfect!”

Ulrich had to agree with him. She might be considered an average-sized human female at 5’7, but she was still little to him. She was his little she-bear. It took him a moment to realize that everyone was looking at him expectantly.

Apparently, Rupert and Miranda were waiting for him to confess she was his mate and, thus, was the highest rank as the matriarch, but that was a private matter that he didn’t want to do it in front of them. Instead he grunted and nodded his head towards the food, looking straight at Tessa so she would know that she was supposed to get first choice.

Rupert literally slapped himself on the forehead and slowly shook his head as if he was disappointed in his reaction. What was he supposed to do? He was a bear; things with his mate were between him and his mate. The wolves might be fine sharing everything in front of their pack mates, but bears were more private.

Hesitantly, Tessa selected a small amount of food. That was not enough for her. He grunted in disagreement and stared at her until she added more food to her plate while he held her gaze. His mate needed food to heal so she could come home with him.

He nodded when she had loaded her plate with enough meat and fries. “You’re a real grump-growler, aren’t you? You grunt or growl instead of talking. Does that mean your bear is talking?” She asked with curiosity.

“I’m offended! You make our mate think I don’t have an eloquent use of the English language! How is it my fault that you growl like some kind of wild beast? Do better; our mate thinks we’re savage.”

Ulrich snorted with amusement at his bear’s indignation.

“He did it again…” Rupert mused with an astonished grin. “I swear that’s more than we’ve seen in years. I bet you can’t make him laugh out loud, though. Fifty bucks says you can only coax a smile out of him.” He grinned, balancing his overloaded plate on one hand while he held his hand to Tessa in a challenge.

Tessa grinned mischievously at him, but did not take his offered hand. “I’ll take that bet.” Miranda grinned while she shook her brother’s hand.

How had his smiles and laughter become a bet to his friends? He shook his head at them in disbelief. He’d somehow ended up being their new bet; this was a first. No one ever risked making a bet about him. He’d always been avoided or respected in the pack, mostly because no one wanted to risk his anger.

Once everyone had their food and was eating in companionable silence - aside from the small moans of pleasure coming from his mate that was wreaking havoc on him – Miranda seemed to recall her earlier question.

“Oh, right. About the clothes thing. We tend to keep clothes in certain areas because we need them when we shift into our human form. Not that nudity bothers us – most of us – but, the males usually keep pants in certain hiding spots once they shift back to their human form.”

“So what do the females do? Just walk around naked?” Tessa asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ulrich nearly choked on his food as he remembered seeing her in the shower earlier. Rupert started snort-laughing, both at his reaction and Tessa’s words.

Miranda rolled her eyes at her brother’s immaturity and then smiled at Tessa. “Well, we usually keep a sundress or pants and shirts in our regular spots. Once we’re mated, the males are very possessive and demanding about who gets to see us naked; ironically, they don’t mind walking around naked even when they’re mated.”

“So they try to rule over the women?” Tessa scowled at that thought.

Miranda smiled at her with amusement. “They may try, but they rarely win it all. Bears are apparently very different. They dislike someone touching their mate; it’s considered an insult to them. From what I hear, having a bear mate is bliss!”

“Hey! You make us wolves sound like asses.” Rupert protested indignantly.

“You are an ass, brother.” She smiled sweetly at him.

“You’re my twin; you’re supposed to be at my side…” He pouted at Miranda.

Tessa giggled and Ulrich noticed that she’d already emptied her plate. He was so proud of her. He stood and took the two options of dessert out of the bag and placed them in front of her.

“Do I get one or both?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Both.” They growled with quiet adoration.

“You know; I don’t mind you being a grump-growler so much if you bring me snacks.” She grinned while she was already pouncing on the frozen yoghurt and fruit with a look of glee on her face.

Ulrich couldn’t help the rumble of contentment at her words that showed she was accepting of him and what he was trying to do, as he watched her fondly while she licked the spoon with a moan of delight.

“Aww! Ulrich made a happy!” Rupert cooed teasingly, completely ruining the good mood he was in.

“What do you mean?” Tessa asked in confusion.

“That rumbling sound he just made is how bears show they’re happy or content.” Miranda decided to turn the teasing into a teaching moment.

Ulrich was surprised when she made the same kind of rumbling sound suddenly, while he was still standing close to her. It took everything in him not to gather her into his arms like he’d been longing to do since he had carried her back to the hospital. But he needed to explain how truly important she was to him, before he followed his instincts and his bear’s demands.

The problem was that he wasn’t sure how to articulate it with the correct amount of importance, so she could understand exactly what her presence in his life meant to him. For once, he wished he could be poetic, so he had the words and phrases to win his mate’s heart.

He knew for a fact that he would have to win her heart, since she had grown up a human and had not had a lifetime to dream about finding her mate. She had no real idea what it entailed and he would have to somehow win her over when he had never tried to win another’s heart. He was completely out of his depth and it terrified him that his future depended on him winning her heart somehow.

All he could hope for was that she would fall in love with him while he was taking care of her, because he would certainly not be able to win her over by being glib.