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“Right place but wrong time,” she reminds him in turn, and we all chuckle again.
I haven’t laughed this freely in ages. I so rarely have the chance to forget that I am the leader of our clan, that I have to keep everyone safe and protected, that it is always the well-being of everyone else, before my own. It is a promise I gave willingly, but sometimes, it feels good to be seen and heard again not as a leader, but just as a man.
“I feel like that sums up my life pretty accurately,” she adds, sounding sad. “Right place, wrong time. Nothing I ever did came easily. I always seemed to stumble onto numerous obstacles on the road to getting what I want. I’m not saying thatI’m lazy or selfish, that I deserve to have it easy, but I feel like I had to struggle more for the things I wanted in life.”
“Did you get them eventually?” I wonder.
“No,” she shakes her head at me.
“What is it you want?” Cal jumps in.
At first, she doesn’t reply. She seems to ponder, and we give her all the time she needs. Eventually, words start flowing out of her.
“What everyone wants,” she says simply, staring at the fire, which is illuminating her entire face, giving her an unearthly glow. “To be happy.”
“How does photographing bear shifters make you happy?” Cal asks again, a bit clumsily, but it is a question I, too, would like to know the answer to.
She turns to him. “My parents think that my profession is a joke. My younger sister is a lawyer. Now, her profession is something they admire. Can you imagine that? She isn’t a prosecutor. No. She defends criminals and finds loopholes in the law for them to get away with all sorts of stuff.That is what my parents are proud of. Not me. Not someone following their dream. But I guess I don’t have a big house with a pool, I don’t make a shitload of money. I’m a failure in their eyes.”
“Hey…” Cal says gently, taking her by the hand. “We don’t think you’re a failure. Your sister is a sellout. But you… you’re following your dreams.”
“Silly dreams,” she corrects him.
“Silly or not, that means you remain true to yourself,” he is still speaking to her gently, as if she were a child that needs a hug.
“I guess proving that bear shifters are real means proving that I’m not a failure,” she explains, and we finally understand why she is here despite everything and against all odds. She feels that this is all she has left.
“In that case, we’ll help you,” Cal blurts out, and my eyes widen with shock.
He throws a glance in my direction but doesn’t say anything.
“Do you really mean it?” she asks, her voice on the verge of breaking.
It is obvious that this is a very tender, intimate moment for her. Cal shouldn’t have made promises that he could not keep. He knows that we’re not supposed to reveal ourselves to any human. We aren’t allowed to ever make such a mistake again.
As for Elena, she will probably realize that this was a wild goose chase, and she will return home, disappointed. While it pains me to think that, I can’t help her. I can’t risk the well-being of our entire clan for one human, no matter how crazy attracted to her I am. And Cal, for that matter.
Just as I’m about to partially agree with Cal, to end the topic, we hear rustling in the bushes behind us. Cal and I jump, sheltering Elena with our bodies. Moments later, a member of our clan jumps out in front of us.
“Phillip?” Cal gasps. I notice his fingers are still curled into fists. “What are you doing here?”
He’s still breathing heavily, the result of having run all the way here. He says just two words and I know how serious it is.
“They’re here.”
Chapter Seven
Elena
“Who’s here?” I ask, stunned by shock.
It is obvious that they know exactly what is going on and who is coming, but I don’t. And the concern in their eyes is making me feel afraid.
“The b…” the man they referred to as Phillip starts, but only then does he seem to realize I’m here as well, so he stops himself. “They… are.” His eyes search Rock’s for guidance, and Rock takes over immediately.
“We have to go,” he says instead of a response to my question.
“Where?” I ask again, sensing the urgency of the moment, and also the danger.
