An Unexpected Affair Read Online Free Page A
Author: Lorelei Moone
heartbeat had sped up into a frantic pace.
Shit. She had spotted him.
Both froze, Clarice with her arms wrapped around herself, and Derek partially hidden behind one of the thicker trees in this part of the woods. Seconds passed as she continued to look in his direction, and then her breaths as well as her heartbeat relaxed, and she started to walk back to where she had come from before: the farm.
He breathed a sigh of relief as well, then made his way deeper into the woods, taking care to only walk on those extra mossy patches on the ground so that he didn't make any noise. Once again, a very close call.
That was it. He had to resort to desperate measures if he was going to remain sane throughout her stay. He left her to walk back to her cottage on her own and ran.
As fast as his paws could carry him, he pushed on until he had made it to the edge of his territory. There he let out an almighty roar, calling out for whoever was listening. Bears were territorial, so his call was bound to be noticed.
"Derek," a calm, if slightly cold female voice called out to him, almost an hour after he had reached the no-man's-land that lay between his and his closest neighbors' lands. Elise - his older cousin from his mother's side - had come to answer his call.
He nodded and waited patiently as the female approached. The light brown bear that emerged from the shrubbery surrounding his meeting place of choice eyed him suspiciously.
"What brings you here?" Elise asked.
"This is going to be awkward, but I was hoping for some insights." Derek straightened himself in an attempt to appear rather more confident than he felt. It was a massive hit to his pride, coming here for advice, but even though they hadn't been close ever since he'd taken over the farm, Elise was still family. He didn't know who else to turn to. "As you know, other bears are hard to find nowadays. I was wondering if you could share some information, for old times' sake."
"What about?" Elise asked.
"Uhh... it's rather delicate."
"Just spit it out, Derek."
"When you and Jack got together, it was fate, wasn't it?"
The female bear cocked her head to the side and simply stared at him.
"Was it?" Derek pushed again.
"I wouldn't say
fate,
but I knew immediately what was going on."
"I don't understand, the way Mum used to talk about what happened between Dad and her, she said it was their destiny to pair up."
"Your mother always was the romantic sort. No, I'm convinced it's biology, pure and simple. We pick our mates according to who is most compatible biologically. It's nature at work; that's all."
"But it only happens once in a lifetime?" Derek asked.
"Again, it's in our best interests to mate for life, to ensure the survival of our cubs. Once we pair up, our brains release certain hormones to ensure we remain faithful to that one significant other."
"Right." Derek paused for a moment, uncertain about how to ask the most pressing question on his mind. "So it's all to do with producing healthy offspring, correct? Which means this sort of thing could only happen with another bear..."
"What are you suggesting? You've developed a crush on a wolf or something?" Elise curled her lips, revealing a row of perfectly white sharp teeth in something somewhere between a smile and a sneer. The rivalry between wolves and bears ran deep, so it wasn't surprising for her to tease him like that.
"Not exactly."
Elise observed him in silence, which made him even more uneasy.
"Have you ever heard of a bear choosing a human mate?" he asked at last. As awkward as the situation was, he really did need to know. And there wasn't another bear to ask for many miles.
"A human..." Elise sat down in the damp heather, seemingly lost in thought. "Apparently in the cities, inter-species dating is a lot more common than it used to be. The challenges are many, though. It only works for those who have chosen to live fully in the human world and lost their bear side. However, now I'm reminded of
Shit. She had spotted him.
Both froze, Clarice with her arms wrapped around herself, and Derek partially hidden behind one of the thicker trees in this part of the woods. Seconds passed as she continued to look in his direction, and then her breaths as well as her heartbeat relaxed, and she started to walk back to where she had come from before: the farm.
He breathed a sigh of relief as well, then made his way deeper into the woods, taking care to only walk on those extra mossy patches on the ground so that he didn't make any noise. Once again, a very close call.
That was it. He had to resort to desperate measures if he was going to remain sane throughout her stay. He left her to walk back to her cottage on her own and ran.
As fast as his paws could carry him, he pushed on until he had made it to the edge of his territory. There he let out an almighty roar, calling out for whoever was listening. Bears were territorial, so his call was bound to be noticed.
"Derek," a calm, if slightly cold female voice called out to him, almost an hour after he had reached the no-man's-land that lay between his and his closest neighbors' lands. Elise - his older cousin from his mother's side - had come to answer his call.
He nodded and waited patiently as the female approached. The light brown bear that emerged from the shrubbery surrounding his meeting place of choice eyed him suspiciously.
"What brings you here?" Elise asked.
"This is going to be awkward, but I was hoping for some insights." Derek straightened himself in an attempt to appear rather more confident than he felt. It was a massive hit to his pride, coming here for advice, but even though they hadn't been close ever since he'd taken over the farm, Elise was still family. He didn't know who else to turn to. "As you know, other bears are hard to find nowadays. I was wondering if you could share some information, for old times' sake."
"What about?" Elise asked.
"Uhh... it's rather delicate."
"Just spit it out, Derek."
"When you and Jack got together, it was fate, wasn't it?"
The female bear cocked her head to the side and simply stared at him.
"Was it?" Derek pushed again.
"I wouldn't say
fate,
but I knew immediately what was going on."
"I don't understand, the way Mum used to talk about what happened between Dad and her, she said it was their destiny to pair up."
"Your mother always was the romantic sort. No, I'm convinced it's biology, pure and simple. We pick our mates according to who is most compatible biologically. It's nature at work; that's all."
"But it only happens once in a lifetime?" Derek asked.
"Again, it's in our best interests to mate for life, to ensure the survival of our cubs. Once we pair up, our brains release certain hormones to ensure we remain faithful to that one significant other."
"Right." Derek paused for a moment, uncertain about how to ask the most pressing question on his mind. "So it's all to do with producing healthy offspring, correct? Which means this sort of thing could only happen with another bear..."
"What are you suggesting? You've developed a crush on a wolf or something?" Elise curled her lips, revealing a row of perfectly white sharp teeth in something somewhere between a smile and a sneer. The rivalry between wolves and bears ran deep, so it wasn't surprising for her to tease him like that.
"Not exactly."
Elise observed him in silence, which made him even more uneasy.
"Have you ever heard of a bear choosing a human mate?" he asked at last. As awkward as the situation was, he really did need to know. And there wasn't another bear to ask for many miles.
"A human..." Elise sat down in the damp heather, seemingly lost in thought. "Apparently in the cities, inter-species dating is a lot more common than it used to be. The challenges are many, though. It only works for those who have chosen to live fully in the human world and lost their bear side. However, now I'm reminded of
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