Free Grayslake: More than Mated: Secrets to Bear (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Flora Dare

and rested her head against the cool column.
    She muttered, "Stupid, stupid boys." She wasn't asking him to stay away, just to give her breathing room. Or even just to see her point of view.
    "Little bit of a fight?" Lira almost leapt out of her skin. It was Nancy.
    "You could say that. He just keeps pushing me.” And it wasn’t something she wanted to talk about at the moment. “Did you need anything in particular?"
    "Well, I was sent to offer a second dessert, but that was before Jake roared off into the night in an epic huff."
    "Ah, so dessert and cockblocking?"
    "You know them all too well. You know, I thought Memaw was a holy terror before, but her and Gran? They are an unstoppable machine of lavender, cookies and slightly judgmental eyebrow lifts."
    "Slightly judgmental?"
    The teen pointed at the house, "I'm only saying slightly because I'm pretty sure they’re listening in and I don't want to lose dessert privileges."
    Lira laughed and let Nancy pull her into the house. They might be holy terrors, but their lemon tart was pretty dynamite.
     

Chapter Eleven
     
    Lira stomped through the woods, grumbling to herself. "I mean, really, what is the point of this exercise? To get in touch with nature?"
    She stopped to flick a mosquito off her arm. Nature could suck it. "That is so much more nature than I want to encounter. Stupid bugs, why do they like me so much?"
    She looked at the map and the compass. She still seemed to be on the right track. The meadow should be just ahead. She pushed her way through the overgrown path. The bag was starting to weigh her down. At least after she ate the massive lunch Grace had packed, she's be carrying more of the weight in her belly, not on her back.
    Magda swore up and down that Lira would understand once she got to the stupid meadow. That she would feel better about her background and being part shifter. Which was silly.
    Still, she had been cooped up at the B&B for a while, and since she and Jake were pretty actively not talking after their fight, the walk couldn't hurt.
    Lira looked up at the sky and felt sorry for herself. Why was she fighting against Jake so hard? Her heart sped up when she saw him. She wanted to throw herself in his arms and if she was honest with herself, feel him between her legs again.
    The truth she was having trouble admitting to herself, and why she fought against him, was that Ethan never had the power to hurt her. She had been upset catching him with Angela, but it was more the betrayal of trust from her former best friend. She'd been more relieved to be free of Ethan. That's why she never really lost her temper about it.
    She'd been happy to have a reason.
    And she was scared to death of trusting Jake with her heart because he could hurt her so easily.
    As she made the epiphany, she stepped into a glorious meadow. It was a sea of wild flowers with a wide, flat rock in the center. She picked her way through the winding path. It led to a smooth area that was perfect for a picnic. She set her pack down and stared up at the perfect sky.
    She felt peace settle over her roiled emotions. She might not be entirely cool with her newly discovered background, but as she rummaged in the bag Magda had packed, she understood the little smile on her face.
    Magda had squeezed her hand and said it was a favorite spot of her mother's, and that she often retreated there when she had a lot of things to think over. Lira pulled things out of the pack. At the top was a blanket she spread over the rock. Her lunch was a series of separately wrapped little treats. She pulled out the water bottle and took a swig while she opened them up.
    She could imagine her mother sitting with her, showing her all the things about Grayslake that she'd loved. "Stupid cancer. I wish I had gotten to know you better. At all. I was 8. That just isn't enough time. It's not fair." Even as she said the words into the air, Lira knew she was lucky. "Thank you for making sure Magda was there for