Free Goldilocks by Patria L. Dunn

father walked in. He wanted to tell her not to worry, but he knew it would be pointless. She always worried when either of them were out in the woods, especially on days when his father forced a tunnel collapse. He was just about to offer to go out and look for him when the door swung inward, Rone’s giant form filling the frame from top to bottom.
    He shifted immediately from bear to human as he stepped across the threshold; grabbing the biggest robe they had hanging on the pegs by the door, wrapping it around his body tightly. Jake’s mother breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes widening at the glimpse she’d caught of the angry looking scratches across her husband’s forearms and neck. By morning they would be healed, but it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t fuss in the meantime.
    There were no formalities as they all slid into their places at the table in the middle of the den, Jake passing over a bowl of fresh baked biscuits the second his father sat down. Rone didn’t speak until his wi fe joined them, her large brown eyes wary of what he was about to say.
    “Caught two more wolves tonight,” he warned Jake, breaking his bread in two and dipping it in to the hearty stew before continuing. “The deeper we go, the bigger they get. I told you earlier that the one you saw put up a hell of a fight. We’re getting closer and closer to the bottom. It won’t be long before…”
    “Which is why the council should be called,” Jake’s mother murmured softly, her eyes on her husbands as their gazes met across the table.
    “Not yet Marigold,” Rone’s warning rumbled deep in his chest, his head shaking at his wife when she turned her worried eyes to their son.
    He doesn’t need you scaring him…
    He’s my son too and…
    “I hate when you do that,” Jake spoke up, his mind shoving against the blocked thoughts his parents were exchanging. “I’m not a child, and I know about the new mine inspector…”
    “How could you, weren’t you on patrol all day?” Rone challenged, his massive hands curling into a fist.
    “I was, but I saw them at old man Jacobs ’ cabin, and I assumed with all the rumors…”
    “Them?” Marigold ’s eyes went from Jake to her husbands, her brows lifting in question.
    “He has a daughter. Hannah… ” Jake breathed the girl’s name softly, his eyes lowering as his cheeks flooded with heat.
    The block he threw up around his memory of her wasn’t fast enough, his father was in, his nostrils flaring at Jake’s remembered scent of oranges and vanilla. Alarm dotted his mother’s already worried features as Jake’s memories of the girl were shared between the three of them, disapproval shattering the intimate pieces he’d tried to keep hidden.
    “Get out of my head!” Jake snapped, slamming his fi st down on the thick pine table, his block stronger this time, forcing his parents away from his memories of Hannah and her father.
    “She’s h uman,” Rone stated the obvious, lifting his bowl to his lips for a long slow slurp.
    “I saw her, that’s all,” Jake shrugged, pretending indifference to the girl that had been in his thoughts for two days now.
    “You can’t get distracted on your patrol. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you to stay away from the pass.”
    “It was only that once, and I was tracking!” Jake snapped, his biscuit now crushed to crumbs between his fingers.
    It hadn’t been only that one time. Just today -from the base of the mountain- he’d spotted her running up the old mining trail that started at old man Jacobs’ cabin, her long legs carrying her with surprising agility through the twist and turns, over broken limbs and vines that had taken over what had once been a road long ago. He’d hidden in the trees, getting as close as he could when she stopped, bent over and panting from her run. Even from a distance of about fifty yards away he could hear her sharp intakes of breath, smell the mint that mixed in as she exhaled