Free Mending the Bear by Vanessa Devereaux Page B

stay at the hospital for a few days to make sure he’s
okay. Charlotte’s on the night shift and she said she’ll keep a close eye on
him.”
    “Can we go visit with him?” Cade asked.
    “Sure, but don’t tire him out too much.
He’s in room five.”
    They walked down the hallway and to their left,
where through the glass window they saw Charlie sitting in bed with his eyes
closed. They tiptoed in and Ian thought maybe he was asleep. He suddenly opened
his eyes and looked straight at them. “Boys what are you doing here? It’s
almost ten.”
    “We came to see you,” Ian said, perching
himself on the side of the bed. He lifted Charlie’s hand and sandwiched it between both of his. Poor Charlie’s arms and chest had never
fully healed from the burns he suffered the night they’d landed here. He’d been
so brave, saved so many, and tried to save a whole lot more who sadly didn’t
make it through the night. Even in his bear form, fur was still missing in the
spots where he’d been so badly singed.
    “You feeling okay?” Cade asked.
    Ian saw they were giving Charlie oxygen
through feed a tube in his nose. He wheezed slightly as he took a deep breath
to answer them. “A lot better since they got me here. Guess old age is creeping
up on this bear.”
    “You’ve still got lots of years ahead of
you,” Ian said.
    “I’d like to think that, but I have to prepare
for the inevitable. No creature, shifter or human is immortal.”
    Ian knew that Charlie was the oldest bear
shifters. He was their sage, the person everyone went to for advice. What would
they do when he was gone? Who would take over as head Spirit Guardian?
    “So my young bear, I hear you ran wild in Goodsen’s supermarket.”
    When would people forget about that?
    “Yeah, bit of a crazy day for me, but
Joanne’s a sensible bear. She’ll come to her senses.”
    “Is that what you want? Because a little
bird told me you’ve been seen dinning with a human. I didn’t raise you to be
dating one woman while you’re trying to win back another. That’s not what
you’re trying to do, is it?”
    Both Charlie and Cade looked at him. It
was just like sitting in front of the shifter board all over again. When would
people get off his case?
    “Joanne is my mate,” he said.
    “Ian, a true mate wouldn’t do what she
did. You know that just as much as I do. Max Goodsen is her mate. You have to accept it and perhaps this human is your mate. Have
your sensed that in any way?”
    He wasn’t sure. He did enjoy her company
more than he could ever have imagined, but was that enough?
    “Wouldn’t you feel that I’d let you down
if I picked a human mate?” he asked, knowing that Charlie was the most
traditional bear he knew.
    “It’s not for me to say, but fate. You
know how these things work. Many of the bear shifters are picking human mates
and I think it’s a smart plan. Our genes will eventually die out. We’re having
trouble reproducing among ourselves and this way it ensures our species lives
on. Look at all the wonderful hybrid babies being born. Have you ever seen
anything so beautiful as a child with a bear father and a human mother?”
    While he wasn’t into babies and all that
cute stuff, he had to admit some of the babies who’d been born to shifters like
Aiden, Christopher, and Dane were beautiful. Not to mention the triplets that
Trent’s human mate had produced for him.
    “Now, I want to meet this human that
you’re seeing just in case she is your mate and I don’t live long enough to
check her out and give her my seal of approval.” He winked at Ian.
    “And you Cade, any chance that you’ve
found your mate, or Trey for that matter? I was hoping for spirit grandchildren
to spoil.”
    “I’ve been busy looking for a place for my
motorbike business,” said Cade.
    “I’d die a happy bear if I knew all my
spirit children had found their mates.”
    Someone knocked on the door. Ian turned to
see Charlotte standing there in her