Page 6 of Bear Love’s Hidden Destiny (Esoterra Shifters World #3)

Chapter Six

Benedict

The moment the tree’s bark split open, my bear roared to life inside me.

I stepped in front of Isabella, shielding her with my body as the glowing amber eyes blinked from within the wood.

This was no trick of the light. It was a sentient guardian, one of the ancient protectors of Esoterra, waking from its slumber.

That only happened when the Veil itself was unstable, when something disrupted the magic holding this place together.

My heart pounded, but I kept my face calm, pressing my palm against the rough bark.

I murmured a grounding phrase in the old tongue, words I hadn’t spoken in years, passed down from my father.

The eyes flickered, then closed, the bark knitting itself back together until the tree stood still again.

But the warning was clear. The forest wasn’t sleeping anymore, and Isabella was the reason.

I turned to her, her eyes wide, the journal clutched in her hands. “We need to keep moving,” I said, my voice low but firm. “Stay close.”

“What was that?” she asked, her voice steady despite the shock on her face. “Those eyes, Benedict. That wasn’t normal.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I said, guiding her forward with a hand on her arm. “It’s a guardian. They only wake when something’s wrong. We don’t have time to talk about it now. Come on.”

She nodded, falling into step beside me, but I could see the questions burning in her eyes.

The trail wound deeper into the oldest part of Esoterra, where the trees grew thicker, their roots twisting like veins under the earth.

The air was heavy, thick with the scent of moss and magic.

I led her toward the hidden hollow, a place even most shifters born here had never seen.

My bear was on edge, senses sharp, picking up every rustle, every shift in the fog.

Isabella stayed close, her flashlight beam cutting through the dark, but I could feel her tension, her curiosity driving her forward despite the danger.

We reached the entrance to the hollow, a massive pine towering over it, its roots gripping a stone structure like claws.

The air felt heavier here, the Veil’s magic pulsing faintly.

I pushed aside a curtain of vines, revealing a narrow tunnel carved into the rock.

“This is it,” I said, glancing at her. “The heart of Esoterra. Stay behind me.”

She didn’t argue, just followed as I ducked into the tunnel, the walls closing in around us.

The air inside was cool, smelling of dust and ancient earth.

We emerged into a chamber, its walls covered in faded carvings, symbols that matched the ones in her journal.

The space was round, maybe thirty feet across, with a low ceiling that made it feel like the forest was pressing down on us.

A small altar sat in the center, half-buried under vines, a stone tablet set into its surface.

Even in the dim light of our flashlights, I could see the rune etched into it, the same claw-and-flame mark that was on my tattoo, on her journal.

Isabella moved forward, her hands drifting over the carvings, her eyes scanning the walls. “These are the same symbols,” she said, her voice soft but excited. “My grandfather drew these. He was here.”

“Careful,” I said, staying close. “This place hasn’t been touched in years.”

She knelt by the altar, brushing away the vines to reveal the tablet.

Her fingers traced the rune, and the moment she touched it, the room hummed, a low vibration that made my bear growl.

I stepped forward, ready to pull her back, but the tablet flared with light, bright and sudden.

Isabella’s body went rigid, her eyes wide and unfocused, like she was seeing something I couldn’t.

Her hand stayed on the tablet, her breath hitching, and I grabbed her shoulders, ready to catch her if she fell.

“Isabella,” I said, my voice sharp. “Can you hear me?”

She didn’t answer, her body trembling under my hands.

The light pulsed, then faded, and she collapsed to her knees, gasping.

I caught her before she hit the ground, easing her down, my hands steady on her arms. Her skin was clammy, her eyes wet, but she was breathing, her chest heaving as she tried to speak.

“What happened?” I asked, keeping my voice calm. “What did you see?”

She swallowed, her voice shaky. “It was a vision. A fire, burning through the forest. The sky was red, the treetops were swallowed in flames. Shifters were running, human and animal forms, all panicking. There was a group of people, cloaked in green and brown, standing by a big stone, like this one. One of them was older, taller, with a scar on his cheek. It was my grandfather, Benedict. Younger, but it was him.”

I nodded, urging her to keep going. “What were they doing?”

“They were casting a spell,” she said, her eyes distant.

“He spoke in a language I didn’t know, but I understood it.

They were sealing Esoterra, putting up a barrier to keep the human world out.

My grandfather took a medallion off his neck, pressed it into the ground, and said a vow.

The energy shot up, like a wave, and the barrier spread.

One of the others, a younger one, argued.

He said scattering the bloodlines in the human world would doom Esoterra’s future.

My grandfather said the blood would return one day, but they had to act then, or everything would burn. ”

I listened, my stomach twisting. I knew about the sealing, the ritual that hid Esoterra decades ago. But her seeing it, that was something else. “Anything else?” I asked.

She nodded, her voice dropping. “There was someone watching, in the trees. A shifter, with eyes like a snake, his face half-hidden. He had black runes on his skin, deep, like they were carved there. He wasn’t part of the ritual.

He was just waiting, smiling. It felt wrong, Benedict. Like he was planning something.”

My blood ran cold. I knew that description. Malric, a rogue shifter exiled long before I was born, believed dead. If her vision showed him alive, the Veilborn’s return was more dangerous than I’d thought. “You’re sure about the runes?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.

“Yes,” she said, her eyes meeting mine. “I can still see his face. It was like he was looking at me, not just the ritual. And my grandfather, it wasn’t just a memory. It was a message, meant for me.”

I helped her sit up, her skin still pale, her hands shaking. “You okay?” I asked, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

“I think so,” she said, her voice steadier now. “I felt him, Benedict. My grandfather. Like he was trying to tell me something.”

I nodded, my mind racing. Malric’s presence in her vision changed everything.

The Council would see her as a threat now, no question, especially if she was tied to the old bloodlines.

But my bear was already rejecting the idea of turning her over.

She was mine, the bond stronger than any order.

“We need to be careful,” I said. “That shifter you saw, he’s bad news.

If he’s still out there, this place isn’t safe. ”

“Then we need to figure out what my grandfather wanted me to do,” she said, standing up, her legs wobbly but her eyes clear. “I’m not running away. Not now.”

I stood with her, my hand on her arm to steady her. “I’m with you,” I said. “But we do this my way. No more running off alone.”

She gave me a small smile. “Deal. But you’d better not hold back on me anymore.”

I chuckled, despite the weight in my chest. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

We moved toward the tunnel, the air in the chamber still humming faintly.

The carvings seemed to watch us, their symbols glowing in the dim light.

Isabella clutched the journal, her fingers tight around it, like it was the only thing keeping her grounded.

I kept her close, my senses sharp, the forest’s warning still ringing in my head.

The guardian’s eyes, the Veil’s instability, her vision, it all pointed to something bigger, something dangerous.

From outside the hollow, the sound of low growling broke the quiet. I rose, the scent of another shifter thick on the air. Whoever was out there was not an ally. And they were not alone.