Page 15

Chapter Fifteen

She Wore Her Bad Decisions Like a Sleeve of Tattoos

Bellamy

I’d never seen a bear shifter resemble a Cheshire cat until I saw Shirley grin at her granddaughter like she’d just found her prey. Clover’s sapphire eyes were wide, her plump pink lips parted. It wasn’t often my…Clover was speechless, but right now she was frozen in place.

Fix this for her, my bear demanded.

I couldn’t waste time arguing with him about how that was the worst possible thing I could do. Clover needed to win this battle on her own. I could help her find answers and pick up the pieces that were sure to fall, but if we were right…

No wonder Clover was stunned. Shirley was the matriarch of our clan. A mother figure to all of us. The one who fixed our shit when we didn’t know how to do it on our own.

Not trusting her felt traitorous. Like it would have consequences.

“Nana,” Clover finally managed. “What are you doing in Granger Falls?”

“Making sure that you’re okay, dear.” Shirley placed her hand over her heart in dramatic fashion. “When you didn’t come back home, I was sure that you and Bellamy had reconciled. But even if you had, it wasn’t like you not to call me. My intuition told me that I needed to come to Granger Falls.”

Clover was frozen.

“You knew I found her,” I said carefully, not to allow the growl that was begging to come out to get its way.

“I needed to see her with my own eyes, Bellamy.”

I lifted my chin. “You didn’t trust me?”

Her gaze landed squarely on me. My bear saw it as a direct challenge. No, I couldn’t shift in the middle of Sawtooth Sweets. We were still outnumbered by humans in town, and even though they knew many of their neighbors had a second identity, being confronted with that reality often caused chaos.

“Your alliances very well could have changed since you left the pack.”

“He left because of me,” Clover clarified. “Because I rejected him.”

I groaned, all too aware of the eyes on us in the busy bakery, and I didn’t need for everyone in town to come up close and personal with the intimate details of my past. If Clover stayed?—

Ugh. I couldn’t let myself get sidetracked by the fantasy this woman came to say she made a mistake. She wore those bad decisions proudly like a sleeve of tattoos. And I couldn’t let any of it soften the blow that her grandmother might have just become an enemy.

Was I using this case as a last ditch effort to prove myself to the clan? To throw my middle fingers in the air and let them know they’d made a mistake by letting my leave so easily?

Like any of them could have made you stay , my bear reminded me.

“He’s agreed to help us find the locket,” Clover continued. “But Bellamy is a security specialist. You were glued to the TV during the whole Moonlight Mates drama. You’ve seen him in action. Now his services are in demand and he’s doing us a huge favor, offering to help.”

Shirley scoffed. “It’s no trouble to help your clan.”

“What did we do for him after he felt like he had to leave? Yes, I’m owning that it’s my fault, but we aren’t talking about me right now. We’re talking about you.” And like grandmother, like granddaughter, now it was Clover’s turn to wear the Cheshire cat grin. This time, it made my dick rock hard. “The locket, more specifically.”

Oh, that glare was practically enough to melt the glass that enclosed us in the bakery.

“We need more information about the locket.” Now that Clover had handed her grandmother her ass, I felt comfortable with the assist. This woman didn’t need anyone to save her. She’d gotten herself out of more hot shit than I cared to think about. “Clover wasn’t able to provide an accurate description, so that’s a good place to start. We need to know exactly what it can do, and a detailed list of anyone who might be interested in taking it from you.”

“The locket is a bit of an enigma. It can change colors depending on the energy that it comes in contact with. So an accurate description might be a bit difficult. It’s set in silver, and the pendant portion of it is oval. Probably about this big.” She curled her thumb and her forefinger. “And for who would take it from me, I have no enemies. Its disappearance is as shocking as it is heartbreaking.”

That was actually pretty helpful. Knowing it was silver meant I could rule out any of the local wolves. Not that I expected trouble with them, but it was still a relief to cross anyone off this nebulous list.

Clover tipped her head, studying her grandmother. “Are you sure you haven’t upset anyone who could be holding an old grudge, and maybe bided their time until they could get revenge?”

“What are you insinuating, child?”

“Let me try this another way.” Clover ran her teeth over her bottom lip. Sweet moon, these little moves were enough to make me grab her face and kiss her right here.

I had to stop thinking of her as mine. She was only here because she needed me to solve this problem. Beyond that, I lay no claim to this woman. Didn’t matter how good it felt to be inside her. What I felt when I looked at her. I couldn’t let this woman be my downfall. She didn’t belong to me.

Yet , my bear insisted.

“Who was in possession of the locket before you?” Clover asked. “Bellamy’s asked me so many questions about the locket, and I haven’t been able to answer them. I know the tradition is to keep the magic in the clan to those who have it, but that means I’m not sure how to find it. And what might happen when I do.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised she’d be able to weave a tale like that on the fly.

A faint flash of surprise flashed on Shirley’s face. Only for a moment before she regained control of the situation. “I’m not sure how that will help you.”

“Who gave it to you? I’m not sure I ever met my Great Nana, or any of your aunts. As long as I’ve been alive, you’ve had the locket. And because I wasn’t meant to have it, I guess it didn’t occur to me that its history could’ve been important.”

Oh, she was good. If those ghost bears were to be believed, the locket was stolen. Shirley would unknowingly confirm or negate our suspicions with her answer.

“Which is why that information seems irrelevant.” Shirley reached across the table and put her hand over Clover’s. She held onto it and met her gaze. “You have everything you need to find that locket.”

And with that, she rose from the table, and every head in the bakery turned to watch her walk out the door.

There was a strange moment of silence, and then with a clang from the kitchen, the happy, sugar-fueled chatter started again.

“I don’t want to get too excited, because everything about Shirley is a big fucking question mark right now, but her refusal to answer your question lines up with the accusation from the Lynwoods that she stole the locket.”

Now, to find these bears.

Clover rubbed her temples and squeezed her eyes closed. “I think she spelled me.”

I growled, not giving a damn if I offended any nearby human sensibilities. It was about time I reminded people that I was not a creature to be messed with, especially after that old witch had just spelled my mate in the middle of a busy bakery.

“What did she do, and how do you feel?”

“It was when she touched me. I wanted to pull my hand away, but I couldn’t. And it felt gross, like I was rejecting my Nana. But that’s what’s different, Bellamy. I’m sitting here looking at you when you’ve been nothing but amazing to me, and now it’s pissing me off.”

Fuck. I’d fallen for it again. This woman was absolutely maddening at every turn.

I raised a brow. “You’re pissed I’ve been helping you? Because if that’s the case, I don’t have to.”

“That’s exactly it.” She slammed her hand on the table and then looked down at it and frowned. “But I didn’t feel like that until right now. Things have been weirdly good between us. I want your help. More than that, I need it. Which is more than I expected, or I deserve. The curse, wait, did I just call it a curse?”

“You did, and that might be entirely accurate.”

She shook her head and sighed. “I’m aware of it. Like there’s an angel on my shoulder and a devil. More accurately, two bears. One of them is telling me that you might be behind the locket’s disappearance. And the other is telling me that everything I know about my life so far is a complete fucking lie.” She swallowed hard and met my gaze. “Including rejecting you.”

I nodded. Her panic was as tangible as the box of fancy cupcakes sitting in front of us. But that wasn’t why I could sympathize with it. I was pretty sure we’d all been lied to.

She just said that she didn’t mean to reject you , my bear said, like I’d missed the most important part.

I certainly had not, but there was no way I could claim her until we uncovered the truth about our clan.

I leaned forward and took her hands in mine. They were trembling. Not like Clover at all. “What are you gonna do about it?”