The Seduction of Jac Frost (by Tatienne Richard) novel Chapter 81

Bear in the Woods

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Original composition by Tatienne Richard exclusively for My

Fiction. If you’re reading this elsewhere it has been stolen from the platform.

Jacqueline found herself standing at the top of the ski hill and not quite sure how she’d managed to get there. She looked

down at the dots of skiers on the mountain making their way

to the bottom and realized she was up even further than the

ski lift itself ran.

She looked around and felt the wind whistling and realized

her temper, despite all of her powers, was not controlled any more than it was before she’d met Mother. She felt like a tempest squeezed into a body and she wanted an outlet to

allow her to stop being as blue as she knew she was.

Movement on the other side of the hill, away from the skiers

and towards the more densely wooded area made her turn

her head to face it. Her eyes narrowed on the black blur and

then she watched incredulously as she saw an animal raise up on it’s hind quarters, sniffing the air and it turned to face her through the trees.

Immediately she knew it was Bar in his bear form.

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“How freaking cool is that?” she whispered to herself as her

anger melted away in mesmerized awe at the unholy size of him. “Bar?” she tilted her head to one side as he stared right

through the trees and then he turned, dropped on all fours, and began lumbering away. When he shot a look over her shoulder as if telling her to follow him, she gave an excited squeal and began running down the hill in his direction.

The freezing air snapped at her skin and the snow was

growing deeper with each step. Growing frustrated when she

only caught the odd glimpse of Bar through the trees and

thinking she was losing him as she waded through the deep snow, she opted to teleport closer to him.

The growl from him when she popped up behind him set her on her backside and she looked at him wide–eyed and

then he seemed to snarl a frown at her and then continued

through the snow.

“You’re huge,” she gasped as she chased him through the snow. “Where are we going?”

Another growling grunt and then giggled when she heard his voice in her head.

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“My cabin is not far from here.”

“Holy hell, I can talk to animals and you’re an animal and I can talk to you in this form.” She knew she was squealing like a child, but when she heard his chuckle in her head. “This is

cool.”

“You gained more powers,” his voice was gruff but approving as he moved forward. He shot another look over his

shoulder, “stop trying to create your own path and step in my

footsteps.”

“Very clever, Bar.” She did as he told her and stepped into the path he made for her to follow.

“You were gone from the town. I couldn’t smell you.”

“I went to visit my mother.”

“I thought she was staying at the lodge.”

“Turns out I’m the embodiment of the daughter of the Queen

Mother, the creator of all fae.”

“No shit,” Bar said with surprise. “Very cool, Jacqueline.”

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“I was gone five days and came back to find the twins using their body and flirting with Jacinta to get her to confess her

sins.”

“Fuck off,” Bar snorted, “are they stupid? Weren’t you

annoyed not long ago because they were going to meet her

for drinks?”

“How is you remember that and they didn’t?” she huffed with annoyance as she caught sight of a light through the trees. “Is that your home?”

“It is,” he was walking faster. “You do know if you come into

my home, the twins are going to be pissed off.”

“I’m visiting a friend not canoodling on a sofa with you.”

“We can canoodle if you want.”

“I think my mates might be really angry if we did.”

“You’re not saying you don’t want to.”

She laughed at his flirting as the sight of the small wood cabin came into full view, “wow, this is pretty.”

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“Thank you. I built it myself.” He motioned at the door, “you

can let yourself in.”

“Where are you going?”

“Do you want to see what a bear shifter looks like when he

shifts back?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if I shift back in front of you and your mates ask you about it they will know one very important thing.”

“What?”

“Bears don’t wear clothing, Jacqueline.”

The laughter in his voice as she turned red and raced to the door made her own smile pull her cheeks. She entered the space and slammed the door behind her, resting her back against the thick wooden slab. She closed her eyes and then let out a giggle.

She wondered if he had clothing stashed outside for him to change into as she stepped further into the space. She was not surprised at how homey it was. This place reminded her 5/12

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of his bookstore. It was comfortable and masculine with

stacks of books on tables, a fireplace which burned low, and

the smell of food cooking on the stove.

His cabin was not large on the inside, and she noted that there was a loft overhead, probably where his bed was and this main living space was open between kitchen and living area. A closed door nearby made her think it must be the bathroom. It was simple and exactly what she would have thought he would have designed for himself.

It was also incredibly opposite what her mates and her brother would have designed for themselves. They lived opulent lives with only the finest accoutrements to their lifestyle. She thought back to the room at the lodge she first was staying in, where Wilder and Rafferty were annoyed at

how basic it was.

They would probably mock this home but to her, it was

perfect.

She moved to the kitchen area and noted the slow cooker on the countertop. It seemed on brand for Bar. She leaned over it and breathed deep.

The door opened just as she was inhaling the scent of his 6/12

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dinner and she looked over her shoulder at him. He was standing in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, barefoot and grinning broadly.

“What’s in the pot?” she asked him curiously.

“Venison stew.”

She blinked at him, “venison like deer?”

“Elk.”

“This was an elk?”

“Yes.”

“You are eating an elk?”

“Do you not eat steak? What is the difference if it’s raised on a farm to be slaughtered or I hunt my meat myself in the woods? I am a bear. Be happy I am cooking it. I’ve eaten more than one creature raw.”

“When you hunt, do you do it in bear form or with a gun?” she asked as he moved to his refrigerator and pulled it open. He held up a bottle of beer, and she nodded and accepted it 7/12

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from him.

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“I don’t use guns. You’ll never find a weapon as such in my

home.” He uncapped his beer and took a long drink.

“Did I interrupt your hunting?” she asked him seriously and took a seat on a big chair that he waved her towards.

“No. My beast needed to get out and stretch. It’s my first day off in a bit. The two girls I have working in my shop were both needing time off this week, so I was filling shifts. Such is the life of a shopkeeper in a small town,” he sighed and stretched out on the sofa. “I’ve been out for a couple of hours. When it’s

ski season it makes it harder to be out because people try to

venture off trails. I need to be very careful where I’m at.”

“Do the town know you are a bear shifter?”

“No but I was shot, I live back here, and I own this parcel of

land. On the other side of the house, there is an old dirt road,

and I have a truck with a plow on it which gets me in and out

or townspeople to come check on me. Since they know I live out this way, they tend not to hunt in my neck of the woods.”

“That’s nice of them.”

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“Yes.” He let the beer bottle dangle from his fingertips. “Tell me about being this living embodiment of the daughter of

your creator.”

“Oh, that’s a crazy story. I have the blood of the Frost family, but my soul is directly from the Queen Mother herself. She made me her daughter and the Queen of Kings and Queens.”

“Now there’s a title.”

“Don’t be judgy.”

“You don’t think it’s a mouthful?”

She sipped her drink, “when I left her, I had all this excitement. I felt strong, powerful, and capable. I thought finally, I know my purpose in life. My brother Jack and I are finally on the same page, and he believed me about Jacinta. He was one of the reasons I came back instead of staying in Mother’s garden with her. He prayed so hard for me to come

back.”

“He loves you.”

“He does.”

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“You wanted to come for your brother but not the twins?”

“I wanted to come back for the twins too. I thought I was ready to open my heart up. That wall I had up around my heart is coming down” she paused and grinned at him, “you were right by the way, I put a spell on myself.”

“Called it.”

“You did. I needed to break it myself and watching the way Jack loves, I realized I wanted to love and be loved the way he is. It’s scary but I was so ready. Then I get back to the lodge, and those two fools are sitting snuggled up with Jacinta on the sofa.”

“Did their plan work?”

“No. Me exposing her in front of everyone made her snap and she admitted it. Daddy Jack is pissed but I was still so angry at them cuddling her, I needed to walk away.”

“And you decided to piss them off in retaliation by coming to a shifter’s home in the middle of the forest where they won’t find you?”

“No. I needed to go for a walk and cool my jets before I 10/12

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ended up murdering the lot of them. I found myself at the top

of the mountain. I caught movement, saw you, and decided

to follow you.”

“You knew right away it was me.”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” She paused, “why do I feel such a kinship with you. You are not fae, but I feel more connected to you than I do my own family, Jack excluded,” she shriveled her nose up, “and Aspen. She’s lovely.”

“You need to get that block all the way down, Jacqueline.”

“How do I do that? I thought I was doing it.”

“But you threw it back up when those stupid fuckers hurt your feelings.”

“I want to love. I really do but the minute someone makes me feel they’re betraying my trust, I want to just get out of there.”

“Rejection is as deeply engrained in your heart as your DNA, 11/12

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Jacqueline because you spent so much time facing it from the moment of your birth. Your own sister rejected you. The hospital staff rejected you. Your foster parents, one after another, along with people running the group homes and everyone else throughout your life have always rejected you in one form or another. Rejection on that kind of level, constantly, without interruption or care to fix it, makes it hard for you to open up. You can’t feel all the things you are meant

to feel.”

Something in his tone made her frown at him and she cocked

her head to one side as she regarded him stretched out on

the sofa, his long legs crossed at the ankles, one hand resting

on his chest and his eyes fixed on her.

“What is it like when a shifter senses his mate, Bar?”

“Funny you should ask.”