Chapter 6

I stuck closeto Talia for the rest of the morning. Malcolm came to check on us at one point, but when Talia flinched and curled in on herself again, I couldn't make myself leave. Bear wouldn't let me. Malcolm didn't seem bothered by it. He promised we'd catch up after school was done and Talia went home.

It took a little while for Talia to stop breathing so heavily. Carmen brought her a glass of water, and the angry lioness stood by the door for a while, glaring at the room. She seemed to make Talia feel better, even though she was scowling something fierce. Sitting on the floor after hours in my truck wasn't very comfortable, but I didn"t want to let go of Talia's hand. And she didn't pull away, which was a good sign.

My head tipped as I watched the cubs working in their workbooks. The other three were whispering and laughing as they worked, but Talia's cub was focused on his book and didn't acknowledge them.

"He's good at studyin'. That's good. I wasn't any good at it."

Talia nodded slowly, her voice a little uncertain. "He's very smart. And very serious."

She said that last part with a little sadness. When I looked at her, she watched her son with a pained expression.

"You don't like it?"

She blinked rapidly and dropped her gaze back to her lap. "It's fine," she blurted.

I hummed, looking back at her cub. His little brows were pinched together tightly, and he scooted his chair away when Javi nudged him with his elbow to try and draw him into the conversation. I wasn't a mama, I didn't know why him being serious bothered Talia. Pretty sure my mama would've paid good money to get me to focus that hard.

I liked that she was talking to me now, though. She answered my questions whenever I asked her something, so I kept asking to make her more comfortable around me.

"Do you like readin'?"

Her gaze flicked up for a second before dropping back down again. "Y-Yes…"

"Ever heard of audio books? I'm not great at readin', but my boss suggested audio books for my drive up here. I really liked ‘em."

Her head came up a little more, and she studied me uncertainly. "W-What kind of audio books?"

My face lit up, and I shifted a little to give her my full attention. Women liked that. Liked to know when men were paying attention. "I wanted to try a little of everythin'. A fantasy one with dragons was my favorite. I forget the name, though."

She shuddered, and a frown pulled at her lips. "Dragons scared me."

I tipped my head. "Why? They're just stories."

"No, they aren't," Javi interrupted. He was twisted in his seat, listening to us. "Aiden is a dragon. A big red one. He can breathe fire and everything."

"Javier," Carmen scolded. "That's not your secret to tell."

Javi shot her a sheepish grin before whipping forward again. He waited until she turned away to talk to the lioness by the door before he whispered to me again. "When he's mad, the air vibrates and his eyes get all long like a cat. It's really cool."

My mouth fell open. "Dragons are real?"

Carmen scolded Javi again, so he couldn't answer me. I turned to Talia, shooting her a questioning look. She nodded slowly.

"Yes. They're real. I… I haven't seen the dragon, but… I live in his home."

My mind was blown, and I needed a minute to come to terms with that. Dragons weren't supposed to be real. They were fantasy. What else was real out there that I didn't know about? Probably a lot.

"You're a man who turns into a bear. Why do you look so surprised?" the angry lioness asked as she dragged a chair next to Talia and plopped into it. "He's not a bad person. He took in Talia and Leo without even blinking, and he helped free the prides. That makes him decent in my books."

"Free the prides from what?" I queried.

The angry lioness frowned at me. "From the alphas. Do you know anything about prides?"

I lifted a shoulder. "Not really. The only shifters I know are Malcolm and my family. This is the first time I'm meetin' so many different shifters. Were the alphas bad or somethin'?"

Talia tensed and sank in on herself. I rubbed the top of her hand with my thumb to soothe her. Bear didn"t like when she was scared. I didn't either.

The angry lioness glanced at Talia before shaking her head. "Yeah. They were bad. I'm going for a shift. Talia, do you want to come?"

Talia shook her head quickly, her eyes glued to her lap. The angry lioness's sigh sounded annoyed, but she didn't say anything else. She just left. Talia didn't like that, and she whimpered a little. I nudged her knee, gesturing with my chin at Violet, who was following Carmen around the kitchen.

"That's how I am at my mama's house. She makes good food."

It took her a second to look up, but the distraction helped a little and she watched the dog begging for scraps with me.

"Alright. Everyone put their books down. It's time to make lunch," Carmen called.

The cubs closed their workbooks and rushed into the kitchen. When they started putting the lunch together themselves, my eyebrows went up. "They cook their own lunch?"

"Y-Yes. Carmen wants them to learn to be independent. She takes them on hikes too. To learn."

Her voice was soft and if I didn"t have shifter hearing, I might have trouble understanding her, but she was warming up to me. She stopped trembling and as long as I asked questions, she talked to me just fine. It made Bear happy.

Leo, Talia's cub, came over a few minutes later with a plate of food for his mama and himself. He sat in the angry lioness's abandoned chair and frowned down at his plate instead of taking a bite.

"Don't like the food?"

He looked up at me with a scowl. "It's fine."

"Looks better than fine. You're a good cook."

He made a face, his nose wrinkled. "It's just sandwiches. It's nothing special."

I shrugged. "Don't need to be special to taste good. I can cook, but nothin' fancy. Still tastes good, though."

He considered it for a moment with a frown. "I like sweets better. Mom makes the best cookies."

My eyebrows jumped up, and I turned to Talia with a big grin. "You can bake?"

She looked uncomfortable with the attention, but she didn"t flinch away. "Yes… It– I–" She grimaced, like she wasn't sure what to say. It took Mama a while to talk freely, too. I just had to be patient with her.

"Only cookies or other stuff?"

When she couldn't answer me herself, Leo answered for her. "She makes all kinds of stuff. For my birthday last year, she made a cake that had candy in the middle. When you cut into it, it all spilled out."

He looked excited, his scowl falling away as he told me about the different desserts his mom made for him. The happier he was, the more relaxed Talia was. I had to let go of her hand, since she needed it to eat, but she didn't pull away from me and didn't look scared anymore. She was cautious, but Leo helped a lot.

"I'm jealous. My mama can bake, but I can't. It's too complicated for me. Never been much good with complicated stuff."

"Is that another way of saying you're dumb?" the other lion cub asked with a sneer. I didn't take offense. Cubs were curious and not good with politeness at their age. But Leo didn't like it and snarled roughly at the boy.

"Mind your business, Kai! No one is as dumb as you!"

"You're the dumb one!"

They were gearing up for a fight, teeth bared and glares locked on each other. Talia's brows drew together tightly, a worried frown on her face. She reached for Leo, probably to calm him, but he jerked away from her and dropped his plate on the floor, going chest to chest with the other little cub.

"Just because you beat me the last time doesn't mean I'll let you do it again," Kai snarled low.

"You're too stupid to know when to quit. I'll win every time."

I didn't understand what was going on, but they were upsetting Talia. Slowly, so I wouldn't scare her, I pushed to my feet. The cubs shifted into their tiny lions and started fighting, but before anyone could get hurt, I plucked them both by their scruffs and held them apart.

"That ain't nice. We don't fight with our friends."

The darker one, Kai, yowled in protest, but I wasn't hurting him. Mama lions held their cubs by the scruff with their teeth. My hands were more gentle. Leo bared his teeth and growled low. He wasn't fighting as hard as Kai was, but he was pissed all the same.

Carmen stood by the door, Javi and the little girl by her legs. It was good she didn't get involved with the cubs. She was human and if she got bit, she'd get an animal inside her. I didn't know how that would work with a baby in her belly, and I didn"t want to find out. I gestured behind her with my chin.

"I think they need to go outside. Can you stay with Talia for me?"

Carmen's eyes softened a little, and she nodded once. "We'll wait in here with her. They'll fight if you put them back down. Are you sure you don't need help? Sariah went to town for groceries, but Kiara should be around."

I shook my head. "I'm good. Once they meet Bear, they'll settle. Don't want you gettin' hurt, though, so you should stay outta the way."

She and the other cubs edged around us to the other side of the trailer. I kept the cubs separated, using my hip to open the trailer door, and ducked outside. I couldn't shift with them in my hands, so I put them on either side of me and gave them each a warning growl.

"You fight and Bear's gonna be mad. I like these jeans and I don't wanna ruin ‘em. Stay separated until I change."

Kinda figured they wouldn't listen, and Kai tried to dodge around me, but I moved him back and quickly shed my clothes. He tried again when I closed my eyes to let Bear have my skin, but came to a skidding stop when I landed on all fours. If I was big as a human, Bear was bigger. And while he wouldn't hurt them, the cubs didn't know that. Seeing a bear my size towering over them was enough to set them both to rights. They dropped to their bellies, ears back, and didn't look at each other again. Good job, Bear.