“The families on the wall at home,” Holly said. “The founding families. Are they all bears?”
“Yes.” Garret nodded. “However, not every single member of each founding family is able to shift.”
Holly’s eyes went wide.
“Can I...shift? Am I a bear?”
Garret and Keller chuckled softly though Holly didn’t see what was so funny.
“No,” he said. “You’re not a bear. Your earliest family members were, but it’s long since been bred out of your line. You’re completely human.”
Holly frowned. “So, if I’m not a bear, why did Pearl bring me out here? Why am I the one singled out on our family tree?”
“Because you’re the maiden,” Garret said.
“I’m sorry, what?” Holly blinked in confusion.
“There’s an old legend,” Keller interjected. “It’s our oldest legend, actually. Hundreds of years ago, when this part of the world was still wild, the Bear Clans were at their strongest.”
“A faction arose that believed the Bear was their true form, and their human forms were special weaknesses designed to keep their power in check,” Garret explained. “So, this faction rejected their humanity. Once they had purged the human weakness from their bodies, they believed they’d earned the right to take whatever they wanted.”
“They decimated villages. They killed without mercy. They stole women and children, integrating them into their warbands. The faction grew so numerous that it split into more factions. Once there was no one left to fight, they began to fight each other.”
“They nearly wiped themselves out,” Garret said.
“Then the maiden came,” Johnny said from his isolated spot.
Holly didn’t look at him.
“This is where it gets a little muddled,” Keller said. “No one knows exactly where she came from or even what she was. Her name was lost to history.”
“What do you mean by what she was?” Holly asked.
“No one knows if she was human or something else,” Garret explained. “She might’ve been a witch. Most of our folk like to believe she was human.”
“It makes for a better story.” Keller grinned.
“Okay.” Holly nodded. “Scary war bears meet a maybe human, maybe not, maiden. Got it. Go on.”
“The maiden was special,” Garret said. “She spoke to the most fearsome leader of the fiercest Bear Clan. They vanished for weeks. No one knows where they went or what they did, but when they came back...” Keller trailed off, lost in thought.
Holly waited anxiously for someone to pick up this unfinished thought.
“When they came back, his humanity was returned to him. She had shown him love, kindness, and compassion,” Johnny finished.
Holly looked up to find him watching her so intensely her skin responded to his gaze as if he were dragging a finger down her spine. She forced herself to look away. Her gaze landed on the watchful eyes of Garret.
She went tense as if she’d just been caught doing something naughty. Garret’s gaze was calm and warm. Holly felt a small smile spread across her lips.
“When all of the other Bear Clan leaders saw what the maiden was able to do, they all wanted her,” Keller picked up. “She worked her magic, literal or otherwise, until humanity returned to all of the Bear Shifters. She saved all of them.”
“That’s pretty incredible,” Holly admitted. “What happened then?”
“She returned to the first leader she loved and married him,” Garret said. “They had children. Their children had children. And so on.”
“That’s a lovely story.” Holly smiled briefly. “But what does that have to do with me?”
“The maiden is your ancestor,” Garret said. “Her children are in your family tree, Pearl’s family tree.”
“I’m not sure I understand.” Holly frowned.
“You know how we keep telling you Peal was a special woman?” Garret said. “She had the gift of foresight.”
“You mean...like a psychic?”
“If you want to cheapen it, sure. Like a sidekick,” Johnny said.
Holly made a face then looked back to the other two men. “Did she see something?”
“Yes,” Keller said. “I’m not sure how to put this...”
“Just tell me.” Holly sighed. “It can’t be any weirder than anything else you’ve told me today.”
“Weird isn’t what I’m worried about.”
“Holly.” Garret reached out and took her hand. “Your grandmother saw her own death. She knew it was coming. She also saw you dressed in the way the maiden has always been depicted.” He pointed to the etching on the slab behind Holly. Of course, the stone she chose to rest against was the maiden’s stone.
“That’s crazy,” Holly whispered.
“Yes,” Johnny said, “but it’s also true. She saw something else, too.”
Keller went tense. For a moment, Holly thought he was going to tell Johnny not to say anything. If he was going to, he decided against it.
“Pearl saw that some Clan members want to return to the dark ways,” Johnny continued when no one stopped him. “They want to shed their humanity in order to achieve their full power.”
“Who?” Holly asked.
“Pearl didn’t see,” Keller said. “By that time, her illness already had its hooks in her. She doesn’t even know if it’s one of the Silver Spruce clans.”
“There are Clans outside of Silver Spruce? I thought this was a town thing.”
“Most of the Clans have remained within the Silver Spruce territory,” Keller explained. “Some branched out, though. There are one or two in Golden Oak, the next town over. There might be one in Gallant Green, but I’m not sure. I haven’t heard anything about them for a while.”
“Do Clans often drop off the map like that?” Holly asked.
“No,” Garret said. “Clans tend to be active in our community, but you don’t need to be in a Clan to be a shifter. There are plenty of lone wolves, if you will.”
“Oh God.”
