“There are wolf packs, but they don’t come into bear clan territories unless they’re looking for a fight. There was a war between the wolf packs and the bear clans about a century ago. There’s a nice little peace treaty in place because of it now.”
“You’re kidding me.” Holly looked from Keller to Garret, and then to Johnny.
“I turned into a bear to save your life. Do you think I’d start kidding you now?” Johnny said.
“Save my life? What are you talking about?” Holly shook her head.
“Did you think three normal ass bears wandered up to the house last night?” he said. “Those were shifters. They were looking for something, and I’m willing to bet they were looking for you.”
“Why? If there are clans who want to return to the dark ways, wouldn’t someone like me be the last thing they want? If I’m supposed to be this maiden person, wouldn’t I ruin their plan?”
“Why do you think they want to kill you?”
“They were there to kill me?” Holly shrieked.
“Johnny, can you maybe not upset her all over again? We were making progress.” Keller sighed.
“I figured the lovely maiden should know some insane bear clan members were trying to kill her.” Johnny shrugged.
“Oh, now you want to tell me the whole truth?” Holly snapped.
“For fuck’s sake,” Johnny muttered.
“Okay, okay.” Holly sighed. She didn’t want to start another argument. “So, let’s say I am this maiden lady. All I have to do is be nice to all the bear shifters so they don’t go ballistic, right?”
“It’s not that simple,” Keller said.
“Of course, it’s not.” Holly pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead.
“The prophecy states that the maiden and the king will join together in union and produce an heir powerful enough to unite all of the bear clans.”
Holly choked on her breath.
“Excuse me?” she stammered. “There’s a baby involved now? Why does a baby have to be involved?”
“It’s just the way the prophecy is woven,” Garret said gently.
“Well...unweave it, then!”
“You can’t unweave the stars. Their stories were up there long before we were. We can’t change them. We can only read them.”
“Then you’re clearly reading them upside down! This is crazy! I’m not getting married and having a baby because of something my sick grandmother saw in the stars. That’s insane.”
“Why would we lie to you now?” Keller asked. “You know the truth about us, about this town. You can do a lot of damage to the community. Why would we make this up?”
Holly wracked her brain for a reason, any reason, to explain away the information she’d just been bombarded with, but she came up empty.
“What if I’m not the maiden?” she asked. “If I’m not the maiden, then I’m not in danger and I don’t have to have a star baby with a stranger.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Johnny shrugged. “Everyone who knew Pearl, and that’s a lot of people, also knows she believed her granddaughter, that’s you—”
“Thanks for clearing that up,” Holly quipped.
Johnny paused to give her a blank look before launching back into his explanation. “Everyone knows she believed you’re the maiden,” he finished. “Pearl wasn’t some rambling old wise woman. She was a respected figure. She was smart. Her gift saved lives, predicted danger and joy. She was rarely wrong.”
“But she was wrong occasionally?”
“Foresight isn’t an exact science,” Keller offered. “Sometimes, she missed the mark, but it was rare.”
“She’s missing the mark now. I’m not the maiden. No one needs to come after me.”
“You don’t get it.” Johnny sighed. “The ones who want you dead already think you’re the maiden. At this point, it doesn’t matter if you are her or not. You’re still in danger. If they get to you and you are the maiden, their problems are solved. If you’re not, then you’re a plaything to them until you’re dead.”
“Johnny!” Garret warned.
“What? She’s been accusing me of keeping the truth from her all day. I’m giving her the whole truth now!”
Holly felt sick to her stomach. With a shaking hand, she reached for Keller.
“We had a deal. I listened to you, and now I’m allowed to leave. I want to leave.”
“Do you think that will stop them from coming after you?” Johnny asked.
“Stop it,” Keller snarled. “There’s no need to make this harder for her.”
“Now you want to coddle her? I just got yelled at for doing the same thing.”
“Stop. Just stop!” Holly pleaded. Her heart was beating too fast again.
Keller and Johnny fell silent. They watched her carefully.
“Keller, if I leave, what will happen?”
“There are a few things that are likely to happen,” he said. “First, the clans might erupt into chaos if enough shifters want to abandon their humanity. If that happens, no one will be safe. Not humans. Not other shifters.”
Nausea rolled through Holly.
“Secondly, if you leave Silver Spruce, there’s no reason why those who want to return to the dark ways wouldn’t come after you. That’s why we were so furious when Loch tried to take you out of town. As long as we’re in our territory, we can protect you without violating any of the clan laws,” Keller finished.
Holly stayed silent for a long time. She turned Keller’s words over and over in her mind. No matter how many ways she reworked it, she knew she couldn’t leave. Keller was right, he had no reason to lie now. She was in danger. As unhappy as she was with the situation, having three giant man-bears on her side didn’t seem like a negative.
She got to her feet on shaky legs.
“Holly,” Garret said softly.
“So, that’s that, then? Hmm?” Her voice no longer sounded like her own. “I marry the king and have a magic power baby,
