“What are you suggesting?” Keller asked.
“I suggest that we leave it up to her,” Garret said. “We let her do what she needs to do. We don’t meddle. We don’t manipulate. We don’t lie or sabotage each other. One thing is consistent in all of the accounts of the maiden. She has the power. She’s in control. Who are we to fight it?”
Johnny felt the anger slowly seep out of him. Garret was making a lot of sense.
“When you put it that way, it sounds reasonable.” Keller laughed dryly.
“We can agree, then?” Garret said. “For Holly’s sake, we can agree to be calm about whatever might unfold?”
Johnny didn’t want to agree. He didn’t want to share Holly with anyone. He wasn’t good with romance or any of the mushy crap, but she was different. Maybe it was because she was the maiden, maybe it wasn’t. Either way, deep down, he knew he had to be with her. He couldn’t care less if he came out of it a king. It just didn’t matter. Holly mattered.
If this was the way it had to be, then fine. He’d do that for her.
“Fine.” He sighed. “I will be the picture of tranquility in the face of the shitstorm that’s brewing.”
“That’s about as much as I’d expect from you.” Garret grinned and clapped him on the back.
“If it means less stress for Holly, then I agree as well,” Keller said.
“Great.” Garret’s smile widened. “Can we go back to being friends now?”
Johnny furrowed his brow. “Did we stop?”
“I kind of wanted to hit you with a shovel earlier,” Garret admitted.
“That’s nothing new.” Johnny shrugged to which Keller chuckled.
“We’re friends. We’re firstborns. We’re here for Holly,” he said.
“Next, you’ll want to make up a secret handshake.” Johnny rolled his eyes.
“Only to annoy you.” Keller grinned.
“Before we start making friendship bracelets or whatever, there’s still one thing that’s driving me nuts,” Garret said.
“What’s that?”
“Loch. What’s his angle in all this? Why would he try to take Holly out of the territory? He’s a firstborn. He has to have felt the pull. There’s no way he hasn’t realized Holly is the maiden.”
“Something’s up with him.” Johnny nodded. “We have to figure out who the other two bears were. I didn’t recognize them.”
“You don’t think he wants to return to the dark ways, do you?” Garret said. “Why else would he want to take Holly? She’s the only thing that can stop the return of the dark ways from happening.”
“For his sake, that better not be the case,” Johnny snarled.
“We’ll take turns exploring the territory,” Keller said. “We’ll talk to people in town. We’ll check the deep forest. Someone has to know something. We’ll get it sorted.”
“Deal.” Johnny nodded.
“Garret’s the best tracker out of us,” Keller said. “He and I will go out tomorrow and see what we can find. Johnny, can you stay here with Holly without antagonizing her?”
“That’s how we flirt.” He smirked.
“That’s how emotionally immature man-children flirt,” Keller replied. “But you’ll keep an eye on her?”
“Yes.” He nodded. “You have nothing to worry about.”
“I didn’t start worrying until you said that.”
CHAPTER 21 - Holly
Holly tossed and turned all night long after the arguing in the study, which turned out to be right beneath her room, faded away. She felt horrible. When the argument was at its peak, she could hear everything. They were fighting over her.
Garret cared about her. She cared about him, too. She wouldn’t have let him go down on her in the middle of the damn woods if she didn’t care about him. It was so sweet of him to bring half of his sister’s belongings back to the house for her to use. Since the moment she had met him, he genuinely seemed to be looking out for her.
But Johnny...
Even thinking about him sent a shiver down her spine. There was something about him she couldn’t place. Yes, he pissed her off like it was his job, but in a weird way, she enjoyed it. He challenged her. He was exciting, mysterious, and unfairly sexy. She liked him, despite every logical part of her brain telling her not to. Her logical brain didn’t know what to make of anything these days.
Then there was Keller. He was smart, strong, reliable, and responsible. Basically, a dream man, right? Holly got the feeling there was more to him than what he presented. She knew Garret was adopted into Silver Spruce. She knew Johnny was closer with Pearl than anyone else in town, or so it seemed. But what did she know about Keller? He spoke so comfortably with her but not necessarily openly. It was easy to confuse the two.
She was drawn to him as much as she was drawn to the others. She promised herself she’d make an effort to get to know him, really get to know him. Hell, she was responsible for picking the right bear clan male to create a child with. She damn well better know who she’s dealing with.
She sat up in bed, clutching the covers against her chest. Johnny, Garret, and Keller weren’t the only three she needed to consider. Loch was firstborn, too. There were probably others.
She pushed back the covers and slowly crept out of bed. She was fairly sure the men had gone to sleep.
Slowly, Holly crept downstairs. She went slowly not out of fear of making noise but because the house was incredibly dark, and she still didn’t have the steps and landings memorized. She didn’t want to wake the men by falling down the stairs. She was supposed to be some mythical superwoman. She was willing to bet the maiden never fell down a staircase.
Once inside the study, she
