Bee Cave Magic

by Kelly Fox

the honey guy is almost here. His name is Rex Brauner, and he’s a big bear shifter who I try to avoid like the plague. By the way—a bear shifter selling honey in a place called Bee Cave is a little on the nose, no? Just me?

“Wow.” Maybe you aren’t impressed by his lyrical prowess, but let me fill you in. That Rex can talk while in shifted form means he’s got strong magic. That I can understand him means I do too.

“What the fuck?” I ask out loud, my voice cartoonishly high. Actually, it comes out more like “chitter-squeal-fuck.” Glad to know the F-word transcends the animal kingdom. Rex’s bear form starts clapping, which is sort of cute and horrifying, at the same time.

How did Micah die, you ask? Well, he turned into a jack-ass-alope and literally hopped right into the bear’s mouth.

Operating on pure instinct, I walk straight into his arms, wondering if this is the moment I just fall apart completely. He wraps me in his honey-warmth, and…oh. Oh, as in, this is a feeling I will never forget. Oh, as in, my head hasn't been this quiet since puberty. Oh, as in, this is the man I’ll be spending the rest of my life with.

“Just because you don't know a thing doesn’t mean you can’t know a thing.

“Thank you for making me feel like I belong to you," he says, his eyes shiny with emotion. “Never thank me for doing the thing I am born to do. I look at you, and the only thing I want to do is take care of you and have you take care of me, so that neither of us has to feel alone in this world ever again.”