Meg looked at the box. It wasn’t a ring box which sort of surprised her. She took the box and opened it up. Inside was a silver necklace. The chain was woven of interlinking sections like a four strand braid. The clasp was a buckle. The medallion on the necklace was another woven piece like a delicate wreath and in the center were two initials twined together, M and L. It was beautiful. Delicate enough to be feminine, but only just so. She looked at it and then she got the giggles.
“You give collars and tags as love tokens?” she asked between giggles.
“Yes,” said Luc trying not to turn red with embarrassment. “But it’s practical,” he tried to say in an attempt to explain his choice.
“Luc, I’m sure it is. I don’t understand why just now, but it is beautiful and I would love to be your mate,” she said.
Luc took the box and necklace from her and put it around her neck. It laid across her collar bone as if it had melted. The medallion rested between her breasts. He smiled.
“So, oh mate of mine, why is it practical?” she asked.
“Well,” he started. Then he blushed. “Um,… because if you shift, you tend to loose rings, but collars stay on,” he said swiftly.
Meg tried not to laugh. Her lips twitched and then the smile spread across her face. Finally, she couldn’t hold it in any longer and fell against Luc in a mass of limbs and giggles.
“Woof!” Meg said as she looked up at him between giggles. They both laughed.
“Oh! That reminds me. Did I hear you right about the wolf falling on my head last night during the wind?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think she came up to check us out and the wind knocked her over. I was going to look for foot prints this morning when we got up,” he said.
“Cool. Oh, before I forget, am I suppose to reciprocate with a necklace for you?” she asked.
“If you’d like to, but it isn’t required. Sort of like some weddings where the bride is the only one to get the ring. Totally up to you,” he said.
“Okay,” Meg answered. She and Ginny had a shopping trip in their future. “Oh, one other thing. How on earth have you shifters kept out of the eye of the general public all these years?”
“Caution and lots of misdirection. In the old days, we just stayed away from humans for the most part. It has only been in the last 100 years that we’ve really had any issues. People either freak out or accept us. Most of those that accepted us married into the family. Those that freaked out either got killed or discredited. That’s where all the werewolf monster stories came from in the first place. We’d move if it got too bad, or people would die. Now most of us have big dogs and do the ‘oh, you must have seen Buster last night’ thing if people get nosy,” Luc said.
“I can see that. But what if someone like Sara says her Unky Wolfy is really a werewolf at school or something?” she asked.
“Would you believe a little kid, or would you believe their parent that said they watched a werewolf movie and had an over active imagination?” he asked.
“The parent. Geeze,” said Meg. “You’ve literally been hiding in plain sight.”
“Yes, we have. Any other questions or can we get up and have breakfast?” he asked.
“Yeah, just one. Do we have any big ceremony like a wedding or do we just carry on as normal?” she asked looking down at the necklace.
“What do you want to do?” Luc asked.
“Honestly? I’d rather carry on as normal,” she said.
“Then that’s what we’ll do. Ginny of course will want at least a dinner party, but I think we can manage that,” he admitted.
“I can cope. Last one dressed makes tea!” she said as she dived for her clothes. Luc laughed.
After breakfast, they packed up their stuff and then hiked up to a waterfall. They ate lunch next to it, but conversation was limited as the roar of the falls deafened them. They had crackers, cheese and sardines for lunch. Luc put the trash from their feast in the ziplock they’d used for crackers. The waterfall deafened them enough that they didn’t hear the bear that came up to eat the choke cherries next to the falls. He didn’t hear or scent them either. They might have gone totally unnoticed if the wind hadn’t shifted.
As they headed down the trail, the wind blew across the falls to where the bear had been eating. He snuffed the air. A scent tickled his nose. He abandoned his berries and started to follow the enticing odor.
Luc and Meg laughed and bounced down the trail. They were noisy and goofing around. They didn’t hear the noise of the bear. They got back to the car and were relaxing before heading down the road when the bear shambled into the clearing.
Luc looked up as the smell and the movement registered at the same time. “Oh shit!” he gasped. “Meg, get into the car now!” Luc ran for their packs and was tossing them into the car when the bear charged. Luc scrambled for the driver’s door and almost got it closed when the bear swiped at the car. The car rocked and Luc nearly lost his grip on the door. Meg was trying not to scream as the huge bear shook the car. The sound of metal ripping under the heavy claws sent shivers through Meg.
Luc was trying to hold onto the car door and start the engine at the same time. Hard to do when the car is a standard. He almost had it going when the door wrenched open. The bear’s paw swiped in and caught Luc across the shoulder. The glass of the window shattered and scattered everywhere. Luc roared in pain and hit the gas as he tried to hold onto the steering wheel. The bear was still trying to pull him out of the car. The car hurked and jerked across the meadow in a contorted dance as the bear tried to keep up. His last attempt scored the side of the car from the driver’s door to the rear fender. Luc, who had partially shifted, barely fit behind the wheel. He grabbed the door and slammed it closed as they bounced down the road in first gear.