Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance (2 page)

Probably another hiker or a young photographer. Someone
who could admire Glacier's striking beauty without having a spaz in
the dirt.

But that would've been too convenient. I hid my face,
hoping the traveler would just pass by and ignore the stupid girl
drying her eyes on the ground.

Something about the footsteps registered differently in
my ears. For one, there were two legs too many.

Two, the
crunch-crunch-crunch
was slow, deliberate, as if the approaching hiker had intentionally
gone to a crawl to gawk at my misfortune.

I clambered to my feet and turned, preparing my dirtiest
look.

When I saw the bear, my brain froze. I blinked twice in
quick succession, trying to wipe the hallucination from my eyes –
except it wasn't just my imagination.

The big brown beast stared right at me. This area had
black bears and the much more dangerous grizzlies, but given the
size, color, and characteristic hump on its back, there was no
mistaking this behemoth.

I was face to face with my first grizzly, king of the
mountain, top of the food chain. And probably a hungry male if size
said anything.

A second later, it mimicked me, and stood on its hind
legs. On two legs rather than four, the thing towered over me, a
hairy, muscular totem reaching to the sky.

I let out a short, loud scream. It was natural, but I
also prayed it would help. One of the first things I'd learned about
bear survival was to make noise – and lots of it – even
if every instinct wanted to shut down in cold silence.

No effect. The bear just sniffed at the air and opened
its mouth a little, as if it were smiling.

I nearly fainted. The huge creature fell back on all
fours and slowly approached, closing the gap between us.

My eyes shot to his plate sized paws. The bear's feet
padded deep into the ground, razor sharp claws protruding from the
sides.

Run. Run. Run!

I dug my feet into the ground, breaking another cardinal
rule of bear survival in my panic. It didn't take long to realize the
bear would easily beat me downhill.

He ran surprisingly fast for his size. I listened to his
heavy breath behind me, but it didn't sound strained. Hell, this was
probably a joy run for the beast.

I jumped to the other side of the path and reached for
the bear spray. It had slipped and rolled downhill when I'd taken my
spill.

Now, it was back in my hands, and my trembling fingers
struggled to unlatch the safety pin.

My fingers jerked pointlessly, too weak to free the
thing I desperately needed. As if on cue, the bear sped up.

I whimpered. A few more steps and the grizzly would be
on top of me, making my most miserable day my very last on earth. It
took everything in my power to stop myself from fleeing again.

“
Come on!” I cried.

Finally! My fingers popped the pin. Both hands wrapped
around the trigger and squeezed.

The brown jet went off
with a loud
hisssss!
I
watched in awed silence as the powerful pepper stream went whizzing
straight for the bear's face and – missed?

What the fuck?

I couldn't believe my eyes. The bear jumped to its feet
and transformed. There was a split second of fur and bone and claws
rearranging themselves.

The creature shrunk three sizes. Its new skinny frame
let the brown stream of doom fly right past it, and then it shuffled
further away on long legs that looked surprisingly human.

In less than the blink of an eye, a man stood before me.
Beautiful, naked, and absolutely unexpected.

The bear was gone. And so was my sanity.

I blinked once. My head began to spin as my whole
nervous system shut down. I couldn't squeeze the bear spray anymore.

Hell no! This can't be real.

Something is very wrong. I must be sick, or having a
stroke.

I've heard of heat strokes, but what about the cold?
Maybe food poisoning, or a nervous breakdown, or...or...or...

The fiery stream wilted as the man stepped past it,
cautiously rounding my side. One of my feet jilted backwards and slid
in the gravel. Hiking boots were worthless at hugging the ground if
their owner couldn't stand straight.

“
Miss? Hold still! I didn't mean to shock you when
I shifted but you need to...” A rich, masculine voice rippled
through the air and trailed off.

My brain checked out. The naked ghost grabbing my arm
couldn't possibly be real.

Before I knew it, I was falling again. A great black
wave deep inside me rose high, sloshing shadows rife with confusion
and ready for surrender.

I started laughing as I tumbled to the ground. By the
time I expected the biting rocks to nip at my back again, the
blackness swept over me.

I was out cold.

II: Bear Attraction (Don)

In a flash, I was on her. My big hands shot out and just
barely caught the beautiful angel who was falling toward the ground.

Yeah, she'd tried to blast me with pepper spray a couple
seconds ago. But so what? I'd been hit by hikers with that crap
before and I'd learned to move fast.

It was easy to forgive and let live – especially
when the traveler looked as heavenly as this.

I held her close,
smelling the honey-like fragrance rolling off her hair. Underneath
the perfume, I inhaled
her
scent, the sweet and spicy pheromones rising on her skin.

I positioned her away from my rapidly swelling erection.
Hardly the time or place, I know, but a man can't always help it.

“
My, my, my,” I whispered. “What the
hell am I gonna do with you?”

I had to be careful as I got on the ground and laid her
on top of me. Her arms fit snug across my shoulders.

I slung her backpack over my neck and pulled her arms
close. Then I summoned the bear inside me and shifted. I'd never
carried a human woman on my back before, but there was a first time
for everything.

I couldn't leave her alone here in the woods with real
bears and men like vicious animals who might do something terrible to
her. I needed to carry her away, if only to make sure she was
alright.

It would take a couple hours to get her to the cabin.
But right now, it was the only place that made sense – no
matter how crazy or dangerous it would be.

I laid her on my bed and blotted her head with cool
water and lavender oil.

With the potent liquid circling her brow, she looked
refreshed, and smelled better than ever. I clenched my jaw, grasping
her hand and kneeling at her side. I silently prayed she didn't have
some unknown medical condition that would put her in real danger.

Come on, beautiful girl. Wake up.

A few minutes later, she stirred, but soon lapsed back
into sleep. Unable to resist, I took her hand. I brought it to my
face, and enjoyed her soft skin on my cheek.

Her plush fingers sauntered over my stubble. The
stranger had the softest, purest skin I'd ever felt – skin that
wasn't toughened and scarred by raw nature.

She was perfect.

The bear inside me demanded much more than gentle
caresses. But I couldn't satisfy him – not now. My human side
kept full control, and I tried my best to act like a gentleman.

Even so...one little kiss on the back of her hand
wouldn't hurt, would it?

My lips heated as I dragged her limp hand toward my
lips. Just when I prepared to push my mouth to her ivory skin, her
fingers twitched.

I looked down. Her eyes opened, just barely, alive with
weak confusion.

I returned her hand to the bed and stood. Her eyes
opened wider, the fright growing inside them as all her senses
returned. She remembered what had happened, and began to scream.

“
Don't do that,” I said calmly, gently
covering her mouth. “I know you're scared, and you're fully in
your rights to be. I'd be terrified and ready to fight too. But you
have to keep it down.”

She relaxed, if only a little. I lifted my hand away,
hoping I could trust her to keep the panic under control.

“
Why?” She murmured faintly.

“
Because the others might hear you. I'm the only
one who knows you're here. And to be totally honest, you're not
supposed to be.”

She sat up and held her head with one hand. I gave her
some space, guessing the traumatic transformation she'd seen had left
her with one hell of a headache.

I guessed right.

“
Gawd,” she moaned. “Sir, do you have
any aspirin around here?”

I blinked dumbly. I'd only heard the word a couple
times...something the humans passed around in their offices and
stores after a long day. Some kind of drug.

“
No. But maybe this will make you feel better.”
I reached into the barrel of cool water at my feet and pulled out the
silky wet compress.

She grudgingly accepted it and held it to her forehead.
I waited in silence, giving her some rest, trying my best not to let
my eager eyes crawl up her body too much. Or too long.

Fuck. Holding back these eyes on a body like that
isn't easy.

“
Who the hell are you?” She finally said.
“And where am I?”

“
Don Flood,” I said, reaching out my hand.

Cautiously, the young woman slipped her fingers through
mine. I squeezed them tight and smiled, happy to finally touch her.
She returned my sly grin and my grip – and was she blushing
just a little?

“
I'm Samantha Aarons. But all my friends call me
'Sam.'”

“
Sam.” I repeated her name. “Simple,
yet pretty. It's nice to meet a woman whose name reflects her
beauty.”

She pulled her hand away from mine and stared at her
lap. I guessed my boldness was making her uncomfortable. But damn it,
I was ready to pay the price if that meant us getting closer.

“
You don't live here all alone?” She looked
up, peering around my small, cozy cabin.

I shook my head. “No. I mean, the cabin is all
mine, but like I said before...it's part of a wider community. A
clan.”

“
Clan?” Sam titled her head, struggling to
understand like I'd spoken a foreign word. “You don't look like
you belong to any of the tribes around here.”

“
No, you're right about that.” I stopped
just short of spilling everything.

No way around it. But how will she react when she
knows about us? About me?

“
Don't worry. You're safe here with me.” I
paused, choosing the easiest path to guide her into it. “What's
the last thing you remember before you woke up?”

Her face darkened. Only for a second. Next thing I knew,
she was laughing, a light and airy sound that danced off the wooden
walls.

“
It's crazy. I'm sure you'll laugh,” she
whispered. “There was a bear coming after me, all teeth and
claw. It was there, almost on top of me one minute. But suddenly the
bear disappeared...and then there was a man. A naked man. And he
looked a lot like you...”

She raised her eyes. I gave a shallow nod.

“
It was me.” My words rang firm and direct.
“That's how we travel. Clothes don't last too long when you
change like that. And some of us just go into the forest naked.”

Her eyes turned into wide dark saucers. I saw her
swallow something hard, a lump passing down her sleek, too-kissable
throat.

“
We?” She asked in a mousy whisper.

“
We're the Grizzly Bone Clan, Sam. And yes, what
you saw yesterday afternoon was completely real. I met you in my bear
form. You tried to spray me, and I turned back into a man. A naked
man.”

She fell back toward the pillows in a faint. I reached
out, caught her, and saw her lips loop out in a terrified O.

Not again. Sorry, pretty lady, but you aren't giving
me any choice.

I covered her mouth before she could release the
earsplitting scream. I held my hand on her plush lips gently,
smothering her shrill cries, letting her howl into my calloused palm
again and again.

When she finally stopped, I lifted my fingers away,
gingerly stroking her shoulder as she trembled and sobbed
erratically.

“
I'm not going to hurt you. Nobody else here will
either, Sam. I swear it on my life.” I looked into her watery
eyes. Adrenaline circulated around my heart in a halo and oozed into
my veins.

I was serious. Dead serious. More serious about this
than anything I'd ever been serious about in my life.

“
I need to make a call,” she muttered. Her
hand darted beneath the bed, toward the leather bag.

I gave her the space she needed. I wasn't going to hold
her up, though I doubted she'd get reception way out here.