Get Your Shift Together (Bear Bites Book 2) (5 page)
Read Get Your Shift Together (Bear Bites Book 2) Online
Authors: Ruby Dixon
I
didn’t think
that when I confessed, Caro wouldn’t believe me, but she apparently thinks I’ve made up this story to cover a bigger sin.
I take a deep breath, and then decide the only way to convince her is to actually shift. The process isn’t painful, but a human watching it for the first time might freak out. What if she runs away?
It’s all so new for both of us. I should have kept my mouth shut because now Caro is standing there, arms folded, looking at me with a lot of suspicion.
I’ll lose her for sure if I don’t tell her something, if I try to make up a lie now. But I might lose her if she sees the real truth.
“You promise you won’t leave if I show you something, right?” I ask finally.
“Depends. If a girl jumps out of the back of your cabin, proclaiming that she’s your girlfriend, then I’m not going to be happy and I’ll definitely leave.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” I insist. There’s no point in jabbering about this anymore. I’m merely delaying the inevitable. “Okay,” I sigh. I pat the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “Sit here and…” What? Don’t freak out? Don’t run outside because I’m going to want to chase you? Don’t leave?
The last one is the only important one. “Promise you’ll give me a chance to explain after?”
She takes a seat and nods carefully. “I promise I won’t run out on you.”
“Great.” I move away. If I stepped in front of the door, no one could really blame me, right? I’ve found my mate and I want to keep her.
It takes no effort to shift. It’s as innate to me as breathing. I was born knowing how to shift. The change comes from within. Starts in the heart and moves outward. The heart, the soul, the spirit—it all remains the same. I am the bear and the bear is me. I hope that Caro can recognize that, beneath the fur and claws and teeth.
When the shift is complete, I drop to all fours and peer at Caro. She’s stuck to her chair with her hands glued to the side. Her eyes are big and…I can’t tell if that’s fear or fascination. I try to make my four-hundred pound body as small as possible. I was pretty cute as a cub. I remember my mom telling me that. I don’t need to be cute, but I’d be happy if I came off as non-threatening.
I pad slowly and softly over to the chair, and then hunker down by her feet. I still dwarf her.
“Leo?” Her voice is small and tremulous.
I cringe and nod slowly. A delicate human hand drops tentatively on my fur, just behind my ear. I tilt my head into her touch. Her nails lightly scratch behind that spot, and I rumble in appreciative response.
And I hear her laugh. It’s high and thready but it’s not a scream of fear. I shift back and rise to my feet. When a bear shifts, he comes back naked. I hustle back to the clothes lying on the floor, and pull my pants on just in case I need to chase her out of the house.
Then I return to kneel again by her side. Her laughs have turned to hiccups. I place a wary hand on her knee.
“Caro. I’m a bear shifter,” I don’t know why I say it. She saw what I could do, and I take it as a promising sign she didn’t burst out of here, running after old Bill.
“I thought you were lying.” She shakes her head in wonder. “But you actually were a bear there. Or it was a magic show.”
“No magic. Or at least not the sleight of hand kind. I suppose being part-bear, part-human is some kind of magic.”
“So, no girlfriend, huh?” she says, a true smile starting to tug at the corners of her mouth.
“No, unless you count yourself, then absolutely yes.” I slide my hand from her knee up to her thigh.
“Okay then.” She smooths a palm over my shoulder and down to squeeze my biceps. “I can’t believe it, but I’m okay with it. I have lots of questions like, will I…I mean, do women have cubs or babies?”
I hide my smirk at her unintentional reveal. “Babies. But they’ll shift right away from baby to cub after you give birth. It’s pretty cool.”
“My goodness!” She pats her chest. “I’m glad you had me sit down.”
“You ready for more information?”
“If it involves you shifting into another animal, I think we should hold off,” she laughs weakly.
“No, but I’m not the only one. This town is full of shifters.”
“Really?” She cocks her head with interest. “Who else? Is that one guy who stopped by the other day a shifter too?”
I nod. “Yep, also Sheriff Gant, Eli the Lodge owner, Dent who runs the tavern. The lady who owns the spa is the new mate of another bear shifter.”
“Mate.” She tests out the word. “What does that mean?”
“Girlfriend, basically,” I reply.
For life
, I add in my head.
“Let me get this straight.” She moves so she can look directly into my face without torquing her neck. “You have a special gift, and you live in a town where all your friends and family live with this special gift, but you were willing to come stay with me in the city?”
“Pretty much.” I don’t see why this is a problem.
“Leo, that’s beyond sweet.” She cups my face. “But I could never ask you to leave everything behind for me.”
“If it’s you or this stack of sticks here,” I gesture around us, “I’m picking you every time.”
“You say that now, but what about a few weeks from now?”
Worry colors her face. I’m heartened that the bear thing hasn’t turned her off. This I can fix. “Hey.” I draw her into my arms. “I swear to you that as long as I’m with you, I’m going to be happy. If you leave me, you’re going to end up with a sad, mopey bear following you around. Neither of us wants that.”
“Are you threatening me?” she asks with a smile.
I shake my head. “Think of it more like a promise. That sounds better.”
“The thing is, Leo, I’m mobile, and if you like it here in Pine Falls, then we should live here.”
Her face is tipped backward, and the bright morning sun is shining in. I’ve never felt happier. It’s all clicked into place. My mate’s here with me. She doesn’t care that I turn furry, and she likes my town.
I sweep her into my arms and carry her into the bedroom because all of the good feelings she’s generated have migrated to my cock.
“Oh, by the way, you’re my mate.”
“What?”
I toss her on the bed and proceed to prove exactly what it means to be a bear shifter’s mate. It involves lying back and allowing me to lick her until she creams all over my tongue, and then shafting her until she is too exhausted to ask more questions. And because she’s my mate, I’m worn out too.
We fall asleep, wrapped around each other, our hearts in sync like we’ve been together for a hundred years.
D
ear Readers
,
I’m a big fan of Alexa Riley’s smutty novels and she loves shifters. Me too! We agreed that we would write a few shifter novellas for each other.
This January, please enjoy the four Bear Bites novellas. After January, I'll be returning to the big blue aliens we all know and love. Stay tuned!
Lastly, if you enjoy the books, please, please leave a review. Tell me what you think and who you’re hoping to see in future books. Tell me if you want more books and what kind! I want to know your thoughts and leaving reviews helps me as an author in so many ways.
—
R
oo
I’m a loner for a reason. I don’t have much in the way of social skills. I’d rather sit on my deck and watch the sunset than hit a tavern with coworkers. My idea of grooming is to trim my beard with a straight blade when it hits my collarbone. I can’t put two words together in the company of a pretty woman…and they don’t come much prettier than wolf-shifter Madison Thorne.
She’s everything I’m not—outgoing, easy on the eyes, and sweet. There’s no way I’m convincing her to come home with me. Fortunately I don’t have to. Maddie seems to like my gruff, unpolished self. At least, she likes me enough for one night.
The problem is getting her to stay forever.
I’ve been looking for a mate in all the wrong places. When the right one shows up in Pine Falls with a man in tow, I almost miss her. Caroline Abbott is a sweetheart of a city girl who is making one last stab at keeping her (dead) relationship together. When her fool of an ex takes off and leaves her alone in the forest, I’m more than happy to step into his abandoned shoes.
While I can make her shout with pleasure, I worry those screams will turn to fear when she realizes that my hidden half is a bear.
I can’t keep the secret much longer, but telling her might scare her off for good.
There are few things that are off limits to the were-bears of Pine Falls, but humans are one of them. Which is a real pain, because I’ve had it bad for curvy Adelaide Laurent ever since she sashayed into town. The fact that she’s forbidden fruit just makes my fantasies all the sweeter.
But when she signs up to go on a weekend camping trip with the town’s biggest player, it’s time for a bear to step in and claim his mate.
I don’t care if it breaks the rules. She’s mine, and it’s time she knew it.
Life’s given me the short end of the stick on looks – I’m big, ugly and brutish. Normally I wouldn’t care about the packaging except for the fact that the woman of my dreams is Ryann Brown, a human half my age and so lovely she makes my body ache. What’s a were-bear to do in this situation?
Whatever he can to forget her, of course.
Except Ryann’s not taking no for an answer. And when she catches me watching her one night, she gives me a show I’ll never forget. Did I think I’d be able to walk away and not touch her? Not claim what’s mine?
Not a chance.