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With a deep breath, I duck under the same branch as this afternoon and enter Adrian’s territory.
My pulse starts racing as I stand there, looking around and listening to the owl hooting from somewhere far away.
It’s eerily quiet.
I’m there for a few minutes when reality kicks in and I realize that I made a horrible mistake. What am I doing here? Waiting to get eaten?
I’m just about to turn back when I hear the thundering of heavy paws racing toward me from somewhere deep in the dark woods.
I gasp as I see the trees moving. He’s getting closer.
A part of me wants to run, but a bigger part of me wants to stay and see if this is what fate has in store for me.
“Oh, boy,” I whisper when I see the huge silhouette of a grizzly bear slowly approaching.
The closer he gets, the more I can see. His head is low, his brown eyes fixated on me. I gulp as he lets out a deep huff. A plume of steam billows into the air.
“Please don’t hurt me,” I whisper to him as he comes within a few yards. “I just came to be your friend.”
He stops a few feet away and lifts his wet black nose. Steam puffs from his mouth with every hard breath he takes. His eyes are focused on me as he smells the air. I wonder if he can smell my arousal that’s still on my hand. Maybe I should have taken a shower.
His demeanor is different than it was this afternoon. He doesn’t look as angry or as threatening.
I look into his eyes, really look into them, and my heart breaks when I see the tiredness and torment in them. He looks exhausted. From what, I don’t know… Fighting? Living without me?
“I’m going to touch you, okay?” I whisper.
He flinches when I reach out. I snap my hand back, but then try again, slower, easier as I whisper softly to him.
“I just want to be your friend. Would you like that?”
He lowers his head and lets me pet his cold fur. He grumbles with content as I slide my palm down his soft cheek. His eyes never leave mine.
“This is not so bad,” I whisper to him and to myself.
He suddenly starts shaking and I yank my hand back with a gasp.
I stare with my breath caught in my throat as I watch him phase once again into the naked man that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.
His body convulses and then with a rip, he’s there.
Standing in front of me with the most heated brown eyes I’ve ever seen.Chapter FourAdrianShe came back for me. I can’t believe it.
I’ve been thinking about her non-stop since she ran out of here. I was worried I would never see her again, that I would die without ever knowing her name, without ever touching her hand.
“What are you doing here?” My voice is all husky and raspy. It hurts to talk. I don’t remember the last time that I used my voice, but it’s been years.
She glances away from me, looking timid, looking like she thinks this might have all been a big mistake. It’s not. It’s the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me.
“I just felt… compelled to come back,” she says in a soft beautiful voice that rips the tension from my legs, weakening them. “I don’t know why.”
“It’s because we’re—”
“Mates.” She finishes the sentence for me. “So, it’s true?”
I nod as my throat burns. “It’s true.”
We stare at each other for a long moment, taking each other in, taking the beauty of this moment in.
She’s all bundled up in tight yoga pants and her fall jacket. I’m the opposite—naked as the day I was born. The soft light from the moon is lighting her face in a silvery hue and she looks so innocent and pure that I don’t feel worthy. I don’t deserve anything this good.
“You live out here?” she asks after a while. She looks around at the cold dark trees and a shiver racks her body. “For how long?”
“Too long.”
“Years?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve lost track, but it’s been close to a decade.”
Her eyes widen as she looks at me with pity. I hate that she’s looking at me like I’m some kind of freak. I want her to look at me with admiration and respect, not with sympathy and sorrow.
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “It’s not so bad.”
Her eyebrows raise. She’s not buying it.
“Does your bear always take control?”
“Always,” I tell her. She’s my mate and I can be honest with her. I’ll open up to her and tell her anything she wants to know. “He runs the show.”
“How come he let you out now?”
I take a deep breath of the cool air and a puff of smoke billows out of my mouth when I exhale. “I don’t know. I guess you calm him. He’s not so overbearing when you’re around.”
