“I’ve noticed how many of the people I encounter are shifters. Do you happen to know what the guy at The Bun is? I know he’s a shifter, but I can’t pin it down. Some kind of bird, maybe?”
“You’re right there. He is a kind of bird, and the first one of his kind I’ve ever met. Vlad is a swan.”
“I’ve never met a swan shifter, either. Wait, I think I see the forest…yes, that’s it.” I pulled over and parked. “What do you think?”
“My bear likes it.” He opened the door then hesitated. “Do you think it’s okay to leave the car here?”
“Probably, but if you close the door again, I see a dirt road about fifty yards away. We can pull off and be less obvious. Plan?”
“Good plan.”
The dirt road was well traveled. In fact, there was a car about twenty yards in and it didn’t look abandoned. “Seems there are others with a similar plan. It’s kind of late for human hikers.”
We climbed out of the car then stripped down and left our clothes on the passenger seat. My bear was so excited. He’d indicated a desire to meet Oakley’s, but now that it was happening, he was so wound up, I didn’t dare let him just break out, or it was going to be painful. So I held tight control, watching Oakley take his first. And then I followed right away. I wanted to spend more time getting to know his bear, but Iwanted more to make him comfortable. So, two bears struck off through the trees, parting the branches with our blunt snouts and snuffling along the earth. Old growth forests were hard to find, but this one held the scents bears liked best. Most of the acorns and pine cones from the previous winter had been taken already, but there were tender berries growing on some low bushes, and we ate those before splashing down a stream and then circling back toward the car.
Our bears were much more comfortable together than we’d been at dinner, and when we shifted back, dressed, and got back into the car, I was relieved to find that the bears’ relaxed attitudes had transferred themselves to our human forms.
We talked all the way home, but not about anything serious. Just about the nursery and the ice cream shop. We nibbled on the food in the to-go box, sharing tempura that really was meant to be eaten fresh from the fryer. But it tasted great. The atmosphere made a big difference, and we agreed that we’d have to go back another time and try some more of the sushi chef’s creations. The tension that had coated us all evening was gone. Just like that.
I pulled around behind the nursery and watched him go up the steps to his apartment.
Mate going. No.
Patience, bear. We’ll see him in the morning.But I had to admit, that sounded too far off to me, too.
Chapter Ten
Oakley
I woke up later than usual. Auburn and I never set a time for me to come in, mostly because my work ethic spoke for itself. But after last night, running with him in the woods, I needed the rest.
What I didn’t need was to be woken by my ringing phone. I picked it up, thinking it was Auburn. He had been so sweet and nervous the night before and, while we ran, our bond thickened. I never knew it could be that way.
He was mine. I knew that now. More than ever.
“Fuck,” I said as I saw the name on the phone. Mason. Of all the times for him to call. “Hello,” I barked. On purpose. The only reason I answered was the slim chance of him reimbursing me for all the money I’d sunk into his business.
“Oak, it’s me. Mason.”
No shit, Sherlock.“Hello, Mason. What do you want?”
I listened to his spiel from a whole new perspective. The gaslighting. The victim mentality. The blame game. Excuses, excuses, excuses.
None of the pretty talk had anything to do with him paying me back or how he abandoned me.
He didn’t even ask me how I was. If I had a place to live since he left me high and dry.
It was all about him and for the first time, I realized, that was how it had always been. Him. His dreams. His wants. Everything his way.
I used to feel sorry for myself that he left me the way he did, but now…Fate stepped in and not only helped me be rid of the anchor that was Mason, but she led me right to Auburn.
Speaking of, I needed to go see my mate. He and I bonded, but my first thought after getting off the phone with Mason was that I needed to run to my mate. And this time, there was no chickening out.
My alpha needed to know this about me.
Everything. All of it.
“Auburn?” I called out as I went into the back door. He was already there. His scent was there. I heard footsteps.
