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“Is that…” she shouted when the bear looked between us, huffing.
“Aren,” I breathed. “It’s okay! Aren, look at me. Listen to me.” I lifted my hands, trying to calm him, but the movement split the gashes along my forearms wider, spilling fresh blood.
His nostrils flared, and with an agonized bellow, the gigantic creature swung one massive paw, snapping the jaguar’s head back and sending his body rolling. Lana was atop the unconscious shifter in a heartbeat, throwing up her shield between them as a naked human male materialized in the cat’s place.
Spit flew past massive teeth as the bear bellowed his displeasure. That paw rose again—and I shifted into shadow. The world stilled into monochrome molasses, and I dragged down a desperate breath.
My mate was a godsdamned bear.
The Aren Amadeus, Commander of Grayshell, was a bear shifter. Since fucking when?!
I braced on my legs, surveying the absolute chaos—Lana with her canines bared, the exposed body below her, and the massive, irate creature looming over them both.
I closed the distance and planted myself between them.
I raised my arms, pulling magic up from the well in my center and drawing it into my hands until the pads of my fingers buzzed.
Only then did I shift out of the shadows, casting them forward in ribbons. “Aren!”
There—buried in that massive, fuzzy face were winter-blue eyes, now wide as his arm descended in a brutal swing.
“Aren it’s me!!” My shadows lashed around his paw, but that seemed to aggravate him—barks of agitation huffing from his broad chest.
I pushed my magic through that coat of fur, driving it into him until our power collided and that feeling of home surged between us, his essence wrapping around mine.
“It’s me,” I breathed, slowly easing him onto all fours, my heart racing against my ribs. “I’m okay.” His giant head lowered until he could meet my eyes. I ran my fingers over the cuts for him to see, sealing them up as our magic continued to intertwine. “I’m okay.”
His eyes grew more human with every heartbeat. I stretched out a shaking hand, shoulders sagging as he set his fuzzy forehead into my palm. A mournful whine rose from deep in his chest. Aren shoved forward, pushing my hand aside so he could bow his head against my sternum.
Giggling nervously, half-convinced I’d finally lost my mind, I wrapped my arms around his thick neck and laid my cheek against him. I shrieked when he pushed me backward, sending me toppling onto my ass, only to follow and gently lay his face across my stomach with a chuff of relief.
I lost it entirely, breaking down in laughter as I stared down my body at a wet black nose, and pale blue eyes set against thick brown fur. Shaking my head, I threaded my fingers into it—somehow both coarse and decadently soft.
A distinctly British male voice croaked breathlessly, “Mind you… this is my first… impression of you.”
The bear chuffed. I glanced sideways to find Lana’s mouth agape, the bleeding man below her the spitting image of Tessa Westerlund in male form—darker skin, maybe broader cheekbones. But the eyes were the same, and so was the shit-eating grin.
“It’s gonna… be hard to beat,” he wheezed, rolling onto his side with a grimace, apparently deciding to stay a while, head sagging into the dirt. He narrowed his eyes, and bear-Aren rumbled something like a warning. “I like you better this way.”
Lana, however, collapsed into her open palms.
Rika? I’m gonna need a hand, I sent down the line. It’s over.
Coming. This place is crazy.
Relief crashed through me as I took stock: Lana still bleeding; Jason trying and failing to lift his own body weight; Brody making his way over only to collapse beside us like the fifteen-foot bear was nothing worth noting; and Aren, his sweet black snout and back both bleeding.
“You don’t know how to shift back, do you?” I guessed when his blue eyes landed on me, concern lining them. A huff of annoyance answered.
“It doesn’t appear that way,” Brody noted, smirking over at us as he picked at the wounds in his side. I slapped his hand away, and he scowled down at me, apparently uninterested in helping me out from under my enormous mate.
I looked around, arching my back toward the desert before lifting my chin to survey the castle. They’d set out with nine. I counted five. Scowling back at Brody, afraid of the answer, I asked, “Where’s everybody else?”
Brody sobered instantly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as the bear gave a low moan that rumbled through my bones.
Well, fuck.
Bear Aren was still huffing circles through the sand when Rika and I finished healing everyone. I couldn’t help the smirk on my face as I trudged over, but I burst out laughing when his eyes narrowed in a way that clearly said, you’re enjoying this far too much.
