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“There’s an entrance to the forest behind this block, we can do it there.”

Nora

Icouldn’t say why I was suddenly so eager to see Ollie’s bear, but once the idea popped into my head I couldn’t get it out. He’d been in his bear form yesterday when he found me outside at Rosewater Manor, but I’d been concentrating on practicing my magic. By the time I realized he was there, he was human again. A very naked human.

We left the diner, and after passing three more people who commented on us being mates, we headed across the alley that ran behind the building.

“There’s a clearing a few yards up,” Ollie told me. “I’ll have more room to shift there.”

As we walked I tried to sort out my conflicting emotions. Last night was the best night of my life, hands down. It wasn’t just the sex, although the sex was phenomenal – the best I ever had, in fact. It was also the closeness I felt with him. The way he cradled me against his chest as we talked about everything and nothing until we both fell asleep.

I’d stuffed down the panic I felt when I first woke up, telling myself it was no big deal that I’d spent the night with this man. But all those nosy ass people in the diner butting into our business freaked me out. Several had asked when I was moving in with Ollie, as if that was the only option. No one asked if he was moving in with me. Sure, I lived with my aunt and uncle, but I was fairly sure they’d be thrilled if Ollie joined us. Plus, we’d spent one night together and now they were expecting us to move in together?

The freakiest part was the way every person who’d passed by had stared at my neck, even those who didn’t stop to talk. Those who did stop would say some variation of “When are you going to mark her, Ollie?” I found it annoying. And scary as hell, because I’d already chosen one man who turned out to be a terrible partner, but at least I’d been able to divorce him. But divorce didn’t happen in the shifter world. They mated for life if they were fated. As I understood it, if I mated with Ollie and then we broke up, his bear would go feral and he’d eventually either die of a broken heart or go crazy enough that the authorities would have to put him down like a rabid dog.

That was a lot of pressure for someone who’d sworn to never get married again. Besides, I’d known the man for what? A week?

“This is the place,” Ollie said, removing his clothes like it was the most natural thing in the world to strip naked in public. And I guessed for him, it was. I tried and failed not to notice how good he looked naked. He was a big guy, built like a football player, all muscle, not an ounce of fat on him, which was incredible given the amount of sweets the man ate. But it was working for him. He could easily be a model for one of those sporting goods catalogs.

He tied his clothes into a ball, placing his shoes in the center and creating a handle with the pant legs. “So I can carry them home,” he explained.

Ollie gave me a wink, then he took a deep breath and his eyes lost focus. Everything seemed to happen at once. The air around him shimmered, and I heard loud cracking and popping noises as he simultaneously grew taller and wider. In the blink of an eye hair sprouted all over his body, his nose and mouth morphed into a snout, and claws replaced his fingers and toes. He dropped to all fours, and then he was a bear. A giant bear.

I blinked. Even though I’d known what was going to happen, seeing it was a shock. The bear was enormous, coming up to my shoulders even without standing up. His fur was brown, almost cinnamon colored, matching his human hair.

Ollie’s bear made a soft chuffing noise, easing closer. Tentatively, I reached out a hand, stroking the soft fur at the top of his head.

“You’re magnificent,” I said wonderingly.

I swear the bear smiled. He rubbed against my legs like he was trying to scent mark me. Maybe he was, but I was too focused on the miracle I’d just witnessed. If I looked into his eyes, I could see that the bear was Ollie, but he was otherwise indistinguishable from any random giant bear. At least to my eyes. I mean, the sum total of my experience with bears involved taking my kids to the zoo when they were younger.

“I’m sorry to leave you,” I told the bear. “I just… I need some time to process everything. This mate stuff, it’s a lot for me. You’re not in my plan Ollie, and I honestly don’t know what to do about that.”

The bear nodded, then licked my hand, making me laugh. His tongue felt like sandpaper. He turned around and took a few steps before turning back to look at me.

“Go on home,” I said, understanding his unspoken question. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

The bear nodded again, then lumbered off through the woods. Somehow I could feel his sadness, although I couldn’t say why. It was almost like I could feel the hint of his emotions along with my own. I watched Ollie until he disappeared, then walked back to my car.

When I got back to the house Sage was reading in the library. Even though I’d texted her last night to let her know I wasn’t coming home, I still felt like I was doing the walk of shame. Maybe I was.

“Did you have a nice time, dear?” There was no judgment in her tone.

I nodded. “Yeah, mostly.”

She patted the cushion next to her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Did I? It couldn’t hurt.

Sparing her the graphic details, I shared that we’d slept together and that I’d mostly felt fine about it until we’d gone to breakfast and the panic set in.

“People in Greysden love a romance,” she told me. “Especially a fated one. But you need to move at your own speed, Nora. If you need time, I’m sure Ollie will give it to you.”

“I don’t want to lead him on.”

“You can’t really lead him on,” Sage explained. “With shifters, they fall for you the instant they see you or scent you. There’s nothing you can do that will make his feelings go away, they’ll stay the same whether you see him or not. But the human side sometimes takes a while to catch up, although from what you’ve told me, I think both parts of Ollie are in sync.”

“This is supposed to be my time,” I said. Well, whined really. I wanted to smack myself.