Mine to Bear (Romance on the Go Book 0)

by Khloe Wren

  It felt like forever before we exited the forest and I caught sight of the office. My teeth chattered with how hard my body was shaking by the time Darby opened the back door and Ranger strode inside with me. He took me directly to the lunch room where he sat on the couch with me still in his arms. I didn’t want to be held by him. He was my boss and Neo’s brother. I tried to sit up, to move off his lap, but his grip tightened, preventing me from moving.

  “Stay where you are, Jolie. You need to get warm. The second Neo gets back, I’ll hand you over to him. I promise no one here will hurt you.”

  That shocked me a little, considering the run around I’d been giving his brother. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he lashed out at me at least verbally. “W-why?” My word was stuttered, but I got it out.

  “Because you’re family. You’re Neo’s mate, regardless of whether you’ve accepted his claim on you or not. I’m not only Neo’s brother, but also the head of our clan of black bear shifters.”

  “Y-you ch-change t-too?”

  “Yeah, darlin’, I change into a bear too. So do Darby and Axel, along with about half the town.”

  Half the town? How had I not noticed it before? Surely there was something about them that would give it away? I set my gaze on Darby, who was sitting at the table and looking cautiously at me now that he was under my scrutiny. He was good looking, not as good as Neo of course, but still, he was strikingly handsome with jet black hair and a goatee. His dark eyes were surrounded by long, thick dark lashes… Before I could get any further in my examination, my attention was jerked to the door as it crashed open and Neo rushed in with Axel on his heels.

  He looked just like he normally did. He wasn’t covered in blood, or fur. He was the Neo I’d come to know over the past few months. Had I imagined the whole thing? Including what Ranger just said? Breaking eye contact, I frowned down at the carpet. Maybe I was sleeping and this shit was all nothing but a dream.

  “You need to take her home, brother.”

  I didn’t look up as Ranger spoke, nor did I aim my words at anyone in particular. “I want to wake up now.”

  When Neo’s boots landed on the carpet in my line of sight, my breath hitched. He lifted me from Ranger before he sat beside his brother with me now on his lap. With one finger, he gently lifted my face until I had no choice but to stare into his dark, intense eyes. “Baby, you’re not sleeping. You’re wide awake and all of this is real. Let me take you home, and I’ll explain everything to you.”

  I had so many questions, I had no clue where to start. However, even with my thoughts in such a tangle, I knew sitting in the lunch room at work was not the place for all we needed to discuss. But I did want to know something before I went with him.

  “After last night, I figured you were done with me. Slipping out like you did, then avoiding me this morning. Now you’ve done—” I paused to nod toward the forest. “What you just did. I’m not sure where I stand with you. I’d like to know before I go anywhere with you.”

  I ignored his brothers’ snickers and the way they were clearing their throats as I kept my gaze on Neo’s.

  “I’ll explain why I did that in more detail later too, but for now, let me assure you, Jolie, I will never be done with you. You’re my mate, the one and only woman who can complete me. There is nothing you can do to change that.”

  Unsure what to say to that, I stayed still and silent, just staring into his eyes.

  After a few moments, he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine.

  Warmth flowed over me as he moved his mouth over mine. My body finally ceased shaking, and I leaned up, wrapping my arms around his neck as our kiss deepened. The longer his tongue tangled with mine, the calmer my mind became and the more relaxed my body was. Even my sprained ankle wasn’t hurting much anymore. I guess I hadn’t hurt it as badly as I’d first thought, which I was grateful for.

  When he broke the kiss, he kept his forehead against mine for a moment. Then he rose to his feet, keeping me in his arms as he moved. “Right, we’re out. Thank you for your help earlier, brothers.”

  I didn’t bother trying to keep up with the men’s conversation as they continued speaking. I’d been so cold, my body shaking, that now that I was warm and calmer, I wanted to stay that way. Shifting my arms a little, I buried my face in against his throat, closed my eyes, and breathed in his musky scent. I allowed it to soothe me even further. I didn’t understand the effect he had on me, but right now, I didn’t care about the why, just that it was working. I’d worry about the rest later.

  ****

  Neo

  Jolie’s warm breath against my neck had me tightening my grip on her. I wanted nothing more than to strip her down and check over every inch of her for injury before I got inside her and claimed her as my own. All three of my brothers were smirking at me as they watched my mate nuzzle her face in tight against my skin. Despite only relieving her mating burn last night, she was deep under its spell again already. My heart swelled at the knowledge she was willingly taking comfort from me.

  With a final nod to my brothers, I strode out the door and started walking toward my house. All four of us had our homes within walking distance of the business, something I was grateful for right now, because it meant I didn’t need to put my mate down to get her home. And that’s where I was taking her. My home was also her home. She just didn’t realize it yet. She would soon, though. Real soon.

  I was still on edge from having to deal with her bastard of a foster father, and with her comment about thinking I was done with her earlier, I was hanging on by a thread. She had no fucking clue how much I wanted her, how much I would always want her.

  Clearly, avoiding her this morning had been a mistake. I had been intending on finding her after work to talk to her about everything. It was just that I didn’t get that chance with what happened. No matter, we’d be discussing it all now. And now that her foster father was dealt with, she had no reason not to settle down. Hopefully. One of my questions for her was about the man she’d married. Was he out there waiting to come get her too? Her foster father had said he’d dealt with the man, but I wasn’t sure what that meant. I didn’t know him well enough to be sure he meant he’d killed the other man.

  Once inside my house, I moved to sit on the lounge, keeping her on my lap. She was still rubbing herself over my neck and as much as I loved the fact she was rubbing my scent all over her face, it was distracting as all get out.

  “Babe, we need to talk, and I can’t do that with you doing what you’re doing.”

  She stilled, her whole body going rigid against me.

  Before she could say a word or misinterpret what I’d said, I manhandled her until she sat straddling my legs, our faces now level. “Don’t take me the wrong way, Jolie. I want nothing more than to strip you bare, check every inch of your flesh for injury, and then fuck you senseless, but we need to talk before that can happen. If you keep teasing my neck like that, we wouldn’t get any talking done.”

  That earned me a smirk, and some of the tension seeped from me. She was already recovering from her rough morning enough to smile.

  “You said you have questions, and I can only imagine how many. How about I start with explaining about my vanishing act this morning?”

  She gave me a nod as I ran my palms up and down her jean clad thighs.

  “Obviously, being a bear shifter, I’m not like a normal man. There are things that happen for us that don’t for full humans. One of those things is the dreams that often happen after the first time we sleep with our mates. As in actual sleep, not sex. Last night was the first time you’ve allowed me to fall asleep beside you. Tell me, Jolie, what did you dream about last night?”

  She winced and dropped her gaze away from mine for a few moments as her hands came up to play with the buttons on my shirt. “I dreamed of you growing up. And bears. Which seemed really strange at the time, but I guess in light of earlier, not so strange after all. Are you telling me that I wasn’t really
dreaming but seeing your memories or something?”

  “It’s an ‘or something’. But yeah, you saw images from my life. And I saw images from yours. I got a hell of a crash course on you, babe. It fucking broke my heart what you’ve been through, and it had my bear going fucking nuts wanting blood on your behalf. I woke before you and had no clue how to talk to you about any of it, so I snuck out and avoided you at work this morning. I had intended on grabbing you after work and explaining everything. I wasn’t going to freeze you out for long, babe. I just wasn’t capable of treating you the same way as before after I’d seen what you’d been through.”

  Her gaze flicked up to mine, eyes wide in shock, showing clearly that my words had hurt her.

  “Fuck. I didn’t mean it like that, Jolie. I mean that I didn’t think I could talk to you and not mention it. I was already protective over you, but after that dream, you have no idea how much I want to keep you locked away where you’d always be safe. Tell me, Jolie, is that bastard you married coming to look for you too? What did your foster father mean when he said he’d taken care of him?”

  She shook her head as her fingers opened a few of my buttons then ran inside and against my chest. “I’m guessing Trent’s dead. That’s generally how he dealt with people who pissed him off. And if he’s not, I doubt he’ll come looking. He only wanted me as a wife to give him children. When he found out I couldn’t give him that, he told me he was going to annul our marriage. If he’s still alive, I doubt he’s even thought about me once since I ran.”

  I could feel the tension in her body. She hadn’t wanted me to know she couldn’t have kids. I shifted to cup her face in my palms and lift her gaze to mine. “You’re not sterile, baby. You’re my mate. That means you can only have young with me.”

  She stilled, running a curious gaze over me for a few moments. “I’ve had one hell of a day so far today, Neo. All of this shifter stuff is a lot to take in. I don’t know what to believe, whether you’re telling me the truth about this.”

  I moved my palms from her face, down her body and thighs, before moving back up and going under the hem of her shirt so I could touch the smooth, soft skin over her ribs. I enjoyed the hell out of the shiver that ran through her when I did. “Jolie, I will never lie to you. I’m your mate, and we will have cubs together without an issue. Just as soon as you let me claim you, that is.”

  “Cubs?” Her voice went high-pitched on that one word, and I fought to hold in my chuckle.

  “You’ll have babies, sweetheart. Adorable little human babies that when they turn one will start to shift between their forms.”

  “And me?”

  I didn’t pretend not to understand what she meant. “When I claim you, it’ll set off changes within you and you’ll become like me.”

  Panic rose within me when the color drained from her face and she shook her head.

  “No, no. That’s—no. I’m not a bear. I can’t be a bear!”

  She tried to move back off my lap, but I tightened my hold on her.

  “Stay where you are, Jolie. You’ll be more upset if you’re not touching me.”

  Tears filled her eyes, but she stopped trying to get up. “Why?”

  “We’re mates, baby. The mating burn calls us to each other. It’s why no matter how hard you fought to push me away, you always ended up seeking me out eventually. And it’s why you feel comfort and relief when you touch me. I’m told it’s not as potent once we complete the claiming, but it’ll always be there between us.”

  A single tear escaped each eye, and I moved my hands back to cup her face and wipe the tears away with my thumbs.

  “I don’t want to become a bear, Neo.”

  Her voice was a whisper and it cut me to the core. Her rejection of my other side. Of her own other side.

  “It’s not as scary as you’re thinking, Jolie. Your bear is already inside of you. We just need to unlock her. You won’t lose yourself to her. You’ll simply gain another side of yourself. You’ll be stronger, more resilient. You won’t get sick as often.”

  She cut me off. “What do you mean it’s already inside me?”

  “You were born to be my mate, Jolie. That means you were born to be a bear shifter. She’s just been hibernating while waiting for me to come along and wake her up.”

  “So you don’t really want me then. You’re just, what? Following a biological urge?”

  The anger was clear to read in her tone, and I knew I’d somehow fucked up my explanation of how mates worked. I needed to fix this and fast. I had a feeling now she’d let anger overtake her shock from the events out in the forest. She’d be up and out of here in a flash if I didn’t say the right thing now.

  Chapter Four

  Jolie

  Fury raced through my system, chasing away the shock and confusion from earlier. I’d been falling in love with a man who didn’t even really want me. I tried to stand again, but again, his hands tightened on me, stopping me from moving away.

  “It’s not like that. Jolie, please, let me explain before you run off.”

  “I can’t run off because you’re holding me down.”

  My words came out in a growl and I did not appreciate the way he fought not to smile at my outburst.

  “I promise I’ll let you go. In fact, I’ll take you back to your place myself if you want to, after I explain a few things.”

  With a huff, I folded my arms over my chest and let my weight rest on his thighs, back far enough that my crotch wasn’t anywhere near the healthy bulge he had going on behind his fly.

  “We were born to be together, but that doesn’t mean we’re forced to be a couple. It means that we were created to be the perfect partners for each other. It means we were instantly attracted to each other when we first met, that we crave each other’s touch and affection. Together we will feel complete and whole. It means we’ll fall in love with each other because when two people fit together like two destined mates do, that’s what naturally follows. There’s no forcing or removal of choice involved.”

  Tears pricked my eyes. “That’s why no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t leave town, isn’t it? Why I always keep coming back to you?”

  “We call it the mating burn. It’s a call between mates that is hard to deny. I’ve never heard of anyone being able to fight it as well as you have, actually.”

  It sounded like he wasn’t telling me everything that was on his mind, but I didn’t have it in me to push him on it. I also wasn’t sure I wanted to know whatever it was that he wasn’t telling me.

  “So I never stood a chance?”

  Pain flashed through his gaze, then a wave of fury crashed through me, leaving me gasping. That wasn’t my emotion, was it?

  “Never stood a chance when, Jolie?” His voice was low and a little rough, like he was struggling to hold in his emotions. Was the fury his? Was this some weird shifter thing? “Do you mean you never had a chance when your parents died and you ended up in a god-awful group home? Maybe you mean when the state handed you over to a fucking monster when you were still way too young to have any chance of fighting him off? Or was it when that fucker sold you off as a bride? Maybe you mean you didn’t stand a chance because of all the fucking abuse those two men rained down on you. Because, it couldn’t possibly be that you think you never stood a chance because of all the love and affection I’ve attempted to shower you with since you came to town. Had you told me about your foster father earlier, I would have hunted him down and taken care of it for you. Fuck, Jolie, I killed for you not an hour ago, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant keeping you safe and happy.”

  He hadn’t been kidding about that dream. He’d seen it all. Every shameful, horrific thing I’d rather he not know had been laid at his feet. I’d never wanted anyone to know any of what he’d just spoken of.

  Tears were running down my cheeks as I tried to focus on his face. The waves of added emotion must be his, and they pounded against me as I battled my own. I was drowning in it a
ll, struggling to rise above it. There were too many emotions to deal with and I needed to get away. With a sob I couldn’t hold in any longer, I shoved against his chest, pushing myself off his body. His hands slipped from my skin, and I found myself stumbling back away from him. The moment we were no longer touching, everything got worse. All the emotions swirling got thicker, dragging me down deeper and pain shot up from my injured ankle. My heart raced as my vision faded. What was happening?

  “Neo! Help me.” I cried out for him as I fell to my knees, my whole body aching and my mind feeling like it was going to splinter apart.

  “Fuck. It’s okay, Jolie, everything’s gonna be okay. I’m going to make this all go away.”

  Then I was off the floor and up against his chest, and everything eased instantly. I kept my eyes closed as I pressed my face in against his throat. I took deep breaths of his scent as I clung to him. Every breath took more of the pressure away until finally my heart slowed down and the waves of emotions stopped pounding at me. I felt him moving, walking. After tilting my face, I opened my eyes to see where he was taking me.

  I’d never been inside Neo’s place before, so I wasn’t sure of the layout. He elbowed open a door and once I caught sight of the large bed I knew he’d brought me to his bedroom. I stayed silent as he kicked off his shoes, then climbed up on the mattress, all without loosening his hold on me at all. The man was strong, that was for sure.

  He sat with his back against the headboard and arranged me in his lap before stroking the hair from my face and pressing a gentle kiss to my temple.

  “I’m so sorry, Jolie. When I saw you run into the woods earlier with that bastard chasing you, I was so worried that I wouldn’t get to you before he could hurt you. Then finding you pinned up against that tree, with him holding you off the fucking ground by your neck... Add to that how much I love you and that I’m so fucking worried you’re gonna keep running from me, keep refusing my claim on you. I’m a fucking mess, babe. And after sleeping beside each other last night, the bond between us has strengthened. We’ll feel each other’s emotions now, at least if they’re strong ones. Especially if we’re not touching. I should have held my temper earlier. You didn’t know what to expect and it nearly knocked you out.”