by Kathy Lyon
“You were a bear, so I’m pretty sure you’re the winner in surprising changes.”
He looked at her calmly, analyzing her features and stance. Her eyes were steady as they met his gaze, but her hands were twitchy and her nostrils kept flaring as her breath came in and out in a short, tight tempo. Not quite panicked, but certainly not comfortable. Since she’d picked up her gun again, he’d do well to keep her heading toward calm, not terrified.
So he shrugged and was pleased when the motion didn’t hurt too badly. “I can explain.”
“Really? Have at it soldier. Give me the details.”
He frowned. “Um, what details did you want?”
“You an army experiment?”
“No.”
“Bit by a radioactive spider or something?”
“That’s a comic book.”
She arched a brow and he huffed out a breath. “I was born this way.”
“As a bear?”
“Human. All human normal. My first shift was at sixteen.”
She crinkled her nose. “You make it sound like a shift at a donut shop. You mean you turned into a bear?” It was half statement, half question, so he answered it.
“Yes. Ripped my favorite jeans. Hurt like hell. Wandered until I was in Gladwin.”
She frowned. “Where?”
“Middle Michigan. State park. Here.” He held up his hand in the shape of Michigan and pointed an inch below the base of his index finger.
“So it’s a genetic thing? Your parents can do it, your—”
Her questions were making his head hurt. He was trying to do too much too fast. He couldn’t remember how to act. How to answer. And he was starting to think too much. Which meant—oddly enough—that his language ability was about to deteriorate as he tried to function as a man and not a bear. “Not automatic. Can’t say more.” He pushed to his feet, his coordination awkward.
Don’t think about it. Just do it.
He balanced on his feet while she scrambled backward. And though he tried to appear casual, he kept a close eye on where she put that gun. Fortunately, it went back into her purse-satchel after she’d thumbed on the safety. Jesus, she was just now putting on the safety?
He started walking to his front door. His gait was slow and jerky, but eventually it smoothed out. He needed to keep moving to remember how to be a man. He’d never gone bear for so long before, and a sliver of alarm skated down his spine at the realization. Ten months as a bear? Back in July, he’d planned to be bear for a week. Why hadn’t he gone insane? Why hadn’t someone hunted him down as a feral?
He looked at the woods behind his cabin. Out there was the female he had been tracking. The memory held equal parts temptation and horror. What had he been doing?
And yet as he looked at the woods, his steps faltered. The longing to shift back to grizzly hit him square in the chest, less painful but no less potent than the slugs he’d taken ten minutes before. There was a sweetness out in the woods. A song that he couldn’t hear any more and he wanted it like a man wanted that perfect feeling he couldn’t quite remember. And as he stood there staring, the woman’s voice cut into his thoughts. Her tone was hard and sarcastic, but not enough to cover her fear.
“You’re not going furry again, are you? I still have rounds left in my gun.”
He turned slowly, his eyes narrowing as he again picked out the details of her face and body. Minute details, the more specific the better because it forced him to process information like a man. Her brows were drawn down in a frown. Her shoulders were tight with fear, but determination glinted in her narrowed eyes and the set of her feet. She was equally prepared for fight or flight, and one of her hands rested inside her purse, no doubt on the butt of her gun.
“You saw a bear turn into a man. Why aren’t you freaking out?”
A dull flush crept up her cheeks. “I adapt quickly.”
“No one’s that flexible.” She couldn’t know. Shifters were a really big secret and bear-shifters even more so. Sure, someone was always catching sight of the werewolves, but that’s because there were so many damned dogs. Then understanding hit. She’d already been told. Because her brother hadn’t kept the secret. “Victor has a big mouth.”
She shifted awkwardly, but her gaze remained steady. “I didn’t believe him. I thought he was hallucinating until…” She swallowed and gestured to where Simon had been lying on the ground in a pool of his own grizzly blood. “I thought a bear was attacking me. I didn’t think it was you. I didn’t…”No one believed until they saw. And some not even then. He growled, a very animal sound. And when the noise felt too good inside him, he abruptly shifted to words. “Go home. Go back to Victor. Tell him I’m in a shit-ton of trouble because he talked.” And because Simon hadn’t reported that Victor knew he was a shifter.
“I will,” she said. Her voice taking on an edge of panic as he made it to the front porch. “But only if you come with me.”
He tried to think of an appropriate human expression. He found it a moment later when he turned to look straight at her and then rolled his eyes. Then in case the message wasn’t clear, he added words. “No. Fucking. Way.”
“You have to,” she said as she rushed to follow him up the steps. “He’s turning into one of you.” Her voice shook as she said it, but the words rang with conviction.
He ignored it as he unscrewed the case around the porch light and pulled out the key that was taped inside. A moment later he was unlocking the door, but she gripped his elbow. Her fingers were tight hard points, but he’d just survived five rounds. Fingers were nothing.
“I’m serious. He’s changing into…into a bear or something. You have to help him.”
“It doesn’t work that way.”
“Really?” she pressed. “Are you sure?”
“Of course—”
“Because this looks like a freaking bear to me.”
She pushed her cell phone into his face. It took him a second to focus on the screen, but he managed to pick out the details of his once best friend. Vic was crouched against a wall, his eyes wild and clearly terrified. And was his nose longer? The eyebrows were bushier, and no scissors had ever trimmed that beard. Vic was staring in horror at his left arm. It wasn’t human, but it damn sure wasn’t fully bear, either. It was thick and furry and came complete with a hairless paw and real claws.
That couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t. It…
Again, understanding clicked into place. “That’s makeup.” He shoved open his front door.
“It’s true!” she cried as she tried to follow him.
He stopped her, his hand flat and implacable right on her…Um, wow. He’d forgotten what human breasts felt like. His palm was higher up on her chest, but he felt the curve of both her breasts and was startled by how distracting they were. And that pissed him off even more.
“Go home. This wasn’t funny.”
“This is real and Vic’s dying. Your best friend is dying!”
“Bullshit.” He shoved her hard, right in the center of her chest. She stumbled backward. Not far enough to land on her ass, but enough that he could slam the door right in her face.
And this kind of nonsense was exactly why he’d been a bear for the last ten months. No one screwed with bears. No one banged on their doors or forced them to think. And because humans—every single one—were assholes.
Also by Kathy Lyons
The Bear Who Loved Me
License to Shift
For the Bear’s Eyes Only
Alpha Unleashed
Bound to the Bear
About the Author
Kathy Lyons is the wild, adventurous half of USA Today bestselling author Jade Lee. A lover of all things fantastical, Kathy spent much of her childhood in Narnia, Middle Earth, Amber, and Earthsea, just to name a few. There is nothing she adores more than turning an ordinary day into something magical, which is what happens all the time in her books. Winner of several industry awards, including the Prism Best o
f the Best Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, and Fresh Fiction’s Steamiest Read, Kathy has published more than fifty romance novels, and she’s just getting started.
Check out her latest news at:
KathyLyons.com
Facebook.com/KathyLyonsBooks
Twitter: @KathyLyonsAuth
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