"Fuck, how long do you think this is going to go on for?" Dina demanded, as Frieda, the sister-bridesmaid, tried to coax her into actually eating something.
"Fuck if I know, but at least a day, maybe two," shrugged Dean, one of the groomsmen, with a mouth full of food.
"Oh, Christ almighty," Dina rolled her eyes dramatically, and took a sip of water. Maya was trying to pay attention to proceedings, but she kept getting distracted by Adam, he was freshly showered, with damp hair, and he looked even better in a black t-shirt and washed-out dark jeans. He glanced over at her across the table, fiddling with a glass of orange juice in front of him, and she quickly looked away. Her heart flipped in her chest, maybe it was fear, maybe it was excitement, maybe it was the beginnings of a crush. She took a sip of her coffee and tried to focus back in on what was going on.
Suddenly, and all at once, Adam and three of the groomsmen seemed to sit up taller in their chairs. They were glancing around, their brows furrowed, as if something had changed and they couldn't quite put their finger on what yet. Adam looked over at Maya again, his eyes narrow, and all at once she recognized his expression, it was the one he'd had last night, when they'd seen that figure on the beach. She blinked in acknowledgement, and turned to Dina, placing a hand on her wrist to try and get her attention. Dina stopped mid-rant, and cocked her head at Maya in curiosity.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" She mouthed, tilting her head away from the table. Dina squinted in confusion, but nodded, whispering in her new husband's ear and pushing her chair back from the table. Maya led her outside the dining room, where most of the guests had by then congregated, and into the quiet of reception.
"What's up?" Dina asked, her face painted with stress.
"Look, this is going sound like a weird question," Maya began, "But did you invite any of your exes to the wedding?"
"What?" Dina wrinkled her nose. "No, of course not. Why would I want to do that?"
"I don't know, it's just-"
"Shit. Freddy?" Dina interrupted, closing her eyes and tilting her head down. "Did you see him? Is he here?"
"Okay, I've got no idea what I saw, but Adam and I were down at the beach, and we saw someone standing there, and it looked kind of like him. I figured you should know, especially if we're all stuck here for another day or so." Maya finished quickly. "I don't want to freak you out, but…yeah. Sorry."
"I told him so many times that if he came I would never fucking forgive him," Dina shook her head. "It's been four years, you'd think he was over it by now."
"So, he said he would come?"
"He threatened to. I thought he was just trying to freak me out, but…fuck, it is exactly the kind of shit he'd pull." Dina glanced over her shoulder, as if he might be standing right there waiting for her. "Did he say anything or do anything?"
"Nothing that I saw, no," Maya tried to reassure her. "It could have been anyone, really, I just-"
"Trust me, I know Freddy, and this is precisely the kind of crap he'd try and pull. Thank you for telling me, I'll get security on it right away." Dina nodded. "As if this couldn't turn into any more of a disaster."
"Oh, come on," Maya cajoled her. "It's going to be an amazing weekend. You're getting freaking married, Deen!"
She grinned, slapping the air as if to dismiss the notion.
"I know," she acknowledged. "Anyway, what's this about you and Adam on the beach?"
"Um, nothing," Maya broke eye contact. "We just hung out, that's all."
"He told me you guys kissed," Dina raised her eyebrows at her.
"Yeah, but he's…" Maya leaned in conspiratorially, "he's a shifter, and you know-"
"So?" Dina cut across her with a small shrug, before turning away to head back to breakfast. Maya was left staring at the space where her head had been, and found that single word echoing in her head. So? So what? So Adam was a shifter? Did it matter when she liked him as much as she thought she did?
"Maya?"
Maya swiveled on her heel, and found herself face to face with the man causing her all her turmoil.
"Adam, uh, hi," she tried to keep her tone casual, but she knew she was failing dismally.
"I think he's here again," Adam muttered urgently, closing the distance between the two of them and frowning. "Were you telling Dina about him just there?"
"Yeah, I just told her what we saw. I'm pretty sure he's one of her exes. She seemed really freaked out, he must be a real piece of work."
"He is, trust me. And I don't think he's here alone."
"Huh?" Maya squinted at him in confusion.
"I don't think he just wanted to crash this wedding. I think he wanted to make damn sure that Dina knew she'd never be rid of him." Adam shook his head. "Me and the guys are going to split up and take a look round the island, hopefully shake out whoever's here so we don't have to worry."
"I'll come with you," She suggested without thinking. "I mean, it's safer for you to have somebody with you."
Adam flashed her a hint of that lopsided smile, and held out his hand.
"What are we waiting for?"
The storm had calmed down a little by the time they set off, the wind was still whipping the trees, but the rain had eased off. Adam and Maya took on the beach, hurrying down from the hotel and onto the sand once again.
"Got any champagne for me this time?" Adam asked playfully as they took their first few steps along the waterfront.
"Ugh, don't speak to me about champagne," Maya shook her head. "If I never see another bottle again, it'll be too soon."
"Really? I thought you seemed pretty okay last night," he commented, peering around to look for any lurking shadows or unwanted company.
"I tend to do shit that I normally wouldn't when I drink champagne," Maya explained. "Like make out with-"
"Shifters?" Adam finished her sentence for her. "Yeah, I thought you seemed pretty put out when you figured it out."
Maya glanced away, feeling awkward. How the hell was she meant to explain to Adam how and why kissing him had been one of the worst and best things she'd ever done?
"I…my family. They really don't like…your kind." She managed, refusing to make eye contact. The only sound between them for a second was the crunching of sand beneath their feet as Adam contemplated what she'd just said.
"I get that it's pretty unusual, but does it bother you that much?" He asked quietly. Maya could barely hear him over the wind, but his face was etched with annoyance and confusion.
"It's nothing to do with you, specifically. My grandfather, he was killed by a shifter. He went to purge them from a forest near the town he lived in and he never came back. Shifters have always been this bad, scary, terrible bedtime story that my mom told me growing up. I never thought-" Maya cut herself off, knowing she was about to come out with something she'd regret.
"So, he went to try and hunt them and he ended up getting killed?" Adam sounded incredulous. "Look, I'm sorry that happened to you, and him, and your family. But he went after them first. You can't really blame them for the reaction they had."
"They killed him, Adam! There was basically nothing left of him when they were done!" Maya snapped, pulling her coat tight around her shoulders in an attempt to keep out the cold.
"And what would you have done if you'd been living peacefully and someone came along and tried to oust you?" He parried, turning to look at her again. His gold-green eyes were narrowed, and he looked furious.
"I don't know! But they were animals, Adam, they weren't like you," Maya tried to rationalize.
"But they were. They were just people, like me, who happened to be in their animal forms when your grandfather came by and tried to destroy whatever life they'd built for themselves." Adam shook his head. "I knew there was a backlash when we first came out, but I never thought I'd meet someone who tried to defend it."
Maya found herself momentarily lost for words. All her life, she'd prided herself on being open-minded, liberal, decent, and here was someone pointing out
the big, ugly block of bigotry at the centre of that. The wind whistled even louder, as if trying to fill the awkward pause in the conversation.
"You have to understand, I like you, but I could never be with someone who had…that. How could I ever trust you not to hurt me?" Maya replied tersely, her brain whirring as she tried to put the pieces together in her head.
"You're here with me right now, aren't you?" Adam pointed out. "Do you feel like you're in danger? Do you think I'm going to hurt you?"
"No, but you're not like the rest of them," she snapped back, exasperated.
"Oh, so I'm one of the good ones, am I?" He almost laughed. "You do realize how fucking ridiculous you're sounding right now."
"How do I know you've never hurt anyone before?" Maya shot back. Because she knew he was right, from the moment she'd met Adam, she'd felt safe in his presence, comforted, even. And she couldn't connect the two parts of her brain in a way that made sense.
"How do I know you haven't?" He looked at her, eyebrows raised.
"Because I'm not-"
"You're still a person, though. You're just as capable of hurting someone as I am. It's just that I might be a bear when it happens, or I might not. I don't lose control when I'm shifted. Do you know anything about our kind at all?" He cut across her, and Maya stopped walking, taken aback.
"You're a bear?" She asked with incredulity. She had never really given much thought to exactly what kind of animals people could shift into, the only ones she knew about for sure were wolves. But a bear? That sounded particularly scary, especially threatening.
"Um, yeah," Adam mumbled, embarrassed. "I don't usually talk about it, but…that's my shift."
"Not the cute cuddly kind, I'd wager?" Maya raised her eyebrows.
"Nah. Grizzly."
She shook her head, unable to wrap her brain around the concept.
"So you just expect me to hear that, and 100% trust you never to hurt me. It's a fucking predator, for Christ's sake!" She yelled over the wind.
"That's me you're talking about," Adam replied sourly. "I'm not an it."
"But if you're an animal, that's what you are. You can't be in your right mind. You can't be in control."
"You want me to show you?" Adam turned to her, and stopped walking again. They faced off against each other, feet planted, expressions steely.
"Are you fucking serious? Now?" Maya gestured around. "In the middle of nowhere?"
"I can show you that I'm in control when I shift. And I'm not doing this because I want you to be with me. I'm doing this so you can understand that we're not the threat you think we are." He spoke with more certainty now. Maya looked him up and down, and weighed up her options. Either she said no, and held on to what was left of the anger and hatred she had bottled up for his kind, and walked away from here unscathed. Or…she said yes. And what would happen would happen.
"Do it," she lifted her chin, meeting his gaze.
"Are you sure?" He took a few steps back from her. "It's pretty weird, if it's the first time you've seen it."
"I want you to." She challenged him again.
He raised his hands in acceptance, and began to get undressed. Maya quickly averted her eyes, but snuck one quick look over her shoulder, damn, he was exactly what she'd expected. Muscular and toned, but not to an absurd degree. She wondered how he wasn't freezing in the cold, but brushed the thought from her mind as he handed her his clothes and turned away.
"You're certain about this?" Adam yelled over the wind.
"Just get on with it already," Maya demanded. And he did.
Even though Maya knew on an intellectual level what Adam was capable of, seeing him actually do it was a whole different kettle of fish entirely. She watched, her mouth agape, as fur sprouted from his back, running down his legs and up his arms, covering his entire body. His back seemed to warp upwards, his spine elongating and his neck cricking up, as he pushed himself closer and closer to the his other form. His ears shifted a few inches up his head, and he twisted his neck in time for her to see him sprout fangs and a short muzzle. She took a few steps back, her natural sense of self-preservation kicking in, but stayed to watch until the laborious process was complete.
The wind and the rain seemed to dim down to nothing as she stared at Adam-or at least, what he'd become. The bear turned around to face her, towering a few feet above her head, it was only now that she could make out the length and ferocity of his claws, the way the light gleamed from his carnivorous teeth. Suddenly, he fell to all fours, and moved towards her-slowly, as if trying to coax her into calmness. He bent his head down, and she tentatively reached out a hand to touch him, she closed her eyes as soon as her fingers came into contact with his coarse fur. Hearing about shifting and seeing it in person were two very different things, and Maya couldn't suppress the tingle up her spine. It was something like magic, something she could never even have imagined before. But yet here it was, in front of her-a bear, gentle and sweet and soft, who seemed only a few steps removed from the man he had been moments before. The wind whipped Maya's hair and clothes as she stared at him, a lump quickly rising in her throat. She had no idea what to do next. Luckily, someone else made that decision for her.
The bear twisted his head quickly, attuning into a noise that was too far away for Maya to make out yet. Soon enough, though, she could hear it, a barking, like a pack of dogs moving closer. Her eyes widened, and she looked down at the creature in front of her. It was like something had changed, a chunk of the humanity he'd possessed only moments before seemed to have vanished. Suddenly, and at a terrific pace, he took off down the beach, galloping towards the source of the noise. Maya went to go after him, but before she could move, she saw something that made her blood turn to ice.
Standing atop one of the rocks only a hundred yards away-a wolf. But no ordinary wolf. This wolf had something like guile in it's eyes, something too close to human to be pure animal. And it had seen her. The bear had long since vanished down the beach, and Maya was left staring into the eyes of an animal she prayed she'd never see. The kind who had killed her grandfather.
Dropping Adam's clothes, she turned and ran, her heart was tearing through her chest, her body stiff from the cold and the rain. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw the wolf in pursuit only a dozen or so yards away. She saw a blurring at the corner of her vision as she felt panic wash over her entire body, no, God, please, not now. The hotel was only a couple of hundred feet away, but it seemed like a mile.
As Maya rounded the corner and sprinted up the path back to the hotel, she could hear the pounding of the wolf's paws only a few feet behind her. Her breath tore up from her lungs, her chest burning, as she urged her legs to keep on moving. She was just able to make out a handful of figures standing near the plate glass window, Dina, and one of the groomsmen.
"Help!" She yelled with what little breath she had left. "Help!"
Dina turned her head, and leapt forward, just in time to slide the door open to let Maya fall inside. The groomsman slammed the door shut as Maya collapsed on to her knees, leaving the wolf to slam painfully into the glass. Maya glanced over her shoulder, trying to confirm her safety, but all she could see was the figure of a man tearing off into the distance.
"What was…?" Maya panted, as Dina helped her to her feet.
"It's my ex. We think…we think he brought his pack with him." She murmured, brushing the rain-whipped hair from Maya's face.
"What?"
"Look, it's not for you to worry about. Just stay with us, don't leave the hotel. You'll be safe, I promise." Dina replied soothingly, sounding as if she was saying it as much to herself as to Maya.
Joel (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 5) Page 33