"What?" Rachel felt time and space stop.
There was Thomas, dropping onto his hands and knees as if he were about to run a sprinting race. Time slowed down; each second stretched into a minute, each minute took an hour to pass.
There he was, leaping forward while something strange and horrible happened: his flesh erupted in fur and his muscles bulked and his clothes shred and his head sprouted a snout and ears and he turned into a giant...bear!
Oh, my god!
Time.
Literally.
Stopped.
But then Thomas was in front of Shaun's car—he stopped it with his body— and with one gentle touch he had Martin's car seat in his bear paw, and Shaun was yanked out of the seat and lying still on the asphalt.
Was Shaun dead?
Clarity filled Rachel's vision.
Everything she saw and heard and smelled was seared forever in her mind. The sweet glance of Martin as he woke up, the salty brine of the sea air blowing in from the Pacific, the horrific crunching as Thomas's bones seemed to be snapping as he shrunk back into human form.
Rachel took Martin's carrier from Thomas and turned up to him, speechless.
"Rachel," Thomas said. "I'm a bear shifter. Don't be scared."
She turned to see Shaun Randall regain consciousness. He clambered like a crab away from Thomas. "No, no," he moaned, as if he were waking up from a bad dream. "Not again."
She turned back to Thomas, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "What's a bear shifter?"
But of course she knew what a bear shifter was. She had just seen it with her very own eyes.
14
There hadn't been time.
When Thomas thought he would lose Martin, when the car was gunning for Rachel, there had been no time to think. He'd sprung into action. That had never happened before. Not to him.
Now he was naked. In front of the woman he was falling in love with. Seeing the look in her eyes that said he would never be trusted.
"What are you?"
"You've never heard of bear shifters." He thought everyone in Seattle knew something about shifters. Apparently not.
She shook her head as tears filled her eyes.
Martin mewed up at her, and her attention shifted to the little cub.
Thomas retrieved his gym bag from the back of his SUV and threw on some shorts and a T-shirt that only smelled a little like his last run.
"Rachel," he started. "I'm sorry you found out this way."
But before he could continue, she pointed back at the warehouse and he turned to see Shaun disappear in the front door. Thomas sighed. He was more concerned with Rachel and Martin than with helping Shaun find his way to justice.
KABOOM!
An explosion rocked the parking lot and the warehouse windows imploded. A fireball shot from the center of the explosion toward them.
"Let's go!" They jumped into Thomas's SUV and he gunned the engine, just in time to see the entire building blow up in a terrifying inferno. Down the block, he stopped the car and pulled Rachel and Martin into his arms. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again."
She clung to him, sobbing, but then pulled away. "Take me back to the Sanctuary."
"Rachel. You're in shock."
"No." She wrapped her arms around her chest and sat as far away from him as possible. "I want to go home. I want to forget what I saw. Forget that you're a bear shifter. Forget everything."
"I understand." Thomas called 911 to report the fire. Then he drove her back in silence, wondering how he would ever get her to trust him now.
15
Back at the Sanctuary apartment, Rachel frantically threw her belongings into a suitcase.
"I need to go back to my house," she said. "I need to get the security company in place and I need to redo my illustrations."
Thomas was cooking something. It smelled like cheese and toasted bread.
Grilled cheese?
"Talk to me," he said.
"I am talking. This is me, talking. There's nothing to say," she said. She sat on her suitcase to try to get it closed. When did she bring over so much stuff? "You're a shifter. I understand completely."
"No, you obviously don't understand anything about it. You're quite obviously in shock." He saw her on the suitcase and walked over to help her. He snapped it closed with one hand.
"I just need to go." She jumped up to find her hairbrush in the bathroom. She wanted to get as far away as possible from Thomas. No one who could do what he had just done was safe to be around. She didn't care how much she wanted him. She glanced up at herself in the bathroom mirror. Leaving Thomas and the Bear Sanctuary wrenched her heart.
And what about Martin? She ran back into the living room to look at the cub. Thomas was back in the kitchen. Martin had grown so much in the last few days! He sat upright in his cradle, perfectly content, playing with a toy car, zooming it back and forth over his legs.
Martin reached out—and ate a grape.
"He's eating solid food!" she exclaimed. "Good boy! Good boy!"
He cooed up at her. Thomas kept cooking.
"I'll text Lea. I'll let her know." Rachel pulled out her phone and shot off a text.
Rachel leaned down to talk to Martin. "Sweetie, I need to go soon, but you'll be okay. You can eat and live with the other bears and everything will be just fine."
Martin zoomed his car up her arm.
Thomas handed Rachel a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate. "Eat this," he said.
She took a bite of the cheesy goodness, and at that very moment, Martin sneezed.
She looked down at him with a smile only to see his fur retract into his flesh, his ears flatten and his snout diminish. A baby boy!
Martin looked up with a confused expression, then blinked his big blue eyes and slid back to being a bear.
"Martin!" Rachel said.
"He's a shifter," Thomas said with a proud smile. "I suspected it."
Martin sneezed again. He turned into a boy once more. "Gah!" he said in a perfect little baby voice.
Rachel laughed.
Martin was adorable. He looked around with confusion, but the transition seemed to have tickled him. He cooed and laughed and then turned back into a cub.
"You're a bear shifter," she said to Thomas, pointing to him. "And so is Martin. He's a bear and a boy?"
"He's both. Rachel. Just like me."
"He's a bear shifter." Rachel sat down on the chair. She didn't know what else to say and so she took a bite of her grilled cheese.
Cheesy goodness filled her mouth. She chewed slowly and tried to process.
Thomas sat next to Rachel and put his arm around her shoulder. "This is a lot. I get that. But you have to try to understand. Because Martin needs you. And so do I."
"I'm a little freaked out. But I want to understand."
"Haven't you heard of shifters before? They're all over Seattle."
"Not for real. I never thought it was real." She looked down at her plate. It was empty. Had she really just eaten an entire grilled cheese? She felt better.
"Well, bear shifters are real. We're real."
"Did you know about Martin? Did you know he was one too?"
"I suspected, but I didn't know. It usually takes a few months after birth before the shifting starts. He needs to live in a shifter community now, because this is going to happen all the time, until he learns to control it. And it's not safe for him."
Rachel turned when she heard a knock at the door. "Rach?"
"Lea is here," Rachel said. "I texted her."
"We can't let Lea and the others see him shift, Rachel. It's imperative."
Lea bustled in, wearing a formal dress and heels. "Hey, guys. I'm on my way to a fundraiser. What happened? You texted?"
"There was an explosion. We're okay. Martin was asleep the whole time."
"Was the cub in the car with you?" Lea picked up the car seat carrier. "Have you been taking him out of the Sanctuary? That's incredibly dangerous. He hasn't been immu
nized."
"No, he's fine. We had to find out where he came from before more bears got hurt," Rachel said.
"Lea, Shaun Randall was trading exotic animals. Martin escaped from his warehouse and he had a bear carcass in a freezer. We had to shut him down," Thomas said.
"Not with the cub along for the ride! That's it. He stays here. You two can go." Lea was furious. Martin picked up a grape and rolled it between his paws. "Is he eating grapes? Perfect. He doesn't need you anymore. And don't think I won't be complaining about this to Doctor Rex."
Rachel took the grape away from Martin.
"We'll just say goodbye to him," Thomas said. "Will you give us a moment?"
"You have five minutes." Lea stormed out of the apartment.
Thomas turned to Rachel. "Can you get him to sneeze again? Now would be a good time to shift into a boy. Do you still have those spare clothes in your bag?"
"I think it was the grape, actually. Let's see." She handed Martin the grape. He popped it into his mouth, sneezed, and shifted into a baby.
Rachel blinked up at Thomas. "It's going to take me a while to get used to that."
"Let's go." Thomas scooped him up, and as they walked out to his SUV, Rachel quickly wrapped Martin with a T-shirt she retrieved from her bag.
They waved at Kirk through his office window, making sure he saw they were leaving with a human child. "My nephew!" Rachel yelled to him.
"Sweet," Kirk replied with a dismissive nod.
They buckled Martin in his car seat.
Rachel sat in the front next to Thomas. "How will we explain the disappearance of the cub? Everyone will expect a cub in the bear nursery."
"We'll make a very generous donation to the Sanctuary. It will be fine." He pulled out of the parking lot.
"You sure?"
"Yes, we do it all the time. It's an open secret between the Sanctuary and the bear shifter community. There's a wolf sanctuary that does the same thing in Calgary."
"Wolf shifters." Rachel hadn't thought about that. Were vampires real too? What about witches? She was afraid to ask.
Thomas pulled into a Starbucks parking lot. "Are you feeling better?"
"It's a lot to take in. That's all. And…you. I mean. We kissed. And I liked it. A lot."
"Me too." He looked like he wanted to kiss her again. He took her hand. What did she want? "Rachel, I know you must still be in shock. But, you love bears and animals. I'm just another blend of man and beast, that's all. I'm not a monster. Or a bad guy. I'm just myself."
"You saved Martin. And me." She nodded and bit her lip.
He touched her shoulder and ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm in love with you."
"You are?"
Thomas kissed Rachel, and all at once everything was better. Her fears melted. All she wanted was to kiss him again and keep kissing him until time stood still.
"I want to show you my world," he said. "The shifter world. I think you'll love it."
"Martin needs to live in a shifter community?" Rachel clung to him. "That sounds sketchy."
"It's not." He laughed. "Quite the opposite. It's one of the oldest communities in town. And the best established. Let's go now."
When they pulled up at the gated community that Thomas lived in, Rachel saw it with fresh eyes. "This is the shifter community? Your neighborhood?"
He nodded and drove her toward his house, but this time he took the scenic route. They passed mansion after mansion, each one more luxurious than the last. Rachel saw families and groups of friends playing in their yards, walking together, grilling at barbecues. She looked for a bear—and finally saw a group of three bear cubs, playing with a human girl in a backyard.
Rachel gasped.
"What?" Thomas asked.
"Nothing." Rachel didn't want to seem naïve. "It's just, I saw some bear shifters. Cubs. And they looked like Martin, but a little older."
He nodded with a tender smile. "A lot of cub shifters live in this neighborhood. Nothing is more important than family. Not to a bear shifter."
"He'll have friends here," Rachel said.
"Lots of them."
They passed Thomas's place to the following driveway and pulled up at the biggest house of them all. It was a Tudor mansion, with a stone and timber exterior draped with ivy. They parked near a formal garden that looked a lot like the garden at Thomas's house.
"This is my mom's house," Thomas said to Rachel. "Martin will be safe here. And my mom will be thrilled with a potential grandson. There's nothing she wants more."
Before they could make it up the drive to the house, a beautiful white-haired woman burst out the front door. "Thomas!" She embraced him in a warm hug. "And you must be Rachel."
Rachel nodded, feeling shy.
"Call me Dahlia," Thomas's mother said.
Dahlia gave Rachel a hug too. She smelled ever so slightly of fresh cut roses.
"And this is Martin," Thomas said proudly, showing her the bear cub. Martin clung to Thomas's arm shyly, but looked around with great curiosity.
"Oh, he's precious! Is Martin...?" Dahlia asked, "one of us?"
"He's a shifter, Mom."
"Will you raise him?"
"Unless we find his birth family. Rex is making inquiries."
"And what about you, Rachel?" Dahlia asked, turning to her with piercing blue eyes.
Rachel wasn't used to someone being so direct, but she liked it. A lot.
"I want to raise Martin too. I couldn't love him more."
Martin sneezed just then and shifted into a baby boy. He giggled and said, "Gah!"
"He said grandma! Oh, you dear child," Dahlia said. "May I?"
Dahlia took Martin from Thomas and the baby cooed up at her.
"Gah!"
"Oh! I'm in love," Dahlia said, beaming. "But what about you two? You're not married yet?"
"Mom, we've only had one date!"
"It's okay," Rachel squeezed his hand. "We'll get there."
Epilogue
One Year Later
"Daddy! Daddy! Look up!"
Thomas turned just in time to catch a big red ball spiraling toward his head. He laughed and tossed the ball back to Martin and his friends, who had taken over the back garden for a game of catch.
Bear shifters grew up quickly, and Martin would be starting kindergarten in a few weeks.
"Where's your mom?" Thomas asked.
"Right there!" Martin pointed toward the house.
They both looked up as Rachel glided across the patio toward them, her auburn hair glistening in the setting sunlight.
"How are my guys? Look what finally showed up."
She held a small, square book in her hands. About a Bear had arrived from the publisher.
"Read it! Read it!" Martin said, running over to her for an embrace.
"I'll read it to you at bedtime, sweetheart. But tonight you have a sleepover with Jamie, so it will have to be tomorrow."
"Aww…Okay." Martin was quickly over his disappointment and he ran back to his friends. "Goodnight, Mommy and Daddy!"
"Sweet dreams, honeybun!" Rachel said. She handed the book to Thomas.
Like all of Rachel's books, it was illustrated with watercolors in her distinctive, charming style. The animals had been sketched from real life, so the drawings were solid and well-crafted, while the bright paint gave them an air of whimsy. Her books had become even more popular over the past year and About a Bear was sure to be a best-seller.
"Wow, it's beautiful," he said turning it over in his hands, admiring the little book.
She kissed him, letting her lips linger.
"What's this?" he asked, pointing to a notice on the book's back cover.
"What does it say?" She smiled.
Clearly she knew exactly what it said.
"Do you want me to read it out loud?" he asked.
She nodded.
"All profits donated to the Three Sisters Free Range Wildlife Sanctuary. Rach? You did it!"
She nodded. "Mar
cia, Jan, and Cindy are on their way there now. They'll live in the forest sanctuary and for the rest of their lives they'll be free."
"Oh, sweetheart. You really did it."
"We did it. Don't forget your seed money to purchase the 10,000 acres. But this will keep the girls fed and cared for and it will even allow them to have cubs of their own. We're getting more bears and wolves and other wildlife shipped to the sanctuary after the girls get settled."
"It's almost like an ark." He laughed.
"I just want the girls to be happy. They didn't like living in the cement enclosure. Not long term."
"Who could blame them?" He embraced her tenderly before pulling back to look into her eyes. "And now, my love, about tonight. And us. You haven't forgotten about our dinner, have you? We have reservations at the Monarch at seven. And I'll want my answer."
"Oh, I haven't forgotten." She slid her arms around his waist and pulled Thomas into a delicious soul-churning kiss. "Too bad we don't have time to go upstairs first," she said. "I know how you like to be prompt."
"Some things are more important than promptness."
"More important than promptness? Some things? Like what?" She teased him.
"Like this." He kissed her. "And like this." He kissed her again.
"And don't forget this." She kissed him back.
Thomas glanced over his shoulder. Martin and his friends had run down the street and around a corner.
They were alone.
He wrapped his arms around Rachel and slid his hands down her ass, lifting her up so she could clasp her legs around his waist. "This right here is way more important than whatever it was we were talking about just then." He kissed her harder, cradling her soft curves as she opened to him. "What were we talking about?"
"I think it began with a p…" she murmured. She grasped onto Thomas, pressing her hips into him.
He nibbled the spot above her collarbone that always drove her crazy. "P. P. What begins with p? I can only think of one word…"
"Yeah, me too. One or maybe two words…" She pulled him closer.
"Is one of those words proposal? Because you haven't given me an answer yet."
"Let's go upstairs and I'll show you," she suggested, arching her back and dragging her breasts up his chest.
Shifters in Seattle: Box Set Books 1 - 5 Page 34