by Sophie Stern
They were everything Bella was not.
Part of her hated the fact that her brother was getting married and leading this perfect life when she herself was struggling so much. She was a recent graduate who couldn’t find a job and who was living in her parents’ guest bedroom.
Could she get any more pathetic?
Bella had done everything she could to dig her way out of the slump she was in. She had gone to college, she had worked her way through school, and she had graduated a semester early. She had done well for herself, or so she thought, but her hard work just hadn’t paid off.
She had her early child education degree and wanted to work with kids. There was just one problem: no one was hiring. Those places that were hiring only wanted experienced candidates. They wanted people who had years of experience working with youngsters, who had excellent credit scores, who looked good in a suit.
Why did she need to look good in a suit?
She wanted to work with kids, to teach them, to help them forge a better life than they would have otherwise. She wanted to make a difference in the world, but so far, the only place Bella was making a difference was in her parents’ laundry, which she had completely taken over. She had also reorganized their pantry, cleaned out the attic, revamped their budget, and created a killer meal plan.
Bella’s mother loved having her around.
Her father knew she was about to go crazy.
And now she was at her brother’s wedding. Her twin brother, all grown up. Somehow, Bella had always thought she would be the first of them to get married. She wanted to believe in true love, to think there was someone out there for her, but she was starting to think more and more that true love just didn’t exist.
It wasn’t fair, of course, but then, life never was.
With a sigh, she finished pinning her blonde hair up in a loose bun. She needed to look respectable today, professional. She was the twin sister of the groom and she had duties to perform. No, she didn’t have to do anything especially difficult, but she would be helping Mary with anything the bear needed this weekend.
It was only Thursday and somehow, Bella had to make it until Sunday. Then the bride and groom would leave for their honeymoon and she would be able to get back to her boring, ordinary, awful existence.
**
“Senior Airman Reese,” the Master Sergeant barked out. “Where’s the report?”
“On your desk, Master Sergeant,” Matthew mumbled without looking up. Invisible. That’s what he wanted to be. Invisible. Master Sergeant Caleb Logan wasn’t a huge jerk, but he could be difficult to work for, especially when his wife was irritable.
Master Sergeant Logan bumbled back to his desk and Matthew pretended to be sorting the rest of the forms he was processing. He couldn’t wait to be reassigned. Things were much easier when he was working with Master Sergeant Swain. Ryan had been more than just a boss: he’d been a role model.
Even now that he was married and working side-by-side his best friend, Jake, Ryan always took the time to listen to Matthew’s problems. Most of the time they were stupid and petty. He knew that. He was still green and figuring out his way around Forrest Air Force Base. Sometimes things were tough for new airmen: more so when the airman was a shifter.
But Ryan had managed to make Matthew feel at home. He had even invited him to pizza night with Jake’s family a few times. That had been a blast.
Matthew tried to stop thinking about all the things he wished for, like going surfing or skiing, like having some time to himself, like going on vacation. He tried to stop thinking about how nice it must be to have someone to go home to. He tried to stop thinking about how nice it must be to be married, to be in love, to have someone who really understood everything about you. Ryan and Jake made it look so easy.
The phone rang and Master Sergeant Logan answered it gruffly and immediately started chewing someone out. Perfect.
Matthew buried his head in paperwork, trying to look busy as he handled file after file. He did not want to get on Logan’s bad side. He just wanted to finish up work, clock out, and go for a run. He needed to get out of the city for a little while.
Forrest AFB was aptly named. It was close to the mountains, close to the woods, and close to dozens of beautiful lakes and waterfalls. Matthew liked nothing more than finishing up a long shift, stripping down, shifting, and running through the woods in bear form.
His true form.
Matthew was one of the polar bears of the Air Force. There were a lot at Forrest AFB. Matthew wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or just coincidence that so many of the shifters on base were polars. Maybe it was because Colorado had some damn cold weather. He wasn’t sure.
What he did know was that if he didn’t get out of the office – and soon – he was going to go completely insane.
Completely, totally, insane.
He picked up his pencil and glanced at the clock.
Two more hours to go.
2.
The family dinner was supposed to be a nice time to introduce everyone. Brent and Bella’s family had flown in from Alaska and most of Mary’s family couldn’t make it, so the dinner was fairly small. While the wine was enjoyable and everyone was pleasant enough, Bella couldn’t help feeling out of place. She was the same age as Brent, after all, and what did she have to show for it?
Her brother had done great for himself. He was a respectable military man and she was what? Slumming it with Mom and Dad? No one made any snide comments, but their silence said far more than words ever could. People pitied her. They did. She knew her parents did and for some reason, Bella felt like Brent did, too. Why did she feel that way?
Brent should be happy. He had found the woman of his dreams. His mate. His one true love. He had found someone who made him happier than his wildest dreams and Bella…Bella was alone.
That didn’t mean he should pity her.
8:00 rolled around and while a few friends of the happy couple wanted to make toasts. Bella decided it was time for her to leave. With the excuse of a headache, she murmured something about heading back to the hotel. Her mother offered to drive her.
“That’s silly,” Bella said. “It’s your only son’s wedding weekend. You should stay and have fun.”
Her mother gave her a small smile and Bella wondered if she could see through the lie. Bella had never been particularly good at lying. She’d been even worse at lying to her mother. Still, she had to try. She didn’t want to sit around all night and watch Brent and Mary make gooey eyes at each other.
She hugged Mary goodbye and agreed that yes, she would definitely feel better in time for the rehearsal dinner the next day, and headed outside to catch a cab.
Finding one wasn’t difficult, but when Bella slid into the backseat, she didn’t give the cabbie the name of her hotel. Instead, she asked for him to take her to the foothills. He barely noticed and simply nodded, driving in the general direction.
Bella reclined against the back seat and stared out the window at the passing lights. Sometimes she worried that maybe she did deserve pity. Maybe there was something wrong with her. She had struggled to graduate from college. She wouldn’t admit it, but her classes had been hard. She had almost failed many times. Persistence was the only reason she’d managed to graduate and somehow, she’d been at the top of her class.
She wasn’t particularly pretty to look at. Her hips were wide and her chest large and heavy. She was a little overweight, a little curvy. Her hair was beautiful, and she’d be the first to say it, but she wasn’t very good at styling it. On most days, she settled with a plain ponytail or braid.
Was that her problem?
Did guys want a girl who could actually do a decent job with their makeup?
When the cabbie reached the hiking trail, Bella handed him some money and hopped out.
“You sure you’ll be okay out here, miss?” The cab driver asked, his voice full of concern. “It’s not a good idea to go hiking alone, especially at night.”
Still, he finally left, and Bella could be on her own.
She entered the dark hiking trail and visions of serial killers filled her eyes. Luckily, Bella was a bear shifter. She was used to being out in the woods at night. In fact, she craved it. She had never had a male mess with her – even a human male – and she wasn’t about to start now.
Bella strode up the path until the trail rounded a bend, then stripped out of her clothes. She didn’t want to leave them right at the forest’s edge, lest someone think she was inside streaking around. She also didn’t want to hide them somewhere and lose her dress and cell phone. She should have gone back to the hotel first and dressed in something else. A robe, maybe. Ugh. Too late now. She folded the dress as neatly as possible and set it on the far side of a tree trunk.
She’d remember where it was.
Bella took a deep breath and let her body relax. She was tense, almost too tense to shift. Deep breaths in and out, in and out. She cleared her mind and focused on allowing her body to morph into her true self.
She had known since she was 13 that she was a polar bear shifter. Until that first shift when she was a teen, she’d wondered what kind of bear she would be. There had been no guarantee she’d be a polar shifter.
Her dad wasn’t. He was a brown bear. He’d been born and raised in the woods of Wisconsin and had moved to Alaska for a summer. As a teen, he’d planned on spending a few months with his aunt and uncle. Instead, he’d found his one true mate, her mother, and had never left.
Growing up, Bella thought the story of her parents’ love was sweet.
Now she thought it was unattainable.
She finished shifting and started to run. She’d never been here, in the foothills before. Brent had told her it was okay, though. He’d given her the lowdown on where she could go, where it was safe to explore, and which places she needed to avoid.
Right now, the only thing Bella needed was to run. It was dark, but her eyesight was just fine. She ran through the dirt, through the trees, through the mountains, until she found what she was looking for.
A waterfall.
It was loud and beautiful and everything she wanted it to be.
Bella sat down and watched the waves crash down against the rocks.
It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
**
The polar bear was the most beautiful thing Matthew had ever seen. He stood, in bear form, by a tree at the top of a hill that overlooked the waterfall. She had watched the water for what felt like hours before finally jumping in.
And she could swim.
Oh, could that bear swim.
Matthew had never considered himself to be the kind of guy who fell in love at first sight, but if he didn’t know better, his luck had just turned. That polar bear was his mate. His one, true, perfect mate. That was her.
No one would be able to tell him differently, not now that he’d seen her. Matthew’s day might have completely sucked and his week might have been total garbage, but she was gorgeous. She was perfect. She was his.
Matthew watched the polar bear dart around in the water, splashing and playing in the moonlight. Did she know how beautiful she was? Had anyone ever told her? Where had she come from? How had she found this spot?
So many questions bounced around Matthew’s head that he lost track of time. When he looked back up, she was gone! With a growl, he silently berated himself for losing his sweet woman. Where had she gone? He turned to look and suddenly, something hit him from the side.
Her.
A ball of white fur hit his body and sent him tumbling down the side of the hill. He bounced and bounded, his paws wrapped around the other animal’s body as she growled at him. Growled! At him! What had he done? He had only been watching.
And she was his mate, after all.
Maybe she didn’t realize it.
Matthew wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want to fight her, but she was growling and spitting at him, making all sorts of noise and raising quite a ruckus. He should shift back, he thought, but he didn’t want her to maul him to death.
Maybe he’d been wrong.
Was there a chance?
But as her fur rubbed against his and they tumbled once more, he realized that she wasn’t angry with him.
She was…aroused.
She hadn’t been hitting or clawing at him the way she would if she were angry. No, the polar bear had been playing with him, tumbling with him, touching him.
She had been trying to get close to him.
And that was quite all right with him.
3.
The man pushed her away and shifted. Shifted from a huge, broad polar bear into a tall, strong human. She was still in bear form and Bella let out a low growl. It wasn’t one of fear or anger, though. No, what was plaguing her was something else.
Arousal.
It had been a long time since another shifter had turned her on and she couldn’t remember a time when one had turned her on quite so immensely. Was she supposed to feel so excited by someone who wasn’t her mate? Maybe Colorado men were different than the guys up North, but both as a bear and a human, this muscular man intrigued Bella more than she had counted on, more than she could have thought possible.
She often wondered if the mate bond was possible, but it had been described to her so clearly that it was the first thing that sprung to mind when she eyed this man.
He was tall, maybe 6 feet, perhaps a bit taller. He was big and broad, but not fat. She didn’t mind fat. Bella had never been picky about her men or their body types. Every man was different, especially shifters, but this one was lean.
His chiseled chest led up to an angular face and bright, sparkling eyes. They were blue, like hers. They’d have little blonde-haired, blue-eyed children. She stopped herself right then. Children? She was really thinking about children?
What was wrong with her?
Bella had been with enough men to know what worked – and didn’t – in a relationship. She had not once thought about having children with any of the guys she’d dated or slept with. Here she was, though, thinking about kids with a shifter she’d never even talked to, much less fucked.
And somehow, the thought didn’t scare her.
Somehow, she felt more curious than afraid.
What was wrong with her?
Her gaze wandered on the man. He was eyeing her curiously, but she didn’t let that stop her. He obviously knew she was a shifter. He could smell her just as much as she could smell him. That’s why he’d been watching her, wasn’t it? Curiosity?
She had noticed him right away while she was swimming, but she hadn’t been mad he’d been looking at her. Maybe it was his swimming hole. Maybe he liked to go for moonlight swims, too. She wasn’t sure. She had felt his eyes on her, but she had enjoyed being watched. Maybe she was a bit of an exhibitionist.
Maybe she just liked the idea of being a little bit naughty, a little bit wild.
After awhile, she had decided to go see who the shifter was. She had felt the eyes on her, noticed them glowing in the darkness, had sensed the presence of another animal.
She hadn’t known who he was when she first felt his presence. Bella realized he was a shifter bear, like her, but who was this mysterious stranger? Did he live at the air force base? Was he in the military? Was he a random citizen? Was he a visitor? A tourist? Who was this stranger in the woods?
And why was Bella so excited around him?
Her heart raced and her body was tense as she stood near to him. He was handsome, but handsome men were a dime a dozen. No, this was something more. She felt a connection, a calling. Something was pulling her toward him. It was something she’d never felt before.
“You’ve seen me, bear,” the man suddenly said, bringing her thoughts back to the present. “I’d say it’s my turn.” He raised an eyebr
ow. Was he testing her? Oh, he so did not want to test her.
Was he trying to see if she was shy?
A modest shifter? Ha!
Wouldn’t that be something?
She didn’t hesitate before shifting to her human form. She didn’t think it through, didn’t wait, didn’t think about the pros and cons. That wasn’t her style. Never had been.
No, Bella was a go-getter. She was more interested in surprising people, in catching them off guard, and in having fun than thinking about what might go wrong.
If you spent all of your time worrying about what might go wrong, you didn’t spend any thinking about what could go right.
Right?
Right.
The man sucked in a breath as Bella finished shifting and she rose gracefully up from all fours. She stood before him wearing nothing but a smile.
And oh, what a smile it was.
Bella was small for a bear, nearly a foot shorter than the man. She had long blonde hair which hung damp down her shoulders. She wanted to cut it short, but she liked wearing it up far too much to be stuck with a bob.
“Hello,” she said finally, for lack of anything better to say. She tried not to notice his erection, but she couldn’t look away. Yes, Bella was definitely talking to the shifter’s dick, but he didn’t seem to mind.
He was staring at her body, eating her up with his gaze, looking at her like she was a delicious bowl of berries instead of a little bear shifter.
“Hello,” the man said.
A million questions raced through her head. Where had he come from? Did he live close by? Was he a wild bear? Did he live near the base? On it? Maybe he was one of the shifters who worked on the shifter squad. Did he save lives and rescue the world from danger? Maybe he was a badass.
She opened her mouth to say something. Anything. She would tell him he was handsome or ask where he worked. She would mention the lovely grass or the wonderful waterfall. She would make a comment about the moonlight.