He laughed. “That would be a good way to describe me. Before I met you.”
“And is that what you are going to tell me about tonight?” she asked.
He drove out of town, and then headed up one of the steep mountain roads. “Part of it.”
“Hey, I thought we would be going back to your place.” Her voice was tinged with concern.
“It’s OK. I want us to go for a walk. I promise I won’t hurt you. I’m a cop, remember, and anyway, how many people know you are with me? If I meant you harm, I’d at least try to cover my tracks.”
“I know.” She shuddered, and he wanted to put his arm around her, but he needed both hands on the wheel to guide the truck. “I’ve just never been up here at night. Even as a teenager. There’s always been rumors of bears and other animals.”
“Not all animals are out to hurt you,” he said, wanting her to accept his other form. “Some bears can be friendly.”
“That is not what we are taught in school.”
“And what do they teach you in school?”
“Well, if you are coming up here, to take spray.” She looked at him. “Do you have spray?”
He chuckled. “I promise you, there will be no need for spray.” He pulled the truck off the road. They were about fifty feet away from the clearing in the woods where he planned to take her.
“We are actually going to get out?” she asked.
“We are. Trust me.” He got out and went around to her side of the car, and opened her door. Offering her his hand, he leaned down and said, “I’ll protect you. But there’s nothing out here.”
Yet.
He had used his heightened bear senses to scan the area and there was no one around, not bear nor man, for a good few miles. The sounds of the night went on around them, but it was the sound of small animals looking for food, or owls swooping down for their prey.
“I do trust you.” He got the feeling she was trying to convince herself. Still, he was pleased when she got out of the car and stood up, looking around. “It is very dark.”
“That is why I brought a flashlight.” He took the flashlight out of his pocket and switched it on, handing it to her. She took it gratefully. Once he shut the car door, he noted she gripped it even tighter, not surprisingly since they were surrounded by the dark, the trees so thick here the moonlight didn’t penetrate their canopy.
“This way.” He took her hand. Not needing the light of the torch, he led her surefootedly onto a path which was almost invisible to a human’s eyes, but to any other animal was a clearly marked game trail. But he wasn’t here for game. He wasn’t here to hunt. He was here for Carla.
Gripping his hand tightly, he could feel her tension as she stumbled through the undergrowth after him. He hadn’t realized how much harder it was for her, a non-shifter, to walk along the trail.
“Not much further,” he assured her, and then he caught a glimpse of the clearing. The moon was still too low to light it up completely, but it cast an eerie shadow through the leaves, which excited his bear. This was it, they were about to reveal their true self to their mate.
As they had once before.
He dropped Carla’s hand and moved away from her as they reached the edge of the clearing. “I know this might freak you out. OK, it will freak you out, but I have something to show you.”
“What’s going on, Liam?” she asked, hugging herself as she slowly followed him, looking from side to side as if watching for something to jump out of the trees.
“I brought you here to show you who I really am. And I need you to keep a completely open mind about the whole thing.” He stood still in the middle of the clearing, looking at her, and then up into the sky to where the moon was rising higher with every minute that passed by. But he couldn’t wait, he didn’t have the luxury of time. Carla looked as if she was weighing up her options and her favorite option involved self-preservation. He knew she was thinking about how quickly she could bolt back to the car.
“I won’t hurt you, Carla. I know you trust me.”
“I did,” she said, her voice shaky. “Now I’m not so sure.”
“Then let me show you what I brought you here for. Just stay there, stay still.”
“Why? What’s going to happen?”
“I’m going to turn into a bear.” As soon as he said those words, her eyes went wide as she watched him change. He left this world for a moment, the air around him shimmering, charged with electrical particles, and when he returned he was on all fours, his short snout lifted into the air, as he scented her.
She gasped, and took two steps away from him, her back making contact with a tree. This was the moment where she was either going to accept him, or she was going to turn and run. He hoped so much she would not run from him. Their bond might not be true, in the sense it was manmade, rather than made by the fates, but to Liam it now felt no less real. But if she ran. What would that mean?
Carla shook her head as if trying to deny what was in front of her.
He took one step, and then another towards her, keeping his eyes fixed on hers, willing her not to run. When he was only three feet away from her, he stopped, and blew his breath out through his nose. Huffing at her, telling her he meant her no harm.
Almost in slow motion, she lifted her hand, and let his breath caress her skin. She was trembling, but she held her ground. Good girl, he thought, and leaned forward, sniffing her. Then he licked her.
She jumped, a startled gasp escaping her mouth. “Is that really you?” she whispered.
He nodded his big bear head, and let her know it was.
She stepped forward, away from the safety of her tree, and ran her fingers through his thick coat, sending shivers down his spine. Not daring to move, he let her stroke him, pat him, and prod him as if she was testing to see if he actually was real, and not some figment of her imagination.
“Can you change back?” she asked.
In an instant he stood beside her, all man, all hers. “You didn’t run.”
“No. I wanted to, but I didn’t trust my legs.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” he said, searching her face for any sign of what she was thinking. “Are you OK?”
“I’m not sure. I want to go home.” She turned away from him, and he reached out for her, but she pulled away. “I need to process what happened.”
“Can’t we talk?” he asked.
“Tomorrow. First I need some sleep.”
They drove home in silence. Every time he looked across to her, she was just staring out of the window. When they drew up to her house, he moved to open the door, wanting to help her out of the car, wanting her to say something to him, even if it was simply go to hell.
“I can manage.” Those were the words she said, sharply, telling him she didn’t want him.
“Carla…”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then she got out of the car and walked to her house, not looking back. His bear roared in anguish, they had been rejected.
He only hoped that tomorrow, she would see him and hear everything he had to say.
Chapter Seventeen – Carla
He is a bear. She repeated the words in her head. The same words she had repeated over and over all through the night as she had lain awake, replaying the image of Liam turning into a bear. How the hell did that happen? Magic? A freak of nature? Was he the only one?
So many questions, and only one way to get answers. She would get dressed and meet him, let him have a chance to explain this all to her. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she got up, only to be hit by a sudden wave of nausea. The shock of him being a bear must have affected her and she ran to the bathroom, and threw up.
“Are you OK?” Mike asked from outside of the door.
“Yeah. Just feeling a bit off color,” she said, as she swilled her mouth out and then cleaned her teeth. Standing looking at her reflection in the mirror, she tried to figure out whether or not she could accept that her boyfriend was a freak. It sounded
cruel, but however you looked at it, he wasn’t normal. Not like her.
She laughed at herself. What the hell was normal these days?
Splashing water on her face, and then patting it dry to bring a bit of color back to her complexion, she left the bathroom. After quickly dressing, she went downstairs, avoiding standing on a plush bear, which she picked up and handed to Sophia who was wriggling around on a changing mat, while Mike tried to secure a diaper.
“Feeling better?” he asked, standing up, surveying his daughter, who was trying to turn over.
“Yes, thank you. I had a late night, and an empty stomach. Then I got up too fast.” She went to the coffee pot, but then decided tea might be a better idea.
“If you are not feeling well, you should take the day off.”
“No. I’ll be fine. Anyway I promised Tammy’s mom I would go to the hardware store for a few things. Your place is nearly complete.” She poured hot water into a cup and stirred the tea. “You must be looking forward to having a place of your own.”
“It’s not exactly our own.” Mike picked up Sophia and hugged her. “But this little girl will have a room of her own and grandparents to help look after her.”
“They must be thrilled.”
He moved around the kitchen, going to the fridge to get a bottle, and then warming it. “They are. Although it’s weird to be around them. Do you ever think of what it would be like, what we would be like if Mom and Dad had stayed together?”
“I used to, when I was younger. I used to lie in bed sometimes and try to believe they were both downstairs, sitting watching TV like normal people. But reality set in and I grew out of it.” She poured milk into her tea. “Don’t ever be like that, Mike. Don’t ever be like Mom and Dad. You and Tammy are so great together.”
“We’re getting there. I never realized how much a baby would change things. We were naïve, I guess.”
“You are young. You’ll figure it out, you just need to give each other time and support.”
“And what about you?” He pressed for more information as she turned away. “That good? I thought you and Liam had something good going. You seemed so much happier with him in your life.”
“Do I?” she asked, and frowned. “I don’t know. I never saw myself as a wife with a family.”
“Because of Mom and Dad?” Mike asked.
“Yes.” She had been old enough to understand all the vile things her parents had said to each other. As much as she could, she had shielded Mike, who was five years her junior, from the arguments, often reading him bedtime stories until he was asleep, and then creeping into her own bed, and lying awake unable to blot out the sound of two people who had once loved each other tearing each other apart.
“Hey, sis. That’s not who you are.” He came over to her and hugged her close. “You are not Mom, I am not Dad, we are unique, and we won’t grow into them because we know the damage it did to us.”
“I know; I tell myself the same thing every day. But still… It’s hard.” Especially when the man you are in love with turns into a bear right before your eyes.
She started at her own thoughts, her breath catching in her throat. I love him. Or at least I’m in love with him.
“Have you ever thought to tell Liam about your childhood?”
“No. We’ve only just met.”
“I told Tammy on our second date. More because I was scared I might have the same temper as Dad.”
“You always were fiery.”
“That’s why I walked out. But since we’ve been back here, we’ve talked, and now I stay if we have an argument. I know myself, and count to ten or leave the room to calm down. Then we talk things over like adults.”
She hugged him tighter. “My brother, an adult. Who would have guessed?”
He laughed, and then looked up. “I think your Liam is here to see you.”
She turned around, and sure enough, Liam’s car was parked outside. A knock on the door told her it was time to confront her future. All six foot four of him.
“Thanks, Mike.” She kissed him on the cheek, and went to answer the door, not sure exactly what she was going to say, or how she felt about the man who could change into a bear, now stood on her doorstep. He wasn’t quite back to looking like a party pooper again, but he was damn close. Her heart ached for him.
Then she reminded herself that he could change into a bear. A Bear.
“How are you, Carla?” he asked, his hand twitching as if he wanted to reach out and touch her, or maybe his bear wanted to reach out and swipe at her with his claws.
“I’m OK.”
“Want to walk with me?” he asked, indicating outside.
“Sure.” Yes, she was sure, she had to give him a chance to explain this whole thing to her. She wanted to hear what he had to say, because it would eat her up inside otherwise. This was new to her, and she had to have answers, even if she didn’t like what those answers were.
“I’m just going to grab my purse.” And my cell phone, she thought, wondering if she should put the police emergency number into her phone for easy access. Then she reminded herself he was the police. She slipped her phone into her pocket, and called, “See you later, Mike. I’m going for a walk with Liam.”
“Have a good time.” Mike poked his head out of the kitchen. “And have some fun.” He emphasized the last word, and she wanted to ask him how much fun he would have dating a man who could turn into a bear the size of a horse, who could probably rip her head off her shoulders in one blow.
“I will.” It was the easiest answer.
Liam reached for her hand, and she let him hold it, feeling his familiar warmth spread across her skin. “You are just the same man,” she murmured, squeezing his hand. “Apart from the bear thing.”
He glanced around nervously. “It’s a secret.”
“I guessed that, since I had no idea.” She frowned. “So why did you tell me? We could have dated, lived our lives, and I would have had not needed to know.”
“Is that what you would have preferred, that I live a secret life?”
“No. But I still want to know why you told me now. I could go and tell the whole world about you.”
“Because I hoped it would explain why you can trust me never to leave.”
“What does that have to do with you being a bear? Or do you mean now you’ve told me you are in some way stuck with me? Or am I a captive of yours and you are going to stop me telling?”
He laughed. “It’s more the other way around. You have captured me, and my heart and my soul is your prisoner.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does if you know more about how this works.”
“You mean the bear thing.”
“Yes.” He had led her to a small park on the outskirts of town. With kids in school, the place was deserted apart from one mom pushing her little girl on a swing.
“So explain it to me.”
He took a deep breath, and held it before he began. “I can change into a bear. Some people can change into other animals. We are all different, but all have one thing in common.”
“Which is? And please don’t say you have to eat human flesh or drink human blood!”
He laughed. “No. We eat and drink like normal people. But what we do differently, is we know when we meet our mate.”
“Your mate? You mean wife?” she asked. She was beginning to get an idea of where this was going. All she had to do was decide if she believed him.
“Yes. You are my mate, Carla.” He turned to face her, his eyes deep pools of longing, and she struggled to pull her gaze away. “We are meant to be together forever. I know that. Your name is written on to my soul. Life without you would be unbearable.”
“I see.” She sat back and thought about it for a moment. “And when do you know this? Is it like love at first sight?”
“Yes. When a shifter sets eyes on their mate, they know. It’s like the world stands still, and there are only the two of you
in it. I wish you were like me, so that you could know it in the same way.”
“So do I, Liam.” She steeled herself for what she had to say next, because she wanted nothing more than to take what he said and believe it. However, first, she needed the answer to one question. “But I need to know one thing. Who exactly was Louisa?”
Chapter Eighteen – Liam
He hadn’t expected Carla to ask about Louisa. This was one part of the conversation he had not rehearsed in his head, because as time passed, she had begun to fade away. Not completely, she was still there, usually at night, when Liam was trying to get to sleep, and he was caught between this world and the darkness of his subconscious. However, in his waking hours, she was a ghost, a wisp of thought, nothing more.
“Louisa was a woman I worked with. I told you that,” he began, but knew their relationship could not be built on lies. “She was also my first mate.”
“First mate,” Carla repeated. “So this isn’t a one-shot thing like you want me to believe.”
“It is. Usually.”
“Please don’t mess me around, Liam. It’s hard enough trying to get my head around your change, without having to put up with anymore of your secrets.”
He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “It’s complicated. It’s not supposed to be. But it is.”
“Then explain it in small words,” she said firmly.
He gave a short laugh. “Small words. OK. Louisa was my mate; she was like me. There was a drug called Niq It, and we were trying to crack the dealer, get it off the streets. It did things to people’s minds, made them perceive things differently. It stole their memories, and their emotions.”
“And you worked the case.”
He nodded. “Louisa was undercover. Joel and I transferred to the squad to help take them down. As soon as I met Louisa, we both knew what we were to each other.”
“Mates.”
He nodded again, struggling to talk about it, but she had to know the truth. “We kept it secret, so neither of us would get moved off the case, we knew it was important to stop this drug. It stole people’s lives.”
Second Chance Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 3) Page 8
