Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  Melanie could see the hurt and shock on his face briefly before he plastered a very pissed off look in its place. She wasn’t sure why she even brought it up, she definitely didn’t believe it. Even though he was a giant Shifter, and just days before she had seen him tear into a rather large lion, he just didn’t seem hostile. Honestly injuring the kid to get a spot in the coveted program sounded more like something she would do. She didn’t, but the idea had merit if she hadn’t got in herself. If she was being honest with herself, she really just wanted to avoid talking about the other night.

  “I’m not sure but that’s what everybody was whispering about earlier.”

  “I don’t even know who the kid is let alone harm them for a spot here. I’m a doctor. My job is to help and heal not injure.”

  “Is that why you took off the other night?”

  That was the question she had been avoiding. She didn’t want to go over why she had showed up the other night, and definitely didn’t want to discuss why she left. She couldn’t deal with these emotions right now especially since the chief resident had paired them together. Of all the luck to have she would now be spending all of her time with the one person in the internship she desperately needed to avoid. She had to admit though during rounds today Tye had shown that he earned his spot in the program. He seemed to know the answer to the questions before Dr. Byron could ask the questions.

  “How were you able to keep up with Dr. Byron so well today?”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  She sighed. He wasn’t going to drop it.

  “Tye, I left because you had just turned into a giant bear and fought a giant lion. It was a bit much. I’m sorry I took off like that. Can we please move on and discuss today, and the rest of our internship? We need to get through this program.”

  “Being a Shifter in medical school didn’t give me many friends, so I had a lot of time to study. I also have keener senses than you humans do. I’m much more sensitive to smells and emotions than you, and that helps.”

  “So you could smell that patient with nephritis? Dr. Byron wasn’t even aware that the kidney infection had progressed to that point.”

  “I couldn’t smell the infection per say, but the urine was so strong mixed with the pain he was in. The fact that he had been burning with temperature for almost 36 hours told me it had progressed past just a simple kidney infection and probably into Nephritis. I took a guess, and turned out I was right.”

  Melanie stared at him in disbelief. Maybe ending up with Tye as a partner was going to have its perks. He was like her ace in the hole, personal feelings aside, she needed a strong partner like Tye so that she could come out on top of her boards. She noticed another pair of the interns had entered the coffee shop, and after wearily looking at Tye decided to sit elsewhere. That was fine Melanie thought, let them think he did take out the other kid, and she would have him and his abilities all to herself.

  Melanie shook her head at herself. Was she really this bad of person? Tye was super sweet, and she could tell that he was interested in her. So why was she now all of a sudden planning to use him and dump him as soon as this was over. Probably because she was the product of her father, and he didn’t know what else to do but use and abuse people.

  “Do the doctors know that you can sense things?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. They may assume, but nobody’s ever asked me, aside from you, so I’ve never offered up the information. I don’t like drawing attention to myself if you can’t tell.”

  She couldn’t help but smile at that thought. In his town he had been smooth, and effortless, but today he had been back to his clumsy self. He had knocked into a nurse’s cart while they were walking through the hall, rather quickly, to keep up with Dr. Byron. Then when he was asked to put a catheter in one of the outpatients he couldn’t quite handle the tubes with his giant hands, and Melanie had ended up taking it from him to insert it.

  “Is my discomfort funny to you?”

  “No, I just find it amusing that you get so awkward because you seem so confident in your other form.”

  “You asked me if I off’d some kid to get this internship. That’s not the first time I’ve been called out for being a Shifter in a human world. Once people see my golden eyes they immediately assume all kinds of things, and then the rumors spread.”

  Melanie figured he dealt with that a lot. Here she was planning on using his abilities to her advantage, but it was the same thing. She saw those golden eyes as her golden ticket to ace this internship, and her exams.

  “Well I guess we need to work out a study schedule around our schedule at the hospital. Do you have any other obligations we need to worry about?”

  “Other obligations?”

  “Yes work, girlfriend; other obligations.” Melanie wasn’t sure why she was so annoyed about the mere thought of him having a girlfriend, but she couldn’t look at him when she asked.

  “No, I have no other obligations. You?”

  “No.” His eyes seemed to almost glow golden as he answered her. He drew it out too in his deep voice, and it felt like it washed over Melanie not leaving any part of her untouched. She diverted her eyes from him, and tried to act natural.

  Tye stood, and went to toss his cup.

  “I guess there’s only one question left to ask Melanie.”

  “What’s that Tye?”

  “You’re place or mine?”

  Chapter Nine

  Tye

  He and Melanie made quite a team, and were quickly becoming the talk of the hospital. Tye could watch Melanie with patients for hours. She had an easy bed side manor, but she wouldn’t let them bullshit her either. She could somehow tell when they were leaving out important information or just straight out lying to her. With her knowledge and skills Tye only enhanced their abilities since he could sense more underlying issues without all the poking and prodding. Of course they had to poke and prod to confirm, but Tye had quite a streak of being right.

  They were putting in long hours at the hospital, and they still had to pass their medical boards. That meant even longer hours spent studying. Usually they did that together too at Tye’s place. His place was more accommodating to his large size so Melanie didn’t protest. Tonight was no different than the rest. They had finished their twelve-hour shift, hit the coffee shop, and then dragged themselves to Tye’s place to study.

  “I don’t think there’s enough coffee in the world to keep me up tonight.” Tye said as he threw himself on his couch. He wanted nothing more than to shift into his bear, and drift off to sleep.

  “We have to Tye. We only have a few more week until the first round of tests. I can’t get that failure letter while I’m spending the holidays with my dad. He’s already an arrogant prick; let alone if I fail.”

  “You won’t fail Melanie. You know this stuff. You fly through the rounds at the hospital, and you have an almost perfect diagnosis percentage.”

  “It’s easier in real life. Having a person in front of me to see, touch, and listen to. Having a piece of paper with hidden meanings, and important omitted symptoms meant to trip you up is different.”

  “I still have faith in you.”

  Tye chugged the rest of his coffee, and tried to shake himself awake. Melanie was stripping out of her hospital scrubs until she just had on her pants, and a tank top. She let her hair out of the stiff bun she always kept it up in on rounds, and shook it out. Tye couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She was breathtaking. He didn’t try to keep the desire out of his eyes when she turned to him. He didn’t say anything he just kept taking her in, like a man who had been deprived of air.

  “Tye.” She said his name hesitantly. Like she wasn’t sure what he was going to do next. He could feel her unease, and he could smell her desire. It was almost like a tangible pull between the two of them. They were fighting it, but it was there. Tye desperately wanted to pull her on top of him and drown himself in her for the night. She wasn’t there yet though.
She was getting there though.

  He was always finding little ways to touch her when they were together, and she never pulled away. Any time he could get close to her, he did. He loved to breathe in her scent. She knew that’s what he was doing too. She never balked though. Sometimes he could feel her disappointment if he would pass up an opportunity. She felt the pull between them. He promised himself she would be begging him when he finally touched her.

  “Melanie.” He drew her name out. He finally broke the spell that was weaving between them and got up to get his books. He finally settled in next to her on the couch and got his stuff together to where they had left off the day before. He knew she had been watching him the whole time.

  “What the hell Tye.”

  “I’m not sure I follow.” He still didn’t look up at her when he spoke. Sitting this close to her he could smell her sweet scent. It was intoxicating. Maybe he shouldn’t have sat next to her. Hell he probably shouldn’t have let her come over tonight. He was sleep deprived and sex deprived which were a deadly combination for his kind. He hadn’t had any type of release since he’d been home to visit his family. That had been months ago. He still had another week before Thanksgiving break was upon them.

  He finally looked up at her. Her eyes were heavy with desire. He almost tossed all their books on the floor and took her right there on the couch. He tried to hide his desire from her. Tonight was not the night. Finally, she realized he wasn’t going to act on their desires, and her eyes narrowed at him. She plastered on her normal pinched expression, the one she wore when she was annoyed, and flipped her book open as well.

  He couldn’t stand her dismissal though. Goddess, he was behaving like a lunatic. He cupped her chin in his hand, and brought her eyes back to him. He finally leaned in and captured her mouth with his. He had been dying to see how her lips would taste for so long he growled when he finally did. She immediately opened her mouth to him, and ran her fingers through his hair.

  Tye’s bear was on the verge of taking over and claiming their mate. Tye held him at bay while he continued his tender assault. She met each of his strokes with equal passion. Tye finally pulled her on his lap to straddle him. They both groaned with the intimate position. Tye gripped her hips hard as he rocked her back and forth on his erection. It was all he could do to keep from ripping her clothes off.

  At that thought he finally pulled back. It took her a second to come around. Her eyes were heavy with desire, and her head dropped down to her chest. Tye ran his fingers through her hair and then down over her back. He was desperately trying to calm himself, but his bear was sick of waiting to make things final between him and his mate.

  “Tye, I, um, I really can’t do this.” Her voice was breathy. She slowly crawled off of him, and sat back on the couch. She looked as shaken as he was.

  “Melanie, it seems to me like we can’t not do this.”

  He watched as she ran her fingers through her hair. She started laughing. It was a rich throaty laugh that washed over him, and had his bear prancing like a fool. The sound warmed his soul. He didn’t know why she was laughing, but he couldn’t help but start laughing himself.

  “I’m sorry.” She stuttered out between breaths.

  When she quit laughing, and pulled herself together Tye felt like they had reached a turning point.

  “Tye, my whole life I have avoided men. I didn’t want a relationship to distract me from my schooling. I also didn’t want to end up with someone like my father that felt like my place was in the home. I’m so close to my dream I can taste it, and here you are. You’re my biggest fear.”

  “Melanie, I’m not here to waylay your dreams. I love that you want to be a doctor, and that you have stuck by your dream through all the adversary. The only place I require you to be is by my side whenever possible. I want to love you and add depth to your life not hinder you.”

  “We barely know each other. How can you feel so strongly? How do I feel so strongly?”

  “It’s the mate bond. You’re my mate.”

  Chapter Ten

  Melanie

  Melanie woke up, and stretched. She had been at her parents’ house for two days now. The hospital had decided to allow the interns a small break for Thanksgiving. She had spent most of those two days catching up on sleep. When she wasn’t sleeping she was thinking of Tye. Hell even during her sleep she was dreaming of him. Dreaming of how it felt when he kissed her, the way his hands felt when he gripped her hips.

  “Damn.” She shook herself out of the memory and pulled herself up in her childhood bed. Today was actually Thanksgiving Day, and she could already smell her mom’s hard work in the kitchen. Melanie may not have wanted to spend her time in the house cooking like her mom, but her mom excelled at it.

  Melanie stole a glance at her phone while she was getting ready. She hadn’t heard from Tye since she left town. After his confession that she was his mate she had fled. Aside from the work they had to do together at the hospital she had stayed away from him. He had also taken pains to respect her need for distance. He no longer found ways to touch her or be close to her. He never asked her to come over and study any more either.

  Her mind was blurry from all of her different emotions. She was relieved at not having the constant pressure of figuring out how she felt about him. At the same time, she missed him, and her heart was screaming that she did in fact know how she felt about him. It was all such a mess. She wished she knew what he was thinking, but that would require speaking to him. Could Shifters and humans be together? This whole mate thing sounded like it should just be a Shifter thing.

  She looked at her phone again. Still nothing. She knew it would stay that way too. He was leaving it in her hands to move the relationship forward. She threw the phone across her room. Stupid bear.

  “Melanie. Honey? Are you okay I just heard a loud noise?”

  Melanie threw her door open for her mom. Her mom had her hair pulled up in a ponytail, and she was already covered in flour. She looked happy though. Melanie wondered if her mom had ever regretted her decision to be a homemaker.

  “I’m fine mom. Just knocked some stuff off my dresser. How’s the cooking going?”

  “Great. The turkey’s been in the oven since three in the morning. I’m working on the desserts now. Dinner will still be around five. Your father invited some of his associates over.”

  Melanie didn’t like the sound of that.

  “Who?”

  Her mom looked down and started brushing flour off of her shirt. Melanie knew she was trying to delay answering the question. She didn’t know why she asked. She knew exactly who her dad had invited over, and why. She was already dreading the dinner ahead.

  “Never mind. Do you need any help?” Her mom laughed at her question. She blushed a little. She wasn’t much of a cook, but she could certainly follow instructions.

  “I can chop, mix or maybe even taste test if you don’t trust me to do the hard parts.”

  “That sounds wonderful honey. Come on I’ll show you how to make your grandma’s secret no bake cookie recipe.”

  Melanie followed her mom down to the kitchen. It looked like a tornado had torn through the place. Her mom handed her a recipe card with very specific instructions for making the no bake cookies. She read through it twice, and then decided it was best to just dive in. Once she got all the ingredients gathered she went to work boiling, and whisking.

  Her mom and her worked well together. The meal was pretty well done, or at least shoved in one of the four ovens her mom had in the giant kitchen. There were still a few hours until dinner would be served. Her mom and her talked and laughed. She couldn’t remember a time when they had such a great time together.

  Her dad walked in then, he had been camped out in his man cave watching football all day.