“What have the human authorities done?”
“Nothing,” she admitted. “I told the hospital I’d fallen down some stairs.”
“Jesus, Tessa,” Drake snarled.
“I’ve been on the run ever since.”
“There will be no more running,” he stated, releasing her hand and slashing it through the air for emphasis. “You are staying here with me.”
“I can’t…” She paused when he stood to his full height. Drake took her chin with his large hand and tilted her face so he could look her in the eye.
“Tessa, do as you’re told,” he ordered with power behind his voice. It was a power she craved, and that alone made Tessa submit.
“Yes, Sir.”
“I promise you, from this day forth, I will protect you in all ways. In my world, we are destined to be with one mate, and it’s for life. My bear has chosen you, and I know you don’t understand yet, but you will.”
“Why do I keep having these feelings when you touch me?” she asked, blinking a few times to keep the tears at bay.
“What are you feeling?” he asked, coming around to take her by the hand. Tessa stood up and pressed the palms of her hands to his chest. There was that feeling again. An invisible strength wrapped around her.
“I feel safe,” she explained, finally looking up into his eyes.
“It’s our connection.”
“This mate thing you keep speaking of?” she pressed.
“Yes, little one.” He smiled and tilted her head to capture her lips. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know this man. He’d shown up at her place after Tulley had called him to come check on her. Drake, being the ultimate asshole during their first meeting, treated her with kindness and respect.
“Are you going to trust me with your secret now?” she asked.
“I will show you. Come with me.”
She pushed the chair back to its rightful place under the table. Drake called out for his brothers who had retired to their rooms and took her hand. Tessa felt the stirrings of lust again when he touched her. She didn’t know why that was happening, even though Drake promised her he wasn’t making her feel that way.
“Tessa,” Rex, the one with the long, dark-blond hair, smiled. “Drake?”
“I’m going to shift,” he announced, much to his brother’s shock. Rex’s eyes popped wide and he looked between the two.
“Are you sure?” Rex asked, narrowing his eyes. Tessa had a feeling Rex was confused by Drake’s eagerness to shift in front of a human. She wanted nothing more than to put them all at ease. The last thing she would ever do was tell their secret.
“Yes,” he growled, his eyes glowing bright. Tessa started to say something, but paused when the other brother, Gunner, entered the room.
“Come on, Tessa,” Gunner laughed. “You can stand with me, and I’ll protect you from him.”
“Protect me?” she gasped, attempting to pull her hand from Drake’s tight hold.
“I won’t hurt you,” Drake growled and turned toward his brother. “Don’t scare her.”
“Drake,” she whispered, trying her best to slow her heart rate. “What’s going to happen?”
“I’m going to take you outside and leave you with my brothers while I shift,” he explained. “If you’d like, you can touch me. My beast will know it’s you the entire time.”
“You will?” she asked, frowning. “Can you hear me when you…shift?”
“Yes,” he replied, opening the back door. For the middle of March, the evenings were still brisk. Tessa shivered from the cool air, and Drake stepped back inside the door to grab a denim jacket to drape over her shoulders. “I can hear and understand you, but I won’t be able to speak with you.”
“O…okay,” she stammered.
Drake released her, and both of his brothers came to stand beside her; Rex to her left and Gunner to her right. Drake removed his shirt and Tessa swallowed a lump in her throat. He was broad shouldered and tattooed across his chest and down his left arm. “You may want to look away for this part.”
“Are you getting nak…” she gasped and closed her eyes.
“Our clothes don’t shift with us,” Gunner snickered. “You can look now.”
Tessa turned around as Drake’s body shimmered. He twisted his head from side to side and hair sprouted from his human skin. She watched as his body grew in size and his face began to reshape into something else. His nose grew and those fangs she’d already seen became longer. His hands swelled and long claws erupted from the tips. Within seconds, a huge grizzly bear stood where Drake’s human form had been.
“Oh, my,” she breathed out, clutching her chest.
Drake, the large grizzly bear, huffed and took a step toward the porch. Tessa automatically took a step back. Gunner turned toward her with a frown. “Go say hello, Tessa.”
“He knows it’s me, right?” she asked, needing reassurance.
“Drake and his bear know it’s you,” Gunner promised. “We know our mates through sight, touch, and scent. He would be able to find you like a needle in a haystack if it was ever needed. Now, go on.” Gunner held his hand out as if he were offering her up for a meal.
Drake’s bear sat on his backside and waited patiently. She took one step forward and then another. As she approached, the bear laid down on its belly, resting his massive head on his front paws. The top of his head was a paler brown than the rest of his body. Tessa still couldn’t believe she was face to face with such a deadly predator. If this had been in the wild, she’d have been bear food already.
“Drake?” she whispered as she approached. The bear lifted its head and sniffed the air. A soft rumble came from its chest as she slowly put her hand in front of him. “I don’t know what to do.”
The bear nuzzled her palm and closed its eyes. He rutted into her hand, silently telling Tessa to touch his fur. With shaking fingers, she ran her hand over the top of his head. The fur felt bristly and rough, and the tips were a bit white like the real grizzlies in the wild. She moved from his head to his ears and ran her fingers over them, noticing the fur there was a bit softer. She couldn’t believe she was touching this massive animal. The grizzly had to be at least eight hundred pounds.
“I can’t believe I’m touching a grizzly bear, and he’s not trying to eat me.” Tessa knelt in front of him, thinking she was crazy. If she hadn’t seen Drake shift, she would’ve thought it was a trick. In fact, her mind was still trying to catch up with what she’d seen. “Is it really you, Drake?”
The bear growled and nodded his head. Drake’s bear pressed his nose into her belly and rubbed his head back and forth. Tessa was frozen and didn’t know what else to do. When she looked over her shoulder for Rex and Gunner, they were gone.
Tessa let out a short gasp when the bear nudged her enough to knock her onto her side, but she needn’t have worried. Drake’s massive bear arm broke her fall. She let out a short laugh when he rested his head over her stomach but didn’t put any of his weight on her.
“Are you going to keep me here all night?” she giggled when he snorted.
The bear nuzzled into her belly and closed his eyes. She finally relaxed as he did and just looked up at the stars. How the hell had she ended up falling for a shifter? Why in the world did she feel so safe here on their farm?
“Your touch soothes me,” she whispered and ran her fingers over the course fur on top of his head. Drake’s bear huffed and made a satisfied noise in his throat. She didn’t know what made her want to tell him everything about her life, but she did, and as she touched him, the words tumbled out of her mouth.
“I’ve been living on the edge of fear for the past year. Being here on your land brings me peace. I don’t even know how to explain it.”
Drake’s bear shimmered and within seconds, a naked man laid next to her. She didn’t dare avert her eyes from him to give him privacy, but she did move her hand from his head to the side of his face, running her fingers through his short beard.
“Our species isn’t like yours,” he began. “We are compassionate, but also very dangerous when it comes to protecting our family. In my world, you find your mate, and love comes over time. When a werebear finds his female, she is pampered and treated with respect. The females of a clan are like royalty, and they are our top priority.”
“Are there female bears?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Yes,” he nodded, pausing for a moment to rest his head on his palm when she rolled to the side. Tessa missed his head on her belly but didn’t voice it. “We haven’t heard of any female bears in our area.”
“Why me?” she continued with the questions. “Why didn’t you go looking for your mate in your own species?”
“That’s not the way it works.” He shook his head. “Our destined mate is just that…destined. We believe Mother Nature will provide us with our soul mates when she is ready. Rex and Gunner have tried going to other dens to meet females, but it’s the skin to skin contact that tells us we’ve found her.”
“So, you just go around touching women?”
“No,” Drake chuckled. Tessa’s body heated from seeing the allusive smile on his face. Drake was grumpy, and he was demanding. When he let his guard, and his hate for humans, down, there was a softness about him. “We socialize with them, and if we feel a connection, we would ask the female to touch. If our bears decline them, we move on.”
“I wish humans had that,” she mumbled as she stared off into the sky. If she’d been a bear, maybe she wouldn’t have fallen for Bradley’s charms and married him. It would’ve saved her all those years of her life she’d never get back.
“Humans are ungrateful for their partners,” Drake huffed.
“There’s a lot of divorce in my world, because people jump into marriage too quickly,” she agreed.
“Females give us young,” Drake continued, using the back of his knuckle to trace over her arm. She shivered from the contact, but he didn’t notice. “They continue our line while loving us unconditionally.”
“Can you have children with humans?” she asked, immediately blushing. “I’m sorry. I’m being too forward.”
“No, it’s okay,” he replied. “We cannot cross-breed with humans.”
“Oh,” she frowned. Where had this wanting children question come from anyway? Tessa sure as hell wasn’t ready to find a man and start a family. She could barely make ends meet as it was with her two jobs. “I was just curious.”
“I noticed that about you,” he said, pulling her hand. “Let’s go back inside and I’ll draw you a bath. You’ve had a long day.”
“A bath sounds lovely,” she sighed, and stood up, blushing when she looked down at his naked body. She didn’t mean to look, but it just happened and well, he was erect, and huge…and Tessa turned her head quickly. Drake chuckled and started walking.
“Nudity is normal for shifter kind,” he offered.
“Well, I’m not used to that,” she replied.
“You’ll get used to it,” he said as they reached the porch. Drake opened the door for her and they entered to find the house empty. Rex and Gunner were gone. “Get your bag and come to my room.”
Tessa picked up the bag she’d packed from where Drake had placed it by the front door. When she turned around, he was pulling on a pair of jeans, but left his chest bare. As her eyes roamed his body, she felt stirrings of lust for him. Was that the connection he talked about between mates?
She tucked her chin and followed him down one of three hallways. As they traveled, the floor sloped as if the house was going into the ground. “Is this underground?”
“We hibernate most of the winter,” he supplied. “When my brothers and I built the house, we designed it to have our own living areas and bedrooms below ground so we could have our own place with our mates but stay close to each other for safety.”
“Wait,” she froze. “You hibernate during the winter? Like the wild grizzlies?”
“Well, we sleep a lot,” he smirked. “If we have a mate, and she is carrying our cub, we pamper her during that time.”
“From what I remember from school, grizzlies have their babies during the late winter, right?” She was Ms. Twenty-Questions with him, but he was answering, and that was better than his asshole attitude the first time they’d interacted.
“Our females will give birth during the hibernation period, and we deliver them here at home,” he answered. “All males are trained to deliver their young when they come of age.”
“You deliver your own children?” she gasped.
“We’ve delivered our own cubs since the beginning of time. The knowledge is passed down from father to son.”
“Okay,” she said, letting the information sink in. They were very self-sufficient, and she liked that about them. Although, the thought of having a child at home with no medicine did kind of freak her out.
Inside the first room was a large living area, complete with a large, dark-brown sofa and love seat. A huge flat-screen television was mounted to the wall by the door. “This is my living space.”
“It’s cozy,” she added, trying to lighten his mood. As she looked to the left, in the corner was a small kitchenette with only a sink, short countertop with a two-burner stove, and a refrigerator in the area. Tessa assumed they cooked all of their meals in the main kitchen and used this for their winter hibernation.
“My room,” he mumbled as he walked over to another closed door. Inside was a large, metal framed bed. There were slats for the headboard, and a thick comforter the same color as his couch was pulled back as if he’d made his bed that morning and drew back one side of the covers so he could climb in as soon as he was ready for the night. A large chest of drawers and two side tables were the only other furniture in the room. “Let me have your bag and you can make yourself comfortable. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”
“Thank you,” she said. Tessa climbed on the bed and began removing her shoes. She sighed when the material formed to her body. The old couch she slept on in her apartment was not comfortable at all. This bed was like laying on a cloud, and she yawned just imagining the wonderful night’s sleep she would soon be getting on it.
“I’ll draw your bath now,” he said, disappearing into the bathroom. Shortly after, the water started and she lay back on the pillow, inhaling when she caught his woodsy scent.
Tessa closed her eyes for a moment, trying to dislodge the images of her cat murdered and the remains left on her car windshield. Why was Bradley doing this? Why wouldn’t he leave her alone? A lone tear trailed down her cheek, and she jerked when a warm finger wiped it away.
“Everything will be okay, Tessa,” Drake said as she opened her eyes to see him standing over her. “I will never let him hurt you again.”
“You can’t be with me all the time, Drake,” she replied, shaking her head when his eyes glowed. “I have to work.”
“Eventually, you will be living here,” he stated, his eyes cooling to their usual brown hue. “When that time comes, you will have no need to work, and if you do, you can work for me from home.”
“I still have my own bills to pay,” she argued. “What you’re offering me is a fairy tale, Drake. I have to be realistic here.”
“Then I will come and sit at that human diner and the parts shop while you work to offer protection,” he confirmed. “You will not be alone one second of the day.”
“There is no way you can stand being around humans for that long,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
“I’ve done a protection detail for the panthers before. This will be less painful, I promise you,” he teased with a smirk.
“If you’re sure,” she said, closing her eyes. “I trust you to keep me safe, Drake. By no means am I a wimp, but I know for a fact, I cannot protect myself from Bradley. He’s so much bigger than I am.”
“Bigger than me?” Drake asked.
“No, not bigger than you,” she said, patting his chest. “You are the biggest man I know
.”
“Male,” he corrected with a grunt. “We call ourselves males.”
“Sorry,” she giggled. “You are the biggest male I know.”
“Damn right.” He nodded and took her hand. “Time to bathe.”
“Yes, Sir.” She smiled and let him lead her to the bathroom where he released her hand and closed the door. She eyed the lock and decided against twisting the dial, trusting Drake to let her bathe in peace.
The tub was huge and deep, and the bathroom was spacious enough for a big man…male like Drake. The custom cabinets were a dark brown like the ones in the main house, and the countertops were beige. It made the room feel inviting with the matching paint on the wall.
She slipped off her clothes and tested the water with her big toe. The temperature was perfect, and when she climbed in, the water came up to her chin. Oh, God. She could get used to this.
It broke her heart that Drake hated humans so much. He didn’t elaborate as to why, but maybe he’d eventually open up and tell her everything. She wanted to know more about him, his brothers, and this secret life he led.
Did Tulley know about him being a shifter? Was that why her boss had called Drake when she called him for help?
She guessed it didn’t matter at this point, because she was already in over her head with the feelings he was causing inside her heart.
Chapter 7
Tessa ignored the stares from the patrons of the diner as she entered with Drake and Rex behind her. She really didn’t want them to follow her to work, but she wasn’t going to argue with Drake because Bradley was in the area. Her hands began to shake and she worried them by twisting her palms against each other when she entered the backroom to grab her apron. A gasp burst from her chest when she turned around and Drake was right behind her. He immediately took her shaking hands into his and frowned. “Don’t be scared.”
“It’s kind of hard not to be.” Tessa bowed her head and sighed. “I still vividly remember the last time I saw him.”
Mating Season (Morgan Clan Bears, Book 1) Page 6
