He growled and grabbed her ass as she made her way to the door. Lily gasped and looked up at him with a growl of her own.
“I can see this is going to be fun,” she said, a sparkle in her eye.
Shane couldn’t wait to see his mate’s bear come out to play. He couldn’t wait to take Lily and Theo out to the woods for some family bear time. He could feel Lily’s bear awakening. Their mate bond growing by the moment. Two shifters had a level of closeness that not even a shifter and human fated mate couple could match.
They walked up the trail towards the front of the lodge and found Juliet and Levi at the playground, watching Theo hop across the rungs of the monkey bars. Shane’s mouth couldn’t have held a bigger grin.
“We’re all bears now. I have to be more open to my child’s inner animal,” she said to Shane.
They met Juliet and Levi at one of the wooden park benches circling the playground. Shane and Lily sat down beside them and watched Theo play.
“I need more shifter kids to play with,” Theo called from the top of the slide. He slid down it on his feet.
Juliet and Levi looked at each other with a secret smile. Levi rubbed Juliet’s hand, and Shane noticed a big ass diamond on her finger. Levi caught Shane’s gaze.
“Juliet and I have good news,” Levi said.
“We’re getting married.” Juliet beamed, showing the ring to Lily.
Lily gushed and Juliet snuggled against Levi. Shane had given Lily something bigger than a fat diamond. She had a bear inside her. For better or worse. She was now one of them.
“When is the wedding?” Lily asked.
“Soon, we don’t want to wait too long,” Levi said.
“Congratulations, man,” Shane said to Levi, reaching out to shake his hand.
“How was the talk, Mom and Dad?” Juliet asked, smirking at Lily and Shane.
“It was good,” Lily said, laughter spilling out of her smile.
“We worked things out,” Shane said, in a low voice.
He motioned for Theo to come over to the adults. The kid hopped off the playground equipment and ran over to his parents, jumping in Shane’s lap.
“Hi, Daddy,” Theo said.
“Remember what I told you, little man,” Levi said, standing up. He took Juliet’s hand, and they walked away together.
“What did you two talk about?” Theo asked.
“We talked about our family,” Lily said.
“Our family? With you and me and Daddy?”
“Yes, baby, we’re all going to be together now,” Lily said, patting his back.
“Really, Daddy?” Theo said, crawling between them on the bench.
“That’s right, buddy, we’re going to live in Daddy’s cabin.”
“That would be awesome!” Theo said. He hopped up from the bench and did a little dance, shaking his hips and pumping his fists.
“Let’s go home,” Shane said.
He took Lily’s hand and they walked together down the trail along the back of the lodge. Fresh air blew up from the lake and Shane inhaled deeply. He could smell Lily’s bear coming closer. The scent of his cub filled his lungs. Everything was good now. And it would only get better.
They got Theo settled in the cabin and Shane carried Lily’s boxes inside. He fixed them a dinner of seared salmon and wild rice with broccoli and cream sauce. Everyone sat around the dining room table, eating their food.
With the fire flickering in the fireplace, Shane sat with his family for a good dinner. It made him feel like to a new man to have them with him. He’d finally gained control of his inner beast. He’d finally tamed his broken bear. He had the approval of his alpha and the acceptance of his clan. His mate had forgiven him and accepted the bear he’d put inside her. Life couldn’t get any better than this.
18
The moon was dim behind a veil of clouds as Lily crept into the damp underbrush. Shane held her hand warmly in his. They’d taken their clothes off on the back porch, and the chill air swirled around her skin. She felt stronger than before and less vulnerable to the elements.
So much had happened already that day. He’d explained the shift would happen at will. She had to learn her bear to unleash it. The animal within her had started rumbling from the first moments after Shane had bitten her.
Being with Shane made her inner bear ecstatic, and the result had left Lily feeling more at peace than she ever had before. In the last few hours, the world had become lighter, freer, more safe. She couldn’t wait to explore life with Shane by her side and the growing bear within.
Shane stopped near the edge of the dense forest beyond the lodge. Theo was tucked safely into bed and had a walkie-talkie to Juliet next to his pillow. They could take on the night, sharing her first shift with each other on the day of their mating.
“Are you ready?” he asked, taking both her hands in his.
“I’ve been ready for a long time,” Lily said.
“You can hear your inner bear inside you, right?”
“She’s been rumbling since the bite. She’s coming closer all the time.”
“Focus on the feeling of your bear. Invite her to come out.”
Lily looked inside. She could see the bear sitting at attention, her golden eyes focused on the spot between Lily’s eyes. Lily focused there too. Overlapping snapshots of her bear drew closer inside her mind until she felt it take over. The physical change was disorienting and sharp. Like a slap across the face, but it was her whole body. The thunderclap of sensation pulled her inside out. She fell lightly on four fury paws, clutching the damp ground.
The smell of the forest grew around her like a three dimensional map of scent. Thrumming heartbeats of the small creatures within the wood filled her ears and the sinews of her nerves. She could feel everything. The muscular limbs of her bear form gave her a strong sense of power. Her mouth hung open to taste the air.
Shane’s bear was there beside her. She could smell his deep musk. He brushed her side, his ruddy bear’s fur soft against her muzzle. She rubbed her head under his chin and let out a low moan. She felt so close to him. Their minds swam back and forth with each other along a shared stream of consciousness.
All the pain and sorrow they’d felt over the years mingled between them. As did the love and joy. A far greater understanding of each other bloomed as they stood close. It was beyond words, beyond rationality. They were in the realm of instinctive intimacy, compounded by their years of shared experience.
The love between them was so great, it filled her heart and soul to overflowing. Instead of it feeling too large to bear, she incorporated all that love into her bear’s huge heart. She could hold things that the human Lily still wasn’t able to incorporate.
Lily’s bear was pure and new, with the innocence of a child. She could send her love to Shane’s bear, helping him heal his wounds completely. She could feel Shane’s bear growing energetic and lively beside her. He roared into the misty night.
Lily roared back, feeling his friskiness penetrate her skin. She hopped around in the damp spring grass and trotted into the forest. Shane snorted behind her and nipped at her heels. She turned and growled playfully. He came up beside her, panting and happy. They galloped together up the hillside, deeper into the wood.
When they came to the top of the hill under a clearing, the clouds parted in the sky. A blue moon shone bright through the haze, and Shane sent her an images of them in human form. She sent him an image of them kissing. With the blue illumination shining down on them, Shane lifted himself back into his human form. Lily stood in front of him in bear form. She gazed into Shane’s sparkling human eyes.
She had to find the human again.
Part of her didn’t want to go back to that life. The animal within was so pure and peaceful. She was able to give Shane’s bear all her love. Back in the human life, everything was so much more complicated.
She felt Shane beckon her to him, and she jumped out of her bear and onto her two bare human feet. He reached
out for her and cupped her face, coming closer. They kissed in the moonlight, the smell of the forest clinging to each other’s skin. Their heartbeats felt synchronized, thumping between them in time as they held each other close.
Their lips met, warmer than they should have been in the cool air. Breath blew in misty puffs as they pulled away. Shane kissed her forehead, and he held her to his chest, rubbing her back.
“You are my savior, Lily. You rescued me.”
“We’ve rescued each other.”
“I bet you’re hungry as hell right now,” Shane said.
Lily laughed, her heart light. She was hungry. A gnawing hungriness that needed to be filled. Shane had sensed it before she even had.
Back at the house, he fed her a heaping plate of rare steak and half a bottle of red wine. They ate together in the big open room at the front of his cabin. The fireplace crackled in the living room as they ate at the table. Shane was so cute, seasoning her meal for her. It tasted like heaven and she was getting giddy with wine.
“I have to admit I never would have expected it to be like this,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked, the inner peacefulness of her bear ready for anything.
“There was so much between us. Our mistakes. Our past. But it feels so calm somehow. I’ve never felt so at ease with my bear.”
Lily took his hands, and he gripped them, smiling at her. The connection between them radiated back and forth. Shane looked peaceful and glowing with a grin on his face.
“I feel reborn,” she said. “I’m like a child inside. A child who’s never been hurt. I’m full of wonder and playfulness. It’s really intense.”
“I can feel that,” he said. “Our connection is soothing my bear. He’s all calmed down.”
“My bear wanted to stay in the wild. It’s so much simpler out there.”
“It is.”
“We can go again. We don’t always have to stay civilized.”
19
Weeks later, after everyone had settled in, Lily and Shane rocked in rocking chairs on the front porch of their cabin. They looked out on Lake Fate and the strip of grass before the lakeshore. The cabin sat under a stand of ponderosa pine that sheltered it from the wind and rain.
Theo rode his new two-wheel bike down the path between the cabin and the lodge. The kid was riding like a beast, jumping off ramps he made on the path. His mother wasn’t even worried about him anymore. She’d let go of that now that she had a bear inside her.
Shane looked over at his sweet mate and reached out for her hand. She had grown beyond beautiful in the last few weeks. Her human had been tired and over stressed. The bear inside her had healed the dark circles under her eyes and made her blonde hair lustrous. She had an easy smile and a calm laugh.
Shane’s inner edginess was all but gone. Not that he let his kitchen staff know anything about it. He still ran them hard to create food up to his standards. He’d talked to Levi about buying out the diner so that the people of Fate Mountain had a decent place to eat a good burger.
Mr. Buckman, Lily’s old boss, was in tax debt up to his eyeballs and was behind on his rental payments to the real estate company who owned the building. It was just a matter of time before the asshole lost it all.
They’d have the restaurant soon if Corey had anything to do with it. Then he and Lily could run it however they wanted. For a chef of Shane’s skill. He could easily oversee two restaurants like the diner and the lodge. The better food they served, the more tourists would come to eat there. With all the shifters moving to the mountain, they had plenty of young men to work in the kitchens.
Shane hadn’t told Lily about the restaurant yet. She’d been spending a lot of time in the woods with Theo. She needed the break, but lately she’d been talking about going back to work.
“Levi and I are going to buy Fate Mountain Diner,” Shane said.
“Really? What about Mr. Buckman?”
“He can’t run a business. And he’s an asshole.”
Lily giggled, the sound tinkling in the air.
“What did you do? I heard about what happened with Juliet’s boss.”
“Corey simply finds incriminating evidence and makes sure it gets into the right hands. How he gets the evidence is his business.”
“Okay. I get it. He’s a hacker.”
“I don’t know anything about hackers,” Shane said, laughing. “But if he was a hacker, he’d be a hacker for truth and justice.”
Lily stood up and walked over to Shane’s rocking chair, sliding into his lap. He encircled her in his arms, and she hugged him around the neck.
“Look at you, sexy baby mama,” he said. “You come for some lovin’.”
He kissed her gently, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Everything is so good now that we’re together, Shane. Sometimes I don’t know if I can handle all the joy.”
“I feel the same sometimes. But then all I have to do is remember how much I want you. Then it settles in.”
“It’s the same for me.”
He cradled her body. He wanted her, wanted to touch and taste her. But they were watching their son play in the yard on the bright spring afternoon. His bear stretched and laid down inside. Shane was content and held Lily close as he rocked her in his arms on the sunny porch. Strong and sweet, their connection pulsed between them.
They were in hearts-and-rainbows love. They were in pink Valentine’s day love. They were in white wedding and fairy tale ending love.
Shane took it all, feeling like the bad boy bear could finally rest inside. Lily was the rock and the foundation. She was the healing balm. He didn’t even have to sleep with the sliver chain around his ankle anymore. Holding his sweetheart in his arms as he watched his kid play, Shane knew he was better than before. He was a better bear in every sense of the word.
Together, he and Lily were finally free.
About the Author
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Marked By The Alpha Wolf (Book One) Braving Darkness 1
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Wild Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance) (Rescue Bears Book 2) Page 10
