Page 10 of Riding With the Grizzly

He smiles slightly and my heart kicks hard twice at the look.

“Shifters can smell their fated mate. You smell so sweet, so much better than everything and anyone else.”

“What if you find someone else that smells better?”

“I won’t.” The fierce look that flashes across his eyes lets me know he’s telling the truth. “My bear and I are both positive you’re meant to be ours.”

“You can hear your bear?” I ask excitedly, getting caught up in the idea of it all.

Jude nods. “He’s in my head all of the time.”

“That’s so cool,” I say and he smiles again.

"It can be at times when we're in sync with things. Other times it can be annoying." My bear huffs out a breath and plops down inside my chest. He's been pacing, pacing, pacing back and forth, every once in a while clawing to get out and mark our mate.

“Hmm, I could see that,” I agree.

I grab my burger and bite in, moaning at the flavor. Jude freezes at the sound and I feel a blush stain my cheeks. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he orders, his voice strained.

We eat in silence for a moment before Jude speaks up.

“Go out with me tonight. I can tell you more about all of this and you can meet my bear.”

I debate his proposition for a second, but the truth is that I want to meet his bear. I want to know more about all of this. The cynical part of me wants to see this lie blow up in his face, but the small, fragile hope I keep locked up tight wants this all to be real.

“Alright. Tonight.”

“It’s a date,” he says, a wicked promise in his eyes. I swallow hard as I stare at him.

What have I gotten myself into?

CHAPTER FIVE

JUDE

Nara left after we finished lunch, promising to meet me at the Mexican restaurant for dinner at six. It’s almost six now and I’m waiting at a table for my mate to show up. My bear is anxious inside of me, reminding me that we can’t mess this up.

That’s not helpful,I tell him but he doesn’t pay me any mind.

We need to make her ours,he tells me and I vow to ignore him for the rest of the night. He’s only going to mess it up by being over-eager.

An Uber pulls up and I watch as my mate climbs out of the back.

We should have driven her,my bear growls at me and I agree.

I didn’t know that she didn’t have a car and I figured that it would be worse for everyone if I showed up at her house to pick her up.

Nara's black hair glints in the low light and I take her in. She's gorgeous, her thick curves are hidden behind a pair of jeans and a loose-fitting t-shirt. Still, she's the prettiest thing that I've ever seen.

She makes her way toward the restaurant and I track her movements. Her blue eyes meet mine through the windows and I smile, waving slightly.

She heads inside and straight for me.

“Hey, sorry, I’m a little late.”

“It’s fine. If I had known that you needed a ride, I would have come to get you.”

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