Page 28 of Bearly Breathing

CHAPTER 9

Oh, crap! What the-?

Leya’s eyes bulged as she watched the man she’d been falling in love with, shed his clothing in the face of three huge mongrels. While she didn’t mind the view, the timing was kind of off.

Surrounded by three snarling dogs was not exactly how she wanted to see her first fully naked man. Not that being amorous was what Marcus had in mind. Her gorgeous giant stood in front of her as if to protect her, butt-naked, as it were.

Then something began to happen, something definitely out of her realm of knowledge. It was as if the air around Marcus’s body shimmered and warped. Under her watchful eyes, fur, thick, black-brown fur sprouted all over his body. His rapidly growing body. A Bear! Marcus is a Bear!

The huge Black Bear in front of her roared loudly. His jaws created the deafening sound that seemed to scare off one of the dogs. The other two weren’t so bright.

Heat and rage poured off the Marcus-bear and Leya backed up to the tent looking for something she could use as a weapon without taking her eyes off the scene in front of her. Sunblock? Seriously.

The two remaining dogs seemed to take her movement as aggressive, and they attacked Marcus. Leya, clearly out of her mind with fear, tossed the can of spray suntan lotion at one of the dogs and yelled at him to go away as the other dog took a bite at his hind leg.

Marcus really didn’t seem to like that. He swiped at the dog with his enormous paw and sent him flying. The second dog, having gotten up despite the sunblock, must have realized he was no match for the Bear and ran down the incline after his buddies.

Marcus gave chase, but only for a few feet. He pawed the ground and bellowed in the direction the dogs ran, but nothing answered. He turned back to her. His familiar brown eyes roamed over her, and she realized he was making sure she was safe. Warmth pooled in her belly as she took a step forward, her hand raised.

“Marcus?”

His answering chuff made her giggle. A Bear? OMG. Marcus was a Bear! The enormity of the situation seemed out of her reach for the time being. She was full of awe and wonder.

The kind she used to have when she read too many books as a child. Her early days were filled glued to the pages of books about magical beasts and daring adventures! She spent hours on end daydreaming about the day something wonderful would happen to her. Looks like it finally did.

Marcus sat down on his furry rump as she tiptoed closer. He chuffed again, Bear lips opening and closing as if tasting the air. He allowed her to tentatively run her hands over his dense fur.

He was so soft! Leya sighed as she felt his energy vibrating through his body. She pulled back meeting his eyes in wonder. Standing before her now was no longer a Bear, but a very naked, very aroused, Marcus.

“Are you alright?” His voice was a deep grumble barely above a whisper. It sent shivers down her spine.

“Am I alright? What about you? Oh, that mutt bit you!” She exclaimed noting the blood running from his calf.

“Don’t worry about it, I heal fast.”

“We need to clean that,” she said and turned to the tent. His voice still reached her as she looked for something to clean the wound with.

“Did uh, did you really throw sunblock at one of them?”

She nodded, feeling a little foolish now that the adrenaline was subsiding. Leya ignored her embarrassment and grabbed some wipes from the bag. She blotted the cut which was already miraculously knitting itself together.

“Leya?” he knelt down too, halting her ministrations, “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah but, um, what are you? I think you should tell me now, don’t you?”

“Okay, well first, this is why I waited to, you know, with you, because, fuck, well as you just saw, I’m a Bear Shifter. My family, the Devlin Clan, are Shifters going back to forever I guess, but that’s not the most important thing I have to tell you.”

“It’s not?”

“No. My sweet, brave Leya, I, that is, it’s widely believed that Shifters have predestined mates. When we meet our fated mates, we know, there’s an instinct, a connection between them, mostly that doesn’t happen until the mates consummate their vows to one another. Sometimes the connection is so strong they mate bond without having, er, sex, but that’s the real way they sort of declare they are mates, oh fuck, I’m doing this all wrong-”

“So, you are saying what? That we’re mates?”

“Uh, yes?”

“Oh. You don’t sound sure.”

“I’m fucking sure,” he moved so quickly she couldn’t follow it. One second, he was a few feet away, the next, he was right in front of her.

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