Page 16 of Driven Wild By The Grizzly

I clear my throat. “But he got weird. Stalkery. When I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore, he threatened to kill me. So, Ricky and I had to move towns. I’ve basically been hiding out ever since. Wondering when he’s going to catch up with me.”

Ethan is working his jaw and clenching his fists, looking like he’s about ready to burst out of his skin.

“He’s a biker?”

I frown. “Yeah, how did you—?”

“I saw you were afraid of the bikes today.”

“Oh.” I bite my lip. “Yeah. He’s a member of a bunch of assholes, also known as Bigwood Brotherhood MC. I think I saw their dumb colors.” I roll my eyes. “Apparently they’re on the lookout for me, too.”

He takes my hand. “You’ve been scared for a long time.”

I nod.

“But you make light of it.”

I shrug. “What can I do? Ricky wants me to stay at home indefinitely, hide myself away from the world. But I’m not like that.”

A ghost of a smile passes across his handsome face. “Of course, you’re not. You’re so full of life. So courageous.”

My heart gives a little jump. But then Ricky’s words rise up from the depths. “Some would say naïve,” I mutter.

Ethan frowns. “None of this is your fault, Jessica. You hear me? You’re beautiful and good-hearted, and some men prey on that. But don’t change for other people. Including your brother—even if he means well. Don’t let the world take away your shine.”

I stare at him wordlessly. Somehow, I feel like there’s more of me when I’m with Ethan. Like I bloom under his praise.

“And you don’t need to worry about these bikers anymore.” He strokes my palm with his callused thumb. “I’ll take care of them.”

He’s offering to deal with an entire MC? If it was anyone else, I’d think they were crazy. But I feel that he’s stronger than all of them put together. There’s something superhuman about him, something that my subconscious is registering, but I don’t have a word for.

“What are you—?” I begin, with no idea how I’m going to end that sentence.

Resolution gathers in his eyes. “I’m a shifter. You know what that is?”

I shake my head.

He lifts my hand and presses it to his chest. “Feel this?”

I feel the heat of his body scorching my hand; the strong, steady pump of his heart. And something else—a rumbling, vibrating sensation that matches his exhalations.

I gaze at him in wonder.

“I have a bear inside me,” he says.

“A bear,” I repeat. I stare at him in silence for a few beats. Maybe it’s crazy, but the word feels so right on my lips. Like, of course he does. I think I knew deep down, from the moment I laid eyes on Ethan, that this huge, muscleman could not just be a regular human.

“S-so, you shift between your bear and human sides?” I stutter.

He gives a solemn nod. “Does that freak you out?”

I shake my head slowly. “No.”

“How does it make you feel?” He’s looking at me so intensely, like he’s hanging on my next word. I feel all breathless and overwhelmed.

“Curious,” I say.Man, that’s an understatement. But I don’t know how he’d react if I told him the truth:

Wet. Turned on like crazy at the thought that my mountain man crush is half-man and half-beast. I press my thighs together to quell the ache in my pussy.

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