Page 20 of Chosen By The Grizzly

“Argh!” A loud wail comes from the bottom of the cliff. I peer over again. Ashley is fretting. Even from here, I can see the angry purple color of her ankle.

“I’m calling in some reinforcements,” Jason announces.

I frown. “How?”

He flashes his sexy grin. “As bears do.” He tears his T-shirt over his head, and I understand.

“Wait—the girls don’t need to see you as a human, do they?”

A light comes into his eyes. “Not if someone else can do the talking.”

I jab a thumb at my chest. “That’ll be me. Don’t worry, I’ve got it under control.”

He doesn’t ask me anything else. Instead, he gives me a look full of trust.

Then he strips his jeans off, and I watch as the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen happens. The bones in his face broaden, his shoulders get a lot wider and hunch forward, fur sprouts all over him. There’s a bunch of cracks and snaps, and suddenly, a huge grizzly bear is standing in front of me, on all fours. I could be terrified, but I’m not, because he still has Jason’s beautiful, soulful eyes. And he’s my mate.

This time, I can’t hold back my tears. There’s something so special, so intense about seeing him in his bear form. Impulsively, I hold out my arms and run to him. I wrap them around his massive, massive neck, and bury my face in his fur. And, wow, it’s soft. I thought it would be rough, but it’s actually incredibly luxurious, and it has his familiar, spicy scent.

I hear him inhale deeply, drawing air into his massive lungs, then he lets out a long, ragged sigh. I draw back, sinking my hands into the soft fur of his cheeks, and press my lips to his nose. I’m acting purely on instinct, but it feels right. His nose feels like the softest leather, and my lips tingle at the contact. When I pull away from him at last, there’s no mistaking the emotion in his eyes.

Thank you.

The word appears in my chest, right where my heart is. Because he said it. It didn’t come from my brain, but from him. I have no idea how I know that; I just do.

I connected with his bear.

And now my love for him burns even stronger in my heart.

He backs up several steps, then he lifts his majestic head to the sky androars.

It’s an awesome sound. The forest shakes with it. Birds burst out of the trees and take flight. It goes on and on.

When it stops, my ears are ringing. He looks at me, lowers his body to the ground, and indicates over his shoulder.

He doesn’t need to tell me twice. I know exactly what to do.

I run over and clamber onto his back. It’s broad, but my legs instinctively cling to him like I’ve done this a hundred times before. I feel perfectly safe. I sink my fingers into the fur around his neck, steadying myself, and we’re off.

And when I sayoff, I mean, we’re going headfirst down the precipice.

Jason jumps from rock to rock. But his footing is sure and I sense that he’s going more cautiously than he otherwise would. I just cling on tight and clench my teeth together to stop myself from screaming.

Sooner than I would’ve expected, we’re on solid ground again, and the air is full of screams—not mine.

“Callie! Oh my god!” Lindsay wails. To her credit, she pulls herself to her feet, grabs a branch and waves it threateningly in Jason’s direction. I’m a little bit proud of her.

As soon as Jason lowers his powerful body to the ground, I leap off and run to them.

“It’s okay,” I say. “He’s not hurting me. I just made friends with a big, kindly grizzly. Now, I need you to listen to me.”

While Lindsay and Ashley’s eyes get bigger and bigger, I explain exactly what needs to happen.

When I’m done, Lindsay holds out her phone with a trembling hand.

“Take it. We haven’t uploaded anything,” she says, her voice shaking. “I swear.”

“And the other two?”

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