Page 14 of Age Gap Bear's Enemies-to-Lovers Mate

I’m getting angrier and angrier as we walk, which isn’t what I want at all. At some point, I’m not going to be able to hold back. When that happens, the fight might be too intense for us to back away from.

And then come back together.

And I don’t want to stop screwing Clint!

Damn it all, I’m so full of shit. This isn’t just about screwing him. Like it or not, I love Clint. Damn it, I love him. I do, and being here is risking the relationship. I don’t want to lose him even if the relationship will never be free of the shadow of the Franklin Meadow project. I just… “Clint, what the fuck is this?” I ask. “I don’t think we’re even still on your property!” I’m sure of it, in fact. We’re on a different lot now. Something beyond the scope of the project.

“Not the lot you wanted to buy,” he says, “but still my property.”

“Okay, fine,” I snap, “but answer the question. What the fuck is this?”

“This is my forest,” he says, turning around.

“What the… Clint, you’re just… Aargh! Are you into some silly new age shamanism crap or something? What the hell?”

“No,” he says. “Don’t freak out.”

“Why the fuck would I…” I stop talking as he pulls his tee shirt over his head and then drops it onto the forest floor. It’s shocking enough that I don’t think to respond until he has his jeans down to his knees. “Really? I mean, seriously?” If he wanted to screw me outdoors, he could have just asked.

He steps out of his jeans and I see he’s kicked off his shoes, too. “What the hell, Clint?”

He sighs and says, “Can I finish getting undressed, please?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask. “This is some bizarre place you like to fuck women? Seriously? You destroyed my deal so you could save your sex den, no, your sex… sex place… I don’t even know what to call it.”

“See, I couldn’t sell you this land because this is the only place I can do this without driving an hour and a half.” He gets one sock off while I grow angrier. He gets the other one off and stands there in just his boxers.

“Clint I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about but if you think this is helping me to…” I stop talking again. This time it has nothing to do with trying to figure out why he’s getting undressed.

This time it’s because I know exactly why he’s undressed.

I want to blink a thousand times or rub my eyes until I see straight again because what I’m seeing just can’t be possible. I’d think it was some kind of magic trick or optical illusion but the animal before me is just too big to be a normal bear.

That’s right. I mean it. I meanbear. Where Clint stood there’s now a very large (maybe even twice the size of a normal one) bear.

I can’t explain it. Granted, my mind is set in panic mode the moment Clint disappears and this bear appears. I want to scream, I think, and start running, but my mouth just gapes open and I just stand there shaking.

“Wha...what the fuck is going on?” I feel tears forming and get a bit angry. This is not what I think of when I think of the end of my life.

But the bear just keeps still and waits.

Okay. Clint was standing there and then, things seemed to get distorted and hazy, kind of like how on a hot day thereseemed to be atmospheric waves coming off the asphalt. Then, where Clint stood was this bear.

My mind starts running again and I stare at the bear. It looks at me patiently.

“Clint?”

I breathe the name, no real voice, but the bear lowers its head and takes a step toward me.

I remember. Something about ....

My heart is pounding so loud I can’t really hear over the blood rushing in my ears, but the bear kind of snuffles and then, just lies down. Now, its head is right at the level of mine, which tells you something about its size because lying down flat on its belly with its head on the ground puts it at about my height.

But this isn’t a bear, is it? I mean, not a normal bear. It’s a ... “Shifter.”

The bear snuffs again, but keeps still, like its waiting for me to solve the puzzle.

“You’re a shifter? Shifters are real?”

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