Page 15 of Make Me Bleed

Until I can know for sure, I have to stay away.

I take a few steps back, heading toward the kitchen, when Bridget finally speaks up.

“Elise? What is going on? Youknowthis guy?”

Before I can answer, the big bear clears his throat. He also, I notice, stays where he is as though he figured out that using his clear dominance against me isn’t going to help him claim his mate any sooner.

“Your wolf is right, ma’am,” he says, laying on the charm pretty thick as if also realizing that, if he wants a chance with me, he needs to be on good terms with the red-headed witch in the room. “I’m not quite a guy. I’m a bear shifter. Alaskan grizzly, in fact, by way of the Georgia black bears on my mother’s side. Name’s Henry Barrett. Folks who bother call me Hank.” His gaze flickers back to me as his slight Southern drawl washes over me. “If ya like, Lise, you can call me ‘honey bear’.”

CHAPTER 5

UNDERSTAND

I’m not prepared for the overt flirting.

That’s on me. Once again, I’m being the snooty vampire with the preconceived notions about other supes. Shifters are part human, part animal. When they believe they’ve found their mate, wouldn’t they let the animal have some control so that they can pin, mount, and fuck?

I know better. Conall and Bridget’s courtship is proof that a male shifter’s main directive is to give their mate everything they want. When he was so certain that she was searching for the fire opal so that she could leave Alaska, he spent his days and some nights helping her look. Even if that meant she lefthim, his wolf spurred him to do whatever it took to make Bridget happy.

So Henry—Hank—is a big ol’ grizzly bear instead of a wild Alaskan wolf. He’s still a predatory shifter whose instincts will be riding him to keep me safe first, then mate me second… even if the first part of that means who won’t be able to do the second for quite some time.

It’s like Conall said. Mates get to choose. It’s the same for a vampire’s beloved. In order for me to finalize a mate bond with the bear, I’d have to let him have some of my blood, then sleepwith him, but if he didn’tacceptthat we were mates… that he was also choosing me… the blood-bond would linger and that would be all it was.

I always thought that I would be the sort of female who’d find her mate, thank Fate for her gift, and bond him to me almost immediately. Of course, if he was human… if my true beloved had turned out to be Peter, for example… I would’ve waited as long as it took for my mate to recognize that I was his forever.

But as Hank fills up most of Conall and Bridget’s den, both in his massive size and his aura, I have to admit thathebelieves that I am. And if I could trust myself that the thirst didn’t lead me to accidentally thrall this beautiful if woodsy and extremely rugged male, I’d thank Bridge for her help, then leave with Hank so that we could explore this new bond wavering between us.

If I could… but I can’t. Not yet. I need some distance, to see how the blood-bond reacts and how the echoes of his blood wears off. I need some time, too, to get used to the idea that the bear I found sleeping in the woods could possibly be the future I’ve longed for.

And, more importantly, I need him to stop smiling that crooked smile at me because I’m about to show Bridget a side of Elise van Duren that she’s never seen before…

Bridge knows I’m a vamp. She knows about my countless dinner dates back in Clarity, plus the way that Peter refused to back off when I ended our arrangement. Still, even after all these months, I know she struggles with the reality that I’m a seventy-four-year old vampire with a body counter in the hundreds and the ability to drain a male Hank’s size if I choose to put him under my thrall. My shortness coupled with my baby face has her thinking I’m a helpless human in my early twenties. She treats me like I’d assume an older sister would, always looking out for me…

Including now.

Her eyebrows wing up as Hank teases me, telling me I can call him ‘honey bear’, though her lips thin into a tight frown. “Bear shifter. Mountain man. Whatever. That didn’t answer my question, though, did it?” Her gaze locks on me. “You know him, Elise?”

Is it just my imagination or did Bridget enunciate the ‘E’ in my name with a little more force than normal?

Do I know him? That’s a trick question. Do I admit that I bit a snoring bear while he was sleeping only to discover he’s really a male—and my mate? Because if I say ‘yes’, I’ll have to explainhowI know him?—

Conall scowls. “I’m not sure if she does, but I think I do. You’re the solitary bear living in the caves I’ve seen lumbering around the woods. I figured you were another shifter.”

Hank nods at Conall, careful not to keep prolonged eye contact with the alpha wolf. “Thought I knew your scent.” He points at the other male. “You used to live with that pack whose territory was on the other side of the river. They moved on… figured only the wild wolves still roamed the woods. But you moved to the witch town.” He glances at Bridget, just as quickly so as not to trigger Conall’s protective instincts any further. “Found yourself a mate, too. Good for you. That means you understand what I’ll have to do if you try to keep me from mine.”

“You threatening me, Barrett?”

“Toldja. It’s Hank. And nah. Just making myself clear.” His eyes find me again. “Don’t you fear nothing, Lise. Especially not your mate. I promise, I won’t bite. Least, not until I want me to.” His fingers slide up his neck, probing the scar I gave him. “But feel free to bite me if ya like. A vampire… I don’t hunt as well as the wolves, thought I’m a bang-up fisherman.” His eyes become heavy-lidded again. “Still, I like the idea of giving you my blood. It’ll make providing for my mate so much easier if she just has to nibble on her bear.”

Herbear.

Mybear.

Bridget looks at me. “Elise, sweetie? You’re awful quiet over there. This guy is making a looot of assumptions here. You want to help me out? What the hell is going on?”

The words just blurt out of me: “I didn’t know he was my beloved! I just… I was so thirsty, and I thought the bear was hibernating!”

“And now?” asks Hank.

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