Page 23 of Burned By My Mate

“Watch,” he says, and that’s the only warning I get because suddenly he’s changing.

His musclesshift and expand, his skin rippling as his formblurs, his body morphing into somethingmassive, and right in front of me, where Loganstood just seconds ago, is abear.

Ahuge, dark-furred bear with piercingblue eyes.

My stomachdrops. My mouth drops open. And the only thought in my head isholy shit.

This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening.

I sitfrozen, my breath stuck in my throat as I stare at the massivebearin front of me. Logan’s bear, because that’s what’s happening, right?This is Logan.

I should be running. Screaming.Freaking out. But I can’t move.

The bear’sblue eyeslock onto mine, intense and sharp—too familiar to be anything but him.

“No. No, this isn’t?—”

Logan shifts again. His formblurs, muscles twisting and stretching until suddenly—he’s standing in front of me again.

Human. Naked.

I choke on air.

“Do you believe me now?” He asks, and I nod, my eyes closed as I listen to him get dressed.

“This is insane,” I mutter, standing and starting to pace. “I mean, shifters? That’s—” I stop, spinning to face him again. “How? Why? What?—”

“I was born this way,” he says, calm as ever. “My family’s been shifters for generations.”

I run ashaky handthrough my hair. “And I’m just supposed to… accept that?”

His jaw tightens. “I don’t expect you to understand right away. But it’s the truth. Shifters are real. Most people in town are shifters. Most people in the surrounding towns are shifters, too, and belong to one of the packs around here.”

I open my mouth to argue—but nothing comes out, because somehow,deep down, I already knew. Maybe not the full truth. Maybe I didn’t know Logan was aliteralbear, but I knew he wasdifferent. I couldfeel itfrom the moment we met. The way my bodyreactsto him, the pull between us—it never made sense.

Until now.

I swallow hard. “The fire.”

Logan stiffens. “What about it?”

I cross my arms. “This is connected, isn’t it? Red Fog. Shifters. Someone burned my house down as a message to you or this place.”

His jaw ticks. “Yeah.”

I exhale sharply. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” he admits. “We’ve been having problems with them recently, but they’ve never done something like this before.”

Isinkonto the couch, my legs suddenly feelingweak. Logan moves in front of me, his faceserious, intense.

“There’s more,” he says, and I swallow hard.

“About Red Fog, or about you being a bear?”

“The bear thing.”

I take a deep breath and nod.

---