Page 30 of Claimed By the Grumpy Shifter

She approaches slowly, still cautious but not running. Not screaming. "What are you?"

"A bear shifter." The words feel strange on my tongue after so many years of keeping the secret. "I was born this way. It's genetic."

"Like a werewolf." She says it again, and there's a hint of wonder in her voice that gives me hope.

"Similar but bears instead of wolves. There are others like me, but not many." I reach for her, half-expecting her to flinch away. She doesn't. "I understand if you want nothing to do with me now."

"Are you kidding?" To my complete shock, she actually laughs. "This is... well, it's insane, but it explains so much. The way you look at me, the intensity, the possessiveness."

"You're not afraid?"

"Should I be?" She kneels in front of me, close enough to touch. "You didn't hurt me. You ran away to protect me."

"I could have hurt you. The bear isn't always so controlled."

"But it was this time. Because of me?"

She's too perceptive by half. "Yes. Because of you. Because you're my mate."

"Mate?" Her eyebrows rise. "Like, soulmate? Fated to be together kind of mate?"

"Exactly like that." I take a deep breath, preparing for rejection. "I knew it the moment I saw you. My bear recognized you as mine. That's why I've been so... intense. So focused on you."

"Huh." She sits back on her heels, processing. "You know, this is crazy, but it actually makes sense. I felt it too. This pull toward you. Like I'd been waiting for you without knowing it."

Hope flares in my chest. "You believe me?"

"I just watched you turn into a bear, Marc. I think we're past the point of disbelief." She reaches out to touch my face, her fingers tracing the curve of my jaw. "Besides, I read paranormal romance. This is straight out of chapter seven."

The absurdity of it—of this sweet, incredible woman accepting my supernatural nature with a literary reference—makes me genuinely laugh for what feels like the first time in years.

"Seven, huh? What happens in chapter eight?"

"Usually the hot sex scene, but we've already covered that." She grins, and there's a mischievous light in her eyes that makes my heart swell. "Chapter eight is also when the heroine decides to stay with her supernatural lover despite the dangers."

"And does she? Stay?"

"Always." She leans forward, pressing her forehead to mine. "Always."

Epilogue - Christine

A year later

"There's my little cub," I coo, lifting four-month-old James from his bassinet. His amber eyes—identical to his father's—blink up at me with sleepy recognition before his tiny face breaks into a gummy smile that melts my heart every single time.

It still amazes me how much love can fit inside a human body. Before Marc, before James, I thought I understood what it meant to love someone. I had no idea. The emotions that flood through me when I look at my son, at the family we've created, are so overwhelming they sometimes bring me to tears.

Happy tears, of course. The kind that make Marc panic until I explain that some feelings are just too big to contain.

"Your daddy will be home soon," I tell James, settling into the rocking chair by the window where I can watch for Marc's truck coming down the road. "He's been delivering Mommy's flowers all day."

James gurgles in response, his tiny hand clutching at the neckline of my blouse. Even at four months, he has his father's strength. And, if the slight golden gleam that sometimes flashes in his eyes when he's upset is any indication, he might have inherited more than just Marc's coloring.

We don't know yet if he'll be a shifter. Marc says it's too early to tell, that the signs usually don't appear until puberty. But sometimes, when James is particularly fussy, I swear I can feel a rumble in his tiny chest that reminds me of his father's bear.

The thought doesn't frighten me anymore. Nothing about Marc's nature frightens me now. If our son inherits the ability to shift,we'll handle it together, just like we've handled everything else this whirlwind year has thrown at us.

And what a year it's been.

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