Page 57 of Bearly Hanging On

Chapter 23

Harper

“Whoa…”

Bear Kieran was so damn big. No, red kangaroos were big, great white sharks were big, but a grizzly bear? He was like a mountain on legs, massive, and right now, he was looking directly at me. The neon lights picked out the brown highlights in his fur and I just stared, watching his sides heave, then those familiar golden eyes, locked with mine.

Right before he took a step forward.

My feet moved before my brain engaged, taking a couple of steps backwards. Some primal part of me that had survived tough winters in Europe knew what to do. I needed to get the hell away from the big apex predator, that’s what the adrenaline in my blood told me.

Only for Kieran to freeze on the spot.

Those massive shoulders slumped, and the cute little ears drooped. His head dropped down between his paws and as the silence dragged on, they shifted, ready to turn away from me.

“Wait…!”

My heart didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Walking away from the big bear unscathed was a win, but it wasn’t one I wanted to claim.

I wanted him.

It was that feeling, that this was right, that Kieran would never eat me, that had me moving forward, hands outstretched, though I stopped short of touching him. For a moment, his heaving breaths and mine were perfectly in sync. Then his little nose worked as he leaned forward and snuffled at my palms.

That was enough to have me moving. I ducked under his head, struggling to wrap my arms around that thick neck and failing utterly.

“Hey…” My goofy smile appeared unbidden. “Hey, it’s OK. It’s just a shock, y’know. Like seeing is different to knowing you turn into a bear. I knew grizzlies were massive but…” I shook my head. My eyes fought to take him all in, only able to focus on his plate-sized paws, his muzzle, those golden brown eyes and equally pretty fur, but not all at once. “You are so… big. Fluffy.”

His muzzle pushed into my hair, sniffing at my neck, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the ticklish feeling.

“Soft…” I finished finally, sinking my fingers into his fur. “So soft…” My hands moved of their own accord, mapping the shape of his huge skull. “And these ears.” So much smaller proportionally to the rest of him, I couldn’t help but trace the shape of them. “Oh my god, they are so freaking cute!”

I’m not sure if bear Kieran liked being called cute, because he let out a low huff at that, but then his muzzle pressed into my chest, doing his best to snuggle into me. That had me giggling from the sheer cuteness of it all. Apparently, that was enough to embolden him because he pulled back and licked the side of my face.

“Eurgh!” I spluttered. “How about we leave the kisses for the human side of you?”

He plopped back on his hindquarters, and if a bear could look quizzical, Kieran did right now. “Or maybe I give you the kisses?” I moved in slowly, all too aware of those massive jaws, before pressing a tentative kiss to the top of his muzzle. That was enough for him. As a voice came over the PA system, his jaws snapped down on the back of my shirt, then used it to fling me up on his back.

“OK, whoa, whoa!” That’s what people said when they had a feisty horse under them, didn’t they? “Nice… bear.”

“And we have this year’s contestants in the soon-to-be inaugural bear race,” the voice said. “We’ve got the lovely Principal Ellie riding her mate, Cole, there.” A gorgeous woman threw up an arm and waved from where she was perched on the back of a polar bear. Lots of the young people in the crowd cheered. “Miss Freya riding River.”

Another girl looked up, blinking, seeming a little overwhelmed by the crowd’s responses. The guy rattled off a few more names that everyone seemed to know. It was then I began to question my life decisions. I saw the way the women were perched on their mate’s backs, like they knew exactly what they were doing. My arms and legs loosened, trying to imitate their partially crouched positions. But I was learning a brand new skill in front of what looked like the entire bear community.

“Make them eat your dust, Kieran!” I turned to see Kim standing there, waving furiously, a wall of men at her back. Bear shifters, I corrected, seeing those familiar honey coloured eyes.

“And we do have young Kieran participating today,” the guy with the mic said. He shot me a rakish wink. “With his fated mate in tow. Will he win the day? Will she accept the bond? It’s all happening at today’s race, ladies and gentlemen.”

“Kieran! Harper!”

Kim had gotten all the ladies around her to start chanting our names, so absolutely no freaking pressure.

“Looks like they really want us to win this,” I murmured to Kieran. The bear rumbled some kind of reply. “Ready to show these mutts what we’re made of?” I felt his roar all the way down into my bones, especially when I was forced to grab at his neck to stop from falling back when he reared up on his back legs. “OK, steady there, Bear Boy! If you’re gonna put me on my back, I prefer that happen in bed. We can wallow in the afterglow after winning this race.”

His paws hit the ground and the bear went perfectly still.

“Got your attention, have I? Well, I can think of a whole lot of other fun things we can do with your human side when in bed. Keep that in mind during the race.”

Apparently, he did.

---