Page 2 of Bear to be Wild
“Oh, come on.” She shooed it off. “It’s not that loud. And you don’t even know him.”
“I know the type. Cocky, swaggering shifter.” I held my index finger close to my thumb. “And I’m this close to cursing him into silence.”
“You swore you wouldn’t hex coworkers again,” Charlotte reminded me with a knowing tone.
“Gah!” I threw my hands up. “Using my words against me.”
“Because you know it’s wrong to mess with someone’s free will.” Charlotte walked over to the sink and washed her hands. “Don’t get all sullen over the bear. You’ve got to admit, he is kind of hot.”
“Hot?” My mouth dropped open. I planted my hand on my hip, searching for a retort. I’d seen him walking across the deck—a tall, muscular shifter with dark, wavy hair and rugged trace of stubble that shadowed his jaw. Easy on the eyes, for sure, not that I’d admit it. “Pfft! If you consider a walking, grunting boulder attractive.”
She chuckled. “Must be all that burly bear energy.”
I sniffed. “More like rumbling arrogance.” I snarled. “He probably flirts by growling.”
Charlotte leaned closer with a teasing smile. “Maybe you should find out.”
“Eww, no. I’d rather go to dinner with a zombie. Even if I had to eat brains.”
“You’re getting awfully worked up over someone you haven’t even met yet.”
Motivational whooping echoed through the wall.
I slumped against it in dramatic fashion. “Is it boot camp or battle cry auditions?”
Charlotte grinned and pinned her hair up with a clip.
My shoulders crept back toward my ears, and I shook them out. “I can practically feel the testosterone oozing through the wall.” I stepped out from behind the reception desk and strode toward the spa exit. “I’m going to go over there and tell Mr. Beast Mode to shut his protein hole before I hex it shut.”
CHAPTER 2
ROAN
“Keep your core tight—good. Hold it for three. Two. One.”
The small group was moving through the morning circuit in the fitness studio—a wide, open space lined with mirrors on one wall and floor-to-ceiling windows that peered out to the endless blue sea. Sunlight streamed in, glinting off the racks of free weights, kettlebells, and neatly stacked mats.
The heavier machines were all in the adjacent gym, where I’d train clients, but I’d run the group classes in here.
I was adjusting a wolf shifter’s form on kettlebell swings when the glass door opened.
A woman walked in wearing a blue blazer and skirt with the Moonlight Siren ship’s logo. She strode forward as if preparing for a cage match. Her silvery curls with a lilac hue bounced as they caught the sunlight. Her pale blue eyes locked on me withlethal precision. She walked up to me, barely reaching my chest, yet radiating ado not mess with mevibe.
Uh-oh, what did I do wrong?
“Bear, can I have a moment?” she snapped, tilting her head toward the hallway.
My bear jolted inside. And then it hit me.
Her scent.
It wrapped around me—bergamot, vanilla, femininity. Unfamiliar magic thrummed through me, lighting my skin with sudden, heated awareness.
Mate.
The instant certainty rammed into me with such force that I almost lost my balance. Or was it the ship lurching?
She took long strides back toward the hall and then turned back to face me. “You coming?” she demanded.
