Bear Meets Bride (Online Shifter Dating Agency Romance) by Sasha Winter
Authors: Sasha Winter
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long-term arrangement—she supposed would become her sole task for life. Then there were those issues that demanded mutual regard, like making sure the shower curtain wasn’t left scrunched up after use, or that the toothpaste was not squeezed from the middle. There was a perilous time ahead during which Erin would either be challenging her will to hide her intolerance of such peculiar habits, or else her need for change would see them burst forth and so risk having Tom feel like he was some kind of mutt in training.
There was another observation that was not so much of an issue as a disbelief. During their first few evenings together, Tom had shown a healthy appetite for sure—as well as in her bakery, of course—but it wasn’t until living with him for forty-eight hours that Erin noticed exactly how much he really ate. At first she tried to dismiss the curiosity. After all, he was six and a half feet and built with a frame most sportsmen would envy. All the same, a hearty breakfast that Erin thought had gone overboard in order to impress her was completely consumed, accompanied by a wish that he had more pancakes. Later in the day they had hot dogs, but not your average sausage; instead, monster sausages that made her think they were having company—only they weren’t. Struggling to get her lips around the beast, Erin had failed to eat just one of them, but Tom managed four and then continued to look around for pie.
Her lover had just come out of a busy few days chasing around after bear tracks and, in his downtime, jumping her bones, so perhaps there was an argument that a generous quantity of sustenance was needed to revitalize him, but even with this in mind she thought the amount ridiculous. Tom must have used up a lot of energy while on the beat.
“How on earth do you eat so damn much?” she asked, aghast as he chowed down on his tenth piece of toast for the morning. The two of them had been living together for three days now, and Erin still couldn’t get over how much he managed to pack away.
“I’m a growing boy,” he joked, causing Erin to roll her eyes with good-natured humor. “Anyway, how is it living with me? Aside from all the food.”
She grinned. “Hmm….I suppose it’s not horrible.”
“Not horrible, eh? What a compliment,” he said, his grin growing wider.
Erin gave him a kiss on the cheek. It really was great being around him so often, though she was still feeling cautious enough about the unplanned attempt at living together. But of course, all of this was going on against the backdrop of a community in panic and the possibility of one of them becoming a target.
Initially, during the first forty-eight hours especially, Tom had been poised for leads and, quite probably, further attacks. The twenty-four hours that had seen Nana attacked and paw prints outside of both Erin and Jake’s houses had suggested to him a bloodlust out of control, but as a couple of days passed with no more reports he was forced to reconsider his perspective. A whole cluster of towns were on the alert now, and Tom pitied any wild bears unfortunate enough to be sighted anywhere near them. As he had predicted, the FBI were also involved now and, having been interviewed by them, he had no doubt that Tom Ackerman was a name they all knew—as level-headed as they had seemed, he was nevertheless the only bear shifter identified as being anywhere near the case, and he was fortunate to have Jake vouch for his good standing to be able to remain active in the investigation. If not, they might have asked him to make himself scarce just for the sake of avoiding becoming a suspect.
In mulling over all the developments, Tom admitted to Erin, with whom he was now more open about discussing the case, that he was beginning to suspect the last attack had not been bloodlust after all, but was instead opportunistic. In taking on the local police, the killer may have been taking the chance to harm operations by taking out
There was another observation that was not so much of an issue as a disbelief. During their first few evenings together, Tom had shown a healthy appetite for sure—as well as in her bakery, of course—but it wasn’t until living with him for forty-eight hours that Erin noticed exactly how much he really ate. At first she tried to dismiss the curiosity. After all, he was six and a half feet and built with a frame most sportsmen would envy. All the same, a hearty breakfast that Erin thought had gone overboard in order to impress her was completely consumed, accompanied by a wish that he had more pancakes. Later in the day they had hot dogs, but not your average sausage; instead, monster sausages that made her think they were having company—only they weren’t. Struggling to get her lips around the beast, Erin had failed to eat just one of them, but Tom managed four and then continued to look around for pie.
Her lover had just come out of a busy few days chasing around after bear tracks and, in his downtime, jumping her bones, so perhaps there was an argument that a generous quantity of sustenance was needed to revitalize him, but even with this in mind she thought the amount ridiculous. Tom must have used up a lot of energy while on the beat.
“How on earth do you eat so damn much?” she asked, aghast as he chowed down on his tenth piece of toast for the morning. The two of them had been living together for three days now, and Erin still couldn’t get over how much he managed to pack away.
“I’m a growing boy,” he joked, causing Erin to roll her eyes with good-natured humor. “Anyway, how is it living with me? Aside from all the food.”
She grinned. “Hmm….I suppose it’s not horrible.”
“Not horrible, eh? What a compliment,” he said, his grin growing wider.
Erin gave him a kiss on the cheek. It really was great being around him so often, though she was still feeling cautious enough about the unplanned attempt at living together. But of course, all of this was going on against the backdrop of a community in panic and the possibility of one of them becoming a target.
Initially, during the first forty-eight hours especially, Tom had been poised for leads and, quite probably, further attacks. The twenty-four hours that had seen Nana attacked and paw prints outside of both Erin and Jake’s houses had suggested to him a bloodlust out of control, but as a couple of days passed with no more reports he was forced to reconsider his perspective. A whole cluster of towns were on the alert now, and Tom pitied any wild bears unfortunate enough to be sighted anywhere near them. As he had predicted, the FBI were also involved now and, having been interviewed by them, he had no doubt that Tom Ackerman was a name they all knew—as level-headed as they had seemed, he was nevertheless the only bear shifter identified as being anywhere near the case, and he was fortunate to have Jake vouch for his good standing to be able to remain active in the investigation. If not, they might have asked him to make himself scarce just for the sake of avoiding becoming a suspect.
In mulling over all the developments, Tom admitted to Erin, with whom he was now more open about discussing the case, that he was beginning to suspect the last attack had not been bloodlust after all, but was instead opportunistic. In taking on the local police, the killer may have been taking the chance to harm operations by taking out
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