Dark Side Of The Moon (BBW Paranormal Were-Bear Shifter Sci-Fi Romance) by Catherine Vale Page B

dropping
out, and getting a job.”
    She’d
been dependent on them for support, and when they died, she’d been set adrift
in every way possible. She’d gotten a job, or the beginning of a series of
jobs. Nothing seemed to fit...or more accurately, she’d never fit in at any job
she’d had. Men had given her a glance, maybe a second, and then seemed confused
about her. Girls had tried to include her in lunches and coffee breaks, but she
had no idea about hair styles or shopping or who’d said what to someone on
Twitter or Facebook. It all seemed so confusing. And no one had the faintest
clue about martial arts or boxing.
    The
guys she’d tried to talk to went past confusion into posturing, trying to out
her as a poseur. Then they’d gone back to confusion when she’d proved she knew
what she was talking about. The bike messenger job had come about purely by
accident; someone delivering a package had mentioned he was quitting, and how
much he would miss the job. The independence, the speed and thrill of riding
through traffic. She’d gotten the number of the company and gotten the job the
next day. And she’d never looked back.
    “The
job where you...rode something... you were a messenger. We have those. They are
very important. It is a great honor to be given that task on my Planet.” He
looked at her sharply, something passing over his expression. But he seemed
satisfied with his assessment.
    “You
happened to pick the place where I was delivering a package to take your women.”
She shifted to look at him, surprised to find he was still holding her hand.
    Taso
met her gaze. “I’m glad they chose that place when I saw you.” He shrugged,
worrying her knuckles with his thumb. “They went to the same city they always
do, but this time, I found what I’ve been looking for.”
    “So
they always went to New York?”
    “What?”
    “The
city. It’s called New York. In the state of the same name. The country is the
United States.” That whole explanation seemed overly complex. “Do you have
cities and states and countries?”
    “We
have cities, yes. And each Clan has territories, some more than others.” His
brows drew together. “That is the crux of the battles, the endless wars that
plague us. Clans fight, bears against tigers against lions. Wolves against
everyone. Alliances form, break, form again. You find the friend that is fighting
with you in one battle, becomes your enemy across the lines in the next. It
tears my world apart. It tears me apart.”
    “But
you fight, you said you did.”
    He
straightened. “I fight only when I am attacked. I no longer fight just because
there is someone on the other side of a river or a mountain, or because they
are a different Clan than mine. I only defend what I have. I do not fight for
more. And no, I don’t want my mate fighting alongside me… women are too
precious on our planet. We protect them, and treasure them more than any other Clan.”
    His
voice had gone hard and cold, the softness she’d seen in his face gone. His
features had gone just as hard, angular, as if chiseled from stone. She could
imagine that image, carried into battle, defending what he believed, the ideas
that no one else seemed to care about.
    “So
why take women? You said yours fight...”
    “Yes,
they refuse to obey our rule that women are not to fight.” His smiled, but it
didn’t reach his eyes. “You think we should keep them home, keep them from
fighting? That would be impossible. Shifters are born to fight. It is in our
very nature, and that’s why it’s so difficult to...”
    With
a bitter sound, he dropped her hand and stood up, striding across the small
cabin. “It’s impossible. We’re born to fight and die in battle, and I want to
keep them from doing just that. I am a fool for thinking I can make my world
any different, any better.”
    She
watched him, saw the tension in the way he held his shoulders, the straightness
of his back. “I want there to be