stands. In the city, every woman he’d met hadn’t been looking for what he’d had to offer, and eventually he’d stopped looking.
He’d known about the high possibility of living out the rest of his life alone, but he was only thirty-three. Even though he’d given up so young, being single hadn’t bothered him in years. Seeing Gage, Seth and the other guys find love made him long for someone of his own.
His stomach took that opportunity to growl loudly, and he couldn’t help but smile. He might not be a bear, but his stomach sounded like one.
He got up from the lounge chair he’d brought out the night before, but looked back one last time and studied the land. Something was different, but everything looked the same. He couldn’t see it, couldn’t prove it, but he knew something was out there.
When his stomach growled again, he gave up the search and went into the house to make dinner.
***
Emma Thompson sniffed the air again when she heard a loud growl coming from the other side of the bush she hid behind. The man she watched was definitely a full human, and she realized the animal like sound must have come from his stomach. If she were in her human form, she would have laughed out loud at him.
She briefly wondered if he would laugh with her, or chastise her for making fun of him. Most men could dish out a good joke, but couldn’t take one in return. At least, she’d never met a man who could laugh at himself the same way he laughed at her.
You just haven’t met the right man!
She pushed the inner voice away. The last few months had been hard, and the desire to visit Bear Mountain hadn’t been easy to accept. She sensed other shifters in town, but she couldn’t tell who they were. She strongly hoped she hadn’t been drawn back to her parents.
While the three of them had seemed to make a happy family, her parents didn’t like to shift and wanted to blend into society with no, or limited, interaction with their bears. They rarely shifted during her adolescence, a time when she’d needed them most, and when she turned eighteen they moved to Australia to start a new life for themselves.
She was almost two hundred years old, and though she wished things had been different, she didn’t miss them. She’d always felt like a burden to them, and the fact that they’d taken off the minute the law would allow had only confirmed her belief. Her aunt, uncle and cousins had helped when needed and eventually she learned to get by without the help of anyone.
Especially men.
She heard movement on the porch and pushed her muzzle through the bush again to get another look at him. He stood with his back turned, ready to go inside, and she straightened up over the bush to get an unobstructed view before he disappeared inside his home.
He wasn’t as tall as most shifters she knew, but he was tall for a full human. She didn’t know exactly how tall, but he was unquestionably over six feet which suited her perfectly. His broad chest rivaled any weight lifter and the muscles in his back were accentuated by his snug t-shirt. She wanted to rub her hands all over him.
His thick, long legs were covered in a pair of well-worn jeans. From the front she’d seen a hole in the knee and several strings hanging from the hem. From behind, she saw one ripped back pocket, and a tiny hole in the other. He wore flip-flops on his feet, signaling the arrival of summer.
Before he stepped inside the house, he turned back toward the forest. She ducked and flattened herself into the ground, but her bear body rustled the bush in front of her. He surveyed the area like a predator, and she held her breath as she watched his feet for any movement in her direction.
Moments later, he pulled open the screen door again and walked inside. She waited several minutes before she let out the breath she’d been holding and carefully backed up into the trees, and then deeper into the forest.
For the first time in ten years, she wanted to shift
He’d known about the high possibility of living out the rest of his life alone, but he was only thirty-three. Even though he’d given up so young, being single hadn’t bothered him in years. Seeing Gage, Seth and the other guys find love made him long for someone of his own.
His stomach took that opportunity to growl loudly, and he couldn’t help but smile. He might not be a bear, but his stomach sounded like one.
He got up from the lounge chair he’d brought out the night before, but looked back one last time and studied the land. Something was different, but everything looked the same. He couldn’t see it, couldn’t prove it, but he knew something was out there.
When his stomach growled again, he gave up the search and went into the house to make dinner.
***
Emma Thompson sniffed the air again when she heard a loud growl coming from the other side of the bush she hid behind. The man she watched was definitely a full human, and she realized the animal like sound must have come from his stomach. If she were in her human form, she would have laughed out loud at him.
She briefly wondered if he would laugh with her, or chastise her for making fun of him. Most men could dish out a good joke, but couldn’t take one in return. At least, she’d never met a man who could laugh at himself the same way he laughed at her.
You just haven’t met the right man!
She pushed the inner voice away. The last few months had been hard, and the desire to visit Bear Mountain hadn’t been easy to accept. She sensed other shifters in town, but she couldn’t tell who they were. She strongly hoped she hadn’t been drawn back to her parents.
While the three of them had seemed to make a happy family, her parents didn’t like to shift and wanted to blend into society with no, or limited, interaction with their bears. They rarely shifted during her adolescence, a time when she’d needed them most, and when she turned eighteen they moved to Australia to start a new life for themselves.
She was almost two hundred years old, and though she wished things had been different, she didn’t miss them. She’d always felt like a burden to them, and the fact that they’d taken off the minute the law would allow had only confirmed her belief. Her aunt, uncle and cousins had helped when needed and eventually she learned to get by without the help of anyone.
Especially men.
She heard movement on the porch and pushed her muzzle through the bush again to get another look at him. He stood with his back turned, ready to go inside, and she straightened up over the bush to get an unobstructed view before he disappeared inside his home.
He wasn’t as tall as most shifters she knew, but he was tall for a full human. She didn’t know exactly how tall, but he was unquestionably over six feet which suited her perfectly. His broad chest rivaled any weight lifter and the muscles in his back were accentuated by his snug t-shirt. She wanted to rub her hands all over him.
His thick, long legs were covered in a pair of well-worn jeans. From the front she’d seen a hole in the knee and several strings hanging from the hem. From behind, she saw one ripped back pocket, and a tiny hole in the other. He wore flip-flops on his feet, signaling the arrival of summer.
Before he stepped inside the house, he turned back toward the forest. She ducked and flattened herself into the ground, but her bear body rustled the bush in front of her. He surveyed the area like a predator, and she held her breath as she watched his feet for any movement in her direction.
Moments later, he pulled open the screen door again and walked inside. She waited several minutes before she let out the breath she’d been holding and carefully backed up into the trees, and then deeper into the forest.
For the first time in ten years, she wanted to shift
Similar Books
