alphabearshiftera2014 (3 page)

Carter Monroe turned around and walked the path back to his car. He wasn’t chasing after some plump, hipped chick that was some sort of intellect. Oh no, she wasn’t going to get her hooks in him that easily. This was nuts. Carter froze in his path. He turned around again and jogged back to Foxcroft Lane. What to do, what to do? He paced like a schoolboy up and down the street, trying to figure out if he was going to see if she was home.

It was so out of character for him, it was confusing. He had butterflies in his belly at the thought of seeing her again, though part of him dreaded it. What if he had her, and then wanted her again? Would his days of freedom be numbered? She wasn’t the kind of girl you had a one night stand with, but he was a one night stand kind of bear. He was free. He was his own man. And yet, he realized as she left last night, she owned more of him that he was willing to admit.

How it even happened...he shook his head. It made no sense.

Carter turned away and went home. This wasn’t happening. He wasn’t ready to be caged. He was a wild, untamed bear. She’d expect more from him, and he couldn’t offer more. All he could offer was raw, unbridled lust that would rock her world and shake the walls. Other than that, he had nothing to offer. He wasn’t giving his heart away. It wasn’t up for grabs.

Sydney rolled out of bed, feeling unrested. You’d think after two orgasms, she’d sleep like lead, but instead she tossed and turned. She knew why. It was hardly a secret. She felt like a fool, letting him get to her with his cave man ways. Her inner bear was hardly a fool. Humiliated she’d let herself get carried away in the heated moment with the brawny beast. She promised herself she’d keep it together. She didn’t need someone like Carter Monroe on her mind. He was a distraction, simply a tiny spec she’d need to dust off her shoulder.

Besides, she had more important things to worry about, like how Tara made out the night before. Sydney padded out to the kitchen. Sifting through the cabinet she pulled out her favorite orange honey and started the tea kettle. Digging through her purse, she found her phone and dialed her friend’s number.

On the third ring, a breathless Tara answered. “Hello?”

“
Did I interrupt something?”

“
Oh, no, we just finished,” she said with a grin. Tara rolled over to look at her lover.

“
Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t think….” Sydney blushed at the thought of the couple in bed.

“
No, no, it’s okay. What’s up?” Tara asked her friend, wondering if Carter had shown up yet.

“
I was just checking on you, making sure you were okay. Last I saw...well, never mind. You’re obviously okay.” She felt like she was rambling. This was embarrassing.

“
Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks, though. I appreciate the thought.” She didn’t mention anything about Carter. Maybe she should warn her. “So umm, Carter Monroe came around looking for you, well, for information about you.”

“
What? He did?” She was shocked. Happy, but surprised. And why was she even happy? Why did she care?

“
Did something happen?” Tara couldn’t help being nosy.

“
Why do you ask that?” Her voice went up an octave.

“
It did. I knew it,” she gasped. “Oh my god, you’re always lecturing me about this stuff…”

“
Nothing happened. Okay, maybe a tiny something, but it’s not like that.” Sydney blushed even though Tara couldn’t see her.

“
Are you going to have his cubs? Did he plant his seed?” Tara’s jaw dropped.

Grant chimed in. “Carter and Sydney?”

Tara nodded.

“
No, stop! Stop, he didn’t. And I’m not. And I have no idea what he wants.” She was way too defensive for the hypocrite that she was this morning.

“
Well, whatever it is, it seemed urgent. He was heading over that way.” Tara figured it was smarter to warn her.

“
Crap, my hair. I have bedhead. Got to go!” She quickly hung up the phone. What if he showed up and she looked like that? Did she have time to shower? She should at least brush her teeth, throw a hat on...panic washed through her veins. What did he want? And if he found her looking like this, he’d be less than impressed.

She peeked out the window to see if he was coming. Only what she saw left her flummoxed. Carter Monroe was near her house, in the middle of the street, pacing back and forth, talking to himself. She watched him for a while and then he walked away. He never came to the door and knocked. Did she want him to?

Her heart sank lower in her chest. She sort of did want him to, but now he was gone. He had second thoughts. He obviously wanted to see her. Maybe she snuck into his thoughts, the same way he was laced through hers.

Sydney turned off the tea kettle and climbed back into bed. She didn’t know what she wanted. The head games left her exhausted. She wasn’t that kind of girl. He wasn’t her kind of guy. Okay, who was she kidding? He was everybody’s kind of guy, but when it came down to it, she wasn’t the kind of girl most guys wanted for keeps. She was full and rounder than most of the others, and she wasn’t known for her sexy ways, just her brains. For once in her life, she wanted to be the pretty one. Being smart meant the world to her most days, but more than anything she wanted to be pretty enough so that Carter would be drawn back, unable to resist her. All she could offer was plump thighs and some good conversation. Sydney pulled the covers up over her head and withered in her unworthiness.

Carter went back home and busied himself. This was ludicrous. Some round girl with too many curves impressed him last night with some decent conversation. Big deal. He’s got plenty of buddies to shoot the breeze with. No one woman is going to rope him in. No thank you.  

When the push-ups and the weights didn’t work, he started crunches. He’d go run a few miles if he had to…whatever it took. And there she was creeping back into his mind. It wasn’t the conversation, he’d convinced himself, it was that he didn’t finish. They had unfinished business. It was screwing with his head. He was ready to plant his cock deep into her when they got interrupted. That had to be what it was. He exhaled and grabbed a shower, cleaning the sweat off his body. All of the work left him with a huge appetite.

Showered, he threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and headed into town. A nice hearty meal would hit the spot. Besides, after stroking his cock in the shower, he hardly thought about her after that. He was ready to wipe the slate clean, and find a new piece of tail tonight. He wasn’t an alpha for nothing. He could have his choice of girls.

He’d get some grub and then see if one of his buddies wanted to cruise for ladies. They could shift and rummage the woods for some mating, or keep it old school doing in human style. They’d see where the night took them.

There was a full moon coming up soon, and he was getting the itch. The red moon was his favorite. He loved when the rush pushed through his body, driving him to a sense of urgency that he couldn’t control. Carter pouted; almost like last night at the bar. He didn’t know what got into him when he threw her over his shoulder… that’s not true. He grinned. It’s what he wanted to get into.

Squeezing her chubby ass cheeks as she spread her thighs around his meaty leg felt damn good. He closed his eyes remembering the desperate way she was grinding against him with unbridled lust. Yeah, he wanted a piece of that. And her honey pot, god damn, she tasted sweet. When he slid his wet fingers over her lips and then licked off her juicy, sweet nectar, he knew he needed more. He wanted to bury his nose and face up there and feel her squirm with pleasure. And there she was, back in his brain again. This wasn’t good. He was in trouble.

“
Do you want to grab something to eat and talk about it?” Tara called Sydney back while Grant was in the shower. “I’m heading home soon. I can swing by and pick you up. We’ll go get some food, we can talk. I’ll tell you about last night, you tell me what’s going on.”

“
There’s nothing to tell.” Her lips were sealed. She had nothing to say. It’s not like anything happened. Seriously, it was a little fooling around. God, his fingers deep inside of her... She quivered remembering how good it felt to straddle his leg, and then pictured the outline of his thick cock.
Stop it. Stop it. You don’t do these things. Tara does these things. Other girls do these things. You do not
.

“
Right, I’ll be by in about an hour. We can go to Ryan McGee’s. We’ll grab some sandwiches, have a few brews, shoot the breeze,” she said, knowing damn well she meant, ‘And you can tell me about what happened between you and Carter’.

“
Seriously, there’s nothing to tell. I’ll grab lunch with you, but there are no good secrets. No good gossip, no nothing. We fooled around a little, that’s all.” She fidgeted as she spoke, looking down at her chubby, sausage fingers. She suddenly felt fat. Great, self-esteem crisis, just what she needed to add to this mess. “I’m thinking I’m going to skip lunch. Why don’t you hang out with Grant and enjoy yourself. You have to work tomorrow anyway.”

“
Right, see you in an hour.” She wasn’t taking no for an answer. She knew something was up. And as many times as Sydney had been there for her, it was her time to step up and offer a shoulder.

“
Fine,” Sydney huffed. Hanging up the phone, she tore through her closet. It was so much easier in her bear form. Nobody cared about clothes. Nobody cared about things like fat fingers. Or bad hair days. Being human half of the time, and anymore it seemed like longer and longer, it got old. She worked on the edge of town near the gate and fencing. So she tried to stay in her human form as much as possible. It just made it easier. Some of the pure humans could be skittish when they had to come into the community for their own work.

Sydney dropped onto the edge of her bed and looked down. When had her ankles gotten so puffy? She was growing frustrated. Being overweight never bothered her before. Why did it suddenly bother her now? Was it because she didn’t feel good enough for Carter, knowing he could have his pick of girls? Which was silly anyway, because he wasn’t her type. It was a hot, wicked encounter, delicious and wonderful, but it was a chance encounter, and it wouldn’t be something that happened again.

And yet, he was standing in front of her house earlier that morning pacing up and down the street. None of it made sense. She hated her ankles suddenly. She needed to cover them up. They were fat and ugly. Closing her eyes, she hated that she was second guessing her appearance. She’d been fine with it all of her life and suddenly here she was, finding every single flaw she’d overlooked before, like the extra padding she carried in her stomach and hips, and how her ass had spread wider since taking the job where she sat most of the day. She looked over her shoulder into the full length mirror and sighed. She hated this new self-conscious feeling that pulsed through her veins. This wasn’t the Sydney she recognized. It was like a stranger was staring back at her. Where had her confidence gone?

How could she let one night, one guy, one single solitary incident play with her head like that? It was silly, that’s what it was. It was wrong. She’d have snapped at Tara if she heard her spewing this kind of garbage. She was worthy, strong, smart, and that was enough. She didn’t have to be the pretty one...the one that was the center of attention, the one that made the boys turn their heads when she walked into a room. Being Sydney was enough. Take that Carter Monroe.

No. No. No. Walking into Ryan McGee’s tavern, she felt his eyes on her before they were even seated. How could he possibly have ended up here? Was this a set up? She eyed Tara. “Did you know?”

“
No!” She shook her head. Things were about to get interesting. It was as if he sniffed her out the second the door opened.

They were frozen in a staring match. Tara nudged Sydney. “Go over and talk to him. Obviously something is going on.”

“
I’m not going over there. If he wants to talk, he can come to me. Besides, it was no big deal.”

“
Sure, keep telling yourself that. Your posture just improved, right before me,” she said with a wink.

They finally sat at their table, but Carter’s gaze never left the girl. His body heated up, his heart beat loudly in his ears, and it felt as if the world’s largest magnet was drawing him to her. This was crazy. Nonsense. He was in control here. What was about that chick anyway?

Carter chewed his food, barely tasting it, watching the girl. She’d quickly glance over and look away. She felt it too. He knew she did. Maybe it was her bear he was drawn to, though her human side was pretty damn sweet too. He wasn’t usually drawn to fuller-figured girls, but he had to admit, she sure was soft and feminine, and once his eyes locked onto her, it was hard to look away.

He wondered what his reaction to her bear would be. He didn’t remember her. How was that possible? Though it seemed like most girls these days blended together. Nobody had stood out. Nobody was different. Nobody was special. Until he met Sydney. She wasn’t like the rest of the girls he usually played around with. She was smart and sassy. She was snarky and snappy. She was intelligent and fast to call out his bullshit when he’d dish out facts that he couldn’t back up. They’d lost track of time when they were talking. He’d lost track of his life since he held her close.

He needed to hold her close again and see if there was really magic there. But more than anything, he wanted to know her opinion on the latest scientific news. He wanted to know if she slept on her side or on her back. He wanted to know what she liked in her coffee, and he wanted to know what it felt like to wake up next to her in the morning. That scared the crap out of him as much as it comforted him. He never thought about things like that before. And yet, it was kind of nice.