Once Upon a Shifter (13 page)

I survived a near death experience to die an even worse death an hour later.
Rebecca would’ve preferred drowning to being eaten by a bear.

Connor turned slowly and faced the bear. He raised his hand and pointed to the forest. “Go,” he commanded.

The bear lowered his head and growled. He stepped to the side, circling Connor. Connor pivoted, following him, never taking his eyes off the beast.

The bear circled and was coming closer to Rebecca. Connor leaped in between them and faced down the bear. “No,” he said.

Connor’s back ballooned as horrible popping and snapping sounds made Rebecca’s skin crawl. His body was swelling up as it shook. She gasped as long brown hairs sprung out of his skin. His head was expanding, his ears stretching up and turning brown. His bathing suit ripped as his hips expanded. It fell to the ground in shreds. A loud tearing sound made her cringe, and a Kodiak bear burst out of Connor’s body.

Rebecca’s heart stopped, her body froze.
What the fuck?!?
That bear was Connor.

The black bear reared up on his hind legs and roared louder than before. He was so tall. Taller than Rebecca. His paws were even bigger than Sidney’s head.

Connor lunged forward and smashed into him with a force that Rebecca could feel in her chest.

They wrestled on the ground, snapping and snarling in a gnash of teeth and claws. It was happening so fast. Rebecca couldn’t tell who was winning.

A tree shook as the two bears crashed into it. Leaves rained down on the savage bears.

She glanced behind her to the open forest and thought of running. A loud snarl ripped through the forest and she turned back. The black bear was retreating into the forest, limping with his head down.

The remaining bear turned and watched her with tender brown eyes. It was Connor. She could recognize him in those eyes.

He was bleeding. Bad. He had a gash along his shoulder. The fur around it was sticky and matted together. Blood was flowing down his leg and pooling around his paw, turning the dirt into a red mud.

The bear lowered its head and the long brown hairs began to retreat back into its body. It turned pink as it shrunk. His body shook and Rebecca gasped when Connor was back, lying naked on the ground.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position with a grimace. Blood poured down his arm from the deep, jagged cut on his shoulder.

Rebecca rushed over and dropped to her knees. “Oh no,” she whispered, inspecting the wound. She didn’t have anything to clean it or cover it with. A cut like that was sure to get infected throughout the night without the proper care.

“I’m fine,” he said, cupping her cheek with his hand. He was comforting her. “Watch.”

She held her breath in shock as the wound closed on its own and fused together. “How is that possible?” she asked in disbelief. The laceration looked like it was healing in a time-lapse video.

“I heal a little faster,” he said.

Rebecca’s eyes trailed down his body. His abs were flexed in his extended position. They always seemed to be flexed. She lowered her gaze down the perfect V of his pelvis to his exposed package. She inhaled hard as she watched him. He began to harden under her stare.

“Sorry,” she said, closing her eyes tight and shaking her head. “I didn’t mean-” she got up, flustered and tripped.

She opened her eyes and turned away as he picked up the shreds of his bathing suit and slipped them back on.

“Let me know when you’re-” Rebecca said. She felt her cheeks getting hot. She couldn’t erase the image of his naked body from her mind.

“Alright,” he said after a minute.

Rebecca glanced down and laughed. His bathing suit was destroyed. It was covered in knots, barely holding itself together. It lifted high up on his left leg, showing off his thick quads. It hung low on his waist and his mouth watering V thrust out in full view. The top of his pubic hair peeked out of his waistband. Rebecca turned away and gulped.

“Wait,” she said, suddenly remembering the events. “Did you just turn into a fucking bear?”

“Lets find somewhere to sleep first,” he said, “and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Rebecca felt her panties moisten.

“Right,” she mumbled to herself. “Sleep.”

Connor cracked a thick stick over his knee and tossed it into the fire. He had built a lean-to out of branches and leaves for them to sleep under, a roaring campfire and even built two chairs with some thick sticks that he held together with vines. They weren’t the most comfortable seats but it was better than sitting on the damp ground.

“And werebears can only bond with one person?” Rebecca asked from over his shoulder. She had been peppering him with questions for the last hour. He answered them all honestly, holding nothing back.

He nodded. Connor held the root over the fire with a stick. They softened a bit when they were cooked. Not much, but a bit.

“Do you have a mate?” she asked.

He glanced back at her, the glow of the fire lighting up her eyes into a brilliant orange. “Yes.”

She looked away, her face dropping. “Oh.”

He squeezed the root with his fingers. It was still too tough. He placed it back over the fire.

“Is she a werebear too?”

Connor shook his head. “No.”

“What is she like?”

“Amazing,” he said. “I haven’t known her for very long but I feel like I’ve known her forever. Every time I look at her she takes my breath away.” He turned and gazed into her eyes. “She’s beautiful. Smart. Funny.”

“She’s a very lucky girl,” she said, backing away from him. She sat down in the chair and gazed into the fire.

Connor sighed and poked a black log with the stick. Little roused, sparks jumped off the wood. What was he supposed to say? He couldn’t just come out and tell her. Could he?

He had always been so smooth with the ladies, knowing the right compliment, supplying the witty joke, saying the exact thing that they wanted to hear. The thing that would make their panties slide down their legs.

But now he was stumped. When it finally mattered.

A wolf howled in the distance. Rebecca flinched.

“I guess I don’t have to worry about wolves if I’m sleeping next to a bear,” she said, trying to scan the dark forest. “I hope the other ones are okay.”

“Edwin and Sidney may be horrible kayakers and even worse conversationalists but they know how to take care of themselves in the forest.” He sat down in the chair next to her. “All werebears do.”

Rebecca leaned back and gazed up at the stars. Connor couldn’t help staring at her. A long, brown hair curled down onto her cheek. He almost reached out and tucked it behind her ear but stopped himself. Would the time ever come when he would be able to do that?

“You don’t get to see these from the city,” she said. “It really puts things into perspective. My life is really insignificant. Just a blip of a blip in time.”

Connor shook his head. “No,” he said. “You’re everything.”

She turned her head and looked at him.

He almost stopped and turned to the fire but his inner bear urged him forward. He let the Kodiak have his way. “The past is gone. You can never be in the future. The present is everything. It’s all we have. It’s all there is.”

She smiled and gazed back up at the sky.

Connor took a deep breath. “You are significant. You change the lives of the people who love you. You are everything to them.”

“You speak too highly of me,” she said with a sigh. “Maybe my parents once upon a time, but I only see them at Christmas now and they always seem more concerned with golfing and their lawn than their only child.”

A log fell over in the fire and a spark landed by Connor’s foot.

“I had Mark but now he’s gone. We shared a cat but Mark took him too. When I went to go get some stuff the cat wouldn’t even come near me.” She crossed her arms and inhaled deeply. “It’s nice to think like that but in reality I am totally insignificant.”

“You’re everything to me,” Connor said. It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself from saying it.

She laughed and smacked his hand lightly. “You’re sweet. But you’re in customer service. That doesn’t count.”

The roots were burning over the fire. Connor didn’t care. She would be gone tomorrow and this would be his only chance.

“Remember when I fell off of my kayak into the water?” he asked.

She chuckled. “Yeah.”

“That was you becoming everything to me,” he said. She looked at him with confusion. He took a deep breath.
Fuck it.
“I bonded with you.”

She laughed. “Shut up.”

“I’m serious,” he said, laughing himself. That was not the reaction that he was expecting.

“Is this how you get return clients?”

“Does that mean you’re going to return?”

She looked at him with a sideways glance, unsuccessfully trying to stifle a smile. “Maybe. It’s not everyday that a Kodiak bear wants to be your boyfriend.”

A lightness swept over Connor as all the tension in his body was suddenly released. A smile broke out across his face.

“I don’t have to kiss you in your bear form do I?” she asked. “I smelled his bear breath. It wasn’t pretty.”

Connor turned away and cupped his hand to his mouth. He breathed into his hand and smelled it. He never even thought about his bear breath before.

Rebecca leaned over her chair and grabbed his shirt. She pulled him towards her. “Let me be the judge.”

She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. He caressed her cheek, brushing the strand of loose hair behind her ear. Her lips were soft and full and her kiss made his whole body stand to attention. His inner bear purred a low and satisfied growl.

She pulled her lips back an inch, her nose still touching his cheek. “Tastes good,” she whispered, her warm breath tickling his upper lip. “But I’m still not kissing your bear. No matter how bad he wants it.”

Her hair fell on his cheek as she kissed him again. He caressed the inside of her mouth with his tongue as she leaned closer. His hand slid down to the back of her neck. He pulled her into him.

The homemade chairs creaked and then snapped under their weight. Rebecca screamed as she fell on top of him. They landed chest on chest and face to face. She lifted her head back and laughed. Her hair streamed down, tickling Connor’s face. He held her solid hips firmly in his hands.

“Too bad you’re not as good a carpenter as you are a kisser,” she said with a laugh.

“You can stay here all night,” he said, his bear’s purring causing his chest to vibrate.

She shifted her hips over his. “I may take you up on that.”

Connor lifted his head and kissed her again. Their tongues slid against each other as the roots burst into flame over the fire. He slid his hand up her shirt and over her damp bikini top. He squeezed her breast and she let out a moan into his mouth.

Connor had been with other girls before, a lot of other girls, but it was never like this. She was his mate, bonded to her with a force stronger than love, and it was incredible.

He slid her shirt up over her head, breaking the kiss for half a second to move the fabric past her mouth.

He explored her mouth with his tongue as her hands pulled off his shirt. He cringed as her cold hands raked down his abs.

“Your hands are freezing,” he said, their heads still touching.

“Sorry,” she replied. “Let me make it up to you.” She sat up and reached behind her back. Her pink bikini top loosened and Connor gulped as she untied the string. She slid her bathing suit down her arms and her breasts tumbled out, full and beautiful.

Connor couldn’t take his eyes off them. Her breasts were round, her nipples a tantalizing shade of pink. He licked his lips as he took in every inch of them with his eyes.

“Now do you forgive me?” she asked.

Connor nodded, never taking his eyes off her. She leaned back towards him and he caressed them in his hands, and coated every inch of them with his tongue.

Her hands were all over his body, lighting fire to his skin. She leaned over him and took his ear lobe into her mouth and nibbled on it. “I want you to fuck me,” she whispered. “Right here.”

Connor’s voice was caught in his throat and he only managed to grunt a yes.

“Come,” she said, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling him up. She kept her body on his as she lowered herself down to the ground beside the fire.

Connor positioned himself beside her legs as she lay her back down onto the ground. The fire was lighting up her eyes and her body as she gazed at him with longing. Her breasts were free and there for him.

He wrapped his fingers around the waistband of her shorts and bikini bottom and slid them down off her hips. A thin, mouth watering strip of black hair popped out from under the pink bathing suit as he lowered it down her thighs. He slipped her bottoms around her ankles and off of her feet.

She was naked for him. His pulse was racing.

He reached down to his own bathing suit but the knots that he had placed in them earlier were already undone and his erection jutted out.