Once Upon a Shifter (97 page)

He kissed her gently, then with growing fervor, before finally withdrawing to take care of the condom. He came back to her side and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t fall asleep just yet,” he teased. “I have a lot more I want to do.”

Katie grinned at him, and ran her hands up his chest to tweak his nipples. “Then you better work on keeping me awake.”

He squirmed and laughed, pulling her tighter against him as he settled back against her pillows. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Now that you’ve had a chance to look at it?” she teased, although she fought the urge to beam with pride. The studio apartment was tiny, but it was all hers. She’d done her best to liven up the thrift-store furniture with colorful pillows and throws, and decorated the bland walls with art posters and some of her favorite photographs, the last a major splurge, carefully enlarged and framed.

“Well, I was a little distracted when we came in.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “Where’d you get that picture over your dresser? It’s amazing.”

Katie’s heart glowed with warmth. He’d picked her absolute favorite. The photo in question was one she’d taken back in Boone while she was in high school. She knew the handful of kinfolk women in Boone. Mated or not, they had their own hierarchy based on nothing more than their acceptability to the male bears. Katie’s mom had fallen somewhere in the middle. June, the woman in the photo, was the lowest of them all. Old past childbearing years, she’d never given birth, and never gave a shit about it either. Katie had always secretly admired her. In the photo, June was staring directly at the camera, bare-faced and open, wisps of her graying hair escaping a ponytail. Each line on her face seemed to tell a story, and her eyes defied the viewer to judge her for any of it. “I took it. I took all the pictures, actually. I love photography.”

His eyes widened. “You’re amazing. Did you go to school for photography?”

“Well, just high school. For now,” she added. “I’m going to take more as soon as I can.”

“Yeah, you should. You’re a real artist.” His arms tightened again and he kissed her. Katie took his words and tucked them away deep in her heart, ready to be taken out and revisited over and over. Someone else who finally took her work seriously. She was in more danger of falling for him by the second. She returned his kiss, and pushed him onto his back so she could crawl onto him. “I seem to remember you saying you had a lot more you wanted to do...”

He did, and they spent hours giving and taking pleasure before they both finally drifted to sleep. Katie’s last waking thought was how familiar and safe it felt to be in his arms.

Chapter Four

When Katie woke up, for several moments she thought she was back in Boone, in her childhood bed. It smelled like home, when home was a happy place. When Dad was still around. It smelled like...
bear
.

She jerked fully awake, convinced she’d been dreaming. The scent was still there, an unmistakable undercurrent. Next to her, Jake slept on, his eyelashes casting long shadows on his cheeks. How had she missed it? He was tall, broad, a little furry—how had she missed the unmistakable scent of bear-shifter? Was he an alpha too? How could he be, living here miles from any bear enclave... “wildlife management,” he’d said. His big brother had died, leaving him—
the family business
. He
was
an alpha bear.

How could she have been such a fool? Had her mother sent him? Katie wouldn’t put it past her. Her mother would do anything to regain her social standing in Boone.

He was the most wonderful man she’d ever met, and he was everything she had been running from.

***

Jake woke to an empty bed in a strange place. Katie. He couldn’t stop smiling at what a fantastic night it had been, but where was she? Her side of the bed was cold, and there wasn’t anywhere in the small, homey studio apartment where she could be hiding. Even the bathroom door was open. He eased out of bed, snagging his shorts and pulling them on. There was a note on the kitchenette counter.

Jake,

Had to run to work. Please lock up when you go. Thanks for everything.

K.

That was it. No hearts, no kisses. No “can’t wait to see you again.” Jake’s shoulders slumped. She’d had a good time, he had no doubt about that. They’d had a connection, hadn’t she felt it? So what did this mean?

Later, he related the night’s events to Rafe as they were setting up in their usual spot. Jake strapped on his acoustic guitar and started checking the tuning.

“So she just walked out? Man, that’s cold.” Rafe drank from a small paper cup, then curled his fingers around it for warmth. The early spring morning was chilly, and there was a strong wind off the lake.

“I didn’t expect her to fall in love with me right away or anything, but damn it, Rafe. We had a real connection. I felt it. She’s the one.” This morning his inner bear was sulking around grumbling like a petulant child denied a toy.
She was ours
.

“Are you sure she felt it, though? If she doesn’t know what she is, she might not know what that connection means, you know?”

“I gotta make her understand, Rafe.” Jake felt a rising sense of panic. What if he lost her forever, the one woman who was destined to be his mate? “I need to talk to her.”

“What are you going to tell her?” Rafe leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Are you going to walk up to her and go, ‘so, I’m actually a bear, and you’re my soulmate, so you need to come make bear babies with me now’?”

“Well... maybe not quite like that?” Jake fiddled with a few chords, frowning. “What happens if I lose her? Nobody ever talks about that. Everybody’s all ‘ooh destined mate, how romantic,’ but nobody mentions what happens if one of the mates doesn’t believe in destiny.”

Rafe laughed at him. “The course of true love, man. That’s the thing with destiny. If it works out with her, it was destiny. If it doesn’t, then it wasn’t. What do you want to do?”

“Go talk to her,” Jake said immediately.

“Phew. I thought you were gonna try and kidnap her or something. Talking is a good start.”

Jake waited until there was a lull in foot traffic on their street corner, then headed for the diner.

Katie had been telling the truth about needing to work, at least. Jake saw her through the plate glass windows, moving from table to table with a smile on her face. God, she was beautiful. And tough. And funny. And the sex had been out of this world. She was everything he’d hoped for in a mate. She was his, he knew she was. He just needed her to know it.

He stepped into the diner and the smile on her face faded. “Katie, can we talk?”

She barely looked at him as she brushed past. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Did I do something wrong? What happened?”

“Damn it. Hang on a minute.” Katie delivered her order and went to talk to the man in the kitchen before coming back and grabbing Jake by the arm. She pulled him outside and into the alley next to the diner.

“Katie, I’m sorry if I—”

“Shut up. Just shut up and listen to me.” She looked angry, but worse than that, she looked hurt. Jake racked his brain trying to figure out what he had done to hurt her. “I know what you are,” she said. “I don’t know why it took me so long.”

“You know—” he lowered his voice “—that I’m a bear?” That should be wonderful news, but her reaction was all wrong.

Her sweet face was contorted in anger. “Just stay away from me. I don’t care if my mother sent you or not, I don’t want anything to do with a man like you.”

Jake hadn’t realized before now that having a broken heart could cause literal pain. The way she looked at him, like he was something she’d stepped in and wanted scraped off as soon as possible. “Your mother? No, nobody sent me! Katie, it’s—it’s destiny. We’re meant to be together, didn’t you feel it? Don’t you see?”

“I’ve seen enough to know I don’t want to be some sort of Stepford brood mare to an alpha! That’s all your kind cares about.”

“No. I’m not an alpha anyway. Katie, I think I lo—”

“Leave me alone!” Katie cried.

Jake did the only thing he could think of. As she turned to go, he caught her by the arm and pulled her close, lowering his mouth to hers. The force of their connection was instant and overwhelming. She whimpered and melted into his arms, her tongue twining with his in a kiss as deep as their destiny. It was true, it was all true. She was meant to be his. Surely she had to see that by now.

He thought that right up until the moment she pulled away and slapped him hard across the face.

“Leave me alone!” she repeated, then ran back to the diner, leaving him in the alley, stunned.

***

Katie fled into the diner’s break room, her lips still burning from Jake’s kiss. Her body was a roiling mess of emotions. She wanted his touch more than ever, but that would lead to nothing but foolishness and heartbreak. She couldn’t believe he was one of them. He seemed so safe, so normal, so... so
wonderful
. Last night he’d seemed like everything she’d ever dreamed of. How could it all be a lie?

Anna came bursting into the room. “Are you okay? I saw Jake go storming down the street. What happened? Did he hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine,” Katie said—and promptly burst into tears.

“Oh no!” Anna rushed over and put her arms around Katie. “Tell me all about it.”

“Last night was the best night of my life,” Katie managed between sniffles, gratefully taking a tissue from Anna. “And I can never see him again.”

Anna pulled Katie over to a chair and sat her down. “What do you mean? Is he married or something?”

“No, but he’s—he’s—” How could she explain it? “I know his family. They’re... distantly related to mine.”

“Holy shit, so you’re like cousins or something?” Anna’s eyes were wide.

“No.” Anna tried to wipe her eyes and nose without totally ruining her makeup. “I mean, probably, but not close ones. I just know his type. He’s everything I left home to avoid.”

“But you told me about the guys in your hometown, Katie. He doesn’t seem like them at all! He seems really nice.” Out in the diner, Mack yelled for service. “Ugh. You stay here for a bit until you feel better. I’ll cover for you.” She squeezed Katie’s hand and went back to the front.

He seems really nice
. He did. More than nice.
I think I love you
, that’s what he’d been about to say. That was ridiculous. Sure he talked about destiny, a lot of old bears talked about destiny, usually when they’d been trying to get in her pants. “It’s fate, baby, you can’t fight it.”

Well she could. And she would. After the way he’d kissed her, Katie didn’t trust herself around Jake at all. He might have been full of it, talking about destiny, but she couldn’t deny the chemistry. If she was serious about not seeing him again, she’d have to get away for a little while, but where? Somehow she didn’t think anywhere in Chicago was far enough.

She had a sudden vision of mountains, and missed home with a fierceness that made her ache. Going back to Boone was out of the question. She’d have the same problem there as she did here, but worse. At least Jake was attractive. There was only one option she could think of. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled out her phone and dialed. “Hello, Gran?”

Chapter Five

It didn’t take a lot of talking to convince Mack to give her some time off. He liked her, but more to the point, she suspected he didn’t want any other emotional outbursts in his diner.

Katie didn’t think she’d stay in Colorado long, just long enough to get her thoughts together and try to forget she ever met Jake and his awful “we’re destined!” nonsense. She finished packing and looked around her apartment. Her cell phone was not invited. It was plugged in on her kitchen counter, otherwise she might be tempted to answer if Jake called. There were still payphones in airports if she needed one, right? She looked around with a sigh. The plan was to stay gone for two weeks, and see how she felt. As she closed the door behind her and left for the airport, she wondered if that was long enough.

She’d wanted to just take a bus, but Gran had insisted that she fly, and bought the ticket for her. On the flight, she struggled to keep from bumping into the disdainful business man next to her, apologizing any time his elbow brushed hers. So much for sleep on this flight. The paperback she bought at Midway didn’t keep her distracted, either. Her mind kept going back to the hurt look in Jake’s eyes when she’d told him to go away.

What if he’s right?

She stared at the same page of her book while the thought echoed through her mind. Sure, the men back home tossed the words “destined mate” around like they were some sort of golden ticket to a kinfolk’s bed, but what if there were such a thing? Was this what it felt like? That instant connection that she’d assumed was lust, was it something else? He was going to tell her that he loved her, before she’d slapped him. He didn’t have to say that to get her in bed, that was for sure.

Would it be so bad, being the mate of someone like Jake? She tried to picture it, resting her head against the headrest and looking at the clouds passing beneath the plane’s window. Maybe a house somewhere, just the two of them. But no, no it wouldn’t be just the two of them, would it? She saw that lovely little house of her dreams, and saw herself standing on the front porch with a distended belly as she waved goodbye to Jake while he went off to do manly alpha things. Two toddlers clutched at her knees. For an alpha bear, a mate was for babies. Lots of babies. No matter what she might feel for Jake, being his mate would mean the end of the life she’d been trying to make for herself. No more photography, no chance to go to school. Just... endless babies.