chapter 45

Nita toed the sandals off her feet. Creeping closer to the fighting bears from the side, she pulled out the pepper spray from her dress pocket. She couldn’t stop staring at the fighting giants. The brown bear was in deep shit. His muzzle was in Ky’s mouth. And Ky was biting down. More sounds of crunching could be heard coming from the two. They clawed at each other’s arms. Huffing and growling, the two bears continued to battle.

The brown did something at that point. He raked a claw over Ky’s muzzle and got him to let go. Ky grunted and roared again. The brown charged. They fell to the ground in a heap of arms and kicking legs. The brown bit the same spot on Ky’s shoulder he’d done before.

Nita winced. She knew that had to hurt. The sounds of pain and anger from both worried her. She might be angry at Ky, but she didn’t want him dead. Oh no, she wanted him very alive to make him grovel and pay for lying to her. Plus she loved sex with him. Hell, who was she kidding? She loved him.

Standing there watching the crazy fight only sealed the deal in her mind. Now he just needed to hurry up and kick the other bear’s ass so she could give him a piece of her mind.

They were on their feet again. Shoving and tugging back and forth. With each movement, they got much closer. It wasn’t safe for her, but she’d decided she had to help somehow. The brown careened forward, pushing Ky straight into a massive tree a handful of feet away from her. Ky fell on his back. Before he had a chance to stand, the brown turned toward Nita. He didn’t charge, there was no need, it wasn’t like she was trying to run from him.

He stood in front of her, roared and lowered his giant head level with her face. She didn’t think so. His beady eyes stared angrily at her. She raised a hand and sprayed pepper spray into his eyes. The bear reeled back and bellowed. He shook his head repeatedly, waving his paws around.

Ky tackled the bear from the side. He held him down on the muddy ground and bit down the brown’s neck. The attack didn’t stop. Even when the brown slowed down, his movements tired, Ky continued to bite and tear at the other bear’s neck. He didn’t stop until the other bear quit moving altogether. A cold chill ran down her spine along with a thread of fear. She watched Ky stand and turn to her. Still a bear and still looking mighty pissed.

There were cuts and gashes all over his fur. She couldn’t tell how bad they were from the lack of light and the sheeting rain. He met her gaze and prowled toward her. Instinct told her to run, to get away from him. He had a dangerous look she’d never seen before. The beast controlled him.

She eyed the muddy hill. It was going to be impossible for her to get up there. She’d just keep sliding back down, making a fool of herself if she tried. Then he was there, in front of her. She glanced up and gasped. He lowered and opened his arms for her. She held on to his furry neck. There was no fear as he lifted her legs in his arms, careful not to dig his claws in her skin. Still very much in his bare body, he carried her in the direction of his cabin.

It was easy for him to use the tree limbs to climb back up the hill. When they reached the creek, she wiggled in his hold. “Put me down!”

He did so, gently.

“You come back to your human body. I need to talk to you,” she demanded.

She stepped away from him, waiting for the shift. In his human body, she saw his cuts with more clarity. He had bruises but nothing appeared to be life threatening.

“Nita!” he called when she turned away. “I’m sorry.”

She whipped around to face him again, inhaling hard and ignoring the harsh raindrops stroking her body. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was stupid,” he said, stepping closer.

“Don’t give me that crap!” she threw back. It was hard enough to keep her eyes from straying down his body. Now he wanted to feed her some corny line. “We both know how intelligent you are. Why didn’t you tell me we knew each other?”

His gaze dropped to the ground, his chest heaved from the shift and the fight. He looked so good wet.

“I didn’t want you to judge me based on the awkward kid I used to be,” he admitted.

Maybe he really was stupid. Her mind and body struggled for dominance. She wanted to tackle him and rub herself all over his naked body and at the same time slap some sense into him.

“Are you serious?” She turned away, blood boiling with frustration. “I can’t do this.”

She marched toward the car, trying to ignore the icky feeling of the mud sliding in between her toes. She’d only gone a few yards when he grabbed her arms and tugged her around to face him.

“What do you want from me?” His face was soaked. Water streamed down his body from the pouring rain.

“I want the truth!” She didn’t know what possessed her to scream at him, but she already knew her feelings. There was no going back after this. If they had any chance at all they had to be honest with each other.

“The truth? Fine.” He jerked her close into his arms. “The truth is I knew from the moment I saw you seventeen years ago that you were the only one for me.” His gaze bore into her. The raw honesty in his eyes kept her unmoving. “At first it was an attraction, a pull, I couldn’t understand. When we started spending more time together it was clear to me that we had a connection that went beyond the physical. Yes, I was attracted to you back then. Even with how shy you were. Despite my inability to say a full sentence to you without stuttering from nerves, I knew you were my one.”

She swallowed the dryness in her throat. Her stomach twisted in knots with every word that came out of his gorgeous mouth.

“How do you think I felt, the kid that everyone picked on because I was skinnier than anyone in the clan? I wore braces and probably the ugliest glasses in the world. I had minimal self-esteem. But when I was with you, I was on top of the world.”