Chapter 28 #3
She managed to maintain a straight face for a couple of seconds before breaking into giggles.
She was cute like that. As much as I would have loved to keep bantering, it was like my bear had stirred at the mention of being let loose, and was now quite eager for a chance to get out and scent who he considered his mate.
He had been patient about not seeing her since that fateful night when he chased the juvenile away, but now that the door was cracked open, he was making it very clear that he wanted his time at the surface, and he wanted it now.
“I guess there isn’t any,” I said, stepping away from the blanket and shaking my limbs. More psychosomatic than necessary, but it readied me to shift in a much more comfortable way than the rapid shift I’d done in the cabin all those months ago. “You ready?”
Jeannie was still sitting on the blanket, hands clasped, still looking at me like I was something miraculous. And the craziest thing was, she made me feel that way too. She nodded, a broad grin on her round face, cheeks already pink.
“All right, here goes nothing.”
I was both afraid and unafraid. I knew my bear would never hurt her.
He was an alpha, and he would force me to take over before he’d harm Jeannie or Max.
It was more that I was a teeny bit worried that Jeannie was asking to bite off a little more than she could chew.
That it was one thing to see my bear save the day in a time of crisis, and another to just be in front of her.
But even though I had those worries, I wasn’t going to let Jeannie down. So, I concentrated and reached down into myself, extending a hand to the animal part of me.
This time, the exchange between us was gradual. Instead of a volcano erupting and irrevocably affecting all the land around us, it was more like the ocean meeting the shore. Hard to say exactly where one ended and one began, and yet still a steady transition between the two.
Flesh receded, fur grew, teeth expanded, and bones cracked.
It would have been horrific to others, but to me, it was just life.
Proof of the beautiful community I was part of.
While I was a wee bit embarrassed that I had let that part of me fall to the wayside for so long, it felt good to acknowledge that side of me again for no reason other than wanting to be seen.
Not everything needed to be a great emergency.
Steam began to pour into the air around me, but we were in a wide enough space that I knew it didn’t obscure the transformation.
The good and the bad. The beauty and the grotesque.
Being a shifter was the ultimate dichotomy; two sides that most would consider opposite entangled and working with each other to become something greater than the sum of its parts.
Strange, that I’d let myself forget that.
Even stranger and lovelier still to have a partner who wanted to share that side with me despite not being a shifter herself.
Finally, all four of my massive legs hit the ground, and I gave my much larger body a shake. It felt good, albeit a little strange, a bit like trying to move after sleeping for way too long.
I let out a soft, inquiring sound, not wanting to startle her, but Jeannie was already on her feet.
“Holy shit! I thought maybe my memories were exaggerated, but you’re huge. Dinosaur-level huge!”
If I was in my human form, I would have laughed at that, but as a bear I let out a chuffing sound. I wished I could communicate to her with shifter speak, but that only worked with other shifters.
Thankfully, the noise didn’t seem to bother Jeannie one bit, because suddenly she had her arms wrapped around my neck, her face right next to my cheek.
“Your fur is so thick. No wonder you’re always so warm.”
I could smell her excitement and enthusiasm, a potent combination, and the alpha that had risen to the front of my mind was most definitely preening. Although his mate was... different, although she had no fur, or claws, or even a heat, she was still happy to see him and that was enough.
“I can’t believe this is you. Like, obviously it is.
But also… what?” She let go of my neck and walked around my body.
Even on all fours, I was still taller than her, as our type of shifters really were a more ancient ursine.
“God, mentally, I understood why all you guys ate so much, but seeing you now, it almost feels like that can’t possibly be enough calories for you. This is just… just…”
I wanted to finish her sentence for her like I would in my human form, but that wasn’t possible, so I slowly turned with her, adjusting my speed so she never could make it all the way around me.
She caught on quickly, raising one of her eyebrows in a challenge, and picked up her pace.
Naturally, I did too. Neither of us were moving that fast at first, but that began to change until I was spinning in the most concise circles that my bear body would allow while Jeannie was sprinting around me as fast as her sandals would allow.
It was stupid. Downright silly. Jeannie started giggling, which seriously interfered with her ability to sprint, and I started huffing in amusement. It wasn’t really how I imagined the situation going, but it was perfect.
I didn’t know if it was my large bear paw that slid first—after all, my front legs were shorter than my back ones—or if Jeannie tripped on something, but one moment we were both being complete and utter gooses, the next her arms were pinwheeling while I was rolling to the side.
The next thing I knew, I was flat on my flank and Jeannie had caught herself from faceplanting by grabbing onto my coat and yanking herself over me.
It wasn’t the most comfortable thing, with one of her hands gripping my fur for dear life and both of her knees crossing just under my spine, but it wasn’t that bad either.
I let out a questioning huff, and Jeannie seemed to understand exactly what I was asking.
“I’m okay,” she said, standing up and walking around to my face. I, however, wasn’t as eager to get onto my feet. Bears were how bears were, and now that I was lying down, it seemed like it was perfectly reasonable to stay that way. “How are you?”
I let out a long, deep wheeze of air that I hoped communicated the exact mix of contentment and chagrin I was feeling, and Jeannie’s resulting smile told me that she got the gist of it.
“Good, I’m glad.”
There was the tiniest bit of applause as I lay there and she stood over me, hands on her hips.
I had to hand it to her, sometimes it was easy to forget that she hadn’t known about shifters her entire life.
She’d adapted to it so well. In a way, that was so perfectly Jeannie.
Although I didn’t want her to have any hardships in her life, she had long since proved that she could not only survive but thrive through pretty much anything.
Eventually, she spoke, her voice almost tentative. “Do you wanna cuddle?”
I raised my large head at that. Her tone was nervous, but her face and scent were anything but. No big deal. Just some cuddle time with a giant grizzly bear.
I let out a positive sort of sound and flopped my head back onto the ground. Clearly, Jeannie and I were on the same vibe, because she let out a delighted sound and sat down by my belly, her legs stretched out in front of her as she leaned back against me.
It was such a simple thing, really, and yet it struck me right down to my soul.
The comfortability. The joy in what I was.
Zero apprehension. Sure, we may have messed up a little bit of the communication about relationship status and terms, but that was okay.
Nobody was perfect, and neither Jeannie nor I had ever claimed to be.
But I knew, right down to my core, as her weight slowly rose and fell with my own breathing, that the stunning woman was undoubtedly my mate. And I’d wait as long as she needed for her to feel the same way too.
We lay there for a long time, feeling the wind and watching the first beautiful clouds of summer drift across the sky.
It was heaven on earth, but then again, anywhere was heaven when I had Jeannie by my side.
She made everything better, and she made me want to be a better man.
A better father. A healthier person in general.
Not just for her, but for my children and myself.
Because as much as I liked to put myself on the back burner, I deserved to make time and space for me too.
“Remy?” Jeannie asked after what must have been at least an hour. I let out the lightest of rumbles, and in response she reached over to scratch one of my legs. “Do you think you could shift back into a human?”
I let out an affirmative sound, and Jeannie got up and stood to the side for me to do my thing. While this transition was a bit faster than me turning into a bear, I still didn’t rush it, not wanting to add any stress or discomfort to what really was a wonderful picnic.
Once I was human, however, Jeannie was right back in my space, gently gripping my hands.
“Thank you for sharing that with me, Remy. Thank you for everything you shared with me. I never imagined my life could be like this. So, if you’ll have me, would you be my boyfriend?” She gave me a sly grin. “Officially?”
“Only if you’ll be my official girlfriend,” I shot back, squeezing her hands the same way she had squeezed mine. I loved how tactile she was. It was an internal source of comfort and excitement for me.
“I think I can manage that.”
“Then I am one very happy man.”
“Uh, excuse you, I think you mean bear.”
I laughed at that. God, I loved her humor and timing. I tilted my head back, letting out one of those big, bellowing peals of mirth I knew she liked and would never fail to make her blush. Then I pulled her close and kissed her with all the happiness and contentment bubbling through me.
But then Jeannie pulled back slightly, staring deep into my eyes. “You know I love you, right? I’m sorry I haven’t said it out loud, but I hope my actions show it.”
“I do now,” I said, before kissing her yet again. “And I love you too. Even without saying it.”
She grinned, looking up at me through her lashes. “I could tell.”
She melted against me, her body so soft and inviting. As I held her there in the middle of that clearing, I didn’t know exactly what the future held, but I was happy to face it with her by my side.
That didn’t mean I had no plans for the future—no, my mind was spinning with all sorts of ideas. All of that could wait, though, because I had a wonderful date with my equally wonderful girlfriend to experience.
And honestly… I kind of wanted to shift again.