Chapter Sixteen
Judah
My bear woke me. Posy was gone.
Again.
That mate of ours kept slipping away, but her scent was still fresh in the air. She hadn’t gone far. Little minx.
I shifted back to two legs happily. Our mate had slept with us all night. And while we hadn’t talked about the whys and the hows of her reasons for taking off on her own, I called her sleeping with us progress.
Saber and Aldrin were still asleep. Saber’s bear snored softly.
“Hey,” I said, taking one more look around before I scared them. Again. “Aldrin. Saber.”
Their bears stirred, and instantly I saw the alarm on their faces. Two growls. Two sets of wide eyes. And then my friends stood before me on two legs.
“Where is Posy?” Aldrin demanded.
“I don’t know. She was gone when I woke up. But her pack is here. Let’s go find her.”
“Why didn’t you wake us up?” Saber threw on his clothes, almost hurting himself in the process.
“I did. I’ve been up and dressed for two minutes, tops.”
Aldrin threw up his hands. “We should’ve stayed as bears, sniffed her out, and then shifted back.”
I snorted. “Yeah, and scare half the hikers. Let’s find her this way. Her scent is still powerful, so she’s around here somewhere.”
Saber shrugged, and I was surprised to see a smile on his face.
“What’s the grin for?” I asked, slipping my boots on.
“We’re up early and chasing our mate who slept next to us all night. It’s a good morning for me. Shut up.”
We left the nest and followed her scent, but once we reached the trail, we split up, knowing we could cover more ground that way.
I was on the way back down the mountain when I heard a splash to my left. There was a stream only thirty or so feet from the trail, and I wondered if our mate had gone to wash up in the stream or brush her teeth.
I still wondered why she did what she had the day before.
Posy was a mystery but wasn’t giving us much to solve the questions in our heads.
I followed the sounds and I’d almost reached the edge, when I stopped dead in my tracks. Posy wasn’t washing her face or brushing her teeth. She was in the stream, completely naked. Drops of fresh water slipped over her smooth skin. Her hands reached for water and she splashed her body.
Posy was the most beautiful woman in the world. I braced my hands on the nearest tree and hid behind it, very much feeling like a voyeur but I couldn’t help myself. My bear growled, demanding I either mate her right then and there or cover her up so no other males could see her this way.
Mainly the first one.
Her legs were slim and her hips curvy. I balled my hands into fists, barely maintaining control of the need to hold her. To feel her skin underneath mine. Kiss those lips.
All of it. I wanted all of it.
The rising sun cast its colors on my mate’s skin. Goddess help me, I should call out to her. Respect her more than to gawk from behind a tree, but I couldn’t move if I wanted to. My bear had anchored me in place, enjoying the view just as much as I was.
In the distance, I heard Aldrin and Saber call out her name, still looking for her.
I was so selfish that I hoped they took their time. They were worried as I had been before discovering her here, but I wanted to be selfish. Brand this vision of her in my mind.
Holding my breath, I inched forward, closer, but still behind a tree.
I should say something. Call out her name. Anything but stand here and stare like a pervert.
The wind picked up, and as it did, she stood up tall, inhaling a long drag of air through her nose. She made no attempt to put her hands over those perfect tits or cross her legs trying to hide anything else.
So it took me by complete surprise when she turned and squinted. In the most normal tone of voice, she said, “All right, which one of you is it?”
I said nothing and then she put her hands on her hips.
I was in trouble, in more ways than one.