Chapter Fourteen – James
With the taste of her kiss on his lips, James felt like the world had shifted beneath his feet. The sweetness of it lingered, better than anything he could have imagined during all those nights he’d lain awake wondering what it would be like to finally find his mate.
He wanted to pinch himself to check he wasn’t dreaming.
You’re not, his bear said, with a nervous energy buzzing through him. This is not a dream; this is real. And now is the time to tell Doreen everything.
James cupped her face in his hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. She leaned into his touch, her eyes half-closed, the trust in her expression making his heart fit to burst.
“Come home with me,” he whispered.
Her eyes flew open, and he winced inwardly at his abruptness.
Find more words, his bear urged.
James took her hand, squeezing it gently. “There’s something I need to show you. Something I need to tell you.”
Doreen looked into his eyes, and he saw fleeting fear there. Perhaps she was questioning her trust in him?
“Okay,” she answered softly.
He let out a long exhale as if he’d been gut-punched. Taking her hand, he led her toward his truck.
“Wait,” she said, pulling back slightly. “I drove here in my SUV. It’s parked along the street there.”
James stopped walking and turned to her. “We can pick it up later.”
She glanced away, and he could sense her mind turning, perhaps weighing whether she should get into his truck or drive herself. Driving herself meant independence. A way of leaving on her own terms if things went badly.
“Okay,” she said finally.
He gave her a lopsided smile. “Okay,” he repeated, and guided her to his truck.
He opened the door and helped her inside, his fingers gripping her elbow gently. The mate bond flared between them, stronger this time, a warm current that made his skin tingle. He closed the door as she settled in her seat, then jogged around to the driver’s side, not wanting to waste a moment.
Now that he’d decided to tell her, now that she was ready to trust him, he wanted it over with so they could move on. Could start planning their life together.
If she accepted him.
That thought niggled in his brain as he climbed into the cab, started the engine, and turned the heater on full blast. Doreen huddled closer to him as if trying to steal his warmth. Or maybe she simply sought comfort, reassurance that she’d made the right choice.
She wasn’t touching him, not quite, but he could feel the nearness of her. Feel her warmth radiating through layers of fabric. He’d never been more aware of another person in his life.
He wished he could put an arm around her, hold her close, but in these weather conditions, he needed both hands on the wheel.
Safety first, his bear reminded him. And they both knew their mate’s safety was the most important thing. He would never forgive himself if any harm came to her.
They wound through the narrow roads leading away from town, snow-laden pines creating dark tunnels against the night sky.
Doreen sat with her hands folded tightly in her lap, her profile illuminated by occasional flashes of moonlight as they drove along the mountain pass.
James gripped the wheel, his knuckles white—not just from the treacherous conditions.
The closer they got to his cabin, the more his stomach knotted.
This could blow up in his face. Completely. Utterly.
We’re past the point of no return, his bear rumbled. She deserves to know.
He stole another glance at her as the truck’s headlights cut through the darkness, revealing the winding path to his secluded home. How he wished he could read her mind, know her thoughts.
When they reached his cabin, he stopped the truck and got out, not daring to look at her, not giving her a chance to say, “Stop! I’ve changed my mind.” He opened the truck door and helped her out.
He wanted to kiss her more than anything, but the greater need won out. The need for truth. For honesty between them. He took her hand and led her around the side of the cabin.
“We’re not going inside?” Doreen asked, her voice catching slightly.
James shook his head, squeezing her fingers gently. “What I need to show you is outside.”
She hesitated, and he felt her hesitation like a physical thing.
He saw the questions flashing behind her eyes as she glanced toward the darkness beyond the cabin.
For a second, he thought she might bolt.
Then her jaw set, shoulders squared, and whatever internal battle she’d been fighting resolved itself.
“Lead the way,” she said, stepping forward with him. Not blindly following but choosing to trust.
I hope she doesn’t run, his bear whispered inside him, uncharacteristically subdued.
They were about to find out.
The backyard stretched before them, a blank canvas of untouched snow gleaming silver in the moonlight. With no features visible beneath the pristine white blanket, just emptiness and, he hoped, possibility.
But they weren’t here to admire his garden, buried now beneath winter’s shroud. They were here for something more profound.
James stopped walking and turned to face her. “You trust me, right?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Doreen opened her mouth, but no words came. She closed it again, swallowed hard, and nodded once.
That was all the answer he needed.
He let go of her hand and stepped back, creating a distance between them. His eyes never left hers as he drank in the sight of her. His mate, his love, standing in the moonlight with snowflakes settling on her hair.
“Trust me,” he said, the final words before he surrendered to the change.
For one suspended heartbeat, the world seemed to hold its breath with him. The night stilled, the snow drifted more slowly, even the forest quieting as if it knew what was coming.
The air around him crackled and popped, charged with ancient magic as old as the mountains themselves.
For one heartbeat, James Pike ceased to exist in human form.
Then, where the man had stood, a massive bear appeared.
Dark fur gleaming in the moonlight, his powerful shoulders hunched slightly as if in deference to her.
Doreen didn’t move. She stood frozen, her face unreadable in the silvery light. James wasn’t even sure she was breathing as she stared at him, her eyes wide and fixed.
The bear lowered his head and huffed softly, sending a cloud of silvery vapor into the night air. Then, he took one cautious step forward.
Still, she didn’t move.
With deliberate slowness, the bear closed the distance between them. When he reached her, he gently nudged her hand with his snout, a gesture both supplication and invitation.
Doreen exhaled sharply, blinking as if waking from a trance. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, but she didn’t run. Didn’t scream. Instead, with trembling fingers, she lifted her hand and cupped the bear’s cheek, stroking the thick fur with surprising tenderness.
“You’re... soft,” Doreen whispered, her voice shaky but curious. She ran her fingers through the thick fur around his neck, gaining confidence with each stroke.
The bear leaned into her touch, eyes closing in pure bliss as he rubbed his head against her thigh. Why had he feared this moment so much? Why had he doubted the strength of the mate bond?
It didn’t matter now. His fears had been unfounded. But his happiness…that was real, solid, expanding through him with every gentle stroke of her fingers against his fur.
Her touch sent electric currents through him, and he couldn’t help pushing his snout deeper into her palm. Why had he spent sleepless nights worrying about this moment? It all seemed ridiculous now.
“James?” she whispered, her voice shaky but curious. “Is it really you?”
The bear rumbled low in his throat, a sound of affirmation.
“This is... impossible,” she breathed, her fingers stroking hesitantly at first, then with growing certainty, as if testing whether he was truly solid beneath her touch. “But I’m not dreaming, am I?”
The bear shook his massive head slowly.
A small, breathless laugh escaped her. “I should be terrified,” she said, wonder replacing fear in her eyes. “But I’m not. I feel like... like I’ve been waiting for this. Like some part of me already knew.”
The bear’s ears pricked forward, listening intently to every word.
“Can you... change back?” she asked. “I have so many questions.”
The air crackled again, and where the bear had stood, James reappeared, still leaning slightly into her touch. Her hand now rested against his human cheek, and he covered it with his own, holding it there.
“I have so many answers,” he said softly. “And all the time in the world to give them to you.”
Doreen stared at him. Her expression was a beautiful mix of wonder and confusion. “You’re a bear,” she stated simply.
“Yes.”
“And that’s... normal? For you?”
“It’s who I am,” he replied. “What I am. A shifter.”
Snow continued to fall around them, each flake catching moonlight as it drifted down. The silence stretched between them, not uncomfortable but filled with unspoken questions.
“There’s something else,” James said, taking both her hands in his, hoping she would not pull away now. “Something even more important than what I am.”
Doreen raised her eyebrows, a small smile tugging at her lips. “More important than turning into a bear? This I have to hear.”
“You’re my mate,” he said simply. “My one. The person I’ve been waiting for my entire life.”
Her smile faltered. “What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means,” he said, drawing her closer, “that from the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one I was meant to find. The one I was meant to love. Forever.”
“Forever is a very long time,” she whispered, but she didn’t pull away.
“Not long enough,” he replied, his voice rough with emotion. “Not when it’s with you. I know you feel it too.”
“I felt something,” she admitted quietly. “From the moment we met. Like we shared a connection.”
“We do,” he said simply. “An unbreakable connection.”
She stepped closer then, barely an inch, until her body brushed lightly against his. He felt it like a seismic shift. And though she didn’t speak, something in her posture softened. As if she’d made a quiet, internal decision she wasn’t ready to put into words.
James exhaled shakily, lowering his forehead to hers.
The connection hummed between them, binding them like a promise the universe itself had made.
He closed his eyes for a moment, memorizing the feel of her against him, the certainty settling low in his gut. This was the beginning. Their beginning. And he would spend the rest of his life proving she’d made the right choice by not running.