Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23981 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23981 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
But… I’m not ready to talk to my mother yet.
“I’ll call my sister, Cynthia,” I say.
“I’m sure she would appreciate that,” Leo answers.
“Fine,” I say as I sit up. “But I want something in return.”
He grins as he looks at me. “You know I’ll give you anything. I can’t say no to you.”
“Bring your grizzly bear out,” I say with an excited smile. “I want to meet him again.”
He huffs out a breath.
“Come on!” I say, clapping my hands. “I was so out of it the last time I saw him. Plus, I thought he was going to eat me so I was intolerably rude. I’d like to be friends with him.”
He looks at me for a long moment and then smiles. “Alright,” he says with a shrug of those big shoulders. “I’ll let him out.”
I’m smiling from ear to ear as he pulls off his light sweater and then starts taking off his pants.
“You’re just going to get naked in the snow?” I ask with a laugh.
“Yeah,” he says with a grin. “Otherwise my clothes are going to get shredded to pieces. Surprisingly, my full-grown male grizzly bear doesn’t fit in my t-shirt and jeans.”
I nod my head and grin at him. “That is surprising.”
Even though we’ve been going at it like rabbits over the past few days, I still let out a little gasp when he pulls his boxer briefs down and I see his big long naked cock.
I keep my eyes locked on it until his huge body starts shaking as he phases into his bear. Everything swells up. His shoulders, his chest, his arms, his legs—they all expand lightning-fast. He groans in pain as his teeth lengthen into sharp white fangs. Long brown hair spurts from his skin and then with a tear, a full-grown grizzly bear explodes out of him.
“Whoa,” I whisper as he lands on his four paws so hard I feel the vibration through the ground.
I know it’s Leo in there, but it’s still shocking to see a massive animal like that in front of me.
He looks at me and I gulp.
“Hello,” I say in a shaky voice. “Are we going to be friends?”
Those massive shoulders move like boulders as he walks over with his head hung low and with his hungry eyes locked on me.
Leo wouldn’t have let him out if he posed any danger to me, would he? Would he??
The giant apex predator walks right up to me, sniffs my neck, and then presses the top of his head into my stomach. I laugh as I sink my hands into his soft fur and scratch his skin.
The fear is gone. He’s not going to hurt me. I can sense it just like I could sense that there was something different about Leo. This bear is my mate too. And he would do anything to protect me.
We play in the snow for a while and then Leo comes back out.
That worrying sensation in my stomach returns as we head inside and I realize it’s time for that dreaded phone call.
Our little oasis bubble is about to be popped.
I take the phone to the fireplace, take a deep breath, and dial my sister.
“Hold on,” she whispers.
My heart is beating so hard as she hurries into another room.
“What happened?” she asks. “Where are you?”
I can’t exactly tell her the truth. She thinks I’ve been hiding out in a hotel room by myself watching bad TV and eating room service non-stop. I don’t know how she’s going to react if she finds out I’m in love with a new man only a few days after skipping out on my wedding. Oh, and by the way, he’s a bear shifter and I’m his mate.
“I’m safe,” I say. Not exactly a lie, although it’s not the full truth. “What happened after I left?”
“Chaos,” she says. “I pulled David aside and told him first.”
“How did he take it?”
“He was relieved. Very relieved.”
Oh, thank goodness for that. I’m happy we were on the same page about the whole thing, even though it does sting to find out that someone was relieved they didn’t have to marry you.
“He announced it to everyone,” Cynthia goes on. “Mom was not happy. She keeps complaining that she can’t move to Argentina anymore.”
“Is that her?” Oh shit. I can hear my mom in the background. “Is that Tara?”
“Don’t put her on the phone,” I say with my pulse racing. “Cynthia. Cynthia!”
“Sorry,” my sister says before handing the phone over.
I almost hang up, but I take a deep breath and power through.
“Tara?”
“Hi, Mom.”
“How could you do this to David?” she says with contempt and disappointment in her voice. “You two were in love!”
I nearly laugh. In love? This lady’s mind is already in Buenos Aires. She couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“Mom, we were never in love! I think you saw what you wanted to see. Neither of us wanted to go through with this wedding. You and Marie practically shoved it down our throats.”