Page 34 of Mating Season
“Well only because I’m a shifter, and you’re not.”
“Oh. So, no pain every month? I mean… shifting pain, obviously as a woman I…”
“You won’t have that either.”
“I won’t have a period?” Maybe I should have signed on to the bear shifter life mate plan earlier.
He chuckles. “No, I mean it won’t hurt. All the little health problems that cause painful periods won’t exist for you anymore.”
I’m speechless as I let this sink in.
“See? There are benefits to being a shifter’s mate.” He winks at me.
“So… I could walk alone at night?” I’ve never been able to walk alone at night my whole life.
Cooper shrugs. “I mean, yeah. With the bond, I’d know if you were in trouble. I would still advise not going places even grown men won’t go alone at night. It’s not total invincibility. But it’s a huge upgrade. Is that why you didn’t want to be mated? Because you thought you’d have to shift?”
“One of the reasons.”
“You know I’m going to mock you mercilessly for the rest of our lives about this, right?”
I punch him in the arm.
“Careful, now. You don’t know your own strength anymore.” But I know he’s just teasing me.
We’re still a few miles away from the forest when Cooper pulls to the side of the road.
“Why are we stopping?”
“I’m about to shift. I’m not going to make it. You’re going to have to drive the rest of the way.”
He gets out and opens the hatchback, pushing the seats down flat.
“Cooper, I can’t drive with a bear in the car!”
“You’ll have to. It’ll be dark. I can lie down and you can cover me with those blankets.” He points to some flannel blankets on the floor and doubles over in pain.
“But, bears are heavy and huge!”
“I’ve been in the Jeep in my bear form before. It’s more space than you think, and it can handle twelve hundred pounds of cargo. I’m way less than that.”
The sun disappears as the full darkness emerges, and Cooper runs into the wooded area a few yards away. I hear the horrible crunching and sounds of pain as his body breaks apart and reforms into the bear.
A wolf howls in the distance and I shiver, wondering if it’s a shifter or just a regular wolf. A few minutes later Cooper emerges and climbs into the back of the Jeep. He barely fits. I cover him with the blankets and shut the door.
We’ve been driving a few minutes when I say, “Cooper, can you fully understand me as a bear?” I mean I think he can. I don’t know why I ask, it’s not as though he can answer.
Yes, Rosalie.
I feel his thoughts push into my mind.
“Okay, I’m kind of starving,” I say.
He makes a chuffing sound from the backseat that sounds suspiciously like laughter.I’ll steal us some stuff from the gas station.
I think back, remembering the deli sandwiches he brought the first night when I ran from him. “Is that safe? What if they shoot you?”
I wouldn’t die. But they won’t shoot me. They made a whole Youtube channel about me. I’ll show it to you when we get back home.
