Page 7 of Mating Season
“Of course they are.”
She rolls her eyes, but her sarcasm is starting to give way again to fear. There is nothing that will convince her I’m telling the truth short of a live demonstration.
We spend the rest of the day in mostly boredom and uncomfortable silence. I can think of a million things I’d like to do with her right now that would definitely fill up the time until my final shift this month, but I know there’s no way she’d go for it. She needs to see the truth first, and then we’ll go from there.
Finally night comes. The painful snapping and cracking and rearranging of bones and organs commences as the moon rises higher into the sky. I strip off my jeans before the change can fully take me and fall to the ground, my hands reflexively clenching and digging into the dirt. I’m sure this isn’t the most attractive thing for Rosalie to have to witness, but she has to know. Once she sees the truth, maybe it will be easier to reason with her and make her understand.
We’ve spent the entire day with her thinking I’m delusional. When she sees the change, I can at least eliminate that objection to our union.
When the shift is complete and the pain recedes, I turn to Rosalie who looks on me in absolute horror. It’s worse than the way she looked at me last night, before she knew there was a person in here. I raise my hands in the placating way humans do, and then realize belatedly that a seven hundred pound bear raising his arms in the air isn’t taken in exactly the same way as when I do it in my human form.
She screams and cringes away from me, and I quickly go back to my former stance. I can’t communicate with her like this, so I fight every instinct inside me and leave her alone in the den to go get us some food. She can’t get far on that ankle, and while the mating bond may not be completed yet, I still have the senses of a bear and can easily track her in this forest. If she tries to leave, she won’t get far.
5
ROSALIE
Holy shit, Cooper is a fuckingbear! My knuckles are white from where I just gripped the chair. I’ve gone back and forth all day over whether he had a legitimate delusion or if it was some kind of extended joke that just wasn’t funny.
I almost laughed when it got dark outside and he started making these pained sounds and contorting in all kinds of weird positions. I was about to say, “Ha, ha, jokes over. You got me.” when his body parts started to actuallychange.
At first it was a ripple, almost like his skin was a blanket that a small animal was crawling around underneath. And then fur started to sprout. There were awful cracking sounds and groans of genuine pain. His eyes glowed. Claws extended, teeth lengthened into fangs, and a few minutes later, he was a fucking bear!
He reared up on his hind legs and for a moment I thought he was going to attack me, so I screamed. Then he left the cave—maybe to hunt like he said he’d do earlier.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
My brain is stuck on a loop right now. He was serious. And… plot twist… not crazy. The entire day I’ve been stuck with this guy trying to manage and appease his possible mental illness,not once did I really think he was an actual bear. I guess that thing last night with him cuddling with me wasn’t a dream after all. Clearly I’m the delusional one here—or just in deep denial.
As soon as I process all of this, the truth of my reality comes crashing into me. He thinks I’m his mate. He plans to bite me. He plans to keep me his captive until and unless I let himbiteme… and turn me into a bear like him?
No. I can’t. I don’t want to be a bear! I can’t handle what he just went through. I definitely can’t do it three nights a month for… centuries. No. Fucking no. I have to get away from this guy right now!
I wince as I struggle to a standing position. I’ve been trying to rotate my ankle, to keep it moving throughout the day, but it still hurts like hell when I stand up. Pins and needles shoot through me. And even so, I know that this pain is nothing like what the change into his animal form causes. Cooper is the one guy who actually might be able to understand the pain of childbirth. But women don’t give birth three times a month for the rest of their lives! Nope. I am out!
I cannot let him bite me. I can’t let him make me a bear. I feel unhinged just thinking these thoughts. Andvampiresare real, too? Jesus. What the fuck is this reality? How have I gone my whole life not knowing any of this existed?
As I move around the cave I’m relieved that actually I think my ankle is a bit better. Maybe that stinky salve really does work. I pick up my cell phone, praying to get reception.
But, no. Of course not. Why would I need to call anybody out in the middle of the woods! Maybe I can take it and go outside… maybe there’s a patchy signal somewhere. But he’ll be back. How long does it take to hunt? Probably not that long.
I’m pretty sure he’s not going to bite me tonight as a bear, but when? How long is he going to give me before he does this? And not only that, he intends to tie me to him for life. What if Iwanted to be single? Serious question. What if I wanted my own house and a hoard of cats and just to be left alone!
I have goals. I have shit to do. I do not have the desire to be some bear shifter’s life mate. Oh my god, am I going to give birth to a bear cub? Why did I have to twist my fucking ankle? It’s such a cliché. It’s always the ankle.
I start going through cabinets and drawers not even knowing what I’m looking for. Maybe a weapon? I probably can’t do much to him tonight in this form, but maybe when he’s human again? I mean I have the bear spray but I doubt that would be as useful on him as it would a normal bear. Still, I could try.
Even if I do find a suitable weapon, I’m not sure I can bring myself to kill him, especially not after he saved my life last night. But if I can find a way to incapacitate him, maybe I can escape. Because I’m sure once he gets me to his actual normal home, he’s going to have a much better way to keep me prisoner, and I’m going to have much fewer opportunities to escape.
And now I’m crying with relief because I just found a satellite phone, and it has juice. He must have brought it up with him in caseheneeded to call someone out in the middle of the woods.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“Hi, I’m lost out in the Cherokee National Forest. I’ve got an ankle injury, and I need help.”
“Are you bleeding, Ma’am?”
“No, it’s just a sprain.”
