Greg frownedand took a step toward her. She backed away with her handsheldup.
“Stay away from me,”shesaid.
“Wait, let meexplain.”
“You’re a… you’re a… I don’t even know,” shewhispered.
He held his breath. Was she going to call him amonster?
“You…whatareyou?”
“I’m a shifter,” he said. There was no way to sugarcoat what she’d seen. He just wished she hadn’t discovered hissecret.
“How is that possible?” she asked in a stunnedvoice.
“No one really knows why we’re able to shift,” hebegan.
“We?”
“Shifters.”
“There are more of you?” she asked,dumbfounded.
“Yes,” he said. “My whole family are shifters. There are a lot of shifterfamilies.”
“Why haven’t I heard about this? Why isn’t it onthenews?”
“Because we have to keep it a secret. If anyone found out, they’d kill us.” He took another step toward her but she stumbledbackward.
“Don’t come any closer,”shesaid.
The level of fear in her tone crushed him. She was just like everyone else. People were afraid of what they didn’t understand. He’d seen it before. Although he’d never had proof, when his ex-girlfriend Lori had left with her family, he’d suspected she’d found out. Back then, rumors were floating around about bears who could turn into men. But the shifters in the area had banded together to dispel the rumors as old wives’ tales. His safety and the safety of his family depended on hersilence.
“You can’t tell anyone,”hesaid.
“I won’t. I swear. We can leave tonight,” she said. “I’ll never come back and I’ll never tell my brother or the others whatIsaw.”
“No. I don’t want you to go,” he said. “Let me try toexplain.”
“You’re not even human,” she said. “There’s nothing toexplain.”
“Daisy, please. If anyone finds out, my whole family will be in danger. I can’t takethatrisk.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked as she backed up another step. “Are you going to kill me to keep me silent? I saw your claws and your teeth. I wouldn’t stand a chanceagainstyou.”
“I’d never hurt you,” he said,dejected. “I—”
It was on the tip of his tongue to confess how he really felt about her. After arguing with his bear for weeks about whether or not she was their mate, he was starting to believe his bear. The thought of losing her, of never seeing her again, tore athissoul.
“Can you just keep an open mind about this?” heasked.
“There’s a pretty big difference between keeping an open mind and ignoring the fact that you can turn into a two-ton beast who can rip me limb from limb,”shesaid.
“Only a thousand pounds,” hegrumbled.
“What?”
“I only weigh a thousand pounds when I’m in mybearform.”
