Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance Read Online Free

it hadn't ended so abruptly.
    Her breath formed a heavy ball and stuck in her throat.
She tore away from me and coughed once, and then I saw tears rolling
down her gorgeous cheeks.
    Fuck. Tell me I haven't made some strange mistake?
    My mind ran through the possibilities. I hadn't been too
forward. Just as bold and predatory as human women liked. Even so,
none of the few I'd enjoyed during my scouting missions into their
towns had ever reacted like this...
    “ What's wrong, Sam? I don't understand why you're
crying.”
    She forced herself to meet my eyes. Her sobs increased
another pitch when she saw the rigid crease in my forehead.
    Yeah, I was in human form, but I'm sure it looked a lot
like a wild bear studying a machine or some human activity he
couldn't hope to understand. Others in the clan had told me as much.
    “ It's nothing,”
she whimpered, wiping her nose. “You look good. So good. I just...can't. I can't bring myself to do anything like this
right now. It's nothing personal. I left a bad relationship not so
long ago. I'm still getting over it.”
    My heart sank a little. I gave her one last friendly
squeeze and backed away.
    The human world was confounding. Shifters had all sorts
of relations. Hell, we came from humans in the first place, but I'd
lived long enough to understand relationships had changed a lot in
the last few decades.
    Most humans didn't mate for life. They lived their lives
in constant search of love, and many never found it.
    “ Forget it. You need your rest. I'll get us both
something good to drink. You should replenish your fluids after what
you've suffered the last day.”
    I ambled over to the stove to start some tea. I felt
old. As I watched the steam rise, I thought of our wiliest Elder,
Emmerick, and began to understand how he must feel after a full
century.
    Bad relationship, huh? What does that mean? And what
kind of human idiot would throw her away?
    My inner bear bristled at the idea of someone hurting
her, physically or emotionally. I spread my hands out on the thick
wooden counter top in my kitchen and suppressed a growl.
    “ She's probably right. It was crazy to think we'd
end up...like that. Crazy to bring her back here at all.” I
shook my head harshly, calming the bear with my reasonable words.
    Except just now, I wasn't feeling like I wanted to be
reasonable at all.
    A sound behind me made me prick up my ears. I whirled,
aggression on edge, and saw her standing shyly at the edge of my
kitchen.
    The inner bear covered its teeth and landed on all
fours. False alarm.
    “ Yes?”
    “ Sorry to barge in like this, Don. I was just
wondering, uh, do you have anything to eat?”
    Finally. A request I could fulfill.
    “ Hell yeah. If you like steaks.” I took
several steps and popped the freezer door.
    Sam nodded enthusiastically. I grinned. My kind of girl.
    I dug into the freezer and drew out the stakes I'd
carved off an elk and stored last week. I laid them out to thaw,
waved her over to my tiny kitchen table, and plucked a few onions and
potatoes from the pantry to go with our meat.
    Simple, but delicious. Halfway through cooking dinner,
Sam made a sound like a wildcat in heat.
    “ Mmmm. You didn't tell me shifters could cook.
Smells delicious!” She moaned again.
    The bestial part of me – or was it just the manly
one? – wondered if she was drowning her earlier desires in a
different pleasure.
    “ You'll love it. We only eat from nature when we
can help it. Most of what we need is out here for foraging. There's
just a few things we get from your world like cheese. Well, that and
your technology.” I waved at the old refrigerator, humming like
a trusty friend in the corner.
    She laughed. Though I'd lost my chance to strip her bare
just now, hearing her happy was the best runner up prize I could
imagine.
    Steaks finished, we sat together. After all this, I was
pretty hungry. I dug into the lightly salted meat and potatoes,
casting the occasional glance across the