Authors: Sherry Wasson
She looked like a sleeping angel in his arms. He couldn’t stop winding her hair in his fingers and staring into her face.
He’d let loose the tightly wound lust he’d been feeling last night, and he could feel his power inside him now, a lazy strength waiting to come out.
This was the part where he was supposed to leave. He had what he needed, and he had a tribe to get back to. Even Emily’s pain had died down to a dull throb. He’d helped her along with himself, he was sure of that.
There was no reason left why he shouldn’t leave. The problem was, he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay here and listen to the soft sigh of Emily breath while she dreamed.
He struggled to come up with an excuse to stay longer. He should at least wait until she woke up to say goodbye. Then he could show her his werebear to prove that what he’d told her was true. He wanted her to know that her trust in him wasn’t misplaced.
He cared about what she thought, oddly enough. He couldn’t remember ever worrying so much about someone else’s opinion of him.
Emily murmured nonsense words and began to stir in his arms.
He kissed her forehead as she woke up. “Good morning,” he said.
She gave him a sleepy smile. “I thought you’d be gone by now to find your pack.”
“They’re my tribe, not my pack. And I wanted to tell you goodbye first.”
“Oh.” Her eyelashes fluttered downward. “You’re leaving, then.”
“I can’t stay.”
“I know.”
He wished she was less understanding. If she stomped her foot and demanded he stay with her it would give him one more excuse to put off leaving.
Emily wouldn’t hold him back from his tribe. She knew what it was like to lose people she cared about. Anthony’s feelings about his parents might be mixed, but he knew he cared about his tribe.
“I want to show you what it means to be a werebear before I go,” Anthony said. “Is there a forest nearby where we can be alone?”
Emily’s eyes widened. “I know a place. Are you sure about this? Didn’t you say it’s supposed to be a secret?”
“I don’t need to keep secrets from you.”
Emily had trusted him, and he was returning the favor by trusting her as well.
He wrapped his fingers around hers. Emily was radiating happiness. Her glow was infecting him until he couldn’t stop grinning at her. It was an incredible feeling.
Did she feel all her emotions this strongly and clearly? He could have found her in a snowstorm, no matter which emotion it was she was blasting out.
He wanted to keep her. There was nothing for her in Seattle, anyway. She hated both where she worked and where she lived. He could give her a new life, if he only dared to ask.
First he had to show her the bear and hope she didn’t run away screaming.
#
Emily had always loved spending time in the forest. No matter where she moved to, she always ended up knowing the location of every park and hiking trail.
Of course, she hadn’t done much hiking since she’d moved here. She’d rarely managed to overcome her apathy for long enough to try to feel the pleasure of walking through the dappled shade of a forest and drinking in the bird song. She’d still noted the location of the trails, though, so she knew exactly where to take Anthony.
Tertiary Park was a largely undeveloped area. The government bought it to turn it into a park, but they must have run out of funds afterward because it had been left as a large plot of land filled with trees and little else. It was open to the public and had no entry fee, but few people came here. There was nothing to see or do, which made it the perfect spot for Anthony and Emily to go unseen.
“I still don’t understand how this works,” Emily said as they made their way through the thick underbrush. Emily had put on jeans to avoid getting her legs too scratched up. “You transform into a bear? Aren’t bears bigger than humans? Where does the bear come from?”
“It’s magic,” Anthony said. His eyes were sparkling with good humor. “The laws of physics don’t exactly apply. Let’s just say it’s complicated.”
Emily wrinkled her nose. “That’s a brush off answer. Don’t you know anything about how your magic works?”
His shoulders tensed. “No. As I said, most of the shifters have died out, and our secrets were lost along with them. I’m the last bear shifter that I know of on this Continent. I might be the last in the world. The tribes aren’t very good at keeping in contact with each other, and we don’t have a census.”
“That’s awful,” Emily said. “Didn’t anyone write down the shifter secrets?”
“No. Shifters aren’t big on writing. Guess that one backfired on us, huh?”
Emily shook her head and concentrated on where she was placing her feet on the treacherous ground. It was so sad that an entire magical race could die out like that. “It must be lonely to be the last bear.”
Anthony paused before he answered. “Sometimes. I don’t feel lonely when I’m with you.”
Emily flushed. She felt the exact same way about him. She couldn’t explain it, the world just seemed better when he was around. She wasn’t quite as afraid of what might go wrong next. He made her feel like she could take whatever the world threw at her.
“Here,” Anthony said. They’d been walking for half an hour and were deep into the woods. Emily couldn’t even hear the sounds from the street anymore.
She wrapped her arms around herself and stood with her back to a tree. She didn’t want Anthony to know she was more than a little bit scared.
“You control your bear when you shift, right?”
Anthony smiled. “Of course. This isn’t a horror movie. When I change, I’ll still be me. Only my physical form will be altered.”
“Good.” Emily was still worried. She’d seen too many horror movies where the pretty girl gets torn apart by the transformed monster. But Anthony wasn’t a monster and she trusted him. He wouldn’t hurt her. He would have warned her if there was something she needed to be afraid of.
Anthony stepped back a few feet away from her and began removing his clothes.
Emily’s fear fled in the wake of lust. Damn, he was gorgeous. She could get on board with this transformation thing if it meant more naked time.
Anthony tossed her his clothes and Emily caught them. She piled them up on the ground beside her.
Then Anthony took another step back and began to change. It started with a ripple running down his arms, then up his legs. His skin tore itself apart and fur ripped its way out.
Emily pressed her hand hard over her mouth. It looked agonizing. She should never have asked him to do this.
The fur ruffled as if blown in a non-existent breeze. His body began to warp and grow. His bones crackled as they twisted into a new form. The transformation got faster as it went along and before Emily knew it, Anthony had transformed into the bear.
He was easily twice the size he had been as a man, which was saying something because he was a very big man. Emily had never been up close to a bear before, but he resembled what she’d seen in nature documentaries, though a good bit more deadly. He had long claws on the end of his paws and his teeth were sharper than a bear’s would have been.
“Anthony?” Emily whispered. He’d told her he would still be the same person, but she couldn’t help but see the monster.
The bear let out a grumble of agreement and nudged her with its massive, fuzzy head.
Emily knocked backward against the tree and laughed. He was still Anthony, not a monster at all.
Emily could hardly believe there was an entire tribe of shifters like him out there. She wondered how dangerous it would be for a human to go anywhere near the tribe.
She couldn’t really be thinking about asking Anthony to go with him, could she? On some level, it made sense. She didn’t want to stay here, and she wanted to be with Anthony. Why not go with him?
Because of the monsters
. Bah. The worst thing that could have happened to her had already happened. It would be difficult to be afraid of a tribe full of monsters after that. Besides, if they were all like Anthony she wouldn’t have anything to be afraid of.
Anthony shifted back into human form, the change quickly reversing itself. He grabbed his clothes off the ground and began pulling them on.
“Does it hurt?” Emily asked.
“Not exactly. Like I said, magic. It feels weird the first couple of times, but everyone gets used to it eventually. Every shifter, I mean.” Anthony finished pulling his clothes on and paused to study her. “What are you thinking about?”
Emily swallowed. “Is your tribe friendly toward humans?”
“I don’t know.” Anthony sighed and sat down. He patted the dirt beside him and Emily settled down by his side. “We’ve never had human in the tribe before. Mostly we prefer to stay secret. My parents were the only ones actively hostile to the humans in my tribe.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Emily. I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve been thinking about this. I want you to come with me, but it’s never been done before. I can’t promise you that it won’t be dangerous, but I can say that I will try to protect you. I want you to think about this before you answer.”
Emily chewed on her bottom lip. “I have been thinking about it. There’s nothing for me here. I want to go live with your tribe, danger or not.” She took a deep breath. “If you’ll have me.”
“Of course I’ll have you.” He laid his warm hand over hers. “Are you sure?”
She looked into his dark eyes and marveled at the depths she saw there. True, she hadn’t known him for very long, but she wanted to get to know him better. She wanted to know everything about him. The only way to do that was to stay with him. “Yes. I’m sure.”
He kissed her, his lips gentle against hers. It was a kiss of sheer adoration and Emily reveled in it. She could face whatever came next, as long as she had him by her side. Her days of apathy were over.
Emily felt giddy as she ran her hands over her wedding dress.
Wedding dress
. Back when she’d given up on life, she’d never thought she’d get to the point where she was a beautiful, blushing bride. She looked at herself in the full length mirror and beamed at her radiant image. She looked like the happiest woman in the world. Felt like it, too.
Her wedding dress was a soft white satin with lace and ribbon trimming. She looked like a fairy princess on her wedding day. It was appropriate, seeing as Emily was about to get married in the middle of the woods.
The tribe had had plenty of reservations about letting Emily into their midst. Letting in humans wasn’t done.
“Charm them,” Anthony had told her. “No one can resist you.”
Emily had rolled her eyes. He was always saying things like that, but no one else saw her in as positive a light as he did. Her charms must have worked, though, because the tribe had formally adopted her not long after. She suspected Anthony had done most of the charming, though. Despite the mess with his parents, it was clear that his tribe loved him.
So did Emily.
She wished she had jeans to wipe her sweaty palms on. The night before she must have had a dozen nightmares about tripping on her way down the aisle and looking like an absolute idiot in front of everyone. The bird shifters would have a heyday at her expense.
Emily took a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks. She could do this. If she was brave enough to toss aside her old human life and take up this new one, she was brave enough to walk down that aisle and marry the love of her life.
She stepped out into the anteroom and saw Anthony waiting for her.
“Anthony!” she hissed. “Isn’t it bad luck to see a bride right before you marry her?”
He grinned at her and did a slow once over of her figure.
Emily blushed. She loved it when he looked at her like that.
“Funnily enough, I’m not superstitious,” Anthony said. “I wanted to give you your wedding present a little early. You’re not going to back out on me, are you?” His eyes sparkled.
Emily smiled and took his hand. “Not a chance. You’re stuck with me.”
“Good.” He tugged on her hand. “This is a very special wedding present. Try not to scream.”
Why would she scream? Emily opened her mouth to say something, and then lost her breath as her sister walked into the room wearing a bridesmaid gown. “Mary?” Emily breathed.
Mary looked sheepish. “I’m sorry. I know a lot has happened between us, but I didn’t want to miss your wedding day.” Mary tugged on the large pink bow that belted the dress.
“But, how?” Emily said. “You left. I looked everywhere.”
“I know.” Mary wrapped her arms around herself. “After Mom and Dad died, I couldn’t stop blaming myself. I was the reason they were driving that night, and I wasn’t even in the car with them. I asked them to pick up some stupid nail polish and they died. It should have been me.”
“No.” Emily stepped forward and pulled her sister into her arms for the first time in a year. “It wasn’t your fault. No one knew what was going to happen.”
Mary nodded against her shoulder. When she spoke again, her voice was muffled by Emily’s wedding gown. “I know that now. I spent some time wandering, not getting anywhere, and then I got help. I checked myself into a hospital. The therapists there helped me understand what I was going through. I was getting ready to come looking for you when Anthony found me.” Mary sniffled and smiled up at her sister. “I can’t believe you’re getting married. You’re a beautiful bride. Fuck, I hope I didn’t smudge my makeup.”
Emily laughed and let her sister pull away. “Thank you. This is the best wedding present I could have asked for.”
Anthony wrapped an arm around Emily’s waist and squeezed her close. “I thought it would be.”
She kissed his cheek and let herself relax into her lover’s arms. Anthony knew her better than anyone. He’d become the guiding light of her life. She was so lucky to have run into him in Seattle and taken him up on the one night stand that had turned into a lifetime.
“So,” Emily said, turning to face him. “Shall we get married?”
Anthony linked his arm in hers. “After you.”
“Oh, no, I think the groom goes first.”
Anthony laughed and kissed her nose. “I love you.”
Emily grabbed his face and pulled him in for a proper kiss. She parted her lips and her tongue danced with his. He tasted like cinnamon and wild things growing in the sunshine. She couldn’t wait to be his forever.
She finally had to pull away to come up for air. She smiled at him. “Love you, too.”
“I know.” He brushed his lips across her cheek. “But feel free to prove it to me during the wedding night.”
“Hmm.” Emily tapped her finger against her lips teasingly. “So many ways to go about it.” She ran her hand up his arm, feeling the soft material of his suit jacket against his hard muscles. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
“Think very hard,” Anthony said. “Very, very hard.”
“I’ll focus on it the entire time I’m walking up the aisle. Promise.”
The wedding music began to play. Anthony gave her one last, lingering kiss. “That’s my cue. See you up there.”
She shoved him toward the door.
Emily felt like her entire body was glowing as she waited for her own cue. She was marrying the love of her life and spending the rest of her life happily ever after. She didn’t need any other wedding presents. She had everything she wanted now, and she knew Anthony could sense how complete her happiness was through his magical empathy.
She closed her eyes and focused on it to make sure he could sense it. “Happily ever after,” she whispered.
Her cue began to play.
After the wedding, Emily got her wedding night. She went back to the cabin she shared with Anthony early, giggling as she ran barefoot across the grass with the skirt of her wedding dress hiked up to her knees. She loved the cabin she shared with Anthony. It was separated out slightly from the rest of the tribe so that they could have their privacy. Werebears weren’t naturally pack creatures, so Anthony preferred a bit of solitude. Emily liked the separation as well. Being a human made her feel like an outsider sometimes, so she liked having a place that felt like it was just her and Anthony’s space.
She threw open the door of the cabin and tossed herself up onto their huge king sized bed. She wanted everything to be perfect for when Anthony got there.
“Play wedding night playlist,” Emily called breathlessly to the Bluetooth speakers by the bed. The speakers turned on and sultry music filled the air. Emily had spent the night before setting up the playlist while Anthony had gone out with his rowdy shifter friends. She had no idea what happened at shifter bachelor parties, and she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know.
Emily considered taking off her dress and greeting him naked, but she liked the idea of him ripping her wedding dress off her better, so she spent a few minutes arranging the skirts into a dramatic flair and trying out provocative poses.
“Have I told you yet that I’m the luckiest man in the world?” Anthony said as he walked through the door.
Emily jumped. The bed squeaked and jingled. One of Anthony’s friends must have sneaked in and put bells on the bedsprings. Anthony had warned her they might, but Emily hadn’t believed him. Well, if they wanted a little racket Emily was happy to deliver.
“I wasn’t expecting you back yet,” Emily said. “I’m still setting up.”
“If you set up any more, this will be the shortest wedding night on record.” He raised an eyebrow to make his meaning clear. Emily could already see how hard he was through his pants. She wiggled in place. She loved turning him on.
Anthony had a bottle of champagne in one hand. He closed the door behind him and poured them drinks. “I saw you slipping out and thought I’d follow. I’d much rather spend my wedding night with you then those bastards who calls themselves my friends.” He handed her a glass of champagne.
Emily deliberately let her fingers brush against his as she took it. She moved over to make room for him on the bed and it jingled again. “Bastards. You should get them back for this.”
“Just wait for their weddings. We’ll think of something even worse.”
Emily giggled and downed her champagne. The bubbles went straight to her head and tickled her nose. She should’ve drunk it more slowly, but she didn’t want to wait any longer to get to the good part of the night.
“I believe we have a marriage to consummate,” Emily said, setting the empty glass down on the side table.
“I believe you’re right.” Anthony placed the champagne bottle beside the bed with his own full glass beside it. He clearly didn’t want to wait either.
Good
. They could sip champagne and gossip about their wedding guests later. Right now Emily was wet and desperate to get her new husband inside of her body.
“Are you going to use this again?” Anthony pointed at her wedding dress.
Emily winked. “No.”
Fabric tore and buttons popped and flew across the room as he tore it off of her. The bed looked like a battlefield of lace and satin. Anthony ran his hands up her thighs and pulled them apart. “Beautiful.”
Emily shivered and laid back, her body buzzing with anticipation.
Anthony was fantastic with his tongue. Emily could hardly believe how multi-talented he was. He pressed his mouth to her pussy and began to torture her clit with slow, teasing strokes.
Emily moaned his name and buried her hands in his hair. She urged him on as she felt her orgasm rolling closer.
Anthony kissed her folds, then scraped his teeth across her clit.
Emily screamed and arched back on the bed as an orgasm stronger than any she’d ever had took her. “Anthony, Anthony,” she moaned as she writhed on the bed.
Anthony panted and sprawled out beside her. “At your service.”
Emily hummed with appreciation and tugged at his tie. “Take your clothes off and fuck me.”
“Have I told you yet that you’re the best wife ever?”
“No. But prepare to keep saying it.”
Anthony’s suit was a mess of buttons and knots, but between the two of them they had him out of it fast enough. Emily wrapped her hands around his throbbing erection. “I want this inside of me,” she said.
“Yes.” Anthony pushed her thighs apart and Emily wrapped her legs around his waist. His cock pressed against her entrance for one agonizing moment of anticipation before he plunged into her.
She loved the sound of her name on his lips and the way their flesh smacked together and came apart as they frantically fucked each other’s brains out. Emily enjoyed all aspects of their relationship, but she’d be lying if she said this part wasn’t her favorite.
Anthony brought her to orgasm again and again before he came himself, shooting out his seed deep inside of her. Emily felt the sticky cum slide over her thighs as he pulled back out.
“Can we make a baby?” Emily asked sleepily. He hadn’t told her yet whether shifters and human were even capable of conceiving together, but Emily very much hoped they could. She wanted a baby with Anthony’s eyes.
Anthony kissed his way across her forehead and down her nose. “Yes,” he whispered. “As many as you want.”
Emily opened her eyes and smiled at him. Her life was complete and she wanted to burst with happiness. “We should have sex every night to make sure it happens,” Emily said. “In fact, I think it might increase our odds if we do it twice a night. We can start by going again right now.”
“I love you,” Anthony said. His lips slid down her throat and found their way to her nipples.
Emily moaned as he sucked and tweaked her sensitive buds. “Or three times. That could be good too.”
“You’re going to kill me,” Anthony laughed.
“Oh, I think you’ll survive.”
“I suppose I can manage to have sex with my gorgeous wife as many times as she wants. You said you wanted to start right now?”
“Please.”
The bells jingled merrily all night, letting anyone nearby know that the happy couple was consummating their new marriage again and again and again.
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