The Right to a Bear's Arms (A BBW Shifter Romance) (Wolf Rock Shifters) (9 page)

F
or all of his desire and frustration building, he was at peace, though. He knew that she was his. He had only to be patient, he supposed, and let her begin to understand what was abundantly clear to him: he would be with her. He would be inside her, fucking her, her face looking at his, her pleasure written all over it. His sole goal would be to render her body a bundle of ecstatic nerve endings, each of which would react to his touch, to his tongue on her, to his mouth. He would make her come in waves, over and over again, and she would experience sensations that she’d never known. But it was up to her to decide if it would happen, and when.

That dress that she wore was loo
se and flowing, and it drove Colson mad. Occasionally where it opened in the front, a little bit of fabric would betray her and slide down, and he knew that under it was nothing but naked flesh. He could see the roundness of her breasts even now, while she sat and chastised him for being here, for providing her with a home. He didn’t mind, though. He would build her the Taj Mahal if it meant a chance to be with her, and endure twenty years of her protests if it meant that the end result would be their two bodies entwined.

But despite all of his
physical desire and his occasional raging hard-ons when he thought about her in private moments, he wanted most to look after her and to provide for her. He felt that she needed it in spite of her protests. She needed him.

“I’m going to leave now,” he said, rising and hoping that his cock would find a way to calm itself. He had little doubt that she could see the effect that she had on him
, but somehow he didn’t mind.

Zoe stood as well, unsure of what to do.
She tried not to let her eyes settle on the far-too-alluring bulge in the front of Colson’s jeans.

“Okay,” she said. “I suppose I should thank you for this.” She gestured to the wood under her feet. “
To be honest, I’m still not sure how you managed it.”

“Don’t thank me. Everyone around here needs a home, and if you make the choice to live in a tree, far be it from me to deny you the pleasure.”

“Still,” said Zoe, attempting the unfamiliar trait of graciousness, “it’s not your job to provide me with one.”

“Yes, it is.
And one of these days you’ll begin to see that.”

With that,
Colson began the climb down. He remained in human form, knowing that it was a safer bet to get him down than his large bear. He left his supplies behind on the platform, knowing that he’d be back to do more work. Zoe didn’t protest, and he took this as encouragement. Knowing her, the fact that she didn’t drop a hammer on his head as he descended was a very good sign that he was slowly making progress.

On the Monday when she was to go to the “school” to meet with Kyla and Maddox, Zoe wandered down the main street looking for some new clothing to replace the dress which, though comfortable and amazingly durable, wouldn’t suffice as her only piece of apparel.

The shops in Wolf Rock largely catered to shifters, meaning that the women’s clothes were made for ladies with curves, and made to come away from the body in moments when an animal form would be necessary.

Zoe settled on a few new dresses, some jeans and shirts and, perhaps most enjoyably, selected some sexy underwear. For shifters, this was a luxury; panties and bras tended to get destroyed in moments of passionate transformation. But something in her wanted to know that, though she was covered up in practical clothing, underneath it all was the silk and lace that made her feel like a woman.

She’d never covered this body; she’d always shopped for tall, thin forms in stores designed for human women. But coating her full breasts in lace made her feel somehow sexier than she ever had as a skinny woman. She looked in the changing room mirror at the dark pink nipples which showed through the bra and felt them harden with the thought of Colson’s mouth exploring her.

“Oh God, stop thinking about him,” she told herself.

She made her purchases, threw them into her satchel and followed the directions to the school that Kyla had given her.

It wasn’t what she expected; she was accustomed to thinking of schools as brick prisons built to keep children out of trouble. But this was really just forest. Only the occasional small flag stuck into the ground denoted a sort of general area which the children were meant to stay in; other than that, Zoe found herself in a place of natural beauty, surrounded by mountains and streams.

Students
ran about, playing games with each other. Some of them were old enough to shift, which they did with the typical awkwardness of a self-conscious child changing behind a blanket at the beach. Shelters had been built for the express purpose of shifting into and out of their animal forms, and extra clothing was provided for the students who had ‘accidents,’ and forgot to take off their clothes before changing.

Zoe could already see when she arrived that among the students
was a sort of support network. They encouraged one another, even if they were too young to be able to change yet, and when a child emerged in animal form from their shelter, the others greeted it happily and with genuine enthusiasm.

The younger children who
were likely to remain only in human form for a few years to come spent time with teachers like Maddox and Kyla, who worked with them, teaching them about the woods, how to catch fish, how to create traps, even. These were viewed more as problem-solving techniques than anything else. Each child was made to feel self-sufficient and independent, but also given skills which would help them to contribute to their community.

Kyla and Maddox sat Zoe down on the ground for a chat while the children worked with other adults.

“As I work with them,” Kyla told Zoe, “I watch them for special abilities. These sometimes manifest before the shifting does. And they can be even more frightening, like the ability to see as I do. One kid, a few years ago, could camouflage himself. It was amazing. When we’d play hide and seek he’d literally disappear. It took ages to find him because he didn’t know what he’d done. He was terrified when we did finally come upo him. But all these skills are important to develop, and even more than that, we need to get the kids understanding that it’s not that there’s something wrong with them. It’s that they have gifts.”

“And so I’ll be doing that sort of thing? Figuring them out?” asked Zoe, a lit
tle frightened at the prospect.

“My plan is to set you up with children who’ve been assessed as having anxiety.
”

“So the ones who are like me,” laughed Zoe.

“Yeah, actually. Because you’ll understand what they need. The kids you’ll work with already know their abilities but are frightened or unsure of what to do with them. The common thing about all kids is that they tend to want to be like their friends and siblings, so sometimes they try and hide their skills away, like they’re ashamed. We want you to help them to understand that there’s nothing wrong with them.”

“But how can I help?
I hide away more than anyone does,” she said, meaning it in more ways than one.

“Like we’ve said before,” said Maddox, “j
ust access the memories of your childhood and imagine what would have helped you, Zoe. Think about how to make these kids feel loved and supported. If you need to, think about what you didn’t have. And give it to them. You are a guardian. You have experience. You can help.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will,” said Kyla. This gave Zoe confidence. If anyone could see the future, it was her.

They walked over to a little boy who was sitting alone on the grass in a clearing.
Kyla looked at Zoe and nodded, as if to say, “Go for it.’

Zoe approached the boy and said
quietly, “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

The little boy, who was blond and blue-eyed, said, “I suppose not.”

Zoe sat down on the grass, her knees pulled up under her chin.

“What are you doing here, all alone?” she asked.

“Just sitting.”

“Were you thinking?”

“Yeah.”

“About what?”

“You.”

Zoe gasped and then laughed. This was a strange response.

“Why were you thinking about me?”

“Because
you’re sad that a bad man wants to hurt you.”

“Oh my God,” she said quietly. “How do you know that?”

“Because I can feel it. I can feel your fear.” He looked up at her, his large eyes calm and gentle. “I saw you talking to the teachers and I knew that you were scared. I could sense it from over here.”

“Can you feel what everyone around you feels?”

“Most of the time. It’s strange, I know,” he said, pulling a piece of grass out of the ground and peeling it apart.

“Do you feel it too? I mean, if a person is sad, do you feel sad?”

“I suppose. I feel sad for them,” he said. “I want to help but sometimes I can’t.”

“And how does that make you feel?” Zoe suddenly felt like a highly underqualified therapist.

“Helpless, I guess. I don’t like when people are sad.” he said.

“I know what it’s like to feel helpless. I feel like that a lot.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“But you don’t right now.”

“No, right now I feel a little hopeful
, actually. And I hope that I can be helpful. I hope you don’t feel all alone.”

“I don’t, not right now. What’s your name?”

“Zoe. What’s yours?”

“Conner.”

“Conner, what’s your animal going to be when you’re older?”

“I’m a wolf. That is, I’m going to be one soon.
I’m nine. My mom says that probably in a couple of years I’ll change for the first time.”

“A wolf
and a protector. That’s a good combination, like Tristan,” she said.

“But
you
don’t want protection. You’d rather not have it.” He looked at her again. There was a sincerity in his face that made Zoe want to cry; he was so innocent and yet so wise.

“It’s complicated. I don’t want to rely on people. And I don’t want them controlling my life.”

“But protection comes in all sorts of ways. You need to be protected, Zoe. You need people, to help you to stop hurting.”

“Well, this is ironic,” she laughed.

“What does that mean?”

“It means it’s a little surprising that I was coming here to help you, and you’re helping me.”

“I am?” He smiled now, a mouth full of missing teeth lighting up his face.

“Y
es, of course you are.”

“I never helped anyone. I always stay away from people because I’m worried that I’ll scare them.”

“Now, how could a handsome little boy like you scare anyone?”

“Because I’m different.”

“We’re all of us different, Conner,” said Zoe. “We’re like snowflakes. No two are the same. But that’s okay, you know. Shifters are special.”

“What makes you different?” he asked.

“You don’t know?’

“No, I mostly
feel emotions coming off of people. I don’t read your mind or anything like that.”

“But you knew a man wanted to hurt me. How did you know that?”

“I don’t know. I guess I felt that you were afraid of someone.”

“Well, that’s a little like reading a mind. Conner, you should work on this. You should let yourself breathe and sit back and see how much you can learn from people. You know, that’s what Kyla does and she’s very good at it.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“But I still don’t know what makes you different,” he said.”

“
Well, I can change. Into almost anything.”

“Really? Wow,” he said, e
longating the “ow” sound with the breathy voice of a stunned child. Zoe wanted to laugh at how excited he became at the thought of her abilities.

“You know, I was scared of this ability
, all my life. I never felt right.”

“But you feel better now,” he said.
“You’re starting to like it.”

“Yeah, I’m getting there.”

“You’re starting to see that it’s a privilege to have this gift…” Conner’s voice changed in that moment, growing distant. There was a wisdom and a maturity in it now, as though he was speaking through someone else. “…and to appreciate how special it makes you.” With that he began to pull the blade of grass apart again, seeming to revert to the boy he’d been a moment earlier.

“Yes, you’re right,” said Zoe.
“And I hope I can help you to see how special you are. You know, you have what we call empathy. Most people have it a little, but it’s rare to feel it as much as you do. You just need to learn to use it. You can help your pack with it, you know, when you’re older.”

“How do I do that?”

“It’s very important to be able to read others, so that you know what’s coming. And you can do that. You can tell if they’re good or bad. You can warn people.”