He let go of her hand and stepped back, creating a distance between them. His eyes never left hers as he drank in the sight of her. His mate, his love, standing in the moonlight with snowflakes settling on her hair.
“Trust me,” he said, the final words before he surrendered to the change.
For one suspended heartbeat, the world seemed to hold its breath with him. The night stilled, the snow drifted more slowly, even the forest quieting as if it knew what was coming.
The air around him crackled and popped, charged with ancient magic as old as the mountains themselves. For one heartbeat, James Pike ceased to exist in human form. Then, where the man had stood, a massive bear appeared. Dark furgleaming in the moonlight, his powerful shoulders hunched slightly as if in deference to her.
Doreen didn’t move. She stood frozen, her face unreadable in the silvery light. James wasn’t even sure she was breathing as she stared at him, her eyes wide and fixed.
The bear lowered his head and huffed softly, sending a cloud of silvery vapor into the night air. Then, he took one cautious step forward.
Still, she didn’t move.
With deliberate slowness, the bear closed the distance between them. When he reached her, he gently nudged her hand with his snout, a gesture both supplication and invitation.
Doreen exhaled sharply, blinking as if waking from a trance. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, but she didn’t run. Didn’t scream. Instead, with trembling fingers, she lifted her hand and cupped the bear’s cheek, stroking the thick fur with surprising tenderness.
“You’re... soft,” Doreen whispered, her voice shaky but curious. She ran her fingers through the thick fur around his neck, gaining confidence with each stroke.
The bear leaned into her touch, eyes closing in pure bliss as he rubbed his head against her thigh. Why had he feared this moment so much? Why had he doubted the strength of the mate bond?
It didn’t matter now. His fears had been unfounded. But his happiness…that was real, solid, expanding through him with every gentle stroke of her fingers against his fur.
Her touch sent electric currents through him, and he couldn’t help pushing his snout deeper into her palm. Why had he spent sleepless nights worrying about this moment? It all seemed ridiculous now.
“James?” she whispered, her voice shaky but curious. “Is it really you?”
The bear rumbled low in his throat, a sound of affirmation.
“This is... impossible,” she breathed, her fingers stroking hesitantly at first, then with growing certainty, as if testing whether he was truly solid beneath her touch. “But I’m not dreaming, am I?”
The bear shook his massive head slowly.
A small, breathless laugh escaped her. “I should be terrified,” she said, wonder replacing fear in her eyes. “But I’m not. I feel like... like I’ve been waiting for this. Like some part of me already knew.”
The bear’s ears pricked forward, listening intently to every word.
“Can you... change back?” she asked. “I have so many questions.”
The air crackled again, and where the bear had stood, James reappeared, still leaning slightly into her touch. Her hand now rested against his human cheek, and he covered it with his own, holding it there.
“I have so many answers,” he said softly. “And all the time in the world to give them to you.”
Doreen stared at him. Her expression was a beautiful mix of wonder and confusion. “You’re a bear,” she stated simply.
“Yes.”
“And that’s... normal? For you?”
“It’s who I am,” he replied. “What I am. A shifter.”
Snow continued to fall around them, each flake catching moonlight as it drifted down. The silence stretched between them, not uncomfortable but filled with unspoken questions.
“There’s something else,” James said, taking both her hands in his, hoping she would not pull away now. “Something even more important than what I am.”
Doreen raised her eyebrows, a small smile tugging at her lips. “More important than turning into a bear? This I have to hear.”
“You’re my mate,” he said simply. “My one. The person I’ve been waiting for my entire life.”
