“Need to?”
“I told you, you're mine now.”
“And I told you that I need to leave.”
Vivica was inching to the side, hoping that she would get a few seconds’ head start. Vivica wasn’t sure what that was going to do, but she was hopeful that she could get out of there, find someone as a witness, and then Shane wouldn’t be able to do whatever horrible things that he was planning.
Shane moved with lightning speed and was in front of her in moments. Shane was cutting her off before she even got started.
Then, he was pushing her against the wall, pinning her with his own body and a strength that she quickly realized she was no match against. She pushed on him once or twice, but then gave up. She wasn’t going anywhere, until he wanted her to.
“What do you want?” Vivica’s eyes were glistening with tears. Shane was bringing back too many feelings of fear. She didn’t know what to think of any of it, of him. Vivica was convinced that Shane could see through her and she looked away.
“I just want to talk to you.” His voice softened.
“I can't talk to you like this, Shane. I can’t think when you are all up on me like this.”
He backed up a little bit and he had a frown on his face. “You certainly weren't worried about it when I was inside of you. I was all up on you, and you were just fine with it.”
Her face was turning red, heat running down her neck. “That was before...”
Vivica couldn't even bring herself to say it out loud. She didn't even know what the hell ‘it’ was, so how could she ever name it? She didn’t even know what to name it to herself, when the whole time she was trying to forget all about it. Vivica's head was spinning. She was trying her best to stay with it, but when she was near him, his body touching hers, rubbing against her, it was damn near impossible. She was convinced that he was trying to make her go crazy.
“That's before you found out what I am?”
“I don't even know what you are, Shane.”
He smiled and had a little bit of a proud expression on his face. She could tell that he wasn’t going to pretend that she didn’t know. Vivica was waiting for answers, even if she was scared to death of them.
“I am a bear shifter from an ancient, royal line that has lived in this area for centuries.”
Vivica didn’t even know what to say to all of that. She was trying to break down the sentence, it was only a few words but there was so much meaning behind them, that she couldn't even get her brain to comprehend it all. She knew all of the words individually, but put together in a sentence, she was lost. Bear shifter? Ancient, royal? Centuries? What did all of that mean?
“What is a bear shifter?”
“I am a man that can turn into a bear.”
“A bear? So, it’s like being a werewolf?”
He sighed, shaking his head. “Why is that what everybody goes to? Yes, like a werewolf. You know, shifters turn into all kinds of things. They do a couple of movies about wolves and now that is all that everybody thinks about. It's kind of frustrating you know. They aren’t even on the top of the pile.”
Vivica thought that her head was spinning before, but now she was starting to truly feel lightheaded. If he hadn’t been there, she would have melted to the floor. Vivica fainted, for the first time in her life. It was like her mind went on overload and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Bear shifter???
Chapter 18
Shane
When Vivica fainted in his arms, he felt guilty about all of it. It was just too much for her. It was too much for any human and that was why shifters didn't reveal themselves to anyone. He had revealed himself to someone before and it had turned out horribly. Shane had followed the rules of staying away from humans after that. He’d lived among the humans for so long, that Shane knew that he had to keep himself under wraps. He had done such a good job of it, but with her, she had slipped through his blinders. He really hadn't seen her coming.
Shane thought that she would come to after a few minutes. He put her in his truck, just because he didn't know what else to do with her. She didn’t even act like she was going to faint, and after about 10 minutes, he decided that he would take her home.
He’d meant everything that he said about her being his mate. It wasn't like she didn't have a choice, she did. But he didn't. He was mated to her forever and he could pick no one else now. That was his way. What she chose to do with it, a decision that she was going to have to make, there wasn’t much that he could do about that. All he could do was wait and wonder what her decision was going to be.
They were almost to his place before she finally opened her eyes. She looked around for a moment, jerked upright, and asked where they were going. No doubt, she had many ideas of what would happen there and by the expression on her face, none of them were going to be any good. Shane tried to calm her down, but she just kept asking the same questions over and over again. Where were they going? What was he going to do with her?
Shane was dismayed by her questions and her obvious lack of trust, and he wasn’t sure how to answer. He was hurt that she feared him. Shane knew the reason and it made sense, but to see his mate with fear in her eyes was more than Shane wanted to ever see. It hurt him to see her like that just as much.
