She blinked a few times, sure her eyes were deceiving her, but a bear he was, and a bear he stayed. What the actual hell.
“This is impossible,” she breathed.
The bear, who was standing on all fours, let out a little rumble, his gaze lifting to stare at her.
“Oh, crap.” She swallowed hard, staring at the incredible animal and really, really hoping that it wasn’t hungry right about now. Except, well…that Sloane guy had said it was still him, right? And that he’d never hurt her?
She watched as his nose twitched like he was scenting the air, then he chuffed and moved closer before sitting down at her feet. She was lost for words.
“Wow, look at you,” she said, reaching out tentatively to touch his fur.
She expected it to be rough and coarse, but it was incredibly soft. The bear let out another chuffing sound and leaned into her touch, his eyes closing in evident pleasure.
“Oh, you like that, huh?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear—because what else did you say when a man turned into a giant polar bear, and then acted like an overgrown Golden Retriever?
What a completely bizarre turn of events. Ray shook her head, incredulous. And there she’d been thinking that being kidnapped was the craziest thing that would happen to her all day. But nope, apparently everything she’d thought she knew about the world was completely wrong.
…And yet, she found she liked this new, crazy world far more than the old one. It was a far more complex place than she had believed it to be, but it was beautiful.Hewas beautiful. She spent a little while staring at the incredible beast and running her fingers through his fur, then the animal sat back again, and Ray knew by the weird little shimmer around his body that he was shifting back into his human form. Sure enough, a moment later, Sloane was staring up at her.
“Still think I’m crazy?” he asked with a grin.
She let out a burst of laughter. “No, but I thinkImight be.”
“You aren’t,” he said.
He pulled on his clothes again, but this time Ray didn’t avert her gaze and Sloane was not shy, in any shape or form. Neither was he small. Anywhere.
“So, you were going to explain to me what you meant when you said I’m your mate?” she asked in an effort to stop gawping at his incredible body.
“Yeah.” He nodded then got to his feet and took a seat on the sofa next to her again. “And this is the awkward part.”
She spluttered a laugh. “You mean shifting into a giant polar bear was completely normal?”
“Point taken,” he said. “But this is slightly more…personal, I guess you could say.”
Ray wasn’t sure what could be more personal than getting naked in front of a complete stranger and then changing into a different species in front of them, but she supposed she was about to find out.
“So, you know how some animals mate for life?” Sloane said.
Ray nodded. “Sure.”
“Well, so do shifters.” He stared at her as if he was waiting for her to clue in.
Her eyes widened when she caught on to his meaning. “And you think I’m that person for you—your mate?”
“I don’t think,” he said. “I know. I knew it before I’d even set eyes on you.”
“How?”
“Your scent. I caught a trace of it when my brother and I were walking to the bar and I followed it around the corner, and there you were.”
“Wow. Wait, that was your brother?”
“Yeah, why?”
She grinned sheepishly. “I thought he was your accomplice.”
“Myaccomplice?” Sloane sputtered.
