Despite the silver bracelet, I woke the next morning stuck in a partial shift with my pajama pants on the floor in pieces, the bracelet digging into my arm and a big, furry ursine butt hanging over the edge of the bed. Far from feelings of remorse, all I was reading from my beast was that he was full on pissed off.
“I already told you that it’s not my fault,” I hissed under my breath as I struggled to center myself enough to regain full control. “You can’t just claim him. Consent is a fucking thing!”
“Dane? Are you talking to me?” At Shelly’s confused voice outside my door, the bear and I both groaned but for different reasons.
“No,” I called back. “Just trying to talk some sense into this damn bear.”
A tap came on the door and I hesitated too long before answering, because Shelly pushed it open. “Are you..” he trailed off, eyes wide. He clapped a hand over his mouth but wasn’t able to stifle a snort-laugh. “Oh, my.”
I snarled under my breath, even crankier since the damn bear had perked up happily at Shelly’s entrance.
“Sorry,” Shelly managed to choke out from behind his hand. “I, um, didn’t mean to laugh.”
“It’s fine,” I sighed, dropping my head back to the pillow and closing my eyes. “Maybe he’ll listen to you.” Yeah, I was sulking.
“Bear,” Shelly scolded, his scent washing over me as he took a couple of steps closer to my bed. “You are being very naughty. I am very cross with you.”
I rolled my eyes inwardly as the freaking bear lowered his ears in submission and whined. Brat.
“I’m going to count to three,” Shelly said, gentling his tone a little. “And then I want you to let Dane come all the way around, okay?”
Another freaking whine had me huffing in annoyance.
“One. Two. Three.”
The damn bear gave a giant sigh and relaxed back, relinquishing the control he’d wrenched away during the night. It wasn’t until the fur receded and I felt the breeze from the ceiling fan on my ass that I remembered I was naked.
Stellar start to the day.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, trying to pull the covers out from under me without flashing my naked body at Shelly.
“Let me,” Shelly offered, somehow managing to tug the blankets up over me with no effort at all. “Have you thought about maybe shifting more often? Give him a little more freedom?”
I snorted. “Right now, that is not the problem,” I said sourly. “He wants something he can’t have but he’s determined not to believe me.”
“Oh. Okay.” Shelly gave me a sad smile. “Well, I’ll give you some privacy.” Then more quietly and clearly not for my actual ears. “Bye, Bear. Be good.”
And the damned beast all but rolled over for belly rubs.
When the door closed behind Shelly, I pulled a couple more silver bands from my nightstand and slid them onto my arm along with the now misshapen one from the night before.
“Just in case you get anymore bright ideas,” I groused under my breath. “You annoying giant furball.”
The string of snarls that came in return were as close to cursing as the bear could get but there was no doubt he was just as over dealing with me as I was with him.
~*~
The knock at my office door had me clinging to my last strands of patience. The doors wouldn’t be opened to the students for another thirty minutes which meant it was almost definitely one of my well-meaning buttinski friends.
Sure enough, Myke Kravets shoved the door open when I called out for them to enter, but his usually laid-back demeanor was stiff and there was no sign of his usual trademark grin.
“Damn, you look like shit,” he blurted out.
“Thanks,” I said with a shrug. “Rough night.”
Myke looked down at my wrist and then did a doubletake. “Three bands?”
I shrugged. “Damn bear keeps trying to break free. This morning I was stuck halfway and he wouldn’t back down.”
