Now holdon just a gods-damned minute.
Two thoughts blared in my mind like neon signs: one, the hottest, sexiest man I had ever seen in my life was standing in front of me right now. Two, why the hell had Bear been hiding the fact that he was a shifter from me?
I sputtered, gesturing with my hands in confusion. "Wait, wait. So you've been a shifter this entire time?"
Bear nodded in the same slow, deliberate way he did when he was—well, a bear.
Except now he was less of a shaggy beast and more like a bear of a man. He was huge, with broad shoulders, strong neck, a muscular chest, and bulging biceps. He wasn't quite as hairy as the animal he took his name from, but sported a healthy amount of hair on his arms, legs and belly. The dark brown hair on his head was thick and inviting, making me want to run my fingers through it.
Which was a very weird thing to think about somebody I had just met.
Oh, and there was also the nakedness. Even though wild shifters weren't strangers to nudity, I avoided looking between Bear's legs. Ifthatmatched the rest of his body, then the thought of what lay there made my head spin.
I was right after all. He was a shifter. So why wasn't he speaking to me?
Bear seemed cautious in a way that he hadn't been before. Did something change? Maybe he wasn't used to being in his human form. Certain members of our pack used to live in human societies, where apparently some shifters lived in hiding, never assuming their animal form. I supposed the opposite could be true for some individuals.
Though why anyone would want to hide a body like his was beyond me.
Bear stared at the floor. A mashed up paste of herbs lay on top of a leaf in front of him. He worked them into his fingers. I assumed he was going to put them on me. Before that, I wanted answers.
"Wait," I said as Bear reached for me. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
Bear flinched. A cold shadow fell over his expression. My gut flipped. Immediately I knew I'd said something wrong. I'd slipped up a couple times already, saying things that obviously bothered him, but this comment affected him the worst.
In an aggravated motion, Bear flung the paste back down and sat back on his legs. Then his hands moved in an intricate manner in front of his chest. After a moment, it was over. He put his hands down on his thighs and sighed in frustration.
Hang on. Where had I seen that before? It took me a second before recognition caught up with me. Then I felt like a complete and utter idiot for not realizing sooner.
"Oh," I said. "You're signing, aren't you?"
Bear's eyes flew wide open. He nodded, then frantically signed another gesture. "Yes."
He signed a longer statement. I watched his hands carefully. My mind lagged, not picking it up quite as fast as vocalized speech, but I got the jist of it.
"You can understand me?" Bear asked.
"Yeah, I can," I said.
Bear grinned, his whole face lighting up. He looked like a completely different person when he smiled. My heart clenched and a soft, fuzzy sensation fluttered in my chest.
His hands flew as he signed. As much as I concentrated, some of his gestures went over my head. They were ones I'd never seen before. He was also signing faster than my Uncle Sage could speak—which was stupidly fast—and I was having trouble keeping up.
"Sorry, can you slow down?" I asked awkwardly. "I understand you, but you kind of have an accent."
Bear's hands paused. He raised a brow, looking amused. "I have an accent?"
I appreciated the fact that he slowed down for my benefit. Each gesture was crystal-clear this time.
"Sort of," I said. "My cousin Starry is mute and she signs, too. I'm used to her cadence but not yours yet."
"You have a relative who signs? So that's how you understand me."
I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. "Though I don't understand some of your gestures. You might have to explain those to me."
Bear was still smiling. "I never learned the proper way, so I could be wrong. Some things I had to make up myself."
I smiled back. It was impossible not to when he looked so cute. "It was the same way with Starry. Since we're wild, she couldn't exactly hop over to the closest human school to learn. All we had was this old book on sign language. But we lost it a long time ago."
