My heart sank. So I was right. Iwasholding him back from his life. My cheeks heated up in shame.
"You should've told me sooner," I said. "In that case, don't let me stop you. I'll be fine here. You should go do whatever it is you need to do."
Bear turned around and glared at me, shaking his head. "I am not leaving you here alone." He spelled out the last word for emphasis.
Well, this was frustrating. Now that I knew I was a burden on Bear, I was annoyed at myself. How could I get myself into such a stupid situation in the first place? As a prey animal, I was usually careful when I walked alone, but I was so heated after my argument with Lupa that I lost my head. Now I was paying the price by being in a scenario I hated the most—one that utterly exposed my weakness as a deer omega.
I exhaled loudly, burying my face in my hand. Gods, I sucked. I didn't deserve Bear’s kindness.
"I should just go," I stated.
Embarrassed and ashamed of myself, I stood up intending to storm out of the hollow and let Bear get on with his life.
But I underestimated how badly I'd been injured. One step sent a sharp, bright pain through my chest. Taken off guard, I stumbled.
Bear moved faster than a man his size should've been able to move. If he hadn't lunged and caught me, my head would've knocked against the wall.
The cold spike of fear sent adrenaline rushing through my veins. I gasped and caught my breath in Bear's arms.
Holy shit. Could I embarrass myself any worse today?
"Sorry," I mumbled. "That was stupid of me."
Bear couldn't reply since his hands were busy holding me, but he shook his head. The hard edge in his expression was gone. There was only concerned sympathy in his warm brown eyes now.
They really were beautiful. I couldn't stop looking into them. His skin was warm and he smelled amazing, too.
A sudden thought hit me. I felt safe in Bear's strong arms. I didn't want him to let me go. I wanted him to keep holding me.
My cheeks heated up. Why was I thinking about this? It was inappropriate. Just because Bear was an alpha and I was an omega didn't give me free reign to crush on him so hard.
Oh, great. Now I was admitting to myself that I had a crush on him.
With great care, Bear gently eased me back to the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I only hurt my pride."
His mouth quirked into a lopsided grin. "If you're going to hurt yourself again, I'm glad it's only that."
"I swear I'm usually a lot more graceful than this."
"I believe you."
I smiled back.
Bear's gaze fell to the ground, then he glanced up at me shyly and asked, "Do you still want to go back home? We can leave tonight. I'll carry you on my back."
His offer surprised me. That was an option I hadn't considered. To be honest, the idea of lying on Bear's strong, fuzzy back was cute. I stifled a laugh at the mental image of me clinging to him like he was an oversized, carnivorous horse.
"No, that's okay, but thank you for the offer," I said. "I'll wait until I can walk on my own two feet. Or four."
Bear let out a soft chuff of laughter. It tickled me to hear such a small, sweet sound coming out of a huge, muscular man.
Maybe I had been wrong about Bear this whole time. He wasn't hot and cold at all. In fact, he was just like me—too stubborn to admit when something was bothering him, choosing to deal with it himself instead of just communicating.
Well, I was sick of that. If we were going to be in each other's presence until I healed, we needed to be open and honest with one another.
Except maybe the part about my crush. I fully intended on keeping that to myself.
