I blushed.
I know he was in bear form, but did he just kiss me?
Before my mind could wrap itself around what just happened, Bear shifted into human form and signed in a hurry. "Thank you so much, Ashe, I don't know what I would've done if you weren't here, I would've had a heart attack and died, and no one would know or care, and—"
"Whoa, slow down—"
"Just like they always do, except for you, I don't know why, but you're different than everybody else—"
The earth vibrated beneath me. I still couldn't get Bear to slow down.
"Bear, hang on."
His hands moved in a flurry as he kept signing."And I shouldn't have gotten irritated with you earlier, I was being stupid, but I'm a coward and—"
He was gesturing so fast I almost couldn't keep up with him. The ground shook again, harder this time.
"Do you feel that?" I asked.
His hands paused and he blinked, finally noticing it.
A crack like thunder filled the air. The crevice exploded, jutting out towards us.
Then the earth split open and we fell.
12
Bear
I should've been afraid.
But I wasn't.
Maybe I'd used up all my fear when I was stuck in the crevice. But now, during the free fall, my only concern was Ashe. I needed to protect him. He had only just recovered from his injuries. If he got hurt now, away from my healing herbs, I didn't know if I would be able to fix him this time. I refused to let that happen.
My body acted on instinct. I shifted as soon as we dropped, still wrapping my arms around Ashe and his fragile body. My thick fur and strong muscles would protect him. It didn't matter if I got banged up in the process.
We hit the ground with a thud. We were surrounded on all sides by dark earthy walls, which were too steep to climb back up. Light filtered in through the crack above, allowing us to see each other. We were in an underground pit.
I slowly got up. A dull pain throbbed in my side, but it was manageable.
"Bear?" Ashe's cry was frantic.
His hands flew to my neck, checking for a pulse. It tickled. I let out a huff of laughter to let him know I was alive.
He let out a massive sigh. "Oh, thank the gods. Shit, are you okay?"
I gingerly touched my side. No major damage except for the dull throbbing from the impact. Turns out all that extra fat and fur was good for something after all.
I shifted to human form and quickly dusted the dirt off my chest."I'm fine. What about you?"
"I'm okay." He blew out a shaky breath. "What the hell just happened?"
Frowning, I looked above."Don't know. The ground opened up and swallowed us,"I signed, ignoring the chill that ran through me.
"Like an earthquake?"
I shrugged. I was trying not to think too hard about it.
