Rowan winked. “Climb onto my back, little wren. You won’t regret it.”
In a flash, Rowan shifted. A massive grizzly with laughing eyes plonked down onto the ground, waiting.
When I made no move to climb on his back, the enormous grizzly huffed and rolled its eyes, making me bark a laugh. “Fine,” I grumbled. “But if you drop me, it’s open season on bears.”
He showed me his massive teeth and jerked his head, telling me to climb aboard.
What the hell. He was right. I should live a little. Who got to say they rode a grizzly and lived to tell the tale? I slipped off my gloves and climbed atop Rowan, something I never in a million years would have thought I’d do and held on while he adjusted, muscles rippling and contracting as he stood.
I gasped at how high above the ground I was. “Rowan. Do you want me to shift into wren form so I’m lighter? Or something else?”
He shook his enormous head back and forth.
“Are you sure?”
A nod.
“Alright then.”
My spine was rigid, white-knuckled hands clenching fistfuls of surprisingly soft and silky fur. Rowan walked for a bit, then stopped abruptly and twisted his head, gently snapping at my thigh.
“What?”
He snapped again, then nudged me. “Do you want me to let go?”
A head shake.
I stared at him, dumbfounded. “I have no idea what you want me to do. Shift?”
Another head shake.
He snapped at me again.
“Oh. Relax?”
A sigh and a nod.Yes.
“Easier said than done,” I grumbled.
Rowan leaned forward and settled his massive bulk on the ground once more.
“You…want me to lay down? On your back.”
Another nod.
Dammit, Rowan. “Will you stop grumbling at me if I do?”
Nod.
“Fine.”
Rowan lumbered to his feet and waited. I adjusted my position, finding it surprisingly easy because he was right. Hewaspositively massive. Soon enough, I was curled onto my side, my hands still holding onto his fur.
Not long after that, my eyes began to drift closed, Rowan’s gentle swaying motion lulling me into a much-needed rest.
Chapter
Five
