For most of my life, men haven’t been something I’ve thought about.Romance hasn’t been on my radar.After making it through school, I wanted to see the world.Instead, I got stuck in the cult.Then, the only thing I focused on was escaping, on surviving.
Now I’m standing in a cabin with a giant bear shifter who smiles at me like I’m the most important thing in the world and finding it harder and harder to leave.
Roxie gestures toward the couch.“Come sit with us.Boys, you go away.”
Logan looks like he wants to argue, but Christian grabs him and drags him into the kitchen to give us some privacy.
“So…” Roxie says gently as I perch on the edge of the armchair.“How are you feeling?”
I think about it, taking stock of my sore body and my mood.“Better.”
“Good.”Roxie smiles.
“The cult got you too?”Quinn asks.
I tense.“Too?”
She nods.“A few people in town have had… issues with them.They shot me.”
My mouth drops.“Shot?”
“I was alone on a hike.”She chuckles wryly.“Last time I did that.”
“They took me too.My mate saved me,” Roxie says.
“I’m sorry you went through that,” I say sincerely.
She smiles, leaning over to squeeze my hand.
I bite back a smile as Logan cranes his neck to check on me from the kitchen.
“So, you have a mate too?”I ask Roxie.
“Yep.Abe.He’s the best,” she sighs, swooning in her seat.
“You have questions, I’m sure,” Quinn says.
“Uh, yeah.I don’t—It’s hard to wrap my head around any of this.”
“It’s a lot to process,” Roxie agrees.
“What did Logan tell you about shifters and fated mates?”Quinn asks.
“Um, just that we’re meant to be, and he can turn into a bear.I guess he said more, but all I can remember is him shifting and me running from a bear.”
“Men,” Roxie sighs.“Honestly, Abe wasn’t much better.Though I don’t know a good way to explain all of this either, I guess.”
“Yeah,” Quinn agrees.“It’s hard to believe without seeing it, but it’s still jarring.”
“For real,” I mumble.
“Well, shifters are real,” Roxie begins.“Wolves, bears, coyotes, birds, rabbits.Basically, all kinds of animals.Most people in Night Grove Falls are shifters and part of the pack here.”
“Okay.”I nod.
“Shifters have fated mates,” Roxie continues.“It’s their person, their soulmate.They only have one.”
“How can they… tell?Like, what if he’s wrong and I’m not really his fated mate?”I ask them.
