Thud. Thudthud.
All around her, the bears were dropping with heavy thumps onto the floor. One by one they sat and rolled over, exposing their necks. And this, too, was something she’d never seen on the nature channel. They weren’t dogs. These were grizzlies and another black bear. But they all dropped, even Vic beside her though he went to his knee and not the floor.
“Tilt your head,” he hissed at her.
“W-what?”
“Expose your neck! Submit to him!”
She wasn’t a dog to roll over on command, but in this, she obeyed without hesitation. She submitted to Simon as he lumbered in a tight circle. He glared at everybody in the room, herself and Vic included. And when he had gone nearly full circle, he did it again. He roared.
At least this time she could cover her ears. His back was to her, so she could duck her head into her hands, though it clapped the hard butt of her pistol against her head. She didn’t need to hear that terrifying sound again, but apparently the others did.
Because this time after the roar ended, there was dead silence in the room. No grumbles. Certainly no growls. Not even the huff of a breath. Every single bear was on his back and silent.
And it stayed that way as Simon continued to prowl. He walked in another slow circle that came too near her for comfort. Then again. Two times around, plus another roar. Then a third. Once he lumbered close to the carcass and bit off another rib. He crunched it in the silence while everyone else stayed frozen on the floor.
And when the rib was gone, Simon went back to prowling. To Alyssa’s eyes, he seemed agitated and angry. That was understandable twenty minutes ago, but now? He needed to settle down. But the more he prowled, the more upset he seemed to get.
Another roar. God, by the end of the day she was going to be deaf.
Two more circuits, and then she realized the truth.
He wasn’t settling down. He was winding himself up. Had he lost himself in the bear? He had to remember who he was. He needed to shift back into a man. But it wasn’t happening. Another roar convinced her of it.
And go figure. She wasn’t deaf, but she was freaking tired of flinching every time he took a deep breath. So she stood up.
She was surprised that her legs had any strength. But she could remain terrified only so long before she just got annoyed.
“What are you doing?” her brother hissed, but she waved him to silence. She didn’t want to say that she had no idea.
She straightened her shoulders and waited until Simon had lumbered back around to face her. His face was matted fur and gore, so she focused on his ears. Those cute rounded ears. One of them was covered in blood, but the other still showed golden brown. So she looked at that and pitched her voice low and soothing.
“You win, Simon. You’re the big bad here.”
He growled at her, low and threatening. She almost dropped right then and there. Not just to her knees but all the way down. Instead, she stiffened her legs and faced him down.
“You’re the powerhouse, Simon. Everyone has submitted to you. Everyone. You won.”
His growl deepened and she smiled. Holy moly, she must be insane, but that sound was just like the grumble her father made when waking up. A grumble and snort mixed together. It was kind of cute.
“What do you need, Simon? What do you need to feel safe?” She gestured behind him at the carcass. “Do you need to eat some more?” God, she prayed not, but she understood the animal need to eat his kill.
He chuffed, the sound not so angry as frustrated.
“No one is challenging you, so you’re safe from them.”
She watched to see if he would look around at the bears on the floor. He did, but only with the briefest turn of his head. A moment later, his gaze was back on her.
“He wants you,” Vic said. “Holy God, he wants you.”
“What?”
“You’re the only female here,” he said. “You know. Kill. Eat.Mate.”
The thought sent shudders of terror down her spine. She was not mating with a gore-covered grizzly. But Simon the man? Hadn’t she nearly done that last night?
She swallowed. “You have to shift back, Simon. You want me? You can have me as aman.” She didn’t think twice about what she was offering. She was talking to a grizzly bear, after all. But God, she wanted to bed Simon the man. She’d wanted it every night for more than two years.
