“He’s hurt,” Tonya snapped. “And that makes him dangerous.”
“He won’t hurt me,” she said, praying it was true. So she focused back on her love, taking a single step closer to him. “Hey, Mark. It’s time to get back to being human. Come on.”
“Not too close!” Tonya growled, low in her throat.
Mark turned toward the sound, his nose twitching as he smelled the environment.
“That’s right. It’s me,” Julie said. “It’s me.”
He pushed back up and started moving forward, but not toward either of them. He lumbered past them toward the truck, his steps heavy and slow. Julie looked to the blood that had pooled where he’d dropped. There was a gory mess there, telling her that he was bleeding steadily. Exactly how serious were his wounds? How much blood loss could a grizzly sustain?
“Hey, Mark. You really need to shift back. It’s important. You need to be human.”
He didn’t pay any attention to her. And as he plodded to the truck, Tonya managed to site him again with her gun.
“You need to give him up, Julie,” she said, her voice so brittle every word cracked. “We’ve known this was coming for years.”
“Not yet,” Julie insisted. She followed Mark, racking her brains for a way to reach him. She’d barely gotten within a dozen feet of him when he abruptly roared. It was an anguished sound, filled with an aching loneliness that made her vision blur with tears. “I’m here, Mark,” she said. “Come back to me.”
He turned toward her, his head swinging slowly. She smiled at him. Now was when?—
He shifted away from her. It took her another few moments to realize he was leaving. Just…leaving.
“No,” she whispered. Understanding burst through her consciousness, more painful than anything. This wasn’t Mark. Mark wouldn’t leave her. Mark loved her. She knew that from the depths of her soul. So if the grizzly was walking away, then it couldn’t be Mark. It couldn’t be the man she loved.
She stumbled, the agony in her heart making her cry out. “Please, Mark, look at me. You have to look at me.” He stopped, then swung his head around until he stared right at her. Liquid brown eyes that narrowed as he focused. From the corner of her eye, she saw Tonya dash a hand at her eyes, wiping the tears away. But her gun hand held steady where it aimed right between the bear’s eyes.
“Not yet, Tonya,” she sobbed. “Not yet.” Not with the grizzly looking at her so intensely, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed. Then he curled his lips back and a low growl vibrated through the air, loud enough that it was a physical sensation against her body.
God, she must reek. The thought was a random one, a flit of information through her terrified brain. She didn’t want to be mauled by an angry grizzly, but she couldn’t give up the hope that Mark was still in there.
Wait. Reek.
She did reek. From whatever was in that stupid potion she’d drank. And the crap they’d shoved into her arm. Could this be the bonding? Could her scent be right now releasing some sort of chemical whatever into his brain?
It was a slim hope, but all she had. So with a shaking hand, she raised up her arm. Her heart was slamming hard in her chest, too many emotions choking her. But she still did it. She still held out her hand straight at his really big mouth and tried to speak without stammering.
“That’s right, Mark. Smell me. It’s Julie. You remember me, right?”
The grizzly leaned forward, his nose flaring and narrowing as he breathed. The hot air curled about her wrist, and Julie wanted to close her eyes. She didn’t want to see if she was about to lose a hand. She didn’t want herself die. But she couldn’t look away. She was mesmerized by the flare of his nose. The heat of his breath. And the long dart of his pink tongue.
What?
He was licking her hand.
Wet and hot, the scrape of his tongue made her tremble. Was this good? She didn’t even know. But he wasn’t eating her. So she just started talking, words flowing as she tried to connect any way she could. “I love you, Mark. It’s crazy, I know, but it’s true. I love that you are so strong. Not just physically, but in spirit. Your mind is disciplined, your focus perfect, but it’s your heart that caught me. You look out for people. Tonya told me that you drop everything to protect kids. That you’ve donated a lot of your money to scholarship funds for the Gladwin bears.”
He stopped licking her hand. They were face-to-face now. She was kneeling on the ground, and he was facing her, his nostrils flaring as he took another step forward. She could smell his blood now, even heard the plops as it dripped onto the scattered leaves beneath them. If he attacked, she’d be dead in a second. No way was Tonya’s pistol going to do anything before he ripped out her throat. But even so, Julie remained still as he scented up her arm to her neck. God, she was letting a grizzly next to her throat. She closed her eyes rather than look into his mouth and the sharp points of his teeth. She heard him sniff her and shook when a rumble came from deep inside his throat. But this was Mark. And if he was going to bond with her, then she had to feel safe with him. She had to relax and believe. So she started talking again, her words as much for herself as him.
“Did you know that you make me feel safe? Even when I’m terrified, I feel better when I’m with you. Even when you’re growling like that.”
The rumble continued, the sound was low and angry. A purr gone bad. Her breath choked her. It took a dozen rapid heartbeats before she could speak again.
“I love that you make me feel beautiful. No one has ever looked at me like you do. You make me beautiful, Mark.”
He opened his mouth. She could feel his jaw widen. The heat was intense, and she shivered. And then…
He licked her. A soft, tentative caress of his tongue.
