In a state of panicked rage, Elliott spotted Adam climbing out of his truck, his dark hair popping up over the roof when his feet hit the driveway.
Elliott’s bear gnashed his teeth and swung wide around the back of the vehicle. Able spun, tossed his hands up, and stepped back as Elliott’s out-of-control animal bore down, slow and steady, huffing all the way.
“Stop dude! Stop!”Elliott pleaded with his grizzly. Oh, he’d lost it, for sure, but he was sane enough to know his animal needed to get the fuck out of there before Fern spotted him and lost her absolute mind.
“Stop, dude! Stop!” Able shouted, waving his hands in the air and retreating.
“See!”he screamed at his bear, who was focused on one thing: Fern’s and Adam’s scents commingling. His grizzly finally stopped long enough to drop his head low and fold his ears back, a clear sign of a challenge.
“Jesus, fuck!” were the last words out of Adam’s mouth before he shifted forms and snapped his jaws, not a moment too soon.
They met face to face, each rumbling low and steady as their open mouths clashed. Elliott’s grizzly may have swung the first paw, but they rose in tandem, arms grasping at each other’s shoulders, mouths foaming. In a lumbering dance, they grappled, until tumbling down to the water’sedge.
Able’s bear got on his feet first, trudging off to take the fight across the river to the land near Elliott’s house.
“Shift back, shift back, shift. I need to talk to him, not fight him.”
His bear didn’t give a shit. But Fern’s scent was less potent now. Had she been in the truck? Was she still there?
On the far bank, his grizzly looked back to sniff the air, seeking her. If Adam would only shift, Elliott could sniff him and see just how much he smelled like Fern.
Panting, Able’s bear approached, and the animals snapped at one another.
“Please, dude. Give me control,”Elliott begged, trying to force himself back into the metaphorical driver’s seat.
With open jaws, they met again, spinning in slow torture, both breaking skin as they bit into each other’s shoulders.
Fern’s scent was hardly in the air. It would be more intense if she’d spent a while with Adam. Surely, if she were over in the truck, she’d have jumped out to watch what went down.
“She’s not here, shift back. Please, dude. Please,”he all but whimpered in his bear’s mind, feeling the pain through his ursine outer shell.
Finally, his grizzly loosened his grip on Able’s and—fucking luckily—Adam’s bear let go too. Panting, they both backed off. Able watched him warily, both man and bear, he assumed.
Flopping to his belly, Fitz’s bear blinked at Adam’s, waiting for him to match his posture and confirm the fight was finished. He went down too, and Elliottfinallyshifted back.
Rolling his neck, he stretched and grabbed his clothes when they popped up next to him, catching a glimpse of Adam’s naked leg as they both pulled on pants.
With his bear’s back ripped up by teeth, his human skin was on fire, though nothing showed on his physical form. Adam would feel just as bad—maybe worse. Still, they'd heal quickly. Shifters always did.
“What thefuckwas that, bro?” Adam asked, still panting.
Pulling his black T-shirt over his head, Elliott tried to figure out how hecould possibly explain himself. His bear huffed, one question clearly still front and center in his mind... Elliott’s too. “Why do you smell like Fern, dude?” He had to know.
“Why do I—? Are you two...? Oh my god, you’re not— Ohhh.”
Tongue tucked behind his upper lip, Elliott tapped his bare foot on the grass, watching Able figure it out.
“You’re potential mates—or she’syourpotential mate.”
He grunted. “Answer the fucking question.”
Able spit out a laugh. “I gave her a ride home ’cause she walked to Beck’s—”
“Did you go inside?”
He didn’t even try to hide his smirk. “Sure did, checked out herwholeplace. That bed is—”
Elliott growled, and Able snorted.
