Page 58 of Bear and Book

“Who is here?” Leo demanded.

Before I could answer, before I could explain or prepare him, Jason strolled out of the hallway, and my stomach plummeted straight through the floor.

He was naked. Completely, shamelessly naked.

“Elias,” Jason drawled, sauntering into the living room like he owned it. “I’m ready to continue⁠—”

His eyes fell on Leo, and he froze. A beat later, his mouth twisted into a smirk, and his gaze raked unapologetically over Leo from head to toe.

“Well, well.” Jason let out a low whistle. “And who’s this? Your new fling?” His grin widened, wolfish and vile. “You two up for a threesome?”

My entire body locked. Leo’s growl deepened, vibrating through the room like thunder.

His arm shot around me, pulling me firmly against him, shielding me from Jason’s gaze as though he could physically block the ugliness of those words.

His bear was so close to the surface I could feel the heat rolling off him, the sharp edge of his fury like static in the air. But I wasn’t frozen anymore, not this time.

Shame tried to creep in, whispering that Leo must think the worst. That Jason’s nudity meant something, that maybe I hadn’t told the truth.

But the stronger voice in me, the one Leo had been coaxing out piece by piece since he walked into my life, rose louder. Fury.

“Get dressed,” I snapped at Jason, my voice sharper than I’d ever dared use with him before. “And get out.”

Jason’s smirk didn’t falter, but I saw the flicker in his eyes. The surprise, the way he hadn’t expected me to stand tall with Leo’s heat at my back.

“Oh, come on, Elias.” Jason’s tone was mocking, condescending, the same tone he’d always used to whittle me down. “Don’t act like you didn’t want me here. We both know what this was.”

Jason gestured loosely toward the hallway, toward the bedroom.

I flinched, but Leo’s arm tightened around me, steady, unyielding. His presence burned like sunlight through every shadow Jason tried to drag over me.

“You don’t know a damn thing,” Leo growled, voice shaking with restrained violence.

Jason raised a brow, amused.

“So what are you then? The rebound?” His grin turned sharp, ugly. “Figures you’d fall for a big teddy bear to lick your wounds. Tell me, does he roll over when you scratch behind his ears?”

Something inside me snapped.

“No,” I said, my voice cutting like glass.

Jason blinked, thrown. I stepped forward, still holding onto Leo’s arm, but no longer hiding behind him.

“Leo isn’t a rebound. He’s the one who makes me feel safe. The one who actually cares. The one who didn’t leave me in pieces.”

Jason’s smirk faltered.

“You don’t get to walk into my home, strip down like you own it, and insult him,” I began.

My fox rose in me, fierce and burning, my claws pressing against the edge of my skin. My voice shook with raw fury. “You’re pathetic, Jason. Whatever you thought you’d find here, it’s gone. You don’t get to have me anymore. And you sure as hell don’t get to disrespect the man I love.”

Jason’s eyes widened at that word love, and something ugly twisted in his expression. But for once, he didn’t have a retort. Leo’s hand squeezed my waist, pride radiating through him like fire.

Chapter 17

Leo

The second I saw Jason, I wanted to kill him.