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A pleased rumble escaped his bear before Wes could do anything about it.
Kate laughed softly. “I think you liked that.”
He nudged his head carefully against hers. Her arms went around his neck.
He had imagined explanations, questions, perhaps fear. He had never imagined Kate pressing herself against his bear, her arms buried in his fur as if accepting this part of him could be as simple as choosing to hold on.
His bear stood quietly beneath the embrace.
Eventually Kate loosened her arms, although one hand remained in his fur. “I think I need you to turn back now,” she said. “Because I have questions.”
His bear was reluctant enough that Wes felt it like a physical resistance.
We can come back.
That earned him cooperation. Kate stepped away, and Wes shifted. The air shimmered again. His bear disappeared, and a moment later Wes stood in his place.
Kate stared at him. Had the change back been stranger for her than the first one? Then she crossed the space between them and put her hand flat against his chest, almost as though she needed to feel that he was solid.
Wes covered her hand with his.
“You’re a bear shifter,” she said.
“Yes.”
A breathless laugh escaped her. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
Wes smiled. “You get used to it.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to believe that either.”
He led her toward the old bench beside the barn. Kate sat close enough that their thighs touched, but for a while she looked out across the dark orchard. Wes did not interrupt.
“I think you have some explaining to do.”
“I do.”
Kate turned toward him.
Wes kept her hand in his. “There are other shifters. Bears, and other kinds too. Most people don’t know about us, and we try to keep it that way.”
Kate nodded slowly. “I can see why.”
“There’s more.”
Her mouth curved faintly. “I had a feeling there might be.”
This was the part Wes had worried about more than showing her his bear. “The morning after you arrived at Bramblewood, I was driving home. Before I got back to the orchards, my bear knew someone important was close.”
Kate’s expression grew more serious.
“I hadn’t seen you. I didn’t know who you were. But I knew what you were to me.”
“What was I?”
“My mate.”
She went still. Wes had imagined saying those words to her since the moment he first saw her walking toward Alan outside the packing shed. Now they were spoken, and he felt no rush of relief. What would she do with them? He kept her hand in his and made himself breathe. The next part belonged entirely to Kate.
