Free Bearing My Soul: A Paranormal Werebear Shifter Romance by Ellen Graves

thought so. He was the monster, wasn’t he?”
     
    I clutched at my chest. It was getting very hard to breathe.
     
    He stared at me long and hard. He towered several inches over me. His stance was intimidating and angry.
     
    “Please,” I begged, “he didn’t do anything wrong.”
     
    “You bitch!” Mayor Taylor spat.
     
    I reeled back in horror. He jabbed a finger at me. The fury flamed in his eyes.
     
    “Do you have any idea how badly you’ve just fucked this whole damned town? By the end of the week this place is going to be overrun with idiots and their guns. They’ll come with dogs, hunting monsters in the woods! Just get your stuff and get the hell out!”
     
    He stomped off the porch and headed directly over to Jonathan’s. I covered my mouth with both hands. The intense horror ate at my insides like an acid. I wanted to stop him and protect Jonathan, but I couldn’t even protect myself. Every muscle in my body shook violently.
     
    I grabbed a duffle bag and ran to the bedroom. I yanked the drawers out and dumped the contents haplessly into the bag. It was over. I was heading home or at least out of town. All I wanted was to leave before I saw the fallout from Jonathan. I couldn’t stand the idea that he may become even angrier with me.
     
    “I didn’t tell, I didn’t tell,” I wailed, as I stuffed the bag into the trunk.
     
    “Didn’t tell what? Andrea, what’s the matter?”
     
    Startled, I swung around to see Roanne straddling her bike. She had pulled in behind my car. Her face was drenched in concern as she watched me. “What are you doing?”
     
    “I have to leave,” I sobbed, while I fumbled through my purse for my keys.
     
    “Because of the reports of monsters?” Roanne probed.
     
    I nodded, then shook my head. The terror and words jumbled together.
     
    Roanne grabbed at my arm and I pulled away. “Is this about you and Jonathan?” she asked. “Andrea, you have to talk to me!”
     
    “No,” I snapped. “You wouldn’t understand!”
     
    “You two fucked!” she breathed. “It happened, didn’t it?”
     
    I stared at her in shock. “Okay,” I conceded, “you seem to understand more than I expected. But it’s worse than that.”
     
    “What?” she demanded.
     
    My purse slid from my clumsy grip. It toppled to the ground and my things spilled onto the gravel. I stopped and stared longingly over to his house. The windows were cold and empty. So was I. “He hated it,” I muttered. “He hated me.”
     
    She stumbled back, shaking her head. “No,” she insisted. “There has to be more than that to it. What else happened?”
     
    I clenched my jaw and held back the tears. I knelt down. The world was misty through my eyes, as I scooped things back into my purse.
     
    As I sifted through the grave, I felt a soft touch on my shoulder. I looked up to see Roanne staring at my bandage. Her eyes were wide in astonishment. “He bit you!” she gasped.
     
    “It’s nothing!” I yelped, as I sprang to my feet. “He didn’t intend to, either. He’s not a monster!”
     
    I clambered into the front seat of the car and jammed the keys into the ignition.
     
    “You’ve seen him!” Roanne yelled. “Oh my god, Andrea, you know what he is, don’t you?”
     
    I stopped, my hand on the key. I looked back at her. Slowly, she rested a calming hand on my shoulder.
     
    “You know about him?” I gulped. “How the hell do you know?”
     
    She slowly shook her head. “There’s so much more you don’t know.” Her voice was low and strained. “How did you find out that Jonathan was a bear?”
     
    I swallowed back the lump in my throat. “I saw him change into one,” I cringed in pain. I looked back into her face. Her eyes were filled with empathy and I longed to hug her for it. I could hear the mayor still demanding entrance at Jonathan’s house. Things were only getting worse.
     
    I stopped and recalled the day once more. “Actually,” I corrected