Free Gray Back Alpha Bear by T. S. Joyce Page B

Creed’s escape was dry land, and his long black claws were tearing up the sand but never touching the water.
    “Creed?”
    He shot her a flippant glance, then turned and paced away. She watched him for what seemed like eternity. Her heart grew heavier and heavier until she couldn’t stand being so far away from him. Not when he was like this. Not when he was hurting.
    She stepped carefully onto the sand and kicked off her snow boots. The ground was cold against the pads of her feet as she moved toward Creed. He was intimidatingly big, but when she was close enough, he stopped his frantic pacing and lowered his nose, pressed his giant forehead softly against her chest.
    Creed was so strong, so in charge around his crew, but here, he was letting her see a side of him she’d never seen before. Her fingers itched to touch him, but he was so big and powerful. Be brave for him.
    Closing her eyes, Gia ran her fingers gingerly through his coarse fur up the sides of his face. “Are you afraid of water? Is that why you wouldn’t swim with me when I came here before?”
    He grunted and rubbed his face under her arm, across her ribs.
    “It’s okay. I’m afraid of wasps. I mean, deathly afraid. I can’t even run when I see them. I just stand there frozen. I can’t breathe or move a single muscle. I was stung when I was playing on a swing set at the park with my nanny, and now, fifteen years later, I still can’t stand them. Everyone is afraid of something, Creed.”
    The fur retracted from her fingers as Creed shrank into his human skin. It was strange touching him when he Changed. A rush of power blasted through her where her fingertips connected with him, and when he was done, a shiver traveled up her spine until her shoulders shook with it. Her bones felt like they were vibrating, so she shook out her hands, then reached for him again.
    Creed didn’t say a word, only hugged her waist and buried his face against her shoulder. His body was rigid against hers, and gooseflesh covered his skin, but he didn’t move to leave and find clothes. In her arms, he seemed content to just be.
    “My mom was human, and my dad didn’t tell her what he was. She found out the first time I Changed that shifters existed, but she didn’t know what I was. Not really. She thought I was a demon.”
    A helpless gasp left her lips, and she hugged him tighter.
    “She tried to exercise me in her basement and make me normal. Make me into the human boy she’d wanted to give birth to. She wasn’t right in the head, and I had to hide my Changes. Sneak out, or it would upset her. She got crazier until one night on my seventh birthday, she said she’d tried long enough. And then she drowned me in the bathtub.”
    Tears streamed down Gia’s cheeks as she shook her head, unable to fathom what he’d been through. Her parents had been distant, sure, but they would’ve never done anything like that. No one in their right mind would.
    “I fought hard, but it was one of those deep, claw-foot tubs where the edges are hard to grip when they’re wet. The water was filled to the top and she was determined, and I couldn’t Change. I tried to call my bear to defend myself, but he was too scared inside of me, all curled up and unreachable. I wanted to live so badly, but my lungs were filling with water, and I could see her above the surface. Her eyes were vacant as she watched me die.”
    “How did you get away?”
    “I didn’t. Everything went dark, and I woke up later draped over the tub. I guess she left me there, and something in me pushed to crawl out of the water to air. She’d turned off all the lights and was sleeping in her bed like nothing had happened. I guess she planned to take care of my body in the morning. Or maybe she was just going to leave me there. I don’t know.”
    Gia stroked Creed’s hair over and over to calm herself as much as to comfort him. She wanted to flinch away from the pain in his voice, but he needed to tell someone,