An Alpha's Lightning (Water Bear Shifters 2)
around.”
    Ace kept his outward appearance stoic, but inwardly his heart was sinking. He had a feeling that Jade wasn’t going to want to go through with dating him, given the circumstances. And he couldn’t blame her, really. She had resisted because she thought he lived a dangerous life, but she’d had no idea just how dangerous of a life he actually lived.
    As she sat in her armchair, Jade rubbed her bare feet back and forth across the carpet. She appeared deep in thought, and Ace remained quiet. After what felt like an eternity to him, she stood. “This is a lot to take in, and it’s late,” she said. “I should probably sleep on it. I think I need some time to process all of this.”
    Ace nodded, glancing at the clock on the wall. It was already one a.m., and he had to work in the morning. He needed to get some sleep himself. He was a little disappointed that Jade hadn’t immediately said she didn’t care about the dangers, as long as she was with him. But he wasn’t surprised. He had half-expected her to tell him she had no more interest in him, so any response that didn’t completely write him off was a plus.
    Ace stood, and started fishing his keys out of his pocket. “Take all the time you need,” he said. “I understand.”
    Jade looked grateful, and she stood as well. “Thanks,” she said. “And you can sleep on the couch here if you want. I don’t want you to have to drive home at this hour. You look exhausted.”
    Ace started to protest, but then thought better of it and agreed. He was exhausted, and the idea of crashing here instead of having to drive home was too enticing to pass up. Of course, he would have much rather been invited to sleep in Jade’s bed, but maybe that would come, with time. He wasn’t giving up hope yet.
    “Okay,” he said, sitting back down. “That would be helpful. Thanks.”
    He kicked off his shoes, and Jade brought him a pillow and a blanket. He told her goodnight, and she killed the lights in the living room before heading into her bedroom and shutting the door. Ace lay under the blanket and stared up at the dark ceiling. The steady tick-tock of the clock filled the silence left in the room, and Ace sighed as he squinted at his own watch. One-fifteen a.m. It had been a long couple of days. He wanted to figure out something else to do or say to convince Jade that loving him was worth the risk. But he was exhausted, and, besides, what else could he really say? He had laid it all out there for her. All he could do was wait, and hope.
    Their future was in her hands now.

Chapter Eight
     
    Jade lay in her full sized bed, staring out the small bedroom window at the night sky. There were no clouds tonight, and the stars seemed a little brighter than usual. She wished she could bring herself to just count stars and drift off to sleep, leaving the worries of the day behind. There would be plenty of time tomorrow to pick them up where she left off.
    But she couldn’t sleep. Not with her mind racing from the shock and confusion of everything she had just learned. It all seemed so unfair to her. She had finally allowed herself to love again, even overlooking the fact that her new love interest had a risky job. And then she found out that his life was much more at risk than she could have ever imagined. And, as a bonus surprise, that he was a panda shifter.
    Jade frowned in the darkness. The fact that he could change into a bear didn’t bother her. She had been shocked to find that shapeshifters actually existed. And she still had a lot of questions about how the whole thing worked. But, crazy as she might feel for saying it, the fact that a man could become a panda at will wasn’t a dealbreaker for her. She loved animals, after all. What was wrong with loving a man who hid a beast within him? The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was actually kind of sexy. He was a bear of a man. Strong, tough, and protective of the ones he cared about.
    No, the bear

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