Free Romance: The Bear's Desired Mate: BBW Bear Shifter Romance Standalone ( Shifter Romance, BBW, Werebear) (Spicy Shifters Book 1) by Ashley Hunter

accused.
    "Of course I know him. We've been friends since we were kids. We used to be neighbours and he would escape to hang out at my place whenever his parents shifted in their many fights."
    Amanda was stunned. She had no idea.
    "You never said." She said stupidly.
    "You never asked." Mary Ellen looked up, her face pale and drawn. "But Grayson hasn't had much luck with women. When he met you I knew he would find what he wanted with you. I was right. He told me himself he was going to tell you because he trusted you not to run away. He has never hurt a woman and he is not going to start now."
    Amanda didn't know what to say. Grayson trusted her. He did. He had saved her life and she had treated him badly. She closed her eyes as the realization washed over her.
    "Oh, shit."
    "Look, Amanda, that man is in love with you. I've never seen anyone so loved up as he is. You're his mate and he knows it. Having you like this with him is tearing him apart." Mary Ellen's eyes glowed. Amanda had never seen her this angry before.
    "You need to get out of your self-pity and decide if this man is someone you should let walk away. Because he will eventually and you won't be able to get him back."
    She flounced off the couch and snatched up her bag.
    "I'll see myself out."
    Amanda heard the door slam. Then she slumped on the couch, her face in her hands.
    Mary Ellen was right. She had screwed up royally. Sulking wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. She had had a good man and she had run away because she had compared him to Tommy. There was no one to blame but herself.
    She just hoped Grayson saw it that way.
    #

 
     
     
     
    Nothing seemed to be out of place when Mary Ellen pulled up outside Grayson's house but she could hear his stereo turned up loud. The pounding beat could be heard from the street.
    Oh, boy. She had some serious work to do. After a week trying to get Amanda to come round to the realization that Grayson hadn't been malicious in his omission, Mary Ellen wasn't in the mood to deal with a moody bear. She had had enough to that when Grayson was a teenager.
    Seeing a shifter without its mate was not a pretty sight. She needed to get him to stop feeling sorry for himself and win his mate back.
    The pressure of the pulsing drum and bass hit her in the face as she went through the front door. It was so loud her head felt like it was about to explode. Clamping her hands over her ears, Mary Ellen went into the living room. Grayson was slouched on the sofa, staring at the TV as a child's cartoon paraded across the screen.
    A half-empty bottle was in his hands and there were more bottles scattered across the floor, including several crushed cans. He was just dressed in a dark t-shirt and black sweatpants. Both looked as though he hadn't changed all week.
    Mary Ellen went to the stereo and switched it off. The sudden silence made her wonder if she had gone deaf but it felt better once her ears stopped ringing. Then she went to the TV and turned it off, standing in front of it as she glared at Grayson.
    "For crying out loud, Grayson! Why are you doing this?"
    Grayson looked up at her morosely. His hair was unkempt and his eyes were sunken. Clearly he had not slept.
    "Why do you think?" He growled. He glared at the bottle in his hand. "I wish I wasn't a shifter right now. I want to get drunk."
    He sat up and threw the bottle at the wall. Mary Ellen caught it out of the air and put it on the coffee table.
    "It's probably a good thing. I'd have to pour a gallon of coffee down your throat."
    "Leave me alone, Mary Ellen." Grayson slumped back on the couch, a forearm over his eyes. "I don't want company."
    "Tough. Your mate is out there and all you can do is attempt to drink yourself into a stupor."
    Being a shifter had its advantages and because of their metabolism they couldn't get drunk like humans could. Unfortunately, that would mean drinking so much it would destroy their liver. It made drinking to forget a problem and Grayson, who