Free Bear Meets Girl by Catherine Vale Page B

growled through clenched teeth. “We’re fine now.”
                Except,
of course, that wasn’t true, he thought as they turned down another street and
headed onto the Bay Bridge. He knew it wasn’t, as he caught a glimpse of the
hurt in Angela’s eyes before she turned her gaze to the glistening waters of
the San Francisco Bay racing past them as they crossed over into Oakland. He’d
lashed out at her needlessly last night, and had fractured whatever tentative
tie had been forming between them, and he knew he had to fix it if he wanted
them to be able to work together smoothly.
                But
part of the problem was that he wasn’t sure that he actually wanted to
fix it. A hybrid developing ties with a full-blooded shifter? Such things were
unheard of for a reason. Hybrids were considered volatile and dangerous by
supernaturals as a whole, since the merging of genes from different races
resulted in unpredictable powers and abilities, as well as occasional mental
instability depending on the pairing. As far as he knew, a mage-and-shifter
hybrid wasn’t one of the more unstable ones, but because both sides felt so
strongly about preserving bloodlines, hybrids tended to be hunted and
destroyed. Her family would never welcome him with open arms, which meant there
was no future for them since for a shifter, pack or clan approval meant
everything.
                If
he did try to patch things up with her, it would only bring them closer together,
and what was the point if, in the end, they would have to part separate ways?
Why did he need to cause himself the needless pain of having to leave behind
something he wanted, needed, craved? If it wasn’t available to him in the first
place, there was nothing to miss.
                If
you wanted to make sure you had nothing to miss, you shouldn’t have had sex
with her last night.
                Cole swallowed a wince. He
really didn’t know what he had been thinking last night, but it couldn’t be
undone, and the truth of it was inescapable. Every time he looked at Angela he
thought about how she’d looked spread out on the beanbag chair beneath him, how
her curves had felt as if they were made specifically to be molded against his
body, how sweet she’d smelled and tasted. He knew her essence would haunt him
for many years after he left, and that he’d wake up with the sound of her voice
in his ears and the phantom of her taste on his tongue, aching for her.
                That’s
pretty pathetic, the mage part of him sneered.
                Maybe, but it was also part of
his genetic make-up. Once the shifter half of him met a compatible mating
prospect, resisting the compulsion to follow through was hell. He’d already
been through that once, thank you very much, and he had no desire to repeat the
experience. The best cure for his affliction was for him to get as far away
from Angela as physically possible, which meant getting this mission done and
over with so he could be on his way.
                With
that matter settled in his mind, he parked in the lot outside the Golden Gate
Fields and made their way into the track. The Fields were huge, spanning one
hundred and forty acres, and Cole stood for a moment just inside the entrance
after they’d paid admission, taking in the sprawling greenery and the enormity
of the stadium. Though the seats were only half-filled, the buzz and excitement
of the crowd still filled the air, infecting him with enthusiasm as he watched
the jockeys and their horses lining up at their gates.
                “If
you think this is amazing, you ought to try coming here during one of the more
popular races,” Angela said quietly. He looked down at her, and his pulse
picked up a little as he caught the sparkle in her stunningly green eyes. “It’s
so much more impressive when the rows are filled with screaming horse