Free First Bear: BBW Shapeshifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 1) by Zola Bird Page B

was Brandon’s secret then she didn’t want to betray it. But she didn’t want to keep it, either. Part of her wished she had never found out.
    Sure, the whole bear thing wasn’t totally out of the blue. She had seen something in the rearview mirror the day Brandon had arrived in town, but it didn’t look like anything more than a flash of fur. She had dismissed it. But now, if she really thought about it, what she had seen was a bear. A man turning into a bear.
    Growing up in Wild Summit, there had always been rumors. Rumors of men and women who transformed into animals. Shifters they were called, but she thought they were just rumors. After all, this was the modern world. The age of the Internet, and cell phones, and social media—not of men turning into bears. The thought of the whole thing frightened her, but if she were to be honest with herself, it excited her a little, too. And then, on another level, somewhere deep within herself, the idea seemed entirely natural—like something she’d always known but had somehow forgotten. Jada heard a knock at her door. Probably Amanda.
    “Come in,” Jada said.
    “I didn’t know how you’d be feeling. Flowers or muffins? So I brought both,” the husky voice said.
    Brandon. Beautiful, sexy Brandon stood there in her doorway, all man, a muffin basket in one hand and a bouquet of roses in the other.
    “It’s you,” Jada said.
    “Jada. I’m sorry you had to see what you saw.”
    “Which part?”
    “All of it. I wanted to tell you about it. I wanted you to understand.”
    “Brandon?”
    “Yes, Jada?”
    “Right now, I don’t understand anything.”
    “Then I’ll wait until you do.”
    “You’re going to be waiting a long time,” Jada said.
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    “Really, and why not?”
    “Because you and I are forever.”
    “Maybe so,” Jada said. “But as of now? You and I are a long ways apart.”
    “I’ll give you whatever space you need. Just tell me when you’re ready.”
    Brandon put the bouquet down on the table and the muffin basket on the counter. Then he turned and walked away.

    ************************

    Days passed. Then weeks. But Brandon didn’t hear from Jada. He did, however, stay true to his promise. He gave her the space she needed. Brandon knew that things hadn’t gone well with Jada. In fact, they couldn’t have gone much worse. Brandon mulled it over for the millionth time. He had wanted to reveal himself to Jada in a safe, non-confrontational setting. He had wanted to show her his bear when she was ready. Instead, she had watched him tear the life from a man. A bad man to be sure, but she had watched his grizzly claws and mouth destroy that man and he had no doubt that it would give her nightmares. It didn’t matter that he had done it for her. The damage was done. He had shown his bear in the worst possible light. How did he expect her to react?
    And that was without even getting into the details. Jada had lied for him, he knew she had. She hadn’t told the police about his shift. True, it was a lie of omission, but it was a lie, nonetheless, and that was a position he did not wish to have put Jada in. Not before they were mated. Not ever if it could be avoided.
    Every time he thought of Croyston, Brandon got angrier and angrier. That evil man had caused a world of grief for Jada and for him. But did he deserve to die? Brandon pushed the thought from his mind. His bear had wanted justice. It was the law of the wild.
    Brandon’s arm had healed. The bullet had grazed him, but shifters mended quickly. The question now was how to mend fences with Jada. How to regain the trust that had so tragically been lost? And maybe more importantly, how to do so when he hadn’t seen her for so long.
    Brandon lumbered through the forest in his bear form as he considered the problem. He knew that Jada had taken a week off work initially, but he believed she was back now. Amanda, Greg, his father, everybody had been understanding