Free Bearly A Squeak by Ariana McGregor Page A

Shifters were used to nudity and it was generally considered impolite to stare. It was different with mates though, and he enjoyed her reaction to his nakedness. She visibly pulled herself together, and with a saucy little smirk, she bent over slightly as she slid her underwear down, presenting him with a fabulous view of her ass.
    “Ready?” she asked.
    Was he ever? No, wait. Shifting. She was talking about shifting. Dammit.
    “Yeah,” he said, voice a little rough.
    With that, they both went through their respective shifts. Him bulking up to grizzly size, her shrinking down to mouse size. No one had ever managed to explain the difference in size between humans and their shifted counterparts. Alex left it up to people much smarter than him. He just put it down to some kind of magic and left it there. Anything else made his head hurt.
    Change over, he revelled in the feel of his bear and the sheer strength that was coiled within him. Looking over, he spotted Tara in her mouse form, her little nose twitching. Lumbering over, he lowered his head to look at her. She was so tiny compared to him.
    Determined to protect her, he walked slowly, keeping an eye on her at all times. She was so small, so vulnerable in this form, easy pickings for many animals. Not one of them would tangle with his bear. After a while, Tara halted and he stopped with her. He’d never seen a mouse look quite so exasperated before. She waited for him to lower his body, and then she suddenly scampered up his foreleg, her little feet digging into his fur. He could feel her now, sitting between his shoulder blades. What on earth was she doing? He waited but she didn’t move. He waited some more and she squeaked at him. Did she want him to move? Carefully, he raised up and began to walk. He could travel a little faster now, although he still had to be careful about dislodging his passenger.
    He wandered for a while, enjoying the experience. The sun was warm on his face and he could hear birds singing in the trees. In his bear form, his sense of smell was extraordinary. It was always a little bewildering at first until his bear took over a little more, helping him to handle the bombardment to his senses. He could smell that a squirrel had made its home in this tree. A moose shifter had been through these woods in the last few days. Mrs Johnson, who lived in a house just on the edge of the woods, had been baking apple pie. He could also detect the scent of his mother, a fox shifter, and… blood? Nope. Not going there. Ignorance was truly bliss. Instead, he focussed on the heady scent of his mate. It was altered somewhat by her shift, but it was unmistakably Tara and it was glorious.
    He finally came to a stop in a clearing and lay down, allowing Tara to run back down to the ground. Nodding his head at her, he waited for her to shift, staying in his bear form, unable to leave her vulnerable while they shifted. He watched as she grew in size, changing shape, becoming the woman instead of the mouse. She was a cute mouse, but she was a beautiful woman. Only once she was done, did he allow his own change to take place.
    Straightening up, his eyes went straight to his mate. She stood there, watching him. He let his eyes drink her in, appreciating her form. She was perfect. Small but curvy, her skin pale and soft looking. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, and it looked like she was engaged in a similar struggle. He wanted to cross the distance between them, but he was worried about scaring her away. In the end, she surprised him. She walked over to him, her hand tentatively coming to rest on his arm as her fingers traced his bicep. She looked up at him with a small shy smile. He lifted his hand and cupped her face, satisfaction warming him as she snuggled into his touch.
    “Alex,” she said softly. “Is your mother nearby?”
    What? He really didn’t want to be thinking about his mother right now.
    “No,” he answered. “Nowhere nearby. Why?”
    She