“Of course,” she said softly.
He stood then and said, “I’ll drive you to the train tomorrow. You’re welcome to stay here until—”
He didn’t finish his sentence. Instead, his eyes went wide and he fell to his knees again. Only this time he was clutching his chest, gasping. She quickly got up and rushed over to him, moving her hands to his shoulders. “Oh, God—Jacob, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
He panted wetly and grimaced in pain. “No,” she heard him mutter, “Not now…”
“Not now what?” The pain on his face terrified her. “Jacob—”
Jacob’s eyes locked onto Holly’s. A rim of gold shimmered around his irises. “Get out,” he told her. His voice was low, dangerous—a growl. “Go!”
Jacob buckled over again and groaned, his head low to the ground. Holly reached out to touch him, but his shirt ripped along his spine. She gasped and pulled back with surprise.
He ripped off the tatters of his shirt, then his pants, fell to his hands and knees, and—
Roared. Bones snapped, muscles tore, sockets popped. Ugly, violent sounds that made Holly feel weak. Her heart pounded harder, adrenaline taking over, as she watched Jacob’s body morph into something inhuman. Finally, he lifted his head, and Holly felt lightheaded, like she might faint.
A bear. A full-grown, six-hundred-pound black bear was hunched on all fours in front of her. Right where Jacob had stood.
This can’t be happening.
Holly scrambled back, quickly—too quickly—and lost her balance. Before she knew it, she had fallen off the porch and there was a hulking black bear snarling in her face.
Holly did the only thing she could think to do. Please, God, she prayed silently, keep me safe. Make this stop. Please, God, please, please…
Holly—feeling suddenly like a child—squeezed her eyes tighter and covered her ears, tucking her head down. “Please, God, make this stop,” she whispered, over and over again.
And then, suddenly, it did.
Cautiously, Holly opened her eyes. She hadn’t been devoured. She didn’t feel teeth or claws ripping through her skin. Instead, she felt his wet nose touch the back of her hands. Sniffing. The bear barked once, a small, huffed sound, and then gave her a lick. As if to tell her: it’s okay. You’re one of the good ones.
Bones snapped. Jacob—human and naked as the day he was born—crouched in front of her, catching his breath. Jacob’s gaze slowly met Holly’s—the golden hue died away in his eyes as his transformation sank back fully into his skin. He looked shaken, like the force of pulling back into his human form had exhausted him. He didn’t say anything for a second; they stared at one another as their heartbeats leveled out. What was there to say? Finally, he spoke in a low voice. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I didn’t want to scare you.”
She just panted, watching him wide-eyed.
“Now you know,” he said. “This is what I am.”
“Which is?” To her surprise, her voice didn’t shake—there was nothing but raw curiosity in her now.
“A shifter,” he said. “Sometimes I’m a human. Sometimes I’m a bear.”
“We need to talk,” she said.
Chapter 14
The cuckoo clock ticked incessantly, filling the silences between them. Holly could almost hear Jacob collecting his thoughts as he sat on the couch beside her, wearing his pants and the tattered remains of his shirt.
“I’m thirty-five,” he said. “I’m the only Alpha in my bloodline that’s made it this long.”
“What happens?” she asked. “Do they die?”
He shook his head. “It’s called moon sickness. Your Beast…it slowly but surely takes over. You turn. Change into a bear and never change back.”
A man, trapped forever in the body of a bear? The thought sent a shudder through her. “How do you cure it?”
He glanced up at her—his dark eyes looked mournful, heavy. “There is no cure. All you can do is hope to keep the bear at bay for as long as you can.” He paused and then admitted, “That’s where you come in.”
“What do you mean?”
“I need someone to ground me. Someone who can remind me what it’s like to be…”
He lost the word. She picked it up for him. “Human.”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
“What if I can’t?” she asked.
“You calmed my bear just now,” he said. “No one’s ever been able to do that.” She went silent. Her fingers curled around her lips, lost in thought. “I know it sounds crazy,” he said when she’d been silent for too long.