Gray Back Ghost Bear(38)
A blond, furred, giant paw sat half sunk in the snow. Long, curved claws arched from them like daggers. The claws were as white as the snow.
Shocked, she looked up at Jason, who was approaching slowly. “I had to Turn you. I’m sorry. I know it was selfish, but I couldn’t lose you.”
You claimed me? The words she’d meant to say came out a soft rumble in her chest.
She studied her chest and front legs. They were powerful and covered in thick, coarse fur only a couple shades darker than the snowflakes that fell on her. The pad of her foot was light pink. She’d never seen a bear this color before, and she huffed a funny-sounding laugh. She was a bear.
She sat back heavily into the snow, which didn’t feel cold at all against her new body.
Wow. A bear. She’d always been afraid of them, and now she was one. She could give a Kodiak bear a run for its money now.
She shook her massive head, and snow exploded into the air around her. The dragons she’d seen were gone, but some of the bears remained. The poachers were nowhere to be found, but the clearing smelled like blood and smoke, and the snow was stained where the bodies should’ve been.
I’m alive.
The thought brushed across her mind and made her lightheaded. She wasn’t supposed to have made it out of that, but Jason had changed her fate. Changed her.
She looked down at her paw, as big as a dinner plate.
He’d given her a bear.
Emotion washed over her. If she could have cried in this form, she would’ve. Instead, she scrambled toward Jason unsteadily and pressed her forehead against his chest. Already he was healing, and he laughed and held on as she knocked him backward with her clumsiness.
He sighed and closed his eyes, then rested his cheek against hers. She held perfectly still so she wouldn’t hurt him.
“Damn, Ranger, I’m glad you’re okay.” His grip in her fur tightened.
Willa blasted into her, arms spread wide as she hugged her and sobbed openly. “You scared the shit out of us, Renegade!”
The Boarlanders and Ashe Crew milled around them, but Georgia’s eyes were only for the Gray Backs. Gia was walking toward them from the tree line with a shocked look on her face as she cradled her hands around her belly and stared at Georgia.
Matt, Creed, and Easton stood beside each other, looking pale and shaken, but smiling.
She’d thought she would never see her friends again, but Jason had given her a second chance.
He’d given her a place to settle and a family.
Her mate hadn’t given up on her.
He’d saved her.
Jason took a step back as a slow smile spread across his face. His dark eyes swam with emotion, but his voice was strong and clear as he said, “Welcome to the C-team, Ranger.”
Chapter Fifteen
Winterizing Willa’s worm shack was even less fun than it sounded.
It was dirty, back-breaking work to make sure the enormous shed Matt and Willa had built in the woods behind their trailer would stay warm enough through the cold months.
But even filthy, covered in compost, and sweating despite the cold, Georgia couldn’t stop from laughing. Partly because Willa’s jokes were shockingly crude, and partly because Gia’s laugh was infectious, but mostly because she was just so danged grateful to be alive to experience moments like these—breathless ones filled with happiness. The ones that would cling to her always because they were too bright to forget.
Her inner bear perked up, and her new senses told her that her mate was near. She grinned and turned just as Jason ducked under the front door. His greeting smile matched hers. Today, they were going to Change together and explore the woods as bears. She still got giddy butterflies when she thought about the animal resting inside of her. Everything was clearer and smelled different. Noises had changed, and her attention was flighty, but Jason had assured her that was part of getting used to being a bear shifter.
He was an exceptionally patient teacher, her mate.
When Creed, Easton, and Matt filed in through the open door, Georgia’s smile wavered. “What’s going on? I thought you were supposed to be up on the landing.”
“I made you this,” Easton said low. He stepped forward and handed her a leather sheath.
“Oh, Easton, you didn’t have do this.”
“Girls like things that match,” he said mysteriously.
She pulled the fine, polished wooden handle of a knife, exposing the first inch of shiny silver. J + G had been etched into the metal. Jason and Georgia. This was Easton’s acceptance of her in the crew. She’d seen Willa and Gia’s knives and had secretly hoped for one someday. Easton’s knives were works of art, though, and took him time to make.
She hugged Easton’s neck, and this time, he patted her back instead of standing there frozen.