Cautiously approaching the cave in her cougar form, she could make out the shape of a large bear against the back wall. Her cat could also pick up the smell of a wound. Mackenzie let herself shift back into her human skin and crept forward. She didn’t want to startle his animal.
“Conner? It’s me, Mackenzie. I’m coming in, okay?”
A huffing noise came from the bear. As she got closer she saw there were patches on the bear’s flank and leg that were still scorched, but had started healing. A few areas already closed and pink.
Crouching down next to the bear, she slowly raised her hand towards him. The bear dropped his head, allowing her to brush her fingers over his fur.
Inside the giant animal, Conner was so glad to see Kenzi. He wanted to scoop her into his arms, hold her tight against him. But as he tried to shift, he realized he couldn’t. He tried again and his bear chuffed and shook his head under Kenzi’s hand.
What the hell? He tried again, his bear roared back at him in his head. It was like an unmovable force as he tried to shift again and again. Nothing happened.
His bear was happily getting petted by its mate. There was no way he was giving this up. He’d been denied too long and Conner realized that he didn’t have the strength of will to force the shift.
He mentally sat back and watched the scene play out. Kenzi had taken a seat next to the bear, he flopped his head into her lap.
“Aren’t you going to shift?” She was running her fingers through the coarse fur.
Bear huffed on her legs. “Ah, need a little more healing huh? I’ll stay with you. You scared the crap out of me, Conner. I’ve been so mad at you. When I heard your brother call, it didn’t matter anymore. I had to find you. I may not like you much right now, but you are still my mate. And I’m still yours. The longer you fight it, the more painful it is for both of us. It’s not just you, you know. There are four souls here that are trying desperately to find each other. And there is only one person standing in the way. You.
You really are outnumbered. We’ll win in the end you know. Cat, bear, and me,” she said sighing.
“Actually, I kinda like you not getting to talk back to me. Not that you’ve talked much at all. You have no idea who I am. Haven’t bothered to ask. I bet your brothers know more about me than you do.”
Bear licked her leg in sort of an apology. She took it, scratching behind his ear.
“Since you need a little more time, I’ll fill you in on some things about me. What do you say?”
The big head in her lap rumbled. He sounded quite content with his current situation.
Mackenzie started to tell Conner all about her family. The vineyards they ran. The wine they made. She told him about how she loved to swim. She played tennis and would eat anything that was made out of chocolate. She’d even eaten a chocolate covered grasshopper once, just to get her fix.
Conner could do nothing but listen. He was still in pain, but the sound of her voice soothed him. Offering him some kind of release from the healing process. He felt like shit too. He’d had sex with her twice and didn’t even know her middle name. Her birthday or her favorite color. Conner wanted to ask her, but the bear was still firmly in charge. His missed opportunities to get to know her were stacking up. What if he’d been hurt worse today? What if she’d been there with him?
That thought made his bear growl menacingly.
“What? Are you in pain?” Mackenzie was worried when she felt the anger roll through the animal. She wasn’t scared of him, but she still knew that a big animal like him had big teeth and claws. Her instincts were more than aware of the danger.
Bear sniffed her neck then gave it a lick before settling back down to her lap. “Flirt,” she said with a little laugh.
“You are a very nice bear, but I wish I could speak to Conner,” she told him. Bear yawned loudly, Kenzi figured she’d better settle in for a while.
At some point Kenzi nodded off. The giant warm blanket draped over her lap had woman and cat contentedly purring. Their mate was right there, safe and they were alone. It was easy to nod off.
Mackenzie came awake with a start when bear raised his head and rumbled towards the cave entrance.
A giant bear was standing there sniffing ahead to scope out the cave. Conner’s bear was big, but this bear was huge. Shielding her eyes against the setting sun, she saw the bear shimmer and there standing completely naked, was Cage.
“Been looking all over for you two. I didn’t even think of this place before I’d ran most of the mountain,” he said, walking in. “I started tracking too close to the fire and couldn’t catch your scent.” He sat down next to Conner’s bear, his eyes scanned down the length, seeing the hairless, but now mostly healed burns.