My heart seized and I screamed before I could stop myself. The bear roared back at me, its spittle flying everywhere. I turned and made a beeline for my bedroom door in an attempt to put space between us. Even though it was Michael, I was starting to worry that I’d been wrong about him not hurting me. Maybe this bear hadn’t just been protecting him and his family.
I slammed the bedroom door closed and ran to the other side of the bed, praying that it would give up and go away. I didn’t want to be eaten. I didn’t want Michael to have to deal with the aftermath of that, either.
My door snapped from its frame and slammed into the wall across from it. The bear had to squeeze through the doorway, but thudded into my room and locked onto me. Panic and fear kept me frozen in place.
As it came nearer, I prayed. I tried to calm down enough to talk to it. “Michael? I know you’re in there.” My voice came out in a shaky, cracking whisper.
The bear roared and I figured it wouldn’t be the best response to roar back. So, instead, I tried talking. “Bear, let’s figure this out, okay? Don’t hurt me. I know you don’t want to hurt me,” I used my best kindergarten teacher voice. “I’m not a threat to Michael. He’s safe with me. You’re safe with me.”
It inched closer and huffed out a blast of breath that blew my hair back.
“I’m your mate. I don’t really know what it means, yet, but I know it means that we’re supposed to be meant for each other. I don’t think that it means I was just meant for Michael. I think I was meant for you, too. Doesn’t it?”
It was standing over me, now. I closed my eyes and waited for the first blow to happen. I was talking to a giant grizzly, trying to make sense of it all, but it didn’t seem like anything made sense. At all.
Another growl came from right beside my head and I started crying softly. I was a goner. Then, something strange happened. I felt something wet land on my shoulder and tried not to freak out. Was it tasting me before eating me?
But then, a lighter huff came from it. It licked me again and nudged me with its cold nose. I opened my eyes and found myself staring right into the big gold eyes of the bear. It huffed again and then nuzzled into my side with its big head.
I tentatively raised my hand and stroked the top of the bear’s head. “Is that okay?”
It licked my hand and then nudged it with the top of its head so I would pet it again. I laughed lightly, not wanting to startle it, and then rubbed it more firmly behind the ears.
“Is this okay?”
It made a sound eerily similar to a purr and then flopped onto its side. My whole room shook and the nightstand next to it was crushed, but then it rolled over onto its back and wiggled around. I laughed and reached down to pet its belly.
Another blur of motion and then Michael was lying in front of me. He looked up at me with a range of emotions playing out over his face. Shame and horror seemed to be the most prominent. He jerked upright and started rummaging for his clothes. “I’m sorry, Daisy.” He yanked on his jeans.
I looked around at my destroyed room and shrugged. “It can be fixed. Are you okay?”
He paused before buttoning his pants and I took a moment to enjoy how stunning he was. I should’ve been afraid, if his reaction meant anything, but I wasn’t. I was slightly turned on and a whole lot amazed.
“I don’t mean the fucking room. I could have killed you. I… I’m not safe to be around. I can’t do this. I’m sorry. I thought I could, but I can’t. I need to be alone.”
I frowned, feeling frustrated with him. “I’m not going to chase you down this time, Michael. If you want me, you have to stop running from me. You’re not going to hurt me. I believe that with every fiber of my being. You need to believe it, too.”
He shrugged into his shirt and then swiped his hat off of my bedpost. “I’m sorry, Daisy.”
I let him walk out. I heard the door slam a few seconds later and then I his truck speeding away. My heart ached and my stomach soured at the same time. I barely made it to the bathroom before the dry heaves took ahold of my insides again.
I still had to make it in to work somehow, and put on a face of patience and cheeriness for the children. All I wanted to do was cry on my bathroom floor. My life had been perfectly normal until that stupid field trip to the Long Ranch.
It didn’t feel like the carnival had just been yesterday. I felt like I’d lived half a lifetime between then and where I was now, lying on cold bathroom floor tiles, pregnant by a stranger, and mated to a man-bear who kept running away from me.
I did the only thing I knew how to do. Carry on. I got up and dressed, while trying desperately to quiet my brain. I kept thinking in circles, attempting to comprehend everything that recently happened. Just yesterday, I’d thought that every human I saw was just human. I never would’ve guessed that all those romance novels were onto something. I’d also thought that soulmate was just something that people told themselves about their significant others to make their relationship feel more special. My world had been rocked in less than twenty-four hours and I hadn’t found my footing, yet.