River Bear (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Blue Bear Rescue) by Terra Wolf, Holly Eastman

doubled back for her. And two of them had seen her face.
    She’d done this long enough to know that wouldn’t end well. But at least she could sit back and wait instead of driving all over and checking out sketchy cabins. If they’d seen her, they’d find her now.
    She wondered if Jake had figured that out yet.
    He was brooding. She’d given him some time after he’d stormed out on her. Even on the ride back to town, she’d let him wallow in his black mood. But now she was over it. And then there were her feelings. She hated seeing him so upset. This compulsion to comfort him was a new thing for her. She didn’t want to screw it up or handle it wrong. In the back of her mind, she still half-expected him to tell her he’d already grown tired of her. Changed his mind. Left.
    That’s what everyone else did.
    “You ready to talk about it now?” she asked as they neared town.
    “Talk about what?” Jake asked, and she rolled her eyes.
    “You’ve been brooding since the cabin. Don’t act like nothing is wrong.”
    “I have a lot on my mind,” he said.
    Vague. Not working for her. She’d contemplated how direct to be with him, but she had a feeling Jake wouldn’t take well to beating around the bush. “You told me this morning that you still wanted me just like you did last night, right?”
    That got his attention. He blinked out of whatever daze he’d been in and locked eyes with her. “Yes. I want you. Today, tomorrow, next week,” he said, and a barrel of butterflies came to life inside her.
    Definitely direct.
    “Good, me too,” she admitted. Jake opened his mouth to say something, and she cut him off. “So you have to talk to me. I don’t go in for brooding and quiet. I need to know what’s up so we can fix it together.” She took his hand and scooted closer across the bench seat until their thighs brushed.
    He relaxed visibly the moment she touched him. The walled expression he wore fell away, and in his eyes now was pain and fear. “Fine, if you want to know, I’m worried about you.”
    “Jake, my job is important to me. No matter what happens between us—”
    “I know. You want to do this job.”
    “No, I need to do this job,” she corrected. “It’s part of who I am.”
    “I wouldn’t demand that you quit, although the thought’s crossed my mind,” he admitted. “It’s not just that,” he said, shaking his head. He made the turn into the motel lot and pulled into an empty parking space. Jake cut the engine and seemed to be trying to decide something. Indecision flashed in his eyes, and he chewed his lip before finally speaking. “Nash has these visions,” he began turning to face her.
    She waited, determined to hear him out despite how far-fetched this already sounded. “Go on,” she encouraged.
    “Before we ever met, he saw a girl with wavy hair. Pale. You’re on the ground, bleeding, and I’m—” He broke off and ran a hand through his messy hair.
    “You’re what?” she asked, startled and afraid to breathe. This was it. What he’d been keeping from her. She recognized that description from the day they’d met when he’d tried getting out of being her personal escort.
    “In that vision, I’m standing over you but not me, my bear. And I have your blood on my paws. On my face.”
    “Oh.” Of all the things he could have said, this was not what she’d expected. “I see.”
    “So, the thing is, my bear wants you. Apparently, permanently, as a mate. But if I claim you, that would mean also turning you into a polar bear but—”
    “I’d get to be a polar bear?” she asked, unable to help the excitement that crept in at that idea.
    “But,” he went on, eyeing her meaningfully, “If it didn’t take, you could die.”
    “If it didn’t take?” she repeated.
    “I’d have to bite you. God, I want to bite you, pretty bad,” he admitted, and the guilty look he wore reminded her of a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
    “Bite me where?” she