The BEARly Controlled Grizzly (Bear Clan 1)

Wiping my hands on a rag, I tossed it back on the counter. I was working on getting her a nursing assistant to come to the house, simply because I couldn’t be here any longer. She gave me a daily reminder that I wasn’t welcome. Whatever had happened in her life to make her so bitter and cold was driving her family away.

I turned and grabbed my purse and keys and headed out the front door just as I heard her bitching more. Shutting the door behind me, I sat on the porch for a minute, staring off into the woods. The lot she owned was nothing more than an acre, but surrounding her was thick forest owned by a rather wealthy couple down the road.

Three days had passed since the bar incident with Zakari. And for those three days I hadn’t been able to get him out of my head. Even my grandmother’s insistent complaining couldn’t stop me from thinking about him constantly.

My body was on fire day in and day out. He was the first thing I thought about when I woke up, and the last thing on my mind as I went to bed. I had never been this aroused in my life, never needed someone this badly.

Even talking to my father, hearing his reassurance that things would get better, that I’d be home soon enough, leaving this small town, pained me. Thinking about that had my stomach clenching and a sweat breaking out over my brow.

Over the last seventy-two hours, I felt my need for him growing stronger. He was the only one who could make me feel complete, I knew that deep in my very marrow. And as I thought about his presence my heart raced. I thought about what I had left back home with my father.

An apartment he rented to me for next to nothing, a family position that would never have me advancing in anything, aside from keeping his business on the level. He was really my only family, but even so I knew there was no future for me there, no real life where I could have a family of my own.

A life where I could love and be loved.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, strong and foreign emotions consuming me. I found myself walking to my car and climbing inside, shutting the door and curling my fingers around the steering wheel. I put the key in the ignition, cranked the engine, and backed out of the driveway. I had no idea where I was going to go, but I just knew I had to drive to clear my head and get my bearings.

My body and mind were telling me to go to Zakari. It was like this rope, and one end of the rope was tied around my waist. Every day I felt myself growing closer to him, unable to back away.

And I didn’t want to. I wanted to be as close as two people could be. It was crazy, ludicrous even, but I realized it had become my life.

I’d been driving for five minutes when I saw a glare in the rearview mirror from the car behind me. No, not a car, a truck. Zakari’s truck. Without thinking, without even knowing what I was doing, I found myself pulling over to a small rest area off to the side.

I cut the engine and climbed out of the car just as he parked on the other side of me. Bracing my hands on the hood of my car, I glared at him. He climbed out, his big body unfolding from the driver seat, this easy-going expression on his face, but one that didn’t fool me. His body was tense, his knuckles white from how tightly he had his hands curled into fists.

“Are you in the habit of following me now, stalking me?” I lifted an eyebrow, knowing maybe I should’ve been a little weirded out about this, that he was here right now, but finding myself turned on.

“I’ll be

honest,” he said and grinned, moving to the side so he could shut the truck door. “I’m not above stalking my mate to make sure she’s okay.”

My heart beat a little faster at his confession. In the morning light, he was even more handsome in a rugged, almost brutal manner.

“But that’s not what I was doing today. I was actually coming into town to pick up some supplies, hoping to run into you, because it’s been three days.”

I swallowed roughly and licked my lips. “Three days?” I pretended like I didn’t know what he was talking about, but the way his nostrils flared slightly told me he knew that I was full of shit. I had no doubt he could smell my arousal, especially given the fact there was a slight breeze blowing his way, probably amplifying everything.

Could he smell that I was wet? Could he smell that I didn’t want to fight this, that I was ready to be his?

And am I? Ready to be his?

He walked around my car and was a few feet from me now. I held my breath, not breathing, my head tilted back as I stared into his face.

For long moments we didn’t speak, and I swore he didn’t breathe either. His eyes flashed, this yellow breaking through the blue like a spark of lightning, or maybe a lightbulb blowing out, that flash before darkness. It was instant, sudden, and was gone as fast as it had come.

“You feel that between us?”

I found myself nodding.

“That’s real. That’s our truth.” His voice was low. He leaned forward. “You can run, you can hide, but I guarantee you one thing, Bethany.” He grinned and I saw his teeth, his canines. They were elongated. My heart pumped harder at that sight, and my pussy became wetter. “I’ll find you. Anywhere, at any time. Your scent is engrained in my body. You’re mine. Forever.”

And then I found myself in his arms, his hand cupping the back of my head, his lips on mine. I should have stopped him, should have pushed him away, tried to fight this, but the fact remained I couldn’t.

I wouldn’t.

I didn’t want to.

I found myself rising on my toes and adding more pressure to his mouth with mine. I speared my hands in his hair, the feeling of his scruff scraping along my jaw and cheeks. It turned me on more, if that was even possible. My pussy was wet, my nipples hard, and my heart raced from the endorphins and arousal pumping through my veins.