Bears VS Wolves (Team Shifter 1)

“Not at all,” he says. “We should be thanking you.”

There’s a murmur of appreciation that goes through the shop.

“Yeah, thank you.”

“Thanks a lot.”

The barista comes out and hands me a cup of coffee.

“On the house,” she says. “Thank you. “And I’m sorry,” she adds. “For everything. I was wrong.”

“It’s okay.”

“No,” she shakes her head. “It’s really not. It’s hard when you grow up in a place where newbies are viewed as the bad guys, but that’s really not an excuse. What you did? That was wonderful. Thank you.”

The police arrive then and come inside. I get swept up in the arrest and have to give a statement as to what happened. I try to keep everything as brief and succinct as possible, but it’s not easy. I’m feeling tense and anxious about what happened, and part of me just wishes that my mate was here.

I want Meredith.

I’m craving her even if she doesn’t want me.

By the time I’m finished talking with the cops, I’m completely worn out. They make me wait around until everyone has spoken with the police. Long after the perp is gone, the officers are asking questions. I think they’re trying to cover their bases. After all, I did destroy a window. They have to figure out who is going to pay for everything, whether I’m in trouble for breaking into the café, and all of those pesky legal questions that nobody really tends to think about when they’re in the midst of saving people.

At least, I didn’t think about any of that before I leapt through the window.

All I thought about was getting to the guy before he hurt anyone.

To be honest, all I could think about was Meredith.

When her mother was killed, there was no one there to save her. No one came to rescue her valiantly. She had a mom, and then she didn’t.

Today, I may not have saved someone’s mom, but maybe I did. Maybe I prevented another person from having to experience the pain that Meredith felt.

It hurts my heart to think of how alone she must have felt for all of those years.

It pains me to know that she must have been struggling for so long without anyone to hold her up or let her know that hey, she’ll be okay.

Finally, I’m allowed to leave the coffee shop. I take my disposable cup of coffee and walk away from the situation. The guy who gave me his spare clothes tells me not to worry about returning them, but I let him know I work at the clinic if he changes his mind. Taking another man’s clothing doesn’t really feel right to me, so I’ll probably leave them at the front desk with the receptionist.

I make my way down the road and turn onto the side street where I’m staying. Claw Valley really is a sweet little town with cute little shops and houses. It’s not so big that I could get lost. It’s small enough that I can basically walk anywhere I need to go, which is a convenient thing. Shifters love to stretch their legs and move around. That’s not a secret.

We love being able to explore and change where we are. I think that’s probably one of the nicest things about this town. It’s surrounded by open spaces and forests. It’s got plenty of room where I can go shift and run and just let myself go.

The problem is that even though I realize I should probably move on from this place and consider it a wash, I don’t want to.

I don’t want to leave.

I want to stay here with her forever and ever.

My inner-bear doesn’t want to stay locked away from his mate. He wants her wolf just as much as I want her heart, and I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do about it. The closer I get to my home, the more weighted and heavy my heart feels because soon, this whole thing is going to be over.

I have less than a day until I’m supposed to meet with Meredith and the dragon mayor. What kind of town has a dragon shifter as a mayor, anyway? I definitely didn’t know that dragons can undo mating marks or claims. I definitely didn’t know that dragon shifters had that kind of capability.

And the reality is that I know I don’t really deserve this second chance, anyway.

When I lost my wife, I lost everything. That was it for me. It was supposed to be the end of my romantic life. It was supposed to be the end of everything. I managed to convince myself that somehow, things were going to be different this time around.

I counted on a lot of things going right in Claw Valley, but I never counted on her.