Bears VS Wolves (Team Shifter 1)

And he’s looking at me like his heart is breaking and exploding at the same time.

“What do you mean?” He finally asks me.

“I didn’t even give you a chance to explain.”

“I know,” his voice is pained, and that’s when I notice there’s more happening right now than I thought.

“Wait a minute,” I look him up and down. “Those aren’t your clothes. They don’t smell like you.”

“Something happened.”

“Are you okay?” I step forward, but he flinches and steps back, and that makes me feel like total crap.

“Meredith, something happened at Beans.”

“I was just there.”

“I know.”

He sighs and gestures to his couch.

“Please sit.”

I don’t have the energy or the attitude to argue with him this time. Instead, I do as he asks, and I take a seat on his big, oversized couch. It reminds me of the one my grandmother had many years ago. It reminds me of my childhood and eating chocolate cookies and trying not to get crumbs on the fabric.

Robert runs a hand through his hair and then he tells me.

“There was a robbery.”

My entire body goes rigid with this news.

“What?”

“A robbery at Beans.”

“Was anyone hurt?” I manage to choke out.

“Just the robber.”

“What happened?”

“I saved the day.”

Of course he did.

Robert is an incredible person. He saved the day. Hell, he probably saved the entire town, judging by the way he’s finally starting to crack a smile.

“Wow.”

“I know.”

He shakes his head and paces for a second. Then he rips off the shirt he’s wearing. Good. It looks nice on him, but it’s not his, and it doesn’t smell like him. I’ve heard that after a mating claim, other potential mates will smell off-putting, but I didn’t realize how true it was until this moment.

The idea of smelling another guy, even on my own mate, makes me wildly uncomfortable.

He looks at the shirt before dropping it to the ground.

“My clothes tore,” he tells me.