Bearing My Soul: A Paranormal Werebear Shifter Romance by Ellen Graves Read Free Book Online Page A

never looked directly at me. Several bloody trickles ran down along one side.
     
    I considered for a moment the possibility of running deeper into the forest, but I knew I could never outrun this beast. Instead, I offered pleading whimpers as I watched it.
     
    It shook itself as it walked and its fur fluffed out. It grew larger the closer it got, becoming increasingly more... a bear.
     
    By the time it walked past me, I recognized it as the light-colored bear that I had seen wandering in the yard. It sniffed at my back and stood directly beside me. It wasn’t until then that I realized how violently every muscle in my body was shaking. It patiently waited for me until I was able to push myself to my feet. It walked behind me again, nudging my back with its nose, as if to push me along the trail. Then, it strolled in front of me. Hesitantly, I began to follow.
     
    The huge bear ambled lazily ahead. It frequently turned its head to be sure I was following. It led me back to the house. I stopped at the back door and stared at it, thoroughly bewildered.
     
    With a sudden upward lunge of its front legs, the beast stood up on its hind legs. I stifled a scream as the monster towered at least nine feet up in the air. It stood only inches from where I was. It growled, snorted, and tossed its head back and forth. It grew smaller as I watched.
     
    The thick matted fur receded into downy softness over deeply tanned skin. It shrank past the point of being a hideous demonic thing and quickly morphed into...
     
    “Jonathan?” I gasped. I stood and stared at him in astonished dismay. “But...” My mouth moved, but no words came out. My brain reeled in jumbled circles, as I struggled to understand. My heart raced in longing and dread.
     
    “But it’s not possible,” Jonathan finished my sentence.
     
    I rubbed at my eyes, then looked back at him. I saw his dark brown eyes and thick blond hair. It was really him.
     
    “You’re a monster!” I yelped.
     
    “A monster?!” he objected gruffly. “I think I could give a pretty good argument that I was not the monster out here tonight.”
     
    I stared down along his skin, his chest and stomach, his...
     
    I looked sharply back up into his eyes, focusing there. “And you’re naked!” I shrieked.
     
    He glanced down his own tall body and shrugged. “Yeah, that I have no argument against,” he conceded. He looked carefully at me, at last directly into my eyes. I felt like it was the first time he actually saw me, who I was, that I was really there. “Are you okay?” he asked.
     
    I swallowed hard. I nodded. “I think so, just still in shock.”
     
    He smiled grimly. His eyes touched over my face with a caring gaze. Then, travelled down my neck and briefly to my breasts.
     
    Suddenly, I felt exposed. I quickly tugged my shirt around myself. Instinctively, I glanced down and saw that he had stiffened. When I looked up, I noticed he saw me peeking at him. He turned away in embarrassment.
     
    “I’m starved,” he said flatly. “Do you have something to eat?”
     
    “Would you like me to make you a sandwich?” I offered, as I opened the back door.
     
    He shook his head. “After changing like that, I need to eat a lot more.” He pushed by me and burst into the kitchen. I followed him in. I watched in confused perplexity, as he flung open the fridge door. He yanked out the elk roast and slammed it down on the counter. He sniffed briefly at it before tearing the brown paper and ripping off shreds of meat. He seemed oblivious of me, as he consumed handfuls of elk. The blood dribbled down his arms.
     
    I glanced down his side where the bullet wounds were closing over. Somehow, amid everything else, it didn’t shock me that he was healing so quickly.
     
    From where I stood, I could see just under the edge of the counter. My breath caught. His most private parts were fully visible to me. His attention was focused completely on food. Cautiously, I watched his face,