Kodiak Moment: Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance by Zoe Chant Read Free Book Online

and ushered the boy off.
    “I know that you’re probably used to keeping secrets here,” Nessa said hastily, before the other woman could speak. “But I’m staying up at the cabins near James, and I saw something, and then I talked to Dan, and now I have no idea what to think. Or to do.”
    It took a moment for the other woman to parse her disjointed sentence, but when she managed it, she nodded. She held up one hand in the universal sign to hold on, and pulled a phone from her pocket.
    With a few taps, she must have sent a message, and it was only a few seconds later that a reply came through. Her face lit in a bright smile, and unceremoniously, she plopped herself down on the yellow chair, folding herself into the small space with the ease of the experienced teacher.
    “So you’re the mysterious photographer that the whole town’s talking about,” she said breathily. “And Dan says you’re on the level.”
    “Does he now?” Nessa asked, a little flummoxed.
    “We like to keep ourselves to ourselves, so when someone starts asking questions, Dan’s the man we go to,” the woman explained. “But he says that he’s already had a talk with you.”
    “I wouldn’t call it a talk,” Nessa said. “More like a quick and dirty intro into this secretive and bizarre world that I thought only existed in legends. Followed by tall tales and improbable stories.”
    The woman laughed. “Dan isn’t the best for explanations, which is why we don’t usually let him. Last time we let him explain was the time that Chris brought up his partner, and that ended up with the poor man streaking naked through the woods in an attempt to get in touch with his inner bobcat. Chris was mortified.”
    Nessa tried to hide her smile behind her hand. “He didn’t try anything like that with me,” she said. “Possibly because he admitted that James could take him. Everything that he told me made sense, it’s just hard to wrap my head around.”
    “Right, let’s see if I can get your head straightened out for you. My name’s Marie, you?”
    “Nessa. Do you turn into an animal as well?”
    “Most of us here in the town do. I’m a goose. We’ve got a variety of species here, mostly wild, native, and non-native. Can I assume that you’re not a shifter?”
    “Not that I’ve ever noticed,” Nessa said dryly.
    “Believe me, you’d notice,” Marie said, just as dryly. “You’re not alone, we’ve got a bunch of non-shifters around as well, family, friends, and mates. If you plan on sticking around a few days, I’ll arrange a get-together.”
    “I don’t know what my plans are yet,” she admitted out loud. “I’m only here on assignment, but…”
    Her sentence trailed off, and Marie leaned forward, head tilted in a very birdlike movement. “But?” she asked.
    Nessa wasn’t sure whether to answer, to confide in this woman she had just met, no matter how helpful she was currently being. This was something private, something personal between her and James.
    “How much does being a goose affect you?” she asked instead of replying.
    “You’re thinking of it as there being a human me, and a goose me, and that the two are different. We don’t see it that way. I’m Marie, who occasionally grows feathers. That’s not to say that sometimes things aren’t simpler when I’m wearing feathers, because they can be. When you’re up in the air, just gliding, if things don’t fall into perspective, then you’re doing it wrong.”
    “It sounds wonderful.”
    Marie made a pleased noise in reply, her eyes distant for a brief moment, before she shook her head and snapped back to herself. “So, what started this bout of confusion?”
    “Aren’t I keeping you back from the children?”
    “Not at all, and I notice that you keep changing the subject. Spill, Nessa.”
    “I saw James turn into a bear. I thought that shifters were something out of legends, and then suddenly, there’s one right in front of me. And he and I…I