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

thought that we had something between us. Something special. And then out of nowhere, here’s this big secret that I’ve discovered, without him knowing. He’s James, and he’s a bear. But why doesn’t this bother me more?”
    And that was it, at the heart of it. She didn’t care that James was a bear. She was falling in love with this man, and his bear form didn’t bother her. It was just another part of him.
    And all the conventions of her normal life dictated that she should be freaking out, should be running for civilization as fast as she could, but she wasn’t.
    Marie sat silently and let her work all this out, and Nessa was fairly sure that her emotions were playing out on her face like it was a filmstrip.
    “Why doesn’t this bother me?” she repeated. Marie shrugged, palms held outwards and upwards.
    “You’re the only one who can answer that, Nessa, but I can tell you that you’re not alone. It’s not a bad thing, to be accepting. It’s not a bad thing at all.”
    “Thank you,” Nessa said gratefully.
    “Happy to help.” Marie grinned. “But I didn’t do much. Just cleared away some of the cobwebs so that you could work things out yourself.”
    There was a sharp whistle from somewhere behind them, and Marie was up from her chair in a flash. “That’s my call,” she said brightly. “Nice talking to you, Nessa, and I hope you stick around long enough for me to arrange some introductions for you. Take care!”
    “Thanks,” Nessa said again as Marie disappeared, and then looked down at the stacks of books she had found.
    Shifters were real, and this didn’t bother her. She had no urge to run to the papers. Shifters were real, and she was in love with one.
    She loved James.
    That was all that was important.
    She took a few minutes to file the books back in the right places, to the approval of the librarian, before she headed out of the building. She contemplated taking a turn around the town, see a few of the sights, but pushed the thought aside, since she did want to get some work done before the night came again. She crossed the road and headed back to her car.
    The rain continued on the drive back to the cabin, and when she arrived back at her temporary home, the rain seemed like it was on for good. It sifted down out of the dark sky in a constant stream, soaking her to the skin in minutes. Nessa grabbed her camera case, braced herself, and trotted off into the woods in search of photo opportunities.
    She thought that she was following the same path that James had led her on the previous day, but the fog rising from the ground and the falling rain made it hard to tell. All trees looked the same to her, even if they were photogenic. The white curls of fog created an eerie atmosphere, and she stopped occasionally to take photos.
    After about half an hour, she wasn’t sure if she was still heading in a straight line. She’d also nearly fallen in a dry creek bed. She hadn’t reached the clearing that had held the caribou, but then animals had probably more sense than to stand out in the rain and get soaked. She looked up at the sky, and as if in answer, the rain began to come down heavier, whistling through the branches of the trees.
    Off to her right, she could hear the burble of water running over rocks, just audible over the noise of the rain. Where there was running water, there was the chance for photographs, and the chance to find some animals. Rather than make this a wasted trip, she turned and trudged off through the undergrowth.
    The sound of the water grew louder, and Nessa emerged from the undergrowth to a more cleared area. A stream, swollen by the rain, burbled through a small rocky ditch, water tinged brown with carried soil. It was picturesque, and would have been more so, if it wasn’t for the ever-present rain. Nessa snapped a few pictures and then packed her camera away. She was cold, soaked to the skin, and hoped that James would be back at the cabin. She needed to talk