Savage Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Ruby Shae Read Free Book Online

stupidity of that action fueled his rage. He wanted to hit something, to fight, and not just with his fists.
    He saw the tree line ahead and he aimed for the biggest, fattest trunk. He stepped on the gas, determined to hurt physically so the band around his heart would disappear.
    At the last minute, he rejected his plan, and turned the wheel sharply. The tires bounced over moss, ivy, rocks and dirt, but he saved everything except a taillight on the passenger side.
    The crush of the plastic echoed in the cab, and some of his anger dissipated. He’d done a lot of damage in his life, but he didn’t usually try and destroy his personal property.
    This wasn’t about the truck.
    It wasn’t. It was about pain.
    As soon as he left Leah behind, the tension in his body returned full-force. The more distance he put between them, the more his tension grew. Being around her made him feel grounded, calm and…loved. How was he supposed to live without her?
    You’re not, asshole. That’s why she’s your mate.
    He didn’t deserve a mate. She said she didn’t care about his past, but one day she would wake up and realize her mistake. Once he marked her, it would kill him to let her go, and her joyless smile would return for the rest of their lives.
    He couldn’t do that to her.
    He parked the truck on the side of the road, jumped out of the cab and walked into the forest. The shift into his bear form happened in an instant, and he liked the fact that the magic allowed him to change without taking off his clothes.
    He sniffed in the crisp forest air, and then he ran.
    The need for physical contact drove him hard. He rushed tree trunks head-on, turning at the last minute to collide against the bark with his ribs, and tried to make jumps he knew were impossible for his large bear form. Branches and bark scrapped his body and tore at his flesh, but he didn’t care.
    He ran, and tumbled, and fought with nature until his battered and bruised body rolled down an embankment, and landed in a ditch lined with rocks on the side of the road. He tried to get up, but he lacked the strength to move, so he closed his eyes and let the healing process begin.
    A few hours later, the rays of the sun warmed his fur, and he opened his eyes and surveyed his surroundings. Even though he’d travelled for most of the night, he’d paid no attention to direction, and he’d ended up only a couple miles from his truck.
    He stood on all fours to lumber back to his truck when he noticed the house across the street. The huge lot was surrounded by a white wooden fence, and the same style posts were used to make the railing on the porch that wrapped around the house. White shutters and trim detailed the light blue home making it look like something out of a fairy tale.
    A For Sale sign in the yard caught his attention, and with three bedrooms, and two baths, it was the picture-perfect place to start a family. His bear grunted in satisfaction, and the man had the urge to smile again. Though the feeling frightened him, it didn’t feel like it would suffocate him like it had before.
    Instead, he felt hope.
    Suddenly the weight of his past lifted and he realized Leah had been right. Again. He’d given his past too much power, and in return, it threatened every aspect of his life.
    He kept his apartment nearly empty, because he never intended to plant roots. Except for the furniture, which he would leave behind, everything would fit in the back of his truck. He never let people close, because his parents, and so called friends on the street, had broken his trust nearly twenty years ago. He fought to stay alive so often, he forgot how to live without using his fists.
    The truth was, he wanted a home and a family.
    He wanted to live in a story book home, and have a mate and children. He wanted friends to invite over for a Sunday barbeque, and he wanted to lose the urge to fight all the time. He wanted to plant roots, and open up a business showcasing his secret