Read Online Bear Apparent (BBW Shifter Romance) (Stone Claw Clan Book 1) by Jade Woods - Free Book Online Page A

everything, so we refer to them. In this case, it’s an oxymoron.”
    “Oh.” It was all she could say.
    “Come,” Garrett said, guiding her back to her house. “I know you have a lot more questions, and I will answer them, but for now, everyone needs to settle in.”
    “What about us?” Jet whimpered.
    Garrett cocked a brow at her. “This is your territory, and you make the rules.”
    She glanced at the mish-mash of men, their expression hopeful like lost puppy dogs wanting to come in from the rain. How could she make them live outside? Besides, they were obviously dear to Garrett. “As long as you promise not to leave claw marks in my walls, and track mud across the carpet, you can come in.”
    Their expressions went supernova, and she couldn’t help smiling as one of the polar bears gripped Vance’s wheelchair, and raced it toward the house, Vance’s joy filling the air. Garrett tossed an arm around her shoulders, and she glanced at him, his face reflecting happiness as he watched his family.
    He leaned in, and she caught the scent of pine and clean water, and male musk—it made for a heady combination, one she was starting to notice a lot. “Thank you.”
    “You welcome. I’m just glad they made it here okay. I know how important family is,” she said.
    He stopped, and pegged her with an intense look, his eyes flaring to life. She swallowed a lump as they shifted lower, and his tongue ran across his bottom lip—if she didn’t know any better, he was thinking about the kiss they had shared.
    A shout of glee went up, and he stepped back. A pang of disappointment went through her and she sighed—maybe Garrett was the type of guy that was attracted to bigger girls, but was embarrassed about it? He needs to get over it, she grumbled to herself, because this dance of I-want-to-but-I-don’t-know was giving her a headache.
    Throwing him an aggravated look, she turned her attention to her guests, and clapped her hands, grabbing their attention. “Who is hungry?”

 
    Chapter Eight
     
    Garrett watched from afar as his bears crowded around Dahlia in an effort to help her get the food platters to the table faster. He ignored the urge to put some distance between her and the others. With every hour that passed, that need to claim, and protect her grew and now that his bears were stealing her attention, his instinct had kicked into overdrive. He wanted her focus on him.
    It’s one damned woman. You don’t even know her. He tried and failed to reason with himself, but she was having too good of a time, and he wasn’t going to take that from her. The tenseness he picked up on earlier had quickly melted as the clan started talking to her about random crap. He hated that she’d been scared of them, but she seemed to be enjoying their company now. Seeing them interact with her felt remarkably right … a bonded female didn’t just strengthen the clan-leader, but the entire clan. Women were the balance between their two halves, the center that kept them in check, and acted as a glue between the entire clan.
    Running his eyes up and down her body, he wanted to whisk her away to the safety of her bedroom, and explore every corner of her mouth. Maybe she’d let him explore other areas, too. Her body language and scent let him know she was attracted to him, but…
    I’m the one pushing her away. Was she interested in him because she found him attractive, both physically and emotionally, or because he was some sort of conquest? Maybe he was reading her wrong… perhaps, her interest was borne from curiosity of his species. He wanted to take a chance with her, but what if she broke his heart in the end? Never mind his oath to never fall in love, but shifters bonded fast and hard. If he opened himself to her, she could very well shred him more than Lazaran had.
    “Garrett?” Dahlia’s voice pulled him back to reality, and he blinked at her with wide eyes. She was painfully beautiful, all that hair curling around