Read Online Bearing It All (Alpha Werebear Shifter Paranormal Romance) by Lynn Red - Free Book Online Page B

in a ball and threw myself straight into the side of the garbage can. My paws hit the ground and I strained like hell, but I got it over.
    Two watermelon rinds. That’s it. That’s all the luck I had.
    Sniffing the air, the huge, tattooed bear stopped.
    I was breathing so hard I had started to wheeze. An asthmatic fox. Yeah, that’s me in a nutshell.
    Backing away, I watched him approach the trashcan and sit down in front of it, then start batting the rinds back and forth between his huge hands. He looked so pleased that I just sat and watched him.
    He let out a contended roar and picked one up. One big bite removed whatever shred of fruit was left. The bear flipped back onto his feet and shook his coat, then – faster than anything I’ve ever seen – dove straight at me.
    I tried to run again, but it was no good. Wide open? Already tired? Nope, not happening.
    A fence right in front of me just made me give up. Normally I’d just skip over it, just run right up. But there wasn’t any point. He’d just barrel right through.
    “Told you I’d see you tomorrow,” a voice said, behind me.
    No fuckin’ way , I thought.
    I was shivering, twitching, shaking with fear. My lips were pulled back over my teeth in a silent panic, but when I looked back, I could not believe my eyes.
    Standing there, with just his hand to hide himself from me and everyone else – and not doing an incredibly good job at it, honestly – was Crag.
    “If you’re embarrassed, you don’t need to bother changing back,” he said. “You’re beautiful just like that, too.” His voice was like nectar dripping down the inside of my lips.
    “I’ll go,” I was wheezing. “I’ll uh, go change,” I said. “If you want to wait?”
    He shook his head and gave me another of those half-grins. “I just wanted to show you I was serious.”
    “Serious?” I asked. “I... I don’t...”
    “About chasing you,” he said, with a little bit of a sexy growl in his voice. “I’m not letting you get away. See you tonight. Nine. The Clinton Civic Center has to be empty by half-past eight, so we have an early night,” Crag said, letting his eyes flash a little in the sun.
    I’m sure he did that on purpose.
    Then, as I watched him, not really sure what – if anything – I was supposed to say, he crouched down, let his transformation take him, then disappeared back into the woods.
    Back in my apartment, I showered off, and ate about half a boiled egg.
    I still hadn’t really processed everything that happened by the time I was headed out the door. The only thing I knew, really, was that whatever had happened, it had me hot as hell.

-7-
Violet
    ––––––––
    W ork came and went. Millicent, my boss, was away at some conference for another day, and outside of Professor Duggan, the library saw light use at the beginning of semesters.
    Of course, we were halfway through, and there were still only a few people hanging around in the cubicles, and one guy rolled up in a furry ball, asleep in the corner of a study carrel.
    I couldn’t go ten minutes without thinking about Crag’s paws sinking into the ground as he stared at me with those gorgeous, burning eyes. How had I missed those deep, intricate, tribal tattoos that ran down the sides of his cheeks like ancient tears?
    I had to shake myself more than once. I managed to avoid embarrassing myself, mostly, except for one time I got caught staring off into space and grinning.
    Luckily, the guy who came up to me probably just thought I was off my gourd. Staring off into space, grinning and giggling? Yeah, that’s got a different connotation on a college campus than it does most anywhere else.
    But, when a college kid thinking you’re stoned is the most exciting part of a day, that’s a pretty dull day.
    A dull day that didn’t stay dull long.
    Right after Henry took off from lunch, I was hoping for a long spell of quiet when Quigley Daniels wandered in. He straightened his backpack and