Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“That’s why you’re out here,” I whisper to myself as I open a can of vegetable soup. “To shake yourself out of that and live in the real world for a while.”
I suddenly get that eery feeling of being watched and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight. I’m in the real world now, and the real world is creeping forward in the form of an enormous grizzly bear.
I gasp in panic as I jump to my feet. There’s a grizzly bear, a real live grizzly bear, within throwing distance. He’s creeping forward with his possessive eyes fixated on me.
“Oh crap,” I hiss as I lunge on my bag and fumble for my gun.
A branch cracks under his tremendous weight as my fingers wrap around the butt of the revolver. I swing it around and point it right at him as he sniffs the air, his eyes never leaving me.
“GET BACK!” I scream as I hurry behind my small tent, keeping it between us.
He lowers his head and walks forward with a grunt. Holy shit, he’s big.
My heart feels like it’s going to pound out of my chest. I can hardly breathe as I point the gun at him.
What’s a bullet going to do to him? He must be two thousand pounds! I don’t even know if the bullet is going to make it through his thick hide. Maybe it will piss him off enough to make him kill me quickly.
“I said stay back!” I scream as he keeps walking forward. “I shot a snake in the head, I’ll shoot you too.”
Not exactly in the head, but he doesn’t have to know that…
The bear steps on my tent and it collapses like a popped balloon as he comes forward. His hungry eyes are locked on me.
I’m not dying like this.
“I warned you!” I shout. I squeeze my eyes shut and fire three times.
The shots tear through the darkening sky and ring in my ears.
When I gain the courage to open my eyes, I see the bear recoiling away from me and whimpering in pain. Three red spots are matting his fur with blood. Two in the shoulder and one in the chest.
He’s still staring at me, looking hurt, looking almost… betrayed as he watches me, whimpering the whole time.
“Oh, no,” I whisper as I watch him stumble onto his ass. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you just… I warned you!”
I grip the gun in my hand as he struggles to get to his enormous paws. I point the gun back at him as he stands up, but then something snaps within me and I start running instead.
I leave my tent. I leave my bag. I leave everything but the gun, and flee with my life.
Chapter Three
Julian
Ten minutes earlier…
My bear catches a scent on the wind and it rips through my body, stunning me, gripping me, seizing our attention like nothing has ever done before.
He recognizes it before I do and starts running toward the source of the tantalizing smell.
I gasp when it hits me.
It’s her.
It’s really her.
Our mate.
Let me out, I demand as my bear rushes forward on big powerful paws.
He grunts back. The intention is clear. He’s not letting me out without a fight.
Fine, I growl as I try to grab a hold of him. He snarls as I pull him back in while trying to push my way out. His body tightens as he fights me back.
He’s waited to find our mate as long as I have and he’s not about to let me have the first sight.
You’ll scare her!
He growls again and starts running even faster.
Panic fills me as I start imagining all of the ways this encounter could go wrong. Our poor girl is out in the middle of the Montana wilderness and we’re about to run up to her as a huge grizzly bear. We’ll be lucky if she doesn’t have a heart attack.
Let me handle this!
He shakes his head and forces me back down when I try to wrestle my way up.
I feel helpless in here. This is the moment I’ve been waiting forever for and now I’m going to be forced to watch as my stubborn bear fucks it all up.
My grizzly bear suddenly stops on the crest of a hill and we both freeze when we see her.
She’s absolutely fucking stunning.
That’s her.
That’s my girl.
The girl who I was fated to meet. Fated to protect. Fated to love and cherish for the rest of my days.
I watch through my bear’s eyes as I vow to do all of those things. No one will ever hurt her again. I’ll be there for her—loving her, cherishing her, worshipping her body wherever she goes.
She’s making a fire, oblivious to my presence.
Both me and my bear let out a groan when she tucks a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. She has a face that belongs on a China doll. I can’t get over how gorgeous she is.