Jim tucked their clothing into the safe box and locked it firmly. Then he joined her, going down by her side. “How are you doing, sweetie?”
Damon trotted up beside him, the silver wolf with black markings on his shoulders wagging his tail excitedly, typical enthusiasm pouring from his friend. Lillie wiggled slightly, then leaned forward and touched her nose to Damon’s. The wolf responded playfully, bouncing on his front paws from crouch to crouch, moving side to side, ready to play.
Jim placed his hand against Damon’s shoulder and shoved him hard enough to send the wolf off balance. “Stop flirting,” he commanded.
Damon kept rolling until he regained his feet, his teeth showing as he laughed.
Jim turned his attention back on Lillie. “No problems meeting Damon’s wolf?”
She shook her head before rising to her feet and closing in on him. He stayed still and allowed her to circle him, then she stood patiently, waiting.
Only one way to find out if she could handle him. Jim shifted, the moment of change between the human and the animal rushing over him with a sweet, sensual tease. He was glad the stories were wrong. There was no painful grinding of limbs as their bones rearranged themselves. Whatever it was that allowed them to shift felt damn good.
Looking at the world with his adjusted vision was amazing as always. The sounds around him were just as intense as in his human, but they somehow made more sense when he was in animal form. Same thing for the scents—growing richer and clearer with every breath he took.
Lillie still waited for him, and he moved in closer, slowly rubbing their shoulders together. She didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she pushed back before prancing away nearly as playfully as Damon.
Thank goodness. He had hoped she would trust him, but he knew his bear was a big brute. He’d frightened other shifters, even ones who weren’t nearly as timid as her to begin with.
She darted off down the trail and around the trees, leaving the packed gravel and cutting across country toward the nearby ridge. Damon didn’t wait for the signal to run, the three of them moving into the wilderness easily as the sunshine lit the hillside.
No matter how civilized shifters were, the mix of human and animal meant there was a part inside that would always crave the wilderness. This was the reason, even though Jim hated the thought of heading to the home he had in the north, he couldn’t give it up.
Running with the others along the ridge gave him time to consider. He’d been going on sheer will power for the last year, hiding from the pain of his loss.
Money couldn’t fix everything.
And while his parents and he had been trapped in a cave-in, it wasn’t the darkness that left him waking in a cold sweat. It was the loss of family and connection. Bears didn’t tend to congregate often in the first place. Hell, they were such loners they’d even put conventions in place to arrange marriages between compatible individuals to ensure bear shifters didn’t vanish altogether.
His enjoyment of being around others was rare, and he truly believed only his friendship with Damon had helped him get through those early months of despair.
He still hadn’t returned to the home being built outside of Whitehorse. The last time he’d been there was with his parents, as he showed them the plans for the mansion. They’d approved of his choices—admired his successes, and teased him mercilessly about how big the place was, and how many children he’d have to have to fill the empty rooms.
And now they were gone.
A long, low howl echoed off the hills. Damon, letting loose a cry. His tone was somewhere between sheer joy and utter sadness, and Jim wondered again at the depths of his joking friend. The things that burdened Damon were so tightly wrapped up even Jim couldn’t pry the chains apart.
He rambled to a stop beside his friend, bumping the wolf with his hip. Damon only howled louder, but this time a hint of laughter returned to the sound.
Jim turned his attention to his mysterious woman. As a diversion, she’d been everything he could have hoped for and then some. He was already looking forward to spending the evening with her, even if that meant taking in a show instead of taking her straight to bed.
He wasn’t sure if it was selfishness on his part, or if he was being kind by not delving deeper into her secrets.
The only thing he knew for sure? He was damn glad he’d met her.
It had been the perfect day, Lillie decided. A bit of everything—from shopping, to the trip to the mountains, to the enormous pile of In-and-Out Burgers they consumed.
Add in the expression on the counter girl’s face as she’d taken their order for twenty-five burgers and eight orders of fries—hysterical. Especially when Damon had to go back and order a couple more, complaining he was still hungry.
Buzzzzzzz.
Lillie dried her hands on the towel, checking her texts as she left the restaurant bathroom.
Checkin time
Lillie wrote rapidly. Still alive. Having fun. No time to talk—going to show
Still flinging?
Yes. Gotta run