Boarlander Boss Bear (Boarlander Bears #1)(30)

Thirty seconds. Sure, it was no explosive Change like Harrison had accomplished, but it was a record for her.

She was scared to get up, scared she would lose her mind and attack the bear she loved, but as the seconds ticked by, all she felt was adoration for him. He looked so worried, her Harrison.

He paced closer and buried his nose against the scruff of her neck. Warmth spread through her from where he touched her fur. Struggling upward, she held her head up and twitched her tail as Harrison curled around her protectively. With a hard blink, she looked down at her lithe body. Usually, she hated herself most in this form, but tonight was different. Perhaps it was because this past week the Boarlanders and Gray Backs had seemed so excited that she was a tiger. Or maybe it was Harrison, who seemed completely enamored with her any time she let a purr slip. But if felt like more. Like maybe the change was because she saw herself differently now. She wasn’t a freak. She just wasn’t human. It didn’t make her an abomination. It just made her different, and maybe different was okay. It made her fit in just fine with these people, who she was growing to adore.

Something large moved in the woods below them, and a quick drumming from above startled her into a crouched position. She hissed out a warming, placing herself in front of Harrison. But when she looked up into the branches to see what had made that terrifying noise, a huge silverback gorilla sat propped on a thick branch, hand clutched onto the trunk of the tree. Kirk. He climbed down gracefully and circled her. When he reached out and brushed her fur with one curled, dark finger, she tensed, but allowed it.

A low rumble rattled Harrison’s chest behind her, and Kirk backed away. He stood frozen, propped up on his powerful arms, and behind him, a shockingly massive ink-black boar with long white tusks trotted forward. Farther back, another titan grizzly with fur the color of pitch ambled through the trees. They were all watching her with wary eyes. Wary, not disgusted.

She pushed herself up, ears back, tail low, because she was the smallest animal here, but at her movement, the others backed away a few paces. All but Harrison. She bared her teeth and let off a roar, then let it taper to a long growl just to test her voice.

Harrison nuzzled his face down her ribcage, and Kirk beat his chest again. Mason kicked up dirt under his front hoof, and Bash’s bear stood on his hind legs like he wanted to see her better. It was Harrison who moved off first, pausing every few steps to look back at her.

Right. She should follow.

Bash settled in behind her, but Kirk and Mason made their way side by side through the woods near them. The earth was warm and moist against the thick pads of her paws, and captured by a moment of excitement, she took off running, using her tail for balance. Crouching down in front of Harrison, she leapt at him and wrapped her claws around his neck, then gave him a gentle play bite. He didn’t flinch away or act like her claws hurt. Instead, he grunted and kept walking, dragging her along with him.

She released him and ran her tongue along the side of his face, then stopped and cleaned a sticker burr from her own paw. Bash pushed his nose against her back, then meandered around her with powerful strides.

She’d shifted…with other shifters! This was awesome!

Audrey took off again, this time toward Kirk, but he was having none of her shenanigans, and he scrambled up a tree and out of her way. Leaping through the air, she caught the trunk and held on, a few feet above the ground, and all of her claws dug deep into the bark. She could chase Kirk, but Harrison let off a short roar, demanding her attention, like when his bear had called her tiger out of her. Magic mate.

Audrey followed, but not before she raked her claws down the trunk. My tree.

She ran to catch up. Behind her, Kirk’s massive body hit the ground and began to follow them again. Bash’s giant ass was a fantastic target for biting, so she bunched her muscles, then pounced and gnawed on his stump tail, her claws in his thick hide. Bash grunted and turned and swatted her off. Didn’t hurt. Her giant paws sank in a mud skid as she trotted beside him. She hated when her fur got dirty. She should clean it. No, Harrison was too far ahead, and she wanted to snuggle. Ignoring the instinct to stop and run her tongue over her paws, she bolted and caught up with her mate. Mine. With a deep, rumbling purr, she rubbed herself up the side of his body, the wrong way up his fur. That would’ve driven her nuts, but Harrison only gave her an affectionate look over his muscular shoulder.

I love him. I love everyone. Had she ever been this happy? Nope. Hi, Mason! She took off toward the giant boar, but he skittered out of her way, then spun and aggressively lowered his tusks at her. Eee. She pulled off her hunt to save her hide and bolted for Harrison again.

Sky, stars, trees, dirt. She loved this place. This was paradise. Below was ten-ten. Ten-ten, my den. She sneezed a tiger laugh. Witty kitty. Pretty kitty. Audrey arched her back and stretched her paws in front of her so she could admire her stripes. She’d hated them before—but how ridiculous. At least she wasn’t a werebeaver. When she straightened up, she roared happily from the diaphragm, and Harrison answered, then Bash.

Below, Clinton yelled, “Shut up! I’m tryin’ to sleep!”

Grumpy bear. She should play-bite him. But when she trotted down toward the park, Harrison cut her off and twitched his head toward the east. Fine. Later. Later she would play-bite Clinton and make him like her.

For now, she was content to follow Harrison and see where he always disappeared to at night before he went to sleep. This was his gift to her for being a good little shifter.