Bought by the Billionbear(15)

Owen gritted his teeth. “I have to do it in private.”

“No way am I letting myself be alone with you,” Raina said. “I’m not an idiot. Explain here, or don’t explain at all.”

Owen clenched his fists, looking from Raina to Austin. Then he looked back at Austin, seeming to realize something. “Austin, what are you doing here?”

“I hike here all the time,” Austin said blandly.

“This is private property,” Owen said.

Austin shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t see the signs.”

“And there aren’t any black bears here,” Owen went on, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “A grizzly lives here; its scent scares them off.”

“That’s nice,” Austin said sarcastically. “Come on, Raina, let’s go.”

Owen looked straight at Raina as he spoke. “Raina, I’ll explain now. I’m not going to hurt you. I’d never hurt you. Yes, I’m a bear shifter. I know I looked scary, but all I was doing was defending you against the black bear— Austin Stroud, right here.”

“You’re insane,” Austin said.

Raina looked at the two men. She wanted to trust Owen. Every fiber of her being told her that Owen was trustworthy and honest, and would never hurt her. But what if she was wrong?

“Think about it, Raina,” Owen urged her. “You know that bear shifters exist. You’ve seen one. Is it impossible that there could be another?”

“No…” Raina said slowly. She took a step away from Austin. “It is awfully coincidental that you showed up just in time to rescue me, in the middle of someone else’s forest.”

Owen said, “And it’s just as coincidental that a black bear would attack you, in a forest where there are no black bears, so I was forced to become a bear to save you.”

At that moment, Raina was certain of the truth. “So I’d run away from you, and then Austin could save me!”

“This is ridiculous,” Austin said.

Hot fury filled Raina. She whipped around on Austin. “You played with my feelings! You nearly broke up the best relationship I’ve ever had. Why?”

“I saw you at the bachelorette auction, and I knew I had to have you,” Austin said. “But you went off with Owen. So I followed you here. You belong with me, Raina. I want you for my mate.”

“You son of a bitch!” Raina yelled. “What were you going to do once you got me alone in a car with you?”

Austin smiled his creepy smile. Then he hastily wiped it off. “Nothing!”

Before he could finish his sentence, Raina jerked up her leg and kneed him in the nuts.

Austin bellowed in agony and doubled over. Then he grew, looming taller. His clothes became black fur. As Raina started to bolt, the black bear lunged at her.

A colossal grizzly bear bowled him over, roaring in protective fury. As Raina watched, amazed, the two bears rolled over and over, clawing and biting in a frenzy.

Owen’s shaggy grizzly bear easily overpowered Austin’s black bear. It wasn’t just that the grizzly bear was bigger, it was that Owen’s bear was a better fighter. And Raina somehow knew that Owen’s bear was filled with righteous rage and protective fury.

The grizzly bear beat the hell out of the black bear, while Raina watched with vengeful delight. Owen’s bear was ferocious, but she no longer feared it. She knew that his size and strength and rage would only be used to protect her, and never to hurt her. Once she believed that, she could see how magnificent the bear was.

He’s not a monster, she thought. He’s Beauty’s Beast.

The black bear broke away. It stumbled to its feet, bleeding from bites and slashes. It was also hunched in pain over its groin. Moaning pathetically, it staggered off into the woods, and was gone.

The great grizzly bear roared his triumph.

Raina’s heart pounded. But after she’d run from Owen, she had to make it up to him— prove to him that she saw him as her true love, not as a terrifying monster. Before the bear could change back into a man, Raina ran to him and pressed a kiss on his furry cheek.

The magnificent bear rubbed his face against her. Then he shrank. Fur became clothes and bare skin. Then Owen stood before her, a man again. He was sweaty and scratched from his fight, with trickles of blood outlining the muscles of his left forearm and staining his shirt. His black hair was rumpled and damp. He, too, looked magnificent.

“I’m sorry—” They both spoke the same words at the same time, then broke off with a laugh.

“I’m sorry I ran away from you,” Raina said. “You were only trying to protect me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Owen said. “Of course you were scared.”


“So…” Raina said. “You’re a were-bear.”

“We call ourselves bear shifters. But yeah. We’ve lived among regular humans since the dawn of time. I spent half my childhood as a cub in the forest.”

“You know, this doesn’t surprise me as much as it should,” Raina said. “The first moment I saw you, I knew there was something special about you. It made no sense, but it felt like we belonged together.”

Owen cupped her face in his and gazed into her eyes. “Bear shifters mate for life. We know our destined mates at first sight. Usually, they’re bear shifters too. But mine wasn’t. I’d almost given up hope… until I saw you standing there on the stage. You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And you were mine.”