Beary Mated Christmas

I wanted to hide from my past and ended up sharing a bed with it instead.

Once upon a time, I dreamed of a life with my best friend. We would shift for the first time, scent each other as mates, and live out the happy ever after that only Fate could provide.
Our first shift is Christmas Eve. What could be more magical than that? He scents like peppermint bark and chocolate, and I’m ready to call him mine. Only, to him, I smell every bit the wet polar bear I am. Getting through the last six months before I can go to college is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I manage.
I avoid going home and reopening the wounds of my heartbreak. Each year, I find something to keep me occupied in my college town. This year, my family offers to come and spend the week with me, and I panic-lie, telling them I have to travel for my graduate thesis. I book the first place I can find to hide out for the season…or at least I thought I did…