Page 27 of Midlife Animal Rescuer Bear

He recognized the look in her eyes. It was the same way she’d looked at him on their wedding day, just before she’d taken off. Like he was nothing but a monster. Of course, she was afraid of him.

What was going through her mind right now?

It didn’t matter. Shame swept over him like a wave, and he turned away, heading out of the clearing, away from her.

***

Melissa couldn’t move. She stood rooted to the earth, staring at the spot where the bear—no, Cal—had been standing just a moment ago, shuddering all the way to her extremities. She suddenly recalled the image of the wolf leaping at her, claws extended.

In that single second, her entire life had flashed before her eyes.

The wolf had been bad enough. But seeing Cal turn into something much larger, much more dangerous, had left her paralyzed with terror. The glade was empty now. Both the wolf and the bear were nowhere to be seen. Still, Melissa couldn’t get the images out of her mind.

But Cal didn’t hurt me. The thought filled her suddenly. If anything, he protected me. If not for him, I’d be toast by now.

“Cal...” she managed to breathe.

He’d suddenly left the glade. It occurred to Melissa then that he must’ve seen the look on her face.

That was all it took to bring her out of her trance. She broke into a run, racing out of the glade in the direction the bear had gone.

“Cal!” she called. There was no response. She tried again. “Cal!”

Still nothing. It was almost like he’d vanished into thin air. How could a bear so big move so quickly? She searched for the next few minutes, her fears almost forgotten, but to no avail. For a minute, she even considered phoning him, but figured he’d probably left his phone at the sanctuary. Finally, she gave up the search, deciding it was best not to remain alone in the woods in case the wolf returned.

She plodded into the big house twenty minutes later, and was surprised to find Cal already in the living room. He was back to his human form, sitting alone on a couch, wearing fresh clothes.

How long has he been here? Melissa wondered. Was he waiting for me? She had so many questions running through her mind.

She decided to ask one of them. “Are you okay?”

Cal stared at her for a moment, his expression unreadable. “Yeah, I am.”

“You took off all of a sudden,” she pointed out. “I was looking for you.”

“You were?” Surprise flickered across his face. “I just needed to get away for a bit. Plus...I didn’t want to scare you.”

Melissa blinked at him, unsure how to respond. “Well, I mean—”

“Don’t even try to deny it, Melissa. I saw the look on your face. I saw the way you reacted when I shifted.”

He looked away, but not before she saw the hurt in his eyes. Guilt gnawed at Melissa’s gut, clawing its way up into her ribcage. She tried to brush it aside, coming to the couch and sitting next to him. She braced herself, half expecting him to pull away or growl at her for coming too close.

Growl? she said to herself. Really, Melissa?

He didn’t recoil from her. They were six inches apart, she noted, but she could feel the warmth seeping from his body. Despite wearing different clothes, he smelled somewhat like earth and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on. His blond hair fell across his forehead, his eyes focused on the floor, instead of on her.

He was upset right now. Should she try to comfort him? Should she touch him? That didn’t sound like such a great idea. A knot of emotion was growing in her chest, at the same time that a wave of heat swept through her gut.

She sucked in a breath. “You’re right, Cal.”

He lifted his head slightly, but didn’t look at her.

“I’m really sorry, Cal. I just...I guess I wasn’t expecting you to turn into a bear out of the blue.”

“It’s more than just that,” he said. “What I am scares you. I’m not an animal, but I’m not human either. And that scares you. That’s why you ran on our wedding day. It’s not just that I startled you; it’s that you never really accepted me for who I am.”

This time, she did reach out and touch his arm. The heat in her belly grew, spreading to her extremities, despite her attempts to brush it aside. “Cal, I—”