Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,37

she didn’t want to lose that lead. She got to her feet, Daisy rising with her.

“But if he doesn’t…” Daisy took Alanna’s hands in hers. “You’re just like me, honey. You’re a bear and a woman. Nobody’s tougher than us. You’ll survive and you’ll go on. I thought I wouldn’t get by without my Lloyd and I’ve made out okay. Not that I don’t miss him every damn day. You can do it, sweetheart.” She punched Alanna’s shoulder. “Guess you’d better get on now.”

“Yeah,” Alanna said. She squeezed Daisy’s hands. “Thank you. You helped me. Really. Bless you.”

Alanna felt better about things as she continued her journey up the mountain. The pain of maybe losing out on true love was an ache.

She kept to the water because that’s what felt like home. It was when she found a tiny patch of unlikely Columbine blooms poking up through the snow that Alanna nearly burst into tears again. Columbines blooming in such cold weather seemed close to a miracle. She’d been running at a swift pace but she stopped there by the flowers and gave herself the gift of enjoying the familiar purple and white blooms for just a couple of minutes.

Alanna made out Nathan’s scent all at once as it drifted in on a gust of wind. She turned around, her bear a little clumsy in her shock and there he was, standing in the snow as the river rushed behind them. His bear was a golden brown, honey-colored against the brilliant white of the snow.

If he’d found her, he must have run hard the whole way and started not long after she’d taken off. She had a million questions. The first being: How had he known?

But instead of asking him, she only padded through the snow on her thick paws and bowed her head, nuzzling him with her cold wet nose.

11

Nathan

Nathan let Alanna bury her nose in his fur for a bit and nuzzled her back and licked at her ears and playfully nipped at her chin. It was the way bear shifters affectionately greeted their mates after some time apart and it made his heart race to imagine them that way, even if he was sure that if Alanna found out about Rawley, she would never want to speak to him again. He couldn’t be the one to lie to her anymore. Even if it ended up breaking his heart. Whatever was going on with her and Rawley, it was dangerous and traumatic. He wouldn’t be yet another man willing to hurt her.

Finally, he shifted and he saw the fear in Alanna’s eyes when she shifted back. She shivered and he frowned, rubbing her arms. She wasn’t dressed for the bitter cold.

“You need a coat,” Nathan said. He took off his own parka and helped her put it on. It felt strange to talk about something so mundane considering everything, but Alanna leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her.

“I couldn’t bring mine with me,” Alanna said, her teeth chattering. “John was watching me. I didn’t want him to see me leaving.”

“Right. Listen, we need to talk,” Nathan said. “I know a place out here. We can get warm.”

“What if John finds us?” Alanna sounded breathless and panicked, her eyes teary as she stared at him.

“I’ll take care of John,” Nathan said. “Come.”

He slung his arm around her and led her through the snow eastward, following some short cut through a tight cluster of trees and shrubs and around an outcropping of boulders where a small cabin appeared, half-hidden by the trees. It was more like a shack and nothing you’d want to live in, but it was warm enough as Nathan led her inside, shutting the door behind him. It was obviously kept up regularly, with a comfily made bed, a rug on the floor, counter space stocked with canned food, a table, and a couple of chairs.

“This is just a place we keep to hang out,” Nathan said. “Like if we’re on a run and we feel like shifting back for a bit but we don’t feel like going all the way back home. We let our neighbors use it too as long as they keep it clean.”

“It’s nice,” Alanna murmured. Nathan left her by the door and brought her a thick blanket folded at the foot of the bed, helping to wrap it around her. She smiled softly at the small gesture.

“I think we have a lot to talk about,” Nathan said darkly. They