7

Cedric stood on his front porch, not bothered by the cold wind rushing around him, as he stared towards town. It wasn"t that far of a walk in bear form, and if he took his truck there was a good chance it would get stuck there in the snow, but the distance was good. It kept him sane. Kept him away from all reminders of her, save for the ones burned into his brain.

He had managed to stay strong for a few days before inevitably giving in and heading back into town. He told himself, the whole way there, it was only to try the sandwich Gareth wouldn"t shut up about, and if she was there, he would ask for her number. He had a cell phone and knew how to use it, when he remembered to charge it up. He would keep it charged and on to talk to her.

Only, when he arrived, he had been informed that not only was she not at work, she wasn"t in town. She was gone to some big city a few hours down the road for some emergency appointment, and she would be back in two days. He had thanked them, and tried the sandwich, which wasn"t half bad, and told himself he would return in two days.

He hadn"t. Instead, he had spent the day hunting with Gareth, who had been moaning about him going into town without him and not bringing him a sandwich, and for avoiding him.

Yes, Cedric had been avoiding his twin. Even after shifting and two very hot showers, he could still smell Bethany on himself. It was a scent he didn"t want to share, nor explain. It was only after spending the day smoking fish he had caught that he realized the smell was only in his imagination, the memory unable to settle. Only he could still smell her, as though she were in his bed right now, waiting for him to return to her.

Two long fucking weeks since he had last seen her, smelled her, tasted her, and the memory was still fresh on his tongue as though he had just devoured her cunt while she pulled on his hair.

She was perfect, fucking perfect, save she had cried out the name Rick, and he was too much of an idiot to tell her that wasn"t his name.

He had to correct that. Correct a lot of things.

Except he was a bear, and bears liked their solitude, and...

And now, Owen, his lonely big brother, was planning to shack up with some human from town. Of all of his brothers, Owen was the last one he would have expected to find a woman he wanted to mate. Oh, Owen travelled the same as him every Spring, sowing oats and shaking out his fur, but his big brother also lived further away from town than they did, wanting distance between him and his brothers.

A human? He wanted a human?

Cedric had breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Owen said her name was Cordelia. Not his Bethany, then. The jealousy that had been poised to rear up settled back down, and then...

Then he had lied to his big brother, telling him there wasn"t a woman worth spending time in town for. Lied and said women were all the same, and he liked his solitude.Lied and said he should fuck Cordelia out of his system.

Never before had his cabin felt so lonely as it had the past two weeks. He ached for her, ached for her smile and her radiance and her scent. There was no fucking a woman like Bethany out of his system. She was in his blood, and he couldn"t resist her any longer. Even if he looked like a damn fool, crawling back to her and begging for a few hours of her time, he would do it.

He needed her in his life. Needed her like he needed his next breath.

The walk was short, despite the ice on the ground and the cold wind that kept ruffling his fur, but he was intent on his purpose, heading straight towards the bar after he shifted on the edge of town and pulled his clothes on. She was somewhere in town, either at her house or at the bar, and he would start at the bar. She had wrapped up her shift around this time when he visited last, so hopefully she would be on the tail end of it, so he wouldn"t be forced to awkwardly wait around and watch her while she worked.

He wanted to talk to her. Wanted to do more than just fuck. Wanted to know everything about her.

A girl like Bethany made a bear long for town, and he needed to know why. Needed to know what sort of magical spell he was under, and whether or not she felt the same.

As he headed towards the bar, he thought he saw a familiar truck pulling out and driving his direction. Cedric quickly stepped into a closed shop"s doorway and watched as the truck drove past, confirming his suspicion. It looked like Owen finally got his head out of his ass, and drove into town to see his girl.

And then somehow fucked it up, because his big brother was all alone in that truck, and it was heading down the road towards his cabin.

Owen might have struck out, but Cedric wasn"t going to do the same. He was there for a reason, and he planned to do it right. He would apologize for taking so long to return, ask her when her shift was done, ask if they could talk while he walked her home, and then offer her his phone and ask for her number. It would be very casual, he wouldn"t ask to follow her inside or expect anything more, but he would open the door, both literally and figuratively. It would give them an avenue to talk more, talk when the heavy snows came and it wouldn"t be realistic for him to journey into town without telling her how he could easily do it.

And maybe, eventually, he would—

All of the oxygen and blood in his brain disappeared, the blood in particular running straight into his cock, as he stared across the nearly empty bar and saw Bethany standing beside it. She was beautiful, even more beautiful than he remembered, with her blonde hair half braided and half done, with the curls swirling around her shoulders. She was laughing at something another woman said, one of her coworkers he was pretty sure, and she was... that was...

It was his shirt. She was wearing his shirt. It was a little big on her, but she had tucked it into her jeans and left the top few buttons undone to reveal something dark and lacy underneath, but it was his shirt on her body.

She was his woman, whether she knew it or not. Fuck being a bear. He would stay in human form the rest of her life, just so he could have her in it.

"Bethany, look who"s here," another woman behind the bar said, loud enough Cedric would have heard it without the bear hearing, and then, Bethany was turning and looking his way.

She smiled, a big and beautiful smile that he knew was real, and the radiant glow around her exploded. Even from the distance, he could feel her warmth, and like a flower opening in the morning sun to soak in the rays, he was drawn to her, unable to even try and stop his feet as he made his way over to her, trying to tell himself not to kiss her on instinct, or worse, throw her over his shoulder and carry her out the door.

He had to do this right, do it like he had practiced, but he couldn"t remember a single word he had prepared as he felt his mouth go dry.

Thankfully Bethany didn"t seem to have that problem.

"Hey, stranger. Didn"t expect to see you again," she teased as he reached the bar she was leaning against. "I heard you came around looking for me."

There was no malice in her tone, no annoyance either. She was pleased with him, not only because he had returned, but also because he had come by before, looking for her. She was happy to see him again.

"I did. Had to come soak in a little sunshine before it gets too cold out."

She nodded her head but said nothing. She was waiting for him to say something more.

"And I"m sorry it took me so long to return. I"ve been prepping for winter. Expecting the snow to grow thicker any day." It was only half a lie. Yes, he had been busy preparing his homestead for winter, but he would have made time to see her. Made all the time in the world. "Couldn"t stop thinking about you."

"Oh, really?" she asked, her smile widening. If it got any bigger, he was positive her face would start to hurt.

"I told you, Sunshine. You"re unforgettable. Pretty amazing, truth be told. Been wanting to see you again. Wanted to know if we could talk."

She arched an eyebrow at him, and he wasn"t sure what part of his words he was questioning, but he would gladly explain himself if need be.

"You know..." she began while shifting against the bar. He couldn"t imagine it was too comfortable having her back pressed against the thing. "Some of the other girls mentioned that you"re one of those rangers who works for the government out here on the edge of nowhere. And that you live outside of town all year round."

He could sense a question coming and could hear the hope in her tone. She was hoping what she had heard was correct and was waiting for him to either confirm or deny it.

"I do. They probably recognize me because of my brother, my twin. He"s a little more scraggly than me and keeps to himself, but he"s been coming in here a few nights a week because of some sandwich y"all have."

He didn"t know what else to say, or explain, but she was now looking at him weirdly. He wanted to know what she was thinking but was too nervous to ask. He had to say something, though, otherwise they would stare at each other all night and get nowhere. It was his idea, and his plan, to talk to her. He just had to find something to say.

"When do you finish work?" he asked, hoping to buy himself a little time before he had to find more words.

"Now," she answered, pushing off the bar and straightening up as she answered.

He didn"t know if that was the truth, but he wouldn"t question it.

"Want to dance?"

The question, and the idea, had come out of nowhere, and she arched her eyebrow once again before looking at the dance floor. His eyes followed, and he recognized that the space which had been filled with people a week before was now empty, although the tables were still pulled to the side and music was playing.

In fact, the whole bar in general was empty, save for a few older men eating at some of the tables near the door and two drinking at the bar. Shit, town really did clear out when the work season was done. If town was always this empty, he could stomach it more often.

He could easily stay all winter long with her.

"There"s no one else dancing," she answered, which wasn"t a no. He could work with that.

"Doesn"t mean we can"t dance."

She seemed to think on it for a minute, and then she was offering him her hand, which he gladly took. He was the one to lead her to the empty space this time, and he pulled her in close, remembering the movement from the last time he was there. She followed along, even as he took a few missteps, and said nothing when he accidentally stepped on her foot.

They only made it two songs before she pulled him closer and asked him to take her home.

He wasn"t stupid enough to say no.