2. Rosalie

2

ROSALIE

B irds chirp just overhead, and the warm sun hits my face. I press back up against a very solid chest. There's a man's arm draped over me. I try desperately to climb out of the fog of sleep. Did I go home with a man I met at a bar? No, no bar. I went on a hike to clear my head and brainstorm a new painting.

And that's when it all comes flooding back. I barely breathe. There is a man with his arm wrapped around me, but it can't be the man the bear mauled. I saw him die. Didn't I?

I try to calm my breathing and slip out from underneath the strong tattooed arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" It's a low, guttural voice. Definitely not the man from last night.

I don't want to say... sexy. Objectively it is sexy, but after what almost happened last night, the last thing I need to be thinking is a thought like that in a situation like this.

"Let me go," I ground out. Maybe it's the daylight making me braver, or the stupidity of being attracted to that masculine gravelly voice—like maybe I wouldn't want to resist if he decided he wanted to… Stop that thought right there! I've never gone to therapy in my life, and clearly that was my first mistake.

He loosens his grip, and I jump out of his arms like I'm on fire. I turn and my eyes widen. He's naked. I should run right now, but I can't. I'm still hurt. The pain slices through my ankle, and I take the weight off it, trying not to let him see my injury. As if I could outrun this man anyway.

"W-what happened to the bear?" Did I hallucinate that? There was definitely a bear. But how could this guy take out a bear without me even waking up?

"Just calm down, Rosalie, I'm not going to hurt you."

"H-how do you know my name?"

His head tilts to one corner where I see my bag and cell phone. And weirdly, the bear spray.

"I'm the bear," he says calmly.

I just stare at him. I mean I really stare at him… those tightly coiled muscles, washboard abs, sun-kissed skin, tousled dark hair, warm brown eyes with flecks of amber, strong jaw, a very neat short beard a couple of steps above a five o'clock shadow—not too mountain man—tribal tattoos running around his arms and over his chest… a happy trail that leads down to… look up, look up !

I shake my head out of this madness.

He just smirks. He's one of those guys who knows exactly how hot he is.

"I'm sorry… what?" I could swear while I was ogling him, he said he was the bear, which is crazy so obviously I'm dreaming, or dead, or hit my head, or randomly developed a complex delusional disorder. Who really can say?

"Rosalie, I'm the bear."

"What?" I say again. My brain refuses to compute this. Okay so he's the crazy one. Yay for my sanity. But that doesn't explain how the fuck he got the bear out of here.

"You are not a bear. What did you do to the bear?" I say.

"Look around."

I do, this time really taking in my surroundings. The sunlight that was shining down on my face… in a cave… is explained by the hole in the… ceiling? There's a fire pit right under that hole for air flow from cooking. There are bear skin rugs all over the cave floor. He kindly drapes one of them over his dick. Too little, too late, there buddy. There's a cabinet with drawers on one side.

"Do you think I somehow killed a bear and built some cabinets in the middle of the night without you waking up?"

I shake my head. "You cannot be a bear. That's not real."

He sighs. "I guess you'll see tonight. Until then, I'll let you believe what you want."

I laugh, "I'm not going to be here tonight."

I slip my cell phone and bear spray back into my pocket and put on the backpack, trying not to wince from my ankle.

I limp out of the cave, not knowing what direction I'm going in. I am still lost, after all. A few minutes later, the man who seems to think he's an actual bear , is following me. He has kindly put on some jeans.

I mean, I understand that cave I slept in is clearly a human dwelling. And yet the bear dragged me right into it… unless I dreamed that last bear part. How do I know I even woke up in the night? Maybe that part was a dream.

Yes! That's what happened. Maybe after I fainted, this guy who also just happened to be in the woods nearby, somehow killed the bear and got my stuff and took me back to his… person cave where he sleeps naked in the fall. Sure, that sounds way better.

I flinch when he grabs my arm. "Rosalie, you're injured. And I can't let you go, anyway."

I swallow the lump quickly forming in my throat. I mean, yeah, sure, he's hot and all, but also clearly troubled.

"Look, I appreciate whatever you did to save me from that bear that was clearly going to kill me after he killed my would-be rapist, but please… I really have to go."

He sighs. "I'm sorry but I think you're my mate, so letting you go would be quite impossible at this point."

I just slow blink at him. "Do you mean mate like Australian friend?"

"No. I mean mate like… Fated Mate."

Okay, someone has been watching some teen paranormal TV dramas. Hey, no judgement. I just laugh at him because really what else can I do?

"Just wait, you'll see tonight. I'm a bear. It's the third and final night of the full moon, then we can go back to my place in the city and get you moved in."

"What? No, I'm not living with you. I don't know you." Yes, let's just move in with the mentally ill forest man who thinks he's a bear. What could possibly go wrong?

"I'm Cooper."

"Great. I'm leaving." I try to hobble a little further, but he swoops me up in his arms and carries me back to the cave.

"Hey! Put me down!"

He does put me down—on a small chair next to a table inside the cave.

"I really don't want to tie you up, Rosalie. You cannot leave. You are mine, and I can't let you go until the mating is complete."

I feel the tears gathering in my eyes. "You are legitimately delusional, and that scares me a lot." There's no point in putting on a brave face. I'm in the middle of nowhere and injured. Maybe I can find a way to break through his delusion and save myself.

He kneels beside my chair and brushes the back of his warm hand over my cheek. I do not lean into it like some pathetic damsel.

"Shhhh, please don't cry."

"Then let me go," I whisper.

"No. I absolutely cannot do that."

"You mean won't, not can't. You're not a bear, Cooper, just another piece of shit human male who feels entitled to fuck. You're no better than the guy last night. Just a prettier monster."

It takes everything in me not to let my gaze rove over the evidence of all his prettiness.

His features go dark, and his jaw clenches. "I'm not going to rape you, for fuck's sake."

"Well, you just assumed I'd fuck you and said you can't let me go until I do, so… I genuinely don't get why you don't get that sounds like rape to me."

He stands up and takes a few steps back, then he does this motion with his hands like he's showcasing a brand new refrigerator on a game show, except he's the refrigerator.

"Really? You don't want all this?" He waggles his eyebrows suggestively at me.

Oh my god. Could he be any more arrogant right now? He's not wrong , my traitorous brain supplies.

"You ar e straight, right?" he prods.

"That's not the point."

"Well, I know you don't have a husband or boyfriend."

I cross my arms over my chest, my anger starting to edge out my fear. I wonder if he's pissing me off on purpose so I'll stop crying. "And how would you know that?"

"I only smell the man from last night on you. So unless you're with a long haul trucker or a soldier that's currently fighting a foreign war, you're single."

"So? Maybe I want to be single. Did you ever think of that? Maybe I have no interest in having my life revolve around a man. There's way more shit to do in this world besides half-assed romance. And trust me, most men can barely half ass it."

"Fate has a different plan, I'm afraid." He doesn't say anything else, just gets up and goes to the cabinet. I don't bother trying to escape… it's pointless with this ankle, and we both know it.