Chapter 7

Morgan

I still haveone more day until my wedding, but I can't seem to stay away from Alec. Part of it is that I can't stand to hang around the resort, where I could run into Randolph or my parents at any moment, but there's another part of me that craves being around Alec.

When I texted him this afternoon and asked if he wanted to grab dinner, he responded right away and invited me over. I'm supposed to meet him outside in a few minutes and finish bundling up before I sneak out of my room and over to the elevator. I can hear my parents in the room next door, and I rush by before they can stop me.

I know that my parents and Randolph are pissed at me. They made that pretty clear this morning at breakfast. I had been scolded by all of them while we ate. I had just remained silent, and soon the conversation turned to our wedding. That thought had made me lose my appetite, even though I knew that I wouldn't be marrying Randolph. Our marriage license will be declined, and by then, I'll already be married to Alec. I just need to make it through one more day.

The elevator stops on the ground floor, and I hurry off and out the front doors. Alec's truck is idling right out front, and he jumps out and opens my door for me.

"Hey," he says with a big smile, and I grin back at him.

"Hey. I missed you today," I blurt.

I want to take the words back. I have no idea what possessed me to tell him that. I can feel my face flame in embarrassment as I scramble into his truck.

"I missed you too," he says softly.

My eyes meet his green ones, and he smiles.

"Are you hungry? I found this recipe online. You just throw everything into a crockpot and it cooks all day. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about it," he says as he climbs in the driver's seat.

"I'm sure it will be great," I tell him, and he smiles while reaching over and grabbing my hand as we take off.

I should probably be more worried about someone seeing us together, but when I'm with him, I can't be bothered. I love how free and happy I feel when I'm around him.

We make small talk on our way to his house. He asks me about my day and I lie and say it was fine. I don't want to tell him about this morning with my parents and Randolph. I know that it will only upset him.

We pull up to his house and he opens my door, taking my hand as we walk up to the front porch. He lets me go in first, and I moan.

"It smells amazing in here," I tell him, and he beams with pride.

"Good. Hopefully it tastes amazing too."

We take off our winter gear and head into the kitchen. His house is warm and I relax more the longer I'm here.

"I'm just going to make some biscuits to go with it," he says, opening the fridge.

I'm surprised to see that the fridge is fully stocked, and I raise my eyebrows at him.

"I'm about to have a wife," he says. "I need to be able to take care of both of us."

My heart melts and I feel a blush stain my cheeks.

"Do you want help with anything?" I ask him as he takes out the can of biscuits.

"No, I think I've got it. Do you want something to drink? I bought some wine and champagne. Plus, I have water or milk."

"I'll have a glass of wine," I say, and he nods.

He abandons the biscuits to get my drink and I step up to the counter, taking over.

"You didn't have to work today?" I ask him, and he smothers a yawn.

"I did. I had the really early shift today so I got off at like eight this morning."

"We didn't have to hang out if you were tired," I tell him, but he waves me off.

"I wanted to see you. I missed you."

I finish putting the biscuits on the baking sheet, and he passes me a glass of wine.

"Thanks.

He nods, sliding the baking sheet into the oven and setting the timer.

"Did you rescue anyone?" I ask as I take a seat.

"There was a couple that snuck out to watch the sunrise and then got turned around. I took them up the mountain to see it and then drove them back to the resort."

"Was it pretty?"

"I don't know," he mumbles, and I frown.

"Why not?"

"I wasn't looking."

"Why not?" I ask again, and he fidgets.

"I was too busy staring at the resort and wondering what you were doing," he finally admits.

I feel it then. I am totally, completely, head over heels in love with this man.

"Alec…" I whisper and he clears his throat, grabs a glass, and fills it with water.

He chugs half of the glass as I watch him and then he clears his throat again.

"I need to talk to you about something," he says, and I tense.

"Something good? Or…"

"I hope so," he mumbles, and now I'm curious.

"Okay, what is it?"

The timer goes off and he pulls the biscuits out.

"Let me make us each a plate."

I know that he's stalling, but I let him.

"What did you make? I never asked."

"It's called chicken tetrazzini. It's basically cheesy spaghetti with chicken. It sounded good this morning when I was freezing," he says with a laugh.

"Mmm, it sounds good right now, and I'm nice and toasty warm," I agree.

He makes each of us a plate, and then we sit together at the kitchen counter and dig in.

"This is so good," I say around a moan.

Alec is frozen and staring at my mouth and I grab a napkin, swiping at my lips.

"Do I have cheese on my face or something?" I ask when he doesn't look away.

"No, no, you're… you're good," he says, his voice coming out kind of hoarse.

We eat in silence for a few moments, and then I glance at him.

"What did you want to talk about?" I ask as he eats the last of his food.

"I need to tell you something."

I finish the last of my food and turn to face him, giving him my full attention.

"Okay."

He takes a deep breath, and I wait.

"Have you ever heard of shifters or fated mates?" He asks, and I'm caught off guard.

I don't know what I thought he was going to say, but that wasn't it.

"Um, no. What is that?"

"I… I'll start at the beginning," he says, and I nod. "A shifter is someone who can change between human form and an animal. There are all different kinds of them. Wolf shifters, bear, hawk, rabbit, you name an animal, and there's a kind of shifter out there of that."

I blink, trying to wrap my head around what he's saying.

"I'm a bear shifter," he goes on. "A grizzly bear. The guys that I work with? They're all shifters too. Mostly wolf, though Gunner is a black bear and Ash is a polar bear."

"Um, okay," I say hesitantly.

"And shifters have fated mates. It's their chosen one, the one person they are meant to be with, that they'll love forever."

"Like a soulmate?"

"Exactly, but with shifters it's a little bit different. We don't date; we don't even notice the opposite sex. The only person that we're interested in is our fated mate."

"Sounds nice," I admit. "To be sure that you're with the right person."

"Exactly!" He says, sounding relieved.

I nod, staring at him, and he takes another deep breath.

"You're my fated mate, Morgan. I knew it the moment you ran into me at the resort," he admits. "I didn't tell you because I know that this is a lot to take in."

"That's why you agreed to my proposal so fast," I murmur, and he nods.

"I thought you could feel the bond between us too."

"And then I told you that it would be fake," I say, remembering how crestfallen he had looked.

He nods, looking down at his hands.

"It's why I said that I wanted a chance with you, for real. I know that we're meant to be, but I knew that you would need time to figure it out."

It's on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I figured it out already and that I love him, but I swallow the words down.

"He wants to meet you," Alec blurts out, and I blink.

"Who?"

"My bear."

"Your… You can hear him?" I whisper, and he grins.

"Yeah, and he can hear you," he whispers back, and I laugh.

"Sorry, that's cool. Have you always been able to communicate with him?"

"Yeah. It was hard at first because you basically have two voices in your head, but now I'm used to it."

"How do I meet him?" I ask. "Wait, he won't like hurt me, right?"

"No, of course not. He knows that you're our mate. We would both die to protect you. You don't need to be afraid of him," he reassures me.

"Okay. How do we do this?"

"Let's go on the back porch. He takes up a lot of room."

I nod and follow him outside. He grabs a blanket, wrapping it around me before I step onto the porch.

"Just wait there."

I nod, watching as he heads down the steps and out into the snow.

"I have to strip," he explains as he starts to pull his shirt over his head.

"Why?"

"I'll rip my clothes otherwise."

"Got it."

It kind of seems crazy to be doing this. I mean, the guy is about to turn into a bear. I'm surprised that I believe him about all of this, but I trust Alec. He's never lied to me and I have this feeling that he's right and that we are meant to be.

He reaches for his pants, and I look away, trying to give him some privacy.

"Ready?" He calls a minute later, and I nod, looking back at him.

He's so strong.

That's my first thought as I take in Alec's muscles and tanned skin. He looks huge, even bigger than he normally does without clothes. I guess the winter stuff hides some of it.

He nods at me once, and then it happens. One moment, he's standing naked in front of me, and the next, there's a bear there. It almost happened too fast for me to notice, and I blink.

"Whoa," I breathe, and the bear takes a step towards me.

I make my way towards the stairs, and he meets me at the bottom of them. My hand shakes slightly as I reach out and stroke the bear's head. We're almost eye to eye, even with me having the added boost from the steps.

He makes a rumbling noise as I brush my hands over his soft fur, and I smile.

"So soft."

He pushes his head further against my palm and I laugh. I pet the bear for a few more minutes, getting used to being around him, and then he turns and walks back to the yard. A second later, Alec is standing there and grabbing his clothes.

"Not so bad, right?" He asks me as he pulls on his pants, and I nod.

"No, he was cute."

He snorts, and I wonder what his bear is saying.

It kind of hits me then that this is real. I'm in love with a bear shifter. I can feel my mind racing and I back up a step. My phone starts ringing and I know that it's probably my parents. When I pull it out and see my mom's name on the screen, I sigh.

"Do you need to go?" Alec asks as he joins me on the porch.

"Probably. I still need to play nice with them until tomorrow."

"Are we still on then? For our wedding?"

He seems nervous, and I smile.

"Yeah, we're still on."

He nods, looking relieved, and I follow him back to the front door. We pull on our boots and coats and then head out to his truck. The ride back to the resort is mostly quiet, and I groan as we pull up out front.

"I don't want to go back in there."

"You don't have to," Alec says, and I wish he was right.

"One more night," I tell him, and he nods.

"There's one more thing," he says before I can get out.

"Another shifter thing?" I guess, and he nods.

"Tomorrow is the full moon."

"Right."

"And shifters and their mates can feel this thing called the mating heat. It's like a pull between them."

"What kind of pull?"

"We're going to have sex on the mind tomorrow," he tells me, and I stare at him.

"What?"

"Like a lot," he admits, and I'm not sure how to react.

"Alright…"

"I just wanted to warn you in case you wake up tomorrow and feel…strange."

"Got it. Anything else I should know?" I ask him, and he shakes his head.

"I don't think so. Not right now, anyway."

We share a look, and then I laugh.

"Sex," I mutter as he hops out to open my door.

I'm still smiling as I walk into the resort and head up to my room. That smile drops when I see my parents outside of my hotel room.

"There you are!" My mom exclaims.

"Where have you been all day? You disappeared. Do you have any idea how rude that is to us and to Randolph?" My dad snaps.

I want to tell them that I don't care about them or Randolph, but I know that would only cause problems.

"We paid for this trip, set all of this up, and you keep running off," he says.

"So ungrateful," my mom adds.

It's on the tip of my tongue to remind them that I never asked to come on this trip, but I swallow the words down instead.

"Sorry," I mumble. "I was just exploring."

"I expect you to meet us for breakfast tomorrow. Eight am sharp," my dad orders and I nod.

"Got it."

They frown and for a moment, I'm afraid that they're going to keep berating me, but they just sigh and stomp off down the hall. I slip into my hotel room and sigh, trying to forget about my parents and Randolph.

As I get ready for bed, I can't help but wonder what tomorrow will be like.