“Claim me,” she said, wrapping her legs around his waist, ready to take him deep inside her.
“It will turn you,” he said. He ran his hand down her side and gripped her hip, positioning her just right. With a hard thrust, he sank inside her. His pelvis brushed hers, exciting her tender nub with the pressure.
“I want to be like you,” she said.
He growled again, his teeth pressing harder against the artery at the curve of her neck. She gasped, knowing that it might hurt. Wyatt lapped his tongue over the spot, making the flesh tingle under his raspy tongue.
He pulled back and thrust again. Candice could only hold on for the ride. There was no stopping this train. “I want it,” she breathed, at the edge of control.
He needed no more incentive. He thrust again. Over and over, he pumped into her, pushing her to the brink of reason as her orgasms rolled through her like thunder claps.
His teeth sank around her flesh, gripping her neck just short of puncturing the skin. She gasped and wailed with delight as Wyatt took her, body and soul. She adored him. Loved him. Wanted to be his mate forever and always. She wanted to be by his side in everything. She wanted to know what it meant to be a shifter and to experience that world in all its glory and pain with the man she loved.
With a shuddering thrust, Wyatt shot his seed inside her as his teeth bit through her skin. Candice’s body throbbed around his cock as she went rigid with pleasure and pain. The bite shook her to the core. Her mind was ablaze with fireworks, and her blood ran hot with awakening.
The last of Wyatt’s seed pumped into her womb and the corners of Candice’s vision blackened. A new sense roared inside her, and she cried out with awareness.
Wyatt withdrew his teeth and licked the wound as he pulled from inside her core. He rolled over on the bed and brought her to his chest, damp with sweat. Their breaths were in synch as they lay together, their hearts pounding in rhythm.
“I can feel it inside me,” Candice said, listening to the sound of Wyatt’s heartbeat. He ran his hand up her back and threaded his fingers through her hair. Tilting her face, he planted a kiss on her lips and then looked at her.
“I can see it in your eyes,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-One
The little country church aisles were lined with purple lilacs and pink ribbons. The smell of lilac filled her senses as Candice stood in the hallway of the church, waiting to go out. Her uncle Charles was there to give her away.
He patted her hand, looking handsome in his black suit, his white hair curling around his ears. Candice peaked through the double doors, seeing Wyatt in his tuxedo at the end of the aisle with the preacher. Her heart burst, like a bird taking flight from deep in the forest.
She clutched the bouquet of mountain blooms and white roses and smoothed down her gorgeous, satin wedding dress with the other hand. Ever since the night Wyatt had claimed her as his mate, she’d been waiting for the full moon and their wedding day.
They’d chosen the day she would change for the first time to be the day they took their vows to make both more special. But it didn’t keep the nerves in her stomach from fluttering.
The guests found their seats, and the groomsmen and bridesmaids began to march down the aisle. Wyatt had invited other game warden bear shifters from across the state to be in the wedding, and Candice had invited her cousins and friends from Seattle.
Candice’s family was happy that she had found the love of her life. Being open-minded, they didn’t have any problem with the fact that she was marrying a shifter. A few of her cousins were actually intrigued by it.
The moment finally came for Candice and her uncle to march down the aisle toward her mate. They stepped out between the doors and began to walk slowly toward Wyatt and the preacher. She couldn’t keep the big, goofy smile off her face, even when they stopped and her uncle gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Wyatt reached out and took her hand, helping her step up to the pulpit. She gazed into his bright, green eyes. Everyone in the church disappeared, and it was just the two of them there together. He took her other hand, and they faced each other as the preacher started the ceremony.
They’d written their own vows, and they spoke them to each other. Candice’s heart was ready to erupt with love and joy. Wyatt’s words filled her with a sense of bliss so boundless, tears streamed down her cheeks, and one of the bridesmaids had to give her a tissue to blot them away.
When she spoke her own vows, her voice shook, but she got it together enough to tell him how much she loved him. She could see in his glistening eyes that he was feeling the same way.
When the preacher pronounced them husband and wife, they kissed, holding each other tight. Everyone cheered and threw birdseed as the married couple made their way to the reception hall across the street.
As Candice and Wyatt sat at the reception table, the bear wardens came to congratulate him one by one. Brody, a big man with a big smile, ice blue eyes, and a shock of blond hair shook Candice’s hand and gave the happy couple a gallon of fresh honey as a wedding gift.
Chance, a gruff-looking fellow with shoulders that seemed to dominate the room and a scowl to match, gifted them with a huckleberry patch to be planted on Wyatt’s land while they were on their honeymoon camping trip.
Candice was so overcome with the generosity and love from everyone at the wedding, she almost was able to forget the state of the world. Tonight, she would shift for the first time. Forever after, she would be a shifter—a person hated by many and hunted by a few sick, twisted souls.
Since Wyatt had been so helpful in solving the homicide case, the state of Montana had decided that game wardens would be involved in all crimes against shifters, making their jobs that much tougher.
The wedding reception wound down, and Candice and Wyatt were left alone back up at his cabin. They wanted to spend their wedding night alone together at home. Candice would have her first shift, and it would be better if they did it in familiar territory.
After they arrived home, they took off all their clothes and stood in the moonlight on the back porch. Wyatt held her hand, and smiled down at her.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked, squeezing her hand.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said nervously. Wyatt had coached her extensively on what to expect in the weeks following the mating bite, but that didn’t mean the prospect of turning into a bear wasn’t frightening. She trusted Wyatt more than she’d ever trusted anyone, and she was ready to make the change with him by her side.
“What do I do now?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“Come with me. Step out into the moonlight. I’ll change first. Then you will focus on your inner bear and let it come to the surface.”
“Okay,” she said, steeling herself. She followed Wyatt off the patio and down towards the tree line where the moon glowed brightly, casting a silver hue on the tall grass. She shivered in the cold as the breeze blew up the ridge.
“I’m going to shift now,” Wyatt said, giving her one last squeeze. He drew his hand away, and a strange expression overtook his features. In a matter of seconds, the Wyatt that she knew and loved contorted and changed. He became a massive, brown grizzly with shining, green eyes. Just the sight of him took her aback, even though she knew it was her beloved. She reached out and patted his muzzle.
Wyatt seemed to shake his head, encouraging her to let go and give in to the rumbling bear within her. She could hear it calling out to her, asking to be let free. It was almost like the yearning she felt to paint or to make love to Wyatt. It would feel blissfully good to let it take over. With a sigh, she let go.
All at once her body began to break apart. Excruciating pain bit every nerve in her body. She knew it would only hurt the first time but that didn’t lessen the pain. It nearly broke her. All at once it was over, and she found herself standing breathlessly at the edge of the forest. New sensations – site, sounds, and smells – filled her senses. Things she had never imagined existed
suddenly came to the forefront.
The smell of the forest, the feel of the wind on her fur, the sound of Wyatt’s breathing beside her. The sense of him––the sense that he belonged to her and she to him. It filled her with an overwhelming feeling of grace she hadn’t expected.
Her love for Wyatt, their marriage, and moving to his town to be an artist had been perfect. But now that she had shifted and could experience what Wyatt experienced, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they belonged together, that they were each the other’s one true mate. It almost made her want to cry for what normal humans didn’t get to experience. Feeling this kind of love and connection and support was the most beautiful thing she could imagine.
She could feel Wyatt beside her. There was a kind of internal animal connection between them now that hadn’t existed before. It wasn’t as if she could read his thoughts, but she could experience him on a whole other level. She knew he wanted to run, to frolic in the forest, and to spend their first night together as bears, as true mates, under the glory of the shifting moon.
Thank you for reading Bear Witness.
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Braving Darkness Series
Marked By The Alpha Wolf (Book One) Braving Darkness 1
Marked By The Alpha Wolf (Book Two) Braving Darkness 2
Marked By The Alpha Wolf (Book Three) Braving Darkness 3
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Touched By The Dragon Lord (Book Two) Braving Darkness 5
Touched By The Dragon Lord (Book Three) Braving Darkness 6
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Desired By The Archangel (Book Two) Braving Darkness 8
Scarlett Grove, Bear Witness
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