Page 142 of Dream Weaver

When I reached my special boulder, it was still warm from the sunny day that had just faded to an end. I took a deep breath to concentrate on shifting. I shook out my hand, picturing paws instead. I rolled my neck, knowing it would soon grow thick. Layer by layer, I peeled off my clothes and tossed them onto the boulder. The chilly evening air made my skin prickle.

Warm. Help me stay warm,I asked my second self.

Coming,a cheery voice rumbled. My bear side.

I hunched and sank to my knees. I barely registered the bite of gravel, because the shift was already underway.

Set me free…my inner bear mumbled.

“Doing my best,” I grumbled. Really grumbled, which meant—

Opening my eyes, I spotted fur. Paws. Claws.

Yippee!my grizzly cheered, dancing in place.

It — er, I — gave myself a hearty shake, settling my fur in place. Then I looked down my long, dark nose and sniffed the air.

A barrage of scents flooded my nose, making me sneeze. I’d never considered the ranch a place particularly rich in odors — except maybe the manure pile out beyond the corral — but my sensitive bear nose amplified every scent, from acrid manure to sharp pine and the dry, sweet odor of prickly pear cacti.

I shook myself again, startled, as always, by the heavy mantle of my fur and the flop of my ears. Then I set off toward the creek, where Cooper and I had agreed to meet. Taking advantage of my time alone, I tried out my paces, going from walk to trot to sprint, because coordinating four feet still didn’t come naturally.

Just leave it to me,my grizzly reminded me cheerily.

My bear side, as it turned out, was more like Claire than me — all upbeat and happy. Or maybe it was a better version of myself, without the emotional baggage. Either way, I liked the new me. A lot.

But thinking made me stumble, so I went back to concentrating on my feet.

Just switch off and leave this to me,my bear said.

I made it to the creek without further incident, even running at an exhilarating clip for a while. Then I hastily hit the brakes before I slammed into a tree and covered up by roaring, as if the tree were at fault.

Very impressive,Cooper said, appearing behind me.

Actually, he growled, because he was also in grizzly form. But I was fluent in bear-talk now and pretty damn good at reading my lover’s mind — a handy side effect of the mating bite.

I whirled, rearing to my back legs to look ferocious, because ferocious was always good.

Cooper’s eyes sparkled.Even more impressive.

I waved my front paws for good measure, but oops. That threw off my balance, and I toppled backward.

I rolled in the dirt, a little chagrined. Not so impressive after all.

Cooper hurried over to snuffle me.Are you all right?

I assured him he was, but his sniffs of concern tickled, and I laughed.

Hey, I’m trying to be ferocious here, all right?

You don’t have to try to be ferocious,he assured me.You just are.

My insides went all warm. For years, I’d thought I would be single forever. Now, I had the world’s sweetest mate. How had I gotten so lucky?

Destiny,Cooper reminded me, nudging me to my feet.

As soon as I was on all fours, he nuzzled me, long and hard. Enough to make me topple again.

I cursed, falling over.

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