Page 23 of Coveted By The Bear

“Let you?”

“Claim you. Will you be mine?”

“Y-yes,” she said, and I kissed her, losing a piece of my heart in the process.

Hope D’Amato probably didn’t understand what she just did by saying that whispered little yes. She’d earned the fealty of my Bear with that one word.

She was mine now. And I was never letting go.

Chapter Ten-Hope

One minute I was being kissed silly by the man of my dreams, and the next, he was being whisked away to another room by a group of enormous men who all seemed to share the same physique as Miles.

More Shifters, my brain whispered.

“Hope? Are you alright?” Arthur Lance, my boss, and the owner of the chain of repair shops named after him, came running into the office where I was being guarded by a big, quiet man.

“Yes, Mr. Lance. I’m fine. I am so sorry about the mess! I can pay you back on a schedule if that’s okay,” I said, blurting out everything I’d been sort of panicking about since Miles had left me alone.

Not that it was his fault. But with no one to talk to, I was kind of spiraling.

“Nonsense. Don’t worry about that at all. We’re insured. But are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, and his expression was worried.

He shared a look with the man guarding me and I noticed something I never had before.

Arthur Lance was big and tall, and when he glanced at that other man, the one guarding me, it was like they spoke without words.

I tilted my head, trying to read whatever it was they were silently communicating, and then I saw it. Arthur’s eyes were glowing.

Holy. Shit.

“Oh my God! You’re one too!” I yelped and pushed back against my seat.

“Is everyone here one?”

“Oh boy, um, Hope, you have to be really quiet about this,” Arthur began, and he looked odd.

Like he was scared or anxious or something. I’d only ever talked to the boss man once or twice. He seemed like a nice man. His wife and kids certainly thought so.

But maybe there was more to a person than just that. I mean, did all these people harbor monsters inside them?

Okay, so I was having a panicky moment. And it only got worse when Betty and Crush arrived.

What was my friend doing here?

“Hope? Are you okay?” Betty asked, pulling me in for a hug.

Crush went right to Arthur, and the two started talking to the bodyguard and well, I gave in to my momentary hysterics.

Who could blame me?

“Am I okay? I don’t know, Betty. Are you a Bear, too?”

It was a question, but my tone was accusatory. My friend looked down guiltily and bit her lip.

“Look, Hope, I know you are upset, and rightfully so.”

“You lied to me. Kept this from me,” I said, tears clogging my throat.

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