Page 37 of Polar Destiny
I’ll teachyou.
Thanks Alis, but I was thinking of my human assets. You can handle the bear side of things. If I can actuallyshift.
You can. I won’t give you achoice.
I can sense her determination and worry creeps up onme.
“Torben, does shiftinghurt?”
He hands me some clothes and nods. “Yeah, the first time it does. It’s more of a mental pain though, while your human mind gets used to the idea of suddenly being in the wrong body. It helps if you let your bear take over. She knows what todo.”
“Maybe I’m not so keen on it now,” I mumble and he takes my hand, giving it a reassuringsqueeze.
“I’ll be there with you. We all willbe.”
* * *
It takesages for me to shoo the bears out of the room so I can get changed. It takes even longer for me to persuade myself to go outside and stop kissing Torben. Not sure if I can blame it on the bond or just my desire for him. If I could, I’d take him up on the offer of staying locked in this room for the next few days. But somehow, I can feel the other bears’ excitement and don’t want to disappoint them. If Torben says it’s important for them to get to know the new me, then so beit.
They’re waiting for us outside the front door. Torben puts a coat around my shoulders, and while I’m tempted to remind him that I’m feeling very warm even without it, I’m touched by his gentlemanly behaviour. He really cares for me. How could I doubtthat?
As before, Finn pounces towards us, circling me playfully. To me, nothing has changed; I’ve been around them in their bear shapes a lot. I rode on all of them on our journey to Inchbrach. But for them, the change must have been immense. Finn stops behind me and starts to sniff my feet, then works his way up. When his snout reaches my bum, I take a stepforward.
“You don’t smell a lady’s bum,” I tell him and he pretends to look slightly guilty. When he’s done, Ràn steps forward and does the same. I feel awkward, standing there being sniffed by bears. If I didn’t know them, I’d assume they were figuring out what part of me was going to be the tastiest. Not that I was going to make a very big meal – growing up on an island with limited resources meant that I was skinnier than I’d like to be. My hips formed a curve that would have looked good had there been some meat on my bones. Maybe now that we seemed to have found a home where they had cake and baked beans would I be able to gain someweight.
Húnn is the last to do the sniffing. I’m relieved when he steps back. All three bears look satisfied. Torben puts an arm around my shoulders and looks at me proudly. As one, the bears bow their headslightly.
“They recognise you as my mate,” he says and pulls me closer. “They’ll protect you with theirlives.”
“I wouldn’t want them to do that,” I reply and hesmiles.
“And that is exactly why you fit into our little family so well. Now, do you want to try andshift?”
“Do I have to take off my clothes?” Please say no. Please sayno.
“I’m afraid so. It will make it easier. Once you’re used to the shift, you can do it with your clothes on – although of course they’ll be unusableafter.”
He takes the coat from my shoulders as an encouragement. “Guys, give her some space. She’s not used to nudityyet.”
And I don’t think I ever willbe.
With a gentle bump against my legs, the bears run away and disappear behind the house. I’m alone with Torben and he’s looking at me expectantly. With a sigh, I start to take off my clothes. Why did I put them on in the first place? What a waste oftime.
I’m tempted to cover myself, but it’s not like Torben hasn’t seen me naked before. Last time he saw a lot of me, and from all sorts ofangles.
“Now you need to let your bear come to the surface. You’ll have to let her take over. I now it’s hard to give up control, but she knows what to do. The more you disappear into the background, the less it willhurt.”
Why did he have to remind me of the pain? That’s just evil. I had pushed that from my mind onpurpose.
Alis, are youready?
I’ve been ready all mylife.
What does that even mean? Did you exist before Torben and me… youknow?
Oh yes. I’ve been watching you for a long time, knowing that I was destined to join withyou.
That sounds a bit… over the top?Dramatic?
