Page 38 of Goldie and Her Bears (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 3)

I cleared my throat. Damn. I supposed since he put it that way… “I can see your point, I guess.”

“Good,” he said. “So, you see, we’re really not all that different from humans. We bleed red, exactly like you. We love, hate, desire, fear different things… exactly like humans. The only real difference is the animals we shift into. How is the tea?”

“Incredibly delicious, of course,” I said and took another sip at his prompting.

“It’s my special blend,” he said. “I’m glad you like it.”

“So, there are shifters who are monsters?” I asked, trying to make sense of what Chase was telling me. “Just like there are humans who are.”

Chase nodded. “Yup. And out of the three of us, Kai is the closes thing to being a monster. But he’s his own worst enemy and tends to compound problems. He likes to push people away and keep himself guarded. It takes him a bit, but he’ll warm up eventually.”

I nodded. “So, he’s exceptionally charming with everyone? I’m not just special.”

Chase laughed. “You’re not the first and you certainly won’t be the last.”

“I’m not sure if I should feel better about that or not,” I said. “Seems rather counter-productive.”

“There you have it. Kai in a nutshell,” Chase said, throwing his arms out to his sides. “You should have seen the shit Jasper and I had to go through before he accepted us into his life. We have stories.”

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” I muttered. “Especially if what you had gone through was anything close to what I’m experiencing.”

“Oh, we have been through so much worse.” Chase removed himself from the railing and took a couple of steps toward the swing before gesturing toward it. “May I?”

I thought about his request for a moment. He was so clear and cool. Easy going. Not nearly as terrifying as he was in his bear form. My gaze went to the seat next to me. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he sat next to me. For some reason, I trusted him. Despite everything.

I nodded. “I suppose.”

He smiled.

I loved his smile.

“Thank you,” he said and took a seat.

His warmth instantly bled into me, and it took everything inside me not to lean in a little closer. I sucked in a breath of rain, forest, and him… he smelled as delicious as everything he made. I rolled my eyes and tried to take more shallow breaths. There was something wrong with me for being turned on by him.

He started to gently rock the swing back and forth. “Allow me to help you understand our world a little better.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

18

CHASE

I threw my arm over the back of the swing and angled myself more toward Cassie. She was going through such a rough time, and I wanted to show her shifters weren’t all bad. My heart bled for her not only because of the way she was shown what we were but because Kai had done most of the heavy lifting when it came to our not-so-little reveal. If I was in her position, I would have called us monsters too.

I only hoped that what Jasper and I had shown her up to that point, plus my attempt at smoothing things over now, was going to be enough for her to trust us again.

What she needed was someone patient and understanding. Someone who would take the time to explain our world to her. She would come around, given enough time. I had a gut feeling about her, and my gut was seldomly wrong.

I smiled gently and leaned into the motion of the swing. I had always found that it relaxed and soothed my nerves on my most trying days. I hoped the motion would do the same for Cassie. Poor girl. She had been through the wringer and back again. Something catastrophic has happened to her every day she had been here so far, and I wanted to be gentle in my approach in hopes that she would decide to stay and give us all another chance.

Even Kai. He needed it more than Jasper or I did. Sure, we said some things we didn’t mean. But Kai was my brother. And you never turn your back on family.

But first… Cassie needed to understand our world. She needed to have some common ground to stand on with us. She needed time to process and accept things as they were and feel safe enough to come to me with questions if she ended up having any.

“Let’s see… I think for a place to start, I’m going to tell you about my life,” I said, keeping my tone casual. “First things first, I was one of those who started out as a shifter.”

“Really?” she asked, sounding genuinely surprised. “You were born this way?”

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