Bearly Ever: An Alpha Werebear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Arcadia Knights Book 1) by Olivia Gayle Page A

want to go back to her world. Except, that option was closed to her now.
    God dammit.
    The silence was eating at him. He’d expected questions, anger, fear—the nothing he received was alternately worrying and confusing. Finally, he couldn’t take it. “So, what are you thinking?”
    She looked over at him inquisitively. “About what?”
    “Anything. Life. Arcadia.” How about me? It would kill him if he made her afraid. The bear growled in his head at the thought, warning him that Aidan had better fix the problem.
    Trouble was, he didn’t know where to begin.
    Ever cocked her head sideways, thinking. “It really is a cute little town.”
    She wanted to talk about his home town? Well, he had brought it up as an option, but, really? “Okay,” he said slowly, “I’m glad you approve of where I live.”
    Something in his tone must have betrayed his thoughts because Ever made an exasperated noise. “What do you want me to say? That you going shirtless is distracting? That a bear-man saved my life? That I don’t know what to think about anything that’s happened so far today?”
    Aidan’s bear chuffed with approval at her words. She found him attractive.
    Figures that would be what it would focus on.
    Okay, so she didn’t want to ask him any questions. Then he’d turn the tables. “Where did you and your sister grow up?”
    That got him a narrow-eyed look but he kept his eyes on the road, waiting for her answer. Finally, she sighed. “We grew up in Florida, down around Pensacola.”
    “Any family?” he asked when she lapsed back into silence. He was being nosy but wanted answers.
    “A mom, probably a dad if my biology class was right. Why?”
    He’d clearly touched a nerve. She was stiff, annoyance coming off her in waves. It was on the tip of his tongue to apologize but he bit it back, with no small amount of guilt. He didn’t want her uncomfortable, and yet he wanted to know more.
    His silence paid off finally. “My mom raised me and my sister alone. She’s my half-sister actually, but neither of our dads was ever in the picture. Mom was, is still, kind of flighty. She means well, but she finds it hard to take care of herself, let alone two extra mouths to feed.”
    “What happened?”
    She hitched one shoulder, staring out the window. “The state eventually got involved, and she signed us over to them. Put us into foster care believing that would give us a better chance at life. Maybe it did for my sister; she eventually got adopted by the first family she stayed with. Me, though, I just drifted around, until I reached eighteen and said my goodbyes with a note.”
    “You never found a real home?”
    She flinched ever so slightly, and Aidan immediately regretted his words. “No,” she said, still not looking at him. “The various families I lived with were nice enough; I didn’t get abused like you hear about in some stories. It’s just, there was never any permanence or, well, love. I lived there, ate their food, slept in their bed, but was always the Other Child. After I left, I never really got back in touch with any of them.”
    “So what do you do now?”
    “Travel. See the world, or what I can of it. I was between trips when my sister called, so it was easy enough for me to uproot and come here.” Ever looked over at him. “What about you? What’s it like to grow up as…” She trailed off, indicating him with one hand.
    Her gesture made his lips tip up. She was taking the whole situation really well, so Aidan decided to tell the truth. “Not much different than as a human. Being the Brahm’s son made life a little harder for me, but we live and love just like you do.”
    “Brahm?”
    “Our leader. My father is one of the most powerful Shifters in the world. Arcadia was founded to keep the Shifter population in this area safe, and it’s his duty to oversee those in his care. We still have a Mayor, and I handle the police department and smaller matters, but he deals with the