Claim the Bear by T. S. Joyce

lips trembled and the tears that had been rimming her eyes spilled over. She was so emotional, and confused, and utterly lost on where her future was headed. She’d come here to beg protection, and she’d stumbled into Dillon’s bear. He’d saved her twice now, and for the life of her, she couldn’t understand why he thought he had to do that. Who was she? A nobody. Nothing had changed from this morning until now, except that some handsome stranger had claimed her in front of the man who scared her the most. This morning, she’d found out she was to be the next breeder for the Portland pride, and now there was no chance of her bearing a cub. A part of her was sad that she’d never hold a babe, but a bigger piece of her was relieved that fate had done a one-eighty on her.
    In the spirit of being honest, she blurted out, “I haven’t been with a man. If you expect that, you should know I’m not going to be very good at it.”
    A smile cracked the corner of his mouth. “How do you know you won’t be very good at it if you’ve never tried?”
    Burning heat blasted up her neck and landed in the tips of her ears. “I just…I’m a little nervous about that stuff, and I don’t really know you, and I don’t know what it means to be mated in your clan—”
    “Breshia, stop. I don’t expect that. I don’t really know what all this means either, but I guess we can make up our own way through it. How about we do the whole friendship thing and just try not to strangle each other in close quarters. I have an extra bedroom in my house that you can have. We can be roommates.”
    “Roommates.” She didn’t mean to sound ungrateful, but she was hoping that maybe deep down, he would’ve wanted something more from her. That he claimed her for more than mercy.
    Stupid. He wasn’t attracted to her. That wasn’t what this was. He was protecting her because that’s what he did. He was a protector and from what she could tell, a pretty decent guy. She’d spent half of her time with him completely naked, and he hadn’t even tried to touch her inappropriately. And from what she could tell, he didn’t look at her with anything but pity. He had ruined her chances of finding a love match, but worse than that, he’d ruined his, and something about that made her stomach clench in on itself. She didn’t want to wreck his life. He’d been kind when he didn’t have to be.
    He deserved better.
    The sun sat low in the sky, casting shadows of bare trees across the gravel road Dillon turned onto. He bypassed the ranger camp with a tiny salute to a blonde-haired woman who stood wide-eyed in front of an oversized tent. She wore the same park ranger’s uniform that Breshia was wearing, and when she yelled, “What the hell, Dillon?” the Dillon in question ignored her and turned onto another dirt road aimed down the mountain.
    “You’re an idiot,” the woman called after them in a sing-songy voice. “Bron’s going to kill you!”
    “Is he really going to kill you?”
    “No.” He frowned and amended, “I hope not. You like shopping right? You know, since you’re a girl and all.”
    “No, I hate shopping.”
    He turned a troubled gaze on her that said he couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.
    “I’m serious. I’m expected to dress fashionable around the pride, but it isn’t my favorite thing and I’ve never really had the money to spend on it.”
    “Okay,” he drawled, looking at her like she was an alien. “Well, can you stomach it for a few minutes? Your clothes are covered in blood, which will have every bear in the area riled up, and you can’t wear a ranger uniform forever.”
    “I don’t have any money, because I left without my purse.” She left without everything, actually. Officially, she was the worst escape artist in the history of them. “Do you have a coffee shop in town?”
    “Why, do you need coffee?”
    “No, I need a job. I missed my shift at work today, and my boss is a stickler about