Claimed By My Bear Stepbrother: A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance Standalone by Ashley Hunter Page B

door. She still stood rooted to the spot, near her door, possibly thinking that if he tried to do anything, human or bear, she would run out that door like the wind.
    “Interesting night, last?” he said, staring at her.
    His eyes were dark brown. It was the first time that she was so keenly looking at him. She always thought he was cute, but he was her step-brother, so that train stopped there.
    Now that she was scared for her life, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. She tried her best to keep herself casual. She wanted to gauge if he remembered anything or not, though his coming here was not a good omen.
    “I-It was normal,” she shrugged, trying her best at normalcy.
    She kept her gaze fixed on him. It was a penetrating look. She couldn’t get away from it.
    “Normal in what way?” he said.
    The air seemed literally frozen in between them. She was terrified, he was calculating. It was a battle of wills, one she was losing.
    “You have a meddling nose,” he said suddenly.
    If she thought it couldn’t have gone any worse, she was wrong. Earlier she was frozen in time, now it seemed she wasn’t breathing.
    “W-What are you talking about?” she said, petrified, stupefied, and trying to bluff her way out of it. Fat chance.
    He chuckled. She sweat.
    “You’re not going to get away with it?” he said, menace drawn on his face; a kind of menace drawn out of fear, when an animal is cornered. Never is it more dangerous.
    “I saw you,” he said quietly. “Last night I saw you through that door. And you saw me, too.”
    He was saying this all in a calm, cool voice. But the volume of his voice did nothing to soothe her. It would have been better had he shouted his anger and frustration. The coldness amplified her fear.
    “It was a misfortunate moment,” he continued. “Do not pretend it isn’t the case,” he said, seeing that she was shaking her head. “Now you know,” he ended simply.
    There was finality in his voice and she did not know what it meant. Maybe he was going to let her go on the promise that she wouldn’t tell anyone anything.
    “I,” she stared but he cut her.
    “Listen,” he said. “Let me explain. Come.”
    He walked out of the room and she didn’t know where he was going. She decided that she wouldn’t be in any danger in broad daylight in a house full of people.
    She walked quietly behind him. He led her to the car in the garage and opened the door for her. He sat on the driver’s seat and drove the car out of the garage.
    As the trees and the scenery ran away from them outside the window, Anna clutched her hands in her lap. It had been a weird night and the morning wasn’t getting any better.
    The silence was getting heavy. She wanted answers, explanation and then, ideally, to go back to the house and sleep. Maybe she would find out that it was all a dream, after all. She couldn’t believe that the handsome young man sitting right next to her had been a monstrous bear just twelve hours ago.
    “When does it happen?” she asked finally when the silence had become too hard to bear.
    He didn’t answer but kept on driving; as the scenery changed from greenery to hills and country side, the houses and population started to diminish. She had a bad feeling about this.
    “Where are you taking me?” she said in a panicked voice.
    Again, he didn’t answer. She tried to open her door, but it was locked.
    “Let me out, HELP!” she shouted.
    He halted the car and Anna realized that they were outside a house.
    “What is this place? Answer me!”
    She seriously considered running away, but she didn’t know where she would go. On one side there was a valley and on the other there were woods. It was a dead end.
    Nathan walked in the house and indicated for Anna to follow suit. Her gut was telling her not to do that at any cost. But she didn’t have any choice. It was strange what humans could do when pushed; something they shared with animals.
    Resigned and forlorn, Anna followed