Drake urged Tessa to eat the meal he prepared for her. She sat at his kitchen table and ate all she could before pushing the plate away. He looked up from his own food, inspecting her plate and nodding when he was satisfied she'd consumed enough.

"I want to know more about your ex-husband," he demanded.

"I trust too easily," she sighed. God, how stupid was she? Bradley had given her everything her heart desired, but he was a monster beneath the proper gentleman he showed to everyone else.

"What happened with your former mate, Tessa?" he pressed.

"Oh whew," she sighed, unsure of how she was going to tell him about her time with Bradley. "I don't even know where to start."

"From the beginning will work," Drake grunted. "I need to know what I'm facing from this male."

"I met Bradley when I was working at a club in Chicago," she began, squeezing her hands tight where she had them hidden beneath the table. No matter how much she tightened the muscles in her body, Tessa's right leg began to bounce as the memories flashed through her mind. "He was there with his friends from work. I knew he had to be some sort of corporate executive by the way he dressed. He was polite, but he was also very forward. His chivalry and dominant nature appealed to me."

Tessa paused to look up into Drake's eyes. She wasn't sure how much she should tell him. The lifestyle she craved wasn't always accepted by other people. Plus, he was a shifter. Would he understand her explanations?

"Go on," he urged, leaning back in his chair. Tessa looked away when the muscles in his arms flexed. Drake's strength radiated with his every move, and she ached from imagining the things he could do with those arms; like holding her tight...protecting her.

"Over the next few weeks, he came into the club every other night," she said. "He finally asked me out, and I accepted."

God, she'd had some rose-colored glasses on with that one. Bradley had promised her the world, even gave her a glimpse of it for a time.

"He pampered me and took care of me in the way that I craved." She paused, weighing her words. "We married a year later, and that's when he turned into a monster."

"A monster?" Drake growled. "What type of monster?"

"I...I don't even know how to explain this to you," she stammered, looking into his eyes. They weren't flashing gold like they did when he'd bared his fangs at her or his brothers, and she assumed that meant he was calm. Tessa still wasn't entirely sure how shifters worked, or what their species was like.

"Tell me," he urged.

"He fulfilled all of my fantasies, but he was a sadist." She paused when Drake's eyes narrowed. "He hurt me...a lot."

"He didn't accept your safewords?" he asked. Tessa gasped softly when she realized he knew exactly what she was talking about. "You are a submissive?"

"Only in the bedroom," she blushed, but straightened her spine. "Bradley thought he could control me and my actions. I wasn't allowed out of his sight, and after I begged to go see my mom, he punished me when I wasn't home by the agreed upon time."

"Punished you how?" Drake asked, leaning forward. The shifter laid his hand on top of hers, and Tessa swore she felt strength from the connection. He'd told her he couldn't control her mind, but this feeling she had when they touched made her think he had some sort of magic inside him.

"Are you calming me?"

"It's the touch of a mate," he smiled sadly. "I will explain that to you after you finish telling me everything about this male, Bradley."

"It started about nine months after we married." She had to stop for a second, feeling tears well up in her eyes. It was hard to relive the past, but she needed to tell him. No one should live in shame for being a victim of domestic violence. "He would chain me to the bedroom wall and use a belt on me until he wasn't angry anymore. No matter how many times I used my safeword, he wouldn't stop."

"I will kill him," Drake vowed, his eyes flashing that golden hue. Tessa flipped her hand over and clasped his when his fangs grew to sharp points.

"He was eventually fired from his job, and he turned violent with anyone who looked at him wrong. I found illegal drugs in his bedside drawer."

"What did you do?"

"It took me just over two years after that to escape him," she said, squeezing his hand. "I'm okay now."

"No, Tessa," he growled, his upper lip quivering from the rumble that bubbled out of his chest. "No, you are not okay. He knows where you are, and that son of a bitch means business."

"I know," she worried. "He threatened me the night he found me in Tulsa."

"What did he say?" Drake pushed. Tessa felt at ease with him. There was something about Drake that made her body relax and the anxiety in her mind float away into nothingness.

"He kept telling me that he wouldn't kill me yet. He wanted me to suffer while he repeatedly punched me in the face and kicked me in the ribs." She stopped and used her free hand to touch the spot on her right side where Bradley had broken three of her ribs.

"What have the human authorities done?"

"Nothing," she admitted. "I told the hospital I'd fallen down some stairs."

"Jesus, Tessa," Drake snarled. "I've been on the run ever since."

"There will be no more running," he stated, releasing

her hand and slashing it through the air for emphasis. "You are staying here with me."

"I can't..." She paused when he stood to his full height. Drake took her chin with his large hand and tilted her face so he could look her in the eye.

"Tessa, do as you're told," he ordered with power behind his voice. It was a power she craved, and that alone made Tessa submit.

"Yes, Sir."

"I promise you, from this day forth, I will protect you in all ways. In my world, we are destined to be with one mate, and it's for life. My bear has chosen you, and I know you don't understand yet, but you will."

"Why do I keep having these feelings when you touch me?" she asked, blinking a few times to keep the tears at bay.

"What are you feeling?" he asked, coming around to take her by the hand. Tessa stood up and pressed the palms of her hands to his chest. There was that feeling again. An invisible strength wrapped around her.

"I feel safe," she explained, finally looking up into his eyes.

"It's our connection."

"This mate thing you keep speaking of?" she pressed. "Yes, little one." He smiled and tilted her head to

capture her lips. It didn't matter that she didn't know this man. He'd shown up at her place after Tulley had called him to come check on her. Drake, being the ultimate asshole during their first meeting, treated her with kindness and respect.

"Are you going to trust me with your secret now?" she asked.

"I will show you. Come with me."

She pushed the chair back to its rightful place under the table. Drake called out for his brothers who had retired to their rooms and took her hand. Tessa felt the stirrings of lust again when he touched her. She didn't know why that was happening, even though Drake promised her he wasn't making her feel that way.

"Tessa," Rex, the one with the long, dark-blond hair, smiled. "Drake?"

"I'm going to shift," he announced, much to his brother's shock. Rex's eyes popped wide and he looked between the two.

"Are you sure?" Rex asked, narrowing his eyes. Tessa had a feeling Rex was confused by Drake's eagerness to shift in front of a human. She wanted nothing more than to put them all at ease. The last thing she would ever do was tell their secret.

"Yes," he growled, his eyes glowing bright. Tessa started to say something, but paused when the other brother, Gunner, entered the room.

"Come on, Tessa," Gunner laughed. "You can stand with me, and I'll protect you from him."

"Protect me?" she gasped, attempting to pull her hand from Drake's tight hold.

"I won't hurt you," Drake growled and turned toward his brother. "Don't scare her."

"Drake," she whispered, trying her best to slow her heart rate. "What's going to happen?"

"I'm going to take you outside and leave you with my brothers while I shift," he explained. "If you'd like, you can touch me. My beast will know it's you the entire time."

"You will?" she asked, frowning. "Can you hear me when you...shift?"

"Yes," he replied, opening the back door. For the middle of March, the evenings were still brisk. Tessa shivered from the cool air, and Drake stepped back inside the door to grab a denim jacket to drape over her shoulders. "I can hear and understand you, but I won't be able to speak with you."

"O...okay," she stammered.

Drake released her, and both of his brothers came to stand beside her; Rex to her left and Gunner to her right. Drake removed his shirt and Tessa swallowed a lump in her throat. He was broad shouldered and tattooed across his chest and down his left arm. "You may want to look away for this part."

"Are you getting nak..." she gasped and closed her eyes.

"Our clothes don't shift with us," Gunner snickered. "You can look now."

Tessa turned around as Drake's body shimmered. He twisted his head from side to side and hair sprouted from

his human skin. She watched as his body grew in size and his face began to reshape into something else. His nose grew and those fangs she'd already seen became longer. His hands swelled and long claws erupted from the tips. Within seconds, a huge grizzly bear stood where Drake's human form had been.

"Oh, my," she breathed out, clutching her chest.

Drake, the large grizzly bear, huffed and took a step toward the porch. Tessa automatically took a step back. Gunner turned toward her with a frown. "Go say hello, Tessa."

"He knows it's me, right?" she asked, needing reassurance.

"Drake and his bear know it's you," Gunner promised. "We know our mates through sight, touch, and scent. He would be able to find you like a needle in a haystack if it was ever needed. Now, go on." Gunner held his hand out as if he were offering her up for a meal.

Drake's bear sat on his backside and waited patiently. She took one step forward and then another. As she approached, the bear laid down on its belly, resting his massive head on his front paws. The top of his head was a paler brown than the rest of his body. Tessa still couldn't believe she was face to face with such a deadly predator. If this had been in the wild, she'd have been bear food already.

"Drake?" she whispered as she approached. The bear lifted its head and sniffed the air. A soft rumble came from its chest as she slowly put her hand in front of him. "I don't know what to do."

The bear nuzzled her palm and closed its eyes. He rutted into her hand, silently telling Tessa to touch his fur. With shaking fingers, she ran her hand over the top of his head. The fur felt bristly and rough, and the tips were a bit white like the real grizzlies in the wild. She moved from his head to his ears and ran her fingers over them, noticing the fur there was a bit softer. She couldn't believe she was touching this massive animal. The grizzly had to be at least eight hundred pounds.

"I can't believe I'm touching a grizzly bear, and he's not trying to eat me." Tessa knelt in front of him, thinking she was crazy. If she hadn't seen Drake shift, she would've thought it was a trick. In fact, her mind was still trying to catch up with what she'd seen. "Is it really you, Drake?"

The bear growled and nodded his head. Drake's bear pressed his nose into her belly and rubbed his head back and forth. Tessa was frozen and didn't know what else to do. When she looked over her shoulder for Rex and Gunner, they were gone.

Tessa let out a short gasp when the bear nudged her enough to knock her onto her side, but she needn't have worried. Drake's massive bear arm broke her fall. She let

out a short laugh when he rested his head over her stomach but didn't put any of his weight on her.

"Are you going to keep me here all night?" she giggled when he snorted.

The bear nuzzled into her belly and closed his eyes. She finally relaxed as he did and just looked up at the stars. How the hell had she ended up falling for a shifter? Why in the world did she feel so safe here on their farm?

"Your touch soothes me," she whispered and ran her fingers over the course fur on top of his head. Drake's bear huffed and made a satisfied noise in his throat. She didn't know what made her want to tell him everything about her life, but she did, and as she touched him, the words tumbled out of her mouth.

"I've been living on the edge of fear for the past year. Being here on your land brings me peace. I don't even know how to explain it."

Drake's bear shimmered and within seconds, a naked man laid next to her. She didn't dare avert her eyes from him to give him privacy, but she did move her hand from his head to the side of his face, running her fingers through his short beard.

"Our species isn't like yours," he began. "We are compassionate, but also very dangerous when it comes to protecting our family. In my world, you find your mate, and love comes over time. When a werebear finds his female, she is pampered and treated with respect. The females of a clan are like royalty, and they are our top priority."

"Are there female bears?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes," he nodded, pausing for a moment to rest his head on his palm when she rolled to the side. Tessa missed his head on her belly but didn't voice it. "We haven't heard of any female bears in our area."

"Why me?" she continued with the questions. "Why didn't you go looking for your mate in your own species?"

"That's not the way it works." He shook his head. "Our destined mate is just that...destined. We believe Mother Nature will provide us with our soul mates when she is ready. Rex and Gunner have tried going to other dens to meet females, but it's the skin to skin contact that tells us we've found her."

"So, you just go around touching women?"

"No," Drake chuckled. Tessa's body heated from seeing the allusive smile on his face. Drake was grumpy, and he was demanding. When he let his guard, and his hate for humans, down, there was a softness about him. "We socialize with them, and if we feel a connection, we would ask the female to touch. If our bears decline them, we move on."

"I wish humans had that," she mumbled as she stared off into the sky. If she'd been a bear, maybe she wouldn't have fallen for Bradley's charms and married him. It would've saved her all those years of her life she'd never get back.

"Humans are ungrateful for their partners," Drake huffed.

"There's a lot of divorce in my world, because people jump into marriage too quickly," she agreed.

"Females give us young," Drake continued, using the back of his knuckle to trace over her arm. She shivered from the contact, but he didn't notice. "They continue our line while loving us unconditionally."

"Can you have children with humans?" she asked, immediately blushing. "I'm sorry. I'm being too forward."

"No, it's okay," he replied. "We cannot cross-breed with humans."

"Oh," she frowned. Where had this wanting children question come from anyway? Tessa sure as hell wasn't ready to find a man and start a family. She could barely make ends meet as it was with her two jobs. "I was just curious."

"I noticed that about you," he said, pulling her hand. "Let's go back inside and I'll draw you a bath. You've had a long day."

"A bath sounds lovely," she sighed, and stood up, blushing when she looked down at his naked body. She didn't mean to look, but it just happened and well, he was erect, and huge...and Tessa turned her head quickly. Drake chuckled and started walking.

"Nudity is normal for shifter kind," he offered. "Well, I'm not used to that," she replied.

"You'll get used to it," he said as they reached the porch. Drake opened the door for her and they entered to find the house empty. Rex and Gunner were gone. "Get your bag and come to my room."

Tessa picked up the bag she'd packed from where Drake had placed it by the front door. When she turned around, he was pulling on a pair of jeans, but left his chest bare. As her eyes roamed his body, she felt stirrings of lust for him. Was that the connection he talked about between mates?

She tucked her chin and followed him down one of three hallways. As they traveled, the floor sloped as if the house was going into the ground. "Is this underground?"

"We hibernate most of the winter," he supplied. "When my brothers and I built the house, we designed it to have our own living areas and bedrooms below ground so we could have our own place with our mates but stay close to each other for safety."

"Wait," she froze. "You hibernate during the winter? Like the wild grizzlies?"

"Well, we sleep a lot," he smirked. "If we have a mate, and she is carrying our cub, we pamper her during that time."

"From what I remember from school, grizzlies have their babies during the late winter, right?" She was Ms. Twenty- Q uestions with him, but he was answering, and that was better than his asshole attitude the first time they'd interacted.

"Our females will give birth during the hibernation period, and we deliver them here at home," he answered. "All males are trained to deliver their young when they come of age."

"You deliver your own children?" she gasped.

"We've delivered our own cubs since the beginning of time. The knowledge is passed down from father to son."

"Okay," she said, letting the information sink in. They were very self-sufficient, and she liked that about them. Although, the thought of having a child at home with no medicine did kind of freak her out.

Inside the first room was a large living area, complete with a large, dark-brown sofa and love seat. A huge flat- screen television was mounted to the wall by the door. "This is my living space."

"It's cozy," she added, trying to lighten his mood. As she looked to the left, in the corner was a small kitchenette with only a sink, short countertop with a two-burner stove, and a refrigerator in the area. Tessa assumed they cooked all of their meals in the main kitchen and used this for their winter hibernation.

"My room," he mumbled as he walked over to another closed door. Inside was a large, metal framed bed. There were slats for the headboard, and a thick comforter the same color as his couch was pulled back as if he'd made his bed that morning and drew back one side of the covers so he could climb in as soon as he was ready for the night. A large chest of drawers and two side tables were the only other furniture in the room. "Let me have your bag and you can make yourself comfortable. I'll sleep on the couch tonight."

"Thank you," she said. Tessa climbed on the bed and began removing her shoes. She sighed when the material formed to her body. The old couch she slept on in her apartment was not comfortable at all. This bed was like laying on a cloud, and she yawned just imagining the wonderful night's sleep she would soon be getting on it.

"I'll draw your bath now," he said, disappearing into the bathroom. Shortly after, the water started and she lay back on the pillow, inhaling when she caught his woodsy scent.