Chapter 931 Chapter 931
The way he looked at her made her feel different. In a good way, she thought. One second, it was a soft, caring way, and then it was harder, laced with confusion. It was the caring part that made her want to tell him about Kiloh. She needed to tell him. There was something inside her that made her so uneasy every time his expression changed. She felt like she was lying to him. She wasn’t sure, but she thought maybe it was her animal. Cassius said even shifters that couldn’t make the transition still had their animal inside. Sometimes, Marie thought she felt that, but each time she talked herself right out of it because it felt like a false hope, and that was something she couldn’t afford to let creep up on her. It only ended in the crushing weight of disappointment.
“Are you all right?”
She blinked. “Sorry, I get lost in my head sometimes.”
His gaze held hers. “So, you feel your animal? I’ve never known anyone who is a shifter, but doesn’t shift.” His brows furrowed. “Except Griffin, but we don’t really chat about things like that.”
No one had ever asked her a question like that. “I don't know. Sometimes I have feelings that surprise me, and I wonder if that’s my animal.” She sighed. “Or, maybe it’s just regular human thoughts. I can’t know.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I get that. Before I could shift, I used to have sudden emotions,” he gave her a half-grin, “mostly frustration and anger. It wasn’t until I could really feel my bear that I understood that it was him and not me.”
Webb could be the one to talk to about this. Everyone else acted like they had always felt their animal and knew what they were feeling or thinking from their other half, and they weren't their own. “What about nagging feelings? Does your bear do that?”
He chuckled. “All the time.”
“What do you do? Do you give in?” The feeling of needing to tell him everything wouldn’t go away. Was it her animal or her own conscience?
“Depends. What is it? I’m not saying my bear is stupid, but sometimes what he wants and what is socially acceptable are way different.” Another brief grin.
She watched his gaze flick to her neck, and then the gentle expression in his eyes changed again.
“Listen, I think we need to talk about something.”
Marie felt tension fill her. There had never been a time in her life when someone had to talk to her. Did it end up being something good? She nodded shakily. “Okay.” She looked around. “Shouldn’t we keep watching, though?”
He looked around for a moment. “There's enough of them out there that we have a few minutes.”
When he turned back to look at her, it made her breath catch. His eyes were so focused on her that it made her heart beat faster. She was gripping the binoculars too tight, and her fingers began to hurt. “Okay.” She whispered and turned to set them down on the ledge. Her foot caught on the rough surface, and she stumbled back. When her leg hit the ledge, she thought she was going to fall off the roof. Webb caught her, wrapping one arm around her. He turned so she wasn’t hanging over the edge.
Marie grabbed the front of his jacket and held on. “I’m not very graceful.” She was out of breath and knew it wasn’t from almost falling. He continued to hold her, tipped back, just looking at her. With how close he was, she could smell him, and feelings she could only think were elation moved through her. It made her wonder for the hundredth time, could he be her mate? Was that why she needed to tell him about what happened with Kiloh?
When she opened her mouth to tell him, he growled softly and then placed his hand behind her head and pulled her closer as he brought her upright. She couldn’t stop looking into his eyes. There were so many emotions in them, but his touch was only gentle. She felt petite and delicate in his arms. That was first for her. She had to tell him. “Webb–” She paused, her voice was so breathless it didn’t sound like her. He searched her face and then growled quietly again.
Before she could reason out why he was growling, his mouth covered hers. His lips were hard against her own, as if he didn’t want this, but then they softened, and he began to explore her mouth gently.
Marie clung to him, kissing him back. Something inside her broke free, and she couldn’t think. Her entire body began to react in ways she had never experienced before. She felt lightheaded and floating, yet excited and very grounded in the moment.
He stopped so quickly that she was disoriented. He buried his face in her hair, then moved it to rest against her throat. The urge to lift her chin and give him access to her neck was intense, but his large hand held the back of her head in a way that prevented any movement.
“Yo, Care Bear, I left a pot of honey in the woods for you.”
They sprang apart at the sound of Amari’s voice.
Marie glanced to see her head appear as she came up the ladder. She looked at Webb, his eyes were filled with confusion.
“We’ll talk later.” His voice was deeper. He held her look for a moment more and then stepped back away from her.
Amari was on the roof. “Devin has decided to send those supplies out, because Zain needs them.” She looked from him to Marie for a moment. “Better go, big guy.” She pulled a bag out of her pocket and motioned around them. “I’ve got watch.” She took a gummy bear from the bag, put it in her mouth, and walked over to where the rifle sat under a blanket.
“Yeah. Okay.” Webb nodded. He looked at Marie again and then walked over to the ladder.
Marie watched him disappear as he went down it.
“I think you broke our happy guy,” Amari said, then walked over it with the rifle in one hand.
Marie opened her mouth to ask what she meant, but Amari shook her head.
“You should find a way to fix that. We need our happy, humming Care Bear.” She pointed to the trees. “Especially now.”
Marie nodded.
Amari smiled. “Good talk. Rayne is looking for volunteers to sort stuff.” She snorted. “I ran to take watch so I didn’t have to do that.” With the rifle tucked under one arm, she got another gummy out of the bag. “I’d rather shoot someone than sort through care packages.” She turned and went over to the edge and lifted the rifle to look through the scope.
It was an interesting moment—a woman looking for something to shoot, with a bag of gummy bears hanging down. Marie cleared her throat. “I’ll go help.”
“Have fun.”