Page 8 of Savaged By the Beast

“He usually went to the bar so I assume that’s where he was going.” He shrugs his big, wide shoulders. My mouth goes dry and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

“Okay. Is that all you know about the body?” I’m not sure I believe him but I ask anyway.

“The other part is something to do with us.” His dark eyes search mine and I try to mask my need for him.

“There is no us,” I say.

“Oh, there’s definitely an us,” he argues back. “And there’s a future for us. You’re my future wife. As long as you can handle what I’m going to tell you next.”

“Are you the killer?” I laugh.

“I don’t know.”

My mouth drops open and I stare at him. “You think you might be the killer?” My hand drops to my gun and I feel my breath stop in my throat. Terror dances along my spine.

He shakes his dark head but his eyes won’t meet mine. “I-I don’t think so. Not really.”

“Then what exactly are you saying?” I ask, still tense and uneasy.

“I’m saying I smelled my scent around him. I don’t know why. I don’t remember anything for the last few days. I shifted and it’s all a blur after that.”

“Did you hit your head?” I pull up. “Wait, what do you mean…you shifted?”

He sighs deeply and I can’t help but watch, fascinated as his broad chest expands. “That’s the other part of the story. Or part of the story.”

“I’m a shifter. Bear shifter specifically. All of us are. And that man was killed by a shifter.”

“Y-you’re a bear and your bear killed a man?” Hysteria tugs at me. Oh my god! The first man I’ve ever wanted and he’s a crazy lunatic killer! Only me! I swear to heaven!

“I don’t think so. I’m sure I would remember that. And there was no blood on me when you found me. If I had killed Harvey I’m sure I would have been covered with blood.”

I purse my lips and try not to let the hysterical laugh that’s bubbling up my throat out. “Sure. Then why do you think you killed him?”

“I don’t think I did. But my scent was around the body so I was definitely there sometime in the last few days. Or my bear was.”

“Maybe he was hurt and you killed him accidentally?”

“I just told you…” His flashing silver eyes slew to mine. “No blood.”

“Right. No blood.” I can’t think. What is going on here?

“Why do you think you’re a bear?”

“Because I am,” he replies. His words are strong and unflappable. Like he’s telling the truth.

But that’s not possible.

I shake my head. “Nobody’s a were animal. There’s no such thing.”

He chuckles but there’s no humor in it. “I swear there’s way more in this area than you think.”

I feel like I’m poised at the edge of a cliff.

“And the really good part is that you’re my mate. The woman I’ve waited hundreds of years for. The other part of my soul.”

My brain latches onto the most significant part of that sentence. “Wait. Centuries? How old are you?”

“Two hundred eighty-nine. My brothers are all younger than me.”