Heart Of The Bear (Appalachian Shifters #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

break away from him, but he released my wrist and took my face in his hands. His tongue pried my lips apart, and my hands instinctively lifted to his chest, where they rested for a moment before sliding up to tangle into his hair. He slid his hands down my neck and then over my shoulders, down my back, and he grasped my ass, lifting me upward. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he pinned me more firmly against the trunk of the tree.
    His kiss was deep and searching. I heard a moan within his throat as he kissed me with some sort of desperate passion, and one which I must admit that I returned in equal measure. The urgency in his kiss fueled something in me. It ignited a spark that I’d long since forgotten existed.
    The moment I felt the hardness of his erection pressing between my legs, I went weak. Warmth began to build in the area where it rested, flooding my body, my mind, and even my heart with feelings I had never known.
    “Caleb,” I whispered as I pulled away for a breath.
    Caleb froze. His hazel eyes sparkled with life, but it quickly faded. I watched the light go out, and he slowly lowered my feet to the ground. He turned without a word and began to walk away.
    “Why didn’t you just leave me?” I called after him, tears of confusion clouding my vision.
    He paused, and then turned toward me to say, “I’ll never leave you.”
    With that, he tuned and walked away, and I let him.
    To say that I was confused was an understatement of epic proportions. I was beyond confused. One moment he was saving me. The next moment he was angry at me. Then he was kissing me. Then he was walking away. He said he’d never leave me, but that’s exactly what he just did.
    What…
    The…
    Hell?
    I leaned back against the tree and sighed heavily. My eyes spotted the flurry of tourist activity in the town below, and I thought for a brief moment about fleeing. I could probably make it to town before I was even missed. Then I could hitch a ride to Pigeon Forge and hop a bus to Charleston. It would be so easy.
    Only it wasn’t.
    I just couldn’t make myself leave. I tried to tell myself it was because they’d only track me down and drag me back, but the truth was, I didn’t want to leave.

Chapter Five

     
    As autumn approached, it became harder for me to explain to my mother why I was still in Gatlinburg whenever she called. I’d been at the den for most of the summer, though Caleb had hardly spoken to me since the incident by the brook.
    I’d grown used to the awkward silences. Mostly. It was tolerable, I suppose, given the alternative. Sure, I could have tried to run away. But something wouldn’t let me. I couldn’t even entertain the thought. Despite the uncomfortable tension between us, I couldn’t leave him.
    One evening, as the first chill of autumn set in, some of the pack members gathered around a bonfire to enjoy the fresh air. I was sitting on the outskirts of the gathering when Ivy approached me.
    “Mind if I join you?” she asked.
    “Please,” I said, nodding to the fallen log upon which I was resting.
    “You and Caleb still not talking?” she asked me.
    “Afraid not,” I told her.
    “You should go talk to him,” she said.
    I noticed her watching something intently, and I followed her eyes. Caleb was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest. He was staring into the distance and looking completely alone.
    “I can’t, Ivy,” I argued. “I’m too upset.”
    “Look, there’s things you don’t know about Caleb,” she said. “And it’s not up to me to tell you, but clearly he hasn’t or you wouldn’t be sitting here right now. All I can tell you is that he needs you, and you should go to him.”
    I couldn’t take my eyes off him, and I could almost sense the depth of his loneliness from across the thirty or so yards between us. He pushed off the tree and disappeared into the woods.
    “Go,” Ivy said. When I didn’t move, she pushed at me and said, “Go!”
    I needed