Sarah gazed up at Max in abject wonder.

She had known it was likely that he was a shifter if Orson was.

But it was one thing to hypothesize and another to see the glossy fur and shining teeth, the sheer mass of him.

He’d dropped into his bear so easily.

And he had done it to protect her.

“You must have so many questions,” he said.

But before she could answer, the air shivered around them.

The world went flashbulb white and a tremendous crash shook the ground.

“Thunderstorm,” Max breathed.

He grabbed his pack, took her hand and pulled her to action.

They raced up the hill, in the opposite direction the wolves had gone. That much was good.

On the other hand, they were running directly into the heaviest of the pelting rain.

But Max’s pace brooked no argument and they ran on and on as the hillside turned to mud under their feet.

At last they reached the top of the ridge. The mossy ground gave way to bare granite, a few scraggly trees growing in the cracks.

From her new vantage point, Sarah could see what they had been sheltered from on the hillside below.

Massive dark clouds shadowed the entire valley below and roiled toward them. As she gaped at the horizon, lightning forked across the sky.

This wasn’t just any storm. This one looked dangerous.

“Come on,” Max urged her. “It’s not safe out here.”

He tugged on her hand and she allowed herself to be led into the shade of a small grove of golden yellow trees. Even with everything that was happening, it was hard to ignore his nakedness.

“Wait here,” he said, letting go of her hand.

She stood shivering in the trees as he disappeared.

A moment later he was back, beckoning for her to follow.

He appeared to be leading her up to a granite cliff.

But when they turned she saw what had been hidden from the other angle.

A cave.

“There’s nothing else in there,” he told her above the sounds of thunder and rain. “I checked.”

They approached the opening.

Max bent to enter, but Sarah barely had to duck.

It wasn’t very deep, but it was enough to shelter them.

She turned back and saw the grove of yellow trees swaying against the dark sky, framed by the dark opening of the cave.

Inside, everything was quiet and still.

Max opened his pack, removed a pair of sweats and yanked them on, then pulled out a small plastic tarp. Part of her was sorry to see him cover up, but she supposed it was for the best.

“Are you okay here for a few minutes?” Max asked. “I’m going to see if I can find some dry wood for kindling.”

“Sure,” she replied.

“Feel free to grab a dry shirt out of my pack,” he offered before disappearing out into the trees.

The cave was cold, and Sarah’s wet clothes felt like ice.

She opened the pack and dug around.

Max was well prepared for a hike, she noted with satisfaction. The pack was stuffed with trail mix, a huge canteen, a couple of flannels, and two larger plastic tarps as well as plenty of other equipment.

Though a fire sounded heavenly, Sarah knew there was no way to safely have a fire in a cave, even if the smoke found somewhere to go without choking them, the heat could thermo-crack the rock and cause a cave-in.

But she might be able to build a shelter just outside the cave.

She grabbed a tarp and a reflector out of the pack and pulled them to the entrance of the cave along with some twine. Then she dashed out to get the lay of the land.

By the time Max returned, his body wrapped around an armload of kindling, Sarah had the tarp and reflector up between a couple of trees, angled to send smoke away from the cave. She’d spread out another tarp on the cave floor and set the pack on it.

“Nice work,” Max said with a low whistle.

“Hopefully it’s high enough not to melt in the heat of the fire,” Sarah said modestly.

“One way to find out,” Max replied.

They worked together to lay out the precious bits of dry wood on the ground.

Max built the fire patiently and soon the little flames were burning bright.

“We’ll keep it small,” he smiled. “We’ll have to sit closer, but it’s less risky for the tarp.”

Sarah nodded.

Though she was still cold and wet, the work of setting up the tarp had her feeling a smidgeon warmer. She wrapped her arms around herself.

“You should probably change,” Max said. “There are two dry flannels in my pack.”

“Thanks,” Sarah said, reaching into the bag. The idea of the warm flannel was irresistible.

She entered the cave and looked back at Max to ensure he wasn’t looking. Then she bit her lip feeling dumb. It wasn’t like he’d never seen her naked before.

But he was sitting with his back to her, facing out into the golden trees.

She peeled off her sopping sweater and, after a moment’s thought, her bra as well.

The flannel was warm and dry and soft as angel wings. It smelled like Max.

She tried not to hug it to herself and failed. It just felt too good.

She wrung out her sweater and spread it and the bra over a rocky ledge in the cave, hoping they would dry out a bit.

“All set.” She came back out to the mouth of the cave.

“That looks good on you,” Max said.

“Thanks,” she muttered, seating herself in front of the fire and trying not to notice the way her nipples grazed the fabric of his shirt in response to his wolfish grin.

Or maybe not so wolfish. Bearish? Was that even a thing?

He got up and disappeared into the cave.

Though he’d been a perfect gentleman while she was changing, Sarah couldn’t resist a quick peek since she might never see those gorgeous abs again.

The cave was shadowy, but she was able to see the shape of his big body, muscles rippling as he slid on a flannel over the sweats.

Sarah turned back, her cheeks burning.

He turned into a bear.

Somehow this information seemed less important than knowing that he was three feet away, half naked.

He dressed mercifully quickly and she heard his footsteps heading her way.

“So,” he said, sitting down beside her. “I turned into a bear.”

She nodded slowly.

“You seem less… surprised than I would have expected,” he said. “Do you have experience with, uh, people like me?”

Sarah gulped.

If she said she did, he’d surely have a follow-up question.

If she said she didn’t, she’d have almost as much explaining to do as he had.

She nodded slowly.

“Okay,” he said. “Are you like me?”

“No,” she said quickly.

An odd twinge in her chest made her wonder whether maybe some part of her wished she was like him.

Like Orson.

“I didn’t think so,” he said. His tone made her wonder if perhaps he was a little disappointed.

“Why not?” she asked.

“My sense of smell,” he said. “I got a whiff of something when I saw you yesterday. But if you have a friend who’s a shifter that would explain it.”

“So you guys can detect each other by scent?” Sarah asked.

“Most times, not every time,” Max said.

“So, Angela, is she a shifter too?” Sarah couldn’t resist asking.

“No,” Max said with a guilty look.

“Is that weird?”

“Is what weird?” he asked.

“I mean, don’t shifters usually pair up with other shifters?” Sarah asked.

There was an awkward pause.

“Um, Angela and I are not… paired up,” Max said, his face reddening slightly.

“You’re not?”

“No,” he said. “You thought we were?”

“Yes,” she admitted.

“No, we’re just friends. We have been forever.”

“Oh,” Sarah said, hoping her relief didn’t show on her face.

“Most shifters do choose other shifters for mates, just because it makes things easier. But not all of us,” Max went on.

Sarah felt hope spring in her chest. She searched frantically for a change of subject, hoping he wouldn’t read too much into her silence.

“Were those real wolves back there, or were they…?” She hated to imply that shifters would behave so aggressively.

“Oh, those were real wolves,” he explained. “And they are the only reason I shifted in front of you. I would never show off that way. Shifters are usually very private.”

He seemed keyed up, restless.

“Was it fun?” she asked.

“What?”

“Shifting,” she said.

“It was unbelievable,” he told her immediately. “One second I was a man, the next I was a bear. No pain, nothing but instinct. And my senses were unreal. Felt like I could’ve heard a pin drop a mile away.”

There was something odd about what he had just said, but Sarah couldn’t put her finger on it. Max was a passionate man, but he wasn’t taken to long speeches.

What he had said sounded more like the kind of thing her little cousin had spouted after his first roller coaster ride.

Then it hit her. These did not sound like the words of a man who turned into a bear regularly.

No.

They sounded like the words of a person who had just shifted for the first time.