Brock drove Ginger back to his house so they could talk about what Tate had told her. She had to make up her mind. She had to figure out what she really wanted, and she needed Brock’s help to do it. They went into Brock’s comfortable house and snuggled on the couch by the fire.

After spending the evening with Brock family and meeting on all of his brothers and cousins, Ginger had a much better understanding of who Brock really was. She wished that he could have met her father so that Brock could have the same understanding of her. As it was, knowing Brock’s family meant a lot to her. She could see where he got some of his personality traits and his looks.

Brock fixed them both cups of herbal tea, and they watched the flames flicker in the stone fireplace in front of them.

”So what was Tate talking to you about back at the party?” Brock asked her before taking a sip of tea.

His muscular warm arm curved around her shoulders, making her feel protected and secure. She wasn’t sure how to tell him about what Tate had said because she was still confused about what she really wanted. If Brock could shift her and heal her hand, then she could have her career back in New York playing classical music for an orchestra.

But being changed by Brock carried a lot of baggage with it. If she were to be changed she would become a bear herself, and her bear would need the wilderness. If Brock were to change her, he would want to claim her. Tate had said as much. And she knew it would be unfair to expect anything else from him.

“Tate told me that if you changed me into a bear it would heal my hand.”

“He told you that?” Brock said, shaking his head. He sat down his tea and had an irritated expression on his face that Ginger new was meant for his brother Tate.

“I think he was just trying to help.”

“I don’t need Tate’s version of help.”

“I think he was trying to help both of us. He warned me about breaking your heart.”

“He did that, did he?”

“Well, is it true?” she pressed.

“It is true, but that doesn’t mean Tate should be going around telling you that changing you is a solution to all of our problems.”

“What problems?” Ginger asked. She knew they had problems--namely that he was a shifter and she was a human. That meant that he knew they were meant to be together and she did not. She just wanted to hear him say it.

“Ginger, you know I want to be with you more than anything. But I’m not going to pressure you or manipulate you into choosing me. And I thought telling you about the healing properties of being changed would be a kind of manipulation. I don’t want you to choose me for any other reason than to be with me.”

“I understand. I feel exactly the same way, and that’s why this is so hard for me. I don’t want you to want me just because of some instinct. I want you to want me because of who I am.”

“That’s the thing Ginger. I do want you for who you are, and because of my instinct. They’re one and the same.”

“Tate said that if he changed me, you would want to claim me.”

“Usually, for couples it happens at the same time--on their wedding night or when they decide to marry.”

“And you want to do it?” she asked him, feeling her heart trembling in her chest.

This was new ground for them--they had never discussed either claiming or changing her. Brock had been giving her as much space as she needed, and their romantic relationship had become friendly, if not detached. Part of her wanted that same intensity that they’d felt up on the mountain, but she knew Brock’s easy-going attitude toward her was what was best for the situation. He didn’t want to pressure her into making any decisions, and she appreciated that more than anything.

“Of course I do,” he said. “There’s nothing I want more. Having you, claiming you, giving you your bear--those things would bring me so much fulfillment. To know that your body is healthy and strong, seeing you carry our cubs inside your belly, spending the rest of my life with you. I can’t imagine anything better.”

“I wish I had your confidence. I guess I’m not used to being so attached to people. It was just me and my dad for so long, and now he’s gone. It’s hard for me to connect to other people after all that.”

“I hope my family didn’t scare you off,” he said.

“No. Your family is great. I really like them. They made me feel much more welcome than I had expected.”

“So it’s me you’re not sure about?”

Ginger sucked a deep breath into her lungs and slowly let it out as she turned to face the window. She watched fall leaves fly outside, their orange and yellow colors caught in the glow of the porch light. Emotions swirled in her belly that she couldn’t fully understand.

She wanted to put Brock’s mind at ease, and calm her own anxiety. The last thing she wanted was to lose him. But she just didn’t know if she could accept all he had to offer.

“It isn’t that I’m not sure about you. I’m not really sure of anything. I’ve never had anyone offer me anything close to what you are offering now. I never even really had a boyfriend before you. My whole life has been a struggle, and now you’re offering me an end to that struggle. I just don’t know if I can trust it. Not because I don’t trust you. I guess I just don’t trust myself.”

“Why don’t you trust yourself?” He asked.

“Because I don’t know how to let myself be taken care of by other people. I don’t know how to relax in relationships. I’m always on edge, thinking I’m going to be left at any moment. Like when my mom left me when I was little kid.”

“I’ll never leave you,” he said, leaning in closer to her. He cupped her cheek in his hand and slowly drew her toward him, placing a soft kiss on her waiting lips. “You are everything to me.”

“Oh Brock, I want to believe you. I want to believe all of this is real.”

“Don’t you feel it?” he whispered.

“I do.”

“Then just let it in,” he said.

“How do I do that?”

“Let me claim you. Change you. Make you mine. There won’t be any questions left after that.”

“You have no idea how much I want to let you do that.”

“Stop fighting it,” he said, kissing her neck. His hand slowly crept up her side and cupped her breast. She sucked a breath into her lungs and let out a little moan.

“Okay, Brock. I want you to do it. I want you to change me. Claim me. Do it now.”

He drew back and looked at her, his green eyes sparkling with questions. “Are you sure? I want you to be one hundred per cent sure.”

“I’m ninety-nine-point-nine per cent sure. But that’s good enough for me if it’s good enough for you.”

“Don’t tell me if you don’t mean it. The bear inside my head is too loud to hear anything else. He wants me to do it no matter what you say. I’m trying to control myself here. I need to know what you really want.”

“I really want you, Brock. I really do.”

With a growl, he scooped her up off the couch in one quick motion and carried her unceremoniously up the stairs to his bedroom. The look in his eyes told her she was about to get exactly what she asked for. It wasn’t that he was distant or disconnected; it was that she could see the animal shining through the surface and around the edges of the civilized man. She had given him permission to let the animal come out, and he was going to do just that.