Chapter Fourteen
Christie stretched then wriggled. The scent of sex, Mundo, and warm sheets filled her nostrils, as did the air freshener in the bathroom and the detergent they used to mop down the halls outside her room.
She frowned, a little disturbed at the scents she was smelling so strongly, but then forgot about it as she carried on wriggling, happy in the nest that was her bed.
Damn, she felt good. She was warm and cozy, and something inside her was settled. Until today, she wouldn’t have been able to put a name to it, but now, she knew it was her soul.
It had been restless for forever, and now that it was at peace, she felt the utter serenity that came as a result.
It saddened her that all her life she’d been seeking Mundo, and all without knowing it. She’d been seeking him when she’d been with Jake, and she prayed that he’d never felt the lack in her. She’d given herself to him one hundred percent, had loved him as totally as she was capable back then. It was only now she was with Mundo that she realized what she was capable of.
Jake wouldn’t know that though, and she was glad for that. She prayed he was at peace and that wherever he was, he was happy for her.
Because she’d known him well, had known how content he was as a person, and generous too, she knew he would be glad she’d found someone who could make her happy.
And Mundo, though they’d already been through some extreme lows, would take her to highs she’d never imagined possible before.
The life she’d envisioned before him had panned out endlessly, each day passing without her really caring. Her only reason for being was work. She had to get up each morning, she had to pay the bills, and she had to put one foot in front of the other. She’d been alive, but her life had been dead too.
There had been no joy outside of the books she read—no goals, save for plans she made to meet up with family come the holidays. She’d been alone. Utterly alone. But no longer.
She smiled, so damn happy at that moment she felt sure she could burst.
Stretching her arms overhead, she gave one last wriggle then propped herself up on an elbow. She peered around the room, wondering where her mate was because he wasn’t here. Disappointed because they’d only gone at it like rabbits once last night and she’d wanted to start the day off in the best possible way, she glanced out of the window and looked out onto a bland vista. But hell, the sky was so bright it hurt her eyes, and the sun was a glowing ball that filled her with warmth and reinforced her new sense of hopefulness.
She tilted her head to the side then frowned at the note propped on the pillow where her mates head should be.
Come out to the back yard when you wake up. I’ll be waiting over by the East wall.
The east wall... She was shit with compass points. She was sure as hell no Girl Scout. Grabbing her cell, she quickly downloaded a compass app and jumped out of bed. When her breasts jiggled, she realized she was naked, and though she’d spent the past week naked with Mundo, she’d spent years waking up alone and fully clothed in PJs. She flushed at the sight of her too large thighs and plump stomach, quickly grabbing the shirt Mundo had worn yesterday and using it to cover herself up.
Just because Mundo loved her how she was didn’t mean she did. Not yet at least. She had to come to terms with the fact the body she’d always considered too much of everything was sexy to her mate.
After years of fad diets—diets she’d undertaken for her husband too—she was accepted for all that she was.
Christ, she was a lucky woman.
Sheathed in his shirt, she grabbed yesterday’s panties and leggings. She’d win no modeling contest but she was decently covered. That was something, right? Plus, who else would be in the yard at this time of the day?
Nobody, she prayed.
So, decent by looks if not by smell—Christ, she needed a shower but her curiosity wouldn’t allow her to wait even five minutes—she dashed out of her room and headed toward the doors that led onto the yard.
She opened the app, stared at it, and aimed due east. She was so focused on the app that it took a second for the growl to penetrate. When it did, she looked up and shrieked. There were at least ten, ten, bears out here.
Her heart stuttered in her chest, and she felt certain she was going to panic, especially when all of them bounded toward her.
Her mouth dropped open, but it was the only part of her that moved. She felt like a deer in headlights, frozen, utterly still as what had to be certain death headed straight for her.
Instead, the bears came to a halt, skidding to stop colliding with her. When they approached, her eyes widened, terror filling her as one prodded her with its snout.
“Please don’t eat me,” she whispered. “I’m mated to Mundo. Remember?”
These guys were Shifters, right? They had to be. They wouldn’t just let wild bears pop into their yard for a get together. Were there even wild bears in this part of the world?
Christ, she didn’t know.
Why didn’t she know?
Before her heart could burst from terror, a huge roar echoed around the yard, and a grizzly—she recognized it from the documentaries—growled at the bears surrounding her. She swore they were pouting as they slinked away, shoulders drooping, casting her long, covetous glances as they backed off.
She just wished the grizzly would piss off too. But as the thought occurred to her, she looked down at her compass app and realized she was by the eastern part of the yard and close to a wall.
Plus, the grizzly was no longer looking so fucking terrifying that she wanted to pee her dirty pants. Instead, it had plopped down on its butt like Pooh bear and was batting a wasp that buzzed around its head.
She gulped, then gulped again as it rolled onto its back and started wriggling on the ground. It was amazingly similar to what she’d just done in her bed. So similar that she had to breathe, “Mundo? Is that you?”
When the bear reared up with what seemed like the bear version of a dopey grin on its face, she closed her eyes.
God help her.
Or was that, Goddess help her?
The man had decided it was time for her to meet his bear, and rather than prepare her, he jumped it on her like this.
Breathing through her nose on the hunt for calm, she propped her hands on her hips and was seconds away from railing at him. But before she could, a scent hit her.
She wrinkled her nose then scrunched it.
What the fuck was that?
Grass, mud. Dirt. Earthy, stinky wet fur. Dung. Sweat. Hormones.
With each smell that bombarded her senses with the power of a nuclear bomb, she felt nausea hit her square in the gut.
Had she ever smelled anything so strongly in all her life?
She didn’t think so. Not even that time she’d dropped a bottle of perfume in the bathroom and it had smashed into a million tiny pieces and coated her feet and legs in the smell for what felt like a lifetime. Jake had made her promise never to buy another bottle for as long as she lived.
She swallowed as another scent hit her. This time it was a fuzzy kind of scent. Ethereal. Wispy. It smelled like blood and something else she couldn’t identify. But it wasn’t blood in a bad way—nobody had been hurt. It was contained.
Within her?
“Mundo?” she asked, her voice shaky.
His tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth in response.
Christ, he looked dopey.
And cute.
God help her.
The grizzly in front of her looked cute.
She really had gone insane.
She got a whiff of pure, pungent bear, and pushed a hand to her mouth. She ran as quickly as she could to the side of the yard, and then bent over and vomited up the little she’d eaten yesterday. When she was retching, the scent of the vomit hit her, and she started retching again, harder this time because there was nothing left for her stomach to evacuate. The vicious cycle was put to an end when strong, warm hands cupped her shoulders.
“Baby? What’s wrong?”
“Oh, God, Mundo, what’s that smell?” she cried. “It’s so, so... Oh, God, I can’t stand it.” She pinched her nostrils then covered her nose with her hand, but she could still smell everything.
She turned to him and saw his look of confusion, as well as the fact he was butt naked and covered in grass stains and dirt. Before she could even appreciate the fineness of him nude and in the back yard, she smelled the dirt on him.
“Why can I smell everything?” she whimpered as more nausea assailed her.
He took a whiff of the air around him, looking puzzled, befuddled, and confused, as well as adorable. “There’s nothing really there to smell, babe,” he told her, taking another sniff. “I mean, there’s grass and bears, I guess. Sorry about them herding you like that. I told them not to when I let them know you were coming out, but you smell good.” He wrinkled his nose. “Like honey.”
She closed her eyes and shut him out a second. “Was this the best way you could think of to introduce me to your bear?”
He grinned, sheepishly though. “Yeah. I thought it was like pulling off a Band-Aid, ya know? Better to do it quickly.”
Christie grunted then regretted it. She tasted the smell this time, that smorgasbord of revoltingly strong scents that were bombarding her senses like a spray of bullets from an AK47.
“What the hell’s going on, Mundo?” she whimpered, her poor stomach starting to do a dance again. “The smell out here is so strong. It’s disgusting.”
“There’s no strong smell out here, Christie,” Mundo countered, frowning as he peered around trying to figure out what stank so badly. “I mean, did it smell like this yesterday? Nothing has really changed since then. I mean, sure, the bears are out, but we keep it clean in here. No crapping or scenting the area or anything like that.”
“Bull, I can smell shit.”
“You can?” he asked, confused, taking another whiff of air before shaking his head. “My nose is more powerful than a human’s, babe, and I can’t smell anything weir...” His mouth dropped open. “No shit!”
Pissed, she snapped, “No shit, what?”
“That’s your talent!”
“What is?” she snarled, feeling her stomach starting to churn again.
“The ability to smell.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me?” she shrieked. “Annette gets to talk to her mate telepathically, and I can smell the most disgusting crap in the world? That’s not fair!” she finished on a wail. Then, the tears started. Because how was she supposed to keep on working as a dentist when smells affected her?
Not everyone visited their dentist every six months, and when a tooth had rotted badly, she could smell it through the mask she wore.
Just the notion had her wailing again. “This sucks, Mundo!”
He grabbed her, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and tucked her close. “I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t even think that was something you could pick up as a talent. I mean, it’s pretty freaking out there.”
“What am I supposed to do? Everything smells so bad.”
“Even me?”
She took a whiff of him, but for once didn’t feel nauseated. “No, you smell good. In need of a shower, but your essence is pure underneath the gross dirt.” Only Christ knew how she knew what his essence was supposed to smell like.
She covered her face with her hands and mumbled. “It’s a good thing I love you.”
He chuckled and bussed her temple with his lips. “Does it make it better that I think the sun rises and sets on you?”
Her lower lip popped out. “A bit.”
He let his mouth drop lower until he popped another kiss on the tip of her nose. “I love you, Christie.”
“And I love you, but this still fucking blows.”
“I know, but you’ll get used to it.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t make it any better.”
“It doesn’t?”
“No.”
“How about I tell you something that might mean the talent will lessen after, say, nine months or so?”
She frowned, studied the ground a second, and mumbled, “Nine months? That’s a pretty specific number.”
“Yeah. Nine.”
“What’s happening in nine months?”
He cleared his throat. “Christie, I think your hormones are exacerbating your talent because, well, I scented it last night, but this is the first chance I’ve had to tell you...”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Tell me what, Mundo?”
Another chance to clear his throat. “Well, Christie, you’re pregnant.”
She’d coped with the suckiest super talent in the world, the ten bears in the yard, and the fact that her mate could turn into a grizzly bear... but that, well, it was just one shock too many.
Before Christie could hit the ground, her mate caught her. And even though, in her dazed state, she felt like castrating him, there was one thing about this situation she knew to be true.
Mundo would always catch her.
That was how it would be for the rest of their lives together. He’d throw curveballs her way, and when they collided with her, knocking her down, he’d be there to save her from the fall.
And that was all she was capable of thinking before blackness overtook her for the second time in as many days.
Goddess help her.
Wait, they already had.
The End