Laurence looked at the check from the insurance company and set it down on the bank teller’s counter. It was more than enough to replace his boat. He’d been lucky. Now he could leave.

There was a nice little seiner fishing boat for sale in Mystic Harbor that he could buy and take up to Alaska. He’d already made arrangements with the owner.

The teller smiled and deposited his check with a flourish and Laurence could tell she was flirting with him. The skinny brunette was cute, but didn’t get his bear riled up even a fraction of as much as Vivian had the very first time he’d laid eyes on her curvy little body.

He walked down the sidewalk and got in his truck, on the way to the harbor where the boat owner was waiting to sell him the seiner. It was an upgrade from his last vessel. He’d been lucky that the insurance company had paid him so handsomely and so soon.

As he approached the harbor, he saw a sign on Vivian’s shop door. “For Lease.” He stepped on the breaks and parked next to the shop. Getting out of his truck, he could see Vivian moving around inside through the big window.

She looked up and smiled, giving him a little wave. Laurence went inside, his heart lurching. His bear roared and wailed for its mate. Even the human side of him felt bad for her. He’d wanted to help. He’d offered the most intimate thing a shifter could offer— his mating bite. But she had declined.

“Hey, Vivian. What’s going on?”

“Oh Laurence. Everything has been going terribly. I lost the lease on the shop and my landlord at my house gave me notice that they are selling the place. Meanwhile, I’ve been living without electricity for a week, and creditors are calling. I might have to move in with my sister and her children! Oh my god. I can’t live with my sister’s kids. I can’t!”

“Wait, slow down. Why is all this happening? Don’t you pay your bills?”

“Of course I do. It’s the curse of bad karma. For a nature witch any negative use of magic is six times six back at the caster. I’m so totally screwed right now.”

She hurried around the shop, packing things up in boxes. As she turned back to the shelf, half a dozen bottles when hurling toward the floor. They crashed, sending the overwhelming scent of flowers and musk into the air.

“Shit!” She bent to clean up but Laurence gripped her hand.

“Vivian, my offer still stands. I’m about to go buy a boat. Let me mate you. You can bring Harold back and solve this problem.”

“But you’re going to Alaska!” she said frantically. “I can’t be a bear’s mate in Alaska. I’d rather live with my sister.”

He pulled her toward him, lifting her chin to look in his eyes. Gripping her tightly to his chest, he tried to calm her down with the force of his body. “We don’t have to go to Alaska. We can stay here.”

Without warning, Vivian burst into tears. She buried her face in his chest as hot tears soaked through his shirt. He ran his hands up her back and down over her hair as he made soothing sounds. A woman’s tears made him feel like he might either choke or explode like the Incredible Hulk.

“Please don’t cry, Vivian.”

“Laurence. How can I be your mate? You don’t love me. It would be terrible. As bad as with Harold. I can’t do that again.”

His heart sank. Her words hurt him, cutting like a knife to the gut. Did he love her? He hadn’t been able to keep her out of his mind since they’d met. He wanted nothing more than to protect her and the idea of mating with her, keeping her safe, made him feel more like a man than anything else ever had.

“I do love you, Vivian,” he whispered into the top of her head. She sucked in a sharp breath and looked up at him, wide eyed.

“You do?”

“I’ve been a fool to fight it so long. My bear is wiser than I give it credit for. We’ve never disagreed about anything. And when it told me you were the one, I didn’t want to believe him. But he was right. You are it for me. You are the one.”

“You don’t have to say that because you feel sorry for me.”

“I don’t say things I don’t mean. You should know me enough to know that.”

Her eyes fluttered and a smile curved on her full lips. “I’ve been so attracted to you all this time, but you’ve been telling me how much you distrust witches. I couldn’t let myself have feelings for you, even though I did. I don’t want to get into another relationship with a man who doesn’t love me.”

“It wouldn’t be like that at all, Vivian. It would be paradise.” He leaned forward and took a long drag of the scent at her neck, closing his eyes to let his other, stronger senses take over. “Will you let me mate you?” he growled, his bear barely constrained.

“Yes.” She kissed over his jaw and ran her smooth hands over his chest, making him hard as a rock.

“I need to go see a man about a boat. When I’m done, I’m coming back for you.”