She mad, Herc grumbled.

Not ready to shift into his bear and let the grumpy animal run off some of his attitude, Justin gritted his teeth.

Did Herc think he needed to be told that Eli was irritated at him for almost kissing her back there?

You stupid.

Enough, Herc. You’re not helping.

Always help.

Ignoring his mouthy bear, Justin pushed branches out of the way and held them until Eli walked past. For the first time since they’d started this hike, he had a great shot of her sweet derriere as she strolled into the semi-shaded spot he figured would be a nice time out.

As the trees thinned out higher up this mountain, the air had cooled as well.  Not that they didn’t both have the stamina to keep going, but it was time to eat and drink more water.

Pointing at a small boulder, Justin suggested, “Why don’t you sit there, Eli?”

Turning to look where he designated, Eli sat on the rock and offered him her standard content expression, which lacked any real emotion.

In fact, the only obvious emotion she had shown so far had been anger. 

She hadn’t even seemed frightened during the attack in San Francisco.  She’d been more resigned than anything else, and just thinking about it riled Justin again. 

Did she think female shifters were attacked at random all the time here?

Who knew what she thought, when the strength of her vocabulary depended upon yes and no? 

Mostly no.

Justin sat cross-legged on the ground in front of her, but remained a reasonable distance away.

She moved to the ground to sit in front of the boulder and mimicked his position.  “Told you. Not fragile woman.”

“Uhm-hmm.” He got busy unpacking the backpack and handing her first water, then two energy bars and a handful of grapes. She’d have to eat a lot more once they made it back to the truck and drove to a restaurant. 

This hike hadn’t been as demanding as he’d expected for her though. She’d stayed with him step for step to the point she’d run into his back when he stopped to get his bearings. 

That had scared the crap out of him. As he turned, he expected to see her falling backward down the side of the mountain, breaking every bone in her body.

He shouldn’t have touched her with his adrenaline pumping. That touch had ignited a fire in his body that hadn’t died down yet. It was the strangest thing he’d ever experienced around a woman.  He’d gotten hot and bothered with sexy and fun women, but he’d never had one flip his switch so easily, especially one that had yet to smile at him.

He’d been so surprised at the scent of her arousal in that moment, he’d just stood there like an idiot until his brain finally said to move her to a safer spot.

He might have chuckled at her surprise when he lifted her so easily, but his dick was hard and he couldn’t have pushed a word past his lips when all they wanted to do was kiss her.

What kind of male bear shifters were in her clan?

From the way she’d reacted, you’d think they took her at her word about not being a fragile woman. She was no wilting flower, but she was a still a woman.  Even though the shifters in her clan were not as powerful as a Gallize, they weren’t weak like humans.

Those males should be able to pick up a woman Eli’s size without a major effort, unless they were a bunch of pussy bears. 

Herc snorted. Pussy bears.

Justin’s bear had the same attitude as he did when it came to a male making a woman feel safe. 

They didn’t have to be an alpha to protect a female.

Justin was starting to seriously question the kind of men Eli had been around growing up. Why else would she act as if she had to constantly fend for herself?

Just another puzzling part of her that did not make sense.

She was the alpha’s firstborn daughter.  She might not like being called a princess, but coming from a royal line meant that title was her due.

“Why angry?” she asked after a swallow of water.

Her question caught Justin off guard.  “I’m not angry.”

Pointing at her chest, she said, “Shifter. No got lie past me. All time you smile. Not now.”

“I could say the same about you, but you never smile to begin with.” The words were out before his brain kicked into gear to tell him that had probably sounded better in his head than it had falling out of his mouth.

She paused in chewing on an energy bar and gave him a wounded look.  “Not angry.”

“I didn’t mean that you were. Just ... never mind.”

Herc said, Be nice. Good mate.

Justin had just taken a big bite of his energy bar and choked on it.  He started coughing.

Eli jumped up and ran over to pat his back, and hand him her water. “Drink.”

He took the bottle and downed a big swallow, embarrassed to be choking on a damn energy bar. 

He said, “I’m good.” Lifting his hand as a signal to stop, he repeated more firmly, “I’m good.”

Her hand snatched back as if he’d bitten her. 

She returned to her spot, but kept her eyes cast down at the energy bar she nibbled on.

Herc growled, making the kind of vibration inside that Justin normally felt just before his bear was ready to break out and kick someone’s butt. 

His bear was not upset with Eli, but Justin.

To calm Herc and make up to Eli, Justin handed a fresh bottle of water to her and said, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I was just ... uh ... ” Justin struggled for the right word.

Herc supplied, Pussy bear. 

Fuck. Shut up, Herc.

Now his bear chuffed in humor.

Eli asked, “Who is Herc?”

Shit, had he really said that out loud? 

Now Justin understood what Herc had found so funny besides insulting Justin.  “My bear. He’s an annoying son of a gun some days.”

Her eyes rounded.  “You name bear?”

“Sure. Didn’t you?”

She glanced down. “No.”

Why not? Thankfully, those words did not spill out of Justin’s runaway mouth.

Lifting her head again, she asked, “Why tell bear shut up?”

Relief smacked Justin at the hope he hadn’t said fuck out loud. “Because Herc has an opinion on everything, including things that are not his business,” Justin said, hoping his bear caught that message.

Mate my business.

Eli nodded, evidently content with that explanation, and went back to eating her bar while tossing occasional glances at Justin.

He closed his mouth before he started ranting at his bear, who had clearly said mate again and more than once. Justin had not misunderstood Herc back at the hotel after all, but what the hell? 

Mind-to-mind, Justin said, What’s with this mate stuff, Herc? She can’t be our mate.

Mate.

Justin reminded Herc, You do realize she’s a princess from a royal line of bear shifters and we’re delivering her to Clan Boudreaux?

Bad clan.

Damn, Herc could be persistent.  What the hell, Herc? You don’t like female bear shifters.  You told me a long time ago you didn’t.  What makes this one all of a sudden different?

Not grizzly.

Well, shit. Did that explain Eli’s blue eyes?  What is she? he asked Herc.

Change and run. 

His bear had a point. If Eli shifted, that would clear up all confusion.  Had his bear forgotten that Eli still had a not-yet-completely-healed wound because she refused to shift?

Justin wouldn’t force her to shift even if he had any idea how to do such a thing. He would never push a woman to do anything she didn’t want to do.

But what about this mate thing?

Was Herc just being curious, or was there more to this primal reaction Justin was having to Eli?

She handed Justin the wrappers and empty bottle. 

Justin put his second bar away, no longer hungry.  Not for food anyhow. He wanted to find out one way or another what was going on between him and Eli before they got off this mountain.

He was a man on a mission he intended to accomplish.

Packing up the backpack, he stood and prepared for an argument.  “I don’t know about you, but my bear needs to get out and run.  It’d be nice to have company.”

She brushed invisible crumbs off her clothes and looked around, spotting a cluster of bushes.  When she turned back, she said, “Need bathroom.”

His excitement at possibly seeing her bear deflated. “Sure. I’ll keep my back turned.”

This woman was twisting him into an emotional pretzel. He always let his pleasure show, but not what went on inside. He kept unhappy feelings and uncertainty out of sight. 

The world was tough enough without sharing his disappointment, but he was having a hard time stuffing it away this time.

He kept hearing the word mate in his head.

Herc’s fault, no doubt, but it wasn’t Herc’s fault this wouldn’t work between Justin and Eli.  He should be glad she didn’t want to shift. 

She had a destiny that didn’t involve Justin.

That was just the way life worked sometimes.

Our mate, Herc demanded.

Before Justin could reply, he heard the brush rattle in the direction she’d walked and instinctively turned to greet her.

No Eli.

A bear almost as big as Herc, with a winter white coat on top that blended down to brown legs, faced him. The shallow-faced shape said grizzly, but this bear had no hump on the top of her back. She had a polar bear shape.

That was the most unusual bear he’d ever seen from a shifter. 

She took a tentative step toward him, then another.

Herc pounded at Justin for release.  Out now.

Justin was too busy sorting through his thoughts to pay attention to Herc’s antics.  The blue eyes and mixed coat all came together in Justin’s brain. 

He said, “Ursid hybrid?”

The bear that had been moving steadily toward him froze.

She spun around and took off running.