Read The Right to a Bear's Arms (A BBW Shifter Romance) (Wolf Rock Shifters) for Free Online

finding a man who would care about her. She’d built up a strong resistance to the notion of affection and admiration, and instead took what she could, using boys and later men to fulfill her momentary needs. But there had not been love.
     
    As she walked along, Zoe pondered all of this, remaining in human form as she walked in between tents. She peered into this and that opening to catch sight of the spectacle but never committed to taking a seat for fear of feeling that she had to remain in place.
    It w as when she was turning the corner around a shiny purple tent that she stopped in her tracks at the sight of a bear coming towards her. He was pale in colour and large, though not so big as a grizzly. He was beautiful, she thought, and gentle looking. But Zoe’s every instinct told her to turn and walk the other way.
    Over the bear a large, cream-coloured silk cloth was draped, and as he came upon her he shifted, quickly folding the garment around himself.
    “ Colson,” said Zoe, half-smiling. “Nice toga.”
    “Yeah, I think the ancient Roman look suits me,” he laughed. “I wasn’t sure I’d see you here, let alone ever again.”
    “I was curious about this. Not just the fair, but Wolf Rock. The people. The shifters.”
    “And? What do you think? Not so scary as all that, are they?”
    “No, of course not. So far they’re fine. Of course they’re all focused on other things and ignoring me, and I like that.”
    “You shouldn’t. You should get all sorts of attention, and you should enjoy it.” He was right in front of her now, and she could feel his breath on her chest. God, he smelled so good.
    “I don’t like attention,” she said, collecting herself. “ It can start off well but it always seems to end up with me getting hurt.”
    Colson reached a hand out, placing it beside her face. But he pulled back before he’d made contact, as though he’d touched something hot and been burned.
    “But why does attention hurt you ?” he asked. “It doesn’t have to.”
    “You say that, but it just does, Colson. Look, you don’t know me. You don’t know how my life is. Maybe some people can walk around all sunshine and flowers, but I’m not one of them.” Her eyes darted around as she looked for an escape route. She didn’t want to talk about this anymore.
    “Okay, okay. Fair enough,” Colson said. “Let’s drop it. Why don’t you walk around with me a little bit?”
    “Fine, ” she said, defeated. She was stuck now; just what she’d been avoiding. Stuck with a gorgeous man by her side; a man who wanted to be there, even. Everything that should make her happy was rendering her hesitant and miserable.
    “Great, I can see that I’ve charmed you. Don’t fall i n love with me too quickly, now,” he said.
    Zoe almost smiled again, checking herself before showing him any vulnerability. The two began to walk slowly between the tents, ending up on the lantern-lit path in the woods.
    “We’re not all bad, you know,” he said. “People. Shifters. Some of us are even good.”
    Zoe remained silent.
    “A lot of women, especially the ones of our ilk, are attracted to strong, aggressive males, then get all upset when they turn out to be strong and aggressive,” Colson continued. “But not all men are controlling or cruel. Some want to make their mates happy.”
    “I thought you said we were going to drop this,” she said.
    “I did.”
    “And besides, you’re strong and aggressive.”
    “I’m strong. I’m not that aggressive. At least I wouldn’t be, with you. Unless you wanted me to be,” he said, his tone mischievous and suggestive.
    “And you’re a flirt.”
    “Not really. I’m just…”
    Colson’s sentence was cut short when a small boy ran into him head-first as he fled from an invisible pursuer.
    “Sorry, mister,” said the little boy, eyeing Colson’s outfit with curiosity.
    “Quite all right. What’s going on? A re you being chased?”
    “Ye ah, my sister got mad at