Heart Of The Bear (Appalachian Shifters #1) Read Free

and he turns out to be a shapeshifter?”
    My ears started to burn with embarrassment.
    “I don’t think that’s any of your business!” I snapped at him.
    Caleb was still laughing so hard he could barely speak. He threw the fork down onto the plate with a clatter.
    “Oh, god,” he said, clutching his sides. “You’re killing me!”
    “I’m so fucking glad I amuse you,” I glowered.
    He took a deep breath to calm his laughter and then he said seriously, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just… bear shifters. Really? Us?”
    “Sorry I said anything,” I grumbled.
    I was really starting to feel like a moron, and I wanted to be anywhere but there. Unfortunately, I was in no shape to flounce dramatically from the room as I wanted to, so I had to just lie there and sulk gloomily.
    “Hey, I’m really sorry,” he said gently. “I really didn’t… I was just surprised, that’s all.”
    “Whatever.”
    “Penny, don’t be mad.”
    “I’d really like to be alone right now.”
    “You need to finish eating,” Caleb argued.
    “I’m not hungry anymore.”
    “Penny…”
    “Please!” I snapped.
    Caleb sighed, but he stood up and collected the plate, silently leaving the room. I stared up at the ceiling and said a silent prayer that I would heal quickly so I could hop the next bus to Charleston. I never wanted to see him again.

Chapter Two

     
    I’d been asleep for a while, but I had no idea how long. I heard the door creak open, and I gritted my teeth, expecting it to be Caleb.
    “Penny?”
    This was a female voice, but it wasn’t Anna. I allowed myself to be angry at myself over the tinge of disappointment I felt when I realized it wasn’t Caleb. I told myself I was still mad at him.
    “Yes?”
    “I’m Ivy,” the girl said. “I’m here to take care of you while Caleb is away. He asked me to entertain you and make sure you eat.”
    “Away?”
    “He had to take care of some family business,” she said.
    Ivy moved into my line of sight. The room was still illuminated by only a flickering fire, but I could tell she was pretty. She was lean and strong, but somehow delicate of feature. Though her body looked like she could probably kick some serious ass, she seemed somewhat vulnerable. Her hair was a wavy mass of chestnut brown that fell into her eyes and cascaded over her shoulders, and even in the dim light I could see that her eyes were shockingly blue. She looked pretty young – maybe seventeen or eighteen.
    “Wow,” I breathed in spite of myself.
    “What?” she asked, sounding self-conscious.
    “Sorry,” I said. “You’re just really beautiful.”
    “Me?” she gasped, wide eyed and blushing.
    “Yeah, you.”
    She pulled her face behind a curtain of her hair, but I could see a pleased smile on her lips.
    “Nobody’s ever said that to me before,” she said.
    I found that incredibly hard to believe given how stunning she was. She could easily have been an actress or a model. She was prettier than anyone I’d ever seen on TV or in movies. In fact, much to my own irritation, I realized I was jealous of her being around Caleb. She was clearly so much more beautiful than me. I had to realize I never would have had a shot with him, anyway.
    “You’re the beautiful one,” Ivy said.
    “Oh, gosh, you’re just being nice,” I told her.
    “No, really,” she said. “I envy you.”
    Ivy pulled up the stool that Caleb had sat in before.
    “Me? Why?”
    “Because you have a real woman’s body,” she said. “I might as well be a boy. None of the guys pay a bit of attention to me. But if I had curves like you, they would.”
    “Curves like me?”
    I figured I must look especially fat for her to be able to see all my lumps through the blankets that rested on top of me. I made a mental note to go on a diet as soon as I was back in civilization.
    “All the men around here like curvy women, but there aren’t any up here on the mountain,” Ivy said. “They