Mine To Bear (A Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Atonement Book 2) Read Free Page B

Derek's property and shouldn't have been there, and then men, who had fled as they approached. Upon further inspection, they had found this one locked in a cage.
    The nurses had wanted to call in the police, but with a carefully placed name drop, the staff realized who the three men actually were. That had been enough to calm the issue. Turning to leave, Derek and Philip had headed towards the door. They had done their job, it was time to get some sleep and recover from their wounds.
    "I'm staying," he pronounced, sitting in a chair outside of her room, leaning his head up against the plain white wall.
    Both of his friends stopped and turned back to look at him in surprise.
    "Why?" Philip asked, while Derek remained thoughtfully silent.
    "Not sure, there's just something about her. I need to be here, it feels like the right thing to do. Does that make sense?"
    "No, actually it doesn't Edward," the reply came. Eyeing his friend, he noticed Derek nodding slightly off to the side.
    "You get it, right?"
    "I get it. Call or text us if you need anything, food, clothes, etc, okay?"
    "Clothes would be wonderful," he said wryly, eyeing the ripped clothing that hung off him currently. Changing into a bear was rarely good for clothes. "I'll get some food delivered though, but thank you for offering that one."
    "See you in the morning." Derek gave him a nod, before turning and heading towards the elevator, giving Philip a tug when he didn't immediately follow.
    After he had some food ordered, he told the nurses what he was doing, only raising an eyebrow when they tried to object.
    "I'm going to sit in that chair and sleep, eat some food, and occasionally use the washroom. I won't do anything more, which includes bothering any of you for constant updates. In return, when she's awake and able to speak, you ask her if she is willing to talk to me.  If she says no, I go. If she says yes, you let me in." He was polite with his words, but made it very clear to them that it wasn't a request. Shrugging in defeat, they left and went about their work, leaving him to do as he promised.
    The delivery guy was awestruck when presented with a huge tip, but by that point Edward was just too tired and hungry to care about waiting for change. He didn't want to deal with any human presence unless it was his mystery girl, whoever she was. Wolfing his mediocre sandwich down, he tossed the remnants away and settled in to wait.
    It wasn't long before sleep claimed him.

Melissa
    Her eyes slowly opened, burning as they tried to adjust to the bright sunlight pouring in through the open windows. Instinctively she tried to cover her eyes with her hands. When they wouldn't move as she commanded, she looked down in horror to find them strapped to the bedside. Shaking furiously she tried to rip them free, but she wasn't strong enough.
    A nurse rushed into the room, a kindly older lady with an officious look on her face.
    "Now you stop your struggling right there young lady. Those aren't permanent, and as soon as you can prove to us you aren't going to up and run away, I will take them right off."
    Not waiting for a reply, the nurse bustled up to her and started checking various readouts on the machines and untying her. She flinched at the close presence of someone, but didn't try to break free.
    "Hun, there's nothing to be afraid of with little old me. I know you probably don't believe that, and while I can't understand what you've been through, I can understand that it's hard for you to trust what anyone says now."
    "Where am I?" she asked, still trying to come to terms with the fact that she could see sunlight again, and that she wasn't in the dark cave anymore.
    "Parkside Hospital dear, in the finest of care if I do say so myself," she said, giggling at her own joke.
    "What is your name, sweetie? You didn't have any identification on you when they brought you in."
    "Melissa..." she worked her mouth around the syllables, finding it weird to hear her own name after