Page 113 of Shrouded in the Dark

I glanced up at Jasper curiously, but he just shrugged. Axel usually wasn’t very good with hiding surprises, so I really wanted to know what he was planning. Jasper sat in my lap, distracting me as they walked off talking softly.

“Let him have this time.” Jasper rubbed our noses together. “We can get this ready without them.”

I squeezed his hips.

* * *

Becca

“Axel?” He’d been a lot quieter than usual the past few days since our shopping trip into town. “Is everything okay?”

His fingers tightened around mine. “Everything is fine. There’s just something I want to show you and going as bears will make it easier to get there.” He’d grabbed an empty backpack as we left through the back door. “I’ll let you shift first.”

We stopped just inside the first line of trees. He handed me the backpack and turned his back to me, giving me privacy.

“Thank you.” I touched his back tenderly before undressing and quickly stuffing the clothes into the bag.

With a quick thought, I shifted, barely noticing the pain any longer. My bear was close to my height, only a few inches shorter on all paws. I shook my fur out and pressed my cold nose to his hand.

He tapped my nose playfully before he started to remove his clothes. I turned around to give him privacy even as he chuckled softly at me. The rustle of his clothes being pushed into the pack followed by a groan of his bear let me know I could turn back around.

He was still bigger than me. His bear made a grunting noise at me as he picked up the bag in his mouth and started moving. He paused when I didn’t immediately follow.

I jumped on my front paws playfully.

I love how fuzzy you are!

He snorted before starting to move forward again, this time I was right behind.

I’m glad you like my bear. Come on, slowpoke.His happy voice warmed me.It’s just a few miles.

It was a beautiful day. The sun filtered through the branches as we moved quietly through the woods. Thirty minutes later, I started to hear a small stream of water. We came into a clearing that I knew instantly.

Axel, what are we doing here?I stepped around him and stopped.

The last time I’d been here, everything had been destroyed from the fight between Axel and the rogue shifter. The little playhouse made out of rocks had been knocked around and the furniture just gone.

But as I stood in the sun looking around the small clearing, I shifted back without thought.

Someone had done their best to recreate the scene. New rocks decorated the area with some older I recognized that had splashes of paint on them.

“Axel?” My feet moved on their own as I stepped over the little boarder into the playhouse section. “How?” I could feel tears falling on my cheeks.

His heat seared my backside as he came to stand behind me. His hands settled on my shoulders gently.

“I know it’s not quite the same, but I wanted to at least try to get it back to as close as possible. It’s off my memory, so if we need to move anything around, we can.” His lips pressed to the side of my forehead. “I know I probably should have asked, but I wanted to try to do something for you.”

Turning around, I wrapped my arms around his middle and buried my face in his chest as I cried. At least with us being naked, I didn’t get his shirt wet. His arms pulled me tight against him and he ran his hand down my back in a soothing motion.

“Becca?” He kissed my cheek softly.

“Thank you.” Nothing else seemed to even come close to what I could say to him. He knew how much this place meant to me. “It’s silly, I know, but thank you. This place, it’s not just rocks to me.”

“I know.” He cleared his throat. “Maybe we should get clothes on, yeah?” His cheeks turned red. “It’s a serious situation and I don’t want to ruin it.”

My brows furrowed for a second as I tried to figure out what he was talking about. That’s when I felt him hardening against my stomach. That would explain it.

I started to giggle. I couldn’t help it.