“Can I have some water, please?” I asked. I was mildly surprised that I was able to form a full, coherent sentence.
She lifted my head up and helped me take a few sips of water. Then, I told her that I had to use the bathroom.
“This is going to be fun,” she said.
She helped me slide my feet onto the ground. I put my good arm around her shoulders. I managed to walk to the bathroom and steady myself. I was proud that I was able to walk back to the bed without leaning on her too much.
She had me sit in the chair while she changed the sheets. Then, she helped me get back in bed, propped upright on some pillows.
Luka asked if I was hungry. When I nodded, she spoon-fed me some broth.
“I kind of like all of this special treatment,” I told her. “I may have to get shot more often.”
“Don’t you dare,” she growled. “It was all I could do to hold it together this time. You almost caused me to have a heart attack.Imight not be able to survive it if you get shot again.”
She looked at me hard. I had a sneaking suspicion of what was coming next. I was right.
“Now that we know you are going to survive your recent attack, let’s talk about the elephant—or rather the bear—in the room.”
I winced. She sounded angry. I detected some hurt in her voice, as well. The hurt was so much harder to hear.
13
Luka
“Don’t you think that you could have told me thisbear of a secretthat Amon alluded to?”
“I wasn’t sure how to tell you. I must have rehearsed a speech a thousand times in my head, trying to figure out the best way to explain to you that I was a bear shifter.”
He actually looked terrified, as though he thought that I was going to tell him that I was leaving him. That made me just as angry as if he had slapped me in the face. He needed to have more faith in me than that.
“You could have just come out and said, ‘Luka. I’m a bear shifter. Wanna see?’” I paused for a moment and then looked at him searchingly. “Did you not trust me enough to know that I love you, no matter what? Do you really think so little of me that you can’t trust me with a secret as big as the fact that you are a shapeshifter? That you are half-bear?”
He winced. “I did. But part of me was still scared. I didn’t think you would…”
His words died as he saw the look on my face.
I crossed my arms. My eyes were shooting daggers at him. If looks could kill, he’d be a dead man where he lay.
“I’m sorry,” he said simply and quietly. “I was planning on telling you yesterday when I got home. I still hadn’t figured out how I was going to tell you, but I fully intended to.”
“The road to perdition is paved with good intentions.”
“I know.”
“I might not have understood exactly what you meant at first, but I would have caught on when you showed me. I’m actually quite intelligent, you know. I’m also very open-minded, and I understand that there are a lot of things in this world that I don’t know about.”
He winced again. “I know. I’m so sorry.” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“But in actuality, you did tell me that you were a bear shifter yesterday, in a very dramatic way.”
He smiled. “Does this mean you forgive me?”
“I don’t know. Is there anything else that you need to tell me? Any other deep dark secrets you are hiding from me?”
I could see that he was thinking about something. However, whatever it was, he chose not to share it with me.
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so,” he said.