Page 118 of Hot Girls Date Shifters

“Well, there was a rabid fox and my Bear just⁠—”

“Wait. You were in Bear form?”

“Yes.”

“And you bit her?”

I nod.

“Yes, Alpha.”

He glances toward Elsie.

“Does she know what you are?”

“No. But she might now. I mean, I had to defend her from those three assholes.”

The admission feels like swallowing broken glass.

“See I was going to tell her.”

“When?”

“I...”

I don't have an answer.

Because I should've told her hours ago.

Instead...

She found out like this.

Marcus lets the silence stretch.

Not cruelly.

Just long enough for me to understand the weight of my mistake.

Finally, he speaks.

“She's unconscious because her body is trying to process a mating claim it doesn't understand.”

I close my eyes.

Damn it.

“Shit. Okay, I understand.”

“No.”

Marcus's voice softens, just slightly.

“You don't.”

He moves towards me and I tense with Elsie in my arms. He looks at me and I nod before he moves, checking her pulse before gently brushing a strand of blonde hair away from her face.

“She's alive. No fever.”