Twin Flames

By Valerie Moon

For almost 200 years I've kept to myself. And then there she was.

The most beautiful creature, naked, on my land.

She even called to me like I was her kitty.

I'm no pussy cat but, I'd be anything she wanted me to be

Even if she was the princess of a bear-shifting clan that wouldn't approve of my kind.

Can I convince her we are meant to be?

Will she leave her clan and her betrothed to be loved by her werecougar forever?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Valerie Moon
• Release date: Jan 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201733063

Book preview

CHAPTER 1 MARK

Over the sounds of the river, I hear something moving strong and steady through the forest. Retreating back into the brush, I watch as a bear breaks through the last of the trees and into the hazy sunbeams streaming through the leaves.

The bear pauses, backing onto its hind legs to show a staggering height. I make myself hold still, then her bearness separates from her skin, almost like she’s shrugging off a coat. Her pelt falls to the ground, turning to dust against the stones.

Sunlight dapples off her human form as she rolls out her neck and tosses her wild red hair over her shoulders. Nobody has come to my river in years, yet here’s this beautiful creature. And unlike the odd tourist or camper, her eyes have my spot pinned. She knows I’m here.

The slight lift to her lips tells me that. Almost as if she knows I’m watching, and she likes it.

I’ve learned bears have a good sense of smell, so despite my ability to hide, to sink low in the brush even as a human, she knows just where I am and what I am. Still, I can’t look away despite my instinct screaming at me to run. Something is telling me to stay.

Once my eyes dip from her dark green eyes, I drink her in. Mouth gaping, a steady pant takes over. Her delicate neck shows alabaster skin leading to shoulders I’d like to sink my teeth into. She reaches to the water and splashes it over her face. Sparkling beads roll over her collarbone, and between fully, perky breasts, I want to nuzzle. One look isn’t enough, and I find myself gaping at her, trying to devour her from a distance despite the fact my body aches to get close and touch her. It’s stupid for me to stay, but I feel the blood rushing to my member as she combs her hands through her hair—little droplets of water cascade down her curvy body setting mine on fire.

No woman has had this effect on me since …

A splash distracts me from my thoughts, but before this angel can finish her seduction and steal my land, I shift. I shake out of my human skin and welcome the glistening golden fur to cover me as my bones and muscle shift and take me back to the primal beast I am.

It does almost nothing for the lust flaring through me. Now, as a cougar, I can smell all of her. My senses focus on her as if she’s the only creature in this world that can offer me salvation, can give me hope.

I need more of her and her sweet smell.

My reason leaves along with my human form, and I step out from the crisscrosses of shadows and curl my paw in the dirt, crunching a small hidden leaf. So much for the sneak-up. The woman stands from her crouch in the water and leans her head to the side. After looking at me slowly, I expect her to run.

No matter her species, I’m a cougar. I’m not to be trifled with, and she should know this is my land. Yet, instead of doing exactly as I expect, she leans towards me and smirks, reaching out with one hand before pressing her lush lips together to make kissy noises at me.

I see you, kitty. She says in a voice that echoes through me. Even though it’s a teasing tone, I take another step forward. My growl falls away. That’s right. Here kitty, kitty.

She’s either insane or braver than most men I’ve met.

It’s impossible to resist considering she has the nicest rack I’ve ever seen, is dripping wet, naked, and beckoning to me as if she’d like nothing more than to rub me down. I could do worse.

I take a few tentative steps, sniffing the air to make sure she’s alone. I growl softly, and she leans her head to the side. Can you sense I’m a dog person? Is that what it is?

I let out a laugh. Sexy, fearless, and funny? This woman doesn’t play fair.

Taking a few more steps towards her, I perk my ears up. She smells like a bear, but something else. Something sweet under all the tree sap, morning dew, and dirt. She twirls her hair rocking her hips from left to right, eyes watching me with hope.

I bet you could make me a cat person. Or a … big cat person. She shrugs. Bigger is better, right?

I hop over the stream, and she stiffens. I almost run to her, but I don’t want to seem desperate. She’s watching me nervously, so I slow it down to a stalking speed as I get closer. I bare my teeth to see what she’ll do, then when she stills, her heart hammering in her chest, I rub my cheek and side over her leg. I rub against her other leg, my chin reaching and scratching her hip.

She’s so soft and warm as sunshine.

I mewl and nudge her again. I practically make myself a kitten for the promise of her stroking me. She giggles and scratches my ears, then gently nudges me away. She backs up, a playful bounce to her steps that lights her up, but it definitely is more than play to me.

What a woman.

She laughs fully and reveals a smile that draws my attention to the sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks. I feel my heart stutter. I sit for a second, quickly surveying, then my eyes go back to her.

So, you’re a sweet kitty. She muses, scratching under my chin as she squats down and levels our eyes. Or are you just sweet for me?

Before I can even begin to answer, a roar reverberates through the forest. It bounces off every tree, but the crashing of branches, the crack of twigs breaking, all of that tells me something big is coming. I take a step back towards the edge of the treeline.

When the woman stands and huffs, she is just as angelic. A worried look comes across her face at the sound.

Another time, then. She sighs.

The scent of a man-bear comes on the wind just before the woman runs her hand through her hair again, so all I can smell is her – honey, freshly cut grass, roses, and pepper. Intoxicating. She shifts when she reaches the tree line. Fur explodes from her skin as muscle and bone shift.

Even after her shift into a human, this is a shocking change. My ears flatten, and I watch her retreat, a low sound answering the roar. I take a step in her direction, then shake my head. A werebear isn’t something I need to get involved with.

I know how tightly they hold to tradition. No friends or loves outside the clan. Little tolerance for humans, but … But as her scent dissipates, something raw and vulnerable opens up in me. I try and find her trail, but something is hiding it from me. It could only be through magical means, I can track any animal on earth, but this I find hard. After my fourth time losing her scent, I give in to the logic. I need to go home.

I make my way back home in a dense fog. My paws have the path memorized, so my mind wanders. Every other thought brings me back to her – a forest nymph sent to torture me with pleasure I’ll never get to have.

There’s no point to this torture, I had my chance, and I blew it. No point to letting my thoughts linger on every delicious inch of the sweet nymph I saw in the clearing this afternoon. Better to forget her altogether, to move on and let her go. Better to let her be with her own kind. Better to spare her the pain of knowing me.

But as I head home, I notice the smells of the forest are more intense than usual, almost as if my vibration is lifting, allowing more in. I can smell the steadily approaching rain. I can feel the weight of the humidity in the air as it pricks my whiskers. I can practically taste every creature that has turned up the same soil that comes up with my paws now.

Shaking myself out, I break into a run and let the unfamiliar smells, the overwhelming attack of senses, fall behind me. I smell myself, my cat, my own cut wood with my sweat lingering—me and mine.

Simple, predictable, and right.

I cross the threshold to my cabin. It has worn over the decades, not that I’ve noticed until now. Moss and vines cover the entire façade, and the roof is indistinguishable from the rest of the forest floor from above. Hydrangeas line the house and the pathways that have twinkling lights to illuminate my nights.

I shift to my human form, shaking out my arm and rolling my shoulders before sitting in my Eames chair on the front porch. I scrub my face with my hands and decide the only way to escape her, escape the scent stuck in my nose, to get away from everything I don’t want to feel, is to shower. So I do. Then I towel off, redress, and move on with my day as I would on any other day.

That’s all today is. A typical day with an insignificant change and a growing ache in my chest that reminds me of grief. But she’s still there, tugging at my sanity thread by thread with that same sunshine smile I see in my dreams.

A knock echoes and I glance at my sleek, short-hair cat. Luna and I have been together for years. She’s one of the few that’s stayed, but she’s not the one that’s knocking. I sigh and rub my forehead.

Since when are we so popular?

She blinks at me, then rolls over, stretching claws out and showing her belly as she purrs. The knock shakes my door, and I sigh. Standing, I drag my fingers over Luna’s belly and open the door. It is definitely a Monday. The day that Danny and I always get together to hang out, have dinner, and catch up.

Is that you, Danny? I ask.

The only other person to know where I live seems like a good guess to make. I open the door and find him there. Thick dark hair, tan skin, an athletic and lean build makes him seem unimposing and all the more attractive to females.

He holds up a bag. You didn’t forget that today is kabob day, did ya?

Is there a set day for that? I rub my forehead.

Yeah, whenever I come over, brah. Danny barges in, and I welcome him.

We’ve been friends since I was a cub. From the dry and lawless Old West to the roaring twenties, through the great depression, the rise of cities, the fall of history itself, we’ve come together time and time again.

Danny is more consistent than anyone other than mother nature herself. I can always count on him, just like family.

Longshadow. He barks.

I growl at him. Scream it from the rooftops, why don’t you.

I oughta. He nods, then flings his head back to howl my name. Longshadow! Longshadow! He draws out the word until it’s a song. Then he shrugs at me and throws a red pepper at my chest. Nobody cares, dude. It’s been centuries. The Wild West is only in movies now. We're in Oregon, dude. Chill out, brah.

I still remember 1812. I sigh.

Don’t bring that up again. It’s too depressing. We are living in a magical vibrating place where the frequency is so high that roses actually grow wild, brah. Wild roses! He combs his fingers through his hair, eyes wide as he tries to convince me. Live in the moment, smell the roses, dude, and raise your vibration with me. He claps me on the back. This is the only place on this planet that vibes this high and can naturally heal you, dude. Your vibration, your grief. All of it, brah. Danny snorts, rifling through his bag.

What did you bring? I change the subject to avoid his lecturing.

Fresh shrooms, berries, zucchini, a pineapple, since you always forget, and a new batch of the crop.

What’s the stupid name this time? Not stupid. He argues. Purple Plush.

Hopefully, it’s loaded with terpenes.

Dude, I only grow the best.

I arch an eyebrow, and he shoves the bag at my chest. Just put the veggies on the grill so we can get started.

Danny packs his pipe, and I think of all the years I’ve known him, all the ways we’ve learned to forget the past. And the more we slip through the decades, the more I feel the weight of those years.

When Danny and I first met, this land was untamed. We’d been friends since before this country was born. He knows everything about me, even my darkest secrets. We’ve been through it all, and yet we’re still searching for more. A connection to something bigger. The kind of connection that came to me today, that was something special, something big is going on around me, something is coming. I just have to figure out what.

CHAPTER 2 AMBER

"I was having fun. Why did you have to startle me like that, Uncle." I sighed.

You know the rules; you cannot go out on your own. You are the princess.

I glare at my uncle as he drags me back to my father. As if I’m just some teen runaway who got lost in the woods with the big bad wolf. Only it wasn’t a wolf. It was a cougar. A savage beast that acted tame for me.

But all that’s forgotten when my uncle practically tosses me at my father. His temples are gray, wrinkles line his face, and the anger etched there is more familiar than anything else about him. I sigh.

"Would you like to explain why I have to send others to collect you?"

Probably the same reason you don’t want me to leave the cave. I play with a lock of hair. We’re stubborn.

He arches an eyebrow, then shakes his head. Tell me why you try and escape your duties at every turn?

Tell me why I have to marry him, father! I turn it around on him.

Forcing me into some kind of arranged marriage as if women – human women – don’t have the right to choose who they marry and when. I’d say no on principle even if I didn’t hold out hope for love.

Father rubs his forehead. "Because Amber. It is tribe law. You will marry another werebear to strengthen the clan and make sure our kind doesn’t die out."

I didn’t ask for this, I growled.

Do I have to remind you that you are a princess, dearest? That’s not a fancy title given away. It means work. It means being more than yourself. He insists.

I don’t know how he can make me feel like a spoiled brat so easily, but I have to fight the urge to stomp my foot. Give it to someone else then. I don’t want it. I want to be normal.

It doesn’t work like that. He pats my head, then sighs. And you are a lucky woman. Koda is a great man. The tribe wouldn’t be where it is without him.

Rolling my eyes, I slump. I know. He’s handsome, good, strong.

Then what is the problem?

I just thought there would be … more. I try to find the word that will