Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance (17 page)

A low growl burbled in my throat as I took her hand and
led the way toward our path. We had a job to do, no matter how badly
I wanted to throw her to the cold dirt and bury myself, deep and
warm, in the sweet flesh I'd claimed forever.

“
Let's get this over with,” I said. “Just
know, once I get the council off our backs, I'm not letting you out
of my sight again until you're safe with our baby. Got it?”

“
Yes, sir,” she said softly.

A few minutes later, we reached the side of the road,
and stood by it waiting for a ride into town. Just as a big semi
began to slow, she leaned into me, planting the kiss on my cheek
she'd been saving for what must've felt like an eternity.

IX: Banishing the Darkness
(Sam)

“
Samantha? Oh, my God!” Jenn's voice
squeaked when she saw me standing on her porch.

She threw open the door and pulled me into her arms. I
hugged back, loving the way her delicate embrace reminded me I was
really back among humans.

“
Where the hell have you been? And where on earth
did you find such a yummy looking boyfriend?” She pushed past
me, eyeing Don up and down.

“
Don Flood. Pleased to meet you.” He stuck
out his hand. I smiled as I watched them shake. “It's really
good to meet an old friend of Sam's, Miss, but I'm afraid we're here
on business. There's something we need to give you...”

In the living room, Jenn shook her head.

For an instant, I was teleported back to Jr. High,
watching the old friend I remembered trying to cope with a hundred
surprises at once.

“
Okay...I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to
understand all this. Why do you need me to take this poor boy's
things to the cops again? Aren't you back in Kalispell for good?”

“
Don here has a record,” I said. Jenn's
eyebrows lifted up and she looked at him anxiously. “It's
nothing serious. A couple bar fights in the past and a little time in
the slammer. Right, honey?”

I craned my head up to face Don behind me, beaming him
my sweetest smile. His lips split in a forced grin, but I detected
wicked appreciation in his eyes.

“
Exactly. I was a hell raiser all through my early
twenties. It's not like your cops would peg me for a murderer, but I
don't want any extra complications in my life just now. You can help
an old friend, yeah?” Don brought his big hand onto my shoulder
and squeezed.

Simultaneously, he winked at Jenn, and I saw her face
soften. He'd turned on that wicked, irresistible charm. It wasn't a
surprise to see other human women weren't immune to it.

Damn good thing we're not spending much time here
after all,
I thought.

I had a vision of fighting back sluts and lonely
spinsters converging on Don like hungry zombies. I'd have to claw
their eyes out to keep their greedy little hands off my man. I
reached for his hand and locked eyes with Jenn, curling my fingers
tightly through his.

“
Well, sure. Anything for you, Sam.” She
showed me her teeth, subconscious frustration shining beneath her
smile. “Looks like you picked one hell of a guy.”

“
Oh, I did. Don's saved my life many times –
especially when I ran off and started hitchhiking in my fugue state.
Who the hell knows what I would've ended up with if I hadn't run into
him first.” I laughed, rubbing Don's hand to add extra
conviction to the cover story I'd dredged up on the spot.

“
The world is full of nuts. It's nice to know
there are still some good men out there.”

“
You said it,”
Don said in a low voice. “Some people can be
very
dangerous. Like wild animals.”

Emmerick flashed through my mind. He didn't say it, of
course, but I knew that's who he was thinking about too.

“
I wish you were here longer.” Jenn batted
her eyes.

I buried my jealousy
with a nervous laugh.

Damn, damn, damn – three damns! Keep your hands
off him.

We had no choice but to stay with her tonight. I wanted
to hang around until morning, after she dropped off the things we'd
found with the police. We had to make sure the media ate the story
and pinpointed the location, going no further with their search.

“
So, you didn't see a body? I need to get all my
facts straight,” Jenn said more seriously, delicately grabbing
at a flap of the sheared tent.

“
Nothing,” Don said firmly. “We don't
know what happened. There was a lot of blood. I think the things
we've brought here tell the full story.”

As if on cue, Jenn's
fingers grazed one of the ruddy stains on the torn cloth. She jerked
her hand back
in disgust. A
little perky color drained from her face.

“
We think it was a bear,” I said quietly.

Don's fingers dug a little deeper into my shoulder.
Tough, reassuring, but possessive as the wild animals we had just
mentioned.

“
These attacks happen all the time in the forests
around the mountains. Too many good folks have been carried off over
the years. Hell, I had to tangle with one the other day.”

Jenn's eyes went huge as he opened his jacket and pulled
down his collar. She saw the bandages around the bite marks. I
trembled a little, recalling the attack that could've easily taken
him from me forever.

Or worse, if that thing had come for me...I didn't want
to think about it. Anything that caused us to lose our lives and our
baby was a steaming pile of nightmare.

“
Lordy!” Jenn sputtered. “Sounds like
you guys have been through the ringer up there in the little border
towns. Drinks are on me tonight!”

I smiled, and so did Don. There was the old Jenn I knew.

Later, we left for a night out. We waited tensely in her
car as she stopped at the police station and delivered the items. A
little over an hour later, she emerged, a little whiter in the face.

Neither of us relaxed until she got in the car and gave
us the thumb's up. “I answered all their questions as best I
could. They're sending a team out to the location you gave me
tonight. Said they'll try to find a body, but usually if there's
blood and not much else, there's no hope of finding the bear who did
the deed. God! That poor boy!”

We shook our heads along with her. Even Don shared the
somber mood.

“
How about that bar?” He finally said.
“Let's get lit and take the edge off. Nothing we can do about
nature's fury except remember it, and live our lives to the fullest.”

As we laughed and chatted, draining our second pitcher
of sangria, I recognized the wisdom in his words. It was easy to
forget that Don looked like a handsome thirty-something at his apex,
but he was almost twice my age, and had the intense knowledge that
went with someone older, wiser, and stronger.

I woke up with a savage headache.

I moaned, rolled over, and saw Don perched on Jenn's
beat up sofa. He was quietly watching the news, listening as
Kalispell's number one talking head gave the latest run down about
sixteen year old Ronny Harrison's disappearance.

“
And in Glacier's sprawling forests, a grim puddle
of blood. Authorities say fur samples collected near the scene
support the idea that the boy was attacked and carried off by a
predatory grizzly. If it's proven, it would be the park's third fatal
bear attack this year, and certainly the most the tragic. Montana DNR
officials say too much time has passed to locate the animal
responsible, but they encourage visitors to be vigilant, and always
take standard safety precautions at all times, especially carrying
their bear spray.”

I sat up, rubbing one palm against my forehead. Don
looked toward the noise of my sleeping bag and smiled.

“
This is good news, Sam. From everything I can
see, it's over. We can return to the clan and maybe even get an
apology out of the Elders for their bullshit suspicions.”

“
It isn't that,” I groaned. “I drank
way too much last night.”

He laughed. If I could've gotten up, I would've wandered
over and punched him in the arm. But like a good boyfriend, he was at
my level a minute later, softly pulling me into his arms.

Together, we laid in the sprawling covers and let sleep
drag us down again. His heartbeat thudded softly in my ear, regular
and comforting, the very best white noise a girl could ask for.

“
Wake up, you sleepyheads! Haul your cute asses
out of bed and come eat some brunch.” Jenn nudged my side with
her foot.

I sat up. It was brighter out, probably closer to noon.
The headache had lessened.

Don was hunched next to me, wiping the sandman's dust
from his eyes. I heard a growl, and looked over, wondering if he was
irritated.

“
Not me,” he whispered.

My stomach rumbled a second time, furious as a cat
rearing up to fight. We both laughed. The sausage and eggs Jenn had
sizzling on the stove wafted toward us like a Siren's song.

Don helped me up, and we raced each other to the
kitchen.

Breakfast and good conversation with my two favorite
people made the hangover wear off like a bad dream. By noon, Jenn let
us off at the bus station, and from there we rode to the nearest stop
at Glacier National Park's entrance.

“
Should take us a couple hours to get back. You
feeling up to it?”

I nodded shyly. I was ready, but I wondered what he'd
offer as an alternative if I said 'no.' I had a sick, girlish desire
to find out what it would be like to ride a bear, and not just in the
sexy way!

It'll happen one of these days. Hopefully once all
this serious, crazy shit has passed.

And maybe – just maybe – we're leaving
behind the craziness today.

Gray clouds passed over the mountains in huge ranks,
burying the autumn sun. We ascended quickly. It wasn't as difficult
to keep up with him as it was before. I attributed the extra spring
in my step to losing the horrible distractions chipping away at our
romance.

About an hour in, shortly after the dirt paths started
to narrow and the brush grew wild, he took my hand. “Let me
know if you need to stop and rest again. The going gets more rugged
from here. We both know that.”

He looked at me seriously. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

“
Don, I'm pregnant. Not helpless. And I'm
certainly not to the point where the baby is draining all my energy
yet.”

“
Of course,” he said, his hand tightening in
mine. “I have to look out for you. Let me do my job without
that sass...unless you want to feel my hand on your ass later.”

Don turned before I could respond. I had a feeling his
lips were quirked up, simultaneously lighthearted and severe.

His boots crunched underfoot, onward and upward. I
smiled like a giddy fool.

His boots were the one thing that wasn't always ruined
when he shifted. Sometimes, his feet popped out of the hard leather
as his bones rearranged themselves, but other times the claws, fur,
and giant hairy toes burst clean through the seams.

“
I'm going to be a father,” he said sometime
later. “It's only natural I'm looking out for both of you.”

He glanced behind his shoulder at my belly. His voice
simmered down to that near growl filled with love and desire.

I smiled. “I knew you'd be good at it. Doesn't
take a psychic to know you've been waiting for this your whole life.
Glad I could give you what you always wanted.”

And what I wanted too. Even if I didn't know it
before...

I caught up several steps and nudged him playfully. I
wanted him to admit he meant to knock me up from the very beginning.
But asking for more than a strong and silent smile was too much.

“
The least you could say is 'thank you!'
Sir,
”
I added, half-mocking. It was fun to see how much I could make his
cheeks sizzle.

“
Right or wrong, I'm happiest when I do my duty,
Sam. Now, don't sass me again...”

“
What!” I shifted my elbow into him, and he
softly batted my arm away.

“
You're just begging for another spanking, aren't
you?”

I winked. After the long walk back to Horeshoe Creek, I
wasn't sure I'd be in the mood for much except crashing face down in
bed to recharge. But if anything could give me a second wind for
action between the sheets, it was this bear of a man, this beastly
lover who had repaired my heart and so much more.

The trees were getting really thick now. Some of the
branches were cold to the touch, glazed with mountain frost and ice
as we flicked them back, occasionally breaking them for safety.

“
Damn, I knew we were expecting a dusting last
night, but not several inches.” He looked at me with worry in
his eyes as the path got narrower and thicker still. I knew the
concern was all for me, and not over the fact that he could easily
slip and fall in the deepening snow.