Releasing the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 2) (8 page)

My ribs hurt and the thing that kept poking me in the side wasn’t helping. The muffled sounds of men shouting started to come back into focus along with my eyesight. Where was I? What the hell had happened?

“Come on, shifter. Change!” A small man with a trucker hat and a camo jacket pushed the metal pole into the cage. He smelled like beer and piss. “Come on. Come on.”

Wait, cage? I was in a fucking cage?

My vision snapped into focus when that metal prod hit me again, sending an electrical shock through my system. I screamed, scrambling as far away from him as I could. My bare feet slipped on the concrete floor, my tank top sliding up and exposing my panties.

The man reached in again, and I cowered. But someone stopped him. “Randy, enough.”

“But she’s not changing,” Randy whined.

“It’s because she’s been drugged, dumb ass. It takes a takes a while to wear off. Even on shifters.” This man, a tall and skinny one, wore an Iditarod sweatshirt and chewed on a toothpick. His back woods accent reminded me of places I’d visited in the south.

“Are you sure she’ll do it, Mikey?”

Mikey smiled. A cruel grin that cut his face in half. “Oh, she’ll do it.” His eyes traveled to my legs and my nearly exposed breasts.” She’ll do it or we’ll make her do it.”

“Do what?” I croaked. Who were these guys?

Two more men that looked like brothers ran over to stare into my cage when I spoke. Their eyes widened in excitement, their scent of arousal making me sick.

“You’re going to show us your wolf, shifter.” Mikey said that last word in disgust, as though I was an abomination.

“She’s so pretty,” one of the brothers said.

I showed him my teeth and let a low growl escape my lips. He dropped his head but the stench of his excitement only intensified.

“Are you sure she’s a wolf?” the other brother asked Mikey.

“Oh, I’m sure. She was in the video and she visited Jason’s group earlier tonight with a nice little threat.”

Jason. Man-bun? That son-of-a-bitch. He
had
shared the video. Or someone had. And now this group of douchebags thought they could capture a shifter. I’d be sure to change their minds…

Mikey smiled at me again. “Did you just put it all together?” he asked in a condescending tone.

I opened my mouth to reply and then felt another jolt of electricity shoot through me when Randy prodded me again. Facing the tiny man, I growled, “I’m going to kill you.”

He stuck his face between the bars and taunted me. “Go ahead and try.”

The men all laughed and I had to wonder why they weren’t afraid. Had they not watched that video from our territory? I took on a full grizzly. And won. These guys were flies compared to the grizzly shifters. Flies that needed to be squashed under my foot.

I stood and they all took a step back. “Let me out of this cage and let’s see what you’re really made of,” I said to Randy. Then, snapping my head toward Mikey, I added, “Or maybe you’d like to try.”

He laughed and shook his head. “One step at a time, bitch. One step.”

My skin tingled with the impending change. The wolf wanted to rip their throats out, and my human instincts were right there too. Wait! Where was Brennan? It came back to me in a rush. I’d woken up in the middle of the night smothered by his giant body. And while I loved that, it also made me hot. So I got up to get some water but I wanted ice. I grabbed the bucket, walked to the end of the hall, and…

“What did you give me?” I asked my crowd, rubbing the spot on my neck where I’d been injected. The sedative was wearing off, but my thoughts were still buried in a haze of fog.

“That’s not important. Now change,” Mikey said.

“What do you want me to shift so much?”

“Because we want you to—”

“Because we want to see if you really are a wolf,” Mikey cut in, giving Randy a look that told him he’d said too much. Focusing back on me, the apparent leader of the humans continued, “That video has been circulating. And there’s a lot of money out there for the person who can give some vital proof of your existence.”

“How much?” I asked, finding strength in my voice again.

Mikey studied me for a moment, a look of pride crossing over his face. “Two million.”

“I want half,” I said.

My suggestion was met with laughter from everyone except for Mikey. “You want half, eh?” He tapped the side of the cage in an annoying rhythm. “Twenty-five percent.”

“Fifty,” I countered.

“Fifty? Well, you sure do drive a hard bargain.” Mikey actually looked like he was entertaining that idea. “How do I know you will hold up your end of the deal?”

Deal my ass. But anything that got him partially on my side meant that I had a chance of getting out of this cage to rip them apart. Letting my wolf rush to the surface, I felt my eyes change to their bright green and heard my fingertips elongating into claws. I flashed both of them at Mikey.

He flinched but quickly covered up his fear. Little did he know that I could smell it and my wolf relished in it. “I need more than that.”

“You can’t give her fifty percent,” Randy complained but Mikey gave him another look that shut him up. Turning back to me, he lifted his hand and gestured for me to continue. “Well, get on with it.”

I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Surely Brennan would be looking for me by now, but I didn’t smell him and I didn’t hear him. I had to bide my time until I could get some back up. So, standing tall, I lifted my tank top over my head. And then I stepped out of my panties. Naked and alone, I let them take it all in. Their disgusting eyes devoured my body and their pants bulged with their sexual excitement.

Looking at Mikey, he gave me another hand signal. He seemed to be the least surprised, making me wonder if I was really the first shifter he’d ever come into contact with. My wolf burned at the surface and after another moment wondering if this was the best idea, I let her come forward. “Fifty percent,” I reminded Mikey a second before I fell to the floor on my knees and let the shift occur. It wasn’t as painful as I made it seem. After all, I’d been shifting since I was a year old. But if they felt any kind of sympathy toward me, it might help my chances.

When fully changed, I pushed up to all fours and shook my fur. The long black hair had been inherited from my father, at least according to my uncle. No one else in our pack was a solid color. Legend had it that the black wolf had been touched by the spirits of our ancestors and that there was only one per generation. I loved my dark fur and from the looks of the men staring into the cage, they were equally enamored.

“Wow,” Randy said, bouncing on his toes and squealing like a little boy. “This is so fucking cool!”

The two brothers didn’t say anything, just stared. But Mikey simply nodded. “Very nice, wolf. Very nice.”

“Can I touch her now?” Randy asked.

Yes, please come inside my cage.

“No, I want to be the one!”

“No way, man. I won the coin toss.”

The three men, other than Mikey, appeared to actually be arguing over who should get to come inside first. This wasn’t typical behavior for humans and something spiked in my instincts.

“Randy may go first,” Mikey said, arms crossed and still watching me closely.

First?

“Yes!” he fist-pumped the air and set his shocking probe on the floor. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a key and tried to fit it into the super-sized lock holding the door closed. His hands shook so badly that he dropped the key twice before succeeding.

When I heard the click of the lock, I leaned forward, ready to pounce. But Mikey picked up the probe and stuck it thought the bars. “Easy there, mama wolf. Don’t get any ideas.”

“Can she actually understand us?” a brother asked.

I’d looked at him while he spoke, and when I turned back to Mikey, another one of those hideous grins filled his face. “Oh, she understands just fine.” He nodded to Randy, giving him permission to come inside.

The probe was about a foot from my fur and Randy would be about three feet away once he entered. I could skirt around the electric torture device and get Randy’s throat in a split second. Eyeing up the path to take, I waited patiently. But when Randy finally stepped inside the cage. The brothers slammed it shut.

The stench of fear egged on my wolf—begging her to attack. Randy stood in front of my growling animal with his hands held out in front of him like he was coaxing a dog. Without taking his eyes off of me, he asked the other men, “Will it hurt?”

“Probably,” Mikey said matter-of-factly.

“Will I die?”

Mikey shrugged even though Randy couldn’t see it.

I waited until he turned his head and then I attacked. Jumping forward, I brushed against the probe that shock me only a tiny bit before I got to Randy and grabbed him by the boot. My teeth dug into the leather but not into his skin, as some instinct was screaming at me not to bite down too hard.

“Holy shit,” the brothers said in unison. Mikey stayed silent.

But the most interesting thing about all of this is that Randy didn’t scream. He wasn’t as frightened as he should have been. Even after I shook his leg back and forth a few times.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m ready.”

I popped up ears.
Ready?

“You can bite me. I want to be like you.”

Suddenly, it all made sense. I dropped my grip on Randy’s leg, thankful that I hadn’t given him my animal. And then I shimmied back to the far wall where Mikey couldn’t reach me.

Randy cried out. “What’s she doing? Why isn’t she biting me? Why isn’t she changing me?”

I glared at Mikey who studied me with narrowed eyes. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?”

Randy stood and ran toward me. I growled and snapped my teeth but didn’t want to let the wolf attack.

“Please!” he begged. “I want to be one of you!” He kicked my side and I whimpered. “Now bite me you bitch!”

At that moment, a loud crash in another part of the building pulled everyone’s attention to the opposite side of the vast room. “What was that?” a brother asked.

“Bite me now!” Randy said, trying to shove his boney arm into my mouth.

I flicked my head back and forth not allowing him an opportunity.

A roar echoed through the rafters. Brennan.

“We’ve got company,” Mikey said, although he sounded excited and not scared. Of course…he would want to see another shifter so they could have a better chance of being turned. “Get out of there, Randy.”

“But I—”

“Now!” Mikey said, shifting the probe in front of him in preparation for an attack.

Randy grabbed my snout in both hands and shoved his face into mine. “You
will
turn me, bitch.” Then he slapped my head and stomped out of the cage.

Oh, we aren’t going to turn him
, my wolf and I agreed.
We will kill him.

But it had to be a clean kill so there was no chance of him surviving. Not when that’s what these idiot humans wanted.

Mikey slammed the cage door shut and closed the lock. Then, all four of them turned their backs to me and waited for the impending fight. I smelled him now. Brennan was in grizzly form and I couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do to these assholes.

But then I remembered what their goal was. They wanted to become shifters. They wanted to cause a fight so that we would bleed them. Give them our animals.

I barked out a warning to Brennan just as I saw his large, brown bear burst through a set of wood crates. Another man followed closely behind, although I didn’t have time to figure out who that was. I needed to warn Brennan.

Forcing my shift back to human hurt worse than it ever had before. The wolf didn’t want to hide, she wanted to fight. But I couldn’t speak to Brennan like this. Bones shifted and cracked and I howled in pain. Damn her for being so stubborn.

Just as Brennan ran down the first brother, I found my human voice again. “Brennan, wait! Don’t bite him!”

It was too late. I’d heard Scarlett yelling but only saw red. The tiny human in front of me was the first one to get it. With wide jaws and paws in the air, I leaped forward and smashed his puny body into the ground. His head hit the concrete hard enough to crack, his eyes going blank a second later. I roared into the night, finding Scarlett’s panicked face pressed against a cage.

They’d put her in a fucking cage.

Unable to control the rage burning inside of me, I clamped my jaws around the man’s neck and ripped it open. His blood dripped down my throat but it tasted like rotten meat. I didn’t like the flavor of human blood and that made me realize that I’d never killed a human before. Not once. And now I’d just crossed a line I never wanted to be at.

Damn them for making me do this.

A shock of electricity raced through the left side of my body and I cried out in pain. It only lasted a few seconds, but the aftershocks continued to ripple through my skin even as I heard a fight going on beside me.

“Todd, don’t!” The tallest man, the one standing closet to Scarlett’s cage yelled to another man holding a cattle prod, or something like it. He’d knocked it free from his hands and pushed the man to the ground. “He’ll kill you!”

That’s right
, I thought as I refocused my gaze on the fallen man.

Major stepped forward, holding the third guy, one wearing a camo jacket, around the neck in a choke hold. “Don’t move,” he said to the two men left.

The tall one smirked. “Or what?”

Seriously? He had a grizzly and a tiger in front of him yet he didn’t smell of fear. He only reeked of excitement.

Major growled and I had no doubt he’d flashed the tiger in his eyes. But still, the tall man didn’t flinch. “Or there’s no coming out of this alive.”

My bear paced, wanting to do more damage. But Scarlett keep trying to get my attention. When I could hear her again, I walked over to the cage and stuck my snout close enough for her to brush against it.

“They want our animals,” she said, tears running down her cheeks. “That’s why I’m here.”

Major and I shared a look, and then he threw the guy in his arms to the ground. “What is she talking about?”

None of them spoke, although the two on the ground kept looking up at the tall one for guidance. Eventually, all three shifters were also waiting to hear what he had to say.

“Don’t make me ask again,” Major warned.

“What are you?” the tall one questioned in awe.

“His name is Mikey,” Scarlett said.

Major glanced at her and then back to him, never answering his question. “Mikey, huh.” The tiger sauntered closer to the man. “What is she talking about?”

When he finally snapped out of his trance, he shook his head and shrugged. “We saw the video, and we want to be like you.”

“What video?” Major asked over the top of my growl.

Mikey pointed at Scarlett. “The one where she changed into a wolf and fought with the grizzlies.” As though realizing my presence for the first time, Mikey’s eyes widened with excitement again. “You were there too, weren’t you?” he asked me.

I took a few steps closer to him. The men on the ground scrambled back against the wall, but Mikey actually leaned forward.

“What are you doing, Mikey? Jesus Christ, it isn’t worth it,” Todd whimpered. “He already killed my brother.”

Mikey tilted his head and studied me. “I’m not afraid,” he whispered.

“You’re fucking crazy, man,” Todd shouted, then he looked at Major. “Please. Please don’t hurt us. This was a dumb idea. I don’t want any part of this anymore.”

“Too late,” Major said, and the temperature in the room dropped. The scent of fear filled the space, and the distinct aroma of a large cat overpowered my nose. Major looked over his shoulder at me. “Do you want to change?” His words were soft, not a demand, but perhaps a suggestion. A suggestion from someone who oversaw all of the shifter relations.

Scarlett reached through the cage and brushed her hand along my side. “It’s okay,” she whispered.

I huffed and jerked my head toward the lock on the door. Major understood and picked up the cattle prod. He aimed it at Mikey. “Unlock it.”

Mikey complied but opened the gate slower than was necessary. Scarlett didn’t move until he was finished. I wasn’t sure how she could show so much self-control at a time like this. I guess being the second and the enforcer had helped her learn how to control her anger. But when she passed him and found herself free of the cage, she immediately turned and attacked. With one massive punch, she nailed Mikey in the side of the jaw hard enough to knock him to his knees. She bent forward and grabbed his greasy hair, yanking it back and putting her face directly in front of his.

“You are disgusting,” she said.

But once again, Mikey didn’t show the appropriate response. Instead he smiled, blood trickling from his lip. “And you are amazing.”

Scarlett pulled her arm back in preparation for another hit, but Major stepped in and held her steady. With a shake of his head he reminded her that one scratch, one small exchange of blood, could give these assholes exactly what they wanted.

I could smell her anger and her wolf, but she kept both under control. Scooping up her tank top and panties, she joined my side and got dressed again. The two little men wouldn’t even glance in our direction, but Mikey had a look of lust on his face that needed to be wiped clean.

Or destroyed.

“Brennan?” Major asked. “Will you please change back?”

A favor. I heard it in his voice. Why would he want me to change so badly?

Then Major started to take off his clothes. Scarlett and I looked at each other, understanding now what he was asking for. His slow, purposeful movements enthralled all of the men. This act of power definitely leading to something they would not want to see in a few minutes. Major looked at me again, eyes pleading for compliance.

With a nod, I closed my eyes and coaxed my human back to the surface. The bear didn’t want to go, but with the aroma of Major’s dominance wafting through the room, he didn’t fight too much. A minute later, I stood next to Scarlett, completely naked yet happy to have her in my arms again.

Major had folded all of his clothes in a nice little pile and set them on top of his shoes. Picking it up, he walked over to me. “Maybe something in there will fit you,” he said with a smirk.

“Thanks,” I grumbled.

“You’re the tiger,” Scarlett whispered low enough that the humans wouldn’t hear.

Major purred…actually purred when he grinned. “I am.”

She bit back a smile and glanced up at me. “A grizzly and a tiger saved me. I’ll never live this down.”

I knew she meant it as a joke but I still said, “Don’t be so hard on yourself. This will all be over soon.”

Major studied both of us. Then his eyes slid to the small scar on the top of Scarlett’s breast. His grin widened and he nodded once. “Interesting,” he said to himself. And then turning back to the three humans, he added, “This
will
be over real soon.”

The bones in Major’s back seemed to split open when the tiger erupted from inside. A white tiger. Almost as tall as my grizzly, he shook his fur loose until it all stood on end. He roared—a sound that I’d never heard before. More powerful than the mountain lions and on par with the grizzlies, this tiger was a force of nature to be reckoned with.

And this is why he wanted me to be in human form—to help calm him down if needed.

“Fuck, man. He’s a fucking tiger!” Todd urinated in his jeans and the other one rolled over and tucked into a ball.

“No, no, no, no,” he kept saying over and over.

Mikey just stared. He was afraid but he was also jealous. I’d never met a human who wanted to be different so much. Although, in fairness, all of the humans I’d met haven’t known that our kind existed. Major stalked forward, his feet padding lightly on the concrete. Drool dripped from his large canines, his tongue occasionally lapping it up.

“Wow,” Scarlett breathed. “I’ve never seen a tiger before.”

She didn’t smell of arousal, thankfully, so I just hugged her tighter. “Neither have I.”

Swishing his tail back and forth, Major spent time eyeing up each man. As the ISC representative, I really had no idea what kind of authority he had over a situation like this. But it seemed to be out of our hands right now and I didn’t even think we would have been able to stop him had we wanted to try.

Mikey started to stand, leaning forward to get closer to the tiger. But like a spooked street cat, Major struck out and swatted him away. Only his claw landed on the side of Mikey’s arm, instantly streaking his shirt with blood. Mikey opened his mouth to scream, but when his hand came away with blood on it, he sat back down and smiled.

“I’m going to be like you,” he breathed. “I’m going to be a fucking tiger.”

“Shit,” I said, and Major’s ears twisted around in my direction.

“Oh no,” Scarlett breathed. “He can’t.”

Yet Major knew exactly what he was doing. As Mikey dreamed about his impending change, Major strutted over to the two, urine stained men. They each put their hands up, begging and pleading and trying not to make eye contact. It was too little too late. With two quick movements, Major had grabbed their necks and broken their spine. The guys probably hadn’t even felt the pain. A merciful killing for a killer animal.

Scarlett and I stood still. She’d squeezed my hand and I tried not to react. Truth was, I didn’t know how to react. Three humans were dead because of us and I suspected Major was about to finish off the last one very soon. Humans had died. We had killed them.

As if sensing my inner turmoil, Scarlett wrapped her arm around my naked torso. “It has to be this way,” she whispered.

I rested my cheek on the top of her head and sighed. She was right, I knew that. I just wondered what tomorrow would bring now that it seemed we’d entered a new chapter of our shifter lives.

We watched while Major toyed with Mikey. Batting him around, side to side, Mikey yelled out in pain and finally in fear. I brushed my fingers through Scarlett’s hair, wanting it all to be over. And just as I thought that, Major crushed Mikey’s neck underneath his jaw and ended his life forever.

He spent a few moments cleaning himself. Primping and pruning while Scarlett and I stood there watching. I looked down at the pile of clothes and thought I could maybe do something with the material. A couple of minutes later, Scarlett helped me fashion a sarong of sorts with Major’s dress shirt and by the time we were done, Major had shifted back.

“I’m sorry that had to happen,” he said, genuinely upset.

“Did we have a choice?” Scarlett asked.

He shook his head, tucking the black pieces behind his ears again. “No. We didn’t.”

“So what happens now?” I asked while he dressed in his remaining clothes.

Major took a while to answer and I started to worry. “I’ll call in a crew to clean this up. But then we need to sit down and make a plan.”

“A plan?” I asked.

“We’ve been encountering more and more of these fanatic groups all over the world. With the Internet, social media, and just about everyone having a cell phone, it’s been harder and harder to hide. The ISC has been entertaining a proposal to come out to the humans.”

Scarlett and I gawked at him. “Come out?” she asked. “Tell them we exist? But that would destroy us.”

“It can’t work,” I agreed as a thousand scenarios twisted through my mind.

Major nodded with each of our arguments. “I hear you. I do. But it might be time.” He looked around the room at the four dead humans. “Something’s got to give. And soon.”

I didn’t know what to say. Scarlett’s mouth hung open while she pondered what had just been presented to us. “I can’t even think anymore,” she whispered, sinking into my side.

I kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go back to the hotel. At first light, we’ll head home.”

“Sounds good,” she said.

“And what about you?” I asked, turning to Major.

He smiled, full teeth gleaming like a naughty cat. “Well, I’m coming back with you.”

“You are?” I said.

“Yes. I think I need to call in some more ISC representatives to start having these conversations with the shifters in this part of the world.”