ROMANCE: Awakened by the Alpha Bear (Werebear Fantasy Billionaire Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Alpha Male Bear Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance Short Stories)) (20 page)

Chapter
Four

At some point during the
night, he felt the added presence in his bed. She was cold beneath the warmth
of his blankets and scooted closer to his large bulk.

“What’s wrong?” Lars
asked, not the least bit comfortable in sharing his bed with this unfamiliar
woman who had acted strangely all afternoon and night.

“I didn’t want to be
alone. I promise I’m not one of those hysterical women who makes up stories
about things you did to me. I just got scared and couldn’t sleep out there by
myself anymore. Please, can I just stay in here with you?” she asked. His
hackles went up. He was a little nervous by her story that women did those
types of things. It wouldn’t matter if she did. He would simply disappear. No,
he couldn’t have her this close to him.

Despite the note of fear
he could sense in her voice, Lars didn’t think it was a good idea. “You stay
here. I’ll take the couch.”

“That defeats the
purpose of me coming in here,” she pointed out. “I wasn’t trying to get your
bed for myself. I was looking for company.”

“Which I’m not
comfortable with. Take my bed. That’s all I can offer. If you need something
other
than a warm body beside you, I’ll be in the living room.”

Upon entering the living
room, he immediately realized why she’d been so cold. She’d allowed the fire to
dwindle down to coals. He should have guessed she didn’t know how to tend to a
fire. He had given her more credit because she was out in the woods by herself.
After tossing a few logs onto it and stoking it back to life, Lars got
comfortable on the couch with her discarded fleece blanket. Being as tall as he
was, he’d had the piece of furniture specially made to handle his above average
height.

Stretching out his long
legs, he attempted to go back to sleep, all the while doing his best to ignore
the scent of the woman now sleeping in his bed. It swirled around him with
relentless persistence, having permeated both the pillow and the blanket. He
suspected it had also gotten into the couch itself, despite the leather
covering.

The storm had slowly
subsided throughout the night, and Lars was never happier for the first light
of day than he was that morning. He rose early and set about fixing breakfast
for himself and his guest. Since she hadn’t been so keen on dinner, he grabbed
a few biscuits from his freezer—made possible by the solar panels that powered,
not only his refrigerator, but also a water heater and well pump—and grabbed
the jar of raspberry jam he made himself. He also perked a pot of coffee on the
stove. It was no surprise that the aroma of the fresh brew roused her from his
bedroom.

“Did you sleep better in
there?” he asked, offering her a plate of food.

Her grumpiness was
obvious before she even opened her mouth. “I was looking for company, but yeah,
your bed was more comfortable than the couch.” Had this woman sought to bed
with him? Why was she so grumpy?

“You’re welcome,” he
said, openly pointing out her lack of manners.

“Thanks,” she grudgingly
added as she walked over to the table with her food.

He joined her with his
own, adding a touch of honey to his coffee from the container on the table.
Caroline watched him with a curious expression, but then just shook it off as a
personal quirk of his.

“I won’t stay long. I
have to get back and see what’s left of my camping gear,” she said after
finishing her biscuits. She held her mug between both hands, as if using it to
warm them. She knew there was nothing left of her camping gear and he knew
that, but he wouldn’t say anything to her.

“I’ll escort you back.
You’ll get lost if you try to find your own way,” he said and then drained the
remainder of his coffee.

Chapter
Five

He went into his bedroom
to change clothes, and was gone for only a few moments. When he returned,
however, he found the cabin empty. Concerned, Lars went outside and tried to
catch her scent, but the air was still and calm, and there was no trace of her.

Grumbling about his
extreme dislike for people in general and this woman in particular, he set off
into the trees to locate her. She couldn’t have gotten far, but something told
him he needed to find her. Something
drew
him to her that he couldn’t
explain and, frankly, didn’t really care for. But he couldn’t deny the pull he
felt to her. It had built throughout the afternoon and evening. Swamped by her
scent while he slept had almost overwhelmed him.

Lost in his thoughts as
he tracked an invisible trail through the woods, a sudden sound had him pulling
up short and finding concealment behind a large stand of trees.
Voices
.
Caroline’s was unmistakable to his ear, but another joined it, male in pitch
and depth. He strained his ears to decipher its owner. Who else could be trespassing
so blatantly on his land?

“Bastian,” he growled
softly.

Now, he understood what
his instincts had been trying to tell him. Bastian was like him in many ways,
but not a friend. On the surface, he seemed affable and charming, but it was
just a façade. His heart was cold and black, his intentions dangerous and
deadly. If Caroline was with him, then she was in dire need of help.

Cocking his head to the
side, he blocked out all the distractions around him and focused on their
conversation.

“That sounds like
interesting research. I’ve been studying the effects of atmospheric pollution
on our local ecosystem for years. I’d love to compare notes. Let’s get your
gear packed up, and I’ll help you get out of here,” Bastian was saying with
entirely too much enthusiasm.

Caroline seemed to be
falling for his charm, hook, line, and sinker. “I’m just thankful I ran into
you. I didn’t realize this part of the forest was so . . . isolated.”

Lars got the feeling she
was referring to him and not the area. Then, he caught the sound of footsteps
through the brush, and realized they were leaving. It didn’t sound like there
were any added bodies beyond the two of them, so he hurried to catch up. If he
could get around in front of them, he might have a good chance of interceding
before Bastian convinced her to go with him. If his followers were close by,
however, the odds were against him. She was so trusting that she’d just wander
off with whoever she happened across. Of course, he should know that by the way
she’d willingly gone with him.

After living in nature
for so long, he’d learned how to be stealthy when moving through it. Tracking
prey necessitated a certain amount of silence. Although Bastian wasn’t prey of
the food variety, Lars still hunted him with the same kind of intent.

When he felt he had made
enough headway to get in front of them, he doubled back and laid in wait for
them to approach. And waited. And waited. And realized all too soon that he had
lost them.

Chapter
Six

In a deeper part of the
forest, however, Caroline didn’t realize the kind of peril she was walking
into. Bastian kept up a steady pace of pleasant conversation as they made their
way through the trees. He took an active interest in her work, and no one had
until Lars had the day before. Well, really, he hadn’t taken an interest more
than being upset she was nearby. It was still something.

Although, she wasn’t
completely honest with either man when it came to her true purpose for being
there in the first place, but that was her little secret. Both men had seemed
harmless enough. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have willingly gone with them. In
fact, she’d hoped to gain some information to further her cause from them.
Bastian seemed to be a wealth of information, but she was having a hard time
directing him to the topic she was most interested in.

“So, what kinds of fauna
are most prevalent in this area?” she asked casually.

He lifted a low branch
for her to pass under and then followed behind her. “Just your typical woodland
creatures, both small and large. It takes pollution a little while to show up
in them after they consume the flora. . . .” He began rambling on again, and
she wondered how she could get him to be more specific without gaining
unnecessary attention.

“Hey, is that a bear?”
she asked, coming to an abrupt halt.

Beside her, Bastian
stopped too, but didn’t seem the least bit interested. “If there were a bear
nearby, we would absolutely smell him first. Trust me, those suckers stink.”

Having failed with the
ploy, she let him take the lead and became lost in her thoughts once more. She
didn’t realize they had reached a clearing until the bright sun caused her to
squint and hold a hand up to shade her eyes. She chided herself because a bear
would have been more obvious. She should have said a rabbit or something he’d
have to look for to distract him.

“Hey, where are we? I
don’t remember this place.”

A few yards into the
clearing already, Bastian turned and smiled at her, the darkness in his eyes
lifting the hairs on the back of her neck.

“We’re exactly where
we’re supposed to be,” he replied ominously.

As if on cue, others
appeared around the edge of the clearing, one individual grabbing her by the
upper arms from behind and forcing her to move forward. It was then that she
saw the large, flat-topped boulder in the center of the open space.

“Place her on the altar.
We’ve found our bear,” Bastian said as he raised his hands, calling forth the
others.

“Bear? I’m not a bear,”
she argued. “Bastian, I came out here looking for one, but
I’m
not a
bear!”

He allowed the man
propelling her forward to force her before him, and then, he took a long, deep
breath of her person. “You
reek
of bear, Caroline.”

It was in that moment
that she realized the truth. There could only be one explanation.
Lars
.
Lars was a bear! She knew from local tales that a werebear lived in the area.
She’d gone in search of him to study and document the existence as more than
mere myth. Up until she’d met Lars, she hadn’t come in contact with another
living soul for over a week! Of course he was one! That made a lot of sense
with his isolation and his actions.

And come in contact with
him she had. He wrapped her in his arms and rolled across the ground when
saving her from the falling tree. If his scent hadn’t transferred onto her then,
it surely had when she’d sat on his furniture or
when she
slept in
his bed!

As she was being shoved
closer to the large stone, she desperately hoped Lars had come after her once
he’d discovered her missing from his cabin. There would be no reason for him
to. He was probably glad to be rid of her. Why, oh why had she decided to take
off while he was in the other room? She knew she’d acted strangely after he’d
been so hospitable, but she hated storms. Ever since she was a little girl,
she’d been petrified by them. She hadn’t meant to make him uncomfortable. She’d
only been looking for a little security. How could she
not
feel safe and
secure with a behemoth of a man like Lars Wallace?

“What do you want from
me?” she begged as she was pushed onto the stone. The sturdy metal rings
protruding from the surface didn’t put her any further at ease.

Moving through the
circle of people to stand at the center of the gathering, Bastian smiled
broadly. “We want our sacrificial bear, my dear.”

“Then here I am,
Bastian!”

All eyes turned to the
edge of the clearing where Lars stood. He looked fierce and dangerous, even
more so than the storm that had raged the night before. The group parted like
the seas as Bastian turned and began to walk toward him, chuckling to himself.

“We’ve searched and
searched for years to find a sacrifice. Regular bears never do, although we’ve
tried many. Now, we find ourselves with not
one
werebear, but
two
.
And none other than the
infamous
Lars Wallace. My, my, Mr. Wallace. To
what do we owe the honor of your presence?”

“Let her go, Bastian,”
Lars growled, moving toward him as well. “She is not the one you want.”

“If she brings me you,
then she is exactly the one I want,” he taunted. He called a command over his
shoulder. “Chain her to the stone and begin the bleed.”

Lars’ hands fisted at
his sides, his jaw flexing as he gritted his teeth. “Touch her, and I’ll rip
you limb-from-limb.”

“I welcome the attempt.
Try your worst.”

Chapter
Seven

With a growling shout,
Lars charged into the clearing. As he did, he began to change. By the time he
reached Bastian, he was bounding on all fours, completely covered in a mat of
thick, dark fur, and his massive teeth had a thirst for blood. Once the human
form was almost completely gone, he was truly powerful. The bear he transformed
into was a large black bear with bright yellow eyes. He had enormous paws and a
long proud snout.

But he was not alone.
Bastian, too, was changing. He unfurled large, featherless wings and talons at
the ends of what had been his hands. As Lars swung a wide paw in his direction,
he leapt high and attempted to take flight. Had he been above him when the
fight began, he would have had an advantage.

Lars rose to his hind
legs, however, and caught him before he could. With a guttural cry, he dropped
Bastian to the ground and pounced. Teeth met flesh. Bastian bit at him tearing
large pieces of fur with skin attached from his body. Caroline screamed and
cried with each bite the bird took from Lars, but it seemed to make him fight
harder. The others watched without changing, clearly wanting it to be their
leader’s fight.

Claws tore down to the
bone. The fight was vicious and both were hurt. Bastian’s cries and screeches
slowly dissipated until the clearing was finally bathed in nothing but the
weight of the aftermath of a vicious fight. He had surprised himself with his
fury. Before meeting her and seeing her in danger, he’d have fought with
Bastian for a long time before defeating him. Bastian was injured and shifted
back into his human form.

“Lars you will pay for
this once I heal.” The shaken man ran away and declared Lars the winner with
his retreat. Lars didn’t think he would be back to tangle with him for a long
time, and he was glad to know he had scared him.

Shaking off his change,
Lars stood once more and began to slowly walk toward the stone where Caroline
was being held. “Now, who is willing to challenge me in the place of your
coward leader?”

When no one answered, he
pressed again. “No one? You all hunt me for years. You disturb my peace. You
slaughter my fellow bear in an attempt to draw me out. Now, no one has the
courage to challenge me? Cowards. If your leader comes back to find me, I will
kill him and all of you.” They started to leave and followed Bastian to
disappear into the woods.  Only two of them remained guarding the woman they
had chained to the rock. They were being very stupid. Lars growled a mighty
growl and charged towards them. They finally released her and ran away, turning
into very smart creatures indeed.

He could see the fear
still etched across Caroline’s face and knew how confusing all of this must be
for her. He could smell the blood in his beard. He’d ripped off his shirt
during his transformation and now stood before them in all his bare-chested
glory, muscles tensed and bulging. And that was to say nothing of the shocking
reality that mythical creatures actually existed in the world. There was no
telling how long it would take her to process that little tidbit.

“Release her and never
infest my land with your insidious presence again,” he snapped at the group.

As soon as she was
released from the chains, Caroline ran to him, and Lars caught her against his
chest. He held her tightly in his arms, waiting until each and every member of
Bastian’s cult had disappeared. Once they were alone, he exhaled a slow,
controlled breath and then carefully released her.

“Why did you leave
without telling me?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’m
sorry. I don’t know why I did that. I just . . . after last night, I thought .
. . I’m not very good at expressing my feelings.”

His smile was
sympathetic. “I have some experience with that as well. Do you want me to
explain everything that just happened?”

“No, I know what you
are. You don’t have to explain that to me. What is . . . he, though?” she
asked, motioning to where the creatures had retreated into the woods without
taking her eyes off of Lars.

 “He is a hybrid
creature,” Lars explained as he directed her back to the tree line and away
from the gory sight. “Bastian was part human and part changeling. Unlike a true
changeling, however, he isn’t immortal. I could have easily taken his life in
that weakened state. To gain that gift, he had to sacrifice another creature
like himself. I have never had reason to kill him. I’ve simply stayed out of
his way. They have hunted me for years, and that’s only the second time they’ve
laid eyes on me. Had he not left, I would have killed him for you.”

“Are you immortal?” she
asked as they slipped into the trees. Her eyes were wide with the question.

“No,” he replied with a
shake of his head. “Like Bastian, I am of mixed blood. But sacrificing me in
his ritual would have granted him what he was looking for. There are some
reasons he wanted it to be a bear that helped him with the ritual. I think our
families have been enemies from a long time ago, and he made it his mission to
avenge whatever my ancestors did to his.”

“Is that why you chose
to live out here all alone?”

Again, his smile was
gentle and soft. “No, I chose to live out here because I’m bad with people.”

She moved into his side,
beneath the shelter of his arm when he wrapped it around her shoulders. “You’re
pretty good with me.” She was small and fragile feeling in his arms, yet he
knew the truth. She was a strong woman and not afraid to stand up for what she
believed in. He had judged her by the way she dressed and not by getting to
know her. His mother would be ashamed of him and so would his feisty
grandmother. They would have liked her, and she reminded him of his lost
relatives. Maybe that’s why he was so drawn to her. He hoped she wanted to stay
after he had taken her, because he wanted to with every fiber of his being.

They were still some
distance from his cabin, but Lars knew they were alone in the woods. Not even
the smaller creatures scurried about in the underbrush. Bastian’s earlier
presence had scared them all into hiding. That suited his needs just fine
because he didn’t want prying eyes of any sort the first time he tasted this
woman.

With his hands on her
shoulders, lightly rubbing up and down, he leaned down and captured her mouth.
From the moment she crashed into his life, he hadn’t been able to get her out
of his head. It was a primal, visceral feeling, one he’d never experienced
before. But he knew. In his soul, he knew enough about needs and cravings to
know his wouldn’t be satisfied with just one kiss. This woman was in his blood,
and probably had been from the moment he first wrapped his arms around her the
day before. Her scent had infiltrated his body and gotten into his heart, what
a sneaky woman.

It had taken every fiber
of his being to leave her alone in his bed the night before. It was a choice he
didn’t intend to make a second time. In fact, once he got her there again, she
would be lucky if he ever let her leave. He’d never put much stock in the whole
“soul mate” or that one perfect person in all of the universe meant for him.
When he found Caroline, and risked losing her just as quickly, he’d been ready
to give up everything, including his life, to save hers.

“Come back with me,” he
murmured between nipping kisses down the column of her throat. He even pulled
the neck of her coat wider to accommodate his desire to taste her supple skin.

She hummed when he
reached a particularly delicious spot and laced her fingers through his hair to
hold him close. “I was looking for you.”

Her statement caused him
to pause, and then he remembered that she hadn’t been surprised by his other
form either. Staring down at her with a frown, he watched as she slowly shook
her head. The air around them changed, her shoulders slumped, and her eyes
teared up a little.

“Why do I suddenly feel
like I’m not the only one with something to explain,” he said.

Caroline sighed and took
a step away. She sat down on a nearby stump while he waited for her to gather
her thoughts.

“Okay, yes, I came out
here looking for you,” she readily admitted. “But not for the same reasons as
Bastian. I swear, I didn’t know who or what he was. I didn’t know who
you
were, Lars, only what. I’ve been researching myths and legends. Most of them
don’t pan out, but yours was different. There were concrete leads. I’m sorry I
lied. I didn’t know when I found you that you would be so amazing and
wonderful. I certainly didn’t know I’d meet that bird like thing and almost be
a sacrifice. It was a lot to take in, but none of it matters now.” She paced
back and forth in front of him and nervously talked with her hands.

He crossed his arms over
his chest. “What did you plan to do with the information you uncovered?” He was
once again on the defensive though he really wanted her with every part of his
body. There was a reason he didn’t trust anyone, and he hoped she’d have a good
excuse or an answer that would let him forget she also hunted him.

She lifted a shoulder
and laughed half-heartedly. “I’ve never actually been able to follow through on
one of these, so I’m not really sure. But it’s all gone now. All of my research
is completely forgotten. I promise I’ll throw it all away so no one will ever
find you.” She stood and moved into him, running her hands up his bare arms. “I
don’t know why I feel such a strong pull to you, Lars, but I can’t ignore the
way I feel when I’m with you. I’ve never felt so safe before in my life.”

As irritated as he was,
he couldn’t deny her. Circling her slight body, he pulled her flush against him
once more. “I will keep you safe, Caroline. Always. There are no predators
mightier than the bear.”

Ripping her clothes from
her body in the middle of the woods startled her, but he could smell her desire.
She wanted him and the nakedness excited her as much as it excited him. His
length sprang up, and he moved his mouth from her collar bone and down her body
to pull one taut nipple into his mouth and suck. She moaned and he continued
his journey down her body to place a kiss on her belly and then each hip bone.
He laid her down on the floor of the forest and took his pants off standing
above her in his huge glory.

She writhed on the
ground begging him to take her and he did. He drove into her with all he had
and imprinted himself onto every part of her. The sounds she made spurred him
on and the pleasure he felt was greater than anything he’d ever experienced.
They became one being, bear and woman, forever intertwined, and he felt like he
was finally home. He knew he would no longer be alone in his little cabin in
the woods. With his enemy slain and a good woman by his side, he could take on
the world. As they lay on the floor of the woods in each other’s arms, bathed
in the glow of their love making, he smiled genuinely for the first time in
years.

THE END