Romance: My Bear Boss: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (BBW Shifter Romance, Paranormal Shifter Romance) (12 page)

The Awakening

It had to be a dark room.

My eyes opened and at first nothing seemed to make sense. One moment I was wet and walking down the street, the next I am kidnapped and wake up in a dark room. This is right out of a
Saw
movie. I was shaking. It was weird. I didn’t remember giving my brain the message to quake my body.

Then the reality dawned on me: I was scared out of my mind. I wasn’t just shaking; I was trembling. Despite the cold rain falling outside, the deafening thunder still pounding away in the heavens, I could hear my heart beating, no thumping, against my chest.

It was a wonder my ribcage was holding its shit together and not letting my heart pop out. There was a storm of questions in my mind, not least of which was: will I live to see the light of the day?
Will
I see the light of the day? Who kidnapped me? Why? Where am I?

I was still trying to figure out the answers to this question that I tried to stand up and immediately I realized that my feet were tied to the bed post.

I tried my best to get free, without making any sound, but my efforts rang loud and clear. I stopped, so that I could hear if someone was coming and sure enough there were heavy footsteps outside. I immediately lay down on my back.

The door opened and a sliver of light entered the room. A man carrying a candle stick entered the room. He was holding the candle in such a way that his face was lit up in one of those Hitchcockian thrillers.

“You are up,” he said. It was not a question.

I was too scared to say anything. His face didn’t look too frightening, for a kidnapper. If I had to be honest, it was quite attractive, that face. I mentally punched myself: too early to develop Stockholm syndrome!

“Sorry about the light. It’s the rain,” he said.

Why was this fella apologizing to me? I didn’t complain about the dark. If I knew my getting kidnapped rules, the kidnapee didn’t have much choice in what happened. So, I remained silent.

“For a minute I was afraid that the chloroform was too strong,” he said and just as he finished the sentence, light sprang back up, throwing everything in sharp clarity.

I shielded my eyes; going from immense dark to sudden light wasn’t a picnic. After a few moments, as my eyes adjusted to the light, I opened them slowly. The room was plainly decorated, rather drab. There was a window (so I was going to see the light after all) and another door which presumably led to the bathroom.

Then my eyes focused on my captor and I gasped. He was the
hottest
guy I had ever seen. He was tall, muscular and his eyes were a color I had not seen before. What to call this color: bottle green?

He was wearing jeans which looked as if it was sewn
onto
him (like the rumor that got around for that Marilyn Monroe dress….
Happy Birthday, Mr. Presiiiiident).
He didn’t look like a kidnapper but he sure was one. What are the chances of getting kidnapped by
this
guy?

As my mind tried to register the whole situation, he moved closer to the bed and I instinctively recoiled. Hot or not, this man was a creepy kidnapper and there was no happy ending to that story.

He took a knife out of his pocket and my heart skipped a beat. This was it. I wasn’t going to see the sun. Then, with a single stroke, he cut loose the rope that was tied to my leg and the bedpost. I immediately drew my legs inward.

“Sorry, I had to tie you up,” he said and he genuinely looked sorry. It was all very confusing. “I didn’t know how you would react and I couldn’t take the risk.”

“Where am I?” I said in a trembling voice.

“I will tell you everything,” he said, his eyes avoiding mine. “But you must be hungry. Come down. I have set the table. We will eat and talk.”

He said this and left the room, closing the door. This was definitely strange. Why was the stranger, no scratch that, kidnapper, being so nice and all? Was this to lull me in some false sense of security and get a jump on me? Nothing was making sense but I knew one thing was sure: I was hungry as hell.

He sat across from me on the long dinner table which made it very awkward. I could not help but think of the scene from
Beauty and the Beast
when Belle had dinner with the beastly prince.

Well, this guy sure ain’t no beast. The food was pretty good and ample. At first I restrained myself, not knowing what was going on but when he started eating, so did I.

The food was eaten in silence. Towards the end, he broke it.

“My name is Damien,” he said, in a way that suggested that he was going to tell a long story. That was fine by me: I wanted answers and quickly.

“I am Ava,” I said.

“I know,” he said simply.

“How?” I asked quickly.

“Wait and I will answer all your questions,” he said, in a calm voice, one that somebody uses while trying to explain to a kid why his favorite cartoon cannot be played on the TV all day.

“I belong to the House of Knightrunners. My father is advisor to the king ---“

“What king?” I interrupted him. “This country has no king.”

Damien smiled; heart, beat, skipped.

“You wouldn’t know the king I am talking about. Let me finish.”

I decided to zip my mouth.

“So,” Damien said, getting up and pacing the cavernous hall. “Our realm is the Greenworld, ruled by King Jacob. There was a prophecy, about 30 years ago, a few years before I was born and when Jacob was a boy and
his
father ruled the Greenworld. The prophecy concerned the future bear king ---“

“The what?” I couldn’t help myself. Did he say
bear
king?

Damien stopped in his tracks. “Yeah. Did I not mention that earlier? We are half bears. We can turn into bears.”

My jaw hit the floor. I was too stunned to say anything. Surely this fella was out of it.

“You’re crazy,” I said weakly. My mind was trying to wrap itself with what he was saying.

“It might sound crazy,” he began. “But please let me finish and I will prove everything to you.”

I once again quieted myself.

“So, where was I? Yeah, the prophecy. My father, who was advisor to the last king, was there when the prophecy was made. It said that the future bear king can save this clan from this curse of shape shifting by one thing and one thing only.”

He paused and he was now positively avoiding my eyes.

“He has to impregnate a virgin with a pure soul. The virgin should not have seen 25 cycles of her life,” and when he said this, his eyes finally looked into mine and my heart was racing faster than ever. “You fulfill the criteria. You are a virgin and you are---“

“24 years old,” I said. The situation was starting to sink in and fear was rising like a snake out of its pit. I didn’t know what to say and what to do. But Damien was not finished with the story.

“Now, at first the kingdom was all for it. They tried very hard to find someone for Jacob but couldn’t. Then something happened. One day my father chanced upon Jacob talking to the very Seer who had made the prophecy about him all those years ago.

The Seer told Jacob that if he can impregnate the virgin, and sacrifice the baby as soon as it is born, then he will be granted eternal life. As soon as my father heard it, he knew what was happening; Jacob is not a benevolent King. He is greedy. He is cruel and above all, he is a coward.

He fears death. He will not care who dies as long as he lives. Do you understand, Ava? Jacob plans to murder you as soon as he gets the child. And then he is going to murder that child as well. He is a sick man. And I plan to stop him.”

Finally Damien was done and there was a defiant indignation, a certain righteous anger in his eyes.

As for me, I was too dumbstruck to say anything. It was no doubt, one of the strangest things I had heard in my life.
Bear kings? Shape shifters? Prophecies? Greenworld?

This seemed right out of a paranormal young adult book.

“Why did you kidnap me?” I asked.

“Because otherwise he would have gotten to you,” Damien said simply.

“I made a promise to my father that I would not let that man find you and kill you. The blood of an innocent would not be spilt. I am your Protector.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I always thought I didn’t need protection but here I was, in a world of beasts and non-humans, far out of my element.

I was scared, I was helpless, I was far from home in the company of an impossibly good looking shape shifter and my head was spinning.

“Prove it,” I said, challenging him.

“Prove what?” he said.

“Everything,” I said. “Prove what you told me. Prove that it is not a lie.”

He nodded resignedly.

For a moment he looked downward and it seemed he had fallen asleep while standing up. Then it happened: his limbs started to grow, hair started to sprout out everywhere and his clothes were torn from his body. I recoiled back, the scream that I so wanted to produce, stuck somewhere in my throat.

Where there stood Damien previously was now a bear: a huge bear with menacing red eyes and sharp teeth. He was looking at me and I felt scared.
Can he control himself when he is a bear? Can he think and rationalize like a human?

These questions were whirring in my head and Damien started trotting towards me. Any sane person would have run at that moment, but I was rooted at the spot. He reached my feet and sat down gently. I breathed a sigh of relief and that was it. I fell down and fainted.

Fade to black.

III.

Light. Finally. The dream is over. I am in my bed. Sleeping. It was one crazy dream.

I keep my eyes closed, hoping that that way the events of last night which I was more than happy to attribute to a dream were nothing but only that.

Well, a part of me really hoped that Damien did exist. I slowly opened my eyes and reality came crashing in. The ceiling I was looking at was not mine. The room was not mine. Even the light entering from the window felt alien. I sighed and a knot tightened in my chest.

Just at that precise moment the door opened and Damien entered.
Was it my imagination or did he become ten times hotter overnight?
It was actually that he had taken a shower and his wet hair looked alluring to me.

Then I remembered the bear from last night and recoiled.

He seemed to have guessed what had transpired in my mind.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “When I transform, I am still me. I won’t hurt you.”

He said this and sat on the edge of the bed. This closeness was making me flush.

“I have bought some clothes for you and there’s plenty of food in the house,” he said. He was saying this in a matter of fact voice, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“How long will I be here?” I asked him.

He stopped mid-sentence. He knew it was going to be an answer that I wouldn’t like.

“For now, as long as it takes to protect you from him,” he said.

“I don’t need protection,” I said, defiantly, though my conviction was shaky.

“Yes, you do,” he said firmly. “This is a world you know nothing about. It isn’t your world out there. Here the enemies don’t play by any rules. Jacob knows no mercy. He will cross
any
line he has to in order to get to you.”

He got up and started pacing up and down again. I noticed that he did that when his brain was working, when he was agitated.

“Right now, the only thing standing between him and you is me,” he said.

I rolled my eyes.

“You think too much of yourself,” I said coolly. “He hadn’t been able to find me for so long. What makes you think he could now?”

“Because he is
desperate
now,” Damien said, hatred in his eyes. This emotion did not suit him at all. There was an ugly look on his face. “There is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal.”

The metaphor fit.

“So, what? We continue to play house here like some couple? Like this is normal?” I said, my desperation getting clearer by every word.

“Listen,” Damien said and looked me straight in the eye. “I know this must be frustrating and hard to understand but believe me when I say that I am the only friend you’ve got right now. Jacob has got everyone convinced that you are answer to their every problem.”

I nodded, the gravity of the situation dawning me every second and it was not going to be easy.

“Why?” I said, in a low voice.

“Why what?” he said, looking puzzled.

“Why do you care about me so much?” I said, looking at him, trying to decipher the thoughts behind those eyes.

He looked at me and a strange expression came on his face.

“Because I made a promise,” he said, stone faced.

“Is that the only reason?” I said, my words carefully weight, my eyes trying to catch the slightest movement of his jaw, the tiniest flicker of his eyes, something that would prove to be the window to his emotions.

There was a pause.

“Yes,” he said and started walking towards the door. Just as he was about to close it, he turned and said. “And no.”