Romance: My Bear Boss: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (BBW Shifter Romance, Paranormal Shifter Romance) (14 page)

Day 18

It was very late and Damien had still not returned. I was waiting for him in the parlor and thinking about what had transpired in the past few days. It was life changing, it was unbelievable, yet it happened.

Again and again. I was mesmerized, stupefied and baffled at how much I had changed since that rainy, wet night; a night not unlike the one tonight. I never thought I would meet somebody like Damien. Someone who would fall in love with me, and I would reciprocate that love; that is such a rare thing.

His passion rubbed off on me. I was still amazed and despite all the self-help bullshit that people kept spouting out, I knew how hard it was to really find someone who loves you despite all your flaws. Theory is always easy, living it is hell.

I was pacing in the parlor, a habit I had picked up from Damien. I was not particularly fond of it, but I had found it a great stress reliever and hence didn’t fight it. My mind wandered to him.

I saw his face in my mind, his thin lips, forming a smile; his eyes promising things which his body was going to fulfill soon. I could almost feel the weight of his touch on my skin and it actually tickled. The mind really is a wonderful organ, I mused.

Breaking away from these pleasant thoughts, there started to grow a knot in my chest. Since that wondrous night, Damien and I had not spent one single night away from each other and it had been blissful.

Why wasn’t he coming? All sorts of thoughts started creeping up in my mind. What if he went into the forest as a bear and got into fight with some other wild animal. What if the evil Jacob got hold of him and his plans? Now mingled with worry for Damien was a subconscious, albeit strong, fear for my life.

It was past midnight and the rain had no plans of stopping. I couldn’t leave because Damien insisted on keeping the house closed at all times, in his absence.
For my safety, he says. Well, what about his safety? What if he needs my help now and here I am, cooped up in his house, helpless.

Suddenly there was a huge thumping on the main door and it rattled like it had been hit by a cannon ball. I drew back a few steps, instinctively, fear rising in my chest faster than it had ever before. There was an eerie silence after that rambling sound, only the rain hitting the earth in all its earth.

Then it happened again. More forceful than the first time and I was sure that a few more blows and it would be torn off clean from its hinges. I immediately ran to the kitchen and took a knife.

It was really blunt. With the knife held aloft, I waited for whatever that was hitting the door with such ferocity. I ruled out Damien after that first thud.

Suddenly the house was plunged into darkness and it was at that moment that I realized that I was shaking like crazy, petrified and mortified. There were heavy footsteps outside, coming closer and closer.

A moment of silence and then there was a huge bang. Someone had kicked the kitchen door and it had broken down. I saw a silhouette of a large man, framed against the doorway like John Wayne from
The Searchers.

That was the last thing I remembered.

I woke up to din like I had never before. A cool breeze was flowing which meant that I was outside. Even with my eyes still closed I could sense that there was light all around me. I slowly opened my eyes and registered my surroundings. I will never forget the first impression of seeing that place.

I was in a wooden cage, like you see in movies. In front of me there was a huge crowd and that’s where it got interesting. More than half of them were bears. It made my knees go weak. Bears of every shape and size and color. Huge ones, little bear cubs, I even saw a polar bear, though that could have been a hallucination: I wasn’t sure anymore.

The humans among the bears were as relaxed as if this was the most natural arrangement in the world. Here was this place, where the line between beasts and humans was nonexistent.

On a raised platform, on my right there was a huge throne line chair. The top of the chair was curved into the shape of a huge bear head. It looked strangely alive.

Suddenly a silence came over the group. Right from the center, the crowd split and created an aisle. The whole scene was lit by huge fire torches, lit atop wooden bars. A strange fear encapsulated me that moment, something I had not considered before: were they going to eat me?

I could just make out that a man was making his way through the aisle. The people and the bears had their heads bowed, respectively. The man making his way through the crowd was wearing a fur coat, its lining visible even in the night.

He made his way at the top of the throne without looking at anyone. When he was close enough, he glance in my direction. My bones chilled. He was a frightening looking man. He was barely forty. His eyes were bloodshot and he had a bushy face. His hair was long and he exuded a menace, something which I couldn’t put my finger on but it was definitely palpable.

He reached the thrown but didn’t sit down. He ran his hand over the head of the bear, his fingers lightly touching the exposed teeth. He raised his hand, but he didn’t need to. There was no chatter; there was no sound, only the wind whistling through the trees.

“People of Greenworld,” he said, and his voice rang out in all corners of the land. “The stars have not been kind to us.”

He paused and looked around at the horde of people and animal staring back at him, looking at him with awestruck silence, their savoir, their guardian.

“For so long we have hinged on the fringes of society: outcasts, beasts, non-humans, filth.”

He spat on the ground for effect and it yielded the result. People roared in anger.

“Our numbers have dwindled in recent years. We have been hunted like common wild. We have fought among ourselves. Oh yes,” he said nodding, for there was some murmur of discontent. “Doomed is the nation that doesn’t learn from its history.”

“And speaking of history, let me take you back in time. Let me take you back thirty years. I was just a boy then, the burden of this great kingdom not on my shoulders then, yet I still felt the weight. As you all know, my father believed in the stories that the stars told us every night. He had Seers who read him these stories, hoping to find a truth hidden to the common eye. He spent his whole life pursuing this fool’s errand….or so I thought. I was too young to understand the foresight and wisdom that my father had. He found the truth, O my people, yes he did.”

There was a hushed silence. People were eager to hear about this story. I was shaking. Where was Damien?

“You see, apart from everything else, my father had another dream. He wanted us to be
normal
again. Oh yes,” he said again, because there was some anger in the crowd at these words.

“Yes,
normal.
He thought that this,” he indicated everything in front of him. “This was abnormal. He found a way to break, in his words, the curse. A Seer told him that the future king holds the key to our people’s
problem.
The future king had to take as his bride, a pure and innocent soul.”

He paused and for the first time looked at me. The blood in my body seemed to chill.

“He had to take a young pure woman as his bride and as they lay other the stars, in the shadow of the trees, the curse would be lifted. It was a simple enough solution, my father thought. He tried to convince me that this was what my
destiny
is supposed to be. All around him our brothers died, by humans, and he wanted us to be like them! I say NO! I pledged I would never be the one to bring about the end of our kingdom. I will not have that on my head. One man’s curse is another man’s gift. Be that man be my father.”

He was now pacing in front of the throne. The inhabitants of Greenworld seemed riled up, as if they were ready to go to war, but against whom, it was not clear.

“I didn’t lose hope. I knew it could not be the whole truth and even if it was, I would carve out my own. And I did. Yes, my brothers, I did. After my father dies, I tracked down that Seer after years of painstaking patience and work, but found him, I did. It took, uh, some convincing but he finally told me the whole prophecy. He told me that my father hid a part of the prophecy from me. That part was how I could ensure that our people would one day take over. Yes, my friends. I see you nodding. I have the key to our dominance. “

I was shaking. Something was telling me this was close to finishing and I would not like the ending.

“The key was in
that
very same future king and that innocent bride. If the king marries the girl and has a child with her, that child will be a boy. That child will be a great warrior and will lead armies into battle that will ensure our victory!”

The crowd roared and the whole forest seemed to be shaking. I could feel my wobbly wooden cage definitely shaking.

“In order to accomplish this,” Jacob continued. “I first had to find that girl; the girl with the heart of an as yet not plucked flower. It was not an easy task, I can assure you. I looked for years without success. It was just a little while ago that I found out that there were forces working against me. The reason of my not being able to track this girl was right there in front of my eyes. But I was blinded. I was blinded by trust and kinship. You see, as much as I was trying to find the girl. My trusted advisor Jamie and his son Damien were trying to hide her. They were playing hide and seek with me.”

The crowd roared and raged.

“I understand your anger.  I was angry too. But who can deny what has been written in the stars. I found and executed the traitor Jaime and his son Damien went into hiding. But, with a stroke of luck, I managed to find Damien and with him, the treasure that holds our destiny: the girl.”

The roared exploded in cheers as Jacob pointed at me. I trembled.

“But before I commence the marriage, justice must be served. New beginnings need the ending of previous lives. Here is your traitor Damien.”

Suddenly another fire was lit on the other side of thrown and in a similar cage to mine stood Damien, bloody and tired, but resilient and defiant. The crowd was angry now.

“Now, now. We believe in justice and we will give Damien the opportunity to defend himself. So, Damien, how do you wish to fight your case?”

There was a hushed silence as everyone waited with held breath for Damien’s answer. Damien’s head was bowed. He slowly lifted it and his eyes locked with mine. I couldn’t stop the tears.

He tore his eyes away and looked at Jacob. “I demand trial by combat!”

Not a single attendee, man or bear, made a sound. Jacob was stunned. Never in his reign had there been a trial by combat. The custom dictated that who had been wronged upon will himself fight the trial. It was the way of the stars to judge the guilty one. It was a sacred ritual and was held in high esteem.

“Are you sure?” for the first time, there was something like doubt in Jacob’s voice but he was bound by the very tradition that he had just given a rousing speech about.

“On my life,” Damien said.

After a few moments, a huge gong sounded, unseen to me. The sound of it reverberated through the forest. At the same time, the moon that was previously hiding behind some trees, suddenly came up and bathed the scene in its magnificent glory. It made for a strangely ethereal scene.

I was looking at the moon and hence I didn’t see when both Jacob and Damien turned into bears. Jacob was a pitch black one with yellow eyes that shone like diamonds in the dark. Damien was lighter with red eyes. But at that moment, both looked to me like beasts of the wild.

Both the bears ran towards each other, the distance between them closing rapidly and when they collided there were a huge noise, and coupled with huge growling and the din of the crowd.

Damien and Jacob were rolling on around in the circle of fire. Jacob was on top and he had a strong grip on Damien’s neck with his teeth. Damien clawed at his face with his paws and Jacob was thrown aside.

Both steadied themselves and started circling each other, one gauging the next one’s move. Damien moved first but Jacob was too quick for him. He dodged the attempted bite by Damien and sank his teeth in the side of his stomach.

I closed my eyes and realized that my face was wet with tears. My beloved Damien, here he was, fighting for my life and in all likelihood, dying for it. I couldn’t look at it. I couldn’t see him die on my account.

I turned around, trying to drown out the thuds of the two animals fighting, rolling on the crowd. I tried not to think of the cheers of the crowd which surely meant that Jacob had an upper hand on Damien and was probably going to win the battle.

It had been less than two minutes when suddenly there was a loud thud and silence. In spite of myself, I turned around and saw Jacob on the ground, blood pouring from his body.

Damien, in bear form, stood limply beside Jacob. For a moment it seemed that Damien had won and all would be well. Then slowly, Jacob rose. He was tired, he was injured but he was not ready to give up. Jacob got up and lazily plunged towards Damien, who injured himself, was not quick enough.

Jacob’s teeth sank into Damien’s leg and he gave a huge howl, a sound you might expect from a wolf. Damien managed to extricate his legs from the strong teeth of Jacob and retreated few feet. The crowd was making more noise than ever.

They could see the blood, of both the fighters. They knew that the end was near. They would have to accept the decision of the stars, for better or for worse.

Damien ran towards Jacob who kept rooted to his spot. Just as Damien jumped, Jacob moved to the side but his injuries had rendered him much slower than before.

Damien’s long claws tore through his face and huge spurts of blood showered on the ground. Damien didn’t lose any time and sank his claws in Jacob’s body who howled in pain.

Damien kept his grip strong, but just when it looked as if Jacob might finally give in, he mustered every ounce of energy he could and attacked Jacob with his teeth. It was an attack that reeked of desperation, like a drowning man’s last stroke.

After a few moments, Jacob’s grip loosened and Damien extricated himself from his and he took tentative steps away from where Jacob lay, unmoving. Damien had barely traveled five feet when he fell down and didn’t move for a full minute.

The whole crowd, man and animal alike, was silent as if a single sound from them will anger the stars. Damien’s body was gently moving up and down as if he was breathing.

Jacob showed no sign of life. Few moments passed. I closed my eyes again and my knees gave away. I sat down on the floor and started sobbing.

Damien was dead and I didn’t care about anything else in the world at the moment. There seemed no point to anything at all. Whether I lived or died, it didn’t bother me for one second.

Then the crowd collectively gasped. I vowed to myself not to open my eyes again but I knew that I wasn’t strong enough. I knew that I had to see, that I had to look for myself what had happened; what fate the stars had brought on me?

I slowly opened my eyes and there stood Damien, in human form, in the middle of the circle of fire, towering over the body of Jacob, who had also turned human but was still not moving.

I had an overwhelming sense of relief wash over me, like when someone steps into a warm shower for the first time. Damien took a few steps towards my cage, limping a little, but his face smiled, amid all the blood and wounds.

Then I was engulfed by darkness.