Shared By The Alpha Bears - Complete (16 page)

CHAPTER THREE

The ride home took us several hours.  And they were hours I made sure were quite eventful. I was still insistent that I wanted Max to get some special treatment after the fun he missed that morning, so I asked Jake to drive first so I could sit in the back with Max, where I could give him a blowjob for a while.  Every time we pulled into a rest stop off the highway, I would pull someone in for a good backseat fuck.  And then we would get back on the road, and I would return to sucking off whichever guy whose turn it was to sit with me in the back.

Finally around 6:00 in the evening we made it back to our woods, and by the time it was starting to get dark we were at the cabin again.  I was the first one out of the Hummer, eagerly hopping out and grabbing my bags, leading everyone else inside as they grabbed theirs and followed me in.

“Okay,” I said as I set my bags down.  “So what do we do first now?  Do we have dinner first?  Or does food wait until after we rechristen the bedroom?  ‘Cause I’m feeling the need for some big bear double-dipping here!”

I didn’t hear any verbal responses right away, so I turned around to see everyone staring at me.  “What?” I said.

“Billie, aren’t you tired by now?” Sally said.  “Ever since this morning, it’s like you’ve been on a nonstop horny train!”

“Yeah,” Max agreed.  “Slow down, girl, you’re making us dizzy!”

When I stopped to think about it, I realized they were right.  It hadn’t occurred to me until they mentioned it then, but I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about sex all day.  After all, I wasn’t eating all that much; my little passenger was seeing to that.  So instead I was expressing a different kind of hunger.  And it appeared to be insatiable.

“Yeah, you’re right, sorry guys.  I guess I’m just kind of hormonally charged right now.”

“Oh, don’t be sorry,” Jake assured me, holding his hands up.  “We do actually enjoy the results of you being… ‘hormonally charged.’  We just have our limits.”

I didn’t know whether to feel powerful or worried by the fact that my sex drive was becoming too much for even a pair of big virile bears.  It’s funny the kinds of things an unborn bear cub will do to a highly sexed human babe like me.

“Okay, okay,” I sighed.  “I’ll try to keep a lid on my libido, for now.  But don’t expect it to hold!”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Max winked at me, on his way to the kitchen.

We got unpacked and out of our clothes and quickly settled back in to our comfortable lifestyles as Jake and Max got to work on preparing dinner while Sally flopped onto the couch and turned the TV on to catch up on the latest celebrity gossip.  I was just starting to smell the delicious food that was almost ready, and wondering how much of it I would be able to hold down, when we heard a knock at the door.

Max went to go investigate, cracking the door open enough to look outside, before he turned to us and said, “It’s Ben and Paul.”  With that he opened the door the rest of the way and the two of them stepped inside.

“Hey guys,” I greeted them, smiling warmly.

But the looks on their faces killed my smile pretty quickly.  I supposed I should’ve been getting used to this by now; when these guys dropped in, it rarely seemed to be good news anymore.

“Hey, Billie,” Paul said.  “We’ve got someone here who wants to meet you.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.  He’s an old bear who heard about you and your baby.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Great.  Another one of those.  I’m not back home an hour and I have to deal with more of this shit.”

“Actually, this one’s different,” Ben said.  “This isn’t some adoring or star struck fan, or whatever you want to call them.  This one actually has something he wants to say to you.”

I cocked a curious eyebrow.  “Uh… okay…”

Moments later an old bear came lumbering in through the door on four big paws.  He looked me up and down, and then started shifting form while still on all fours.  In the next minute, an old man was crouched on the floor in front of me, struggling to get up on his feet, ultimately needing Ben and Paul to help him do so.  “So you are the one,” he rasped to me.  “I can see why the father of your cub chose you.  You’re a beauty, that’s for sure.”

“Um, thank you,” I said, still uncertain.  I did notice that he hadn’t stopped to ask which of the men in the cabin with us was the father; I wondered if he already knew I didn’t know.  Or maybe that wasn’t important. Why did I have the feeling it was the latter? And why did I also have the feeling that wasn’t a good thing?

“My name is Warren.  When I heard a human was carrying one of our own, I felt I must come to meet you.”

I grimaced slightly.  “You and every bear shifter from here to Cleveland,” I said.

“But most other bear shifters have never seen a bear cub born of a human before,” he said.  “That’s where I differ from them.”

Okay, now he had my attention.

“You’ve met one before?” I asked.

“Yes,” he nodded.  “You could say that.  I was father to one.”

My eyebrows shot up, as did I from my seat.  “Oh!  Oh my god, why didn’t you say so?” I gasped, suddenly rushing over to him, putting a hand on his back and guiding him to the sofa.  “Have a seat!  I want to hear all about your kid!”

“Well, he’s no kid anymore,” Warren said.  “It was over fifty years ago that my son was born.”

“Does he still live in the area?”

“I doubt that,” Max said.  “I’m sure I would’ve met him if he did.  Everyone I ever met said they’d never seen a shifter born of a human.”

“Likewise,” Jake said.  “I’m sure I would have heard of him if he still lived around here.”

Warren took on a sad look.  “I haven’t seen or spoken to my son in years.  He went off on his own a long time ago, and we didn’t really part on the best terms.”

I frowned.  “Why, what happened?”

“That’s a long story.  But it’s not the reason I sought you out.  I thought you would want to know about my wife.”

“Your wife?”

Warren nodded.  “The human mother of my son.  My Julia.  I met her when I was barely more than a cub myself, and I swore I’d never seen any creature as beautiful.  And I still swear that.”

“How did you meet her?”

“She was with a hiking group, who went off the trail.  She stumbled down a hill and twisted her ankle.  Understandably, she was more than a little frightened when she looked up and saw a large bear coming toward her, and she couldn’t get up and run.  But I’ll never forget the look on her face when I shifted to my two-legged shape in front of her and asked if she was all right.  But I got her to speak to me, I took her back to my home and treated her injury, and everything just fell into place.”

I turned a smile toward Jake.  “That sounds familiar.”

“Well, it wasn’t all a fairytale,” Warren said.  “We realized that since she was human, our relationship would be frowned upon, maybe worse—I get the impression you’ve been through something like that.”

“That would be a good impression,” I deadpanned.

“So we moved.  We traveled across the country, got away from anywhere other shifters could find us.  We settled down in a little rural community in western Idaho, where no one had ever heard of a shifter, and I could wander the back woods on four legs and no one who saw me would think anything of it, except, ‘lock up the honey, mama, there’s a bear roaming around!’  Julia could live comfortably, I could live comfortably… we were happy.

“Then in ’62, we found out she was expecting.  It was the happiest time of our lives.  We were so excited… until the seventh month.  That was when she started swelling up more than she should have been.  The baby would practically knock her over when he kicked her; he was so strong.  And she complained that if felt like her insides were being eaten away.  We wanted to take her to a doctor, but who could we take her to?  Like I just said, we were miles away from anyone who knew about shifters, and we were afraid to go back to where the other shifters were.  So we waited it out.  And then…”

Warren drifted off, looking about to choke out some tears.  I started to get the sense of where he was going with this, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.  “You don’t have to go on,” I offered.

“Yes, I think I do,” Warren said.  “Because this concerns you.  I don’t want to frighten you with the gory details, but suffice it to say, my Julia didn’t live to carry my son to term.  He spent two months growing in an incubator, while I buried my wife in the woods behind our house.  I still visit her there, I think almost every day if I can.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Thank you,” he replied, “but I don’t want you to be sorry.  I want you to be worried about yourself.  You’ve heard by now how rare it is for a shifter child to be born from a human.  Well, I’m here to tell you there’s a reason for that.  It’s because human women aren’t built to carry shifter offspring, and it’s rare that they live to give birth.  I came to find you because I want you to know that.  Because I’m hoping I can save you from ending up like my wife.”

I didn’t say anything in response to that.  I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, and my eyes were pointed down to my belly.  It wasn’t that long ago that I was thinking how this baby had saved my life, back when the wolves were threatening us.  Now I was being told that my baby might actually kill me.

Jake was the first one by my side, taking hold of me by the shoulders.  “Hey, don’t look like that!  It’s still early in the pregnancy.  We still have time to figure things out.  No way in hell I’m gonna let anything happen to you!”

“Damn right!”  Sally said.

“I got connections,” Max said.  “I know people.  Even some who are human.  We’ll make sure you stay in good health.  You and the baby both.”

I offered up a weak smile.  “Thanks guys.”

I could say one thing, at least.  For probably the first time all day, I had finally gotten my mind off sex.

CHAPTER FOUR

  We spent the next month putting out feelers, trying to find anyone who could help us.  Max was the forerunner of this effort, talking to people he knew who talked to people they knew who talked to people they knew, hoping some friend of a friend of a friend could bring us results.

In the meantime, I got to know Warren a little better.  I was still very curious to know more about his son.  I asked him one day if the stories were accurate, if his son had that special insight or even the psychic ability Ben and Paul talked about.

Warren laughed at that.  “Well, Joseph is no psychic, I can promise you that.  I think the stories have gotten a little blown way, way out of proportion.  If anything, Joseph’s only special power is an uncanny ability to
not
communicate with me.  I tried my best to be a good papa bear to him.  And when he was a cub, it seemed like I was more or less succeeding.  He always stuck to me like glue like I told him to; he was quiet and obedient and well behaved, and he always loved roaming the woods on four legs with me.

“But then he got bigger, and he started wanting more than the little rural town and backwoods I had to offer him.  He started declining to accompany me on visits to his mother’s grave.  I guess since he never knew her it just didn’t mean as much to him, no matter how much I wanted it to.  A couple times I got a little forceful with him, threatening punishments if he didn’t go.  I think it only ended up pushing him further away.

“So when he was about seventeen, he finally packed up and left, and headed out into the world.  I tried to keep in touch with him, but over the years he got more and more distant.  One day I decided to head out to his home in the city and reconnect with him.  I found him all cozy with some overbearing redhead who had him wrapped around her little finger, doing everything she asked him for the promise of a little bit of her pie, if you catch my meaning.  She was no good for him.  I tried to tell him that, and he was all, ‘Where do you get off coming back into my life and telling me how to live it,’ and all that.

“So instead I tried intervening with the girl.  I tried to chase her away in a couple ways, but when nothing else worked, I started to shift partway in front of her,  that sent her out the door screaming in a damn hurry, let me tell you!  But Joseph was furious with me.  I tried to tell him he’d thank me one day, but for right then all that happened was he threw me out the door and told me he never wanted to see me again.”

“And did you ever see him again?” I asked him.

He shrugged.  “Well, it took me about ten years or so, but I eventually worked up the nerve to give him a call.  And to my relief, he didn’t hang up on me.  He’d gone and married another woman, a better one from the sound of things.  He didn’t outright thank me for chasing the old one away… I don’t think he wanted to give me the satisfaction.  But he admitted he was happier with the new one now.  And the real kicker was they had three kids, all bright and healthy, and human from what I gathered.  Apparently the shifter genes didn’t pass on from him.  In fact, he told me he hadn’t shifted form himself in years.  I guess he never really had much attachment to his bear side, much as I might have wanted him to.  But, you gotta let your kids be who they are.”

“But you never went out to see him in person?”

He sadly shook his head.  “Never felt welcome.”

“So you’ve never even met your grandkids?”

He shook his head again.

“That’s so sad!”

“Yeah, but that’s how it is,” he shrugged.

“Well that’s not right!” I insisted, rising off the couch to my feet.  “Those kids should know their grandpa bear!  They shouldn’t go through life with you being a stranger to them!  We’ve gotta—”

Warren gently took hold of my forearm and eased me back down onto the couch.  “Gear down, missy,” he said.  “I admire your passion.  But you can’t right all the wrongs in the world yourself.  Some people’s problems are their own.”

“You came to find me because you were worried about my problem,” I said, putting a hand to my belly.  “Isn’t it only fair that I try to return the favor?”

He gave me a little smile.  “All right.  If you care that much, I’m not going to say I ain’t touched by it.  You can try if you want.”

I grinned wide, and threw my arms around the old guy’s neck. That night I brought up the discussion with the others around dinner.  I told them the story Warren told me, and I told them about what I wanted to do.  I was a bit dismayed to find the others looking around at each other rather uncomfortably.

“Billie,” Jake said, “you’ve got a big heart, and that’s one of the things we love about you.  But really, the guy’s family problems are his own.  I don’t think it’s our place to get involved.”

“Yeah,” Sally agreed.  “Don’t we have some more pressing things to worry about?  Like your health?”

I frowned.  “Don’t you want to see that his grandkids know their granddad?  Isn’t it just the greatest shame in the world that they don’t?”

“Billie, come on,” Max said.  “I know you’re just trying to help, but this really isn’t our business.  Frankly, I think whether or not you live to see your baby is a little more important right now than arranging a family reunion for someone else.”

I guess you can chalk my reaction to that up to pregnancy hormones; looking back on it now, I’d hate to think I was in any semblance of my right mind at that point.  Given the way I slammed my plate down to the point that it broke, got up and started yelling at everyone, telling them they were all horrible, that I couldn’t believe they didn’t want to repay the kindness Warren had shown us by coming to find me and tell us what he had.  And then I turned and stormed up the stairs, slammed the bedroom door behind me, crashed out on the bed, curled up and cried.

Now I’ve been called many things before, but an emotional mess who overreacts to things on the level of a nuclear explosion was never one of them.

Needless to say, the others were wary about approaching me that night.  On the few occasions when someone would carefully try to open the door and check on me, they would end up with a pillow thrown at them and a harsh command to “Get out!” 

I ended up sleeping alone that night. I woke up early the next morning, and stepped out of the bedroom to look for the others.  Looking over the railing, I saw a large bear curled up on the rug in the living room, whom upon studying for a moment I determined to be Jake.  I checked the spare bedroom to find Sally and Max spooned together, also still asleep.

I was a little ashamed at my outburst from the night before, and I didn’t blame them for not wanting to accompany me during the night.  But I still stood by what I’d said.  I wanted to help Warren reconnect with his family, and I wanted his grandkids to have a granddad. And if they weren’t going to help me, then I would just have to do it myself. What I did that day may have ultimately been the craziest stunt I have ever pulled in my life.

I threw on a few clothes, threw a few more into a suitcase, and I left a note for everyone that said, “I’m going to make things right for Warren in his family.  I owe him that much at least.  Please don’t try to come after me.  I’ll be back soon.  This is just something I have to do.  Billie.”  And then still before anyone had woken up, I threw my suitcase into my SUV that had sat unused in Max’s driveway for months, and away I drove.

I had gotten Warren to give me an address for where Joseph lived when last he contacted him.  I didn’t care that I would have to cross two state borders to get there, or that I would most likely have to keep driving well into the next day.  I was a woman on a mission, and I was hell-bent on accomplishing it.

**

I stopped for lunch and dinner at whatever diners I could find, and ended up sleeping in my car by the side of the road.  In the morning I got some coffee and breakfast and hit the road as early as I could. It was about noon the day after I left when I finally reached the address Warren had given me.  I was stopped in front of a quaint little house in a quiet residential area right on the edge of a busy city.  It immediately struck me as a wonderful place to raise a family in; I could only imagine what my life might have been like if I had been brought up in a place like this instead of a foster home.

Ah, well.  What could have been, what could have been. I strode up to the front door, got to the porch, and I paused.  I was within knocking distance of the door, and I found myself not knocking.  Suddenly I was thinking about what I might say to whoever answered the door—and I wasn’t coming up with anything concrete.  “Hello, how are you doing?  Hey, did you know you have a grandpa who turns into a bear?”

I was still standing there, contemplating what to say, when the door suddenly opened to reveal a tall and muscular teenage girl standing there in a pair of shorts and a sports bra, looking at me suspiciously.  “Can I help you?” she asked.

Well, time to go for broke.  “Um, hi, uh… is your dad home?”

“He’s… out at work right now.  Something I can help you with?”

“Well… is your dad’s name Joseph?”

“Yeah, does he know you?”

“Well, not exactly.  I sort of… my name’s Billie.  I’m a friend of your granddad.”

The girl furrowed her brow.  “My granddad?”

I nodded.  “I want for you to have the chance to meet him.  You never have, right?”

“My dad said granddad died in Vietnam.  Or maybe it was the Persian Gulf… depends on which day of the week you ask him.  I kinda figured he was just avoiding the subject.”

“Well, no.  His name’s Warren and he’s alive and kicking.  Enough that he was able to give me this address.  Would’ve been nice if he could’ve told me your name, though, but he didn’t have that information.”

“Oh.  Uh, my name’s Kim.”

“Hi, Kim.  Can I come in?”

“Uh, well I guess that’s okay.  If it was really my granddad that sent you here, then I guess I can trust you.”  She stepped aside to let me enter.  “Don’t make me regret it, though,” she added as I stepped past her, “because I will totally go Jujitsu on your ass!”

I gave her a chuckle.  “I’ll keep that in mind!”

Stepping into the house, I immediately gravitated toward the shelf full of family photos.   I was quickly able to identify Joseph from them, and could easily see the family resemblance with Warren.  I also determined that Kim was the middle child in her family, based on a particular picture I saw that showed a younger version of the girl I’d just met next to a boy who was a little taller than her and another girl who was a little shorter.  “You’ve got a nice family,” I commented.

“Not always so nice when you have to live with them,” Kim muttered.  “You should hear Tabby blasting Justin Bieber from her room first thing in the morning.  Actually, no, I take that back. 
No one
should have to hear that.”

“Tabby, that’s your sister?”

Kim nodded.  “Short for Tabitha.  Bane of my existence.”

“Are you expecting your family home any time soon?” I asked.  “Your dad maybe?”

“Folks are working.  Dad usually gets home around four.  You want me to call him?”

“It’s okay, I can wait,” I offered.  “What about your brother and sister?”

“Mike’s off being a physics major at Bromwell U.  Tabby should come sauntering in any time now with a whole posse of her valley girl friends giggling and gossiping about who wore what to whose party.”

“What about you?  Are you going to school?”

Kim shrugged.  “I take a couple classes at the local community college.  Phys-ed stuff mostly.  I’m on the track team.”

“You look like it,” I commented, nodding to her buff physique and sporty attire.

“Yeah, I was practicing some of my aerobics when you showed up.  So you want some lunch?  We got sandwiches, and leftover pizza, and… more sandwiches.”

I laughed a little.  “Sandwiches sound good.”

I sat down to some lunch while I got to know Kim a little better, and watched the door, waiting for someone else to show up.  Eventually, she stepped away, saying she was going to use the bathroom.  And while she was away, that was when someone finally came to the door.