The Witness and the Bear: (Werebear Shifter Romance) (7 page)

The setting sun was doing an awesome job of shooting Hannah in the closed eyeball with a single obnoxious ray. Pulling the covers over her head, she escaped and tumbled onto the cold patch of bed where Riker should’ve been.

When she lifted her head to search the room for him, a note fluttered in the breeze against his pillow.

Duty calls. Meet at Jenny’s for dinner at six. I’ll try to get away.

Benson

Benson? How formal and
cute. The alarm clock that shadowed the bedside table read
5:40
. Swallowing her disappointment at Riker not being here when she woke up, she rolled from the bed and blanched at the full-length mirror that hung from his closet door. Okay, thank God he wasn’t here to see her in all of her post nap glory. Rifling through her duffle bag, she pulled everything that might be appropriate to wear for a family dinner. She was nervous about meeting Jenny again, like seeing her naked in the forest didn’t count as bonding time. But she’d turned into a freaking bear. A bear. Gulping, Hannah clenched her hands to steady them. Riker was a bear. A werebear, and so was his sister and so was everyone else in this valley. Actual, furry, clawed, toothy, terrifying bears.

The high of shock had definitely worn off.

Sitting heavily, she pulled a pair of jean shorts from the bag and covered her chilled lap with them. She hadn’t thought terrible people like Stone and his men existed either, but they did. Her life and beliefs had already been turned upside down. She could handle another flip flop.

Besides, Riker might be scary as hell, but he wouldn’t hurt her. She felt it down to her marrow, he’d never hurt her. Not on purpose. And if Jeremy was a werebear like Riker said he was, he’d been protecting her for an entire year and hadn’t even once eaten her in her sleep. And this clan was trying to make their way in the world outside the confines of cities and h
uman societies.

They were good.

No.

Yes, they were definitely good.

Except for Merit. Merit could jump in a volcano.

Options limited, she tugged on her least holey pair of jeans and a pink cotton shirt that hugged her curves like a second skin. Sneakers tied, she jogged through the front door and hoped she remembered where Jenny and her husband lived.

The trail was littered with people headed home for the day. Pairs and trios talked in quiet animation and she waved at anyone who looked in her direction. She found herself wondering what their animals looked like. Were they big and overpowering like Riker’s bear? Or were they smaller and more graceful like Jenny’s? This felt like a dream. People turned into giant bears, and she was freaking out a little.

Jenny answered the door just as Hannah lifted her hand to knock. She jumped and swallowed a yelp.

“You okay?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just having dinner with a werebear, but yeah. I’m great.”

Hooking an arm around her neck, Jenny laughed as she dragged her inside. “You’ll get used to us. And we usually go by bear shifters.”

Jenny’s cabin was open, with nods to the cabins of the old frontier days but w
ith a modern twist. The front door led to the kitchen with its natural wood counters and white washed cupboards. The living room was dominated by a couch in front of a big screen television and a non-matching, but perfectly coordinating, coffee and end table. Fresh cut wild flowers made an exotic bouquet for the dining table and the air smelled richly of fried chicken and black pepper gravy.

A man stood over a stovetop with his back to her.

“Blaine,” Jenny called. “This is Benson’s mate, Hannah. Hannah, my husband, Blaine.”

He wiped his hands on a dishcloth slung over his shoulder. Young, maybe just a few years older than her, he had reddish brown hair and dimples when he smiled. His clear blue eyes lit up as he offered her a hand. “It’s nice to have another human hanging around the compound.”

His easy smile settled her and she shook his hand. “Compound, huh? I knew it.”

Jenny rolled her eyes and draped her hands on her hips. “That’s what he always calls this place.”

“I’m not actually Riker’s mate,” she admitted, not wanting to meet someone under false pretenses.

“Do you want to be?” he asked
.

His direct question left her feeling off balance and she stuttered. “Uhh. I-I think so. I like him a lot and maybe in time I’ll be able to get used to this place. He’s nice to me and I like
sleeping beside him.” Blaine’s arched eyebrows only made her keep rambling. “We had a fight but worked it out and he makes me feel safe. I should shut up.”

Jenny’s face was lit up with the biggest grin and mortified, Hannah slumped into a kitchen chair while her cheeks felt like someone had
taken a blowtorch to them.

“I’d say that’s a yes,” Blaine said, chuckling.

“He said he chooses me,” she breathed, eyes on the toes of Blaine’s work boots.

“What?” Jenny nearly yelled. “Did he say those words?”

Sure her throat wouldn’t work other than to make embarrassing frog croaks, Hannah nodded.

Grabbing her shoulders, Jenny shook her slowly and pulled her to her feet,
crushed Hannah to her chest until her injuries burned. “Well, that’s just about the best news I’ve ever heard.”

She sniffled and Hanna
h slowly lifted her hands to Jenny’s back and squeezed. “Don’t cry. I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”

“No, Hannah. You don’t see what I see. I haven’t seen my brother smile this much since we were kids.
You’re better for him than you even know.” Easing back, she smiled as a single tear tracked down her cheek.

Hannah thumbed it off, the way she used to do with Marian’s happy tears. “Quit your crying,
you sappy bear.”

Blaine had wandered back to the stove and Jenny gave her a quick tour of their small home. By the time dinner
was ready, Riker still wasn’t here.

With a shrug, Jenny said a quick grace and passed
Hannah a giant bowl of green beans.

“When did you find out about the bear half of this little adventure?” Blaine asked, scooping mashed potatoes onto his plate.

“Today, actually.”

“Whoa, and she’s still standing, ladies and gentlemen. When I found out, I bolted for three days.”

Jenny flipped open her napkin and set it in her lap. “He wouldn’t answer my calls or anything. Just shut down completely.”

“I’ve had several freak out moments. Mostly when Riker isn’t around and I really think about it. It’s crazy. Not something I ever expe
cted to see in my life. Strange as it sounds, I feel like I’ve known him, and this place, for much longer than what I have. He feels…familiar.”

“Yep,” Blaine said around a bite. “He’s your bear. It works different than out there in the human world.”

“I’ve just never been that sappy girl who believes in love at first sight or instant love, or even sleeping with a man on a first date, and now look at me. I’m a wanton bear chaser.”

Jenny snorted and covered her smile with her knuckles. “
Wanton? No. Sex is natural, Hannah. At least you aren’t throwing yourself at a man you don’t care about.” She muttered something Hannah couldn’t quite hear, but she was pretty sure it ended with
Merit
.

A knock on the door had Blaine leaning back into his creaking chair. “Come in.”

Riker pushed through the door, then closed it behind him. Clad in a thin gray t-shirt, jeans that fit his slim waist just right, with his muscles rippling against the fabric of his clothing as he moved. Her mouth was hanging open at the glorious sight. That crooked smile he seemed to share only with her graced his too-sensual lips. Damn, he looked better than a tall glass of iced tea in a southern summer.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

“We didn’t wait,” Jenny said unnecessarily.

Leaning down,
he pressed his lips against Hannah’s hairline and sank into the seat beside her. “Glad you didn’t. I was trying to rush the meeting but you know how the council is. Dragging their feet on every damned issue.”

“What was the meeting about?” Hannah asked, passing him the plate of fried chicken.

“Uhhh.” A frown took his dark eyebrows and he cast a questioning glance to her. “You really want to know?”

“I probably should start figuring out how things work around here if I’m going to wrap my head around all of this.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Bralan is banished for a month.”

Jenny
drew air through her front teeth. “That sucks, but it’s deserved.”

“Bralan is the one wh
o tried to attack me today?” Hannah asked.

Blaine’s eyes went wide. “Why did he do that?”

“One,” Jenny explained, “he’s a psychopath. And two, Merit is probably sobbing her eyeballs out that she won’t be an alpha’s mate and he’s so tired of her drama, his animal got the best of him and came up with a solution. He’d not the brightest bear in the bunch.”

“Banishment is a fitting punishment?” Hannah asked.

Riker’s fingertips brushed her backbone before settling onto her shoulders for a comforting squeeze. “Banishment is a huge shame here. That and it’s really hard for us to live outside of this place without messing up. The punishment for any bear who gives away what we are is death.”

That actually sounded really hard. How had
Jeremy lived alongside her in the human world for so long without revealing what he was? She’d lived with the man and hadn’t ever suspected such a thing. Relief washed over her at the idea that Bralan wouldn’t be around for at least a month to try to assassinate her. He’d have to take a number like everyone else.

Riker’s hand found hers on the table, and Jenny couldn’t seem to stop staring at their intertwined fingers with t
he biggest grin. And Hannah had to admit, the twisting sensation in her stomach was caused by a mixture of his powerful nearness and his willingness to flaunt his affection for her in mixed company. How did he do that? Make her feel like the most important person in his universe, when he clearly had the weight of the entire clan upon his shoulders.

The noise of tableware and forks clinking against ceramic plates dotted the silence, but Riker overpower
ed the space with his presence. Even quiet, he seemed loud. He and Blaine joked about someone named Ray and how he was the laziest worker they’d ever met, then moved on to an often interrupted conversation about the crops and rain. Hannah marveled at how comfortable this was. Jenny ran her fingers through Blaine’s hair, and his face was alight with animation over a story about some rookie he had pranked in his department. And the rich, deep chuckle that bubbled forth from Riker as Blaine spoke? She breathed for that sound.

So enamored was she in watching the familiarity of her dinner mates, she’d only finished h
alf her food by the time Riker carried his empty plate to the sink.

Upon his r
eturned, he leaned down and whispered, “Eat, woman. You’ll need your energy tonight.”

The potent sexual
promise in his voice brought a shiver to her spine. When he nibbled lightly on her lobe, she just about melted into a puddle on the dining room floor. One thing about Benson Riker, he was going to keep her happily and thoroughly bedroom satisfied. Heart thumping erratically against her sternum, she stood and stacked dishes, then brought them to Jenny at the sink. Every time she looked back, Riker’s hungry gaze clung to her curves. She didn’t have to dress up for this man, or pile on makeup, or spend hours ironing her unruly hair straight. He wasn’t mad that she had nothing better than a pair of ripped jeans and a too tight threadbare shirt and battered sneakers to wear to dinner with his family. The expression on his face said he liked her just the way she was and there was something empowering in that she could attract the attention of such a powerful creature with nothing more than the raw basics of who she was.

“I’ll dry,” she offered as soon as she could rip her gaze from Riker’s.

Jenny handed her the first rinsed plate and Hannah pulled a worn green dishtowel from the rack.

The men moved into the living room and Hannah whispered, “Riker found the scar.”

“About that.” The dark haired woman hit the tap and rinsed a pan. “I’m sorry I pushed you into the ring. It was a split-second decision, but it felt important that you were there. The timing was too coincidental, you know?”

“I guess. I don’t know if I believe in destiny and fate and all that. I was mad at you. Really mad at you at first, but I understand why you did it. If I thought I had a shot at giving my sister happiness, I’d do anything.”

“Where is your sister?”

“She passed away last year. You would’ve liked her. Everyone did. I was always quieter, okay spending time alone, but Marian…she was the sun. She brightened up every life she touched.”

“I’m sorry you lost her. Sounds like you were really close. Riker drives me bat guano crazy most of the time and I can’t even imagine losing him.”