The Bear Shifter's Mate

by Jasmine Wylder

  Serena kissed him gently. “Let’s not talk about that. You and I are together. We’re meant to be together, I know we are.”

  “Yes. We are. My matriarch… I will protect you. You have to know that.”

  “I do.” Serena sighed as she laid back down. She was certain that he would protect her. “But you can’t make my decisions for me. In the morning we’re going back to town and we’re going to deal with these anti-shifters in the way that we can all agree is best.”

  Tristen didn’t reply for a moment. He kissed her gently on the top of her head. “You’re right. As much as I would love to keep you here, out of danger. We’ll go back to town tomorrow.”

  She traced her hands over his chest. The past few years had been exceptionally difficult for the clan. First, Dwayne Sawyer had gone after Isaias Durant; he’d used local bears to kidnap Becky for ransom, intending to kill her and use it as a reason to regulate the bears’ activities and lives. Next, Marcus Haught got caught up with a drug dealer pushing drugs into bear territory, and he’d started (with the matriarch’s permission) holding bear pride events. That had led to increased protests by anti-shifters. Protesting their very existence, it seemed. That had reached a peak when the leader of the protests had been murdered, and the blame had been placed on Dr. Eneko Alava. And then her own family was targeted by the rivals of her grandfather’s clan, who wanted to wipe them out.

  All in all, the clan had suffered a lot. And her absence would not do anything to help calm the people who were hurting and afraid.

  “We have to take the fight to them,” she murmured. “The Sawyer group can’t be allowed to get away with this.”

  “If we move without evidence, then they’ll just use the legal system to attack us,” Tristen replied.

  “I have an uncle who’s a lawyer. A good one, too. Just let them try.” Her eyes narrowed and her vision seemed to sharpen as her jaw tightened. “I am not going to hesitate when my clan needs me. We are going to take the Sawyers out. And I’m going to need your help.”

  Tristen curled a hand into her hair. “Anything for you.”

  Chapter Ten

  The Sawyer group wanted to make a statement. Everything Tristen had managed to dig up pointed to that very important fact. They wanted to destabilize the clan, making it easier to divide them. Easier to pick them off or force them into some state that would be terrible for them. And to do that, they were concentrating on Serena. If they took her out, the new, young matriarch, then everything else would fall apart. At least, that’s what they thought.

  And so they were putting her front and center to lure them out. Tristen’s bear snarled and paced in agitation, but it was the best plan they had at the moment. So, Serena was holding an open press conference.

  Tristen stood close to her. Marcus and his security detail had the place ringed, and there were several others in plain clothes mingling with the crowd. Tristen had selected the location carefully. There were no good buildings or places around where a sniper could build a nest. The area was somewhat enclosed, and there was a quick and easy exit for Serena to escape to safety if something happened.

  It didn’t mean that his bear was any happier. Or him, for that matter. He scanned the crowd, looking for anybody who could be suspicious. The idea of using her as bait rubbed him the wrong way, for sure, but this was the best they could come up with to flush them out. She was a tantalizing bait shimmering in the light. Hopefully, their target would strike—and they’d catch him before he could do any real damage.

  “Thank you for coming,” Serena said. She was dressed in a pantsuit, her voice confident as she looked over the sea of faces. “There have been some questions about my mate recently. Due to certain circumstances, Robert Cade and I will not be joining together. I have another prospective mate from the McCloud clan, and we are proceeding cautiously. I know these changes are unexpected but I urge the clan to—”

  Tristen saw a glint in the crowd. He instantly knew that it was a gun. Without stopping to think, he threw himself forward. There were a few gasps from the reporters. He elbowed the man in the face as he reached to grab Tristen’s arm. The gun came out and he roared.

  “Gun!”

  The reporters and gathered citizens scattered. Tristen lunged forward, tackling the man with the gun. He didn’t look at his face; he wouldn’t humanize him that way. With a quick twist, he snapped the man’s wrist. The gun fell to the ground and went off on impact. Screams pierced the air. Several of Marcus’s men surged in and grabbed the shooter.

  Tristen started to step back, but he noticed another man working through the crowd. There was no fear on his face; he didn’t even glance over to them. Tristen elbowed a few reporters, who were snapping pictures rapidly, and leaped on the man. He grunted as he fell.

  “Cade,” the voice grunted.

  A chill ran down Tristen’s spine. He recognized the voice. Wrestling the man’s arms behind his back, he quickly cuffed him before flipping him onto his back.

  “William Gomez.” Tristen’s voice was a growl. He was one of Tristen’s teammates in the military. He balled a fist. “I should have guessed you’d be part of something like this.”

  Gomez sneered. “She’s dead, Cade. Do you hear me?”

  More of Marcus’s men came to take Gomez. Tristen jumped to his feet and ignored the curses and slurs shouted at his back as he looked over the crowd again. There was another man who drew a large knife from his belt. Tristen was at him in a flash, his huge fist colliding with the man’s face.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Marcus shielding Serena as he hurried her inside. She twisted back and Tristen almost shouted at her to just go and keep herself safe. But at that moment a gunshot rang out. Fiery pain burrowed into his shoulder as something punched into him. It spun him in a half-circle, a grunt of pain bursting from his throat. He dropped slightly as he glanced around again.

  Another gunshot. Two of Marcus’s men pounced on the second gunman. Tristen ignored the pain in his shoulder as he hefted up the man with the knife. He was still conscious and spat in Tristen’s face.

  “We’ll reclaim our right,” the man gasped. “Shifters are an abomination and we will see you—”

  Tristen punched him again, knocking him out. Someone jumped on his back and he dropped the unconscious man. Moving swiftly, he twisted his attacker over his shoulder and slammed him into the pavement. A gun pointed at his face and he smacked it aside.

  “Die, bear!” the man screamed.

  Tristen punched him in the face. And grinned when blood started to flow.

  ***

  Tristen flinched, repressing a growl as pain lanced from his shoulder. He’d been shot before, and it was never a pleasant experience. In this case, at least he had the pleasure of knowing for certain that it was for a reason. There had been a couple of times in the past when he wasn’t certain that he had been shot by the enemy. Now that he knew Gomez would align himself with a group like the Sawyers group, he was even less sure.

  The paramedic bandaging his shoulder clucked her tongue at him. “Sit still and it won’t hurt so much.”

  Tristen fidgeted, for which he was instantly rewarded with another burst of pain. He sucked in a deep breath, mentally told his bear to just sit down and shut up, and kept still. They had captured half a dozen men who’d been there to hurt Serena. And, if she proved to be untouchable, their plan was to kill as many people as they could.

  Four civilians had been injured. One was a non-shifter, and the worst injured.

  The paramedic finished off the bandage. “You need to keep your shoulder dry and try to keep from moving it for a while. You should be fully healed in a day or two at most.”

  Tristen nodded his thanks as he got to his feet. Serena stood on the other end of the room, talking with Marcus. Her face was pale. When he joined them, she buried herself into him, her arms tight around his waist. He put his uninjured arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

  “This is my fault,” sh
e blurted. “This was my stupid idea and I got people hurt. I should have listened to you, I should have—”

  “We couldn’t have known that they’d decided to turn their weapons on the crowd,” Marcus interrupted. He frowned but met Tristen’s eye. “I was just telling Serena that our prisoners have all waived legal counsel and are singing like birds. They’re trying to intimidate us.”

  Given the way Serena shook, they had succeeded, at least partially. Tristen pulled back from her and tucked his hand under her chin. He raised her face to his and gave her a smile.

  “It wasn’t a stupid plan,” he told her softly. “Like Marcus said, we couldn’t have known that they’d turn their weapons on the crowd. Nobody’s dead. Even the non-shifter that was hurt will make a full recovery. That’s the important thing. We were also able to capture many of their group. We can take this fight to the next step, now.”

  Marcus tossed a shirt at Tristen, who caught it awkwardly with one hand. Serena helped him pull it over his head as Marcus went to talk with someone else. Tristen was grateful for the moment of privacy. He tugged Serena over to a bench and sat down. Her eyes shone with tears as she curled up under his uninjured arm.

  Even in this situation, he couldn’t help but marvel at how well she fit against him. All her bounteous curves seemed to mold into his side. She fit so perfectly that it took his breath away. And finally, with her against him, his bear calmed. Now that she was right here and he could see for himself that she was alright. The acrid stench of gunpowder still clung to both of them, but he was able to ignore it.

  “I don’t know what I’d do if you were hurt,” she murmured. Her hands pressed against his chest. “I don’t want to be left mate less, Tristen.”

  “I don’t either,” he rumbled. His chest tightened at just the thought of anything happening to her. He wouldn’t allow that. That was all there was to it. “But I’m fine. You’re unhurt. And we’ve got people here that will be able to tell us what we want to know.”

  Serena nodded. She shivered again, but her shoulders straightened. He could actually see her push her emotion aside as she stood.

  “You told Marcus that one of the men we captured is on your military team?”

  Tristen thought of Gomez and nodded, his jaw tightening.

  “Then let’s go talk with him. See what this is really about.”

  Was that a wise decision? Tristen hesitated, but Serena looked determined so he nodded. It was a question he wanted the answer to himself. Besides that, he had a feeling that Serena wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She was going to question him whether he was there or not. And if he wasn’t there, then how was he meant to ensure that Gomez didn’t touch her? He nodded and got to his feet.

  The interrogation room was dark. The walls were black except the large one-way mirror. Gomez sat chained to a desk. He grinned at them as they entered. His gaze passed over Tristen to focus on Serena, and his lips lifted into a sneer.

  “Well, don’t I feel special? The matriarch herself has come to speak with me. Or are you here to thank me?”

  Serena looked startled. “For what?”

  “Why, I came to rescue you, of course.” Gomez leaned forward. “My boys and I, we just wanted to free you from the restrictive system that forces you to marry someone you don’t want.”

  If he was expecting that Serena would end up confused and flustered, he had another thing coming. Her hands tightened and she rose her chin. “Cut the bull, Gomez. Do you really think I’m stupid? You were hoping to cause a big media outrage because people got hurt at my press conference. Nothing else. Well, guess what? You hurt civilians. Non-shifters. I’m not going to be seen as the bad guy here.”

  Gomez smirked. “Do you really think that was our plan?”

  “Then why don’t you dazzle me with your brilliance?”

  “I’m not telling a couple of stinking shifters anything.”

  Tristen put a hand on Serena’s shoulder. “Wait outside.”

  She gave him a startled look. After a moment, though, she nodded and left. Tristen took a seat. He kept all emotion from his face as he gazed at Gomez. Silently. Gomez stared back at him. But the arrogance that had been there wasn’t as pronounced as it had been moments ago.

  “What, you think you’re going to torture information out of me?”

  Tristen smiled. “Torture? I think you and me both know that’s not going to be necessary.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The next few days revealed a lot of good information about the Sawyer group. Tristen and Marcus worked fast and hard to take them down and managed to raid several of their safehouses. Serena had also found a half-drafted letter of resignation on Tristen’s desk, but pretended that she hadn’t seen it. He’d tell her when he was ready. Besides, the Sawyer group was the more pressing matter.

  Clifford was able to push ahead and have them prosecuted for a variety of crimes. The people they arrested all had strong cases against them. It looked good for them.

  That didn’t stop the media from having a feeding frenzy. The original attack on her was reported more or less accurately. These follow up raids, though, had such an anti-shifter bias to them that it was disgusting to read. It was so obvious what was happening. And even though she released details to the press and had a few interviews about it, it just kept getting worse.

  As if that wasn’t bad enough, she had a gut feeling that the Sawyer group was gearing up for something big. That the victories they had made had just wounded the animal, and they were going to lash out hard soon. And they had no idea what and when that might be.

  She was in her office, drafting a speech to give to the media when the door opened and Milly Terrance stormed in. With everything else that had been happening, Serena had almost forgotten about her. Milly slammed her hands on the desk and glared up at her. Serena covered her speech and clasped her hands before herself.

  “You’re not going to duck out from seeing me any longer,” Milly spat at her. “Is this how you expect to deal with challenges? Ignore them and hope they go away?”

  Serena didn’t reply to that accusation. It would only end up escalating into a true argument. Even though her bear snarled and growled, she took a deep breath and centered herself. Her bear calmed at once, recognizing the need to stay in control of the situation.

  “Miss Terrance, I am going to have to ask you to wait in the other room.”

  Milly spluttered.

  “I can see you in five minutes. I have some very important work regarding the Sawyer group to finish.”

  “Listen, Serena. I don’t care for your attitude. If you think that you can just continue to duck out of seeing me and refusing to acknowledge your own clan’s concerns—”

  “I am acknowledging your concerns. Which is why I said that I can speak with you in five minutes. If you insist on distracting me from the important work of arranging protections for the clan, then I will have to have security escort you out.”

  Serena stood, keeping her gaze locked on Milly’s. The older woman snorted but didn’t argue anymore. Serena’s new assistant escorted her out and shut the door. Serena sucked in a deep breath, calming the fluttering of her pulse. Her bear gave her a gentle, encouraging nudge and she put a hand on her chest. Then, knowing she had exactly five minutes and not one second more, she hastily tidied up her desk and put away the loose papers.

  Once she had done that, she moved to the mirror and combed her fingers through her hair. She’d ruffled it pretty badly but was able to get it back into a respectful neatness quickly. Her bear was still encouraging her, so she returned to her desk, took a swig of coffee, and pressed the button on her intercom.

  “You may send Miss Terrance in now.”

  She’d hardly finished speaking before the door opened again and Milly came in. Serena waved her assistant away and offered Milly a seat. As the older woman sat, she eyed her. Milly was a strong-bodied woman. Tall, with generous muscle mass and a figure even more bounteous than her own. Serena
had a flash of envy. She had always been a bit slight for a shifter woman. Curvy, for certain, but shorter and a bit thinner than was fashionable. Milly had streaks of grey in her dark hair, and the fine lines in her face gave her a regal air.

  Milly glanced around. “I see you made good use of those five minutes. Do you have a housekeeper hidden in your closet?’

  Serena ignored the jab. She leaned back in her chair. “I take it that you have something of great importance to speak to me about.”

  “Yes. I certainly do.”

  Serena nodded at her to continue.

  “First, I just want to acknowledge the work you are doing against the Sawyer group. Despite the media coverage of it, I know that you are doing a fine job.” It sounded like the words were being pried out of her with a crowbar. “And I admire that you are pressing forward despite all the negative press you have been receiving.”

  “Thank you.” Serena was surprised at the compliment. She had been expecting something more backhanded. But that had seemed… genuine.

  Milly inclined her head. “However, there are other concerns. As much as this work you are doing is good, the fact that you can’t seem to stop the spreading of false information is not speaking well for you. Not to mention the very unexpected way that you broke things off with the mate that was decided for you in the fights.”

  And there it was. Far more expected.

  “Can we really trust someone who doesn’t keep her word to her very own mate?”

  “Robert wasn’t my mate.” She kept her voice calm. “We were only together for a couple of days, but it was obvious that we weren’t meant to be with one another.”

  Milly snorted. “And how could you tell from two days? That’s hardly enough time to get to know each other. I bet you didn’t even have sex.”