Werebear Mountain_Dane

by A. B Lee

  She could see that her mate was practically climbing the walls with guilt, and in a way, she really wanted to be able to blame someone else for her own stupidity, but the only problem with that was that she always took responsibility for her own failings.

  Boy, had she fudge it this time. She’d screwed up bad, and she knew it, could feel it inside of her, there was something festering, waiting, stalking her, and for all of the vampire’s words about even odds on his blood healing her — she knew better.

  It was in there, sitting in the darkness in the recess of her mind, waiting, not yet clawing to be released.

  A beast.

  A monster.

  If that monster was formed of her own personality and deep-rooted experiences then look out world; it was going to be a wild ride.

  She snatched another glance at Dane. Even in his hyped up state with his beast just beneath the surface, he still looked good — he looked as sexy as hell.

  An alpha, she could tell that before she’d been bitten, but now it was almost painfully obvious to her. He was the biggest, the strongest, the protector of his clan, and boy, did she find that a turn on.

  There had been something between them from the first moment that she’d laid eyes on him, but now that feeling was growing within her — just like her beast.

  On the one hand, Rayner had the urge to stalked over to him, rip his damn clothes off, and do what came naturally.

  On the other hand, she felt the need to go over there and beat the hell out of him.

  Light and dark. Bat-shit crazy and nymphomaniac. She almost cackled a laugh at just how screwed up her brain was.

  Rayner put one foot in front of the other and started toward him. It was the strangest damn thing; she couldn’t seem to walk in a straight line, not when her brain was telling her to circle him.

  Dane’s eyes were locked and loaded on her. He slowly twisted his head to one side and regarded her with the look of the man that was curious about a circus freak.

  In her mind, that was what she was — turn back the clock, and she’d have been on display.

  Rayner felt the rush of anger within her like a fire in her blood. She fisted her hands at her sides so damn tightly that she felt her short nails pricking her skin.

  She had the urge to draw blood, from herself, from him – it didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but there it was, inside of her – climbing over the wall that she’d built within her to cage in that pent-up aggression, the rage that had been building throughout the crappy years of her life.

  There he was; the target for all of that crap, that uncertainty of having two parents that cared more about the booze than their own kid. The anger and pain of being singled out from the masses at school.

  Bute, Chet, life – her life. It was swirling inside.

  “Easy, Rayner,” Dane tried to soothe his mate. He could see the beast squatting within her.

  Maybe the vampire’s blood wasn’t working — but, if she embraced the beast within then, she would never be free of it. She needed to deny it, push it away, and yet, he didn’t know how to make her do that.

  “All you needed to do was pay the damn money.” Rayner felt the rumble of a growl within her chest, and it felt good.

  “Easy — push the anger down…”

  “Oh, I do,” Rayner growled as she stalked towards him in a kind of semicircle. “Until it’s time not to anymore.”

  Dane saw the flash of amber take her green eyes — the bear was winning the fight within her — not that he could be sure that she was actually putting up a fight against it.

  “Now is not that time,” Dane growled.

  Rayner’s lips pulled back; he wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a smile or a sneer, or if she was flashing the fangs that she didn’t yet have at him. He knew he needed to save her — from herself — but he didn’t know how.

  Dane raised his hands, palms out toward her, and tried his damnedest to look unthreatening. He didn’t need just to soothe her beast; he needed to subdue it in the hope that the vampire’s blood would work its magic.

  “Fight it, Rayner.” Dane tried to hold back a growl of his bear, but he didn’t succeed.

  His beast embraced hers. And why wouldn’t it? Then it would truly have a mate of its own.

  Rayner rushed the last few steps toward him. Her eyes flashed from amber to black, and a heartbeat later she was attacking him with everything that she had.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ~

  The bear was just below the surface of her whole body. It was as if she could feel the fur trying to push out through her skin.

  The beast clawed within her to be set free, even as she landed one punch after another wherever she could on Dane’s face and body.

  It felt good. It felt like an escape route out of the anger within her.

  Her fists hurt. It felt as if she was punching a brick wall.

  Rayner could feel his strong arms around her, but he couldn’t seem to reel in the frenzy within her. He wasn’t fighting back. She needed him to fight back.

  Dane wrapped a large hand around her wrist and forced her arm behind her back; then he did the same with the other one. He locked her body against his as he tried to soothe her with words whispered against her ear.

  It wasn’t working. Her beast wanted out.

  Rayner didn’t like the feeling of being caged in. Not when she had tasted the freedom from her anger.

  She fought against his hold, fought against the chains of enslavement from her demons that he was trying to wrap around her, and yet she couldn’t break free.

  Her beast scratched and clawed within her, telling her that it could break free, free her from anger — free her from his hold, and she embraced that knowledge — that beast within.

  “Don’t do it…” Dane growled, but it was already too late. He held on as long as he could, even as her bear tore free of her body and he lost his grip on her, body, mind, and soul.

  Rayner swiped her claws through the air, catching him on the shoulder and tearing down his chest, knocking him away from her as she reared up and roared at the feeling of such freedom.

  Dane roared in anger. Not at her, but at the world around him.

  He’d failed to save her from the beast. Now he had to save her from herself.

  Dane was mindful of the vampire’s role in all of this. He could swoop in and end her in a heartbeat.

  As his mate charged toward him, he allowed his beast to burst free.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Rayner had never felt so empowered. All of her anger, all of the buried rage from years of pushing crap down deep inside of her and allowing it to fester was there within her bear.

  She saw Dane’s beast and made a beeline for it.

  Dane reared up. The deep warning growl that rumbled through his chest was the first warning that he offered his mate.

  He was still an alpha, and mate or not, she needed to learn her place in the clan and fast.

  He guessed that her bear didn’t understand the message because it was barrelling towards him, aiming to attack. Dane planted his weight and met her head-on, but he didn’t know if it was him, or his bear who was shocked the most when she pulled up short and met him eye-to-eye.

  ‘Hear me, Rayner.’

  Dane knew that trying to form a mental link with her was a shot in the dark. If she’d already bonded with him, then things would be different, but as it was, and with her being a bitten bear and not born to it, it made it harder for her to turn on that part of her mind that would accept him.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Rayner didn’t know whether to kill him or lick him from head to toe. She guessed that her bear persona like Dane – while she wanted to take a damn pot shot at him for the sheer fact that she’d turned bear.

  It wasn’t his fault, not really, and yet, if she’d just got that damn money from Bowie – Bowie – that was the asshole that had done this to her. Her mind
narrowed in on her anger, and she turned tail on Dane and started off across the land as fast as her beast could carry her.

  It felt – weird, damn weird. Hell, she was an animal, and not in a good way – cursed – she was damn well cursed to spend the rest of her days being a part-time bear.

  How the hell was she going to live like normal people now?

  How the hell was she going to go for a beer and meet a guy – Dane – he was her guy.

  Or was he?

  Her bear growled long and hard within her mind, berating her, chastising her for her doubts, and she guessed she had her answer. The beast was torn – a part of her wanted to go get bat-shit crazy at Bowie and rip off a limb or two, and another part of her wanted to turn back around and jump Dane’s bones – that was – stranger than damn strange.

  Rayner knew exactly where Dane’s bear was without even having to give it much thought. He was right on her tail and coming up fast.

  Damn, she had a tail!

  She could hear the heavy thuds of his paws against the ground. She could scent him on the breeze, and boy did he smell good … for a bear, and the closer he got; it seemed that her fur practically stood on end and tingled like her human skin had done when he’d touched her.

  Now that was really damn weird.

  The thought of killing Bowie gave her a strange sense of purpose. The thought of getting down and dirty with Dane gave her a sense of something to look forward to – like a beer at the end of the day.

  Dane was beer? What a damn equation.

  What she was going to have at the end of this day was Bowie’s balls on a platter. Now that was definitely something she was looking forward to.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “What the hell is…?” Roland growled out at the sight.

  Dane was chasing some strange female, runaway bear, and they were both heading straight for Bowie’s cabin.

  ‘Rayner!’ Dane tried to reach her with his mind, but all he did was broadcast his thoughts to his brothers.

  “Rayn … ah, crap – no!” Roland growled at the sight of the female bear and put his brother’s words together with what had happened. “You bit her?” Roland’s bear burst from within him – the beast saw just as many shades of red as Roland did.

  There were rules, and they were there for a reason. You didn’t bite your damn mate – not unless you’d prepared her for what was to come, and only with her damn approval – and by Roland’s calculation that female hadn’t even had time to digest that she was a damn mate, let alone agree to become a bear shifter.

  ‘Asshole…’ Roland growled out as he made a beeline right for Dane.

  Dane was so intent on getting to Rayner and cutting her off that he didn’t pay any mind to his brother’s beast until the damn thing crashed into him. He got blindsided by Roland’s bear alright.

  The damn thing took him off his feet like he’d been hit by a runaway train.

  He caught sight of Rayner’s beast climbing the steps to Bowie’s cabin, a moment before Roland’s bear came down on top of him and blocked out the view.

  The sound of wood splintering echoed through the night. Dane roared at exactly the same time that Bowie did, and he managed to toss Roland’s beast from on top of him.

  ‘You bit your damn mate…’ Roland swiped out at him with one giant paw filled with razor-sharp claws.

  Dane didn’t bother trying to dodge it. He was more concerned with getting to Rayner before Bowie’s crazy bear shifted and killed her.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ~

  Bowie was still healing from his fight with Dane when the damn beast burst in through his front door and made him drop the damn beer in his hand out of sheer surprise.

  Standing in the doorway between his kitchen and living room, he scented the air and found the unfamiliar female beast’s smell was … kind of familiar and kind of not.

  “What the…?” Bowie’s bear reached boiling point without much help from him.

  Sure, he wasn’t best pleased that he needed a new damn door and frame from where it had been busted by the female. But what the hell, he could have written that one off.

  He wasn’t best pleased that there was a damn bear in his living room, and he certainly wasn’t best pleased that there was a damn stranger on his land, but worst of all – he’d dropped his damn beer.

  He was going to enjoy shifting into his damn bear and tossing that female’s backside out if his cabin.

  ‘Bowie, it’s Rayner.’ Dane’s words paused Bowie’s shift as his mind tried to comprehend what his brother was telling him. ‘You touch her, and I’ll kill you – you bastard…’

  ‘You bit your mate?’ Bowie didn’t think he could get his head around that one.

  ‘Not me – you, asshole…’

  Rayner’s bear tossed its head back on its neck and roared in rage. Bowie stared at the beast. His mind was spinning, and he just couldn’t get a handle on what his brother was telling him.

  Was the human female’s bear really his fault?

  Had he bitten her when he’d been deep in his crazy?

  “I …” Bowie forced a step towards the beast, and it lashed out.

  One large paw took a swipe at him and knocked him sideways, sending him crashing into the wall. He’d felt the razor-sharp claws go through his skin, opening up the flesh, but it wasn’t deep, didn’t go all the way to the bone, and caused him no mind.

  “Rayner!” Dane put his human body between her bear and Bowie.

  He wasn’t protecting his brother. After what Bowie had done to her, she had every right to seek vengeance in whatever way she saw fit. No, he was protecting her from herself.

  If her first act as a bear was to kill someone, then she might never reconcile the human side of her with her bear. As it was, she would have a hard time trusting the monster within and embracing it.

  If her first act was violence, then she’d probably fight letting that side free again for fear of what it could do. Or worse, she could stay in her bear form and deny her humanity altogether.

  Rayner’s beast dropped down to all four paws and twisted its head on its neck as she took Dane in from head to toe. Naked as the day was long, she got another good look at the man, and it was definitely damned distracting.

  “Shift back,” Dane growled. His beast was still thick within his voice, but he never tried to hide it.

  He was an alpha. He was her alpha and her mate, and he’d use whatever means necessary to tame her wild side while she couldn’t.

  “Just concentrate on being human – tell your beast to let go – push it back from you as you push your human side forward,” Dane demanded.

  It was there in his voice, in that growl, in the way that he spoke; it was pushing deep into her psyche and making her want to comply. He was leaving her no other choice, and yet, he also knew that it wasn’t just her. The bear needed to let go to.

  The beast growled. Its lips vibrated with the sound – damn stubborn bear.

  “Rayner…” Dane warned.

  Rayner’s beast snorted her contempt for Bowie, for him, and did the awkward maneuver of turning in the small confines of the cabin to leave. The TV wobbled and hit the floor, and Bowie grunted in annoyance.

  Dane shot the man a sideways glance of disgust and Bowie dropped his head on his neck in shame.

  “Don’t mind me,” Roland said, just getting to the front door in his naked, human form as the bear nudged him out of the way and stalked outside. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Bowie must have bitten her somehow…” Dane was in two minds about whether to rip his brother’s head off, but his protective gene sent him storming out of the cabin after his mate.

  “Jesus, Bowie,” Roland growled.

  “I didn’t bite!” Bowie growled.

  At least, if he did, then he didn’t do it intentionally.

  “Screw up,” Roland spat out in disgust, turning on his heels and leaving Bowie standing there alone in
the ruined room.

  Bowie bit down on a string of curses and let loose with his booted foot on the small wooden side table that he’d made with his own hands. It was more than satisfying when the thing exploded – it somehow felt like the rest of his life as he glared down at the remains that were scattered across the floorboards.

  “Biggest damn screw up ever.” He growled out under his breath. “Can’t make it right.”

  ~

  ~

  ~

  “Whatever you need, brother,” Roland offered as he walked from Bowie’s place and gave the bear a wide berth.

  It wasn’t just the fact that Rayner was a new bear, and would be somewhat – grumpy; it was also the fact that she was vulnerable and Dane would sense that deep within him, and he’d be protective of her.

  Roland was all for helping where he could, but he wasn’t about to get into a pissing contest with her bear as it searched for its place in the world, or have a brawl with Dane’s bear as it reacted to its mate’s emotions. No damn way.

  “Get a damn blanket for when she shifts back from my cabin, will ya?” Dane growled.

  “Done.” Roland started off in the other direction. “Don’t go putting that pretty face of yours in harm’s way now,” he chuckled, “wouldn’t want her to have to look at her handy work every day for the rest of her life.”

  That made sense to Dane. Just like he’d stopped her from killing Bowie – guilt was a terrible burden to carry – and none if this was her fault.

  “Rayner, you’ve got to at least try to push back your bear,” Dane growled, part coaxing and part challenging her to do it. “While your fur looks good on you – you’ve got a really big ass in that.” He offered her a teasing chuckle and caught the sideways look that her beast gave him.

  Yeah, she was going to kick his ass one way or the other.

  ~

  ~

  ~

  Rayner snorted her contempt for the man and offered a few choice words. It sounded strange coming out in bear talk, but she was certain that Dane knew exactly what she’d said because he was damn well chuckling harder.