Who Bears Wins: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Return To Bear Bluff Book 4)

by Harmony Raines

  “It’s not really like karate, it’s more of a self-defense set of movements. You practice on your own. I can show you. Might be useful when someone wants to give you another black eye.”

  Tony put his hand to his face. “I’d almost forgotten it was there.”

  “It’s fading fast. Want to tell me exactly what happened?” Caleb asked.

  “Why? So that you can go running home to my sister and tell her?” Tony said, and Caleb saw him fighting to keep calm.

  “This is a good time for your first lesson,” Caleb said. “I can see you’re angry. Now, when you get angry, you don’t think the same way. With aikido, you learn to slow it all down, and think things through. At least the way I do aikido, you do. Come on.”

  He wasn’t sure if Tony had been expecting an argument, or some denial from Caleb; whichever it was, he wasn’t going to get one. He would have learned about the relationship between Caleb and Zoe sooner or later. At least, this way, no one had to tell him.

  “Ahh, so that’s your problem: you think we’ve been skulking behind your back,” Caleb said, once they were both out of the truck and facing each other. This was not going to end up in a fight, not in the way he suspected Tony was used to. And anyway, if they came to blows, Tony was not stupid enough to think he could win against Caleb. Was he?

  “Haven’t you?” Tony asked, lifting his fists up to defend himself.

  “No. We only met yesterday, by chance at Dylan’s yard. I did go with her to help find you yesterday, and it was my idea to take you under my wing. But I like you, Tony.”

  “Of course you do, you like me because you want to get in my sister’s pants.”

  Caleb laughed. “That’s going to happen whether we are friends or not. But let me tell you something: she was willing to put me off, put off her own happiness for you. Hell, she’s already given up her old life for you.”

  “I didn’t ask her to,” Tony said, circling around Caleb, looking for an opening. Thinking he’d found one, he lunged forward, but Caleb moved, and took Tony’s weight forward so that he fell on the ground.

  “Calm. You are letting your emotions take over.” He offered Tony his hand, but Tony brushed it away.

  “I can manage on my own,” Tony said, springing to his feet, and Caleb was reminded of a bunny hopping along. He was going to keep that thought to himself.

  “No one is expecting you to.” Caleb moved, and Tony tried to defend, but he ended up on his butt.

  “Sure, you’re going to want the trouble-making kid around.”

  “Two things: you aren’t a kid and you don’t have to be trouble. I want to help you, I meant every word I said yesterday, and I have not shared anything with your sister. Same as I will not share anything she’s told me with you.”

  “Is that what you get off on? Keeping secrets?” Tony lunged again, his fists full of power, but Caleb moved and knocked his hand so he overbalanced, landing on the ground once more.

  “I don’t get off on anything.” He frowned. That was a lie, he got off on Zoe’s perfectly voluptuous body, but Tony did not want to hear that.

  “Then what’s your goal? How do you see this working out? Or has she decided to ship me back to my loving mom who never wanted me?”

  Tony lunged again, dangerously close to hitting Caleb, and he decided it was time to end this. He grabbed Tony’s T-shirt and swung him to the ground, pinning him down, his bear close to the surface. They were starting to see Tony as a threat; this had to be stopped now before someone got hurt.

  And while Caleb knew he would be the victor in any physical fight, he also knew that Zoe would do whatever it took to keep Tony happy and out of trouble. She’d seen a glimpse of this new brother of hers, and Caleb suspected she’d do whatever it took to keep him from slipping back into his old ways.

  “I don’t know the full story about your mom; I only have a small idea. And then it’s not a thing I would understand because I haven’t walked in your shoes. All I do know is that your sister picked up the role your mom dropped. And I also know we both love her. So, let’s make life easy for her, and get along with each other.”

  Tony huffed on the ground, his fists still clenched, but somewhere, Caleb’s words had found a chink in his defenses, and he let out a sob. “She’s all I have.”

  Caleb eased his weight back off Tony’s body. “I’m not taking her away from you. I know how important family is. And now that Zoe is my mate, we’re family too.” Caleb ruffled Tony’s hair. “And wait until you meet my folks, they always wanted more children. They’re going to love you.”

  Chapter Ten – Zoe

  “He just dropped you off?” Zoe asked, looking behind Tony to where she’d hoped Caleb would be. Despite trying her hardest to work all day, she had kept drifting off into daydreams about her and Caleb. Not all of them were X-rated, some of them were filled with hopes and dreams of their future. Although she had to admit, no matter how they started they usually ended up in bed.

  “Yes,” Tony said, going to the sink and washing his hands.

  “You should do that in the bathroom,” Zoe said.

  “I know,” Tony agreed, and then stood watching her cook dinner as he dried his hands.

  “What?” She looked up at him sharply; that look said he had something to say. “You didn’t get fired, did you?”

  “No.” His voice threatened a rise in his temper.

  “Sorry.” She stood up and put her hands on her hips. “It was wrong for me to jump to conclusions.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t blame you.” Tony went to the fridge and took a soda out, opened it, and took a real long drink. “I know he’s your mate.”

  Zoe nearly dropped the pan of potatoes she had been mashing, but she managed to set it down on the counter; she’d worked hard to make dinner, she didn’t want to start over. Not that she thought she would have the energy to start over, not after those words came out of Tony’s mouth.

  “He told you?” she asked. So much for the loyal and honorable Caleb and his promises.

  “No. I guessed.”

  “Oh,” she said and returned to pummeling the potatoes.

  “I’m happy for you.”

  She stopped mid-mashing and studied Tony. “You are?”

  “He’s a good man, he’ll be good to you and you deserve the best.”

  “OK, who are you, and what’s happened to my brother?” She had to fight the tears from spilling down her cheeks.

  “I am your brother.” He came to her and put his arms around her. “I think I lost sight of that.”

  “And now?” she asked.

  “Now I’m growing up. I really like Caleb, and I think for the first time I am able to see what’s been wrong with me for so long.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with you.” She took off her oven gloves and hugged him back. “It’s all got a bit jumbled up, that’s all.”

  “I was scared and confused.” It seemed as though now Tony had started talking about himself, he couldn’t stop. “Mom was so odd.” He winced at those words, and she hugged him tighter, letting him know it was all right to speak. “Growing up, all I ever wished was that she would be normal. That I’d wake up one morning and find she loved me.”

  “She does love you.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “I can’t get that night, when I came home and she told the police officer I wasn’t her child, out of my head.”

  “We’re different, being shifters. And she’s struggled to understand it.”

  “Doesn’t that scare you?” Tony asked. “You have a mate, and I know he’s great, but we trust in fate, and in Mom and Dad’s case, fate seemed to get it wrong. Mom would have been happier if she knew nothing about shifters.”

  “Hey. I don’t believe that. I don’t believe it’s just about us being shifters.” She took Tony’s hand. “I think Mom’s always been a bit different, even before she met Dad. I also know that dad loves her beyond everything else.”

  “Do you love Caleb beyond ever
ything else?” Tony asked, his bottom lip trembling.

  Zoe pulled him close. “It’s different for me. I have you. I have the years of us being together, of helping each other. There is enough love in my heart for you both.”

  “Why isn’t there enough love in Mom’s heart?”

  “I don’t know, Tony. I really don’t know.” Zoe thought for a moment. “But you know what?”

  He shrugged, looking like a lost boy, and her heart broke for him. Zoe slipped her arm around his shoulder and hugged him.

  “I’m glad we have each other. I’m glad I didn’t face any of this crap alone.”

  “Even if you gave up your life for me?”

  “Hey. That was my old life, and look, you say you don’t believe in fate, but if it wasn’t for fate, our parents wouldn’t have met, if it wasn’t for fate, Mom wouldn’t have Dad, who adores her and would do anything for her. And if it wasn’t for fate you wouldn’t have got caught stealing, and…”

  “You wouldn’t have moved here and met Caleb.”

  “Now you’re learning.” She let him go and went back to mashing the potatoes. “Now you have to learn to live your life on your terms. One day you’ll have a mate of your own, and she will teach you to love, and you will go into that relationship with so much knowledge of what not to do too. Not if you want your kids to be happy.”

  “I will.” He took two plates out of the cupboard and set them down on the table. “So, Caleb said I can live with you.”

  “Did he now?” she said. “What else did Caleb say?”

  “Nothing I can tell you. He said it was private between us.”

  “That sounds like Caleb,” she said. “Now let’s eat.”

  “And after dinner, you might want to go across the mountain. Caleb told me where he was going for a run.”

  “What happened to not telling me his secrets?”

  Tony laughed. “He was so specific in telling me where he was going, I think he wanted me to share that piece of information with you.”

  “Is that so. Well, I think I may go pay him a not-so-surprise visit.” She put the mashed potatoes on the plate and took the chicken out of the oven, before fetching the vegetables and gravy. She needed to eat to keep her strength up if she was going to go hopping over the mountains after her big bear.

  ***

  She drove to the bottom of the Bluff and parked the car, looking out for the big oak tree Tony had described to her. There it was, illuminated by the same moon that had illuminated Caleb’s body last night. Would it lead her to him now?

  Locking her car, she walked along the road until she came to a path; there she hesitated. She must be mad to be even contemplating this, she was deep in bear country, and bears ate rabbits.

  But her bear was up there somewhere and it would take her rabbit senses to find him, if she wasn’t sidetracked by the fresh springy mountain grass. Her inner animal could be a little unpredictable sometimes.

  Not tonight, I want to meet our mate, her inner rabbit said.

  So he can eat us, Zoe answered.

  He won’t, he’ll know it’s us, came back the reply.

  I’m going to trust you on this, Zoe said in return.

  She walked up into the trees, where she hoped no one would see her, and then she let her bunny rabbit take over. Shimmering out of this world, she returned as a rabbit, complete with twitching nose and a bobtail. She swore if he ever called her cute, she would show him what damage a rabbit could do, particularly to his favorite shoes. Her teeth could nibble a hole in the toughest of leather.

  Hopping up the trail, heading in what she hoped was the direction of the big oak tree, because everything looked so different from down here, she made her way toward her mate. Every few hops, she stopped and sniffed the air, partly to pick up Caleb’s scent, but also so no other bear would catch her unawares.

  Hopping around on all fours was not something she did often, not out in the wilds anyway. She usually curtailed her bunny activities, keeping inside the perimeter fence of her parents’ backyard. But this bunny was feeling brave. Maybe a part of her mate had brushed off on her, and she would no longer be a meek little rabbit.

  Scampering over open ground was the scariest thing she’d ever done. The sounds of creatures of the night were all around her: the hoot of an owl, the howl of a wolf somewhere deep in the mountains, all made her small body shiver. Then she heard a bear roar, and she froze. Was it him, was it her mate?

  She stopped, sitting up on her haunches and sniffing the air, her nose twitching, whiskers flicking as she tried to catch the scent on the breeze. Yes, she was sure it was him. He was close.

  Very close! The ground shook, and a huge grizzly bear exploded out of the undergrowth, heading straight for her.

  She screamed, or squeaked, in her rabbit voice and turned tail and ran, weaving between what cover she could find as he chased her down. But she couldn’t outrun him.

  Her only hope was to shift back to her human form, and hope his bear wouldn’t bite her head off before he realized who it was.

  With her small heart hammering in her chest, she shifted, the air filled with a static charge, while the bear bore down on her. When she left this world as a rabbit, she only hoped when she returned it would be enough to stop him mauling her to death.

  Chapter Eleven – Caleb

  He felt the static charge fill the air, a sign she was about to shift. He did the same.

  The chase was done; he’d caught his prey. Maybe he should have simply walked up to her and said hello to his small mate, but the bear in him had taken over: the thrill of the chase was ingrained in his blood.

  Caleb let his bear slip away, the air shimmering and the mountain fading out of existence before it came back into sharp focus. His human eyes adjusted to the dark night, and he let his senses roam, searching for her.

  There she was, tumbling across the open ground in her human form, her eyes wild, searching for the bear. When they rested on him, the look of fear slid away, and she stopped her forward momentum, her hands reaching out to stop herself, and her feet going under her body with enough force to launch herself at him.

  “What the hell was that?” she asked, her temper rising, making her look incredibly wild and beautiful, as much a part of the mountain as his bear.

  “That was me chasing you.”

  “Why would you do that? Does it make you feel big to scare a woman like that?” Her breasts heaved, and he had to force himself not to stare at them, his hands itching to caress them.

  “No,” he said, coming closer to her. “It was supposed to be fun.”

  “Fun!” She closed the space between them, fists clenched at her side. “Fun is a walk in the moonlight, fun is lying on your back looking at the stars, fun is eating the fresh tips off the grass. Fun is not being run down by big bear paws.”

  “I guess we both have some readjusting to do.” He smiled, hoping to disarm her anger. “Because I am not going vegetarian for your rabbit. Grass is never going to be on the menu. But neither is rabbit either, ever again. I promise.”

  Her breathing calmed. Pity, because there was something about her voluptuous chest heaving that caused a stirring deep inside him. Very deep. Damn, he wanted her. But he had to get back home; his parents were expecting him … and Zoe.

  “You’d better stick to that promise, or I’ll have your bear hide.” She relaxed a little.

  “OK, and talking of eating, I have a favor to ask,” he said, hoping she was going to be OK with it.

  “Really, you just chase me down and then you ask a favor! I’m not sure what school of manners you dropped out of, but they should have at least taught you to work up to a favor by being nice to someone first.”

  He slipped his arm around her and pulled her close. “You could take that up with my mom. She can compare notes with what my dad is like, and give you some advance warning on some things.”

  “I bet she could.”

  “Great, so will you come to dinner tomorrow?”<
br />
  “Dinner, with your parents?” she asked, her body tensing and he could feel her pulling away from him.

  “Yes. Please. My mom asked if I was OK, said I’d been acting strange the last couple of days. I said everything was great, and I don’t know how, but she just knew.”

  “That you had a mate?” Zoe asked.

  “Yes, some kind of mother’s intuition, she said. Then, when I told her I was going for a run, she guessed I was meeting you.” He turned to face her, one hand on each of her shoulders, willing her to understand. “She wants to meet you, and Tony.”

  “You told her about Tony?” she asked, looking worried.

  “Yes, I told my parents about Tony, the day we met. They were excited that I’d taken the job with Dylan.” He stroked her cheek, and then kissed her lips briefly. “They would have found out soon enough. Tony knows, Dylan knows, soon the whole of Bear Bluff will know, and I want my parents to know who their future daughter-in-law is. Please.”

  She nodded, but didn’t look happy about it, which puzzled him. “OK.”

  “Thank you,” he said. “They will love you. And I’m sure you’ll love them.”

  She pressed her lips together. He got the feeling there was something on her mind, but she didn’t tell him what it was. Their relationship was still too new for them to share all their thoughts, but one day, he hoped she would want to share her intimate thoughts with him. Or that they would know each other so well, they would be able to interpret looks and moods, with no words needed, just as his parents did.

  “I should get home.” She pulled away from him.

  “You don’t want to run there together?” he asked. “I’ll protect you.”

  “From yourself?” she asked.

  “You have a point,” he answered, his hands caressing her body.

  “From your bear.” She dug him in the ribs. “I parked my car down there.” She pointed to the path she had come up. “I can find my way back down.”

  He took hold of her hand as she walked toward the trail. “I’ll walk you.”

  They walked in silence for a few minutes. He wanted to ask her if she was OK, to find out what it was about visiting his parents that had upset her. However, prying was not his thing. Zoe was entitled to have her secrets, but he did want to help her with whatever it was that bothered her.