The bear spray Jenn had given me hissed, hurling its peppery contents straight into Emmerick's eyes. He let out the familiar, terrible roar of a bear being injured, a scream that sheared its way through the mountains like the winter wind.
Razor sharp claws pierced the snow just several inches away. I screamed.
Then another roar buried everything, furious and swarming around the Elder as he staggered about in pained confusion. Don was on top of him.
Too wounded to get the leverage he needed to claw into him, Don used his mouth instead. Emmerick scuttled backward as Don's teeth tore into his throat, quick and unforgiving. Two bears made sounds straight from hell as they fought to let their voices rise over the bloody struggle.
Emmerick fell, spreading his immense body on the snow. Don never let up, laying on top of him, holding him down with his younger, muscular bulk.
Emmerick stopped moving before Don changed into a man again. Now, blood stained his beautiful chest and seeped from his wounded leg.
He rolled off the dead bear and I sat next to him, softly weeping. M hot tears joined the blood, mingling in the snow around us.
A few more minutes passed before new footsteps crunched behind us. I spun, surprised to see Rufus and Alex standing there.
“What the hell happened out here?” The older man said, eyeing a very dead Emmerick. “Is that...oh, fuck! Flood finally went and did it.”
The two shifters stared in dumb silence.
“What happened!” I stood in a huff, still gripping Don's hand. “Isn't it obvious, you idiots? Don had to suffer and almost got killed protecting you from this traitor!”
My finger darted out, pointing at the Elder's gargantuan furry corpse like a dagger. My blood seethed even as they scrambled to help carry Don back to the clan.
My blood ran like lava. If anyone accused us of being traitors after this, I wouldn't wait for Don's defense. I'd tear them apart myself.
X: Loosening the Screws (Don and Sam)
Don
“I can't believe this.” Franklin shook his head somberly, along with all the other Elders perched on their bench.
Well, believe it, Uncle. Older isn't always wiser. Sometime age brings downright crazy, malicious, and evil things.
“The records don't lie.” I looked at my three peers point blank.
It was strange, but satisfying to stare at them only feet away, rather than across the room. My nails dug into the leather armrest of Emmerick's old council chair. It would've been a lot more satisfying to shift and stab my claws into it, but this would have to do.
“Should I tell you the rest of what we learned, or should Sam?”
“We'd rather hear it from someone with a bit less vinegar in their voice.” Genevieve lowered her eyes. Her old cheeks bristled with shame. At least her voice was calm.
Sam stood, came to the center of the room, the manila folder clasped tight in her hand. She looked at me first and smiled.
“Elders, I appreciate your attention.”
Ha! I wouldn't appreciate these old fools again if they paid me all the gold in the back vault. Even if I'm one of them now...
“You've all had a chance to review the records I brought from Kalispell last week. The test results don't lie. In our cities, water gets filtered for good reason. When metals and minerals get out of balance, people die. And that's not even beginning to consider the germs and parasites we found.”
I swallowed hard. Until the doctor she saw in the city told her everything was normal with the pregnancy, I feared giving her our water had damaged Sam or the baby.
“Everybody here finally realizes Emmerick was a devious liar. It's nice not to feel like such an outcast about that anymore.”
Genevieve's face soured. “I understand human pregnancies can make women moody. But the female should take care, and not let her hormones make her too bold.”
Sam blushed, and then nodded. She paced all the way to one side of the room and came back to the center, gathering her thoughts.
I watched the nascent bump in her abdomen and tried not to smile. That was mine. All mine.
The greatest mark of my ownership, my love, was growing from her beautiful flesh by the day.
“Anyway, I don't think the council understands how much of a liar he was.” She stopped, folded her hands behind her back. “Never forget he wanted the entire clan extinct.”
“Believe me, Aarons, none of us have,” Thomas said.
“Then you know he'd do anything to make it happen. Murder and sabotage wasn't beneath him, as his last battle proved so well.”
The wounds near my knee throbbed. Would I ever forget? The deep gouges in my skin were filling in with scar tissue, and it wouldn't be long before it looked normal. But I knew it would always sting a little in the cold, no matter if I was arranged like a man or a bear.
“Emmerick was a ruthless manipulator. We all know about the traps he set in the forest, the way he nearly killed both of us and probably devoured that poor teen from Kalispell. But he was just as deadly in deception.”
Sam smiled, waiting as the Elders chewed on the silence. She moved a little closer to the long bench where we sat.
“There weren't just missing records. Some of them had been intentionally falsified, replaced down to the slightest detail. I still don't know how he found the old ink and faded pages to leave all these convincing forgeries. Some of them go back more than a century.”
“We're talking about our whole history!” Franklin slammed his fist on the wood in front of him. “That bastard changed everything. We found his log after we searched that ratty cabin he called home. And I don't think it was complete – there were lots of documents that he'd added and hadn't written down in the book.”
“The Elder's right,” Sam continued. “Emmerick's forgeries go beyond the historian before him. You've all heard of Riemmeck Jones?”
She waited for the Elders to agree. “Well, there was no such person. It's no mistake that none of you remember him. He never existed. Riemmeck is an anagram of Emmerick. And that's not all he covered up.”
My three peers groaned and slapped their heads. I suppressed a growl.
“In fact, one of your scouts in the seventies brought back copies of the early EPA tests in this area. They confirmed all sorts of things that could easily be toxic to humans in high doses, and some of these toxins can even cause aneurisms.”
“But not to shifters,” I added, cutting in. “We're a heartier bunch. Physiologically stronger than our human mates.”
Genevieve stared at me sadly. I couldn't imagine how it felt to be a councilwoman for fifty years, only to find out she'd been leading the clan on half-truths and outright lies.
“Then...there's no threat to men or women from these couplings after all?” She said it in a low voice.
“No ma'am.” Sam's lips curled in a firm, warm smile that almost mirrored my own. “There's absolutely no medical evidence to support that idea. And believe me when I tell you I'm happier about it than anyone.”
Thomas coughed. All of us stared at Sam as she folded her hands beneath her breasts, just enough to press on her slowly ripening belly.
“Sam has it all written up,” I reminded them. “We've got weeks to dig into the nitty gritty details about what was falsified and by who. But I think with our new clan historian in charge, things will get cleared up pretty damned fast.”
Sam grinned. Genevieve looked at me grimly and sniffed.
“Well, we all hope so, councilman. I say that with all sincerity.” She paused, taking a long sip of water from her glass. “I think it's time you put forward what we've all been waiting for.”
I stood, met Sam's eyes, and opened my mouth. “Motion to permanently revise the old policies forbidding contact between humans and shifters. Everyone in the Grizzly Bone Clan should have the freedom to go into Kalispell for travel, profit, and friendship. As long as certain precautions are taken to protect the clan, of course.”
“The councilman h
as provided his common sense recommendations on what those precautions might be to protect our group from human threats,” Genevieve said. “Everyone here has reviewed them, yes?”
She waited until she saw the other two nod. “With that, I'd like to open the floor for a public vote. All in favor of this motion, please raise your bones and say 'aye!'”
I reached beneath the table. Clasping the cool bear bone tight in my hands, I lifted it above my head. My “aye!” rang out with all the other Elders.
Unanimous. Official. Hearing Genevieve's gavel hit the wood never sounded so good.
“Then it's settled. Congratulations, Don Flood. You're the youngest councilman to ever sit up here with us, and now the youngest to pass a motion of such great importance.”
Sam clapped her hands and squealed. I didn't even hear Genevieve adjourn the session. I was busy running toward my love, eager to feel her soft, warm flesh against my triumphant heart.
Sam
Snow crunched underfoot.
“I'm going to miss this,” he said, his breath steaming into the dense wintry night. “Lonely as it is when the snows come, this place has a special charm.”
“I couldn't have said it better. But Don, you know you'll appreciate the extra space. And we'll be back here plenty. They're letting you keep the cabin, aren't they?”
He nodded. We walked on.
The small woodsy house came into view. Its roof was frosted like a gingerbread house from the latest snowfall.
Sure, we'd miss what we had, but there were huge advantages to moving into Kalispell's civilized lower elevation.
“You're right about one thing. We're going to need more room. Lots of extra room.” I followed Don up to his back porch and smiled.
When I took the last step, he reached out, pulled me close. His huge embrace added new warmth, inside and out, an immense shield against the cold mountain night.
“Don't spend your whole stipend on a house.” I stared into his eyes, still smiling. “I know they've given you a lot of gold, but we don't need a McMansion right away.”
“Won't settle for anything less than five bedrooms. Trust me, we're gonna need it.” His hand slid to my stomach.
He fondled my pregnant belly gently through my coat. Don's firm hand lovingly caressed the flesh beneath my shirt, and then crept lower.
“Oh! But going from a one room cabin is a big step up, don't you think? Plenty big.”
“Yeah. You know by now I don't do half-measures, Sam. And we wouldn't be fated mates if you didn't want a big family too.”
I giggled slightly as Don tugged me closer, folding his huge arms around my back. His fiery breath steamed onto my neck, only to be quickly replaced by the hotter, sweeter fury in his lips. My flesh sizzled.
Pregnant. Safe. Totally in love.
Doesn't get much better than this, does it?
I shook my head silently, answering my own question. Don took it as a sign of arousal. One sly hand curled up around my hip, found my breast, and squeezed.
I grinned. Well, there were thousands of worse ways to have a slip in communication, right?
“Kiss me. Deep and warm, my sweetest prize.” Don spoke with fire in his eyes, moving his lips to mine.
Divine heat flared through me. The raging hormones I could barely control on my good days burst from their holding cells, surged through my system, rabid to feel those hands, lips, and teeth all over my body.
I moaned into his mouth. His hands cupped my ass, jerked me into him, before he broke the sultry kiss.
We locked eyes. In his dark, sparkling whirlpools, I lost myself, hurtling into the endless labyrinth he crafted from all his energies.
Human, bear, everything.
My man, my bear, my ultimate lover had truly claimed his prize. I pushed into him – my fingers, my thighs, my breasts – wishing I could sink into the man who'd taken my everything.
“You're so beautiful like this,” he growled, moving his thumb across the small curve in my belly. “How could I ever resist giving you another baby? One after the next...Emmerick wanted us extinct. I'm gonna do my part to make the clan grow.”
“I don't know. I'll guess it's as hard as resisting your touch.” My lips found his.
We kissed for a long time, lighting the darkness with our heat, threatening to melt the snow in a big ring around our cabin. The high silver moon hung in the sky, showering us with its otherworldly approval, an ornament born to reflect love on earth.
I smiled through my kisses. Sure, life with him in Kalispell would be very different. But with this unbearable magnetism winding through our veins, our hearts, I knew it would be the closest thing to perfection I'd ever know.
“That goes for both of us,” he huffed, casting another interlude in our kisses for air. “Your touch, your love, your human fire...I'll always want it all, Sam. Always.”
He didn't know what that word meant to me. Or did he?
“Always,” I repeated. My heart trembled, giddy and excited as he took me by the hand and walked me to the door.
I gave the moon one last wink before we plunged into his cabin to satisfy our burning needs. Up there, I could see the reflections of everything beautiful all at once.
I thanked my mended heart, my bear protector, and whatever mysterious fates conspired to bring us together.
Fated mates. Always.
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If You Liked This...
Then you may enjoy a Western erotic romance packed with suspense, domination, and pregnancy passions! Check out Dark Prairie Fire: Rancher's Pregnant Submissive.
About This Work
FIRE ON THE PLAINS. LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS.
Cat Nichols' fresh-out-of-college plans fall apart when she returns home to run the family ranch. Dealing with unexpected grief and danger following her Pa's mysterious death is only half the battle. Throw in a surprise attraction to the hot rancher next door, and she's got enough tension to fuel some very dark desires...
Ethan Hartz has always admired the beautiful young woman on the neighboring ranch. But he never expects her desperate pleas for domination until she throws herself at him one dark evening, right after they make an unsettling discovery in her barn's loft.
Even then, he can't imagine how hot the fire inside her rages, including a stark lust for a baby.
Just one taste of her, and Ethan knows he's in for good. He'll stop at nothing to give her the life she deserves – even if it means saving his newly pregnant submissive from a pack of ruthless criminals...
Dark Prairie Fire is loaded with suspense, BDSM play, and pregnancy passions. A contemporary Western erotic romance novella over 30,000 words.
Excerpt
Instantly, I wanted to open myself all the way to him, anything to capture the vital flicker restlessly dancing in his pupils. If I could catch his spark, maybe I wouldn't be so timid anymore.
We were both surprised when I snapped up, standing on my tiptoes. I bounced on the fire inside me, spinning toward him.
My lips landed on his.
I smiled through my shock, feeling his warm, inviting lips go from pliable to firm.
We kissed without breaking away for several minutes. His arms tightened aroun
d my waist, slowly working their way lower, until they rested just above the hams of my ass.
I expected him to finish the teasing finger march below my belt, but he jerked me around instead. I was the one planted tight to the wall now, locked to the old wood by his hands while his face glided lower.
He kissed me, harder and hungrier than before.
We broke lips and I squealed, regaining my senses.
My back pressed harder into the barn's wooden exterior. Ethan stared at me, more like a tiger than a human peer, giving me a glimpse of the animal desire I'd summoned from his depths.
“Are you sure you know what you're doing, Cat? If you want this – and I do too – I want it to be real. We can't let ourselves do anything we'd regret, whipped up by wild emotions.”
I quirked one eyebrow. “You think I haven't thought long and hard about this, even before we found Pa's secret stash up there? No, I don't think there'll be any mistakes with you, baby.”
Ethan silenced me with another all consuming kiss. This time, his tongue lashed against my lips, quick and hot as lightning, shocking me until they parted just for him.
Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance Page 13
