Sabina's Ex-con

by Miranda Bailey

  She had blue eyes. Sabina’s eyes.

  “How…?” But I didn’t finish, I just held my hand out to the bear and she came closer, nuzzling her face against my palm. “Sabina?”

  She gave a mewling answer, but in bear, so I didn’t understand. Not really. She could have been saying, hey baby, it’s me, want to get naked, but I wouldn’t know.

  I stroked her fur, scratched her ears, and before I knew it, she’d popped back into being a human, sitting beside me with her legs pointed out behind me. We were face to face, my hand still in her hair.

  “What the fuck, Sabina?” I didn’t mean to put it so blunt, but that’s what happened.

  “I’m a bear shifter. And, if I’m not mistaken, you are now too.” She looked at me with guilt all over her face.

  I swallowed and wished I hadn’t spilled the rest of my beer when I fell. “Okay.”

  “It’s a lot, I know, and you’ve had two days of a lot now, but please, let me explain.”

  “I don’t guess there’s a lot to explain, babe. You turn into a bear. What else is there?”

  “The part where you will too?” She looked at me in question, but it wasn’t really sinking in. I was still stuck on she’s a bear.

  “Yeah, that’s cool and all, but this is real? I’m not crazy or dead? Hallucinating on some bad prison booze?” I gave her a possibility or two but she shook her head no.

  “Nope, this is real.”

  “Great.” I had no idea what else to say. I was stunned stupidly silent.

  I’d learned a lot in my life, especially during my time in prison. Keeping your mouth shut was probably the best lesson I learned. It keeps you from implicating yourself and has a way of keeping the other person talking.

  “We’re an old clan of bears.” She started. I told you.

  “Right?” I encouraged, waiting.

  “We’re here to help those in need. We shunned the human world a long time ago, when the dragons left the human world.”

  “Dragons? Dragons are real too?”

  “Of course, they are! There are all kinds of shifter in this world.” Her eyes begged for brevity, but I just couldn’t do it.

  “And I suppose vampires and fairies are real to?” I quirked an eyebrow at her to let her know I was teasing.

  “Um. Yeah. They are.” She didn’t look like she was pleased with my response. Kind of miffed actually. I can’t take it seriously though, my brain was just flopping all over in my skull, trying to make sense of chaos and linear thought was impossible.

  She was right about what she’d said earlier, the last 48 hours have been hell on my sanity. The fear and rush of being shot, the exhilaration of being out of prison, her, this, it was all just a lot to take in. I swear, in the last two days we’ve gone through every emotion a couple can have in months. There was that too, this connection we had. I’d never believed in love at first sight, but there was something about Sabina.

  “You’re brave.” I observed as I stroked her cheek. “Kind. Patient when you need to be, impatient at others. You’re funny, confident, amazing really. And that dance stuff with your sister in law? Hot!”

  “She is pretty hot. I had a thing for her, still do I guess, but she’s taken. And so am I.”

  “You are baby. I don’t know what this is all about, this thing with us, but you’re taken, and so am I.”

  “We’re mates. Bonded for eternity, Tavin. That’s what it is.” She looked at me steadily now, her red lips almost black in the darkness. I loved those lips.

  “This a bear thing, then?”

  “Yeah, it is. We’ll never be able to love anybody like we love each other. Or will. We give each other a strength that we won’t have separately, and we make our clan stronger in turn. We are life partners, something a marriage can’t compete with.”

  “Marriage huh?” I wouldn’t mind calling her my wife, actually. I stroked her hair and she smiled that beautiful smile.

  “I’m not the wedding dress kind of girl, Tavin. I just want a mate. You.”

  “That’s good with me. So, there’s no divorce?”

  “No, and if we split up, we’ll die eventually. It’s different with each couple, it could be weeks, it could be years, but if we’re too far apart, for too long, we’ll die.”

  “That’s forever then? We can’t break this bond, ever?”

  “No, we can’t. We can choose to kill each other, hate is certainly possible between mates, and live apart, but I don’t recommend it. In fact, I’ve never actually seen it happen.”

  “Is this like a spell?” I could feel the confusion expressed on my face.

  I was trying to understand it all.

  “No, the mother bear in the sky chose us to be mates. She knew we’d make a perfect fit. She’s rarely wrong. Very rarely.”

  “Is it common for humans to be brought into the clan?” I used her word for the group.

  “Not at all. You’re the first I know of.”

  “Awesome.” I shook my head to give weight to the single word. “So, I’ll be able to do that turning into a bear thing? How long before I can? Do I have to go to school? Will there be a test?”

  I hate tests!

  “No, calm down, it’ll come when you’re ready for it, Tavin. I promise. No tests or license required.” She was laughing now as she saw the panic on my face, and I relaxed. Somehow, she’d made this all okay.

  I took a deep breath and looked up at the stars. “This is my home forever then?”

  “For as long as you want it, certainly, Tavin.”

  “And if I want to go back to my world?” I still had that part of my brain that wanted to go, that wanted revenge. It wasn’t fading away.

  “You can go back, but I won’t go with you.”

  “Why not? Have you seen California? Hawaii? They’re beautiful places, I’d love to see.”

  “Have you noticed anything since you’ve been here? How calm and peaceful it is? Quiet?”

  She looked down at me, her hands flat behind her back to prop her up.

  “Yeah, except for the bar.” I had noticed, I just hadn’t thought about it.

  “All of our people live nearby, in their own homes, we even have our own town, a few miles up the mountain there. Humans can’t find it unless they’re in need. That’s why we have the bar down here, to help those that need us. And to keep the ones that don’t out.”

  I blinked at the stars, seeing Ursa Major over my head. That was the on the sign for the club. The bear sign. A cosmic, magical sign.

  “So, there’s no murder, or drugs, violence?”

  “Not usually no. Women and men are equal, it’s utopia really, for all of us. There’s very little to argue or fight about.”

  “Fuck. Heaven. I am in heaven!”

  “Yeah, you are, oh mate of mine. I don’t think fuck is a word they’d say in your human version of heaven, though.” She giggled and moved to come down to the fragrant grass with me. It was chilly, but neither of us seemed to notice.

  “They do in mine. Often. Shall we go in the barn? It might be warmer.” I stood and helped her up, though I doubted she really needed that help.

  Her fingers clasped in mine and clenched, a move that reminded me of how it felt to be inside of her. I held back a moan but, I couldn’t stop myself from pressing her into the wall of the barn as we neared it. My lips grazed hers before moving down to her neck to inhale her scent.

  “Am I ever going to get enough of you, Sabina?” I was hard already and pressed my hips into her so she’d know it.

  “Never, baby. It’s going to be like this for the rest of our lives.” Her head was back to give me access and it made her laugh sexy and throaty in just the right way to make me throb.

  “Fuck, I’m going to die.” I was only half joking.

  “Me too, but what a way to go.” Her hand came up to press my face to hers for a kiss that stole my breath away.

  “Sabina. Maybe we should go inside.” I didn’t care if anyone saw me fucking her
into the middle of next Friday, but she might.

  “Nobody cares, Tavin. Although, they might ask to join in.”

  “What?” I paused, looking down into fiery blue eyes. I loved how those flames made her eyes dance.

  “Yeah, we’re not sticklers for your mating traditions around here, if you hadn’t noticed.”

  “But, I thought you said we were mates.” I was confused again, very confused.

  “Some mates choose to share baby. We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

  “Wouldn’t you cut my dick off?”

  “Not if I get to join you.” Fuck, I nearly came right then.

  “We’ll talk about that later. Let’s get these pants off of you.” I lost all thought then, and found the only place I wanted to be. Right there with Sabina.

  7

  Sabina

  A week passed, then another, and Tavin didn’t shift. I itched to run, but I didn’t want to go without him. We hiked in the mountains though, his hip fully healed, and I introduced him to Fell, one of our clan that chose to live alone. He was tall, well-muscled, and more bear than man, even in his human shape. I’d eyed him up a time or two but Fell wasn’t interested so I’d let it go.

  The pair got along well, and I’d left him up there discussing the proper way to chop trees and build a cabin. I’d made it halfway across the parking lot when I saw a woman appear out of the distance. I waited, wondering what fate was bring us now. She was dressed rather fine for a woman walking on her own, in a dress that would stop men dead, and fuck-me heels, so I knew she must be in need. No sane woman would be walking along the road like that and none of our clan had hair that ugly color of nothing. Blond I think it was supposed to be.

  “Hey, can I help you?” I called out when she got close enough and saw her eyes light up. She was around 45, shorter than me, and looked exhausted.

  “I’m looking for a friend of mine. His name’s Tavin, he disappeared here a couple of weeks ago. Supposedly he just vanished off the face of the earth.” She gave me a smile that was supposed to make me feel sorry for her, but instead I wanted to bash her in the face.

  I’d pulled back my fist to do just that when Trudi, Quinn, and Travis came out and stopped me at the last minute. “Get the fuck out of here. I don’t care what your problem is, get the fuck out!”

  I screamed and fought against Quinn’s arms, but he held me tight. I couldn’t break Quinn’s hold though, so I stopped. No use fighting a brick wall.

  I glared at her and Quinn spoke. “Who are you?”

  He didn’t have to ask me why I’d reacted so violently, I had and that was all that mattered to him.

  “I’m Annamaria, I’m Tavin’s girlfriend. We lost him a couple of weeks ago. Is he here?” She managed to somehow make herself look small and afraid but I’d seen the snake in those eyes.

  He’d never told me she was so old!

  “He’s not here, move along please.” Travis spoke for all of us.

  “Oh, thanks. Could I trouble you for a glass of water?” She pointed down at the heels. From a distance she’d been stunning, but up close, I could see the lines around her eyes, and how the outfit made her look desperate rather than seductive. I grinned when I saw her pedicure was chipped.

  “Fuck off, bitch.” I spit at her feet, my bear almost out and ready to tear her apart.

  “Wow, is that how you treat strangers?” Her snark showed itself instantly, and she bristled as she realized she’d given herself away.

  “Fine, if that’s how you want to play this.” She reached around her back, into a bag I hadn’t noticed and pulled out a small handgun. “Give me the girl.”

  Her fingers made a gimme motion, but my brother didn’t move to release me. “I said,” she paused to pull the hammer back, “give me the fucking girl. Or I shoot the tiny blond one.”

  Her hand moved and I thought I might be done for then. I was their sister, but Trudi was their mate. If she died, they all died. I wanted to launch myself at her, and I felt Quinn spring to do the same thing, but a blur came out of nowhere and attacked the woman, large teeth, and a huge round head at her throat as the gun flew away.

  “Tavin?” I asked, carefully stepping closer. He growled at the woman, drool running down her throat as he dared her to move. She didn’t. In a smart move, she stayed perfectly still as he breathed heavily against her skin, his teeth all but piercing the thin, delicate flesh.

  “Tavin, baby. We don’t kill here. Not on our Bear Club land. You can drag her up the mountain if you want, and do whatever you like, fuck, I might come help you after what she’s done, but you can’t do this here.”

  His breathing calmed, and his teeth moved from her throat. He shifted as he looked down at the woman that had sent him to prison for her own needs. “She’s not worth the stain on my soul.”

  “Tavin, please, I can explain!” She started but he pounded his fist into the grass at the side of her head and she shut the fuck up like a good girl should.

  “No, I don’t need your explanation. I don’t need your world. You came here to finish what you started all those years ago. You can fuck right off back to your own world.”

  He got off of her then and moved away, repeating my move of spitting at her feet.

  “And I can tell you this much, Ms. Annamaria, it’s not Tavin you have to worry about if you ever come back.” I glared down at the sputtering woman that was trying to crawl away. “Take off those ridiculous shoes, and run, bitch.”

  I shifted and she shrieked while she ran away. I saw her shoes flying off as she went, and roared, but it was laughter that continued as soon as I shifted back to my human form.

  “I doubt she’ll ever be back.” Tavin laughed beside me, holding his side.

  “You shifted, Tavin! You did it!”

  “I saw that gun and that was it, I was running and a bear. I didn’t even think about it, it just happened.” He looked stunned but happy as he pulled me in for a hug.

  “I told you that’s all you needed to do. Thinking about it would only make it harder to do.”

  “Sounds like a dick problem to me.” Trudi snorted, and that set us all off laughing. It was a relieved laughter though. That had been close, and a reminder of just how dangerous the human world really was. That sobered me up.

  “Are you sure you want to stay here, Tavin? We don’t have the same rules as you do.”

  “I am, Sabina. I’ll lay my life down for you, for any of you. I’m a bear now. This is the only place I ever want to be. Right here with you.”

  My brothers and sister in law made an aw sound as he leaned down to kiss me but I ignored them all.

  “At least he’s kept her from leaving.” Trudi pointed out as Tavin began to draw me away.

  “Could you imagine the quiet, though, Quinn, if she’d gone? No more weird dance tracks, no more constant chatter about inventory, or suggestions on parties.” Travis was joking but I shot him a deadly glare anyway.

  “Yeah, it would have been quiet, but we would have hated it. And Trudi would have killed us.” Quinn responded with a laugh.

  I gave him and Trudi both a look of love as she spoke up. “You’re fucking right I would have.”

  I still loved it when the woman that used to be so prim and proper cursed. It made me hot. But not as hot as my mate.

  “Come on, baby. There’s a room in that barn I want to show you. It has vibrators and all sorts in it.” I whispered it to him, but he laughed loudly and looked down at me uncertainly.

  “Vibrators? You think I need help?”

  “Not at all, but vibrators can improve many situations. They cause awkward silences when brought out the wrong time and you want somebody to shut the hell up. They cause pleasure during times of intimacy, and hilarity when the situation needs a good old-fashioned dose of ‘well that wasn’t expected. Vibrators are awesome and can always change the outcome of a situation. You’re laughing now, aren’t you?” I looked up at him with a gleam in my eye and a grin on my face. />
  “Oh you’re good, Sabina, you’re very good.” He led me into the barn and I closed the door behind me.

  “Now, about those handcuffs we have back there…” I laughed as he looked at me in shock yet again, and I knew that all was well. The human world had followed him, but, in true Bear Club fashion, we’d all worked together to get rid of it. I had my mate, and that was all that mattered now.

  He might be an ex-con, and worse, a human, but he was my ex-con. And my bear-shifter now. He was no longer a human, but a hybrid. And all mine. Forever.

  Sasha’s Mountain Bear

  Bear Club 3

  Sneak Peek

  Chapter 1

  Fell

  I grumbled a word that might have been come in, or might have been fuck off, I didn’t care, as I heard a knock at the door. If it was my clan and not one of the forest animals, they’d come in. I was arm deep in gutting a V-Twin engine and didn’t care what was happening the world outside of my cabin.

  “Fell? It’s Sabina. We nee some help here, honey.” Her voice came through the simple pine boards of my door, and I glared. She was one tempting woman, one I didn’t want to want, but she was fine. The fact that her smile made me grin stupidly didn’t help.

  “Fine, but only because it’s you.” I went to the door and opened it, to see Sabina and her new mate Tavin holding a woman up between them. “We found her…”

  “In the parking lot. I know, bring her in.” I was the nearest we had to a doctor for more serious cases of injury and a sometimes psychiatrist to those in need. This woman had been beaten to within an inch of her life. And she was human. “Put her on the table.”

  Sabina knew I meant the exam table in a back bedroom and guided her mate and the woman back there.

  I looked out into the forest, the world spread out in the distance. Another injured human in need. How many times could the dumb fuckers hurt each other like this and go on functioning? I knew the answer to that so I just shut the door, and walked back to my exam room.