Scottish Werebear: A Second Chance: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Scottish Werebears Book 6)

by Lorelei Moone

He closed his eyes. As did she.

  They kissed completely on instinct. Thinking back, Charlie wasn’t sure who had made the first move.

  It was the best moment of her entire life.

  The next day he was gone. He’d left her.

  Charlie blinked a few times. Was it really him? He was a few years older now and sported a medium brown neatly kept beard. There was no doubt about it. His eyes were a dead giveaway.

  Then, it happened. His features elongated and shifted around. His skin sprouted fur. Within a split second, the boy she’d once known was gone, and in his place stood a great big bear.

  “Oh my God!” Ella yelled out next to her and grabbed Charlie’s hand. “Are you seeing this? Tell me you’re seeing this.”

  Charlie couldn’t speak.

  It was him.

  James Finch.

  She thought she’d never see him again. Wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead even, and yet there he was. Despite the otherwise alien form, his eyes were still those same eyes she had known so well. Her best friend. The one who had broken her heart when he left.

  The camera panned around and focused only on the slightly bigger bear, who was speaking again.

  A talking bear. Charlie shook her head.

  It should have shocked her much more, but her mind was still trying to process things. It was as though her chest had been torn open, and her heart ripped out. She ought to have been over the whole thing by now. They were kids back then.

  But it hurt like it had happened yesterday.

  “What’s wrong?” Ella asked.

  Charlie didn’t respond.

  “Why are you crying?” Ella said.

  Charlie touched her fingertips against her face, and only now noticed tears had been streaming down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and dabbed at her eyes with her t-shirt.

  “Nothing. I’m fine,” she mumbled, suddenly angry that this guy could affect her still. He’d left. He hadn’t wanted her. End of story.

  “Bullshit. That was some freaky stuff we just saw, but that’s no reason to cry!” Ella argued.

  Charlie shot her a nasty look. “Leave it alone.” This was ridiculous. She hadn’t cried in years.

  “Nuh-uh! You’ve got to tell me!”

  Charlie closed her eyes and shook her head. “Fine. I recognized one of them.”

  “Oh?” Ella paused. “Oh…”

  “Now please leave it.” Charlie got up to grab a glass of water from the kitchen.

  Ella followed hot on her heels.

  “You’re kidding. You know one of the New Alliance? That’s like… wow. That’s so amazing!”

  “Yeah. Amazing.” Charlie took a sip and brusquely put the glass back down on the counter. Then she just stood there, resting both her hands against the edge of the worktop and stared straight ahead at nothing.

  She knew a member of the New Alliance. And he was right here in the city.

  Charlie pressed her lips together. She knew one of them.

  She looked over at Ella, who practically bounced up and down with excitement. “You know what. You’re right. It is amazing.”

  Ella nodded enthusiastically.

  “I’m gonna track him down,” Charlie said. “I’m going to track him down and get an exclusive interview with him.”

  Ella clapped her hands and grinned. “Yes!”

  “Maybe that’ll teach old man Penderton to take me seriously.”

  “He should!” Ella cheered.

  “Maybe then he’ll have me work on some real stories, not bullshit cat treat recipes and home remedies for dandruff.”

  “Good on you!” Ella said. She smiled briefly, then bit her bottom lip. “Say… did you also notice how those guys were all pretty hot?”

  Charlie frowned. James had always been a looker, even back in the day when they were awkward teenagers. And whereas the years had made her fill out rather in some unfortunate places, he had piled on muscle from what she could tell. The others, though?

  She hadn’t even noticed the others. “Mhmm?”

  “Well, I was just wondering, if you know… If you track this guy down. And you get to know some of his friends…”

  “Yeah?” Charlie asked.

  “Well, perhaps you could introduce me. That’s all.” Ella smiled innocently.

  Charlie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I still have to find him, though.”

  “Yeah, don’t you worry about that. The internet has information about everyone nowadays, and I might know someone who could help.” Ella winked at her.

  Now, Charlie smiled too. Ella was an avid gamer, and among her rather special group of friends and acquaintances, there was bound to be someone who could help track down James and the rest of the New Alliance. This could work.

  Perhaps one day not too far in the future, she would see him again in person. An exciting, though equally scary prospect. How would she face him?

  She’d make a list of questions, stuff that people would be desperate to know more about. Just like a good reporter should.

  Though she just had one question for him. Why?

  Why leave like that?

  After what she’d seen on TV, it was pretty obvious what his reasons would have been. But she still wanted to hear him say it in his own words. Why couldn’t he just tell her then, rather than run?

  Ella went back to the sofa and flipped around channels. Each of them, repeated images of different cities, where exactly the same thing had happened as in Edinburgh. Seemingly normal people had approached the waiting journalists and transformed themselves.

  Charlie’s suspicions had been proved wrong. The ‘New Alliance’ had done exactly as they’d advertised.

  They’d changed the world.

  Chapter Three

  It was well after midnight by the time James reached the remote farm far north of Edinburgh where they had agreed to gather. All had gone well.

  He hadn’t been followed; he knew this because the roads were so quiet, there was no way for anyone to do so without drawing attention to themselves.

  When he pulled into the long driveway, he saw that there were some vehicles already parked up. Good. So the others had made it as well.

  James unlocked the front door and stepped in. Muffled voices greeted him. They were all in the back of the house, no doubt discussing tonight’s events.

  “Hey,” James greeted the first familiar faces. Heidi and Aidan, Henry and Gail; even Kyle was already here.

  Jamie, the leader of the Edinburgh branch of the Alliance, was still missing.

  “Good show, aye?” Kyle remarked, then focused once again on the TV flickering in the corner. Obviously, they had been watching the coverage.

  “That’s what I look like?” James mumbled to himself when they showed a still mid-shift. It was unnerving, seeing the transformation captured like this.

  Of course, he’d seen other shifters transform, but it was always over so quickly, you couldn’t see the process unfold. This right here was the naked truth. And it was quite ungainly.

  “Strange, isn’t it? We’ve been working toward this moment, and now it’s over,” Heidi remarked.

  James looked over at her.

  “Oh, it’s far from over,” Henry said. “Now, the real work begins.”

  James nodded in agreement and sat down on one of the empty chairs facing the television.

  He watched in silence as the news channel showed images from various other locations.

  The coverage from Paris took his breath away.

  “I’ve never seen a lion before,” Gail gasped, a few seats to his right.

  The rest of the group mumbled in agreement.

  They had done it. They had changed the world. But was it for the better?

  Henry’s phone rang; one of the other groups probably. He nodded at Kyle, who got to work immediately. He placed one of those flat conference phones in the center of the group and attached it to a laptop.

  James meanwhile continued to watch TV.

&
nbsp; “Ready,” Kyle said at last.

  Henry picked up the remote and dialed down the volume, and he pulled his chair closer to the conference phone.

  “Hello? Are you there?”

  “Eric from London, here.”

  “New York. Present.”

  “Paris.”

  “Berlin. The Amsterdam group have not yet reached their safe house, but we can speak on their behalf.”

  “Glasgow.”

  James’ ears perked up hearing his sister’s voice. Irene had made it.

  “Very good,” Henry said. “Let’s begin.”

  Neither James nor the others in his group spoke much throughout the conference call, leaving Henry to do the talking. It was easier that way. They were all on the same page anyway.

  They spoke of the human reporters’ reactions. Shock, awe, fear. Though apparently in Amsterdam, one of the reporters turned out to be one of their own, who despite not having any previous interactions with the New Alliance had spontaneously decided to join in and shift himself.

  They spoke of what to do next. How to demonstrate that they posed no threat to humans. How to educate them.

  Kyle, of course, had already prepared the next steps to their internet campaign. An educational website that collected the history as well as important facts about the shifter world. He had even created a mobile game to get the younger generation interested.

  All in all, the mood was positive. It seemed that James was the only one with questions. He decided to keep them to himself for now. He didn’t want to dampen anyone’s spirits.

  So as the conference went on, he once again focused on the TV.

  The coverage was getting repetitive; the same images kept scrolling past again and again. Until suddenly, the studio came into view.

  James wished that the conference was already over, so he could increase the volume to hear what the news anchor was saying. The way she spoke, she was trying to remain professional, but her body language indicated she felt under threat somehow. Then the camera panned do the right and showed the last person in the world James expected to see on TV today.

  “Guys. Turn up the TV,” James stammered.

  Henry shot him a disapproving look. “I’m sorry for my team member here. You were saying, Eric?”

  “No, please just trust me on this. See!” James interrupted and pointed at the TV.

  Everyone turned their head, and even Henry fell silent for a moment. He grabbed for the remote and increased the volume.

  “I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this discussion short,” Henry said. “Switch on the BBC. You will all want to see this.” He pressed the large button on the conference phone and cut off the discussion before anyone else had the chance to react.

  “So, Mr. Blacke,” the reporter said. “Please state your affiliation to these…”

  “Shifters.” Adrian Blacke stared into the camera grimly and folded his hands. “I am Adrian Blacke, leader of the shifter world.”

  “Well, I’ll be…” Aidan blurted out.

  “What the hell does he think he’s doing?” Heidi complained.

  “So does this mean you are one of…” The reporter’s voice trailed off.

  “Yes, I am a shifter. I’ll spare you the theatrics. We have seen too much of that tonight already,” Blacke responded.

  “And you are a part of the New Alliance?”

  Henry scoffed at the question.

  “No,” Blacke almost barked his response. “This so-called New Alliance is nothing but a group of troublemakers. I speak for the Alliance. The real Alliance. The one that has been around for generations.”

  “Troublemakers, sir?”

  “That’s right. They have gone against my orders simply for shock value, they…”

  “Shit. This is bad,” Gail said.

  The group nodded.

  “So you were not in favor of tonight’s reveal?” The reporter asked, while nervously shuffling around her papers.

  “Not at all. Of course, we wish to peacefully coexist with humankind as we have done for many years now. You have nothing to fear. But this was not the way to do it.”

  “Oh, bullshit!” Aidan growled.

  Behind them, the door swung open with a loud creak.

  “Late to the party, I see. What did I miss?” Jamie spoke as he marched inside the room.

  Nobody said a word, and James just pointed at the TV.

  “What the hell is he doing on TV?” Jamie wondered aloud, as he pulled up a chair.

  “What indeed,” Henry said.

  “If not like this, how would you have done it?” the reporter asked.

  “Well. Firstly, I don’t think the timing was right at all. There is enough going on in the world already without adding all this into the mix. There’s the conflicts in the Middle East, famines in Africa…”

  “What does he know about what’s going on in the world? I can bet someone told him to mention these things,” James snapped. In all the years he’d worked at Blacke’s office, he hadn’t known the man to give a hoot about current affairs of the human world. All he cared about was his own position. His power.

  The reporter nodded. “But now that everything is out in the open. What if any next steps have you got in mind?”

  Adrian Blacke looked up and stared directly into the camera. James felt like he was looking directly at him. “I’ll have to manage the hand I have been dealt. Tomorrow I’ll travel to Westminster to meet with your government officials. This is a serious matter, and a lot depends on how we manage the transition. In fact, I have already put certain projects in place to help put minds at ease. We are out in the open now. It is in everyone’s best interest to ensure that both sides know exactly where they stand.”

  What projects? He can’t possibly be talking about the tracker scheme? James felt his chest tighten with anger. He knew his old boss too well to ignore his words now. If Blacke made a place for himself in London, their efforts in creating the New Alliance and orchestrating tonight’s announcement were as good as wasted.

  “We can’t let this happen.” Henry stood up and looked around the room.

  James glanced up at him, his expression equally resolute.

  “No, we cannot.”

  “We need to get there before him,” Henry said.

  “We’ve been one step ahead of him since we organized ourselves,” Gail said. “Let’s not start lagging behind now.”

  “Call Eric. We have much to discuss.” Henry gestured at Kyle to get the conference going again.

  James got up and went straight for the door. He needed air, more than anything. He needed air, and he needed to think.

  Henry would talk to Eric. That was probably wise. Rather than having everyone step into the limelight, it was best if the New Alliance put forth their own leader to take on Blacke in the capital. If those politicians had any sense, they’d see who the better partner would be.

  Meanwhile, James had to think about what Blacke was most likely going to do next. He was the one out of the group who knew him the best. He was also probably the one Blacke had felt most betrayed by.

  James left the house and broke into a jog. It had started to drizzle while they sat inside. It was pitch black outside. No street lights, no other houses anywhere around. James could see just fine, though. One of the advantages of being a bear.

  He made his way into a nearby patch of trees and took a deep breath. He had shifted once tonight already, so he didn’t feel much of an urge to do it again. But just the moist, cold air was enough to clear his head.

  Blacke only cared about himself. About securing his position and power. So that’s what he was likely planning to do in London. He was going to try to make some friends in high places. He now wanted to be known not just as the leader of the Alliance, but the leader of the entire shifter world.

  If that meant he had to hand over access to the shifter database he had been trying to build, then so be it.

  He would push through his agenda on those inferna
l tracking devices, as well as the purity nonsense that had sparked the formation of the New Alliance. He would play on people’s fears to legitimize his ideas on mixed families.

  In the end, Blacke would push for a segregated shifter society, with him at the very top.

  With this realization, James took another deep breath and rushed back to the house. If Henry hadn’t already figured it out, he had to share his suspicions about what Blacke was planning to do.

  Chapter Four

  The morning after the grand reveal, Charlie reached work at eight sharp. The office was already buzzing with activity, and although everyone looked excited, some of her colleagues did seem a bit worse for wear. It was obvious a lot of them had never gone home the previous day.

  “I want to know everything, people!” her boss, a rotund grey-haired man named Harry Penderton shouted. “I don’t care what you were working on yesterday; today is a brand new day. We need to know where these people came from, how they’ve been living in hiding for so many years without anyone noticing. We need backgrounds, research, expert commentary. Get to work. There will be no rest for anyone until we have the answers!”

  Charlie couldn’t suppress a smile as she approached the man. “Sir, I had an idea for a feature,”

  “What? Oh, it’s you, Charlotte.” He adjusted his glasses and looked at her impatiently. “Well, what is it? We haven’t got all day.”

  Just the way he spoke to her had put her off again. Nobody called her Charlotte anymore; not even her folks.

  No. She wasn’t going to show her hand just yet. “Well. There seems to be some conflict within their ranks. That man, Adrian Blacke said he represented the ‘real’ Alliance. And that the New Alliance were just troublemakers. It would be interesting to research that angle, don’t you think?” Charlie suggested.

  Penderton nodded. “Yes. Yes, indeed. Good thinking.”

  Charlie smiled again. Finally, he liked an idea of hers!

  “Goodwin,” Penderton called out across the busy office floor. A woman in her mid-thirties looked up from her laptop. “I want to know more about that guy, Adrian Blacke and his Alliance and how the New Alliance fits in.”

  Charlie’s heart sank. He didn’t honestly just take her idea and give it to Diane Goodwin?