If I were still capable of laughing, I would have found Jen’s expression hilarious. Gone were her chances of an easy victory. I might not have the experience she did at moving in bear form, but at least I had more power and strength than I did as a human.
“So you managed to persuade Dom to turn you, did you?” she said, when she was finally capable of speech. “I must admit that I didn’t expect that. Still, it won’t make any difference. There’s no way you’re winning this challenge.”
Let’s do this, bitch, I thought, the message clearly communicating through my eyes because Jen threw her head back and roared. Her shift into bear form was much easier than mine, years of practice having taught her body what to expect and soon a Kodiak bear was towering over me.
When Dom turned me, he’d made me into a brown bear, just like him. Jen was going to have the advantage of size over me, but she’d never seen my temper and right now, I was really pissed.
Frank cleared his throat, as Jen and I glared at each other. “It would appear that we have a challenge of two shifters. I expect this to be a clean, fair fight, as befits our shifter heritage. Are you both ready?”
Jen and I both let out a loud roar in response.
“Then let the challenge commence!”
If Jen thought that I was going to be an easy fight, she had a nasty surprise waiting for her. As soon as Frank gave the signal to start, I didn’t hesitate. In her arrogance, Jen had stood on her back legs to roar, leaving her belly exposed and I slashed at it with my paw, feeling my claws make contact.
She jumped back, but I could see that I’d drawn blood. Jen didn’t give me any chance to recover though, whirling round almost too fast for me to see, catching my ear between her powerful jaws. I yelped and pulled away, but my ear was badly torn. Had I been human, I’d be permanently scarred, but my shifter healing ability would mean that I’d recover soon enough. I just had to survive the fight. Something told me that Jen had no intention of letting me walk away alive, regardless of what Frank had said.
We both retreated, cautiously sizing each other up. Suddenly, Jen darted towards me, aiming for my throat. I put my paws up to fend her off, falling onto my back, but she grabbed the top of my leg, biting down hard and shaking her head to try and tear it off.
Using all my strength, I rolled over, pulling her round so that I could bite at her in return. I didn’t hold back, as I felt my teeth sink through fur and flesh to hit bone. Jen yelped and tried to withdraw, but I wasn’t going to let her go anywhere. I bit harder, as Jen clawed at me to push me off. One of her claws caught at my wounded ear, the sudden pain making me release my jaws enough for Jen to get away.
We paused, panting with the effort of fighting.
“Do either of you yield?” asked Frank, trying but failing to keep the look of concern from his face.
Like hell! I thought, as Jen shook her head. The only way I was going to give way to Jen was over my dead body – literally. At the same time, I was beginning to doubt whether I could beat a bear that was almost twice my size. I had to do something to give myself an advantage.
And then I saw it. I knew what I needed to do to defeat Jen once and for all.
As we readied ourselves to fight more, I carefully edged round the clearing, adjusting my position so that I was exactly where I needed to be. When I was ready, I feinted towards Jen, forcing her to retreat before making her own attack.
Timing was crucial to my plan, and I got it just right, jumping to the side as Jen launched herself at me. Instead of landing on top of me, the momentum of her attack impaled her on the branch sticking out from the tree I’d been standing in front of.
Not giving her a chance to pull herself free, I snapped at her, pinning her by the throat and shaking to let her know who was in charge as I raked at her belly with my claws, just to show her who was boss. She wasn’t going anywhere. I’d beaten Jen and she knew it.
“Jen, do you yield?” Frank asked.
After a final, vain attempt to pull free, Jen nodded. I’d won!
“The matter is settled,” Frank announced, as Shelby, the clan healer, rushed forward to help Jen extricate herself from the tree.
I didn’t bother to watch as Shelby checked Jen’s wounds. I didn’t care how badly injured the other bear was. I only had eyes for one person, as Dom buried his face in my fur, his relief palpable.
“Thank goodness you survived,” he wept. “For a moment, I thought Jen was going to kill you.”
So did I.
“Congratulations, Stephanie,” said Frank, coming over to confirm my victory. “There is no doubt. You and Dom are destined to be mates.”
I growled, the only sound I could think to make to agree. My body ached and I desperately wanted to go back to human form.
As if he could read my mind, Dom placed a hand on my head, taking care to avoid my wounded ear.
“Just so you know, Steph. When you change back, you’ll be naked. You might want to hold off a moment before you shift. If it’s all right with you, Frank, I’d like to take Steph somewhere a little more private.”
“Of course,” Frank nodded. “Our business here is finished for the night. Feel free to go anywhere within the estate. Well done again, Stephanie. Between you and me, I never did like that Jennifer, but you didn’t hear me say it.”
Dom lead me away from the clearing, deeper into the redwood forest. When he was sure that we were away from prying eyes, he turned to me, worry etched onto his face.
“Never, ever scare me like that again,” he told me.
I collapsed, relaxing into my body’s urge to change back to human form, the transition much easier than my first change to bear.
“I’ll try not to,” I finally panted when I’d regained my voice. My whole body ached, my war wounds adding extra pain to what I assumed was the natural side effect of shifting, but I didn’t care. Maybe I should be resting to recover from the fight, but I didn’t want to rest. I had never felt more alive and I wanted to reaffirm that I’d survived, I was still here.
I wanted Dom inside me, to feel all of him on top of me. I wanted to open my legs wide, feel him slide in, inch by delicious inch until he’d filled me completely. Reaching out to him, I pulled him down to the floor with me, kissing him passionately, his tongue flicking over mine to make my pussy clench.
I pushed him back, climbing on top of him as he lay on the forest floor, letting my breasts dangle in his face. He reached up for them, sucking one of my nipples as he massaged my other breast. Reaching between my legs, I grabbed his erect cock and guided it inside me, his large manhood easily slipping in. I had no idea that fighting could be such a turn on; all I knew is that I wanted to fuck Dom. Hard.
I started riding him, holding his hands down. I was in charge this time and we were both enjoying me ride him. He thrust up with his hips, his moves meeting mine to drive deeper and deeper into me until I was completely lost to the sensation. I felt as though my entire body was being consumed by him, as he drove me higher and higher, losing myself to one orgasm after another, yet I still hadn’t had enough of him.
“More, more,” I begged, as Dom grabbed my hips, indicating that I should move to sit on his face. Grabbing onto the bark of a tree to keep my balance, Dom caressed my buttocks as he began to run his tongue in long, slow licks, up and down my pussy as I ground against his face, unable to hold back the moans, the injuries from my fight almost forgotten, washed away by his loving touch.
I came again, screaming into the night without caring if anyone heard.
“Have you had enough yet?” grinned Dom.
I shook my head, incapable of speech, but feeling as though I could never have enough, as Dom pushed me back, turning me round so that I could ride him like a cowgirl. From this angle, I was able to drop forward so that I was practically on my hands and knees as he pushed himself balls deep inside me.
Our fucking became even more frenzied, as I could feel Dom growing even bigger, the sign that he was about to come. For a
second, I realized that we weren’t using a condom, but it was the wrong time of the month for me to need to worry and in that moment, I simply didn’t care. All that mattered was the way Dom made me feel.
With an animalistic roar, we came together and I collapsed back on Dom. He wrapped his arms around me, dropping a kiss on my shoulder blade where he’d bitten me to turn me.
“I love you, Steph,” he said. “I loved you from the moment I first saw you and I’m so sorry that I’ve caused you so much pain.”
“I’m not.” I turned so that I could look him in the eye. “I don’t regret anything, not what happened with Jen, not becoming a shifter. It’s shown me just how strong our bond is. If we can survive what we’ve been through, we can survive anything and me being a shifter will only bring us closer together. There’s no reason for you to keep any more secrets from me now. I can be part of shifter politics, standing right by your side no matter what.”
“You’re right,” agreed Dom. “No more secrets. I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you, starting right now.”
I laughed as I felt his newly erect cock tapping against my back, knowing that he meant every word he said.
Epilogue
Nine months later
“Almost there, Steph. Just one more push.”
Dom held my hand as I focused all my energy into pushing down. A moment later, I heard the first mewling sounds our baby made, as the nurse checked her over before placing her in my arms.
“Congratulations on your daughter,” she beamed, as I gazed down at the most beautiful person I’d ever seen. A light down covered her arms, a sign that both her parents were shifters and when she opened her eyes to look at me for the first time, I gasped. They were the brightest blue I’d ever seen, an almost other-worldly shade verging on purple.
I felt a protective rush of love come over me. This was the most precious gift I’d ever been given and I was never going to let anyone hurt her. I’d fought for her father’s love and I knew that if I had to, I’d fight to the death to keep my daughter safe.
“Hello, Isabella,” I whispered, gently stroking the side of her face. “I’m your mommy.”
“Sorry to interrupt, but we just need to check Isabella over again, make sure that everything’s fine.”
Much as I hated to let her go, I gave my baby to the nurse, as Dom put his arms around me, hugging me to him.
“I’m so proud of you, Steph,” he told me.
“I’m proud of us,” I replied. “How did we make someone so perfect?”
“She takes after her mother,” Dom smiled. I could see tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and I reached up to him to kiss them away. I loved how my mate wasn’t afraid to let his emotions shine through.
It had been a big surprise to both of us to discover that I was pregnant. Dom and I had only just begun to rebuild our relationship after Jen’s attempts to split us up and the last thing we’d planned on was a real pregnancy complicating things.
Yet when I saw those two little blue lines, I knew that the time was right, even if we hadn’t been together for long. Dom was my mate and I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. When I’d made the decision to ask him to turn me, I knew in my heart of hearts that I was making that commitment to him, even if we hadn’t discussed the long term implications.
Dom had turned my world upside down and it had all been completely worth it to get to this moment.
“Everything’s looking great,” the nurse told me, bringing back Isabella from her checks. “I think someone’s hungry now. Would you like to try nursing her?”
I nodded and the nurse helped me latch Isabella on. A moment later, I felt my daughter suckling and I couldn’t help crying. I was feeding my baby. My daughter. Dom and I had built a family together.
o0o
Back home, my life had been transformed by Isabella. Dom and I had been living in his clan’s ranch, a sprawling estate that included a massive house for the use of the alpha and his family. One day, it would be our home. For now, we were using the annex so that Dom’s parents could help us out with adjusting to having a new born.
Isabella woke from her nap, crying for me just as someone knocked on the door.
“Can you get that, Dom?” I called as I went to cuddle my daughter. We weren’t expecting visitors, so I guessed that it was yet another delivery. We’d been inundated with gifts and flowers ever since we’d brought Isabella home and I’d been overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. There’d even been a present from Jen, since clan protocol dictated that she send something, but I’d donated the ugly little teddy bear to charity, not wanting to have anything from that woman around my child.
Carefully, I scooped Isabella up from her crib, going to sit down in the rocking chair by her bed so that I could feed her. As my daughter nuzzled into my breast, I lightly stroked the soft hair on her head, smiling at how gorgeous she was. I didn’t think I could ever get tired of staring at her, the way that her nose was just like Dom’s. Even at just a week old, she already seemed to have some of his mannerisms.
When she’d finished nursing, I rested her against my shoulder, patting her back to burp her. Closing my eyes, I inhaled the familiar scent of my daughter. There was nothing I didn’t love about being a mom.
“You have a visitor,” announced Dom, pushing the door open.
I gasped in happy surprise when I saw who came in carrying a large, flat parcel.
“Joe! What are you doing here?”
“Did you really think that my favorite manager could have a baby and I wouldn’t want to come straight over to congratulate you?”
Joe propped the package against the wall before crossing over to kiss me on the cheek. “And this must be Isabella.” He stroked my baby’s back.
“Do you want to hold her?” I offered. Joe nodded, so I placed her in his arms.
“Hello, Isabella,” he said to her. “It’s good to meet you. I’m your Uncle Joe. And much as I’d like to be angry with you for stealing away the best manager I could ever want, how could I be cross with a face as cute as yours?”
Isabella gurgled, seeming to get the joke, even though she was so young.
“I brought a little something for you,” Joe told me. “Well, when I say little, I mean that it’s actually a bit big. I hope you like it.”
He indicated the parcel he’d brought with his head, before turning his attention back to Isabella, jogging about as he made silly faces at her.
I went over to rip off the paper from his present and when I saw what was inside, I couldn’t believe it.
“It’s beautiful, Joe. It must have taken you hours.”
I’d forgotten what a talented artist Joe was. I’d first seen one of his paintings hanging up in his brother’s apartment, and I’d been struck then by how lifelike it had been, but it was nothing compared to the image in front of me.
“It’s nothing much,” he shrugged modestly. “I’m just glad you like it.”
“Like it? I love it. I’m going to hang this in the family room where everyone can see it.” The picture before me featured Dom and I gazing at each other, a pose I recognized from one of the photos of the two of us I’d used as my profile picture on Facebook. Joe had added a border composed of Dom and me as bears intertwined with foliage and flowers. Between us he’d painted in an image of Isabella, her brilliant blue eyes the center focal point of the painting. It perfectly epitomized my little family.
“That’s not all,” Joe went on. “I’ve got something else for you.” Passing Isabella to Dom, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar set of keys.
“What’s this?” I frowned. “Why have you brought the keys to Perk with you?”
Joe and Dom exchanged a knowing look.
“Joe and I have been talking,” Dom said. “What with him having to move away to be with his wolf pack, it makes sense for him to relocate his business interests, so he’s agreed to sell Perk to us – to you.”
“Are you kidding?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“I never joke about something as serious as coffee,” Joe replied. “I know that you’ll be taking some time out to be with Isabella, but when you’re ready to go back to work, Perk You Up is yours. It makes sense for me to sell it now and I can’t think of a better person to take over.”
He crossed over and placed the keys in my hand. “I hope you have as many years of happiness there as I have,” he told me.
I felt as though my heart would burst. I had the perfect man, the perfect baby, the perfect business. My life really was complete.
A letter from the author
Thanks so much for reading Caring Bear. When I wrote Heart Laid Bear, which you can download for FREE via the link below, I always knew that I wanted to go into more detail about what happened to Steph and her dream man and I’m so glad they got their HEA!
If you enjoyed Caring Bear, could you do me a favor and leave a review? Reviews help me make the next book even better. Just visit http://amzn.to/2qh9DQk and share your thoughts.
If you want to read about how Steph and Dom got together, head on over to http://bit.ly/2bsZEkG and grab your copy of Heart Laid Bear.
Finally, I just want to give a shout out to Kym A. and Gail Kiogima, my amazing beta readers. They’ve been a massive help and huge support – thank you so much.
See you in the next book!
Love, Amber
Have you read the other books in the Love Laid Bear series? Each one is standalone and hot, hot, hot!
Fighting Bear: Want to know more about how Shelby became the healer of the Love clan? Happily planning her wedding to Caleb Love, her childhood sweetheart, her world is turned upside down when the enigmatic Aaron Love waltzes into her dreams. Will Aaron be able to win Shelby away or will Caleb fight for her love?
Healing Bear: When Mr Tall Dark and Arrogant demands that Abi Palmer caters for his event, there’s no way she’d ever agree to work for him. Will Nathan be able to melt her heart or is this just another one of his games?
Caring Bear: A Paranormal BBW Shifter Pregnancy Romance (Love Laid Bear Book 5) Page 7
