The Bear's Embrace: Clanless: A Shifter Romance Series, Book 1

by Victoria Kane

  He grabbed her hand and led her out of the river, bringing her to sit on the grass next to him. The sunlight falling on them warmed her through her wet pants. She hadn’t realized how chilled she was getting standing in the cold water, and it felt good to be out, sitting next to Rick.

  So she sat there on the grass, and as the sunlight fell across them both, she allowed herself to believe, even if only for a moment, that everything would turn out alright.

  Chapter 4

  They sat there for a little while silently, just sharing the view and the company. Sitting next to Rick’s bulk felt good, comfortable, and she snuggled against his side, enjoying the warmth coming off his body. It didn’t feel like the time in the water had made him cold at all, but then again he hadn’t been as deep as she had.

  Just then, two wolves walked out of the trees across the river. They stopped and stared at the two people across the way, and began to growl menacingly.

  Laura tensed against Rick’s side. He put a hand on her knee and smiled at her.

  “Don’t worry. Wolves are always afraid of me. If they’re smart, anyways,” he said in an oddly loud tone. It was almost as if he was speaking to the wolves just as much as he was to her.

  Strange. I must be imagining things.

  After another low growl, the wolves turned and loped off into the trees.

  “See? Nothing to worry about,” he said, voice back to a normal volume. “But we should head back now. Don’t want to be out after dark with you wet like that.”

  Laura realized that a fair amount of time had passed without her realizing it. She checked her phone again without thinking. Still no calls or messages. Damn it.

  Seeming to sense her thoughts, Rick put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s gonna be okay Laura. We’ll make it okay.”

  “Why are you doing this? Being so nice to me, taking on my problems without a thought?” Laura asked. She was surprised at how sad and defeated her voice sounded, as if she was accusing him of having motives other than his attraction to her.

  “Hey, hey,” Rick said, his voice dripping warmth and optimism. “You mean tall handsome strangers don’t always come to your rescue?”

  “Really Rick. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it,” said Laura, determined to get at the truth. “But I’ve got to know. Why are you willing to stick your neck out for me?”

  Rick paused, as if thinking about what to say, how to explain things. “You already know I’m attracted to you, but it’s more than that. The moment I saw you this morning the world seemed to stop.” Those sharp blue eyes of his were focused on her as he spoke, urging her to understand the depth of what he was saying. “I can’t explain why I feel as strongly about you as I do, but I promise if you give me time you’ll come to understand it. Just accept that I really care about you, and that I’m willing to do whatever I can to take the worry out of your life.”

  Laura’s eyes had widened as he spoke, stunned by the weight of the sentiment in his words, the passion in his voice. How had this ever happened, this handsome man with a seeming heart of gold falling for her like this? This kind of thing just didn’t happen to Laura, and she was unsure how to respond to such naked display of vulnerability.

  Sensing that she had been made slightly uncomfortable by his statement, Rick brought one of his hands to her face, cupping it gently. “You don’t have to say anything now, I know that was a lot to dump on you. Just understand that I meant every word.” He stood up, then took her hands and raised Laura to her feet. “Now let’s get out of here before it starts to cool off.”

  Laura dusted herself off as Rick got a container out of his rucksack and put their fish in it. He slipped the container back inside the pack and threw it over his broad shoulders, then motioned for her to follow him as he started back through the forest.

  Laura walked beside Rick quietly, her mind going over and over what Rick had said. Love at first sight was something for the movies, not something for her life. It was hard to believe he had meant what he’d said, but the sincerity in his voice and openness in his eyes had told her he was speaking truthfully.

  She wanted to believe him, wanted to accept this man at his word, but a part of her fought against the idea. The part of her that belonged in New York. The part of her that knew instinctively that many guys would say what they had to in order to seduce a woman, would play any game they thought might work. She knew thinking like this wasn’t fair to Rick, that he had been nothing but kind and helpful to her. Yet living in a big city had forced Laura to adopt this mindset to protect herself from people who would use her without a second thought.

  It was sad that this was what society had come to, that distrust of others was the natural state of affairs for many, but that didn’t change the facts. However, when Laura thought back to the look of shock on Rick’s face when he had first seen her, when she remembered the feeling in his eyes when he spoke to her, her heart cried out to her to believe him.

  Could it be true? Could she have chanced upon just the right guy at just the right time? The side of her that loved walking through the forest said so. And it was winning the argument.

  Their walk through the forest was mostly silent, Rick giving her the space she obviously needed to think about what he had said. His glances still warmed her as they walked, however, and his eyes still poured out his soul when they gazed into hers.

  The sun was near to setting by this point, and the temperature had started to drop. Laura’s legs hadn’t fully dried off yet, and she found herself starting to shiver slightly.

  Rick noticed right away and stopped, taking the backpack off his shoulders. He dug around inside for a minute before he pulled out a grey hoodie.

  “This is all I’ve got in here, and it definitely won’t fit, but it will help keep you warm,” he said, handing the sweater to her.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking the sweater from him and putting it on.

  To call it comically large would have been an understatement. She had to roll the sleeves back to so her hands showed, and the bottom of the sweater reached past her knees. Still, she felt warmer as soon as she put it on, both from the sweater itself as well as Rick’s continuing kindness.

  They soon arrived back in Rick’s backyard. The sun was a half circle sitting on top of the forest at this point, bathing the area in the warm red glow that only a rising or setting sun gives off.

  “You probably want to get back there and take a shower right about now I’d imagine,” Rick said, nodding towards the path to Joyce’s cabin. “What say you come back here in about an hour for dinner? We can’t let this fish go to waste…”

  “Why don’t you let me cook?” Laura asked, almost desperate to do something to repay Rick’s kindness. “You’ve been so good to me today, it’s the least I could do.”

  “You got food for cooking over there?” Rick asked, a wide smile on his face.

  Damn it. Laura had forgotten that the cupboards were mostly bare.

  “Well, there’s some slightly expired peanut butter I think…” she murmured with a bashful smile.

  “Mmmmmm, salmon and slightly expired peanut butter, just like mom used to make,” said Rick, licking his lips and looking upwards with a vacant cast to his eyes, as if he was already imagining it. “Don’t worry about it. I like doing things for you.”

  Laura supposed she shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, she was famished, and their trip today had meant that she hadn’t had time to go in to town to get some real food.

  “Alright,” she conceded. “If you’re sure it’s no trouble. And you’re right, a shower right now sounds perfect.”

  “Okay, be back here in an hour then,” he said, stepping close to her again. “And don’t be late.”

  He reached his hand out to her face and pulled her in for another kiss, letting it last longer this time than it had before. He kissed her like he meant everything he had said before, deep and long.

  When he pulled back, Laura put her hands on
his chest, half because she wanted to and half to make sure her knees didn’t give out. Like it or not, he was winning her over easily. His chest felt impossibly firm under her hands, and just having them there was giving her ideas.

  After a moment of looking up at him, she stepped back.

  “I won’t be late,” Laura said in a low voice. Rick smiled upon hearing it, as if he was hearing her start to accept his feelings for her.

  “Better not!” Rick said, giving her a light swat across the butt as she turned to leave.

  “Hey!” shouted Laura in mock indignation. “You have to cook a girl dinner before you smack her ass.”

  “Dammit, I knew I was forgetting something,” he responded, a mischievous grin splayed across his face.

  “See ya,” she said with one last glance over her shoulder. She just couldn’t get enough of looking at him.

  She turned for one more look back as she hit the edge of the trees, then started down the trail.

  As Laura followed the path back to Joyce’s place for the second time that day, she thought back about everything that had happened. Laura’s mistrustful side was losing out to her attraction for Rick handily, but there was still a small part of her that thought it couldn’t be true.

  It slowly dawned on her why that last little piece of resistance was important. Once she gave that up, once she accepted Rick at his word, she would be vulnerable. As long as she refused to acknowledge that Rick actually did care that much about her, he couldn’t hurt her. Well, not much anyway.

  But if she gave in, then her heart was on the line. Then suddenly it really really mattered that he was being honest. So that last little part of her fought on, refusing to accept what the rest of her already had.

  Laura wasn’t sure what it said about her that she was so afraid of allowing herself to be vulnerable to somebody. Maybe that was just the state of the world these days, or maybe part of her thought something about herself made her unworthy of love.

  She frowned when she came to this last thought, wondering if she could actually have internalized such a negative view of herself.

  She reached Joyce’s place then, walking briskly up the three steps and letting herself inside. She headed straight for the shower, shedding clothes as she went. The thought of standing under the hot water made her realize how frigid she had gotten.

  She stood standing in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection as she ran the water, waiting for it to heat up. She could see the two sides of herself in the reflection, and she wondered if this guarded part of her personality would be something she had to live with for the rest of her life. Could you just let something like that go? Something that was that deep, that integral to who you had become over years and years of living?

  The steam from the shower started to fog up the mirror then, masking the war being waged on her face. She slipped out of her underwear and stepped in, sighing as the warmth poured over her body.

  And she decided. She decided that she was no longer going to be controlled by the negative things that had happened in her past. She decided that she was more than the collection of things that had hurt her throughout her life. That she could let it all go. That she should let it all go.

  The water pushed the cold out of her bones slowly, and as it went she felt that reservoir of bitterness flow out with it. She imagined all the bad experiences that had ingrained her with this sense of suspicion washing off her until they swirled down the drain.

  She stayed in the shower for longer than was reasonable, but it just felt too good to leave. When she finally felt the water against her back cooling, she sighed and turned it off. Stepping out of the shower, she felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

  She wasn’t suspicious and cynical. She was who she chose to be.

  Chapter 5

  Laura dried off and got dressed in her room, her mind curiously free of thoughts. There was no point in overanalyzing these things she couldn’t control. Craig was in trouble, but she’d be heading back soon to help him. Rick cared about her and would help however he could. She accepted these things, smiling to herself.

  She felt different. Better.

  She pulled on a pair of black pants and a light blue shirt then went to the mirror and started combing her hair. She was going to look as good as she could for Rick tonight.

  As she combed out the still drying hair, she heard a car door close outside, then another one. Odd.

  Rick? He wouldn’t drive his truck over here to avoid walking 50 feet. So who?

  She set the comb down on the bed and started out to the living room when she heard footsteps on the short set of stairs leading to the front door. Rather than stopping and knocking, however, the door opened and two men strode in like they owned the place.

  Laura mentally kicked herself for leaving the door unlocked. She had been so lost in thought when she’d gotten back that she hadn’t even considered it.

  “Hey, what the hell is this?” Laura demanded, tone strong and challenging. She was proud of how steady she sounded.

  “You hear that Jim? She wants to know what this is,” said the first one. He was tall and thin, with a narrow face and cold gaze. His voice had that same Brooklyn accent as the scumbag who had come to her apartment in New York. Upon hearing it Laura’s stomach instantly tightened up.

  “You Laura? We’re here about your brother, Craig. He said you might be able to help us settle this little debt of his,” the second one told her. He was tall as well, but fat. That cold gaze was the same as the first guy, however.

  “What? I told that creep Vinny, Craig’s not my brother,” Laura said, still managing to sound unafraid. “He’s my roommate, and when you get what he owes I’d appreciate the back rent he owes me.”

  Something wasn’t right. Craig would have never told them that she was his sister, he’d known that they would try to use that against him. He certainly never would have told them where she was staying. A sense of dread filled her from head to toe.

  “Skip it honey, Craig told us everything,” said the skinny one. “All we need to do is figure out some kind of payment plan.”

  “What did you assholes do to Craig?” she shouted, anger overriding her sense of caution. “He never would’ve told you about this place.”

  “Oh, he told us lots hun,” said the chubby guy. “What did he say first, Tommy? Oh no, please no, please stop? Something like that.”

  Laura launched herself at him, fist lashing out and connecting right under his left eye. The man named Tommy immediately smashed her across the face with a backhand, knocking her to the floor.

  Laura’s head spun and it took her a second to focus again. When she looked up, Jim was rubbing his cheek where Laura had struck, smiling ruefully.

  “Jesus, this one’s got more fight than her damn brother!” he said, looking down at her.

  The thin one, Tommy, was also looking down at her, all trace of humanity gone from his face.

  “We’re going to get this sorted right here and now, or you’re never walking out of this cabin alive,” he snarled, pulling aside his jacket to reveal a pistol strapped around his hip.

  Rick watched Laura walk back toward Joyce’s place, both happy and disappointed with how things had gone. He supposed he couldn’t have really hoped for a better outcome. He’d laid his feelings bare to her, and could tell that she had mostly accepted it.

  Still, he could see that a little part of her still didn’t believe what he had said. He supposed it was only natural, since regular humans didn’t love at first sight like shifters did.

  Of course it had to happen like this. His mother had always told him that one day some girl would turn his life upside down, and he had always just scoffed at her. And here she was, his mother’s predictions come true, and damned if it didn’t look like things were about to get shaken up.

  Still, he’d meant what he said when he’d told her that he was glad she had walked into his life, even if it had to happen under circumstanc
es like this. Just spending the day with her had brought him a measure of contentment he had never known in his life. He was already looking forward to seeing her again.

  He smiled, thinking of the feeling of her hands pressed against his chest. It had felt good. Really good.

  When Laura had disappeared into the trees Rick grabbed his pack and headed back in to his cabin. He could use a shower as well, and he had to get the salmon prepared and in the oven.

  He decided to do the salmon first. With quick, practiced motions he pulled the container out of his backpack and prepared the things he would need.

  Working fast, he cleaned and gutted the fish, disposing of waste parts as he went. Then he seasoned each piece and added a touch of juice he squeezed out of a fresh lemon. Finally he wrapped each piece in tinfoil and set it in the oven at a low temperature.

  Having finished this, Rick quickly stripped down and got in the shower. Shifters tended to run hotter than regular humans, so he hadn’t gotten chilled like Laura had, but the hot water still felt good.

  He thought more about the dilemma that was his mate as he washed himself. Could he convince her to leave her life in the city behind? He knew for a fact that he couldn’t live in a place like New York. The animal inside him needed to be let out often enough, which meant that forests and open space were pretty much a requirement for him. Being around large groups of people for extended periods of time made him edgy and restless. There was no way he could deal with that on a permanent basis.

  But more importantly, was it even fair to try to get her to leave her life behind? What could he offer her out here in bumblefuck America? Rick lived frugally, working odd jobs and doing construction here and there. He didn’t need much to survive, and even after buying his cabin he still had a reasonable amount of savings from his departure from his clan up in Canada. Was this any kind of life for Laura?