Primal Bear (Shadowlands Bear Shifters Book 1)

by Olivia Harp

  I have to find a way to escape, she thought. The Shadowbear above roared in anger again. No. There’s no way I can outrun them.

  She could smell the animal now, its muzzle dripping black slobber onto her car seat. The thing had clawed her car apart, hitting the windshield twice with such ease that it wouldn’t take long for it to get her.

  It’s your end, Zoe. This is as far as you go. And you couldn’t even tell him how you felt.

  ***

  Damien was engaged in battle against this dark being. Nothing like this had ever come from the Shadowlands, and it was strange that it waited for Zoe to return. Why? It had been an ambush but now he knew it wasn’t for him. The Shadowbear he was fighting with was just a diversion. The bigger bear was focused on Zoe’s car, reaching for her.

  He had to end this soon, had to give her a chance to flee. He had to kill them even if they got him. It didn’t matter, nothing mattered but Zoe.

  He roared again and faked a leap forward, his enemy falling for it, turning aside, finally giving Damien an opening, and he didn’t hesitate. He raised his claws and went for its head, both claws hitting it hard enough to drop him down. He could finish him now, but it would take precious seconds, and there was no time to waste.

  He ran to Zoe like a lightning bolt, the dire Shadowbear about to hit the windshield for a third time, and with such force as to finally tear it down. You’ll die for this, you fuckers, he thought as he roared and leaped against the thing. The dire bear tried to raise his guard but it was too late.

  Damien hit it hard on the side and dropped him from the car’s hood. Damien took an instant to look inside and saw Zoe, in her eyes an immeasurable fear, finding him, almost tearing up in her helplessness. A blinding fury rose up inside of him. They had done this to his mate and now they were going to pay for it.

  The dire bear tried to get up but Damien jumped over him, his claws tearing and ripping apart its muddy skin. He roared and the huge monster roared back. Damien went for its throat but got hit on his side, falling to the ground. It was the first Shadowbear, the one he left to die, its gash patched up, its skin dripping black goo. The dire bear got up, its wounds sewing themselves in front of his eyes.

  He saw a puddle of blood beneath him, he hadn’t felt the dire bear hitting back when he was above it, and the dripping bear’s claws had done even more damage. He clasped his jaw: if he was going to die, he was going to take them with him.

  Both of the monsters came to him, the big one behind, limping. Damien had done him much hurt and it roared and screamed each time his claws hit him. He was sure they felt pain, and its wounds may stitch back together, but the recovery wasn’t instantaneous. I have to kill them fast, before they can recover. It’s the only way. Both bears were in front of him. Then Zoe screamed.

  And another claw ripped his back open.

  He roared in pain and saw another enemy behind him. His heart raced, where did it come from? The dripping bear jumped forward and threw Damien to the ground, claws sinking in his skin. He could see its red eyes glowing with pleasure. They were going to feast on him. Damien looked farther back and saw Zoe inside her car, looking at him, her face full of fear. The dire bear on its hind legs, trying to pry open the passenger’s car.

  He saw her anguish. She wasn’t afraid of any of the monsters around her. He saw in her eyes and recognized that she was afraid for him. Another claw hit him in the head, red hot blood pouring down to the dirt.

  He saw she was scared that they were going to kill him. In the midst of all the danger, surrounded by shadow beasts, a huge Shadowbear trying to open the door to her car to reach in and rip her apart, she was afraid for him.

  No.

  No he wasn’t going to let them win. He tried to yell “No” but a monstrous, thunderous roar came out instead, and he felt his body tearing itself apart. He felt his skin turning and his claws and fangs growing, each of his muscles boiling hot, an unmatched ferocity inside him. Suddenly, there was only one thought inside.

  Protect my mate.

  ***

  Zoe felt the air around her change. What was a rotten stench coming from everywhere turned into a cool breeze, blowing leaves around. The Shadowbear at her side, less than a yard away turned to Damien. Its roar the loudest sound she’d ever heard.

  Back there, she saw a colossal grizzly, double—or triple—the size of Damien’s bear, what happened? She saw the wounds and gashes in his head and side and recognized him. It’s Damien. He had turned into something else: a beautiful specimen, a tremendous Grizzly, a huge Bear who roared again and in its roar his enemies cowered.

  In one movement he struck the sneaky bear—the one who hit him from behind—on the side of the head. It went flying and right there, while it was still on the air, Damien hit it again on its back, dropping it instantly to the ground. The monster cried and tried to get up but couldn’t, its hind legs motionless.

  Damien stepped towards the dripping bear, who seconds ago was so sure of its victory. It was drawing back now, its glowing eyes shifting around, trying to find an escape route.

  Now you know fear, Zoe thought, the dire bear outside her car snarling at the sight.

  The dripping bear’s goo fell on the ground, but no longer changed it. The black liquid turned into a gray, ashy rock when it touched the earth. Damien stepped towards it and the dripping bear jumped at him. Bad decision. Damien got on its hind legs and hit it so hard that its claws almost ripped it in two. Its glowing eyes were gone, vanishing in a second. He hit the ground with a soft cry, unmoving. It was dead.

  Zoe’s monstrous bear roared and tried to run back to the forest, but Damien was not only bigger and stronger, he was faster. He got to it in a flash and pushed it against a tree. The bark no longer turning into something rotted and diseased. This was nature fighting back. The big, horrible beast bellowed, it knew it was over, and Damien finished him.

  Everything had happened in just a few minutes. But to Zoe it had been an eternity. The sneaky bear was crawling on its front legs, its canines and claws still holding on to fury, looking at her, coming to take her if it was the last thing it ever did.

  There was another pick-up truck coming down from the mountain. She recognized it, she’d seen it before, parked in the headquarters area.

  It stopped and the guys came running.

  “Holy fuck!” Maverick said, looking at the monster beast crawling to her car.

  She saw their eyes start to turn black, all of them starting to shift but a huge roar stopped them.

  Everyone, including her, turned their eyes to Damien. Walking calmly back to them.

  “Ho-ly fu—” Franklin said, his mouth hanging open, unable to complete the sentence.

  “It’s the Primal Bear,” said Enzo, his eyes wide with wonder, Zoe could see goose bumps on his skin. “He saved Zoe!”

  Damien roared and ignored everyone, walking straight to the last enemy.

  “It’s Damien,” Maverick said, his tone serious. Surprise never leaving his green eyes.

  The sneaking bear roared, it had a hateful look, it wanted to fight. It wanted to kill. The Primal Bear, Damien, pressed a paw on its body and growled. His soft growl grew to a roar and then turned into thunder. A shockwave exploded from him, washing everything around. In a second, the monsters’ bodies became dust and smoke, disappearing in the air.

  The leaves, the trees, the grass, the bushes. Everything in the forest became greener, healthier, not a single molecule of Rot avoiding extinction.

  Then there was silence.

  The sunbeams came through the trees, a cool breeze flowed. Birds chirped merrily.

  Then Damien fell, breathing hard. No one said a word.

  Zoe was the first to act, trying to open the door beside her but it was stuck, she looked to the other one and it would probably be the same, destroyed when the bear first struck the car. So she kicked the damaged windshield once, twice, and on the third time it flew open.

  She saw the guys coming to help her bu
t she ran past them and went to the ground with her bear, with Damien.

  “Damien!” she said in tears, holding his head, “wake up, please!”

  The Primal Bear started to turn back into man. Its fur retracting into skin, jaws and muzzle becoming human-like. Then he was there. Damien, covered in wounds. The crew silently watched, sadness in their eyes.

  “Damien,” she said, “I came back for you, don’t leave me!”

  She held him, her tears dropping to his face, talked to him.

  “Remember when I said you convinced me to go back to the road? Back when we first met. You told me that there was nothing for me to find here that I couldn’t find somewhere else. But you were lying, because I found you. I found you and I won’t let you go, understand? I won’t let you go.” Her face was now covered in tears, it wasn’t fair, why did it have to happen this way? She kissed him, a soft kiss on his lips, “I love you, Damien, please don’t leave me.”

  But there was no answer. For a second.

  Then he coughed, and Zoe couldn’t contain her happiness. “Damien, just hold it there, we’re going to bring help! You’re going to be—”

  “No, no,” he interrupted her, “keep talking to me, you know I love it when you say cheesy stuff like that,” he laughed.

  “Oh you, you, you—”, but couldn’t hold herself and had to kiss him again and again, smiling, “I thought you we’re dying,” she said.

  He stroked her hair, “I think I was, but then I heard you and had to come back, I’m never leaving you... I love you.”

  They kissed again, a sweet, deep, warm kiss that could last forever. They held each other, their hearts racing, this time not out of fear, but out of delight.

  Chapter 16

  The night came fast, and the crew was still half astonished about what occurred earlier. Zoe was unharmed, if a little scared, but the fear quickly went away while in the company of Damien. He was now beaming, she could feel his strength washing over her, and she could see the crew felt the same way.

  Damien had arranged for people to come pick up the damaged car, “The suits were going to fix it, I told them we needed another one entirely. Which one do you want?” he said.

  She said she just wanted her car fixed, but he didn’t budge. He said her car would be damaged anyway if she used it frequently on the trail. Besides, to the White Paws, money was never a problem. Any car she chose would be a drop in the bucket.

  She didn’t want to start the relationship with her man buying her a new car, but he didn’t see it that way. To him, it was a thing that needed replacement and that was it.

  “It’s just an object, don’t worry about it,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she finally relented.

  “For what? You came back and the things destroyed it, I am the one who’s sorry, I promise I will never let anything bad happen to you.”

  Damien looked different now, he irradiated a certain power, he even looked sexier —something she didn’t imagine could be possible— and when they were done with the debriefing and alerting the other crews in the nearby mountains, he gathered the crew and said “What about that deer? I’m hungry as ever.”

  They laughed and got everything ready for the evening.

  Franklin gathered wood for the bonfire, while Enzo and Damien prepared the deer. It was a messy process and they did it out of Zoe’s sight, they didn’t want her to see them butchering an animal right after what happened.

  Maverick and Zoe prepared the grill and all the other side dishes.

  After the meal, everyone got in their seats, enjoying the evening, the beers were cold, the air was cool and she found the arms of Damien the coziest place she’d been in her life. Maverick brought his guitar and started strumming sweet tunes, folk mixed with some country, Franklin singing here and there.

  “How do you feel?” Damien asked her.

  She turned to him, warm in his arms, “Being out here with you, in the middle of the woods, you holding me like this is exactly what I needed. I feel great.”

  “Despite everything that happened?”

  “That was nothing,” she said, “everything is perfect. Except for Franklin’s voice, the man can’t sing for his life.”

  They all laughed out loud, Franklin most of all, “I’m kidding!” she said, “I’m kidding, you know you’re a great singer.”

  “You’re actually right, ma’am, I know I sing like an angel.”

  They continued for a while, talking about this and that. The conversation turned to the day’s events, Damien narrating everything that happened, how everything was normal and in a heartbeat he knew there was trouble.

  “They were coming for her,” he told them, “damn cowards.”

  “You know, that’s what I don’t get,” Maverick said, then looked at Zoe, “why did they want you? That sorta thing never happened before—”

  “Because she’s his mate,” Enzo interrupted, everyone turning to him.

  “So? What do they have to gain killing—” he caught himself, he didn’t want to say that word, “—err, going for her?”

  “We all saw him, he is primal bear. They are destined mates,” as he said it, Damien’s arms held Zoe tighter, he knew it was the truth.

  “She helped him. It was fate they met. Their presence sent ripples to the Shadowlands. The monsters had to act right away. That’s why they wanted her since the beginning, when they met down by the creek. They knew they had no chance against Damien —or any of us— if his bear became the legendary shifter.”

  “So... that means they won’t come back?” Zoe asked.

  “Well... I don’t know if they can. All the specimens I gathered turned to ash, even this far up. You all saw the creatures, and the rot at their feet, they just vanished into ash.”

  “All thanks to you,” Damien told Zoe, kissing her in the cheek.

  “But I didn’t do anything.”

  “You did everything Zoe, you gave me the strength to fight back when it was impossible, when I saw you in danger there was no other thing I wanted to do.”

  “There were three of them,” said Franklin, “you saw their size? They were champions, they were masters on their own land, they set up an ambush and even then they got their asses handed to them.”

  “All right,” Damien said, “it’s getting late guys, we got work to do tomorrow.”

  Everyone agreed and started cleaning the area. After a few minutes they were finished and going to their cabins, taking venison meat for aging.

  Damien and Zoe walked in the moonlight, holding hands in silence, enjoying the weather, the breeze, and each other’s company.

  “I love being with you,” Damien said, “we can talk about a million things, and we can just walk without saying a word, and everything still makes sense.”

  He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead, “You are everything I wanted, what I never knew I needed, Zoe... I love you.”

  She gave him a thousand pecks on his lips, saying “I love you, I love you” every time. He laughed with her, holding her.

  “Now, if I recall correctly,” he said, “we were in the middle of something when we were interrupted.”

  She blushed, “Damien, are you sure? Aren’t you hurt?”

  “Let me see how hurt I am”, he said, and he grabbed her hand and placed it in his thigh, his cock hard and ready, she got turned on instantly.

  “Oh, poor man,” she said, “this needs to be taken care of, we just can’t let you carry on living like this!”

  He carried her in his arms and jokingly sprinted toward his cabin, both laughing like never before. They couldn’t wait to start their lives together. This was happiness.

  ***

  — One Year Later —

  Zoe had her feet on the cool water. Birds chirped around her on this warm, quiet afternoon. This had become her favorite place, sitting on the circular rock, just out of the trees’ shadows.

  It was the spot where she first met Damien. The stream carried more wate
r: it was the beginning of spring, ice melted and came down from the mountaintops.

  She knew the forest much, much better now. Damien taught her, and she was free to go and explore. He would tell her all kinds of stories, legends about shifters and humans, their place in the world... she loved the way he talked, and there was still so much more to learn.

  Right now, she enjoyed being on her own. The guys were doing their rounds and she had to finish her work. Her little enterprise had more than a dozen clients, including two biggish companies. She had managed to make it grow to eight people. Not bad for a girl running from a city she didn’t belong, living out in the woods, going to town for meetings and important matters only.

  She smiled, life was good, after all.

  She opened her small backpack, took her home-made sandwich and started unwrapping it. She had books, an mp3 player and some other goodies with her. The quiet of the place gave her peace. She remembered how she felt when she first arrived: stressed, turmoil inside, the future a scary mystery.

  Now that she found her man—someone she could always count on, no matter what—it was impossible not to think back and shiver. Everything had changed so much. She always felt she had to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. Now she finally had some time to breathe, to enjoy life.

  “It’s not really recommended to hike through this parts alone, you know that, right?” Damien said, taking her out of her thoughts.

  He was walking towards her, carrying a backpack. Those deep blue eyes gleaming as they did every time he looked at her, and that smile... it made her heart race.

  “Good thing this is a free country, and I can do whatever I want,” she answered smiling.

  “Well, you can... but what if you encounter a bear?”