Shifting Impulse: A BBW Bear-Shifter Romance (Complete Edition - Books 1-3)

by Aurora Woodlove

  "I'm Janet. What do you remember? Are you hurt?"

  Before the little girl could answer, the door opened with a loud creak and sturdy boots hit the wooden floor. Adler looked annoyed and dangerous. There was something about him that Janet hadn't seen before. She realized she'd never seen his animal so on edge.

  "My girls are awake," he announced. "That's great. Are you hungry?" he asked as if he hadn't tied them up and knocked them unconscious just a few hours before.

  "Really? Are you serious?" she lashed out.

  "I'm hungry, but if you ladies are not, that's just a shame. I even got pizza for all of us while we wait," he said as he signaled someone else to bring something in.

  Another mountain of a man came in with a dozen pizza boxes. "Where should I put these, boss?"

  He dismissed him with a superior attitude. "Just leave them there on the table."

  He sat on one of the chairs as if it was a regular Friday night. "I see you met your boyfriend's little girl. He was never serious about you, Janet. Look who was waiting for him to return."

  Janet was having a hard time keeping her blood pressure from going through the roof. "Wait, what? Whose girl?"

  His eyes were those of a possessed man. "Don't look at me like you don't know who I'm talking about. I saw you with him," through clenched teeth he hissed. "He dared touch what was mine. He has to pay for that."

  Janet was about to get off the bed and slap that cheating-macho grin off his face. "What are you talking about, you idiot? I'm not yours and we're done. I left your cheating-sorry-ass. Remember that? Now untie me and the little girl and let us go before I claw your eyes out."

  He only chuckled. "I'd love to see you try that, love. I've got better things to do and then the two of us can have a proper adult conversation. Just so you know, this is Sean's daughter. You were just a one night stand for him. Nothing more. You mean so much to him that he didn't even tell you that. Don't tell me you fell for him."

  Trying to make sense of the extra information she just got, Janet took a better look at Ellie, trying to see any signs of Sean in her. She couldn't though. It was too dark.

  "Why are you even doing this? You never really cared about me and on top of everything... you left me, Adler. Why did you suddenly come back?"

  "I have my reasons. The only thing I can tell you is someone should teach him to just mind his own business and I am that someone," he said as he tapped his fingers on the table. "Parker, untie them," he ordered in his regular tone. Janet even wondered if the man had heard the request. He must have been a shifter too because he had.

  Ellie refused to leave the bed, so Janet took it upon herself to get her some pizza and made sure she was fed.

  "I can do it," Ellie said as she grabbed the slice from Janet's hand. "Gammie doesn't let me eat pizza, but I love it. I like all pizzas if they have meat," she grinned as she munched.

  They were alone now, but that Parker guy was guarding them. All she could do was wait for help to come. Help also meant Sean, who she wasn't very keen on ever seeing again. If Ellie really was his daughter and all of what Adler had said was right, then she was in for another wave of disappointment and anger.

  Cold and especially exhausted after everything that happened over the past few days, Janet drifted off to sleep, not noticing how Ellie hugged her arm.

  Oppressive heat coated Janet's body so intensely she could barely stand it. Was she in an oven? She sure felt like it. All of a sudden her skin was acutely aware of the sweltering fever that threatened to consume her. She heard someone mumbling. She was jolted awake by the realization that Ellie was in distress.

  "Daddy, Daddy. Follow my voice, Daddy. Cabin. Forest. Clean air, Daddy," she mumbled as her whole body trembled in her sleep.

  The heat Janet had dreamed of feeling was her own combined with Ellie's. It had been more than a dream. It was the same pressure and heat waves pulsed through her body just like it happened when Sean was close to her. Was he close or was Janet just imagining it?

  When Janet felt Ellie's forehead, the action woke the little girl up. They stared into each other's alarmed eyes and almost jumped off the bed as the dark forest was brutally shaken by a bellow of fury and pain.

  "It's Daddy," Ellie grinned and tried to run for the door. Janet caught her in time and held her tight. "Wait, Ellie. It's dangerous."

  She struggled to free herself without any success. "But we're safe. Daddy is here for us."

  Janet stood her ground. "Wait, let him come in then."

  Ellie seemed to listen to Janet. They waited, but the noises only intensified and got closer. Janet wasn't sure of how many shifters were coming and it really freaked her out. Maybe Ellie was wrong. Maybe they were going to get killed.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Sean allowed the rage, frustration and the fir-scented air to trigger the shift. Waves of cool sweat. Agonizing pain in his reshaping muscles and bones. Thick hair that sprouted from his sensitive follicles. A brutal avalanche of feelings and sensations. Everything happened so fast and much more violently than it did when it was a regular shift. The blood-lust his bear craved would only be satisfied by punishing the shifters who did this. The shifters who had kidnapped both his daughter, Ellie and his mate, Janet.

  He and Dean had driven to New Ridge in search of Ellie, only to discover that his mother had been drugged into numbness and his daughter was missing. What enraged Sean even more than that was the connection to Janet. The shifter she reeked of before Sean marked her as his, probably her friend or mate or whatever he was to Janet, had been in his house and had laid his filthy hands on his daughter. The most precious being he'd sworn to protect with his own life.

  The two shifters had driven back to North Bloom Lake to find Janet and get some answers out of her. He just couldn't believe he'd left his guard down so much that this could happen. He blamed himself for what had happened and betrayal hurt like hell. She had some serious explaining to do. Sean and Dean couldn't understand what was happening. Who would want to hurt him like this? Maybe his father's killer was back. Maybe hunters he'd ruined trips for when he scared away the animals they intended to hunt.

  However they looked at the past few days, they just couldn't find a logical answer. All they had was the connection to Janet. They arrived at the hotel Sean where had stayed around four p.m.

  Sean could smell Janet's vanilla aroma everywhere. It was also combined with the smell he found in his house. The conversation with the hotel receptionist didn't offer any hints, so Shifting Impulse was their next and only other location to try. She wasn't there. In fact, she hadn't shown up for work that afternoon. Monday was inventory day and they started earlier so many employees were buzzing around the place. Janet's boss, Matt, gave them a phone number. He said Ryan was very close to Janet and they should ask him.

  As his bear rushed through the forest, tuning into the noises of the forest and focusing on the connection to Ellie, the human part replayed the conversation he had with Ryan over and over in his head. The conscious part of his human brain, anyway. He'd sensed he was talking to a shifter the moment the guy picked up, so he didn't bother with formalities. He just asked him straight ahead if Janet had any other connection with shifters. He even asked him if he had kidnapped his daughter. That was how he found out about Janet's ex-boyfriend, Adler, the arrogant lion shifter. What he hadn't asked was if she knew about shifters. How stupid he had been not to ask! It was vital information and he'd just forgotten about it.

  Ryan seemed honestly concerned about Janet and had even used his own resources to find her. Sean was glad to see what great friends she had.

  In his bear form, Sean was even more connected to his daughter. He could sense her nearby. She was somewhere in this town. She was also sleeping, so her still-unknown inner animal was more vigorous and stable. Being this young, only four years old, made her incapable of changing. The first change was usually around eleven or even twelve for bear shifters. For other shifters it was different. Nobody kn
ew what genes his daughter had inherited, either his bear genes or her grandmother's panther genes. What they knew for sure was that unless her human genes were dominant enough to suppress the animal genes, she would turn out a shifter.

  Regardless of her abilities, the father-daughter connection and their shifter genes helped them have a bond that couldn't be broken. Distance could weaken it, but nothing could ever destroy it. They could sense each other and if they tuned in, the stronger shifter could even find the other one. This was tough for Sean because he'd never had to do it. They communicated through this link when they were separated, so he knew if she was safe or what was happening. That was how he'd found out about her disappearance. He'd felt her unusual level of distress in his sleep. Still holding a naked Janet in his arms, Sean had been jolted awake by his daughter's distress. Her scream still echoed in his head even now and his bear's anxiety was pushed to its limits.

  Pulse racing, Sean's bear and Ryan's friends, Leon and Alex - both in their bear form- together with Dean and Ryan in their human form, darted between the trees, following the smells and Sean's silent directions as he silently communicated with his daughter. It was late at night when they finally found the cabin nestled deep into the pine forest.

  Darkness covered everything, but their eyes adapted easily. The place reeked of shifters. Not only the one who'd kidnapped Ellie, others too. Three more.

  Shifters in their animal forms patrolled the forest. Wolves.

  As soon as the bears got closer, they were detected and long howls gave away their position. That was the wolves' only advantage. They were three against three bears. Anyone could guess how that was going to end.

  The bears separated and soon a helpless yelp signaled that one of the wolves was down. As fierce as the second wolf fought, it was no match for Alex's razor-sharp claws and it went flying into the trunk of a massive fir-tree.

  Still stalking the third wolf, Sean had a strange feeling of being watched. As he turned in that direction, a huge dark shape leapt out of a bush and landed right onto his back. The sting of its teeth and claws around Sean's neck was enough for the bear to shake the wolf off his back by slamming its body onto the ground. The bear's heavier body crushed the wolf and it was all over.

  Stupid rogues for sure. Wolves were a threatening match when they were in large groups, but on their own they were as vulnerable as any animal.

  The bears regrouped and went in search of Ryan and Dean.

  Sean's bear stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of his target, the smug lion shifter who'd taken the most important people in his life. He was going to pay. Sean charged, but his bear wasn't able to move. What held him there, stunned by what his body was experiencing, was the invisible wall in front of him that Ryan projected. The strength worthy of an Alpha. Like Sean's father had been. Sean had Alpha blood running through his veins too, but the choice to ignore it was one he'd made long ago.

  "Stop," Ryan roared with an inhuman sounding voice and the others obeyed.

  Sean's memories of the night he couldn't remember about assaulted his mind and his human side took the bear's body. He was naked and on his knees, trembling as the encounter replayed in his mind. The lion shifter had attacked him out of nowhere. They'd tumbled down the side of the mountain, clawing at each other's skin until the animal had changed into a human to stop the attack. Sean wasn't a man-eater. The other shifter had warned him to stay away from Janet because she was his and disappeared. Why would his bear hide this from him? Our mate. The animal showed him the words. Of course, the bear was on a mission to get his mate and nothing could stop it, not even reality.

  "Oh, look who decided to show up. It took you boys quite some time to figure this one out," Adler sneered as if he was the king of the world.

  "I knew you were bad for her, but I never imagined you'd do something as idiotic as this. What's in it for you, you piece of shit?" Ryan roared.

  His face contorted as he laughed. "For me? It's sweet revenge, this motherfucker took what was mine. Janet is mine and he shouldn't have touched her. I warned him, but he just didn't get it. Told him to stay away from her, but he just ignored my warning and went and slept with her."

  "She is my mate. You treated her like she was worthless and now that she found someone else you want her back?" Sean's voice was icy calm and really threatening.

  "I never said I wanted her back. The bitch can't give me what I need, but that doesn't mean she isn't mine. My problem is not Janet. It's you, motherfucker. My orders are to kill you."

  "Whose orders? You realize you're surrounded and you'll be dead sooner than you can say the shortest word ever?" Sean reminded him as he advanced towards the lion shifter and grabbed his neck, lifting him in the air.

  "I'm not going to ask again. Whose orders?"

  "The council's orders. I don't know why, but they want the strongest shifters eliminated," Adler said as he coughed from the pressure around his neck and pointed towards Ryan. "Like his mother..." His gaze returned to Sean "...and your father. You know, Alpha material shifters."

  When she heard Sean's voice that close, Janet came running out of the cabin. "Please don't kill him. I know he doesn't deserve to live after what he did, but he didn't hurt us. So please, just let him go, Sean."

  Sean hesitated and that was all the lion shifter needed. One moment he was a man and the second he was an animal on four legs running away. Only he wasn't as lucky as he'd believed himself to be. Alex and Leon were on his tracks, heavy paws pounding on the moist forest floor.

  Sean's bear was triggered the moment the lion took off and the man couldn't control his change. Stuck in his bear form and unable to decide either to stay and find his daughter or to go after the motherfucker, he huffed.

  Ellie's little feet took her to the huge grizzly bear in front of her. She didn't care about all the blood on the bear's fur. The bear with the eyes as blue as the summer sky lay down on the ground, waiting for the little girl to approach. Out of the four bears in front of the cabin, she knew exactly which one was her father.

  "Daddy, you're here!" she whispered as she embraced the bear's thick, wide neck. "You found me," she cooed. "Good bear, good bear," she whispered as she stroked its coarse chocolate fur. She turned her head in Janet's direction and grinned with satisfaction. "See, Janet? I told you he's on his way."

  Janet was just standing on the little porch of the cabin, stunned by the violent scene she'd just witnessed. She knew about shifters, of course, but she'd never seen one really attack someone.

  The fact that she'd been saved by the guys and Sean and Dean mattered a lot, but she still couldn't forget that he was the reason she'd been kidnapped in the first place. His abandonment was the cause for the growing hole in her heart. The fact that he hadn't trusted her and hadn't mentioned his daughter to her was another thing that bugged her.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  After it was over, Ellie climbed on her father's back and stayed there all the way back down the mountain. Alex and Leon went back to their place so that left Dean, Ryan and Janet to walk through the forest till they reached their cars.

  Ryan headed home and Dean took the three of them to Janet's place. Ellie drifted to sleep as soon as she found a comfortable position in her father's arms so the ride had been silent. None of them knew what to say anyway.

  Once inside the safety of her house, Janet showed Sean the way to her spare bedroom and she watched him as he gently tucked his daughter in bed. He clearly loved her so much.

  "Let's go," he said as he headed to the door. "I have to talk to you."

  Once they were alone in the living room, Janet sat on the old leopard-print couch she loved. Sean didn't sit down, but paced around the room, not saying anything.

  "Just spit it out and get it over with, Sean. It's better for both of us. You don't want me, I get it. I'm broken goods. You have a daughter you haven't told me about because I'm just a one night stand. Again, I get it. Anything else?"

  Running his fingers through hi
s hair for the millionth time, he huffed and turned to face her.

  "You're not broken goods to me. You mean way more to me than you'll ever understand, but I am a shifter and I saw your horrified expression when you saw me. Once the shock of finding out I'm a shifter wears off, you'll want nothing to do with me. I've been through this before. My ex, Monica, did the same thing when she found out what I was. The disgust on her face broke me, Janet. It almost destroyed me when she told me she wanted to have an abortion just so she wouldn't have an animal's baby. To this day I don't know how I managed to convince her to keep the baby and give her up to me once she was born so she could walk away. You don't know how long how many years I avoided women and focused only on work. And then bang, I met you and I couldn't stay away anymore."

  Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. "I knew from the moment I met you."

  Confusion marred his serious expression. "What did you know?"

  "What you are. I have shifter friends, Sean. I even had a shifter boyfriend because I was curious what it was like. I've dreamed about meeting someone like you ever since I was a teenager and I saw the guys change into freaking bears. I thought it'd just been an illusion that shifters were kind people after I found out Adler cheated on me, but then you came along and proved me wrong. And then you left. You just freaking left me in a hotel room. Do you even know what that feels like? Do you know how cheap I felt... I still feel?"

  As if he hadn't even heard the last part of the conversation, Sean shook his head and groaned. "You knew what I was? And you still wanted me?"

  She lifted her legs and pulled them to her chest, embracing them like she was putting a barrier between them. "Yes, it was stupid of me to think that. I knew you only used women for sex, but I still wanted you and now I feel just like a cheap prostitute you used," she said as she looked at the floor, averting her eyes from his intense stare.