The Clawed Squad: Royal (The Bear Shifters of Clawed Ranch Book 2)

by Kim Fox

  Contents

  Copyright

  About

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Epilogue

  Bonus Chapter

  More Books by Kim Fox

  The Clawed Squad:

  Royal

  The Bear Shifters of Clawed Ranch Book Two

  By KIM FOX

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  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Contains explicit love scenes and adult language.

  18+

  www.AuthorKimFox.com

  Copyright © 2016 by Kim Fox

  Grizzly bear shifter, Royal, needs a princess. Unfortunately the tiny mountain town of Colwood, Montana is fresh out of them. Every bear shifter in the Clawed Squad must find a mate, and soon, and the pressure on Royal to drop his dream of marrying a princess is starting to get intense. It’s too bad there’s no way in hell that he’s ever going to drop it.

  Camilla Hill is a master con artist. She gets in way over her head during a con when she pretends to be a princess in need and catches the eye of a sexy bear shifter. He’s hot, dangerous, and has a thing for princesses. Can she tell him the truth before things quickly spin out of control?

  Love is in the air, but so is deception, lies, and betrayal. Will the prince get his princess or just get royally screwed?

  As usual, HEA, no cheating, and mature language.

  one

  “Hey look, it’s Prince Farming,” Slate said with a laugh.

  Royal chuckled and shook his head as he carried two large bags of cattle feed, one under each arm, to the new barn. One hundred head of cattle were being delivered later in the week and it was Royal’s job to get the barn ready. It was just installed; a top of the line hoop barn with a roof made out of fabric.

  “How about you guys cut the wisecracks and come help me out?” Royal said, narrowing his brown eyes on them. The five other members of the Clawed Squad were lounging around the campfire drinking beer and laughing in the warm afternoon sun.

  “Nah, we’re good,” Karl said, taking a long gulp of his beer.

  Royal moaned as he licked his dry lips. Man, that beer looks good.

  “Let’s help him out, boys,” their alpha, Thorn said, standing up from his chair. “We’re still a team.”

  The boys let out a collective groan as they got up. They were no longer the vicious fighting squad of bear shifters that they once were, but when the alpha said move, they still moved. They each walked over to the mountain of bags piled up by the trucks and grabbed two each. Except for Stetson the enormous polar bear shifter who grabbed four.

  The Clawed Squad were an elite military group of bear shifters who had spent the past seven years traveling around the world and fighting on dangerous missions. That was all in the past, though. They had hung up their guns and bullet proof vests in exchange for shovels and gardening gloves.

  They had recently acquired four thousand acres of a beautiful Montana ranch from their friends, and now neighbors, the Vega brothers after doing them a favor. It had sounded great at first, living off the land, having a home, and just being free after seven tough years in the military, but Royal and the boys were starting to learn a real lesson:

  Killing was easy. Farming was hard.

  “That’s a lot of food,” Tyler said as he grabbed two bags.

  “We have a lot of cattle coming this week,” Thorn said. “A hundred head. We’ll be a real ranch soon.”

  “So,” Slate said with a grin. “Does anyone know anything about cattle?”

  The boys all looked at each other as silence hung between them. “We’ll figure it out,” Royal said. How hard could it be?

  They walked in silence to the barn and Royal took the opportunity to look around and admire the spectacular scenery. The Clawed Squad’s new ranch that they finally agreed to name Clawed Ranch, was four thousand gorgeous acres of pristine forest, trout-filled rivers, sparkling lakes and rolling pastures in the middle of beautiful Montana. It had breathtaking views of snow-capped mountains in the distance and the crisp smell of Big Sky Country’s fresh clean air.

  They dumped the heavy bags of feed in the barn and headed back for more. “A wheelbarrow would be nice,” Karl said.

  Karl’s identical twin, Slate, laughed. “Or a tractor. What kind of shitty ranch is this? It doesn’t even have any equipment.”

  “Who needs equipment?” Thorn asked. “When we have shifter power?” He held up his arm and flexed his large bicep.

  Royal nodded. It was hard work but it felt nice to do something physical. The hot sun was beating down on his bare shoulders and he was quickly dreaming of the cool river that he could hear gurgling in the distance. I’m going for a swim in there after for sure.

  The door of Stetson’s cabin slammed shut and Royal turned and saw Kylee, the latest member of the Clawed Squad rush out in her Sheriff’s uniform. She ran over, holding the little mound of her pregnant belly, and reached up on her tippy toes to give her mate and husband, Stetson, a kiss on his lips.

  “I’d love to help but I gotta go,” she said. “I’m late for work.”

  “Hey, Kylee,” Thorn called out as she rushed to the police cruiser parked beside the trucks. “Any leads on the missing mayor?”

  “Nope,” she said with a wink. “Rumor has it that he fled to south East Asia because of some tax fraud that he was hiding.”

  “Good,” Thorn said with a nod. “Let’s hope that he stays there.”

  Royal glanced up at the tallest Absaroka mountain in the distance. Royal and Tyler had buried the dead mayor up there where nobody could find him. Stetson had killed him after he tried to kill his mate, Kylee.

  She jumped in her police cruiser and waved as she sped off down the gravel road towards the main road.

  Stetson was watching the cloud of dust settle with his hands on his hips. He sighed contently. “Isn’t she the best?”

  “Besides her horrible taste in men,” Slate said, “she’s pretty cool.”

  Royal chuckled. Kylee was really cool and it was nice to have a woman around camp. The boys made more of an effort to clean up their beer cans and wear pants, which was always nice.

  “It’s just so great having a mate,” Stetson said with little hearts in his eyes. “You guys should really try to find your mates.”

  Royal groaned. Not this shit again.

  The Vega brothers had given them four thousand acres of their family ranch but what the Clawed Squa
d didn’t know was that there was a stipulation in the deed that said all owners must get married and take on a mate within a year or the ranch would be transferred to the state of Montana. The Vega brothers’ father had slipped that into his will so that his stubborn boys would be forced to take on mates. He had never intended it to transfer over to the Clawed Squad but it did. Now all six of them were forced to find mates or both the Clawed Squad and the Vega brothers would lose their properties. It was a mess.

  Royal didn’t want to take on a mate but he was in the minority. The twins, Slate and Karl, were already signed up to a dating website called The Bride Guide, and Tyler was always willing to help out the squad no matter what the price. Royal could tell that Thorn wasn’t ready to take on a new mate. He was still suffering from the death of his old mate but he was trying to stay neutral. Finding a mate would be good for the team and Thorn always did what was good for the squad.

  “It feels amazing to be in love,” Stetson said, still staring at the empty road. The cloud of dust had settled but he was still transfixed on the spot as if he didn’t want to move his eyes in the rare hope that she would come back. “I feel like my heart is going to burst, it’s so full.”

  Royal picked up a large bag of feed and tossed it at him, hitting him in the back. “Bring this up to the barn before your heart explodes, will ya?”

  Stetson turned with a frown. “Out of all of us, you could benefit the most from a mate.”

  Royal just shook his head. Will they ever fucking stop?

  “You should really open your heart to all women,” Stetson said. “Drop that whole princess obsession.”

  Royal snatched two heavy bags up with a snarl. “You’re the one who should drop it,” he snapped. He spun on his heels and marched up to the barn leaving the boys behind him.

  Royal’s real name was Ivan Maltese and he was a real, legitimate prince from Malderanian. His family was true royalty but the day that Ivan turned sixteen his incompetent, greedy royal family got driven out of their country by an angry mob. Ivan escaped to America where he eventually got recruited into the Clawed Squad, joining Thorn and his crew. He hadn’t been back to his home country since and had severed all ties with his corrupt family. Some things were unforgivable, and letting your own people starve to buy yet another solid gold Ferrari was one of them. That was just a few of the things that his parents, the King and Queen, indulged on before they got banished by their countrymen for good.

  Royal put all of that behind him and was just trying to bring a little bit of honor back to his family name when he had gotten arrested for beating up a drug dealer. He was thrown into jail and that’s where General Samson, from the Special Shifter Unit, had found him and forced him to fight with the Clawed Squad.

  “We’re going to lose the ranch,” Stetson called out from behind him. “It’s time to move on. Find a sweet girl and settle down.”

  Royal just shook his head and picked up the pace. He really wasn’t ready for a bride. He had renounced and disowned his greedy family, cutting them off for good. He had rejected his royal stature and left his home country forever. His nickname was the only thing linking him to his noble heritage.

  That and the fact that he always wanted to marry a princess.

  Royal knew it was stupid and selfish and totally unreasonable but he had it in his mind growing up that he would be marrying a princess and he didn’t want to settle for anything less. Maybe it had been his mother in his ear who had always promised him that she would find a beautiful princess for him to marry or maybe he had watched too many Disney movies, but the fact was that he wasn’t about to take on a mate and marry any girl who didn’t have royal blood like himself.

  Where am I going to find a princess out here? He sighed as he looked around at the large mountains and lush forest. It wasn’t like Colwood, Montana was overflowing with them.

  Let that go, he told himself. It’s never going to happen. Just settle down with a nice, normal girl.

  But deep down he knew that he wouldn’t settle for anything less than a princess.

  He dumped the two bags of feed onto the pile and ducked under the fabric ceiling into the barn. It looked great. Royal didn’t know the first thing about raising cattle but he was excited to learn. The boys had separated the ranch jobs amongst themselves and Royal was in charge of the cattle. Stetson was in charge of cooking, fishing, and camp maintenance, Tyler was in charge of getting the stables built and then taking care of the horses that they would eventually get, the twins were in charge of setting up the gardens and business development, and Thorn was in charge of overseeing everything and helping out where he was needed.

  After a life of turmoil; fleeing from his home country, moving around, never having a home, getting thrown in jail, and then being forced to fight in the military for seven harrowing years, Royal would finally be able to settle down and have a real life. He sighed. If he decided to take on a mate. If he didn’t they would all be back on the streets, including the Vega brothers.

  “Nice Kingdom,” Slate said as he followed Royal into the barn. “Is the prince satisfied with his castle?”

  Royal smirked. “I don’t remember ordering a jester.”

  “I thought princes were supposed to be in the castle not working in the field,” Karl said, looking around.

  Royal shook his head and chuckled. He knew that the boys were just joking around and if it came down to it, any of the members of the Clawed Squad would take a bullet for him. He knew that because they all did in the past, multiple times.

  “Hey, Thorn,” Royal said, playing along. “Can I build a dungeon under my cabin for these two loudmouths?”

  Thorn grinned as he tossed the bags of feed that he was holding onto the pile. “I’ll help you build it.”

  “Howdy, neighbors,” a voice called out from across the field.

  Royal grinned as Julius and Alexander, two of the Vega brothers, rode over on their horses. Julius was holding a pie in his hand and Royal’s stomach grumbled when he lifted his nose and smelled blueberries.

  “We were wondering where all of the deer on our land went?” Julius said as they arrived. He jumped off his horse as he balanced the blueberry pie on his hand. “They must have taken one look at your ugly faces and ran away for good. I guess the women in town are next.”

  Slate laughed. “Yeah, they’re going to run right into my cabin.”

  “Who’s the pie for?” Karl asked, eying it savagely.

  Julius grinned. “The missus made it for you guys as a welcome gift. Whose face should I throw it in?”

  Karl opened his mouth wide. “Right here,” he said, pointing at his tonsils.

  Alexander, the giant polar bear shifter, jumped down from his horse with a thud. He stood up straight with a fierce look on his stern face as he stared Stetson down. Royal glanced back at Stetson and gulped. I hope this is a friendly visit. He didn’t want to have to get between the two giants to help break them up if they were in the mood for fighting again, which by looking at both of their faces, they were.

  Stetson’s bear growled from within his chest as he stared Alexander down. The two polar bear shifters had always hated each other and they had ended up in a vicious brawl the last time they met. A vicious brawl that was cut short. It looked like the second half was about to commence.

  Royal inched towards Stetson as his inner polar bear growled again. He could feel the ferocity emanating off of Stetson like static electricity. “Easy buddy,” Royal whispered to him. “You don’t want your bear growling again and starting a fight.”

  “That wasn’t my bear,” Stetson said in a deep, low voice. “That was me.”

  Royal took a step away from his grumpy friend. It was best to be anywhere but beside Stetson when he was in a foul mood like that.

  “Shit,” Royal cursed as Julius walked over eating the pie that was supposed to be for them. It was gushing with juicy blueberries and looked amazing.

  “Where’s the cattle?” Julius asked with a
grin on his blueberry covered lips. “With your mates in imagination land?”

  “For your information,” Tyler said with his arms crossed over his muscular chest, “Stetson already found a mate.”

  “Him?” Julius asked with a horrified look on his face as he looked up at the enormous, growling shifter. “Oh, the poor woman,” he whispered as he took another bite of the pie. “And what about you guys? You better find someone stupid enough to marry you, and fast. I kinda like living in our log mansion back there.”

  “You could have given us a heads up that we would need to find mates before you transferred the deed to the ranch over to us,” Thorn said with a frown.

  “Hey,” Julius said, lifting his blueberry stained hand in the air. “Talk to the lawyer. We didn’t know either.”

  All of their heads turned at once to the two polar bear shifters. Stetson and Alexander began approaching each other like two icebergs about to violently collide.

  “Let’s get the bets out,” Slate said to Julius, quickly pulling out his wallet as he watched the two growling shifters. “Twenty bucks on our guy.”

  Julius sighed. “I left my wallet back at the house. I’ll bet you the rest of this pie for your twenty.”

  Slate jerked his head back. “That pie that you’ve had your dirty fingers in since you got here?”

  Julius shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “Deal!” Slate said, shaking Julius’ blueberry covered hand.

  Royal grinned as he watched the two polar bear shifters about to continue their epic fight that was started weeks ago.

  “Stetson,” Thorn barked, making the big guy freeze. Thorn just subtly shook his head when Stetson looked over.

  Stetson was almost twice Thorn’s size but he would never go against his alpha’s wishes. He respected Thorn too much to disobey him. They all did.