Authors: Moxie North
Bear in Mind
Pacific Northwest Werebears:
Bear in Mind
By Moxie North
Wyatt…make love to me,” she whispered to him.
“Do you want me to have sex with you or make love to you?”
Caught off guard by the question, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the difference?”
Taking his finger and tracing it down her cheek to drag over her lips he explained, “Having sex is a physical act. It feels good, hell it feels great, but it’s all body and hormones. Making love is all in your mind and your heart. It’s not about hormones and desire, it’s more addictive than that. Once you make love with someone it’s impossible to let go. I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never made love to anyone before. Sex yes, but nothing more.”
Waiting patiently for his destined mate was not a high priority for Wyatt Rochon even if it was for his bear. He and his brothers ran a successful timber business and life was too busy to go hunting down The One.
Fate finally steps in to bring Wyatt together with curvy state analyst, Jinger McCann. Her life doesn’t have many ups and downs until she meets Wyatt. Finding a boyfriend usually doesn’t come with so much family drama.
Before they can settle into a life of love, logging, and cubs, Wyatt must discover how to protect his mate and family against unknown forces trying to harm them.
One small mistake could cost him and his bear their future happiness.
Adult material with sexual situations and language. Prepare to read about a curvy girl that meets the man AND bear of her dreams. Sometimes all it takes is love and donuts.
Table of Contents
Wyatt Rochon loved his brother, truly he did. But watching him with his new mate and fiancée was annoying as hell and bittersweet at the same time.
Driving through the forest heading to base camp, Wyatt couldn’t help but ponder the changes his family had gone through in the last few weeks.
Finding someone to date was hard, finding one’s mate was nearly impossible, at least it seemed that way to Wyatt. How was a shifter supposed to find The One? As a bear shifter from a long line of bears, Wyatt felt like he had been looking his whole life.
The Rochon family lived in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest. The family were the sole owners of Rochon Enterprises. They managed, logged and processed thousands of acres of private and government timber every year.
Being bear shifters they had always found their home in the woods. For generations they had roamed from Oregon to Canada as their families grew. Keeping to themselves to guard their secret, it was often a lonely life.
Werebears could date sure, they could even have sex and enjoy it. But it was never enough. There was always that crucial part missing. To Wyatt’s thinking, the whole idea of The One was make-believe even though he felt the absence himself. Granted his parents were mated bears, but they could have just fallen in love like average people and called it mating.
When his brother Cage found his mate Sophie, Wyatt couldn’t deny it any longer. His brother was struck down with the enormity of finding his One. The immediate love and belonging that his brother showed to the curvy British beauty had him no longer doubting it was possible.
At 49 years old and the middle son, he was grateful werebears aged slower than humans since he didn’t look a day over 30. The odds of finding his mate seemed impossible and he needed every year he had. He always assumed it would be another bear if not another shifter. It wasn’t unheard of for shifters to cross breed. Their cubs usually ended up one or the other depending on dominate genes.
After meeting Sophie, his new sister-in-law, a whole new world had opened up for Wyatt. What if his mate was human? She could be anywhere. He could find her today, or tomorrow, or never, he thought glumly.
He used to call his brother a grumpy bear, now he had taken on that title. His brother was blissfully happy bear now. It was like some messed up dwarf tale replaced with bears.
Shit, he needed to get his mind on his work. Usually he was the Push for the teams, managing the cuts and making sure everything ran smoothly. They were also dealing with the possibility of a saboteur in their midst, which kept him distracted from the running of the company.
Sophie had been hurt a number of weeks ago, spending the night in the hospital and making his brother almost bear out at the doctor. Someone had clearly tampered with their equipment causing the hydraulic line to break and hit Sophie.
Normally the family had protesters not liking how they harvested trees, or that they touched them at all. They didn’t mind using giant poster boards made out of paper from the trees they cut down to tell them how terrible they were. The irony was never lost on him.
The Rochon family had worked hard to make their business the best they could, in the safest and the least environmentally impactful way. Wyatt ran the cuts and his little brother Conner was in charge of replanting. They always planted two trees for every one they harvested. Time and careful conservation made sure they always had timber and the animals always had a home.
It was more than money to them, their bears needed land to roam. Other shifters, needed the forests too. A wolf pack just north of them in Canada would come down and visit for a change of scenery sometimes. They were also close to a pack of cougars in Northern California. The land was crucial to their clans and other packs happiness.
Someone was threatening their happiness and Wyatt was not about to let that happen.
Pulling into the lot where they kept their work trailers, Wyatt unfolded his six-foot four-inch frame from his red pickup truck and headed towards the mess hall. He should check in on Cage and Conner, but he really hoped Cage had let poor Sophie out of bed long enough for her to rustle up some grub. His brother was making up for lost time being celibate waiting for his mate.
Sophie was the cute curvy British girl Cage had hired as their cook. And she could cook. He hadn’t heard one complaint from the crew since she started. Hoping to get at least a to-go box, he strode into the hall to the smell of bacon and eggs. He found huge trays of some kind of egg bake in the warmers along the buffet line. He loaded up his container and grabbed a handful of bacon. Stopping to top off his travel coffee mug he brought with him, he headed over to the office to see if Cage was in yet.
Seeing his brother sitting at his desk, Wyatt dropped to the seat across from him, kicked his feet up on the desk and crossed them at the ankle. This earned him a glare from his big brother. Flipping open the lid on the box he dug into the cheesy egg bake.
Moaning and trying to chew with his mouth closed, he looked up to see Cage glaring at him.
“What?” he asked around a mouthful of food.
“Must you eat in here, stuffing your gob?” Cage growled.
“Gob? Seriously? Sophie’s slang is wearing off on you bro,” he replied shoveling another forkful into his mouth.
“I know, she says her mother would throw a fit if she ever heard her use it,” he said with a chuckle. Sophie’s family was upper crust and as Sophie described, true snobs. He hadn’t met them yet, but he knew the day was fast approaching. Sophie still hadn’t told them about Cage or that they were getting married. They were already mated, the wedding was just a human formality.
“Better play nice with your momma in-law,” Wyatt taunted.
“Just you wait, smartass, your time will come,” Cage promised.
“So you say, I think you may be the one and only producer of cubs for mom to spoil,” he said sadly.
Shaking his head at his brother, Cage offered, “It will happen when you least expect it baby brother.”
Wyatt just sniffed and kept eating.
“By the way we got another call from the D.N.R. again. They want to review the last cut to ensure we haven’t missed anything,” Cage grumbled into his desk as he shifted through his paperwork.
“Fuck me,” Wyatt threw his container on the desk. “Those assholes know good and well we don’t miss anything. We just finished that cut and haven’t had time to do clean up. We aren’t even ready for replanting yet.”
“I know that and you know that, hell they even know that. But if they didn’t bust our balls about it they wouldn’t be able to justify their paychecks.”
“It’s not even summer! It’s a sopping wet mess out there, I doubt we are at risk of a wildfire anytime soon,” Wyatt said getting to his feet. Damn he hated these busybodies. He worked with all sorts of government officials in his line of work. They had a great partnership, managing the lands for the betterment of the community and for the sake of maintaining the natural habitats. But every once in a while one of the bureaucrats rubbed him wrong, and his bear didn’t like to be touched.
Last year, he had a Department of Natural Resources officer that was sure they were clear cutting to cover up a marijuana grow on the other side of the ridge. Obviously it was not the case, but it was a hassle nonetheless.
“Just handle it, Wyatt, play nice and show them we are on track and aren’t delaying the cleanup.”
“I’ll deal with them if you call them. I can’t listen to another tubby s.o.b. huffing into the phone from the desk he never leaves telling me about my trees,” he barked and stomped out the door. He had work to do and it didn’t involve bored pencil pushers.
Heading to his truck he saw Sophie walking towards the office with a container that probably contained breakfast for Cage.
“Morning sugar cookie,” he teased as he saw her smile and blush.
“Don’t you let Cage hear you saying that,” she giggled and gave him a quick brotherly kiss on his cheek before heading to the office.
Jumping into the cab, he started up his truck and headed to the next site they were prepping to cut. As he drove his mind went over his lists, roads were being cut and graded into the stand of trees. That should be done any day now. Most people don’t realize there aren’t prepared roads into most of the tree stands they cut. Especially the difficult terrains on steep hillsides. Loggers would cut the trees and then they would be dragged down the hill with giant cables to the waiting trucks.
Their job was dangerous, Wyatt and his brothers weren’t just managers, they often were side by side with their workers cutting trees. Luckily it wasn’t as dangerous for them as bear shifters were tough and healed quickly. But no one could survive getting crushed by a tree.
Wyatt let his mind drift to Cage and Sophie again. They will be starting a family soon. Cubs for his mom to coddle and for him and Conner to spoil. He wanted that for himself. He wasn’t as resigned as Cage had been. He wasn’t sure he would find The One, so he dated, and then dated some more. He liked women, he liked sex, but it wasn’t fulfilling. It was still good, it just wasn’t great and something deep inside Wyatt knew that it could be great.
His bear, a grizzly, was as impatient as he was. Wyatt let his bear out more often than his brothers did. Often his human skin was too constricting, like he couldn’t breathe. When his bear came to the surface and he allowed him to run and play, Wyatt felt free.
His bear wanted permanence. Wyatt wasn’t sure what he wanted. His brother looked happy, and apparently the sex was great since his brother couldn’t keep his hands off of Sophie.
Maybe it was time for Wyatt to take a vacation. He’d never really been anywhere, never felt the need to stray too far from home. But what if she was out there? Somewhere, in another state or another country even? Should he seek her out or should he be patient and let the fates decide. He knew the fates had already decreed him a mate, or so the elders have always said. The fates matched him with his grizzly, so he guessed they could find him a woman too.
Looking out the window, Wyatt watched the trees pass by as he traveled down the dirt roads that led to the job site. He might be able to travel, but this would always be home. He couldn’t imagine being trapped in a city where he couldn’t breathe.
And now he had to deal with some dumbshit from the state. Maybe he could pull off the road and let his bear out just for a bit. Give him a chance to settle down and focus before he had to start his day.
Finding a road that was cut into the trees that he knew was only used by the most rugged of backpackers, he parked his truck and took a quick sniff making sure he was alone. Stripping off his clothes he let his bear shimmer to the surface. When he was relatively calm his bear seemed to fold out of him. When he was agitated or angry it seemed his bear pushed out of him in a shower of sparks and color.
Sucking in the cool crisp air, he let his bear take over as the trees rushed by. He ran as fast as his bear could, the trees whipping by him. His bear was happy being out, he knew daylight trips were a treat as Wyatt and his brothers usually stuck to late night adventures to reduce the chance of anyone spotting them.
A quick trip through the river and the luck of finding some early huckleberries had Wyatt in a much better frame of mind when he made it back to his truck. Putting his clothes back on he took a final restful lungful of mountain air and headed to camp.