Big Bear Problems: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Romance (8 page)

T
he lights were
low – the evening sun had begun its descent long ago. It was the third day of waiting and Ethan was getting as antsy as the rest of his clan. Someone was constantly on watch, ready to let them know when to move forward, and as far as Ethan was concerned, that moment couldn’t have come fast enough.

He missed Jen. Being away from her was absolute torture and he was getting to a point where he didn’t particularly enjoy the distance anymore. He’d had to leave her side the very same morning after their talk, deciding that it was best for her immediate safety as well as for their plan to come together. Now the Grimpaw bears just needed the wolves to take the bait and go for the easy mark – the lone woman on the lands they so desperately desired.

Ethan smirked to himself, playing cards with Aaron and Zeke, one of Ethan’s younger brothers. They’d gotten awful good at waiting, but bears were impatient animals – much more so than wolves.

“If we go one more round, I’ll lose my mind,” Zeke said, stretching his arms above his head.

“Comes with the territory,” Aaron muttered, quoting one of their favorite sayings.

After all, most things came down to territory. Shifters prided themselves in being better than their animal counterparts because of their human intelligence, and better than humans because of the animal rawness and power within them. But at their core, they were still basic beings with simple needs and desires – land, love, community. It all boiled down to that. The human side added the yearning for love, Ethan figured, but all the rest of it was as primal and simple as it could be. Bears had always protected their lands and it was no different now, clashing with big predators like themselves. Though these days, of course, the underlying meaning was often a bit different.

The bears didn’t need Sweetwater to hunt anymore. No, it was rather a question of survival – finding that one nook in the world where you and your kind are safe from persecution and the curious eyes of those who don’t understand what you stand for – but on a different level. While shifters were no longer the hidden secret, kept under wraps for centuries, they weren’t exactly welcomed into society with open arms either. Humans didn’t want a constant reminder that there could be a better version of them out there, and for the most part, shifters understood.

But that still meant that they’d be battling amongst one another, ancient rivalries still holding true. For as long as the history of the Grimpaw clan went back, there’d been trouble with Clearpond wolves, sometimes more, sometimes less. For years, they’d tried to get along with them and for a brief time some years back, it had worked. Wolves and bears had mingled and had become friendly, even, but it took just one conflict to throw it all on the head again. And now? Well, after Ethan was attacked, there was no love lost between the two factions.

“You see anything, Jameson?” Ethan asked, knowing full well that if there were any movement, Jameson would have already said so.

“Nope,” came the calm, completely expected response.

They were camped out on a hillside not far from Jen’s home that gave them a good view of the house. The theory was that the wolves would come in the dead of night, as cowards often did, and try to finish what they had started. Jen was home with a shotgun and instructions to lock the doors and windows and hide out on the second floor as soon as night came. Ethan was positive they could get to her in time if the wolves decided to attack, but he wanted to take every precaution he could with the love of his life.

And that was exactly what she was. The love of his life. The most important thing to him in the world, even more so than the clan or the lands. He’d always thought that finding his woman would take a smaller chunk out of his heart, but it had grabbed him whole and was not letting go, and he didn’t want it to. Jen had swiftly become the main thing he thought about, though his people of course were always near and dear to his heart as well. He simply knew that without Jen, he’d be less of a bear than he was with her.

Ethan couldn’t stop grinning whenever he thought of her and that was the case at that moment as well – accompanied by the snickering looks of his brothers and some of the other bears with him.

“You know, it’s damn obvious when you’re thinking about Jen. You look like a right fool,” Everett grumbled, perhaps a note of jealousy in his voice.

Most of the young Grimpaw male bears were still single and the sight of their Alpha finding happiness must have made many of them reconsider their current marital status.

“I’m a fool in love and I don’t care who knows it,” Ethan boasted with a chuckle.

“Well, you’re about to be a fool in battle soon enough,” Jameson murmured, his body language growing tenser. “I see movement.”

“Let’s go,” Everett called, jumping up and sprinting into the stretch of forest separating the bears from Jen’s home.

He could hear the low growls of his brothers behind him as each of them hit the woods, transforming as they ran. A force of ten strong men entered the forest and left it moments later as grizzlies, wide and thick and powerful. Their coats were different shades of brown, varying from lighter to darker, but all of them shared the massive size and speed of their grizzly brothers in the wild.

Ethan roared as the scent of wolves hit his nose and he huffed it in greedily, letting it permeate his senses. He didn’t need to see the wolves to know that they were there. His nose would lead him to them. He sprinted forward at the head of the clan and the dull thuds and the way the ground shook told him that all the bears in his little attack force were with him.

The wolves didn’t know what hit them when the grizzlies exited the forest and descended upon them like the servants of hell. Ethan could count ten, twelve, maybe fifteen wolves before him – far more than was needed to kill one defenseless woman. They seemed to not be taking any chances this time, and neither was Ethan. He let loose immediately as one of them came within his reach, his jaws sinking into a gray-maned body and grabbing the wolf right off the ground.

He shook him violently as the other bears and wolves clashed in ones and twos, the wolves scrambling for defense. Ethan swung the wolf over his head and behind him, a sickening scrunching noise marking the moment the shifter’s body hit a wide tree trunk and slumped against the ground. Ethan didn’t pause – he just kept going. Rage blurred his vision, images of what the wolves wanted to do to his mate making him go wild with anger.

He tore into another wolf who had managed to keep Aaron at bay, snapping its jaws at the bear. Ethan swiped at him with his paw, strong talons ripping into the side of the wolf so deep that blood gushed immediately, coating the light fur. The wolf yelped and Aaron grabbed him as Ethan turned to find the next victim.

In a blur of teeth and fur, he could finally see the one he was truly looking for – Ryan. A menacing growl emitted from the bottom of Ethan’s throat as he reared up on his back paws and then surged through the writhing bodies, intense battle going on everywhere around him in the dusk. It would have made for a fantastic sight for any human – a true shifter battle of no small proportions.

But there was no time to take a moment and view the carnage. As much as Ethan wanted to bring an end to the Clearpond kind, he knew that this would only be one clash, quickly forgotten in the bloody history between the wolves and the bears. They would both recoup their losses and live on, haggling over the Wyoming wilderness. Still, at the time being, it was the most important war Ethan could imagine, and when he plowed into Ryan from the side, he was filled with an immediate sense of satisfaction as the wolf’s body crumpled beneath him.

Ryan yelped with pain, struggling to escape Ethan’s grasp. Ethan swiped at him, almost sending Ryan into the jaws of another bear, but the clever wolf danced to the left just in time. He snarled low, yellow eyes filled with an anger that matched Ethan’s. But all around him, his wolves were backing up, some already running for their lives. Another bear that was out for a satisfying opponent forced Ryan to move forward and Ethan could finally land a blow again, his heavy paw crashing into Ryan’s maw and sending him flying.

Ryan yelped as he fell to the ground, a deep and nasty looking gash across his face. But he didn’t stop. Letting out a quick, biting bark, he swiftly circled around Ethan and with his tail tucked between his legs, ran into the safety of the forest with the rest of his pack behind him. A few of the bears took chase, but Ethan didn’t, remaining there to breathe in the scent of blood and power all around him.

He looked to his clan brothers, counting that all ten were still with him. Zeke had a long cut down his side and Jameson was limping his front paw. There were several smaller and larger wounds here and there, but no one was down, no one was out. That could not be said about the wolves. Ethan could count seven bodies on the ground, some still breathing, some perhaps not. They wouldn’t hurt the wounded anymore. Instead, as tradition called, they would back away from the scene of battle and let their people come and get them when there was still time.

With a heavy heart and his blood still pounding with adrenaline, Ethan allowed the shift to take him. His body contracted and tightened, the coat disappearing into his skin. The powerful muscles became equally as impressive, but now in their human form, creating thick dips and ridges. Inspecting himself, he could see that he had a bite mark on his left thigh and scratches over his shoulder that he couldn’t account for, but it scarcely mattered.

The rest of the Grimpaw bears changed around him as the ones that had chased the wolves returned, panting a little.

“Good. Tend to our wounded, but leave. I will follow with Jen shortly. Well done,” he said grinning at the flushed, happy faces of the bears around him.

Battle always brought out the giddy side of a werebear, it seemed.

Heading towards the house, Ethan sidestepped one of the wolves panting on the ground, not paying him any heed. It was the cost of war. Some would perish, some would blossom. Nature had a way of evening things out when needed and this time, it was the bears’ turn to win. Ethan wasn’t naïve enough to think that it would always be like that, but for the time being, he intended to enjoy what life had to offer him.

He knocked on the door three times like they’d agreed with Jen and the door flew open immediately, revealing Jen holding a shotgun that made her seem even sexier than usual. She dropped it and threw her arms around Ethan, hugging him tight. Ethan grunted with mild amusement, sliding his arms around Jen and embracing her. It had been days since he really saw her and could talk to her, and damn if it didn’t feel like an eternity.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered softly.

“I’ll always come back to you,” he promised.

And he meant that from the bottom of his heart. He’d found his happiness. Nothing was going to take it from him now. Not as long as he drew breath.

“
A
re you sure about this
?” Jen asked with more than a little bit of skepticism in her voice. “Shouldn’t it be like, I don’t know, green?”

She held up a pack of color swatches, inspecting the blue tones that Maisy was currently gushing over. With one hand on her ever-growing belly, she had finally decided to take on the task of figuring out what the nursery was going to look like and Maisy had offered to lend her expertise. So far, they seemed to be in friendly disagreement over everything.

“Green? Psh. Those babies of yours are going to be running around in the woods with their daddy most of their youth. You don’t want
everything
they see to make them think of shifting. Have you seen baby bear cubs? You think human babies are difficult? Try raising one – or, well, two in your case – who, for the first six or so years of his life, can’t really control when or why he shifts!” Maisy said, putting a hand gently on Jen’s belly and grinning.

“It can’t be that unpredictable, can it?” Jen asked skeptically, giving Maisy a hopeful look.

Receiving a grin in return, Jen half-sighed, half-chuckled.
Of course
it was going to be unpredictable. And she was going to love every damn second of it.

“What’s unpredictable?” Ethan asked, striding into the room.

Jen spun around, taking in the sight of her gorgeous husband. Every day, he just seemed to grow taller and more powerful in Jen’s eyes. A year had passed since that fateful night when he had gone against four wolves for her and, since then, every single day had found Jen loving him more than the previous.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a moment. I’ll be in the kitchen, making tea if you need me,” Maisy said, smirking a little as she passed between the couple.

Jen had to honestly say that neither she nor Ethan really managed to pay much attention to Maisy leaving. But the kindly diner owner was wise enough to shut the nursery door behind her and, as soon as that door closed, Ethan was on Jen like he hadn’t seen her in months.

His stubbly chin rasped at her cheek as Ethan kissed her deep, Jen grabbing onto his strong arms for balance, though she knew he would never let her fall. His hands were around her, tight and secure, and being there felt more like home than anything else ever had.

“I’ve missed you,” Ethan grumbled, as if it was her fault he had gone to work.

“Well, you shouldn’t have left then,” Jen teased, laying quick kisses all over his lips and cheeks.

“I will admit my fault in this,” Ethan said with a chuckle, lifting her up by slipping his hands under her ass and then letting her put her thighs around his waist.

“No! I’m getting so heavy!” she laughed, batting playfully at him.

Ethan just snorted. “Yes. Thick and
lovely
. I need to have you pregnant more often, I think. So what are we arguing about?” he asked, carrying her over to the desk that sat in the corner of the room.

He set her down on it very gently, remaining to stand right between her legs as if he never intended to go any damn place. Jen had her arms still around his neck and a familiar heat was spreading through her body, making her lust after her devilish husband.

“Paint swatches.”

“A-ha. Not something I’m going to lend an opinion on, then,” Ethan said with a chuckle.

“Don’t you care what color your children’s nursery will be?” Jen admonished him playfully.

“Not as long as they’re happy and healthy. Besides, those kids are going to be outside for the most part anyway,” he said with a world of certainty in his voice.

“That’s what Maisy said too,” Jen said with a grin.

Sweetwater was turning out to be so much more than Jen had been prepared for. After the Clearpond wolves had been pushed back, Wyoming had become an absolute treat. The wolves were still off licking their wounds, barely showing their faces in the area, and Jen had found new challenges. She was building a small company for herself – event organization – which took her all over the state and kept her busy. She’d found that when she put her mind to something, just about anything could happen.

Jen had never figured she’d be the kind of girl to build her own business, but with Ethan coaxing her on and telling her to put her excellent planning and management skills to use, she’d dared take the first step. And it had been completely worth it already.

She and Ethan were mostly living in Jen’s home, as it was bigger than Ethan’s cottage, but they split the time occasionally. Ethan’s home was more tucked away and closer to nature than Jen’s, but kids would need more space than the little cabin had to offer. They’d gotten married just a few months into their relationship – why not go for it when it was
so
obvious that neither one of them could live without the other?

Ethan’s building business was booming and the day they’d learned of Jen’s pregnancy had been one of the happiest days of their lives. With Ethan, Jen was sure that there would be many more very happy days in her future and she couldn’t wait to see and experience all of them.

Languidly, Ethan ran a hand down Jen’s back and made her curve her body against his touch. She smiled, her teeth grazing over her lower lip in breathless anticipation.

“How about we make Maisy wait for a bit longer?” Ethan asked, kissing a trail down Jen’s neck.

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” Jen said, giggling.

Life was sweet in Sweetwater.