Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance (7 page)

“
You're damned right, councilwoman. We're here to
deal with Don and his uninvited friend, an immature little girl who's
already put us in greater danger than any of the hunters who come to
our borders. She's appeared here without leaving a trace back home.
Other humans will come looking for her.”

I bristled. Emmerick's words were ridiculous. I stared
at Sam, wondering how anyone on the council but him could look at her
and see something terrible, something dangerous.

Franklin let out a long sigh. He turned his familiar
eyes on me, as did the others.

“
Well, Flood. You've told your end of the story.
If we're to believe you – mistakes and all – then that
means she isn't a danger.”

“
That's right,” I said forcefully. “Sam
won't hurt us. She won't send men after us, and she's certainly not
some kind of spy. All she wants to do is go home. If we let her do
that, then there's no reason for anyone else to come here either.”

“
You act like it's so simple, Mister Flood.”
Genevieve sniffed and straightened a bushy outgrowth in her faded
hair. “We have nothing but your word. I'm afraid councilman
Emmerick is right, though I don't endorse his solution. We'll need
more time to decide. For now, she should be held alone, isolated from
the community.”

The hairs behind my neck stood on end. Inside me, the
grizzly stretched its claws, stood on its hind legs, and roared. I
wanted to shift and charge the Elders' bench as hard as I could.

If Rufus and Alex took one step toward Sam to haul her
away...

Fuck. I won't be able to hold it anymore. Don't take
another step, you little idiots!

My lips curled in a silent snarl. Genevieve raised the
wooden mallet, preparing to adjoin the council.

“
Wait!” Sam shouted. “Don't I even get
to say anything for myself?”

The chamber went quiet. I turned toward her, along with
everyone else, hoping she'd see the pleading sparks in my eyes.

“
You're an uninvited guest here, female. You have
no rights.” Emmerick bared his teeth – probably hoping to
frighten her.

“
I'm not a thread, and I'm not deadweight either.
I can help you,” Sam said.

Genevieve's eyebrows lifted. “Help us? And what,
pray tell, do you think a human woman can offer?”

“
Your tools are thirty years old. Maybe more, if
what Don has in his cabin tells the full story. Your clan doesn't do
anything but scout my world for threats and bartering.”

“
And it's worked wonderfully for more than a
century. What are you getting at?” Franklin studied her, roused
from his sleepy state with the intense curiosity he had as a younger
man.

“
You scout. You spy. But you don't really
understand us. Things have changed a lot, even in just the last
twenty years. If you let me stay with Don, I promise I'll help you.
Interrogate me, let me talk to your scientists, I don't care. I'll
tell them everything and I won't run. I promise.”

“
That's very fair, human. But we still have no
reason to trust you,” Genevieve said. She clenched her fingers
tight around the gavel, twirling it in her hands.

“
Just try me out! You don't even know what threats
or opportunities could be out there in the human world. I'm not an
expert, but I'll do my very best to interpret anything you bring to
me.”

“
Councilwoman, this could be useful,”
Franklin said in a low voice, leaning over several inches. “There's
so much we don't understand about their medicine. And the digital
stuff...imagine the possibilities. I won't even go into the
intricacies of their politics...”

“
Fine,” Genevieve said reluctantly. “We'll
take a vote.”

Emmerick looked like he was going to bust through the
walls. Thomas shifted in his seat and looked at Rufus.

“
Take them outside. We'll let you know when we're
finished here.” He nodded, gestured to Alex, and then they were
at our sides.

I gritted my teeth and followed them. Sam pressed her
hand into mine. At first, I resisted, but I couldn't keep from
caressing her flesh for long.

Soft. Delicate. Like beautiful cream.

I wondered if the rest of her skin was just as perfect.
As soon as we went through the heavy door, the cool darkness made it
difficult to wonder about anything at all.

Our guards paced in the fallen leaves around the
perimeter, crunching them loudly underfoot. I looked at Sam. She was
already gazing back.

“
That's a very bold thing you did in there. Maybe
too bold. Too dangerous. I would've dealt with them if they tried to
take you...”

“
Don, I'm trying to prevent more bloodshed here.
There's no need any human or shifter needs to suffer more. And I mean
it about helping your kind – I'll do all I can.”

I nodded. She had a good plan, perhaps the only one that
had a chance at saving our lives. But inside, my guardian instinct
wilted.

I'd already failed her once. Now, I wasn't helping solve
her problems. I was just keeping her here, at the Elder council's
mercy, threatening to drag her deeper into danger.

I let Sam's hand drop from mine and put several feet
between us. I felt her eyes on my back, warm and concerned, but I
didn't dare face her again.

I stared off at the cold, distant outlines of the
mountains, barely visible through the moonlight. The door's creak as
it opened forced me to turn.

“
It's done,” Franklin said. He stuck his
head out the opening, pulling his cloak tight. “The human girl
will stay in Don's cabin this winter. She'll be ready to advise us at
our convenience, or rather, at Emmerick's.”

I held in a growl. Sam took a step closer to the Elder,
her eyes widening.

“
Emmerick? What do you mean, sir?”

“
He holds all the clan's records, including the
scouting reports. Flood, you know this.” He looked at me. His
eyes narrowed in warning when he caught the resistance in my gaze.
“This is the agreement. You'll bring the girl to Emmerick for
her debriefings. You can be present, if you'd like, to act as an
intermediary.”

Yeah. I wanted to start an intermediary made of fire
between myself and the old town hall.

“
Emmerick wants Sam dead, Elder. This is
outrageous...”

“
Look, I
supported the idea and threw my vote behind it. So did two others.
Emmerick was outnumbered, but he had to be placated, and you know we
make compromises.
He
asked for this. Not us. Now, Flood, if this isn't to your liking I
can go back inside, re-convene the council, and we'll vote on that
other measure.”

“
We'll handle it.” Saying the words was like
trying to push a boulder from my throat.

“
Good. Someone should send for you tomorrow.”

Thomas slammed the door behind him after motioning to
Rufus and Alex. They nodded darkly at me as I walked past. I didn't
wait for Sam.

She quickly caught on and ran to catch up. I was halfway
across the bridge, putting serious distance between us and the town
hall, when her tight fingers fell across my shoulder.

“
Hey! What's going on?”

“
We need to turn off here,” I said, pointing
to the narrow side path leading toward the woods. “Just trust
me. I need this, or else I'm going to explode.”

I refused to look at her. I knew the lines of worry in
her pale face would just make me feel guilty. Right now, I didn't
need to feel anything except the red hot rage blistering in my chest.

I walked faster as we moved into the trees. Sam's soft
footsteps clopped behind me.

When I found the spot, I stabbed my hands through the
bushes, pushing them aside. I held it open for her.

In the clearing, there was an old fire pit. It hadn't
been used for more than a generation. Isolated and dormant, it was
the perfect place, the site where I always came when I needed to blow
off steam.

“
Stay there,” I told her. “I promise I
won't hurt you. I just need to release some tension...”

She watched me the entire time, wide eyed and curious as
I moved near the fire pit. The moon was shining down on us.

I felt the bear rising inside me. Big, brown, and
enraged as all hell.

I couldn't hold it anymore.

My bones cracked, rearranging themselves and pulling at
my flesh. Fresh fur sprouted from my skin. My muscles thickened. My
hands and feet grew heavy with sharp protrusions.

I fell to the ground. The powerful transformation
happened more slowly than usual, as if it needed time to surface
because I'd held it in for so long.

Sam gasped. I looked up, but not as a man anymore.

I stood on my hind legs, looking over her, and turned to
the bright crescent moon hanging in the sky. I opened my mouth, rage
hissing through my system like black smoke. Then I let out the
biggest roar of my life.

It echoed across the trees, all the way to the
mountains, shaking the sky with an invisible earthquake. I roared
long and hard. The bloodcurdling sound throbbed painfully in my ears.

Sam collapsed on the big log at the periphery. Her mouth
was open, crying or screaming or both.

My lungs were still half full. I could've kept erupting,
a warning and a curse in one, until nothing but ragged breaths pumped
through my sharp mouth.

But seeing her terrified broke the angry spell. I
collapsed, morphing back into Don, driving the bear into its cave. At
least it had gotten some satisfaction.

For now, it was sated. My bare flesh glinted beneath the
moonlight, muscles flexed and blood humming. A half-erection hung
between my legs, thick and angry.

“
Samantha, I'm sorry.” I walked close to
her, reached out, hoped hearing her full name would soften the
damage. “I didn't mean to frighten you.”

“
Didn't mean to? Well, you just fucking did!”
She turned away from me, hands closed tight around her sides.

I stopped. Despite the urge to grab her and pull her
into me, I kept it under control. There was no need to dig myself any
deeper.

“
God! I just keep forgetting that you're not a
handsome man who pumps iron all day. You're...something else.
Something that terrifies me more than you can imagine.” She
turned.

I saw tears in her eyes. My heart sank, and the rage
returned. But this time, it was turned on me. Especially the feral
animal inside me that seized control when it was ignored for too
long.

“
You don't understand. I had to do it. If I
didn't, after all that bullshit this evening...I would've gone
insane.”

“
You're more animal than man after all.” Her
lips quivered pathetically as she spoke. “You told me it was
the other way around. But everything I've seen here – all of
you. You're monsters.”

I didn't have an answer to that. I tried to be best
specimen I could. Man, bear, and beast all in one.

But she had a point. I hadn't acted very civilized this
evening, and neither had my people.

They'd only pushed her grim perception of us deeper into
the shadows. We'd given this beautiful human female nothing but
threats, demands, and empty promises.

“
We're more than that. I promise you we are, and
one day you'll understand. Please, let me show you.” I couldn't
resist.

Sam looked so soft, so frail, so beautiful and scared. I
reached out for her.

She squirmed once when my arms wrapped around her. But
the revulsion quickly disappeared, and she buried her face against my
chest, painting it with hot tears.

“
We don't have to listen to anyone. Especially not
that savage old coward.” Just thinking about Emmerick made me
see the bear in my head looking out its cave, muscles and claws
itching for action. “Do you want me to help you escape?”

“
What?” She looked up, pressing her small
hands on my hard breasts. “We both saw how that turned out. I'm
not smart or brave, Don. That plan in there is the best I could come
up with. The
only
thing I could come up with.”

“
And you bought us some time. For that, I'd call
you brilliant.”

She sobbed one more time, spilling her tears onto my
skin. Her tears weren't ideal, but if that's all she would give me
for now, then I'd accept. I'd cherish them like blessed raindrops
from the spirits above.

“
I'm not. I'm a stupid girl who got lost. I have a
stupid past I can't get away from and these stupid, stupid feelings.”

I reached to her head. Slowly, my fingers twined with
her hair, rippling along it in soft strokes.

I needed to make her feel better after all this. I had
to.

“
Don't say that. It's not true, and you know it.”
Frustration sizzled. I watched her head shake in vigorous
disagreement. “What feelings are you talking about?”

Sam lifted her head. Her eyes caught the moon, gleaming
with diamond purity. I watched in wonder, transfixed by her beauty,
never expecting what she did next.