Once Upon a Shifter (126 page)

His hips slammed into her as her orgasm released through her in a sweet swell of heat. Her legs trembled and shook as her heart pounded violently in her chest and ears. Ellis bent over her, groaning in delicious pain as his muscles clenched and he came deep inside her.

He exhaled hard on her shoulder and thrust slowly a few more times before pulling out. Alexi convulsed and whimpered as his softening erection left her, leaving her feeling empty and deserted. She reached out and pulled his head back down to her. His warm face collapsed into her neck as they both breathed labored, heavy breaths, both wonderfully exhausted and spent.

The intense flood of heat flowing through her veins dissipated and she became aware of the hard rock under her and the stiffness in her back and legs.

Ellis groaned as he pushed himself up. Alexi closed her eyes and moaned as she reached down and felt his warm cream oozing out of her and onto her fingers.

“Come for a swim,” he said, diving through the waterfall and disappearing under the water.

Alexi pushed herself up into a sitting position on the rock, her legs stiff and sore, as she tried to catch her breath.

She watched Ellis’ naked body glide through the water, as a luscious feeling of satisfaction swelled through her.

She never realized that sex could be so heavenly, so divine. She felt completely fulfilled and cherished. Secure and desired.

She stepped through the waterfall feeling the warm water coat her tingling body like a blanket. Ellis’ head popped out of the water and he smiled, beckoning her towards him.

She dove into the water and swam over to her man.

seven

“Take my hand,” Ellis said extending it over the boulder. Alexi grabbed it and he hoisted her up easily as if she was light as a twig.

The two of them were hiking up Spotted Bear Mountain to have a picnic. He was racing to the top, his bear pushing the pace, eager to repeat the events of yesterday afternoon at the waterfall.

It was the first time that Ellis had made love to a woman and it was better than he had ever imagined. Her curves melted his insides and made him so hard. He couldn’t stop thinking of the way she felt. The way she tasted. The way his cock felt when he slid it into her wet slit. His bear groaned in response. Apparently he was thinking the same thing.

“Do you have another surprise for me at the top?” she asked, pulling his hand down towards her. He lowered his mouth onto hers, tasting the sweet saltiness from her skin. Her kiss was intoxicating and his bear rumbled in excitement. She grazed her teeth over his bottom lip and brushed her hand down his stomach to his belt buckle.

“I can give it to you right here if you prefer?” Ellis said, his hand sliding up her leg.

She grabbed his wrist and held it in place. “No you’ll have to work for it,” she said and ran up the hill past him.

He jogged up beside her, keeping her pace. Ellis’ inner bear was finally content, feeling like he had claimed Alexi as his mate. But Ellis wasn’t so sure.

He still hadn’t told her that he was a bear shifter. He had no idea how she was going to react. Humans were unpredictable with that kind of thing.

And there were the secrets that she was holding about her past. Something told him that she was holding in something dark, that she was staying with his crew for protection and not for a holiday.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said, turning around and admiring the view. It was another gorgeous day with the sun shining.

Ellis never took her eyes off Alexi. “It sure is.”

“No, that way,” she said, laughing and turning his head around. The green of the forest was spectacular. The river in the distance snaked in and out of the tall trees. A bald eagle glided overhead in the distance looking for its lunch.

Ellis had lived here since birth and often took the natural beauty for granted. Alexi was opening his eyes to it again. Just one of many things that she was doing for him.

Alexi’s eye caught the eagle and followed it through the sky. Ellis watched as her smile faded away. Her chin began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears as she watched the magnificent bird gliding.

Ellis wrapped his arms around her. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head and covered her eyes as she began to cry. It broke his heart to see her sad. He would have given anything to make her feel better. To make his princess happy again.

Ellis held her body as she sunk to the ground. “I haven’t been completely honest with you,” she stammered through sobs.

“It’s okay,” he said, kissing the tears from her cheeks. He had secrets too.

She shook her head. “No. It’s bad. I have a fiancee.”

The words hit him like a kick in the gut.
A fiancee?
He had a sudden desire to run. To race down the mountain faster than he ever had before. His bear kept him grounded. His bear didn’t care about fiancees or boyfriends. It was black and white to his bear. She was his and he was hers.

“His name is Greg,” she said, staring at the ground. The tears had stopped but she was still upset. “He is the son of my parents’ friends. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”

Ellis was speechless. He just held her close, hoping that it wasn’t the last time that he got to hold her body to his.

“On paper he sounds great,” she continued. “Rich, powerful, good looking and my family loved him. But he has a dark side. There were signs when we were dating but I ignored them. I was living in a fantasy land, more concerned with my wardrobe and nightlife than the monster I was attaching myself to. We got engaged a few months later. My parents were thrilled. But then everything changed.”

Fresh tears flowed down her cheeks.

“First it was the insults. He would call me fat and stupid and ugly. He would say that I was disgusting and tell me that no one would want to be with a pig like me. It got to the point where I started to believe his words. I looked in the mirror and saw a fat, ugly slob looking back at me.”

Ellis clenched his hands into fists. Now he wanted to race down the mountain for another reason. To find this Greg and unleash his bear on him.

“A month before the wedding was the first time that he hit me. I had ordered the wrong flavor for the cake. He wanted chocolate and I ordered vanilla. After that day, there wasn’t one day that went by when he didn’t hit me or kick me or slap me.” She shook her head. “It was horrible. I went to my family for help and my dad told me to stop being so dramatic. My mom looked at my bruises and told me that I was making up stories because I had cold feet.”

She took a deep breath. “They just hung me out to dry. They’d rather their daughter be in an abusive relationship than upset their precious friends.”

Ellis ran his fingers through her hair. “When did all of this happen?”

“My wedding was supposed to be last week.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t go through with it. The day before the wedding I drove to the bank, took out all the money I had, a little over four thousand dollars in cash, threw out my cell phone, threw out my credit cards, bank cards and anything else that could be used to track me down, and started driving. I didn’t have a map or GPS. I just drove and drove and drove. For days. One morning I stopped for breakfast in your mom’s diner and saw the hiring sign in the window. I asked and she hooked me up with a job and a place to stay. She’s been great.”

“It’s okay,” Ellis said, stroking her cheek. “He’s out of your life. You never have to see him again. You can stay with me.”

She looked up at him with worried eyes. “There’s more. He knows where I am.”

“Good let him come,” he said, gritting his teeth.

“No, you don’t understand,” she said, gripping his wrist. “He’s a very powerful man. He knows lots of bad people.”

“Look Alexi,” he said, placing his hand on hers. “I haven’t been completely honest with you either. There are things that I can do…”

What was that?

There was a brief change in the wind and a strange, familiar smell hit his nose.
Shit. Not now.

He sprang up. “We have to go. Now.”

She looked at him with confusion as he stood up and sniffed the air.
They’re close. Too close.

Ellis pulled Alexi behind his body as two shirtless members of the Flint Crew popped out through the trees. Ryder was the first one to emerge. He was fit and muscular with short blond hair. He looked more like a male model than a lumberjack. Clay followed closely behind him. He was easy to recognize with tribal tattoos all over his arms and a big, bear claw tattooed on his right pec.

Ellis planted his heels in the ground, separating his feet in a fighter’s stance. These two were lesser members of the Flint Crew but he was still outnumbered.

His bear was struggling to get out. It was taking a lot to keep him from drawing to the surface. Ellis wanted to avoid a fight if possible. Alexi was behind him and very vulnerable. A flying claw or sharp tooth could easily take her out. She didn’t have the fast healing that he had.

Ellis spoke first. “If you guys turn around now I’ll forget that you’re trespassing on our territory.”

Ryder looked at Clay and they started laughing. “Since when do the Hudson Crew care about territories?” he asked. “Or did you forget that you’re always parachuting into our area, putting out fires?”

“What do you guys want?” Ellis asked. “I’ll go with you, just leave the girl out of this.”

“Why would we want you, baby alpha?” Clay asked.

Ryder and Clay looked past him at Alexi. Ellis’ stomach dropped.

“Are you Alexi Winters?” Clay asked.

Ellis glanced at her over his shoulder. Her face was a ghostly white and her hand was trembling. His bear pushed forward but Ellis held him back. It was still best to settle this with words. If that was possible.

“Your husband is looking for you,” Ryder said.

“He’s not my husband,” she said.

“What’s it to you,” Ellis asked, stepping to the side, blocking their view of his mate. They turned their eyes to him.

“Her husband is Greg McCoy. Of McCoy Industries.”

Ellis’ mouth dropped. Her ex was the owner of the company that the Flint Crew worked for and these evil bear shifters were on his payroll.

Clay stepped forward. “She’s coming with us.”

Ellis’ bear surged to the surface and there was no stopping him.

Ellis let him come.

eight

Alexi should have known that Greg would find her. He had connections everywhere, owned companies all over the country. She had no idea that he owned a logging company here in Montana, but she wasn’t surprised either.

Not only was she going to be sent back to a pissed off Greg, but she had put her new friends in danger.

Ellis stood in front of her with his hands clenched into fists, and his muscles jacked. He looked like he was going to fight to the death for her.

He looked terrifying, but those two other guys looked scary as well. They were just as big as Ellis and had chilling orange eyes.

“She’s coming with us,” the one full of tattoos said. He stepped forward and a wild, savage growl surged from Ellis’ chest.

Alexi stepped back as her new love’s back grew, like an inflating balloon. Millions of small brown hairs popped out of his skin as his body swelled before her. She stared in horror as his insides crunched, ripped and snapped. He growled viciously and with a blink of an eye Ellis’ possessed body exploded into a massive grizzly bear.

Ellis stood on his hind legs and roared so loud that Alexi had to cover her ears. The bear standing before her looked like a monster. Over ten feet tall with long, thick, black claws that looked as sharp as swords. Its burly, muscled back was brawny and powerful, its dark fur, long and thick. Her heart raced so fast that it hurt her chest. She swallowed a scream, unable to make any noise.

The terrifying bear turned around and looked at Alexi with silver eyes. Her legs and knees went weak and she almost fell to the ground. The eye had a touch of sadness to it when he looked at her and she recognized that it was Ellis. This beast was Ellis.

Alexi looked past him at the two members of the Flint Crew. Their heads were swelling as their skin turned dark. Her mouth dropped as their noses extended forward and their hands curled with long claws sprouting forth from their fingertips. Their bodies ripped and cracked as two black bears burst out of their bodies. They stood on their hind legs and roared.

Alexi awoke from her trance, turned and ran. She sprinted through the trees until the three bears were behind her. She jumped over logs as tree branches whipped across her face. Her heart was pumping, adrenaline coursing through her veins, as she ducked under a branch and pushed forward.

Birds flew out of the trees as vicious, inhuman, snarling and growling erupted from behind her. A large cracking sound filled the forest and then the falling of a tree as she forced her trembling legs to work harder.

Her lungs were on fire. The sound of blood pumping in her ears, somewhat muted the hair-raising sounds of the bear fight behind her. She tripped on a root and went flying forward, raising her hands to break her fall. Her elbow slammed into a rock and her head hit the ground. She looked up dazed and heard something coming from behind. She glanced back and saw the tops of the trees swaying as something made its way after her.

“Shit,” she cursed. She pushed her body up with her hands and her right arm gave way. She collapsed back to the dirt.

She turned and screamed as a grizzly bear burst through the trees. He stopped in front of her and looked at her with sad, silver eyes. His breathing was heavy and he had several long gashes across his body. He was bleeding from a deep cut on his snout. He raised his nose, smelled the air and then curled in on himself. He started shrinking, the long brown hair receding back into skin.

Alexi gasped as the large bear paws turned into human fingers and the long snout shriveled into a human nose. The bear was gone and a naked Ellis was crouched in his place, breathing heavily and wincing in pain.