Rough (The Bear Chronicles of Willow Creek Book 1)
Read Rough (The Bear Chronicles of Willow Creek Book 1) Online
Authors: Julia Keith,Emily Minton
ROUGH
The Bear Chronicles of Willow Creek
EMILY MINTON
and
JULIA KEITH
ROUGH
The Bear Chronicles of Willow Creek
BY
EMILY MINTON and JULIA KEITH
Copyright © 2016 Emily Minton & Julia Keith
Published 2016
Rough is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and events portrayed in this book either are from the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, establishments, events, or location is purely coincidental and not intended by the authors. Please don’t take offence to the content, as it is FICTION.
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ROUGH
The Bear Chronicles of Willow Creek
By
Emily Minton
And
Julia Keith
Ethan Artair lived his life happily in Willow Creek. Living among shifters, he was able to live free and allow his bear to do the same. Everything changed, the day a reporter came to his little town and made everyone’s life a living hell. As mayor, he had no choice but take a human wife to disprove the reporter’s claim that no outsiders are allowed their town. Disgust filled Ethan when he met his new wife, but his disgust quickly changed to something he never thought he could feel for a human, lust.
Amelia Calder is forced to live with the scars of her parents’ death. While growing up in foster care, her only desire was to see her younger sister be happy. Knowing her minimum wage job would never be able enough to care for her sister, she made the only choice she could. She decided to move to a town she had never heard of and marry a man she had never met. Fear filled Amelia when she finally met her new husband, but her fear quickly changed to something else, something she's never felt before, lust.
Can lust turn into love, between a human and a bear shifter?
DEDICATION
To anyone who has ever fallen in love or lust at first sight.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
Willow Creek, Alabama
April 28, 2015
Ethan
POUNDING THE
gavel against the podium, the room goes silent. “I call this meeting of the Willow Creek council to order.”
The Town Council President, an eagle shifter, Shannon stands up and says, “First order of business, we need to discuss what to do about Mr. Weaver’s articles.”
Shifters of all kinds call our town home, only a few outsiders have ever ventured here. For years, shifters have been happy to be secluded in our own little piece of paradise. We felt safe to be ourselves, be that lizard or wolf, or anything in-between. As a bear, I was able to roam the forest, never worried that I would be trapped or shot. It was a shifter’s heaven. Everything changed a few months ago.
All of the shifters are trying to talk over each other, but no one is really saying anything of any importance. Looking towards the council, I ask, “Does anyone have any new suggestions on how to handle Mr. Weaver?”
When Mr. Weaver first showed up wanting to write an article about our town, we were not overly concerned. He worked for a small newspaper in one of the nearby towns and was writing articles about the surrounding area. He said he was really excited to write about Willow Creek. He claimed our town was one of the very few places in the country that still held the Americana vibe. He visited every Mom and Pop shop in town, asking questions and taking pictures.
The town council discussed it, and we didn’t see the harm. What kind of trouble could a few stories in a small town paper cause? When his article was picked up by the Mobile City Star, I started to get a little nervous. After that, outsiders started coming to town. They would visit the shops and restaurants, putting money in our pockets, so I tried to stay calm.
“I kinda like the man, would hate to kill him. Everything would be fine if those papers would stop printing his articles.” A coyote shifter shouts out. “You never should have given him that stupid interview.”
As the so-called mayor, he came to me, wanting an interview He didn’t realize that I’m not just a mayor, that title means so much more in our little community. A member of my family has held that title since the day Willow Creek was settled. Someday, I hope my son will be leader, but that’s looking more doubtful as each day passes.
“I had no choice but to give him the interview. If I hadn’t talked to him, he would have kept asking everyone else questions about me.” I defend myself, even though no one has the right to question my decisions. “With that being said, if anyone has a problem with the way I run our community, let me know. We can settle this in the forest, fight to the death.”
Everyone goes quiet, not one of them willing to challenge me. Nodding my approval, I go on. “I only gave him basic information. The rest he got from digging around.”
Mr. Weaver wanted to learn everything he could about Willow Creek’s history. He even wanted to trace my family line, all the way back to my great, great, great grandfather, who founded the town nearly two hundred and fifty years ago. I did my best to keep my answers vague, but that seemed to only make him dig for more. Somehow, he realized that nearly all the men and women living in town were descended from the original settlers.
When my interview and his findings were published, the associated press picked up his article. Everyone wanted to know how a town stayed so small, so isolated, in this day and age. Some reporters went so far as to say
we were some type of cult. That’s when the wackos started showing up. If I have one more person stop me in the street to bow at my feet, I’m gonna let my grizzly bear out to eat them.
Someone else shouts out, “I think killing him is the only answer.”
“Agreed,” says another. “I could visit him at home. My scorpion could take him out in his sleep. He wouldn’t even feel that much pain.”
Frustration fills me and my hand automatically goes to my beard, tugging at the ends. When my claws begin to grow, I realize this arguing has gone on long enough. Banging the gavel against the podium again, I gain everyone’s attention. “We’re not killing the man, and that’s an order. His death will just make things worse.
We’ve gone over this a million times. Dozens of ideas have been presented to the town council, but none of them will stop the damn gossip about our town. As much as I like the idea of getting rid of Mr. Weaver, we can’t kill the little bastard. Doing so would just gain more attention to his articles and won’t stop the damage that’s already been done.
“What we need is to bring in outsiders that we can trust. We need to find human husbands and wives,” I say, trying to hide the distaste from my voice.
“You know I respect you, Ethan, but I don’t see how’s that gonna help?” Mason, another grizzly shifter asks.
I’m not sure if it will help or not, but it’s the best idea I can come up with. Instead of telling him that, I keep my voice firm as I reply. “Bringing in the outsiders will show that we are not so isolated from the world.”
“We could just move. I’m sure there is someplace we can go where no one has seen those stupid articles,” Eli, a black bear shifter and my cousin, says from his seat.
Eli and his father have hated all humans, since his mother and his father’s mate was shot by hunters. She was a beautiful woman and a gorgeous wolf. They killed her for bragging rights. Not many humans have taken down a full grown wolf.
“We can’t just pick up and move.” I growl out, shaking my head.
Moving sounds like a damn good idea to me, but it’s just not possible. With more than three thousand shifters in our town, a sudden move would not go unnoticed by the press. Also, where else could we go to find homes for all of us? If we all plan on staying together, then we have to stay here.
“I agree with Ethan, taking human wives is the best thing for now. Since they’re not shifters, we can always divorce them if it doesn’t pan out.” A wolf shifter shouts from the back of the room.
“We won’t be able to divorce them. They’ll be part of our community, until the day they die. It’s the only way,” I say, the words nearly choking me.
My inner bear starts to claw at my insides, letting his frustration show. This is as hard on him as it is on me. Taking a human mate will leave him alone, forever. He will never get to hunt with his mate, nuzzle her, or love her. Just the thought of sentencing him to something so fucking terrible makes me sick, but I’m doing this to keep him safe.
As far as I can see, bringing outsiders into our tight knit community is the only answer. To do so, we have to be able to trust them. As distasteful as it is, mating the humans is the only way of gaining their trust. Our mating bond will not allow them to betray us, and sharing children with them will only help. As far as I can see, finding human mates and having part human children is the only way to save Willow Creek.
“The only problem is where do we go to find humans to marry us?” A bobcat shifter asks, looking around the room for the answer. “I know we can get women no problem, but marrying them is another thing.”
As shifters, our animal magnetism draws the opposite sex to us. Still, fucking a human and marrying one is different. The same woman, who would willingly come to my bed, may ask questions if I wanted to marry her the next day. They’ll think we will need time to get to know each other. With all the humans coming to Willow Creek, time is one thing we don’t have.