Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales)

This is a
work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as
real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights
reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted
work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically
or in print without written permission by the author.

Bear’s Gold

Copyright ©
2012, Yvette Hines

Cover
Artist: Antwan Williams

Editor:
Andrea Jackson

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Dedication

To
the fierce and passionate male in my life; my husband. You are always there to
drive me wild and protect me. I love that about you. To my readers…thanks for
your patience and support. To Bernadette…remember sitting around in my house
talking about those bear shifter? ’Here’s to a night of sitting in a restaurant
talking about more naughty books’.

Chapter One

“Oh, shiitt!” Riley screamed as the
sound of something exploding echoed through the interior of her car and her
sedan jerked to the side. Gripping the wheel tight, she attempted to control
the vehicle as it began to fishtail and veer toward the black walls on the side
of the road; curtains of darkness. The sheets of water pouring down before the
windshield didn't help and the road was too slick for the tires to gain sure
traction. That’s what she deserved for not getting new tires four months ago
like she was supposed to. She tried to pump her brakes as all the driving
manuals instructed, but things were quickly rolling out of control. Before she
knew it, her car was sliding recklessly and didn’t stop until it had nose dived
into a tree.

She was thankful that she wasn’t
going fast enough to discharge her air bag. The last thing she needed was a
concussion or bruised sternum. Static crackled through her radio, the top
forties station lost at some point through her death defying adventure. Flipping
the dial to turn the radio off, she assessed her current situation.

There was nothing but darkness all
around her. Her windows looked as if they had been painted black; she couldn’t
see anything. Out of the front window, one headlight shone bright, illuminating
the side of the thick tree she had plowed into. The same tree that had knocked
out her other light. The hard rain pounded against the roof of her car and
echoed through the interior of her vehicle. Pulling her cell phone out of her
purse, she looked at it and became more aggravated. There was plenty of battery
life bars, but no signal.  “Great.”

Not even an occasional flicker when
she waved it around praying to find a connection. Nothing. Disgusted, she
tossed the phone down and heard it bounce off the center console and land
somewhere. Normally she would have searched for it, but it served no purpose at
the moment.

She needed help. The only thing she
knew about the area was that she was in Northern California. She could have
traveled straight down the highway, but she wanted to take the secluded scenic
route because something about this neck of the woods called to her. The part
she had seen while there was still light was beautiful; thick redwood trees,
vibrant green foliage, and wild flowers in styles and colors she hadn’t
witnessed since childhood. The detour off the beaten path made just in case
Fred had decided to follow her. Now, she wished she had risked him locating her
instead of having a wreck in the middle of nowhere. A few hours back, she had
crossed the Stateline from Oregon. The last sign she had passed was a town
about thirty minutes away. Some place called Den County. She didn’t know how
close she was to the next town or city, but maybe if she could get her car back
on the road, she could slowly drive toward the last town.

Driving around in the dark with only
one headlight probably wasn’t wise, but neither was just sitting in a car all
night. Putting her car in reverse, she pressed on the gas pedal and tried to
get the car to back up. The engine revved loudly and then the car lurched
forward—and died.

“No-no-no-no-no-no-noooo…” Riley
banged the wheel. Stepping on the brake, she threw the gearshift into park. Turning
the ignition off then on again, she tried to get it to start. Over and over,
she tried. All the lights in her dash slowly faded; then the single headlight
went out. Dropping her head on the steering wheel, she felt like crying. But
she hadn’t shed a tear in all the months Fred harassed and threatened her and
she wouldn’t start now. What seemed like a lifetime ago, but truly had only
been before dawn that day, she had packed her car with only things that were
essential and left Dodge. As she sat there in the dark trying to think about
what to do next, she became aware that the rain had stopped.

Leaning back, she gazed out the
window and noticed a faint light in the distance. She figured she had missed
seeing it before because of her car light reflecting off the wet trees and
bushes. Straining her eyes, she was positive it was a light of some sort.

Is it a house? She wondered. She
couldn’t tell how far away it was, but it was her only hope. She didn’t want to
walk through the woods in pitch black, but she had no other choice.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady
her nerves, she felt around and got her purse. Blindly searching, she tried to
locate her cell. If she located it, she would at least be able to walk with
some light and possibly she would stumble on a signal, especially if the light
was attached to a house.   

Finally her fingers brushed against
it and she quickly snatched it up from the passenger side floor. Getting out of
the car, Riley stood shielded by the open door. The rain had stopped and left
behind it an eerie quiet that was amplified by the darkness. Nothing but the
occasional patter of water dropping from one leaf to another.

She shut the door, just in case she
needed to return to the car; she didn’t want to be greeted by any forest
animals who may have decided to make her car their home. If it wasn’t a house
in the distance then she would have to sleep in her car until morning.

With a plan in mind, she set out on
foot. Pressing the button to activate her cell’s indigo light, she waved it
slowly around in front of her to see if she could locate a path. Seeing a break
in the trees that appeared to offer the most direct trail to the house, she
moved forward gingerly. She tried to move as fast as she could through the
dark, each step she took cautious, ensuring she didn’t trip over a tree root or
step into a hole and break an ankle. Every time she’d seen some scary movie
that took place in the woods, it was always some girl dressed inappropriately
to be hiking through the forest and sure enough, she always twisted her ankle
making her more vulnerable. Riley was determined that she would not be
that
girl
.

The rain and the night air were making
it cold, making her shirt feel damp and chill bumps rise on her skin. Wrapping
her arms around her torso, she glanced away from the ground. Her tennis shoes sloshed
through the muddy ground, the thick, cool substance oozing around her feet.
Yuck.

She looked up and checked her
distance to the house. The light was getting closer, but the darkness still was
making it hard for her to determine what her lone beacon was attached to.

Please let it be a house.

Owls hooted and called out to each
other around her and occasionally she heard the sound of rain splashing from
leaf to leave among the trees, but other than that all was quiet around her. It
was in between the owl’s signifying that she felt nervous and unsure of
deciding to venture out in the dark. It wasn’t because she heard anything, just
an eerie silence. However, it was in those silent moments the hairs on the back
of her neck would raise a little higher each time.

A tingling sensation raced up her
spine as if someone was watching her. She swung around and clicked her cell
phone, aiming the soft light behind her.  She saw nothing. Standing still and
even holding her breath, she listened, tried to decipher and dissect every
noise around her. Even though owls seemed to understand her need and remained
silent, still she got nothing. Turning, she continued on her makeshift path. She
chalked it up to her nerves being frayed because of Fred her ex boyfriend—the gambling
stalker.

Fred had made her life miserable for
the last few months. They’d only dated for two years, but when she had ended it
because of his gambling and control issues, the man wouldn’t go away. While
they lived together, during the last year of their relationship, he had bled
her savings dry. When she finally moved out, he began harassing her by phone
first, then kept showing up at her apartment and her job. She took a
restraining order out on him; which only pissed him off. She ended up moving
and transferring to another pre-school, but he located her there. Forced to
quit her job, she’d had to move in with a friend. When they went out jogging
early one morning and saw him sitting in his car at the end of her street, she
knew she’d have to leave the city to get rid of him.

So, without telling anyone where she
was going, she waited until Fred went to work, then called and verified that he
was there. Then she loaded her car with her things and left without telling
anyone. She taped a note to her friend’s bathroom mirror saying she was fine
and would call her soon. Headed home to her brother’s house in Sans Town,
California, she was trying her best to disappear. Fred had never been to visit
her family. Never spoke to them on the phone. He’d only met her sister once a
year ago when Stevie came for a visit. Her ex was so self-absorbed; she doubted
he even recalled where she was from original.

Her parents lived in the same area,
thirty minutes away from her brother. She really was not looking forward to
them saying “Told you so.” Her parents, her mother especially, never wanted her
to move away from home and repeatedly told her she needed to settle down. When
she’d started dating Fred, they’d told her he was not the one after her father
had one conversation with her ex on the phone. Well, they’d been right about
that.

She didn’t want to mooch off her
brother, Danny, but she would have to crash there until she got a job and an
apartment.

Something snapped.

Shifting around quickly, she held up
her phone, turning one way then the other trying to peer into the dark, get a
view past thick trees and bushes. It was pitch black beyond the small glow from
her cell making it impossible for her to see anything. Closing her eyes for a
brief moment she strained her ears, listened as hard as she could, attempting
to pick up any sound. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Then why is my heart racing?

That was the first thing she noticed
as she slowly opened her eyes. Her heart rate had picked up as if she were
running, but she wasn’t doing anything except standing in place. She reminded
herself that she was in the middle of the woods sometime after midnight and it
was normal to be scared.

Yes, that’s it.
That was why her hands were
starting to tremble and shudders were racking her body. Anxiety. The stress her
ex had put her through had caused her to have anxiety attacks and now she was
just having another one.

Inhaling deeply, she allowed the
autumn night air to fill her lungs as she turned back around and proceeded toward
her destination. One step after the other, she moved closer to the light. Just
when she believed she had herself calm to a normal degree, she heard a rustling
sound. This time she didn’t try and determine what or if anything was behind
her, she started running in the only direction available to her.