Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance (19 page)

“
Believe me, Aarons, none of us have,”
Thomas said.

“
Then you know he'd do anything to make it happen.
Murder and sabotage wasn't beneath him, as his last battle proved so
well.”

The wounds near my knee throbbed. Would I ever forget?
The deep gouges in my skin were filling in with scar tissue, and it
wouldn't be long before it looked normal. But I knew it would always
sting a little in the cold, no matter if I was arranged like a man or
a bear.

“
Emmerick was a ruthless manipulator. We all know
about the traps he set in the forest, the way he nearly killed both
of us and probably devoured that poor teen from Kalispell. But he was
just as deadly in deception.”

Sam smiled, waiting as the Elders chewed on the silence.
She moved a little closer to the long bench where we sat.

“
There weren't just missing records. Some of them
had been intentionally falsified, replaced down to the slightest
detail. I still don't know how he found the old ink and faded pages
to leave all these convincing forgeries. Some of them go back more
than a century.”

“
We're
talking about our whole history!” Franklin slammed his fist on
the wood in front of him. “That bastard changed everything. We
found his log after we searched that ratty cabin he called home.
And
I don't think it was complete – there were lots of documents
that he'd added and hadn't written down in the book.”

“
The Elder's right,” Sam continued.
“Emmerick's forgeries go beyond the historian before him.
You've all heard of Riemmeck Jones?”

She waited for the Elders to agree. “Well, there
was no such person. It's no mistake that none of you remember him. He
never existed. Riemmeck is an anagram of Emmerick. And that's not all
he covered up.”

My three peers groaned and slapped their heads. I
suppressed a growl.

“
In fact, one of your scouts in the seventies
brought back copies of the early EPA tests in this area. They
confirmed all sorts of things that could easily be toxic to humans in
high doses, and some of these toxins can even cause aneurisms.”

“
But not to shifters,” I added, cutting in.
“We're a heartier bunch. Physiologically stronger than our
human mates.”

Genevieve stared at me sadly. I couldn't imagine how it
felt to be a councilwoman for fifty years, only to find out she'd
been leading the clan on half-truths and outright lies.

“
Then...there's no threat to men or women from
these couplings after all?” She said it in a low voice.

“
No ma'am.” Sam's lips curled in a firm,
warm smile that almost mirrored my own. “There's absolutely no
medical evidence to support that idea. And believe me when I tell you
I'm happier about it than anyone.”

Thomas coughed. All of us stared at Sam as she folded
her hands beneath her breasts, just enough to press on her slowly
ripening belly.

“
Sam has it all written up,” I reminded
them. “We've got weeks to dig into the nitty gritty details
about what was falsified and by who. But I think with our new clan
historian in charge, things will get cleared up pretty damned fast.”

Sam grinned. Genevieve looked at me grimly and sniffed.

“
Well, we all hope so, councilman. I say that with
all sincerity.” She paused, taking a long sip of water from her
glass. “I think it's time you put forward what we've all been
waiting for.”

I stood, met Sam's eyes, and opened my mouth. “Motion
to permanently revise the old policies forbidding contact between
humans and shifters. Everyone in the Grizzly Bone Clan should have
the freedom to go into Kalispell for travel, profit, and friendship.
As long as certain precautions are taken to protect the clan, of
course.”

“
The councilman has provided his common sense
recommendations on what those precautions might be to protect our
group from human threats,” Genevieve said. “Everyone here
has reviewed them, yes?”

She waited until she saw the other two nod. “With
that, I'd like to open the floor for a public vote. All in favor of
this motion, please raise your bones and say 'aye!'”

I reached beneath the table. Clasping the cool bear bone
tight in my hands, I lifted it above my head. My “aye!”
rang out with all the other Elders.

Unanimous. Official. Hearing Genevieve's gavel hit the
wood never sounded so good.

“
Then it's settled. Congratulations, Don Flood.
You're the youngest councilman to ever sit up here with us, and now
the youngest to pass a motion of such great importance.”

Sam clapped her hands and squealed. I didn't even hear
Genevieve adjourn the session. I was busy running toward my love,
eager to feel her soft, warm flesh against my triumphant heart.

Sam

Snow crunched underfoot.

“
I'm going to miss this,” he said, his
breath steaming into the dense wintry night. “Lonely as it is
when the snows come, this place has a special charm.”

“
I couldn't have said it better. But Don, you know
you'll appreciate the extra space. And we'll be back here plenty.
They're letting you keep the cabin, aren't they?”

He nodded. We walked on.

The small woodsy house came into view. Its roof was
frosted like a gingerbread house from the latest snowfall.

Sure, we'd miss what we had, but there were huge
advantages to moving into Kalispell's civilized lower elevation.

“
You're right about one thing. We're going to need
more room.
Lots
of extra room.” I followed Don up to his
back porch and smiled.

When I took the last step, he reached out, pulled me
close. His huge embrace added new warmth, inside and out, an immense
shield against the cold mountain night.

“
Don't spend your whole stipend on a house.”
I stared into his eyes, still smiling. “I know they've given
you a lot of gold, but we don't need a McMansion right away.”

“
Won't settle for anything less than five
bedrooms. Trust me, we're gonna need it.” His hand slid to my
stomach.

He fondled my pregnant belly gently through my coat.
Don's firm hand lovingly caressed the flesh beneath my shirt, and
then crept lower.

“
Oh! But going from a one room cabin is a big step
up, don't you think? Plenty big.”

“
Yeah. You know by now I don't do half-measures,
Sam. And we wouldn't be fated mates if you didn't want a big family
too.”

I giggled slightly as Don tugged me closer, folding his
huge arms around my back. His fiery breath steamed onto my neck, only
to be quickly replaced by the hotter, sweeter fury in his lips. My
flesh sizzled.

Pregnant. Safe. Totally in love.

Doesn't get much better than this, does it?

I shook my head silently, answering my own question. Don
took it as a sign of arousal. One sly hand curled up around my hip,
found my breast, and squeezed.

I grinned. Well, there were thousands of worse ways to
have a slip in communication, right?

“
Kiss me. Deep and warm, my sweetest prize.”
Don spoke with fire in his eyes, moving his lips to mine.

Divine heat flared through me. The raging hormones I
could barely control on my good days burst from their holding cells,
surged through my system, rabid to feel those hands, lips, and teeth
all over my body.

I moaned into his mouth. His hands cupped my ass, jerked
me into him, before he broke the sultry kiss.

We locked eyes. In his dark, sparkling whirlpools, I
lost myself, hurtling into the endless labyrinth he crafted from all
his energies.

Human, bear, everything.

My man, my bear, my ultimate lover had truly claimed his
prize. I pushed into him – my fingers, my thighs, my breasts –
wishing I could sink into the man who'd taken my everything.

“
You're so beautiful like this,” he growled,
moving his thumb across the small curve in my belly. “How could
I ever resist giving you another baby? One after the next...Emmerick
wanted us extinct. I'm gonna do my part to make the clan grow.”

“
I don't know. I'll guess it's as hard as
resisting your touch.” My lips found his.

We kissed for a long time, lighting the darkness with
our heat, threatening to melt the snow in a big ring around our
cabin. The high silver moon hung in the sky, showering us with its
otherworldly approval, an ornament born to reflect love on earth.

I smiled through my kisses. Sure, life with him in
Kalispell would be very different. But with this unbearable magnetism
winding through our veins, our hearts, I knew it would be the closest
thing to perfection I'd ever know.

“
That goes for both of us,” he huffed,
casting another interlude in our kisses for air. “Your touch,
your love, your human fire...I'll always want it all, Sam. Always.”

He didn't know what that word meant to me. Or did he?

“
Always,” I repeated. My heart trembled,
giddy and excited as he took me by the hand and walked me to the
door.

I gave the moon one last wink before we plunged into his
cabin to satisfy our burning needs. Up there, I could see the
reflections of everything beautiful all at once.

I thanked my mended heart, my bear protector, and
whatever mysterious fates conspired to bring us together.

Fated mates. Always.

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Instantly, I wanted to open myself all the way to him,
anything to capture the vital flicker restlessly dancing in his
pupils. If I could catch his spark, maybe I wouldn't be so timid
anymore.

We were both surprised when I snapped up, standing on my
tiptoes. I bounced on the fire inside me, spinning toward him.

My lips landed on his.

I smiled through my shock, feeling his warm, inviting
lips go from pliable to firm.

We kissed without breaking away for several minutes. His
arms tightened around my waist, slowly working their way lower, until
they rested just above the hams of my ass.

I expected him to finish the teasing finger march below
my belt, but he jerked me around instead. I was the one planted tight
to the wall now, locked to the old wood by his hands while his face
glided lower.