Releasing the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 2) (3 page)

I barely got my agreement out before I felt him enter. He pushed into me, slowly at first, filling me up and forcing me to call out his name. His fingers moved furiously against my already sensitive clit, while he thrust in and out of me. My stomach slammed against the desk, each hit making me enjoy the moment even more. Brennan growled, and nipped, and treated me to another orgasm the moment before I felt him harden inside. With a moan, he released, thrusting deeper with each pulse. The warmth felt good. It had been a long time since I let someone do that, and I just knew that we would be doing this again.

When the last wave left both of us, Brennan fell on top of me. My hands were still spread throughout the now ruined stack of papers on my desk. The left side of my face pressed against something uncomfortable, but I didn’t care at this moment. My core still tingled with the release needed after building up this attraction for more than a month. Brennan’s sweaty chest rubbed against my back, making me feel safe and satiated all at once.

“That was…” I breathed.

“Fucking awesome,” Brennan finished and we both laughed. He trailed his fingers up and down over my hips, giving me shivers before he decided to finally pull out. I lay still, unable to make my legs obey me yet. But Brennan didn’t have a problem moving as he reached over me and grabbed a few tissues from the box on my desk. I didn’t move as he slowly, and methodically cleaned me up. He saved my folds for last, lapping up the liquid trickling down my legs before reaching the most sensitive area.

I smiled while he took care of me. No one had ever been that attentive before and my wolf was quick to remind me that it was a mate’s job to take care of each other. Snuggling, talking, or cleaning up after sex was one of the ways we shared that bond as humans.

When Brennan finished, he slapped my ass and helped me stand up. “All right, dominant female. You’re all set.” He kissed my neck and pulled me back against him again.

I melted in his arms, my knees weakening with each touch of his lips. A sudden wave of fear washed over me at how much he truly affected me. No one was supposed to have this kind of control except for my alpha. But since my pack alpha was my uncle, I was never going to have an alpha mate. Or was I?

I turned so that I could press my naked body up against Brennan’s one more time. Kissing his lips, I let the touching continue until the knock on the door made us focus on something other than ourselves.

Moaning against Brennan’s chest I asked, “What?”

“Umm…” Simone was hesitant. “Carla’s causing a scene again and I think you better come out here.” A moment of silence passed before she added, “Now.”

I sighed and stepped away from Brennan. Taking one last look at his gorgeous body, I was very tempted to push him right back into the chair again.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he growled. “I can’t leave here with you looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” I teased.

“Like I’m the most delicious prey you’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, you’re so much more than prey to me, Mr. Callaghan.” I bent over to grab my clothes and heard Brennan groaned while he watched.

“You are fucking amazing,” he said.

My heart did something weird and I bit back the tears. I didn’t know where they came from or why I’d had such a strong reaction to his words, but I didn’t have time to think about it since I’d just heard the shatter of glass coming from the club.

Brennan heard it too and helped hold my clothes while I put my bra and panties back on. “Can I help out there?”

Another round of emotions tore me up from the inside. Pushing them back down, I shook my head and slipped into my skirt and top. “No. It will probably only make things worse.”

“Okay. Well, should I stay?”

Yes. “No, no. I have a feeling this is going to be another one of Carla’s drama nights that won’t end until we close.” I reached up and kissed him gently. “But thank you for offering. There’s a back door at the end of the hallway if you want to get out unnoticed.”

I felt him watch me as I sauntered back to the club. I hoped he didn’t take the back door comment the wrong way, but knowing how many wolves and coyotes were in the club tonight, meant too many eyes prying into our business. And a bear with a wolf? That would surely get them talking.

I didn’t look back as I closed the door. I could still smell him on me and that made my core flutter with a small aftershock. Damn it if Brennan Callaghan hadn’t just changed my life forever.

And damn Carla for ending it all too soon.

I decided to spend the night in my newly-purchased and completely empty cabin instead of going back to Brandt’s house. He and Emma had welcomed Bo and me to share the space any time we needed. It was large enough that we each had our own suite, but I didn’t want either of them smelling Scarlett’s wolf on me and giving me a hard time. The entire drive home, I wondered how this could possibly end well. There was no doubt our animals had chosen each other,
mated
with each other. But would Brandt and Peter, Scarlett’s uncle, allow this to happen?

Could a bear shifter actually mate with a wolf shifter? Was that even possible?

My dreams haunted me that night so when my phone buzzed with a text from Brandt in the early morning, it took a while for my brain to catch up. It was a simple message:
Need you here now
! Brandt was definitely a man of few words, but this still worried me.

When I pulled into the driveway of the house that had been in our family for generations, a surge of sadness and anxiety crushed into my chest. It had only been a couple of months since my dad was killed and Brandt had fought for clan alpha. And while he and Emma hadn’t changed much, I still felt like that part of my life was over. This wasn’t my home anymore and both me and my bear hadn’t quite settled with that yet.

Turning off the ignition, I hopped out of my truck and adjusted my jacket. Even though it was a Saturday, I still liked to dress for any type of business meeting. And I assumed this is why Brandt had called me over. When I noticed Bo’s convertible and Derrick’s Jeep sitting on the far side of the driveway, I knew this definitely had something to do with clan business. The town car parked in front to the stairs leading up to the deck and entrance doors had me perplexed though. Was this something bigger than the clan? Was there something going on with our family businesses that I didn’t know about? Our clan had many connections with local and state government officials…and they were often the only ones who would have someone drive them out to our property.

As I made my way up the stairs, the front door opened and Emma walked out with a watering can. She didn’t see me at first, a surprise considering how hyperaware she’d been since becoming pregnant. Her protective instincts surged, making her grizzly one that I certainly didn’t want to mess with. She wore yoga pants and a baggy tee shirt, which didn’t reveal the small bump already growing in her belly. Her hair was pulled up into a messy knot, showing me that she didn’t feel the need to dress up for our unexpected guest.

“Hey Brennan,” she said with a smile when the wood stairs creaked below my weight. “You look snazzy.”

“Snazzy?” I laughed and gave her a quick hug. She smelled like a momma bear.

“Don’t make fun of my sayings,” she teased. Nodding her head toward the door, she added, “You better get in there. Everyone’s upstairs in the office.”

“Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.

“Not yet.” She started picking through her basil pot. “Brandt was too worried this morning to speak to me about it. Plus, our visitor was the one who broke the news, so I didn’t get any alone time with him yet.”

“Sounds bad,” I mumbled. “Do you think I can just go back to bed?”

Emma laughed and rubbed her belly. “You can’t if I can’t.”

“Fine,” I said with a sigh.

She patted me on the shoulder and held open the front door. “Whatever it is, you brothers will be able to handle it. I have no doubt in that.”

“Thanks, Emma.”

“Anytime.” She studied me for a moment before continuing. “Something’s different about you.” Looking at my face, then my hair, she took in a deep breath. Her growing smile hinted that she knew what happened to me last night. “Who is she?” Emma nudged my arm.

“What are you talking about?”

“You can’t lie, Brennan. Never could.”

It’s true that I’ve known Emma since we were kids and she always called me out on things. But I couldn’t have this conversation right now. Not when there was something going on upstairs and especially not when I had no idea what was happening with Scarlett anyway.

“I have nothing to tell,” I said again, pushing my way into the house and leaving Emma standing on the landing watching and smiling.

“Well, I hope I can meet her soon. It would be nice to have another female around here.”

I didn’t acknowledge her comment as I walked up the three flights of stairs to reach the office. Knowing that Emma was already acquainted with Scarlett actually made me want to tell Emma. But as I walked past a large canvas painting of a grizzly fending off a pack of wolves, I realized that this dream of mine could never come true. I was a grizzly. She was a wolf.

And that didn’t mix in our world.

“Whoa, Brennan. Get your head out of your ass.”

My brother Bo startled me when he stepped out into the hallway. I’d almost run into his smaller frame while I admonished myself for even thinking that a life with Scarlett as my mate would ever be possible.

Bo wore a pair of khakis and a flannel—his typical, carefree and un-businesslike attire. He’d let his hair continue to grow, with waves of brownish-blonde curls almost covering his eyes now. To this day, I always thought he’d fit in better in southern California than Alaska.

“You look fancy,” he said with a smile, flicking a finger at the front of my jacket.

“I’m dressed for work,” I grumbled.

He held out his hands. “So am I.”

Biting my tongue, I tried to sneak out around him. “Who’s in there?”

Bo immediately turned serious—something I’d rarely seen in him. As the youngest brother of the three of us, he certainly never did anything to shake that little sibling stereotype. It was an exceptional day when Bo Callaghan actually took something seriously. “You should see for yourself.”

“What? No warning?” I teased. But the worried look on Bo’s face had me dropping the smile immediately. “How bad?”

Bo shrugged. “Not the end of the world. At least I don’t think so.”

Great. Not exactly the vote of confidence I was looking for. So with a steady gait, I stepped into Brandt’s office, feeling Bo following closely behind.

“Brennan,” Brandt said. “Finally.”

I opened my mouth to reply to his unnecessary remark, but then I noticed
him
. Standing off to my right and gazing out the window that looked like we were in the tops of the trees. His back stiffened when I walked in and he turned slowly, like a predator not wanting to frighten his prey. The dominance rolled off of him in waves, making me cough when his scent filled the air. As tall as Brandt, his tanned skin reminded me more of Scarlett’s uncle than anyone else, and his straight, black, chin-length hair had been brushed back behind his ears. But it was his almost orange eyes that caught my attention the most.

“Brennan, this is Major Patel. He’s with the ISC.”

“The ISC?” I asked.

“The International Shifter Coalition,” Bo added.

I gave my baby brother a look. “I know what it stands for.” I thought I heard Major chuckle under his breath. The ISC was an organization that oversaw any kind of shifter issue, from family grievances to exposure to humans. It was kind of like our secret governing body. Although most shifters hardly ever had any interaction with them. Based out of London, they rarely sent representatives to other countries. We hadn’t met one since our father first became clan leader decades ago. I turned to look at Major as he stepped closer to me with an outstretched hand.

“Very nice to finally meet you, Brennan Callaghan,” he said with a perfectly posh British accent.

His orange eyes studied me while his hand squeezed mine a little harder than necessary. He wanted to assert his dominance but I wasn’t ready to succumb just yet. I needed to figure out what kind of shifter he was first. There were very few animals, if any, that would even consider challenging a grizzly.

“Likewise,” I said while removing my hand. “What are you doing here?”

I felt Brandt tense without even looking at him. We had a very close connection as brothers and often that meant that we could communicate through movement and looks alone. “Major has brought something to our attention,” Brandt began. He lifted his arm and aimed a remote control at the television on the far wall.

“A few days ago, one of my colleagues at ISC received an unmarked envelope with a photo card in it that included a link to a video,” Major said as the television screen came to life. “A letter warned us that this video would be posted online if we didn’t pay them money. One million dollars to be exact. After studying the video, we were able to determine the location and that led me here.”

“The location?” I asked. “What do you mean.”

“Just watch,” Bo said, arms crossed and face scrunched up in concern.

The video started playing. It showed a coniferous forest that resembled those in our area of the country. And while the quality wasn’t fantastic, I could still make out the sounds of fighting through the shaky footage. A woman screamed from an opening within the trees, and a bear roared. The person holding the camera spoke to their partner.

“Holy shit,” he said. “Holy shit, did you see that? Did he just kill her?”

I stepped closer to the screen. In the background, I could just barely make out the wooden siding on a set of trailers. Suddenly recognizing
Bristling Pine Estates
, I snapped my head around to Brandt. “Is that the Tik’a pack?”

He only nodded.

What the hell. How had this happened? The female screamed again and this time I recognized what was happening. Joshua, the grizzly who’d challenged Brandt for alpha, had attacked Emma while she was still human in order to provoke my brother. And these humans hiding out in the woods had filmed the entire thing.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, knowing what was going to be on the video next. Several grizzlies ran into the trailer park, spots of brown fur darting in and out of the trees. And then the camera caught Scarlett and her uncle shifting into their wolves at the same time I ran over to help Emma, who had been tossed to the side like a rag doll. I didn’t need to see anymore. It was beyond evident that humans had witnessed the fights that day and our shifter secret was at risk.

“Where did this come from?” I ask Major, the growl in my voice uncontrollable.

His eyes flashed a silvery color before returning to their burnt orange. “We don’t know yet.”

“Derrick’s working on it now,” Brandt said. Derrick was like a brother to us and had always been the one with all of the computer skills.

“Will he be able to tell us?” I asked Brandt.

“I’m getting closer,” Derrick said, walking into the room. He gave me a curt nod and handed Brandt some papers. “I think I’ll be able to track down the web provider, but I need a little more time.” That last comment was directed toward Major.

The ISC representative smirked. “Well, you have three days.” Gathering his suit jacket from the chair at Brandt’s desk, he continued. “This falls under the Callaghan clan and Tik’a pack authority. If you don’t have the situation resolved in three days, ISC will be forced to take our own action.”

“And just how are we supposed to solve this?” Bo asked.

“Find the humans and make sure that video never sees the light of day,” Major said, the chill in his words bothering even me.

“You mean kill them?” I asked.

“Do whatever you need to do.” Major stepped in front of me and stared into my eyes, challenging me for dominance. I didn’t look away. “Just don’t let them expose us.” He made his way to the door and turned at the last second. “Take care, Brandt.”

He didn’t acknowledge anyone else when he left. After hearing him walk down the stairs, I turned to my oldest brother and our clan’s alpha. “What the fuck are we supposed to do?”

Brandt fell back into his chair and rubbed his chin. “I have no idea.”

“I think I can locate the address for the site, I just need a few more hours,” Derrick said. “At quick glance, it doesn’t seem like these humans tried to hide their tracks.”

“What should I do?” Bo asked. I burst of pride shot through me. My little brother actually offered to do something to help our clan. I was impressed.

Brandt sighed. “I need you to go talk to the other clan members and just tell them to be on guard for intruders in our woods. We can’t risk another incident being caught on film.”