ROMANCE: Awakened by the Alpha Bear (Werebear Fantasy Billionaire Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Alpha Male Bear Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance Short Stories)) (2 page)

The garden below invited her,
and that’s where she ventured next. There was a private staircase that led into
the vast array of neatly groomed plants. There was an old fountain that served
as a bird feeder and she made a mental note to have something unique done with
it.

Somehow, she wanted to feel the
grass under her feet. She heard somewhere that damp grass was good for relaxing
and distressing. It felt awesome and tingly. Her slender feet danced around the
colossal lawn. She was having a great time exploring when she felt her left
foot turn. There was an uneven patch and she’d stepped on it, twisting her
delicate ankle.

“Ouch,” she screamed into the
open yard. She tried to walk, but the joint was sore and throbbing. “Damn, now
what am I to do?”

“Not so tough now are we?”
Gael’s voice penetrated her pain.

She rolled her eyes in dismay
and tried to hop away, “Ouch!” Her ankle wouldn’t let her.

Before she knew what was
happening, she felt strong arms slip under her knees and around her back and lifted
her against the hardness of his body.

“What are you doing? Put me
down,” she ordered, kicking her good foot and pushing against him with her
palms.

His chest was as hard as a rock
and her efforts were proving to be futile as Gael made off with her to a nearby
building she’d missed.

“I said put me down. Where are
you taking me? I’ll scream,” she protested.

“Go ahead, no one will hear
you,” he growled.

“Then how did
you
hear
me? Are you stalking me?”

She could see the glint of his
eyes in the dimness of the garden lights. “Don’t flatter yourself,” he replied.

They’d reached what appeared to
be a pool house off to the side of the mansion, and he gently placed her on a
sofa bed. Kneeling, he took her injured leg, but she tried to pull it away,
“What’re you doing?”

“Hold still,” he replied
calmly. “I’m not going to bite you…not yet anyway.”

He looked at her and smiled,
his white teeth gleaming in the shadow of the garden light.
What’s that
supposed to mean?
She asked herself. He ran his fingers gently over the
ankle, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake.

“So what’s your favorite
animal?” He suddenly inquired.

Ariel looked at him
disbelievingly, “What?” Then she heard her ankle snap. There was a sharp
fleeting pain and he dropped her leg on the softness of the sofa. She was
amazed at how better her ankle felt. She stared at him with her mouth agape. It
seemed the joint had slipped and he fixed it.

“This is a dangerous place, you
never know what it’ll be next time,” he said, getting to his feet.

“Are you threatening me?” He
walked away, leaving her wondering after him. “Answer me!” She screamed after
him, but he disappeared as quickly as he came.

Three

“Are
you coming to the party?” it was Mikael inquiring of her.

It was
Saturday morning, two days after her arrival and the Wilder boys were having a
cocktail party that evening. Madeline had gone away with a new beau for the
weekend and left Ariel to the whim of her sons. She told herself that she
should have driven to Brighton and spend the Sunday at home, but she wanted to
get as much planning as possible completed.

“I
don’t think so Mikael, I wouldn’t really fit in. Plus, I have a ton of work to
do,” she told him.

They
were coming down the stairs; or rather he was trailing her. He always seemed to
find her wherever she was hiding. She could tell he was watching her butt,
again, so she slowed to let him catch up to her.

“I
thought you didn’t work past six?” he asked. She lifted a brow, “Mom told me.”

“Usually
I don’t,” she replied and jokingly added, “Have you seen the size of this
place?”

“I wish
you’d come, as my date,” he said. She was surprised that he wanted her there as
his date. There must be a ton of high society girls waiting to be with the
Wilder billionaire kid, why would he want her?

“I
don’t know,” she said hesitantly.

“Even
to annoy big brother?” he added.

That
did it for her, “I’ll be there. Seven, right?” he grinned and bounded down the
rest of the stairs, turning once to wink at her.

“What
am I doing?” she asked herself.

It
wasn’t as if she wanted to be at their godforsaken party, but she was curious
as to how Gael would take her showing up there. He seemed to be annoyed with
everything she was doing, even made it a point to tell her that his study was
fine as it was and didn’t need redecorating. She hadn’t ventured into his
chambers as yet because she wanted to make sure he was out before going there.
She didn’t want another run-in with the man.

She was
headed towards the main living room when she saw Jives, the butler. When he saw
her his face softened and bit and she was amused.

“You
can smile you know, no one is looking,” she whispered to him. He looked away.

“What
can I do for you Mizz Vega?”

“I told
you, it’s Ariel,” stated emphatically. “Is Gael home?”

“No
Mizz…Ariel. Would you like me to inform you when he comes in?”

“No,
that’s not necessary,” she was elated.

Now was
the best time to see where the mighty Gael slept and how she could work her
magic on it. Quickly she went back up the stairs and found the floor where
Madeline told her that he resided. It was dark and a bit musty.

“I must
do something about this,” she said to herself.

Gingerly
she turned the golden scull knob of the door, which she figured belong to the
man. The room was like magnificent cave. There was a deep grey color on the
walls, which made the room extra dark. What stood out most was the humongous
bed with blue satin sheets that were all rumpled.

The
furniture was sparse, with one large chest on one wall, and a computer desk to
one corner. She walked slowly around the room, not knowing what to make of it.
Beside the bed was small table with a lamp. All the furniture were made of
natural unpolished wood, she liked that. It gave her the feeling of being close
to nature.

She
almost missed the large window overlooking the garden because of the dark grey
drapes obscuring them. It was the same color as the wall. She was about to pull
the drapes back when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on ends.
She turned and met eyes with Gael. He was standing right behind her, so close.

“What
the…? When did you get here?” she asked.

There
was something different about him. He was wearing nothing but a pair of cutoff
jeans, giving him quite a rugged but sexy look. She shook her head as she
recalled her earlier contempt for the man. But, she could not tear her eyes
away from his muscled chest, with the dark hairs on his pecks, running down his
torso and tapering at the waist of his shorts. Ariel swallowed hard.

He
stepped closer, too close, “What were you saying?” he asked, taking a lock of
her hair and inhaling deeply.

“What
the hell are you doing?” she asked, pulling her head away. He stepped closer
and she backed into the window.

“You
seem to have trouble staying out of my way,” he murmured.

“I-I-I
thought you weren’t home,” she stuttered.

He’d
backed her up against the drapes and there was no escape. Gael placed both
hands up against the closed window to each side of her head. His eyes boring
into her seemed to have gotten darker.

“I told
you it’s dangerous here,” and before she could respond he dipped his head and
covered her lips with his.

Ariel
pushed against him, only meeting a brick wall. His body closed the few inches
and pressed against her softness. Her full round breasts were now crushed
against his chiseled chest. She struggled and tried to scream but he was solid,
unmoving. Then, he took her tongue, stroking it with his hot one, and a small
spark ignited in the pit of her stomach. She stiffened, not knowing what to
make of it.

He
moved away, leaving her a bit stunned, turning his back to her. Ariel stood
rooted to the spot, her back still pressing against the drapes, her mind blank
but her pulses racing. She realized she was breathing unevenly and her nipples
had hardened against the fabric of her t-shirt. It then dawned on her that
perhaps Gael meant that he was the danger and she was his prey. This thought
moved her into action and she purposefully strode out of the room, not looking
back once. If she did, she would have seen the bulge beneath his cutoff jeans.

Four

She dressed and undressed four
times. It wasn’t like her. Nothing ever really scared Ariel until today. She
wasn’t sure what it was but she was not looking forward to seeing Gael. How
dare he kiss her? How dare he seduce her? Did he seduce her? She wondered. Or
did he try to scare her?

Not in the mood for mingling
with people she’d never met, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a summer top.
She decided to walk the garden making sure to be careful this time.  There was
chatter and laughter coming from inside when she entered the far garden from
the private entrance. The further the got the fainter the sounds and she began
to relax.

Finding a spot closer to the
edge of some trees, she sat, inhaling the night air. It was a bit cooler than
before and the moon was nice and big. She’d closed her eyes and was thinking
about how she could speed up her job of redoing the mansion when she heard a
sound coming from the trees.

Listening keenly, the sounds
seemed like animals. She stood and was about to return to the house when a pair
of green eyes appeared out of the darkness. She could see the teeth of the
animal along with its snout.

The animal, which she saw was a
wolf, stepped forward, keeping its eyes open her, baring his teeth and growling
rather fiercely. She stood, not knowing what to do. If she turned and ran it
would probably catch her and tear her to pieces, but then again her knees were
so week that she felt them tremble a little, could she even move? She was
scared that even her hands shook. She thought, ‘
well, if I’m going to die, I
don’t want to see’
, so she closed her eyes and waited.

What she heard was another
animal,
‘God, now there are two!’
her mind screamed. Something was off,
they weren’t growling at her anymore, they were at each other’s throats. Ariel
opened her eyes and saw what looked like a large black bear pinning the wolf
down. The two animals were growling at each other rather threateningly, and
then the bear swiped its paws across the cheek of the wolf before letting him
go. The wolf whimpered off into the darkness of the trees.

Her eyes were still glued to
the bear that looked at her with its shiny grey eyes that reminded her of
another large handsome creature. Then something changed. His paws retreated.
That wasn’t all, his hairs were disappearing as well, and she felt like she was
in a dream world.

Shaking her head, Ariel told
herself that she must be hallucinating. She continued to stare at the creature
before her and her mind went into shock when all the hair from the bear receded
and his head slowly changed shape into a man…Gael. She did not faint, though
she wanted to, but her knees finally gave way and she sank to the grass.

Her shocked gaze never left him
and she shook her head once more trying to shake out of her mind what she just
saw, but there he stood in front of her, in his birthday suit! His thighs were
as powerful as she’d suspected. She’d seen his upper body before but now his
presence penetrated her psyche. His maleness was so pungent that she felt him.
She felt his pull, something, maybe the animal that he was, calling her. 

Her eyes traveled along the six
feet three inches of his magnificence, then rested on his protruding manhood
pointing directly at her. A lump rose to her throat, which she swallowed, her
pulses and heart rate sped through the roof…or at that point to the sky.

Still weak from the incredulous
specter she just witnessed she tried to gain some amount of strength and tried
to stand. Gael was beside her in the blink of an eye, steadying her, but her
knees buckled again and she sagged against him.

In one swift movement, he swept
her up in his arms, much like the night before and carried her through the
private entrance, and another hidden entrance, which led into his own suite of
rooms.

“What are you doing?” her voice
sounded so weak to her.

“Shhhhh,” he replied, placing
her on his huge bed.

She could feel her blood
pumping hotly through her veins as he hovered over her. His handsome face
lowered towards her and when he was inches close, he said “Didn’t I tell you
how dangerous it was?”

His hands captured hers and
pinned them to the bed. Her eyes watched his lips as they talked. Those strong,
well-defined lips were inching closer and her heartbeat was deafening her.
No!
Her mind scream, but when his lips did crush hers, they parted, allowing him
free entry.

Gael covered her with his body.
His heat burned through her thin t-shirt and his hard cock pressed into her
pelvis. His heat became her heat as both of them melted into each other. Her
limbs were so weak, maybe from fright…but no….this was different. It had
something to do with that feeling in the pit of her stomach that slowly spread
through her body.

Momentarily, Gael withdrew his
lips, then started trailing kisses along her jawline and down her neck. Her
breath now coming in gasps as she found she could hardly breathe. His hot lips
were burning a path along her cleavage, where her full round breasts were
rising and falling with each breath she took.

She wanted to protest but she
wanted to experience more…more of this…more of him. His hand crept under her
thin garment and captured one of her breasts. His thumb grazing over the
already taut nipple, but his touch sent an excruciatingly pleasurable sensation
coursing through her and she arched her back.

“My God,” she breathed.

If his hands were not
excruciating enough he pushed the hem of the t-shirt up and plucked her breast
from her bra, taking the nipple in his mouth. She almost screamed when his
scorching lips touched her skin, sending electrical current up and down her
stomach. He’d left her breast and was continuing his assault on her belly when
a loud knock came at the door.

Reluctantly, Gael eased himself
off her and grabbed a robe which was hanging on a hook in the corner. He
switched the light out and pulled the door open.

“What is it Mikael?” He asked,
blocking the doorway with his large frame.

“Have you seen Ariel? I can’t
find her anywhere. By the way, aren’t you coming down?”

“Have you checked the garden,
she might be there,” Gael replied.

While the men talked, she’d
regain her composure and slid off the bed, slipping through the door from which
he had taken her through. Her heart was racing and her woman’s place throbbing
like crazy. She’d never been this awakened by a man before and it was a bit
scary that her body responded to Gael that way, especially after what she saw.

What did I see?
She
asked herself as she descended the dark stairway leading back to the garden.
The cool night air did good to soothe her nerves and she welcomed the openness of
the outdoors. Yet she didn’t venture very far away from the house, knowing that
Gael was near to protect her.

It was weird, the feeling of
security that suddenly enveloped her at the thought of Gael. She now knew what
he meant about danger but she wasn’t’ scared of
him
. It seemed to her
that he’d been protecting her all along. The night before when she twisted her
ankle he was there as soon as she cried out and then tonight with the wolf. A
shudder escaped her at the memory. What if he had not been there?

But, she had to wonder what
manner of beast he was and what on earth possessed her to react to him that
way? Why was she so attracted to him? Because she was. There was something
about the bear-like creature that she saw that quickened her pulses.

* * * *

He turned around after sending
Mikael away and she was gone. He hadn’t planned on revealing himself to her,
but he wanted so much for her to know him. It was only three days since he met
her, however, something about her drove him crazy, brought out his protective
instinct. She played tough, but he knew better and he wanted to keep her safe.
The animal in him wanted to tear that wolf apart, yet he didn’t want to scare
her.

Gael pulled the drapes and the
moonlight flooded in. He expelled a deep breath, trying to cool his heated
body. His cock was still throbbing from his arousal but he decided to wait
until she was ready.

The night was calling, still,
he had other things on his mind. It had taken a long time to be able to control
the call of the moon on a night such as this. He remembered when he found out
that he was more than a man, the morning after a full moon, he would find
himself naked in the woods somewhere, not being able to remember what happened.
Now, he had total control of who or what he was, that is, until he met Ariel.

It seemed, that though he had
absolute discipline of his beastly side, he was lacking restraint of his human
side. A movement below caught his attention and he saw that it was her. She was
a fearless one, venturing into the garden after what happened earlier.
Fleetingly he thought of joining her but he wasn’t sure he should push it. They
almost made love and he wasn’t sure she was ready for that. Instead, he pulled
on beige slacks and a light purple shirt and went down to the party.

She felt certain that Gael
would follow her to the garden. A twinge of disappointment settled in the pit
of her stomach when he didn’t. She wondered if she should have exited his room
like that, but she felt sure that they would have gone all the way if she
hadn’t. The memory of his lips cause her labia to throb. She could feel the
heat between her thighs and knew that soon, if she weren’t careful they would
end up going all the way.

Bored, she returned to her room
and pulled on the green dress she tried on earlier. She completed her ensemble
by adding her only pair of diamond stud earrings, matching bracelet and her
green sandals. A green eyeliner and tinted lips gloss completed her makeup. She
had splurged on a bottle of Chanel no. 5 for her birthday in May, so she used
it sparingly.

The party was in full swing
when she went downstairs. The guests were limited to the ballroom, front lawn,
portico and the side of the house she hadn’t been before, where the swimming
pool was. She had no idea why she was drawn to the extreme back garden, but
none of the guests ventured there.

She’d taken a drink and stood
in one corner watching everyone else when Mikael walked up behind her. “You
made it,” he said.

“Yes,” she noticed his boyish
grin. He was the total opposite of his brother. Whereas Mikael was soft and
quite the pretty boy, Gael had a more rugged kind of handsomeness. The younger
brother, who looked to be no older that twenty-five, had an easy personality
while his older sibling seemed to always be brooding.

They were having an easy
conversation about her time there at the Wilder mansion when she felt his eyes
on her. She looked up to see Gael watching her. He was leaning against the far
wall on the opposite side of the room but she could feel his presence. He
looked so relaxed that she was taken in by how extremely attractive he was. His
purple shirt was opened a few buttons down, revealing the dark hairy chest she
now knew so well.

Heat rose to her cheeks as the
memory of their foreplay surfaced. A gush of moisture escaped her cavern as she
thought of what would have happened had Mikael not interrupted them. She closed
her eyes, trying to shut out her thoughts as well. When she opened them, he was
gone.

Mikael was called away and for
a while, she tried to enjoy the party but her mind kept going back to Gael,
wondering where he’d disappeared to or who he was with.  After some time, Ariel
decided to call it a night. As she neared her room, something moved in the
shadow of dim lights of the corridor.

“Who’s there?” She called but
no one answered.

She thought maybe she was
imagining things and continued to her room. At the end of her hallway was dark.
It seemed the light there had gone out and only the one light at the top of the
stairs lighted the way.

When she reached her room door,
she turned to check to make sure she was alone but her heart gave a leap when
she saw what appeared to be green eyes staring out of the dark at her. It
wasn’t the same as the wolf she’d seen before, they were coming from a height
of about six feet and she could barely make out the frame of what appeared to
be a bear.

“Gael is that you?”

Someone had stepped up behind
her, “Behind you,” he said in a low time.

Her eyes were still glued to
the shadow in the dark, it was still there. She gave a huge shiver as she
realized the eyes did not belong to Gael but another beast.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. As he
spoke, the thing retreated deeper into the shadows.

“There’s something there,” her
voice trembled.

“Nothing will harm you so long
as I’m here,” Gael reassured her. “Come.” He opened the door and accompanied
her in. Checking every corner of her room.

“Do you know what was there?
Was it Mikael? Is he like you?”

 “I don’t think it was Mikael,
but there are others like me around. They won’t harm you once I’m here.”

Her back was turned to him,
“How can you be sure?” she asked.