Authors: A B Lee,M L Briers
Bear Lake
Copyright
© 2015, A. B. LEE. M. L. BRIERS.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of
this book may be used or reproduced whatsoever without written permission of
the author, except for brief exerts in reviews. Any unauthorised reproduction
or distribution of the material herein is illegal and may result in criminal
proceedings. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to the internet or
distributed via electronic or print without prior consent.
Note from the Author;
All names, places, and incidents
contained herein are purely fictional and have no basis in actual events or
linked to actual Humans, Witches, Vampires, Werewolves, Lycans, Werebears or
persons living, dead or undead.
Cover Design:
SelfPubBookCovers.com/Shardel
Alex kicked down on the
clutch and dropped down the gears. The engine roared and the tires spun on the
gravel drive for just a second before the car took off with a purpose. That
purpose was to get her the hell away from Bear Lake.
She hadn’t wanted to
come to this hellhole in the first place. She’d known it was a bad idea right
from the get-go. Now she wanted to get out as fast as the car could get her to
the next county.
If Jackson Porter
thought he could keep her in this shitty little backwater town then he had
better think again. She didn’t take kindly to being given orders, and Mr Damn
Porter was good at that and only that. He could go whistle in the wind as far
as she was concerned, or words to that effect.
Life was tough enough.
She wasn’t about to toss away the life that she was carving out for herself on
a Werebear with attitude and not much between his ears. No meant no, damn it,
and she wasn’t going to change her mind for him or anyone else.
The hulking figure
jumped out into the middle of the roadway ahead and Alex had a split second to
decide if she was going to hit the brake or not. With a curse; she stomped her
boot clad feet onto the brake pedal and kissed her freedom goodbye. She should
have just hit the damn man with her car and kept going.
When the car finally
screech to a halt with gravel flying all around her, Alex’s eyes glared at the
Alpha’s second standing in the roadway in front of her. Her heart was hammering
in her chest and her pulse was racing, and she still had the damn urge to hit
the accelerator and take this arsehole clean off his feet and right over the
top of her car. Her hands fisted the leather steering wheel for a moment longer
until she managed to resist that urge to kill him.
Fuming mad and with
the need to kick arse; her hand yanked open the door and her boot wedged it
wide as she climbed out from the driver’s seat. Alex faced the behemoth down
with fire in her eyes and steel in her veins. She wasn’t going to go down
without a fight and if this man wanted to try then good for him and her. It was
time that she put her newfound skills to the ultimate test.
“I can’t let you
leave, Alex.” Chance’s deep gravelly tones rumbled up from his chest. Funny,
when she’d first got to Bear Lake she’d been drawn to that sound, that rumble,
and now she hated it.
“You can’t make me
stay either, Chance.” Alex reached back for the baseball bat that she’d tucked
by the side of her seat. Chance’s steely blue eyes took in the sight of it
fisted in her hand and he gave a slow shake of his head. Even as a man he still
reminded her of his bear.
“Don’t piss off my
bear, Alex.” He warned. “You know how he gets.”
“Get out of my damn
way, Chance. I’m leaving.” Alex issued her own warning, but she doubted that
Chance would hear it. In his mind she was already the alpha’s mate and leaving
wasn’t an option.
“Do you really want to
try to go through me, Alex?” That sounded like a bad idea to her ears, and yet
she didn’t see another way.
Alex raised the bat as
if she was preparing to take a swing at an incoming fastball, and yet it wasn’t
a ball that she’d be aiming to knock out to left field. For one long moment
Chance held his ground. With another shake of his head and a long sigh he
started forward towards her.
Alex knew two things.
One, her life was probably about to change on the swing of the bat that she had
a death grip on. Two, Chance wasn’t a man that you wanted to anger. His bear
was one of the fiercest and the hardest to control.
This could very well
be the end of the road for her one way or the other.
“Alex…” He shook his
head again in a warning as he came towards her, but he didn’t take his eyes off
hers for a moment. “You could have, should have, made this easier on yourself.”
“By rolling over and
playing dead? No thanks.” Alex shuffled her feet. This didn’t feel right. She
shouldn’t have needed to do this. They should have just let her walk away from
here, from them.
She waited until she
figured that he was within reach and then she swung with everything that she
had. Chance caught the bat within the palm of his hand and she felt it being wrenched
from her hands, like Chinese burns her palms stung, and yet she wasn’t done
yet. She reached into her back pocket and fisted the retractable baton,
flicking it out behind her and bringing her other hand around to club Chance
against his temple.
Chance roared at the
pain that shot through his head. His bear didn’t even give him the chance to
respond, instead it burst from his body and roared to life right in front of
her. He saw a red mist come down and felt the need to fight tear through him.
Claw, bite, rip, and kill.
Alex stumbled backwards.
Her eyes were wide at the sight of Chance’s bear. She’d hoped to knock the man
out and now she was faced with an uncontrollable pissed off bear.
She’d been right. This
really was the end of the damned road.
“Chance…” Alex took
two steps backwards away from the killing machine. Just in time to see the
large black bear that torn from the woods behind Chance and run on fast paws
towards him.
Chance spun and roared
at the sight of a challenger. The black bear barrelled into him as claws
slashed and blood was spilt. Alex used that opportunity to race back to her
car. Throwing herself into the driver’s seat; she shifted the gears and fisted
the steering wheel.
The sight of the bears
tearing strips off of each other held her gaze. She knew that it was now or never,
and yet she couldn’t seem to press the damn accelerator. She knew exactly who
the second bear was, her mate, Jackson.
The fear that gripped
her wasn’t just for his wellbeing. If he lost this fight then he wouldn’t be
the alpha anymore. Chance would kill him and take his place as alpha of the
clan, and for some damn reason that disturbed her more than she thought it
would.
Alex made a split
decision. Her fist slammed down onto the middle of the steering wheel and the
horn sounded out into the relative silence of the day. It was a calculated risk,
but one worth taking in her book because it didn’t look to her as if either
bear was going to give up the fight until one was dead.
At the sound of the
horn both bears broke away from the fight and circled each other. Their eyes
occasionally flicked towards her car and she prayed that neither bear decided
to take his anger out on her only means of transport out of this shithole.
“
You were out of
fucking order, Chance.”
Jackson used the mental link with his second to get
his damn message home.
“
You were going to
allow her to walk away…”
“That’s my decision
to make, not yours.”
Jackson growled.
He’d had enough of this bullshit. His clan deciding to take matters into their
own hands wasn’t going to happen again. He was the damn alpha and he was going
to have to rein his people in.
“She’s your damn
mate.”
“You’re not getting
it, Chance. This isn’t your place to intervene.”
“Someone had to,
Jack.”
“Get the fuck out
of here, man. I’ll deal with your shit later.”
Jack was done talking.
Thanks to Alex,
Chance’s bear had calmed down some, enough for him to be able to get through to
him. He waited as Chance turned on his paws and limped away. Then he shifted
back into his human form and turned towards Alex.
Alex eyed the man
through the windscreen. His hard, muscled body had been beaten and bruised, and
the deep cuts from the other bear’s claws had opened up his skin in wounds that
were already healing. Blood was an everyday part of the clan’s lives. If they
weren’t fighting each other they were fighting other foes, and she didn’t want
to be caught up in the middle of that shit.
There was a part of
her that wanted to go to him, and there was a part that wanted to stomp on the
accelerator and make him get out of the damn way as she tore down the road and
out of this shithole little town. Jackson’s eyes held her gaze. Black and
sorrowful, and she shared that sorrow. If things were different and he wasn’t
the alpha of a damn clan that had the combined amount of patience of bear
coming out of hibernation… well…
Jackson turned on his
heels and started away from her. Alex felt her heart lurch inside of her chest
at that sight. There was a sudden empty ache within her body, and without even
thinking about it she punched her fist back against that car horn.
Jackson stopped in his
tracks and slowly turned his head to stare at her over his left shoulder. Alex
didn’t have a damn clue why she’d done that. She certainly didn’t have a clue
what to do next.
“Fuck.” She bit out.
This was harder than she’d thought it was going to be. If Chance hadn’t of
shown up she would already have been out of town by now. Seeing Jackson again…
Jackson narrowed his
eyes on her for what felt like forever and she knew that she’d caught her
breath within her throat but she couldn’t seem to let it go to draw another in.
Then he turned back towards her and started to pad slowly in her direction.
Every muscle in his naked body was on display for her eyes to take in, and she
did, she couldn’t seem to drag her damn eyes away from him.
When he reached the
driver’s door and yanked it open the hinges protested. Her heart leapt in her
chest and she managed to gasp in a breath. Then one large hand was reaching in
for her and his long, thick fingers wrapped around her wrist and he yanked her
out of the car…
“Jackson…” Alex bit
out his name as if she was warning him of something, but she had no clue what
that warning could be. Her mind had taken flight, and when his other hand came
up and he fisted her hair; his lips came down on hers with just enough warning
for her to steel herself from the onslaught.
Jackson Porter could
do one thing right and that was kiss. He didn’t persuade, there was no gentle
teasing for her to consider. He took what he wanted, what he needed, and he
devoured her with a lust that made her damn knees knock together.
Alex felt herself
being moved to where he wanted her. Pressed back against the side of her car
with his hard body all around hers. Caged in by an alpha bear shifter with his
hard, thick cock pressed against her stomach was more exhilarating than she
would have liked to admit.
She was lost somewhere
between heaven and hell and in Bear Lake that seemed to be all there was. No in
between. No reprieve, and Jackson wasn’t giving her body any now.
He released her wrist
and his hot hand came down on her collarbone. His fingers fisted her shirt and
he ripped the fabric downwards, exposing her naked breast to the autumn winds
before his hand closed over it. She felt that touch right between her legs.
Jackson didn’t say a
word as he released her lips and dipped his head. His wet mouth covered one
hard, peaked nipple and he sucked hard, like he was trying to suck it clean off
her body. Her head dropped back against the roof of the car and she cursed out
loud.
Her body was too
responsive to his touch, to his demands. She wanted to climb up his body and
wrap her legs around his hips. She wanted to be naked and rubbing her clit
against his cock. Damn it, but she wanted that damn cock inside of her, thrusting
hard and taking her deep…
Alex’s hands weren’t
taking instructions, they were acting on pure impulse. Her fingers got lost in
the thick mane of his hair and she fisted it, keeping his mouth against her
flesh even as he rumbled a deep growl of desire though his chest that vibrated
against her skin. Every inch of her hummed with the need for him. Jackson
raised his head and tugged on her flesh as it ran through his blunt teeth and
popped for his mouth.
“Tell me you’re
staying.” The sound of the bear rumbled through his voice and it made her
shiver to her very core. He was demanding something from her that she couldn’t
even contemplate right then. Not with him against her like that, not when she
wanted him inside of her so damned much that she ached with the need.
“I can’t do that.”
Alex watched his lids come down for just an instant. There was so much sadness
in his eyes when he gaze back at her again that she wanted to physically cry
for his pain.
Jackson eased his body
back from hers. He wanted nothing more than to pick her up, wrap those long
legs of hers around his hips and carry her back into her rented house so he
could spend the next week mating with her in every way possible. He’d love her
until she cried and fuck her until she begged him to make her come over and
over. But he wouldn’t do it like this, with uncertainty that she would be there
in the morning.
Alex was his mate, but
if he mated with her and she left then his bear would go into meltdown and that
wouldn’t be good for anyone living within fifty miles. Being a bear with a damn
sore head didn’t even come close to the rage that would fill his animal if his
mate deserted him. It was all or nothing and right now she was offering him
neither.