Bear Run: A Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Pine Ridge Bear Shifters Book 1) (6 page)

“How are you?” Alice said.

Taggart forced a grin. “Fine.”

She glanced at him with worry in
her eyes. They were moving through the forest at a good clip, and Taggart
thought they must be nearing the edge of it. He could hear a small amount of
road noise and smell, just faintly, the acrid odor of exhaust and asphalt.

“How are
you
?” he said. He knew she must be thinking about her family. He
was, too. When she didn’t answer, he said, “There’s a chance they got away.
Kane wouldn’t want to commit murder so close to town. Too much chance of the
authorities finding out.”

She nodded. After a few minutes,
she said, “Your breath sounds ragged.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. You’re shot and
starved.”

“I’m fine.”

“I can hear your belly growl!”

That was true. It had been growling
for a long time now, much to his chagrin.

Before he could say anything, she
plowed on: “I know your people need lots of food on a normal basis, but this
isn’t normal. You’ve been in vicious fight and you’ve been shot twice, and what
have you had to eat? One snack bar!” She looked so worried for him that he felt
something warm swell inside him. For the first time in a long while, he had
someone other than Sam that cared about him.
Family
, he thought. She was like family. Had she really become that
close to him so soon? His bear growled in the affirmative inside him, and that
warm feeling only grew.
Mate
, he
thought.
She’s truly my mate.

She was right, too. Hunger raged
through him, weakening and disorienting him. It was an awful thing to feel,
that devouring, mindless hunger. He hadn’t had time to hunt or even scavenge.
Black Valley shifters didn’t scavenge as a rule, but there were always
exceptions. Besides, he wasn’t of Black Valley anymore.

“You can’t make it much more,” she
said. “No, don’t act brave. I can tell. And it’s not because you’re not tough,
so don’t give me that I’m-too-tough-to-need-food look. I know, Taggart. I know.
You need to eat.” There was a firmness in her voice that he liked. She was
taking charge now.

The road noise grew closer, and the
trees were thinning around them. Shortly they came upon a road leading up a
winding path, around the shoulder of the mountain, and above, just peeking
around the shoulder further up, Taggart could see the short spires and ornate
roofs of a quiet mountain town. Curls of smoke rose from a few chimneys, but
this was summer, and fairly warm, so there weren’t many of these.

When Alice and Taggart reached the
forest’s edge, they crouched low, half expecting some form of ambush.

“Wait here,” she said.

“No,” he said. “I’m going with you.
They could pop up anytime.”

She smiled patiently. “Your Black
Valley friends won’t dare go after us in the town. At least, I don’t think so.
And my family can’t pull anything, either.”

“You hope.”

She nodded, pained. “Yeah. They
could be that crazy. But you’re naked, Tag. You can’t go into town like that.”

He looked down at himself, then
grunted. “Townfolk.” He said it wryly. The ways of civilization were all but
foreign to him, but he supposed he had better get used to it. He was abandoning
the wild and taking up a new life, a life beside Alice and his brother Mike in
Pine Ridge. A better life.

“Let me go in and get you some
clothes.” She patted her pockets, as if reassuring herself of something. “I
don’t have my purse, but I always carry a wallet with me, just in case. I have
a credit card, and I can get some clothes for you. And some food.”

That was the big thing, and they
both knew it. Without food he wouldn’t be able to heal himself, and then he
really would stick out.

“Later we can get a motel room,”
she added, her eyes averted.

“Just get tents. We can sleep in
the forest and be beholden to no one.”

She smiled. “Maybe. But those
assholes can get us in the forest.”

“True. And Mike might have
somewhere for us to stay.”

“Somewhere with soap.”

“And coffee,” he added with a
smile. Off her look, he said, “That is one thing I like about civilization. I
love
coffee.”

She smiled back. “Me, too. Lots of
sugar and cream.”

“I
know
you like cream.”

Her cheeks reddened. “Alright,
then. Stay here. Okay?”

Reluctantly, he nodded. “Just be
careful.”

She tilted up her face for a kiss.
He crushed his lips against hers and pressed her body to him. She moaned into
his mouth, then broke away, panting.

“Later,” she promised.

He was already growing hard.
“Hurry,” he said.

She looked down at his cock and
swallowed. Without another word, she turned about and scampered to the road,
then began to trot beside it toward the town. Taggart hated to see her go, but
he supposed a huge naked man bleeding from the shoulder would only attract
attention in Pine Ridge.
Fools
, he
thought.
Hiding behind walls and clothes
and customs. Let them live in the wild! That’ll make men of them.
But if
everyone lived in the forest, who would make the coffee? That was a problem, he
had to admit.

He waited patiently, calmly
listening to the sounds of the forest. It
would
be hard to leave the wild, he realized with a sudden pang. He knew he would
miss the song of the crickets and birds, the rustle of the leaves and the
gentle fall of rain and snow in winter. But Alice would never consent to live
in the wilderness, and Black Valley bear shifters weren’t completely savage.
Though they did spend a great deal of time outside, they often slept in a
mobile home park near a raging river where no one bothered them and there was
plenty to fish and hunt.

With a start, he realized that he
would miss the Black Valley bear shifters, too. Not just his brother, but all
of them. Well, maybe not Deke and a few of the other assholes, Kane’s goons and
killers, but several of them, anyway. Some of them were just like him, taken or
forced from their rightful homes and condemned to grow up in Black Valley.
Taggart knew he’d miss their friendship and camaraderie.

Snap
.

He spun at the noise.

Three huge, grim bears emerged from
the woods. At their head was Kane; Taggart would recognize him anywhere, even
in bear form.

Taggart swore softly. They’d been
damn silent, he had to give them that. And they’d approached him damn smart,
too, coming at him from downwind. Kane was a bastard, all right, but he was a
cunning bastard and no mistake.

Kane pulled his bear back into
himself and stood as a human, tall and powerful and scowling his dark eyes at
Taggart.

“This is it,” Kane said. “I’m going
to drag you back and bleed you before the whole crew, then break your legs.
Come easy and I might not bleed you all the way.
Might
. Last chance.”

Taggart swung his gaze from Kane to
the other two. They were Kane’s goons, and he knew they were murderers just
like Kane. “You think I won’t take all three of you on? Try me. And I’ll win,
too, you bastards. Because I’ve got something to live for now.”

“What, love?” Kane chuffed. “You’ve
gone soft, Tag, and stupid, too. Brains was never your strong point, anyway.
There’s no way you could take on all three of us. You couldn’t do it healthy,
and look at you, you’re shot-up and can barely stand.”

Taggart planted his feet firmly.
“I’m doin’ just fine.” He made his voice a growl: “What’d you do with Alice’s
family? Her pa and brother?” When Kane only grinned, his cold, cruel grin,
Taggart said, “Did you kill them?” He didn’t think they’d be that stupid, but
Kane was full of surprises, wasn’t he?

Instead of answering, Kane stalked
forward, his chin thrust out. “Decide now, Taggart. Come or be dragged.”

Taggart started to draw on his
bear, to bring it out and launch himself on Kane. Asshole thought he could
scare Taggart into bowing down and coming back. Idiot. Taggart was never going
back. Even if it killed him. He would bring out his bear and go down fighting.
And he
would
go down, he had no
doubt. The three of them would kill him, especially in his condition. But he’d
make
them kill him, by God. He wouldn’t
go back to Black Valley with them.

Then he hesitated. What would Alice
say?

She would probably want him to
live, he thought. She would probably tell him to run. Maybe he could get to the
road and flag down a car. Taggart could hear one coming. Even if the driver
didn’t pick him up, the human’s presence might deter Kane and the others from
pursuing Taggart into civilized territory.

Shit
.
Taggart hated the idea of running. Every fiber in his soul recoiled at the idea
when what he really wanted was to unleash his bear and tear Kane’s fucking head
off. But he wasn’t just in this for himself anymore. He was part of a team now.
A couple. His bear had chosen his mate and he wouldn’t take Alice’s chance of
happiness away from her just because he wanted to fight.

“Well?” Kane demanded.

Gritting his teeth, Taggart took a
step backward.

He heard laughter behind him.

Wheeling, Taggart saw Alice’s Pa
and her gomer brother Bradley standing between Taggart and the treeline. The
grizzled old father held a mean-looking rifle in his hands, pointed at
Taggart’s chest. And it
was
mean,
too, Taggart knew full well. He’d intercepted two rounds from it already. A
third, at this range and with that targeting, would kill him.

“You ain’t goin’ anywhere, you dumb
bur,” Alice’s father said.

“Idjut!” Bradley added, and spat a
long stream of black goo that stank of tobacco juice. Some of it stuck to his
hairy chin.

Turning again, Taggart glared at
Kane. “You made common cause against the enemy, is that it?”

“That’s right,” Kane said. “We’re
working together now. I get you, and without you Alice has no choice but to go
back with her family.”

Taggart growled, deep in his chest.
He wouldn’t even be able to go down fighting, he realized. Alice’s father would
shoot him before he could get one swipe of his claws in.

“Now come along or die where you
stand,” Kane said.

Taggart flexed his hands, imagining
the claws that would soon be there. Maybe Alice’s father would get him, maybe
he wouldn’t, but Taggart was going to find out one way or the other. He growled
again, fiercer this time, and started to bring his bear over—

A sharp pain to the back of the
head.

With a grunt, he dropped to his
knees. One hand rose to his head and drew away blood.

“Damn thing’s got a hard head,”
Alice’s father said from behind him, and before Taggart could move the old man
struck him over the skull again with the butt of the rifle, plunging Taggart
into blackness.

Relief filled Alice as she walked into Pine Ridge. The
sleepy mountain town sprawled all around her, trails of smoke coming from a few
chimneys, cute little shops behind old-fashioned, warped-glass windows.
Tudor-style houses were everywhere, and the smell of coffee and pastries wafted
on the air.

Smiling, Alice located the first
men’s clothing store she could find and ducked inside. She searched for a pair
of jeans, a shirt and a pair of shoes. What would look good on Taggart? Heck,
almost
anything
would look good on
him. Part of her couldn't help a giddy thrill;
I'm shopping for my man
.

There was no time to enjoy it,
though. Quickly she found the needed clothes, hoping they were big enough for
Taggart. Jeez, he was almost a giant, so who knew if this would fit him? At the
very least, though, it do well enough to allow him to come into town without
getting arrested, and then he could pick out his own clothes. Or at least he
could pick out his own clothes with Alice's supervision. That would be fun.

As she was leaving the store, Alice
noted a castle-like structure on the far edge of town, where Pine Ridge abutted
the slopes of the mountain. When she asked a townsperson about, the man said,
“Why, that’s the old ski resort. A run-down place, but some new folks’ve taken
it over and are remodeling.”

The ski resort, she thought. That’s
where Taggart’s brother Mike said he and his new crew of bear shifters were
working, restoring the old building. She smiled again, feeling giddy. She would
grab some food, take it to Taggart and get him dressed, then they would go on
up to the ski resort and find Mike. Soon she and Taggart could begin their new
lives, right here in Pine Ridge. She liked the look of the town right away, and
the man who’d answered her question seemed friendly enough. She thought she was
really going to like this place.

As for what she could do for a
living here, she guessed she could pitch in with the guys and help with
whatever construction work needed doing at the ski resort. She was as strong as
most men, and she learned quick.

Her nose carried her over to a
donut shop, where she bought a dozen donuts of different kinds. She knew
Taggart needed meat, but this was quick and it would give him enough of a
calorie boost to be able to come into town. Then Alice and Taggart could find a
hamburger place and chow down on some real food before seeking Mike out at the
ski resort. Alice was hungry, too.

She selected a donut and took a
bite as she walked. Strawberry filling burst onto her tongue, and she smiled.
The sun was shining overhead and Taggart, the love of her life (she absolutely
knew it) was waiting for her ahead. Unable to help herself, she started humming
a tune as she picked her way out of town and down the road. She was so ravenous
she ate another donut, careful to take the curves of the road with both eyes
open. Pine Ridge didn’t get a lot of traffic, but there were no sidewalks on
the roads between the mountain towns, and at times this one bordered a steep
slope on one side that plunged what must be a thousand feet down. It made her
sick just to look over the side, and she tried to walk on the other side of the
road whenever possible.

Finally she reached the more gently
sloped area where she’d left Taggart. Moving to the treeline, she called out,
“Taggart? Tag, are you there? Oh, shit.” She realized she must have strawberry
jelly smeared around her mouth and moved to wipe it away with her sleeve.

Before she could, a voice called
out, “Still a little piggy, isn’t she, Pa?”

Two figures moved out of the woods.
Alice gasped.

“Pa! Bradley!”

“Yer comin’ home with us, girl,”
said Pa. He looked haggard and tired, but determination showed in every line of
his face, and there were quite a lot of those. He hadn’t been young when he’d had
Alice, and being a parent had aged him even faster than he would’ve anyway.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Alice
said. “Except back to Pine Ridge with Taggart.”

“That the bear?” Bradley said, only
it sounded like
That the bur?

“That’s the bear
shifter
,” Alice corrected. “He’s not an
animal.”

“Oh, he’s an animal, alright,” Pa
said, and leered. “Leastaways, he’s animal enough. I say if you can skin ‘im
and use his hide as a rug, he’s an animal and that’s that.”

“You tell her, Pa,” said Bradley,
and Alice wished she could smack him. Why had she dropped her rifle in the
woods? If she’d kept it, she could at least throw it at his fool head.

Sudden worry made the fine hairs
prickle on the base of her neck. “Where is he?” she said, hearing the fear in
her voice. “Where’s Taggart?”

Bradley spat. “Gone back with his
bears.”
Burs
.

Alice swayed, understanding. “
That’s
how you got away. You made a deal
with Kane.”

“You don’t sound too glad we got
away,” Pa said. Was that genuine
hurt
in his eyes?

“She hoped the bears would get us,”
Bradley said, sneering and dribbling black juice.

Alice wanted to cry. Kane and his
buddies had dragged Taggart back with them, and Pa and Bradley had helped. They
had no idea what sort of damage they’d done. Hell, they were even proud of it,
she could see it in their faces. She wanted to sink to her knees and break
down, but she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

“I’m glad you’re alive,” she said
stiffly, “but I’d be a lot happier to see you again if you weren’t pointing a
gun at me.”

Indeed, Pa was pointing a gun in
the general direction of her feet. He gripped the rifle loosely, but he did
grip it, and it was pointed at her, or at least part of her. And if he shot her
in the legs, she’d be crippled for life, she knew it. She couldn’t heal like
Taggart could. She’d be crippled and dependent on these two idiots, and that’s
probably just the way they’d want it. That way they could keep her under their
thumb, taunt her and mistreat her whenever they wanted, which, if she knew
them, was pretty darned often.

She wiped at her eyes, surprised to
find no moisture there. Just the same, her voice was thick as she said, “I’m
going back to town. If I ever see you again, it will be too soon.”

She started to turn around.

The loud click of Pa chambering a round
made her stop. Her heart seemed to stop, too, if only for a moment. Ice flooded
her body, and it seemed like time seemed to slow around her.

“Yer not goin’ anywhere,” Pa said,
“except back home with us. An’ if you don’t come, we’ll have to get rough.”

Bradley smashed a fist into a
greasy palm. “I ain’t afeared to get rough with her, Pa. I can take her.”

Alice stared at them with both
horror and pity. For the first time, she saw them for who they really were,
what they really were.
I came from them
,
she thought in disbelief.
HOW could I
have come from them? I’m nothing like them!
She wanted to laugh at the
craziness of it all. And weep a little, too.

“You’re small-minded idiots,” she
said. “Just leave me and Taggart alone.”

Pa’s face spasmed. She knew that
look. It was the expression he always wore right before he snapped, before he
flew into some blind rage.

“He didn’t taint you, did he?” Pa
snarled.

Alice’s mouth fell open. “That’s
none of your business.”

Bradley leered. “I bet he did, Pa.
I bet he bit her and claimed her while they were humpin’ doggy-style. Or is
that bear-style? How do bears like it? I bet Big Al would know. Huh, Big Al,
how do bears like it?”

In her mind’s eye, Alice could see
herself striking Bradley, and not gently, either.
Patience, Allie
, she told herself.

“He hasn’t claimed me,” she said,
knowing this was what they meant. “He didn’t put a bear in me, if that’s what
you’re so damn all-fired worried about.”

“Language, cow!” Pa said. Then he
softened, just slightly. “Lucky for you you’re still human. If you weren’t, I’d
haveta put ya down right here and now.”

Alice shivered. He was serious, she
could tell, or at least she thought he was. If Taggart had Turned her, Pa would
see her dead before he would allow her to Shift.

“Better dead than to become a
demon,” Pa added, as if to confirm this.

Alice was through. She made her
back straight. “I’m going to
town
,”
she repeated, having to speak through gritted teeth. “If you plan to shoot me,
shoot me.”

Pa’s eyes narrowed. He hated being
challenged, she knew that full well. Angry, he began to raise the rifle a bit,
more toward her middle now. Not waiting to see whether he would fire or not,
she hurled the box of donuts at him. He let out a sound like
gaaah
and tripped back as the box hit
him square in the face and opened. The gun fired harmlessly into the ground as
his face was smeared with glazed sugar and frosting.

Shocked, Bradley advanced a step
toward Alice. The loop of the bag containing Taggart’s shoes, jeans and shirt
was draped around one of her wrists, and she shucked free of it now and swung
it at Bradley’s head. There came a solid
whack
as the shoes hit his forehead, and he tumbled backward, hands flailing.

Alice turned on her heels and ran.