Forbidden Love: A BBW, BWWM Paranormal Romance (10 page)

“
I love her too. I know it’s fast and seems
insane, but I do.”

John was furious. “No, Alex! No. You do not love
this woman. You’ve known her one day.”

“
That’s all it took, Dad,” Alex
replied. “I want to be with her.”

Riley glared at him. “You will not be with her.
She is a werebear. We marry our own kind, dammit!”

“
Do not answer for me, Riley! I want to be with
him too,” Alice yelled. “You may be the future leader of
our clan, but this clan has never ruled over its bears like a
dictatorship.”

“
New leader, new rules,” Riley growled at
her.

“
Young man, you are not the leader of this clan
yet,” Cammie called, walking to her son. “And if your
leadership is to become a dictatorship, I will not step down.”

Riley looked down. They’d both known it was an
idle threat; his leadership would match his father’s and
mother’s. “Mother, she cannot do this! She cannot be with
a werewolf no matter how much she loves him.”

John spoke up. “I agree with the werebear,
shockingly.” He looked at Alex and Alice, who still sat on the
ground together. “Werewolves marry other werewolves, and I
assume werebears marry werebears.”

Riley nodded his head, but Shara stepped up to speak.
“There is no law within the pack that says a werewolf must
marry a werewolf.” She turned to Cammie and asked, “Is
there such a law in the clan?”

“
No, we have no such law. It’s just always
been that way,” Cammie replied.

“
Same here. It’s called tradition. And this
pack is about tradition,” John called, looking at the crowd
around them. He spoke to the wolves first. “Werewolves, we have
never married outside the werewolf species. We don’t know what
kind of children these two might have. Or if they can even have
children.”

“
We haven’t said anything about children,”
Alice yelled. “That’s a discussion best left for another
time. We want to be together, to see what might happen. Why is that
so wrong?”

“
Because the werewolves are our natural enemy,
Alice. You know that, have known that your whole life. Quit acting
like you don’t,” Riley told her. When he saw Alice
struggling to rise on her injured leg, his chivalry overcame his
anger and he offered her his arm. She immediately turned to help
Alex. Riley’s chivalry didn’t reach that far, so Shara
stepped forward and helped Alice haul Alex to his feet.

“
Riley, do not speak to me like I’m stupid.
I know about the feud, and believe me, it’s been on my mind
since last night,” Alice told him, supporting Alex with Shara’s
help. The blood had slowed to an ooze, but the wound was ugly.

Shara turned to the crowd after gesturing to Cammie to
join her. “Wolves and bears, let me pose a question to all of
you.” When she was sure all of them were paying close
attention, she called out, “What began this ugly feud between
the wolves and the bears?”

“
I can’t remember, Shara. Can you remember?”
Cammie asked a little sarcastically.

“
No, Cammie, I can’t remember either.”

“
That’s really weird.” Cammie
addressed the congregation of wolves and bears. “What about any
of you? Does anybody know why this feud began?”

The silence among the wolves and bears stretched into
forever. Cammie and Shara looked at each other and grinned. No one
truly knew the reason for the feud; it had been a deeply held belief
for so long that the clan and pack hated each other that everyone
fell into it as if it was supposed to be that way.

“
So nobody knows? John?” Shara looked at her
husband. She turned to Riley. “What about you, Riley? No?”

The two men stared at her, then looked at the ground
abashedly. They had no idea why they hated each other. Stories of the
cruelty of the clan had been told to John as bedtime stories, and
Riley had always heard of the tortures inflicted on bears at the
hands of the wolves. But neither had actually seen evidence of this,
neither had actually witnessed it.

Shara said their thoughts out loud to the crowd. “We’ve
grown up hearing horrible stories about the werebears.”

Cammie nodded, “And we’ve heard nothing but
horror stories about the wolf pack.”

Shara continued, “But have any of you ever
actually seen cruelty from the other? Have any of you experienced
it?”

Alice joined the argument. “When Alex could have
left me to the poachers, he saved me instead, facing those poachers
and even injuring one to rescue me. I was terrified at the idea of
being taken to the wolf pack camp. I’d heard the stories too.
But Shara cleaned and dressed my wound, they fed me, and almost all
of them were polite to me.” She looked at John pointedly.

“
If no one can remember why this feud even
started, why must we continue it? It’s ridiculous!”
Cammie yelled, focusing her energy at the werebears, some of whom
nodded in agreement.

“
Stupid is a better word, Cammie,” Shara
interjected. “We need to end this, and soon.” She looked
around at the injured wolves and bears, at the ones who hadn’t
been able to shift because of their wounds. She gestured to them.
“Hurting each other only makes us weaker, more susceptible to
more dangerous enemies. A truce would save us all a lot of pain and
heart ache in the coming years.”

Riley finally spoke after a long silence. “Mom,
Shara, the two of you are right. I don’t know why I’ve
always hated the werewolves, I just always have. And that is stupid.”

John refused to speak. He didn’t want to agree,
though deep in his heart he knew they were all right. But his
stubbornness wouldn’t let his tongue move to form words.

Riley continued. “It will take time, but maybe we
can reach some kind of agreement.”

Cammie and Shara smiled and clapped their hands. Alex
and Alice leaned into each other, and Alice thought about kissing
him. She decided against it, though, when Riley spoke again.

“
That doesn’t mean you two can be together,”
Riley said, pointing at Alex and Alice.

Cammie touched her son’s hand. “Let’s
save that argument for later. We need to tend to the wounded for
now.”

Shara nodded. “Ok, everybody! If you aren’t
injured, help us with those who are. Let’s move everybody to
the eating area and onto tables for now until we can see what we’re
dealing with.”

When no one moved, Cammie called, “Werebears and
werewolves, help each other! It’s a first step toward
friendship.”

A shot rang out, and Cammie dropped to the ground.

Bud jerked at the report of the weapon fired. He looked
at his men and realized that Mike had fired a shot at the female
leader of the werebears. He looked back at the camp; the leader’s
children had rushed to her side, as well as the female leader of the
werewolves. Mike may have jumped the gun, so to speak, but now was
their chance.

“
Fire!” he yelled to the others. All four of
them took aim and began to fire. Bud watched the wolves and bears
scatter for cover, and the werebear leader’s son and daughter
pick up their mother and run into a tent with two wolves following
close behind. Two bears and a wolf were already on the ground. One of
the bears wasn’t moving, and the other bear and the wolf were
trying to move to cover. Others moved to help them, but Bud shot the
wolf in the head before help could arrive. The bear was dragged
behind a table by a wolf.

Jason called, “We’ll have to move closer to
hit our targets!”

Mike answered, “Headed down.”

The third man didn’t reply, but Bud could see him
moving through the brush from the other side of the clearing. The
camp was surrounded. Success was imminent.

*****

When Cammie hit the ground, Riley and Alice had screamed
and run to her side. Susan had roared and tried to drag herself to
her mother, but more bullets rained on them. Riley picked up his
mother, and together with Alex supported by Shara, ran to the nearest
tent and got on the floor. A man grabbed Susan by the ruff and
dragged her behind a table. She looked up at him; a man from the wolf
pack held her close and low.

Alice and Riley were holding their mother’s hands
while Shara did her best to stifle the blood from the gunshot wound
in her chest. John, two injured wolf pack members, and a bear clan
member entered the tent behind them. Everyone stayed close to the
ground as bullets tore through the tent.

Cammie didn’t speak, just looked at her son and
daughter, wishing Susan was also there. She could feel her life
leaving her, and had only a moment to say what she needed to say.

“
Riley, you’re the leader now.” He
shook his head, a tear falling onto her cheek off of his. “Yes.
Accept this.” She held up her hand, and he took it, removing
the ring from her middle finger and placing it on his ring finger. He
was the leader.

Shara had moved to John and held his hand. Alex watched
sadly as Cammie spoke her last words.

“
Alice, tell Susan how much I love her. And stay
with Alex if that’s what your heart tells you. Your brother
will defend that choice,” she murmured. Riley nodded; it was
his mother’s final dictate as the clan leader. “I love
you so much.”

They all watched as the life left her eyes.

Silence filled the tent. The sounds of screams and guns
died. Her spirit left quietly; no one saw it. But they all felt her
presence leave the room with her final breath.

The sounds returned. Riley stood. “Alice, we have
to save our grief for later. Our people are being slaughtered.”

Alice laid her mother’s hand on her chest and rose
to her feet. Alex touched her hand, and she smiled sadly at him.

“
John, we need a plan. You know this area better
than I do,” Riley said. “What do we do?”

“
The reports of the gun are moving closer, I can
hear that,” Alex answered.

“
Yes. The poachers are closing in.” John
cocked his head to the side and listened. “Four different guns.
So only four men.”

“
One in each direction,” Alice shared.

“
Ok, we’ll each go out the back of the tent
and circle around. Two together. Alex and I will take the one that’s
across the camp,” John said, looking at Riley for approval.
“Riley, you and your sister go for the one to the left. Shara,
you take the werebear and get the one to the right.”

“
What about the last one?” Alex asked.

“
I can’t pinpoint his location from here. He
hasn’t fired a shot in several minutes,” John said.

“
You’re right. John, let’s you and I
find the missing one and send Alex and Alice for the one across the
camp,” Riley commented.

“
They’re both injured,” Shara pointed
out. “Should they be paired?”

“
I’m fine,” Alice said, a deadly look
in her eye. She wouldn’t remain in the tent. She wanted the
blood of the men who had killed her mother.

“
Me too. We’ll handle it,” Alex said,
grasping Alice’s hand tightly in his.

“
You two take the one to the left then,” he
said to the two werewolves, who nodded gleefully. “Let’s
do it then,” Riley said. He and John shifted, and Shara lifted
the back of the tent for them. She and the werebear shifted as well,
and Alice lifted it for them.

The two werewolves left next. Alice shifted and left the
tent quietly, with Alex right behind her. For such large animals,
they moved surprisingly silently around the camp. The guns had ceased
fire as all the weres had managed to hide themselves. Alice glanced
at the middle of the camp and silently gasped. Three bears and two
wolves were lying on the ground, either dead or grievously injured
and unmoving. She prayed to the gods that someone had pulled Susan to
safety. She couldn’t see her anywhere.

To their left, they heard the guttural sound of a man
dying and the undeniable growl of a werewolf silencing the noise.
Shara and the werebear had found their man and dispatched of him
quickly. One down, three to go.

Alice watched for movement in the trees around them,
Alex looking ahead for any sign of the poacher. The fourth was still
hiding, but quickly Alex spotted a large bald man skulking behind a
bush, peeking through it for signs of life. He motioned to Alice, who
saw the man immediately. She looked at Alex, who motioned with his
paw to go around behind him. He knew she wanted the kill, and he
would let her have it.

As she circled around behind her man, she heard another
man scream somewhere to their right again. Apparently the one who had
been on the left had changed positions, but the werewolf pair had
taken him out of the equation.
Two down, two
to go
, she thought, staring murderously at
the poacher whose back was now to her.

*****

Jason
jerked when he heard the scream.
Dammit,
he thought.
They got one of the guys, Mike it
sounded like.
Jason couldn’t see Bud
anywhere, and hadn’t been able to for a while. He wondered
about his pal, Corbin, too. He’d been invisible for a time.
He’d heard a strange sound earlier, almost like a choking, and
hoped he wasn’t the only one left.