Hunter Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Enforcer Bears Book 2) (7 page)

She swallowed, a hand rising to her shirt. What if he was hurt down there?

Then, sputtering, Steven resurfaced. Droplets of cold water hit her as he shook his head.

"There's an opening under water," he gasped. "It's not a long dive. I went through and there was air on the other side!"

"We’ll have to dive then?" She knew she sounded hesitant—she still hadn't quite shaken the terror of being lost in the darkness. The only thing that would make this worse would be to get stuck underwater without light.

Then she gave her light a skeptical look. Were these things made to work in the water? She couldn't see any opening where water could enter the tiny device, and it had survived their first fall into the lake, but still…

"We've got little choice," Steven said softly. "I don't like this either, but you only have to dive for a few seconds. There's no real current. The water's moving very slowly, but it
is
moving, and we should try to find the place where it leaves these caves."

"I can't think of any waterfalls in the area," Cleo muttered when she handed Steven his clothes. She decided to keep her own clothes on; they fit well enough that she should be able to dive in them.

"I've been thinking the same." Steven frowned a little. "I never thought to explore those creeks back to their source when I tracked the jaguar. I didn't know the water was the key to his secret lair!"

"I've never heard any rumors of secret caves. I think we might be the first to explore this place." Then she snorted. "Well, I guess your jaguar wins that honor."

"Or your Grandma,” Steven pointed out. “I wonder..."

"No way," Cleo said firmly. "Grandma wouldn't crawl through dark tunnels. Grandpa on the other hand..."

Is that the secret? Did they discover something down here and left it for me?

Cleo shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. "Anyway, we have other things to focus on. Like leaving."

Steven pulled her close once she slid into the water. Even though the lake was cold, his skin was warm against hers. His lips brushed her own. She was still holding the small light above the water as she followed him to the wall of stone. She could feel it around her feet now, the slow pull of a current as water flowed through the opening below.

"Don't worry," Steven said again, his eyes intent. "Hold on to my hand. I won't let go, I promise. And there'll be air after a few seconds."

Cleo swallowed and nodded. Once again she brushed her lips against his. Then she switched off the light and pushed it back deep into her pocket. The wet fabric clung to her skin, and she prayed that she wouldn't lose it.

"OK. Ready?" Steven asked.

Cleo took a deep breath. Her hand found Steven's. His grasp was strong and reassuring.

"Ready," she replied, and then they dived down.

Cleo had never been afraid of water. She'd often made it to the ground of the lake to bring up shiny rocks or dropped toys or slimy algae to throw at a cousin.

But diving in complete and utter darkness was the most horrifying thing she'd ever done. For one terrible moment, she couldn't tell where up and down was. In panic, she imagined that any moment, she'd hit a rock, or that she'd find herself stuck somewhere, unable to make her way back up to the air...

Steven’s fingers squeezed around hers, and she forced the fear back.

Only a few seconds,
she reminded herself.
And he's made it through before. We'll be fine.

Now Steven gently pulled at her hand, and with another voiceless prayer, she followed. One hand remained in his grasp, with the other she felt for rocks in front of them. She used her legs to propel herself forward—and then her fingers met rock.

The wall, she thought even as Steven's hand tugged her downward.

Again she followed. Suddenly her hands found the opening—the wall giving way to nothing. The water slowly moved through, lazily pulling them along. With one last determined feat of willpower, she beat down the fear and followed Steven into the tunnel.

The opening was wide. That was her first thought. It brought relief with it—she wouldn't get stuck down there. Her hand didn't even touch the side of the opening, and she could swim easily by Steven's side.

Steven's hand was still clenched tightly around hers. In the darkness, she listened to the frightened beating of her heart.

Thud, thud, thud
, it said. She couldn't see. She couldn't breathe. She felt weightless—but Steven's touch anchored her.

She'd trusted him with her life. Even here, when she felt as terrified and helpless as never before, she didn’t doubt that she could depend on him.

Steven wouldn't leave. He said he'd be right by my side—and he is.

And then Steven's hand tugged on her again. She felt herself pulled upward.

Had the seconds passed already? Had it really only been seconds? She'd lost all sense of time. But now she used her legs again, kicked them upwards, and finally they broke through the surface.

There was air. She breathed it in greedily, and then she wrapped her arms around Steven's strong shoulders and kissed him. She was trembling. She had to hold back tears. But his mouth was hot and real beneath hers.

He was the only thing that felt real in the darkness, and she kept clutching at him.

He didn't leave. He stayed right by me. He's not like Walter at all.

She felt foolish for all of her earlier fears. She should have known it. Steven had never lied to her. What promises he’d made, he’d always kept.

What would Walter have done? Probably taken my light and left me in the darkness,
she thought.

Suddenly she was laughing through tears she hadn't even realized were running down her face.

"This is more of an adventure than I wanted," she finally sniffled. Then she wiped her eyes and wrestled the light out of her pocket once more.

There was another second of fear—would it still work?

But when she pressed the button at the top, once more the small glow of the single LED lit up the cave.

Steven's eyes were gleaming at her. His wet hair hung into his eyes, and he was still holding his wet clothes pressed against his body with one arm.

"We've made it," he murmured, his smile widening as he looked around.

To their left, there was a ledge of stone. It was easy to climb. A slab of rock jutted out into the lake which they could use to pull themselves up.

Once out of the water, they rested against each other, shivering. Cleo pulled off her own wet clothes, grimacing at the way they clung to her chilled skin. Together, they tried to wring the water out of the fabric as well as they could.

"I didn't come prepared for cave explorations," Cleo complained, her teeth chattering a little. "I wish we'd brought a blanket."

Steven laughed softly. "That would be wet as well now. Come here, I know something almost as good."

When Cleo shifted closer, Steven wrapped his arms around her. His body was hot, and she sighed in relief.

"You're like a furnace!" With a grateful sound, she snuggled into his embrace.

Beneath her cheek, she could feel his heart beating. His large hands rubbed gently over her back in slow circles. Her own hands trailed over his chest, idly tracing the defined ridges and valleys of his hard muscles.

She was still cold, and the ground beneath them was hard, but with every passing second in Steven's arms, the terrible memory of diving through the darkness receded some more.

"I'm really glad you're here with me," she finally whispered against his chest. "I couldn't imagine anyone I'd rather be trapped with."

"Because I can keep you warm?" His voice rumbled delightfully from somewhere deep in his chest.

Cleo made a purring sound of approval and snuggled closer. "That too! But just... You're here with me. Through all of this mess. Sorry if I don't make sense," she said in apology. "But not everyone would have done that. You're pretty special, I hope you know that."

For a moment, Steven froze, so that she began to wonder if she'd said too much. But then his lips brushed her hair.

"No, you're the one who's special," he murmured, his voice hoarse. "I wish I could tell you just how special."

His heart was beating against hers. The sensation was comforting, a constant reminder of the fact that she was safe, that she wasn't alone.

That Steven was here and wouldn't abandon her.

His hands were still stroking her back. Slowly, warmth was seeping into her limbs, exhaustion finally catching up with her.

"No, it's you," she murmured tiredly, her cheek cushioned on his shoulder as she slipped away into exhausted sleep at last.

When Steven opened his eyes, everything was dark. Carefully, he groped for the small light. He'd switched it off earlier to save battery. Now, when he found it and pressed the small button, Cleo began to shift in his arms, grimacing when sore muscles protested.

They'd napped for maybe an hour, Steven thought. It was hard to tell time down here in the darkness, but the instincts of his bear were finely attuned; he did not need the sun to make sense of his surroundings.

In fact, his bear would have a much easier time exploring these dark caves.

Cleo wouldn’t understand. How would I explain to her that I can turn into a bear?

Your brother managed well enough with his mate,
the gruff voice of his bear pointed out.

Silently, Steven shook his head. This wasn’t the right time for a revelation like that. They were wet and cold, and once he told her about shifters, he’d also have to explain about other things…

Like mates,
his bear said.

Choosing to ignore his voice, Steven slowly forced himself to stand, then helped up Cleo as well.

“I can’t believe I fell asleep,” she murmured and rubbed her eyes.

“We both needed a moment of rest.” He handed her the light, then checked the clothes they had spread out on the stone. “And we’ll need all our strength to get out of here. An hour of sleep won’t make a difference.”

They were still damp and cold. With longing, he thought of the warm fur of his bear, then forced that thought away.

Not now. A bit of cold won’t kill me.

Next to him, Cleo grimaced in disgust when she pulled on her wet pants.

“The first thing I’ll do when we’re back is take a hot shower.” She shuddered, then slipped into the shirt that clung to her clammy skin. “I hope there aren’t any more underwater tunnels.”

Steven looked out at the water to their right. The echo of their voices told him that they were in a smaller cave this time. The light didn’t reach very far, but the sharper senses of his bear had him certain that the water was still moving somewhere. This wasn’t another large lake. They’d entered into a shallow basin, and from what little the light revealed, it seemed more like a slowly moving river here that flowed through a long tunnel.

“Let’s keep following the river and find out,” he said.

He wrapped his arm around Cleo as they walked. The stone was smooth, as though some time in the past, the river had been large enough to fill the entire tunnel and polish the stone as it rushed through it. Now, the water was low, filling only the bottom of the tunnel, with enough space that they could easily follow its path. Somewhere in the distance, he could still make out the soft sound of moving water.

Are we walking towards a waterfall? Or is there maybe another tunnel just like this one, on the other side of this wall?

They walked for another hour. The light in Cleo’s hand stayed strong. Once, they came to a spot where part of the wall had broken off and slid into the river, barring their way. They had to carefully pick their way around it, stepping on slippery rocks in the river while clutching at the slab of rock.

When they could finally continue on the other side of the barricade, their pants were wet up their knees once more.

“Next time I go hunting for treasure, I’ll bring waterproof clothes. And a real flashlight. And food,” Cleo murmured as they trudged along.

As if on command, Steven’s stomach released a hungry growl. They looked at each other and then began laughing.

“This is really the worst treasure hunt I’ve ever been on. Sorry,” she said and giggled helplessly.

“Don’t apologize!” he teased. “It’s the best treasure hunt I’ve been on!”

“Because it’s the first!” Cleo was smiling widely. Her hair had dried in little ringlets that stuck out in all directions. Her cheeks were reddened from the cold.

We might be lost somewhere below the earth, but at least she’s not alone. I have to get her out of here,
he thought again.

We’re exactly where we are supposed to be,
his bear said firmly.
With our mate. Protecting her.

Steven smiled to himself. His bear was right. It could be worse. At least Cleo wasn’t alone.

If he hadn’t listened to the insistent pull that had drawn him back to her again and again, the map might have led her to the cave all alone. She would have disturbed the jaguar in its lair.

I told you so from the start,
his bear said again, sounding a little impatient now.

Steven suppressed a sigh.

You were right,
he silently admitted.
Happy now? You were right about her. About everything.

“Steven!” Suddenly, Cleo grabbed his arm in excitement.

She gestured forward, and when she raised the hand that held the light, Steven saw that in the gloom before them, an opening had appeared.

In the wall to their left, a different tunnel opened. This tunnel was smaller, and no water came pouring from it. In fact, when they stepped inside, the light revealed that this tunnel sloped upwards.

Somewhere in the distance, Steven could still make out the dull roar of water. It seemed to come from somewhere in front of them—somewhere in the direction the tunnel led towards.

“This one leads upwards,” Steven said, hesitating a moment. Was it a good choice to abandon the river?

But we need to go up to get back to the surface…

“Let’s explore the new tunnel. As long as we don’t find any other crossroads, it’ll be easy enough to get back here,” Cleo said. Her voice was taut, as though the tunnel had reminded her of the weight of the stone and soil above their heads.

They held hands as they explored the tunnel. The gentle slope soon turned to a steeper incline, but they did not complain. Every step brought them closer to the surface now. And a tunnel that ran so close to the ground would surely sooner or later open up to the sunlight somewhere…

“It’s strange,” Cleo now murmured as they made their way past a particularly steep spot. “It’s almost like a staircase…”

Steven looked down. It was true. Their feet kept finding purchase on conveniently located slabs of flat rocks, which rested firmly on a bed of gravel and dirt. Had this occurred naturally?

“I’m not an expert,” he said as they kept moving upwards the strange stair, “but maybe we aren’t the first people down here.”

“Grandma wouldn’t build tunnels in some dirty cave,” Cleo muttered, out of breath when they finally came to a more level area. “But maybe they discovered this entire cave system by accident. Maybe whoever built this left years ago. Maybe my great-great-grandparents were digging for gold…”

Steven chuckled. “In that case, your Grandma might have left you a real treasure after all!”

Cleo wiped a damp strand out of her face as she gave him a look full of warmth. Once more his heart clenched with that instinctive knowledge of how right she was. He’d never felt like this before.

She was his mate. He wanted to protect her, yes.

But even more than that natural instinct, he felt at home every time he was close to her. He hadn’t expected that.

He’d been alone for so long, always driven by his restlessness. He’d thought that he knew himself well enough to know that he could never take a mate. How could one woman be enough when the heart of his bear yearned for new mountains and forests to explore whenever he stayed somewhere for more than a week?

But then he’d met Cleo. And it wasn’t just his bear who had recognized his mate. For the very first time, Steven felt at peace. He didn’t need new forests. All he wanted was to walk through their own forest with Cleo by his side. That would be enough.

It would be more than enough.

“I think I’ve already found my treasure down here,” she said softly.

Her eyes shone with the same warmth that filled his chest. He couldn’t help it; he had to pull her close again and kiss her, cherishing the way her curves filled his arms while she sighed against his lips.

“And I’ll make sure you’ll escape this place safely with your treasure,” he finally whispered back.

Then the light gave a first, small flicker.

They looked at each other in fear. For one long moment, they were silent, frozen in dread. If their light went out now, they’d be lost down here…

The light kept shining. Even so, the incident had served as a warning.

Steven straightened. “We should hurry. We don’t know how much time we’ve got left. If we’re very unlucky, we’ll have to return all the way to the river below…”

Cleo shook her head. “No, listen! I can hear it—it’s louder here. There’s water somewhere close, moving swiftly.”

With a frown, Steven looked around. Cleo was right, he could hear it too, now that he concentrated on it. It was a rushing sound, a soft roar…

Was there an opening nearby where the water escaped to the outside?

How far had they walked? Could the tunnel have led them up to a cliffside with an opening, or maybe another entrance hidden near a waterfall?

He rested his hand against the wall. The stone was smooth and dusty. He could feel the barest hint of a vibration.

When he pressed his ear against the stone, the roaring increased in volume.

“Let’s head on,” he said after a moment. “We’ve got to make the most out of that light. There’s water, and it’s close.”

Cleo kept lighting their way as they hastened onward. Where before the tunnel had led up, it now stayed level. Once, they had to climb past another large rock, and once again they both noted suspiciously placed hollows and ledges to place their feet and hands.

“It’s not the work of a jaguar, that’s for sure,” Cleo muttered.

She sounded out of breath; Steven stayed behind her as she climbed past the final boulder, ready to catch her should she slip.

Then Cleo gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Steven’s heart was racing.

His bear was roaring at him to shift, to protect their mate—but Cleo stayed silent.

“Come quickly!” she finally called out a second later, excitement in her voice instead of fear. “Hurry! I think—I think we’ve found the exit!”

Her words gave Steven new strength, and a moment later, he found himself standing next to Cleo in what looked like a natural antechamber in the rock.

And in front of them, there was a door in the wall.

A real door, made from sturdy wood.

“Oh my God!” Cleo breathed as she reached out for the handle. “We made it! This has to lead outside…!”

When she pulled on the door, nothing happened. She tried again, this time using more strength, but after a moment had to give up.

“It’s locked.” Cleo juggled the handle again. “Damn! I can’t believe this!”

Steven stepped forward. “Let me try.”

He couldn’t see a keyhole—but even so, the door didn’t give even an inch, no matter how he pushed or pulled.

“I don’t think it’s locked,” he finally said. “I think it’s blocked from the outside.” He pressed his ear against the wood of the door, then used his hand to knock hard.

It sounded hollow. He released a sigh of relief.

“Someone bolted it shut, but there’s a room behind it. Or another tunnel, maybe.”

Cleo gave the door an anxious look. “We’ve got to get through somehow! This is the closest we’ve come to anything that looks like an exit! Maybe we can batter it down if we use a rock?”

I can help,
the voice of Steven’s bear rumbled.
You know I can.

Wait,
Steven thought back, running his hands over the wood.

Dust had settled into small imperfections. It must have been years since it had last been used. Unfortunately, the wood still seemed sturdy. Steven couldn’t find any weaknesses.

When he ran his fingers along the underside of the door, he thought he felt a draft.

Air from the outside,
his bear said eagerly.
Let me take a sniff…

I can’t,
Steven replied silently.

Then the light flickered again, and he clenched his jaw.

Cleo had paled. She was staring at the tiny gadget in her hand with dread. Steven could feel her fear—the same sense that told him that she was his mate now told him that his mate was afraid. It was a tugging at his heart, a sense of urgency he couldn’t ignore. He
had
to protect his mate, no matter the cost!

Damn it,
he cursed silently.
What if she panics if I shift? What if she runs?

She’s our mate,
his bear grumbled in reassurance.
She won’t hate you.

Steven took a deep breath. Then he stood, taking a step back from the door.

“Cleo, I need you to listen now.” He took her hands in his. “This is going to sound strange, but—I don’t even know how to explain this.”

Cleo gave him a questioning look. Despite her growing fear, her eyes were a deep, verdant green—it was not the brightness of a gemstone, but something more precious: the green of the secret places of the forest that had always belonged to him.