Loving The Bear: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Gray Bears Book 2) (7 page)

“I didn't deserve the
beatings, the abuse, the pain you inflicted on me. I never did
anything to deserve that. You married me but you never loved me.
You despised me. I was weak and I reminded you of your own weakness.
You wished you were as strong and powerful as a full shifter. It's
not my fault that you're half human, but you used me as a punching
bag. I used to be ashamed of myself, and I used glamor to hide my
scars and bruises from our neighbors and my co-workers at the cafe.
That—was a mistake. I should have let everyone see the truth.”

“You!”

Skinner lunged at her but she
waved a hand and invoked a protective spell under her breath.
Skinner's fist smashed against the invisible wall between them and he
spat out a curse.

“I didn't know how to
protect myself in the past. But now I do,” Elle said simply.
“I'm a witch. A half witch, but I've learned that I can cast
more than just glamor spells.”

Skinner tried to punch her
again but he was repelled by the shield, which was just a shimmering
curtain of air between them.

“Stop trying, Skinner.
You can't hurt me. Not anymore,” Elle said. “And…I
don't want to hurt you either. I just want you to leave me alone.”

“Hurt me?”
Skinner sneered. “What, you gonna hex me with your half-witchy
powers?”

“No. I won't hex
anyone. I don't think I can. But...” She took a deep breath
and gulped. Quickly, silently, she weighed the risks of what she was
about to do. It was a huge risk, but it might be worth it.

Her mind made up, she gave a
curt nod and said, “I can grant you a wish, Skinner.”

Skinner's black eyes flashed.
“A wish,” he said slowly, calculatingly.

“Yes. I can grant you
a single wish. That is within my power.” She stared at him,
half regretting her decision and trying to quiet her fear and
apprehension. Was she doing the right thing?

He might wish her dead this
very instant. Or he might wish some terrible harm on Aidan and his
family, the people she cared most about. He might wish a plague upon
the town or wish for a horrific disaster to befall Broomstick Inn.
She wasn't sure if her limited magic would allow her to fully
manifest his dastardly wish, but his wish would come true to some
extent. So if he wished for her death, her magic might not be
powerful enough to kill her but she might collapse and lapse into a
long coma.

But Elle knew her ex-husband
quite well by now. She understood how he thought, what he wanted.
Skinner was selfish, greedy and calculating. She was pretty sure
that he wouldn't waste a wish on her or on anyone else. Wishing harm
on others was a waste of a wish. Skinner would use the wish on
himself.

Good intentions, pure heart.
The basics of magic.

Elle's intentions were pure
and simple in granting Skinner a wish. Skinner was bitter and
violent because he wasn't contented and satisfied with what he had,
what he was. His anger and violence hurt everyone around him. If he
could finally find peace and contentment, things would be better, for
him, for everyone. She had found peace, joy and love, and she did
sincerely want Skinner to experience some peace and happiness in his
life. He had done jail term and paid his dues. If he could let go
of his hate and bitterness, he could have a new life, a good life.

“Make a wish,”
she whispered. “One wish. I can make it come true. Wish for
what you want, more than anything else in the world.”

Do you really want
revenge, Skinner?

Do you really want to hurt
me, more than anything else in the world?

Elle shook her head subtly.
No, she didn't think so. She wasn't that important or significant to
him.

He would think of what he
wanted for himself.

Skinner stepped back, and
rubbed his clammy palms on his pants. “I'm going to make a
wish, and if it doesn't come true and I see that you're just shitting
me—” He pointed at her. “—you're dead,
Elle.”

“I'll make it come
true,” she said, barely able to breathe.

She could feel her whole body
tingling as her magic flowed from her. She had granted someone a
wish and promised that it would come true. The intention was clear.
The spell had been cast and the magic was already working. She
couldn't take it back.

Elle tried to stop herself
from shaking as she watched Skinner close his eyes and make his wish.
His lips moved as he muttered fervently under his breath. He smiled
as he stopped speaking and snapped his eyes open. His black eyes
were glittering with anticipation. He had made his wish.

Elle bit her lip to stop
herself from crying out as her body quaked with her surging,
spiraling magic. The wish had activated her magic, and everything
was now in motion. Skinner's wish was about to come true.

Elle wanted to squeeze her
eyes shut but she couldn't look away from Skinner.

What did he just wish for?

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Elle stumbled back with a cry
as she felt her energies drain from her. She knocked into a stool
behind her and her arms flailed as she tried to regain her balance.

Bright sparks and circles
were swimming in front of her eyes, and she felt herself swaying
precariously on her feet. Reaching out blindly, she gripped the edge
of the counter and held on tight. The counter felt solid under her
fingers, and she clung to it. She wouldn't fall, wouldn't collapse.
She was completely drained, her energies and magic almost depleted,
but she wouldn't go down.

Whatever Skinner had wished
for was coming true. Granting him his wish had cost her a lot. She
could only hope that it was worth it.

Blinking hard, Elle tried to
get her vision to focus right. She was seeing things. She saw
sparks, smoke, stars...and a wolf in her bakery!

Elle shook her head and
blinked again.

The stars and smoke
disappeared, but the wolf remained.

A slight gray wolf with black
eyes stood in the middle of her bakery.

Elle took a shuddering breath
and opened her mouth. Her voice wouldn't work. She tried again.

“S-Skinner?” she
managed to croak.

The wolf raised its head and
stared at her. She saw confusion and recognition in the wolf's eyes.
It was Skinner.

Elle stepped out carefully
from behind the counter. The wolf bared its teeth in a snarl and she
recognized the expression instantly. It really was Skinner. He had
turned into a wolf, a real wolf.

“Oh!” Elle
pressed her fingers to her mouth. “Oh, the wish...”

This was Skinner's wish.

He had always resented his
inability to shift into wolf form. So he wished that he could be a
wolf.

Elle crouched down and
stretched out a trembling hand to touch the wolf's soft, velvety fur.
She looked into those large black eyes and saw the light and
recognition fade from them. The creature before her was a real wolf,
not a shifter, not a man trapped in wolf form. Skinner had wished to
be a wolf. And his wish had come true.

The animal came and sniffed
Elle's hand. Elle stroked its fur in wonderment and watched the
magnificent creature turn around and pad towards the door. The wolf
growled, not liking the enclosed space one bit. It wanted to be let
out, so it could run into the wild.

Elle held the door open. The
wolf took off at a run, racing towards the woods at the edge of
Shadow Point. Elle walked out and stood in front of her bakery,
watching the wolf until it disappeared into the distance.

She stood there for a long
time.

Skinner was now a wolf. A
beautiful, wild animal. He was free at last, and she hoped that he
would finally be happy in his new skin.

Perhaps this was what he was
meant to be. A wild beast, an animal. He was ill-equipped to deal
with life as a human. He was unhappy, violent, and he couldn't fit
in and succeed in society.

Perhaps as a wolf he would be
happier. There were lessons for him to learn, valuable lessons. He
would have to learn to survive, how to join a pack, how to obey his
alpha and live and hunt as a team. He would learn his place in the
pack and in the world. Hopefully, as a wolf, Skinner would be able
to find his purpose and peace at last.

“Mummy, can I have a
cupcake? Please?” A little girl was pressing her nose to the
bakery window. “I want that one, the one with the pink hearts
on top!”

The chime of her shop door
sounded as the girl tugged at her mother's hand and pulled her into
the shop.

With one last look towards
the evergreen woods, Elle turned and hurried back to her bakery. She
had customers waiting for her.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Across the road, Aidan stood
with Gramma and Ne-ma, watching the bakery in silence.

“Told you,”
Gramma said smugly.

“That girl has a big
heart, a good one,” Ne-ma said. “She's a real witch all
right. She understands that one must never interfere with another's
free will.”

“Yep. That Skinner got
what he wished for. All is well, is it not, Aidan?”

Aidan finally released the
breath that he had been holding. “Yes,” he acknowledged
grudgingly.

“And you wanted to
charge in there and go all bear on that pretty little wolf,”
Ne-ma tut-tutted.

“Elle was in danger,”
Aidan growled. “And Skinner's not pretty.”

“Elle wasn't in
danger,” Gramma said. “She was in danger before, when
she hadn't found herself. She thought she was weak, worthless and
unloved.”

“But now she knows who
she is and what she can do. She is strong, secure and loved. She
will never feel threatened again. Ever.” Ne-ma smiled and
started towards the bakery. “Let's go get some chocolate cake.
Glynda?”

“Right behind you!”
As they trotted towards Elle's bakery, Gramma turned and said to
Aidan over her shoulder, “That's not Skinner anymore. That's a
wolf. And it's a beautiful wolf.” She wagged a finger at him.

Huffing out a sigh, Aidan
called out, “I'm not going to hunt that wolf down. I won't.”

“Promise?”

“Yes! I promise!”

Gramma and Ne-ma nodded.
They knew how protective a bear was towards its mate. A bear would
kill for its mate, but they knew that Elle wouldn't want Aidan to
have that wolf's blood on his hands.

And Aidan and his brothers
never broke a promise to them. In their family, promises were
sacred. There was a special kind of magic in a promise, more potent
than the most powerful spells. Love was the most powerful magic
there was.

Their smiles widened into
grins as they waved him off.

“Go back to work now,
Aidan.”

“Go do some real police
work,” they called out before pushing into the bakery.

Aidan rolled his eyes as he
made his way back to the station. “Why does everyone keep
saying that? Staking out my mate's bakery
is
real police
work,” he mumbled.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Elle helped Gramma and Ne-ma
clear the table as Aidan and his brothers scurried to the kitchen.
Aidan and his brothers had been so fidgety during dinner, whispering
and nudging one another. She wondered what they were up to.

Alisa grinned and winked at
Elle. “The boys have a surprise for you,” Alisa
whispered as she hurried after the four excited Gray brothers.

“What surprise?”
Elle asked.

Gramma and Ne-ma shrugged.
“They're always up to something.”

The whole family always came
over to the house for dinner during the weekends. Elle had moved in
with Aidan, and although Tristan had offered to build them a cozy
little love nest, Elle had declined the kind offer. She liked living
with Aidan and his younger brothers. Mason and Jackson were fun and
rowdy, and she liked having them around. Growing up, it had been
just her and her mom, and an endless array of her mom's lovers. She
had always longed for a big, stable family, and now it seemed her
wish had come true. She had Aidan, who was the love of her life, and
she had a wonderful, loving family.

Alisa tiptoed out of the
kitchen and went to switch off all the lights. “What's going
on?” Elle asked. “What are you doing?”

Elle gasped when she saw the
blazing candles. Aidan and his brothers came out of the kitchen
carrying a humongous cake between them.

“Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you...”

Everyone burst into the
birthday song. Gramma and Ne-ma sang the loudest. Elle stared at
the large, lopsided cake, blinking rapidly before the lights came
back on. She didn't want anyone to see her crying.

She was just dabbing the
corner of her eye when Alisa snapped the lights back on. Elle stared
at the big, crooked cake and sputtered, “Oh, oh, this…this
is...”