by Elle Thorne
His groan told her the special heaven and hell he was going through. Just as she had when he’d touched her.
Carina nearly closed her eyes from the sheer pleasure of his response. She tugged on his cock moving her hand forward and backward.
“Ah, fuck,” Bain growled, his bear nearly ready to burst out. Shoving her hand aside, with one swift drive, he plunged into her, her muscles stretching to take him in, holding him deeply.
He pulled back, and pressed deeper still. She gasped when he was fully in and leaned into him to get even more of this, finding pleasure in the pain.
Bain kissed her, his tongue claiming her, plunging in repeatedly, keeping pace as his hips drove his hardness in, deeper and deeper.
In.
Out.
Over and over.
Her body took him, relishing every thrust, every plunge, every drive.
When he stopped suddenly, her eyes flew open. The golden amber glow was intense. She was looking into his bear’s heart.
“Thank you for not giving up on me,” she told his bear.
With a roar in her ear, Bain drove deeper, pulling her close, driving his mouth into her neck, baring his teeth.
She felt the sensation of his teeth breaking skin for a brief moment before the euphoria of their couple bonding overtook her.
He’d bonded her!
The thought didn’t stay in her mind long as she bit on her lip to keep from screaming his name as a climax roared through her body. She tightened around him, her body holding him hostage.
“I’d say forgive me but…” He buried his face in her neck. “I’m not exactly sorry.”
She looked into his eyes without answering.
“I won’t apologize for it. You’re mine now,” Bain said.
“I know.”
He held her gaze. “And you feel how, about it, exactly?”
She almost couldn’t see him for the tears that were beginning to brim in her eyes.
He had to ask?
“I feel like I’m home.”
His smile grew, a grin, reminding her that deep within the fierceness of her alpha male was a man who loved her.
Epilogue
Mae wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted that Bain and Carina and Bree take up a suite at the bed and breakfast that Kelsey and Teague ran for her.
And Bain and Carina had. It had only been a few days, but Bain felt already like he was home.
He rolled over in bed, looked out the window, enjoying the sun’s rising over the mountains. His body sought out Carina’s, spooning her against him protectively. He loved the way her body fit against his, every curve she had found a natural spot to rest against his body.
He felt a measure of excitement.
Braden was coming to Bear Valley to recuperate and meet Bain’s nephew Dominic.
All of the children in that compound had been taken care of. Every last one was settled into a permanent home thanks to Griz and Mac’s contacts.
Only one was missing.
That Dakotah woman. Not a shifter, but Lance said he scented that she was carrying a baby. He’d wanted to listen for the baby’s pulse but had to get back to the fighting.
She was never seen again. Not even after all of Mae’s and Mikhail’s reinforcements showed up. They tried to track her by scent and sight.
No luck, Griz had reported last night.
Bain sighed.
Against him, Carina took his hand in his. “You’re worried.”
“No,” he lied, though it was a white lie. “Not really.”
“About what?” She pretended like she hadn’t heard his little fib.
“That woman.”
“Me, too. I feel bad for her. And if she’s expecting… Let’s check on her.”
“Griz and Doc said they did everything they could. She just upped and vanished.”
“Maybe she went home,” Carina countered.
“Maybe.”
“We should get going. Braden will be here this morning, won’t he?”
A smile crept to his face.
“Are you excited?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“And are you nervous about your father?”
Bain had called his father earlier. “No. I told him we’d come out and visit after Braden got better.”
“He said he might come out here instead,” she replied. “I hope there’s no drama.”
“Me and you both. Braden’s going to be staying at Joe’s. Joe and Sara offered.”
“I thought he was coming here to recuperate.”
“Not so much physically. I think he needs time away from the city.”
“He’ll be by himself out there, on the mountainside.” Carina’s voice carried worry.
“He’s a big boy.” Bain laughed. “He can take care of himself.”
Carina rolled over and looked into his eyes, desire flared in the dark depths of her gaze. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Can you take care of yourself?” Her body moved against his in a way that woke every part of him and brought him to full attention.
“I’d rather have you take care of certain things.”
Her fingers trailed across his chest, going lower. “Certain things?” Her voice was husky with need.
“This, specifically.”
“This?” she said teasingly.
Bain rolled her over swiftly, and with the ease of one accustomed to contact sports, flipped her beneath him, and perched himself above her, supporting himself with thick muscular arms.
He lowered his head. “Yeah. This. Always.”
Flirtation
Braden Cartwright’s a polar bear shifter that fights demons. Except the demons he’s fighting are within him. He’s headed to Bear Canyon Valley to catch up with his nephew Bain, and hopefully to catch a break from his demons.
Dakotah Lopez wonders if she jumped from the frying pan in to the fire. She ran away from Deep Hollow to escape the evil shifters but now finds herself in Bear Canyon Valley, a place that is teeming with shifters. As if matters weren’t complicated enough, she’s pregnant with the child of an extremely dangerous shifter.
Griz, Mae, Doc, Tanner, Teague and Joe all come together to help the newly arrived duo, only to find that maybe this duo can help the Bear Canyon Valley in exchange.
Chapter One
Outside the building where she and many children had been held, Dakotah cowered in the bushes, watching men morph into animals, their faces widening, their bones lengthening, fur covering their body. With the horrifying sounds of bone crunching and tearing flesh these men became bears, polar bears, and possibly some grizzly bears, though she was no expert on types of bears. There was a tiger and a lion in the group.
These fierce creatures battled, fangs exposed, claws flying, blood spewing. Some of them she recognized. They had been her captors, her tormentors.
Others were the enemies of her captors, battling them, drawing blood and taking lives. But did that make the enemies of her enemies her friends?
She doubted it. She had not fared well during the time she was held captive by shapeshifters.
Dakotah watched the fight, wide-eyed, chewing on her bottom lip, praying she could get away during the scuffle without getting caught.
When the melee was well under way, and the bad guys (aka her captors) were not winning, she decided to take her chance to flee. Though she was not sure the ones who were winning were good guys.
Without rising, scurrying away while crouching low, she slipped through the bushes, making her way through the thick underbrush.
Dakotah had escaped her imprisoners before, climbing the fence and disappearing into the forest. There was nowhere for her to go for miles. Her tormentors found her every time.
She’d heard them boasting about how they had tracked her. How they had followed her scent. How they could hear her heartbeat with their supersensitive hearing.
With one backward glance at the fur flying and blood flowing, she left,
running swiftly, as swiftly as a woman carrying a baby in her body could.
She entered a clearing where the forest ended for a brief spell and found herself faced with several vehicles, most SUVs. None were the ones of her captors; she’d known that immediately.
A lightbulb went off in her mind. Cannot find what you cannot smell, she thought derisively.
She tested one of the vehicles, pulling on the door handles.
No luck. Locked.
She tried another. The same, also locked.
She gritted her teeth. Tears of frustration welled. She swiped them away. No patience or time for self-pity or self-defeat.
She’d find a way. For her baby and herself.
The fourth vehicle finally yielded, the back hatch opening.
Dakotah raised her eyes to the sky. “Thank you,” she whispered.
She climbed into the vehicle, and huddled into a ball, holding her legs tightly to her body, resting her chin on her knees, ignoring the swell of her belly hidden beneath her curves that protested the extra pressure.
Now if she could only make it out of the area without being caught.
* * *
Dakotah startled. The feel of the car moving woke her. She was getting ready to raise her head to figure out where she was, when her memories returned.
She’d escape during the fight. And now…
Who is driving the car?
She felt a half measure of relief that it wouldn’t be one of the tormentors she was escaping. That was not where they parked their cars. This vehicle belonged to a visitor.
Soft music came on the speaker next to Dakotah’s ear. She flinched at the unexpected sound.
Every sense in her body was on high alert. The vibration made by the music on the plastic siding against her back felt like the tremor of an earthquake. The sound of the music seemed as loud as a tornado, though she knew it was not so.
And so the drive was uneventful filled with this lulling music that would normally have put her to sleep, but there was no sleep for Dakotah now. She was fully awake.
Was it possible? She was free?
Free, at last. Free of those…
She’d never thought that sort of thing existed. People who shifted into animals. That was in fairytales and horror movies.
Well, she was living a horror movie, still.
A fluttering in her stomach reminded her how much she lived in a nightmare. And yet thinking that thought made her feel like a traitor. Her baby wasn’t a monster. Even if it was half one of those things.
A tear trickled down her cheek. She’d never imagined it would be this way.
Those shapeshifting beings had…
She clenched her fists, the fury of it was too much. The things they had done to her, the tests, the fertilization.
They hadn’t even knocked her out with general anesthesia. She’d been awake, strapped down, while they impregnated her with—
Dakotah’s jaw seized, the muscles tight.
Now, months later, here she was, carrying one of those things.
Carrying…
She shook her head to push the thoughts away but they would not go.
She had one of those in her now.
Again, she chastised herself for her traitorous thoughts.
The baby was half her, and half shapeshifter.
She thought of the children that had been trapped in that compound with her. All the little children in that barbed wire hell, held in cages, tested and checked as if they were cattle before a sale.
Dakotah had held the children, held them though they were miniature versions of the larger shapeshifters that kept her captive.
Each and every one of them, she’d loved. Younger ones and older ones while they cried about missing their mothers, or wanting their families. Some of them didn’t even remember their families, they’d been in orphanages for a long time.
They had cried and they had become angry and frustrated and with every emotion their shifter animal had become dominant, and taken over their bodies, making these tiny little creatures shift into cubs of all varieties.
Little panthers and tigers, snarling and hissing at each other and their captors.
Dakotah was the only one they had not hissed at. She’d practically become a foster mother to them.
Inasmuch as Dakotah hated the adult shapeshifters, her heart went out to the babies and the children.
She hoped she could find the same kind of sympathy for the one within her. She hoped the hatred she felt for her captors would not affect her emotions for this little baby that kicked and fluttered in her abdomen.
And then the horror hit her. What was she supposed to do with a little newborn shapeshifter baby?
What was she supposed to do—
If she escaped.
If she lived long enough.
If giving birth didn’t kill her.
Dakotah slammed her knuckles and her mouth to keep the cry that wanted to escape from coming out and settled back against the vehicle’s side. For now, she had a greater problem: making sure she didn’t get caught.
Her stomach rumbled.
And maybe getting something to eat.
Chapter Two
Braden Cartwright stepped off Mikhail Romanoff’s jet. He shook the pilot’s hand. “Thanks for the lift.”
The pilot shook his head, waved off the handshake, and gave Braden a small salute. “It was good to see you again, Sergeant.”
Braden acknowledged his salute, wondering if there would ever come a day when he was not reminded of the life he had spent so many years living. Too many years. Too many secrets. The memories tormented his nights. How could he tell them not to call him sergeant? How could he tell anyone that he would rather forget those days?
He concentrated hard to keep from flinching. Every single time those days came to mind, the scars burned anew as if someone was again pressing that hot metal to his flesh. Pushing that thought away only brought other images forward. The images of holding his weapon, its barrel trained on a civilian, his heart breaking as he had to make the most difficult decision, and never liking the decision he had to make. And never sitting easy with the choice he selected.
But in the end, he had to choose his country. He had to choose his squad. Even if the target in his sight was a woman or a child that was not so innocent, armed and ready to kill at the request of evil men who would sacrifice a child for selfish means.
When his nephew Bain, closer in age to being a brother, suggested that Braden might enjoy a few days away in Bear Canyon Valley, he knew the invitation was heaven sent.
And here he was. He took a deep breath of the clean, crisp air. So very different from the scorching air in the Middle East and the smoggy air of New York City.
He let the air out and surveyed his surroundings, taking in the tall mountains, formidable and green, with white tipped caps. The lushness of the valley.
* * *
“You didn’t have to.” Braden shoved his bag in the back of Bain’s vehicle. “We could have just gone to your place, ordered pizza, chilled. There is no need for a big production.”
Bain had just told him they’d be hanging out with friends at a barbeque and celebration.
“You don’t understand,” Bain said. “Bear Canyon Valley residents don’t operate that way. I’m family now. You’ll be family too, before you leave. It’s just how they roll. Plus, they’re celebrating taking down some bad dudes kidnapping shifter kids.”
Braden gave his nephew a look.
“Long story,” Bain said. “But back to Bear Canyon Valley. They’re like family. Like I said, you’ll see soon enough.”
Braden had never really been part of a family. He would try to keep an open mind, though, for Bain’s sake. Especially considering what Bain had been through.
Which brought his next question to mind. “How are Carina and her daughter?”
“You’d have never known Bree had been through all she has. She’s bonded with her mom. She calls me Dad
dy.” A red bloom of happiness flushed Bain’s cheeks.
“You look happy.” Happier than he’d ever seen his nephew. Enviably happy.
“It’s just the beginning for me. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this all my life. Like I didn’t live until Carina and little Bree entered my life.”
Braden was glad his nephew had found joy. He knew it wasn’t something he was destined for. He’d be lucky if he ever found peace, never mind happiness.
Fifteen minutes later, Bain pulled into a driveway where several cars were parked in front of a brick and wood two-story. Next to it was a building that looked like a second home, or a mother-in-law addition.
Braden pointed toward the building and looked to Bain for an answer.
“That one’s Doc’s house. Beside it is his clinic. Best damn shifter doctor ever. Mae is his mate. She’s an elemental. Don’t freak out when you see her eyes changing color, or she gets pissed off and you hear the roll of thunder in the distance.”
Braden wasn’t completely unfamiliar with elementals, there’d been a couple associated with his unit in the Middle East. In fact, he’d heard they were instrumental in getting him released when he was a POW.
“You’ve gotten close to all these people,” he remarked.
Bain gave him his half-smile. “You’ll understand, one day.” He got out of the vehicle. “If you stick around long enough.”
Braden wasn’t one to stick around. He spent most of his time moving from place to place, looking for the one spot where the torment would not find him every night.
“We’ll see,” he told his nephew.
Bain pointed to the porch where a dark-haired woman and her mirror image in a smaller package rose from rocking chairs and hastened toward them. “Carina and Bree.” The love was evident in his voice.
The two females ran to Bain, wrapped their arms around him.
“My uncle Braden.” He introduced them. “Carina and Brianna. We call her Bree.”