by V. Vaughn
“Uh-oh. She’s getting serious.”
I chuckle as I reach for the bean bags someone left on the table, and I give Max the blue ones while I keep the red. There are two rectangular boards with a hole in them set about twenty-five feet apart and low to the ground. We both move to the closest board so we can shoot toward the other one.
“Ladies first,” he says.
Leaves rustle in a light breeze as I toss a bag in my hand to judge its weight and how much force I need to throw it the right distance. I block out sound and movement around me as I inhale and blow out slowly to steel my focus. Staring at the board, I locate the spot I predict I need to hit to make the bean bag slide up and into the hole. I make my toss, and the bag does just what I planned.
“Nice.” Max tosses a bag without any preparation, and it lands on the board without going in.
I take a moment to focus again. It takes less time now that I know where to aim, and I make a throw that goes in like the one I tossed before.
“Jeez. You neglected to mention you’re a division one player,” he says.
I smile at him, realizing I’m being over the top, but my training has turned me into a person who expects the best out of herself in any kind of match. “I may be a tad bit competitive. Sorry.”
“Ha!” Max narrows his eyes at the box and takes a moment before he makes his next toss land on the board to not only go in but push his previous bag in too.
“Impressive,” I say. “Now who’s taking this seriously? Can’t stand to lose to a girl?”
“It’s not that. I’m an alpha, and I hate to lose to anyone.”
I have to clench my teeth to keep my jaw from dropping. My true mate is an alpha? “Uh. What?” If I land this guy, I’m going to have some serious power in my corner. And the implications are something I’m going to have to ponder. “What is an alpha from a clan in California doing here?”
“I’m from British Columbia, actually, but I met Audrey in California and followed her here.”
I raise my eyebrows at him as jealousy fills me with anger. I take a moment to control my rage and find a calm place. I need to be in control of my emotions and play this right. I can’t tell him I know Audrey is an alpha and in line to take over for the Robichaux clan because he’ll wonder how I know that. Fate and Destiny are very much a thing in the werebear world and Fate’s pairing of two alphas has me extremely curious. It seems to me that Audrey’s status should override me in true-mate attraction. But since it hasn’t, I wonder what the heck I’m involved in here. I find a calm voice and say, “How progressive of you. Or were you stalking her?”
He gives me a sheepish grin. “Both, actually, but do you really want to spend our date talking about Audrey?”
Kind of, because I have so many questions about the way clans work. I didn’t expect an heir to the top position in a clan would leave to join another clan. Or did he plan to take Audrey back to his? And what would that mean for the Robichaux if she went? But I can’t ask any of that, so I smile. “No. I’d really like to make tonight all about you and me.” It takes a lot of effort for me to pay attention to my next toss and land another bag in the hole.
“Good.” Max says. “Because I’m very curious about the woman who is about to beat me at a child’s game.”
I laugh, hating myself a little for the way warmth fills me. Against my better judgement I’m completely enthralled with Max, but I’m not about to let my attraction to him keep me from my mission. I give him a sideways look as I flirt. “I’m curious about the alpha who is supposed to be my true mate. Since I don’t know much about the werebear world, would you mind if I ask you a lot of questions?”
“I’m an open book. For you,” he says as he opens his hands. The little swagger move he makes nearly causes me to gasp, and heat rushes—Jee-sus! I’m about to blush? Whoa.
“I hope so,” I say and giggle as I let my flustered state show. But then I give him a sly smile. “Because I plan to learn everything I can.”
Seven
Madison
I’m kissing Trent in the guest room that was set up to accommodate me during my change. But before that happens, I’m going to have sex with him. I suppose it does help with the fear, because it’s hard to focus on anything except what the man I love is doing to make me feel amazing.
I’m aware that Lucy left us alone when Trent grabs the hem of my shirt to lift it over my head. I reach back and undo my bra before he slides the straps down my arms and peels it off my body. When he cups one of my breasts and places his mouth on it, I let out a little moan of pleasure. He has me squirming when he breaks away and grabs me by the back of my thighs to lift me up. I wrap my legs around his waist as he walks us over to the bed.
I climb on it, and Trent reaches for the button on my pants as he says, “I plan to taste every inch of you, Madison. And I want you to commit all of this to memory. It’s going to be great human sex, but nowhere near as amazing as it will be once you’re a shifter.”
My stomach trembles, and I let out a long slow breath as he flutters kisses along my ribs and down toward my hips. I’m burning up with my desire for Trent, and I can’t imagine being even more feverish. Panic finds its way into my thoughts. Will physical pleasure be too much once I’m a werebear? What if I’m not strong enough to handle all my senses in overdrive?
Trent is between my legs, and I flinch when his mouth lands on me. His tongue is so warm, and I mewl with the surge of pleasure that flows through my veins. But it doesn’t stop my heartbeat racing with fear. Oh god, what if—
“Stop.” I push Trent away and sit up. I gaze into his concerned eyes as tears fill mine.
“What is it, darling? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know if I can do this. This… you… I already feel so much. How am I going to handle more?”
Trent places a hand on my cheek. “The way thousands of werebear do, Madison. It’s not too much. It’s amazing and wonderful and something I want desperately to share with you.”
I nod, and he wipes a tear off my cheek with his thumb. “Do you want to delay changing? Cancel it all together?”
My heart stops beating for a moment from a different fear. “No. That’s not what I want at all.” I gaze into my mate’s eyes and know I’m meant to be with him forever. The very idea of not being with him scares me. Even more than going through the change, and I say, “I’m afraid. I know you think I’m strong, but Trent, I’m very much a wimpy girl who is scared of spiders and cries when she stubs her toe.”
He chuckles. “If you weren’t afraid, then I’d be worried. But I swear to you, you’re going to get through this and then we can start our wonderful life together. A big fancy wedding, a house, babies, the whole nine yards.” He sighs. “The last thing I want is for us to rush if you’re not ready, darling. We don’t have to do this today if you need more time.”
My heart swells with my love for the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. A man who would do anything for me now, before we’re even bonded. I do want our life together as true mates, and I know that waiting isn’t an option. I need to get over myself and become what I’m sure I’m destined to be. I grab Trent’s shoulders as I straddle his lap. “No. I’m ready.” I lean down and kiss him.
Determination chases away the lingering panic as I tear at his shirt, desperate for him to be inside me. We both strip off our clothes as if we can’t be naked fast enough, and I’m so hot for my man I don’t want foreplay. I push him down on the bed and grab his cock to guide it into me. His thickness fills me, and I wrap around him as if he’s a piece of me I want to swallow hole. Seating him deep inside my channel, I let out a moan before I begin to ride him. Hard. Fast. As if I need to experience every single bit of him that my human body is capable of feeling.
My orgasm rushes forward like a tornado, and I don’t hold back my cries as it consumes me. Trent flips me over, and I wrap myself around him as my body quakes with release. The pure bliss that fills me is something I don
’t want to end, and I command, “Harder, Trent. Don’t stop.”
He pumps his hips and drives into me with force that makes the bed rock on its frame and bump into the wall with loud thuds that throb in me like a strong, primal beat I must follow. He’s close to his release now, and I’m on the edge of a second climax when Trent stills. “Yes,” I whisper. “It’s time.”
I watch as his eyes flash with intense shades of deep-sea blue and silver, and his bear teeth extend in his jaw as he widens it. I arch up and throw my head back, offering myself to him, to his bite, and to becoming a werebear. “Now,” I say. “I’m ready.”
Trent begins to move again, slower, gyrating as my hips rise up to meet his again and again, until my orgasm begins to build. I squeeze my legs around him as my sweet release comes, and I cry out when he finally sinks his teeth into me. There’s a pinch that probably hurts, but all I feel is the explosion of ecstasy as my climax takes on a life beyond my imagination. I scream with the pleasure that doesn’t last nearly long enough as it makes way for the burning I was warned I’d experience.
Trent takes my face in his hands and gazes down at me with a mix of love and fear. I see my blood on his lips, bright red like a warning. But it’s too late to heed it. Fiery-hot heat threatens to consume me as he says, “I love you, Madison.”
Bile rises in my throat as searing pain races through me like a freight train, and the screeching I hear, the sound that deafens me, is a scream coming from my own mouth. Or it’s the evil that has taken hold of my body. I’m vaguely aware of hands grabbing my limbs and yanking me into position to restrain me. My mother’s face flashes in my mind, and I try to reach for her as if she can save me before my pain is too much to endure and I black out.
“Move out of the way, Madison,” Josie says to me as I stand before her. I’m not sure who she is after, but I know she wants to kill and I’m trying to stop her. I know she is evil.
I ask, “Why are you doing this?”
She gives me a sad smile. “I have no choice. I never did." She chuckles. “I wasn’t supposed to like you, Madison. It makes this so much harder.”
I’m afraid, but my fear isn’t for my life. It’s for something or someone else. “I can’t let you do this.” When I don’t move, she pulls a gun and points it at me. Rage beyond anything I’ve ever experienced makes me let out a roar, and my body begins to morph into a bear as I charge at her, ready to—
I wake with ice in my veins and panting as if I ran a marathon. When I try to move, every muscle in my body begins to cramp up. I recall why and groan in pain.
“Madison,” Trent says as he hovers over me. He smiles and whispers so loudly I’m not sure why he’s bothering. “You did it, darling. You’re a werebear.”
The room is dimly lit, and the rattling of a buckle being undone is loud in my ears as I wonder what weird cocktail of scents is accosting my nose. But none of that is as concerning to me as the feeling I can’t shake. “Trent,” I say as I grab his arm. “I don’t think Josie is who she says she is.”
“What?” He frowns as he moves away from me to finish releasing my legs.
“How is she?” asks Lucy as she walks into the room. “Madison, how do you feel?”
“Like I was run over by a train and somehow lived.” I want to tell Lucy what I fear about Josie, but she smiles and the urge slips away like dreams usually do.
“The pain will fade over the next twenty-four hours. Livy heard you stirring and is making you something to eat. Can you smell it?”
I inhale and then smile when the aroma of my favorite breakfast comes to me. “Bacon and chocolate chip pancakes?”
“With fresh whipped cream,” Lucy says. “Can you hear her too?”
I focus on sounds and realize Trent’s mother is humming Happy Birthday. I smile. “I can. Interesting choice of music.”
“It’s your werebear birthday,” Trent says. “She’s got a party planned for you tomorrow night. Balloons, cake, and champagne. Relatives and friends who want to meet you will be here, too.”
“Oh.” My mother-in-law-to-be loves a good time, and I frown when I imagine how loud and overwhelming that will feel. I wonder if I’ll be up to it by then. “What time is it?”
“A little after midnight,” Lucy says. “You should eat, and bathe if you want to, before trying to sleep. Tomorrow you’ll feel like all you need is a strong cup of coffee to deal. I’d wait until then to try shifting.”
Shifting. Another hurdle to overcome because not everyone gets it right away. But I did survive the worst part, and it makes me believe I’ll get through learning to shift too. “Thanks, Lucy. I really appreciate all your help.”
“My pleasure. I’m going to go, but I put my number in your phone if you have any questions.” She grins at me. “Welcome to the clan. We’re thrilled to have you.”
“I’m thrilled you let me join.”
Once she leaves, Trent looks at me with concern. “Are you in a lot of pain?”
I shake my head as I recall my ordeal. I woke numerous times to horrifying sounds and the agony of my bones breaking and muscles and tendons tearing. After that, what I’m experiencing now is nothing. “I’m fine.” I swing my legs over the edge of the bed with the intention of getting up and putting on clothes.
“Would you like me to help you get dressed?”
“I think I can do it,” I say, but Trent grabs a pair of sweatpants and holds them open for me anyway. I step in gingerly, and my dream comes rushing forward. It fills me with a sense of dread that makes me believe there was some truth to it. And I have a strong need to tell Trent in case there is, no matter how foolish it’s going to seem that I am taking a dream seriously. “I had the most disturbing dream about Josie. And I know this is going to sound crazy, Trent, but I think something is really off with her.”
“You just spent almost an entire day dealing with intense pain, darling. Of course you’d have crazy dreams. Violent ones, I bet.”
I nod, but I recall how my roommate acted when we first met and the weird vibe I got from her. Like she had come from a really rough place and had some dangerous skills. Now I’m not so sure my imagination was working overtime. “Josie wanted to kill someone. A lot of someones, I think.” As the words come out of my mouth, I become even more certain I’m right. “You know how dreams can be your mind processing things that have happened and your feelings about them?”
“Yeah.” He stretches the neck of a T-shirt open and puts it over my head and lets it fall gently over my shoulders.
“I think my brain just sorted out the truth behind Josie’s odd ways. Trent, I think she came to Maine to do bad things.” I shudder as I recall the fear I felt in my dream. Fear for people other than me. “And I think we have to stop her.”
Eight
Audrey
Hard rock music is blaring from the speakers in my truck at a volume that hurts my ears. It’s matching my angry mood. My family tried to hide the truth from me, but I know Max and Josie are on a date right now, and it’s killing me. My bear wants to break free, sniff him out and throttle the woman who is trying to steal my true mate. My human side is really tempted to allow my bear the pleasure. But Max does need to spend time with her so he can make up his mind, and I’ve got to let him, no matter how painful it is.
I do have a distraction, though. I’m on my way to Elise’s house to work with her and Kimi to see if we can contact Connell again. After talking to him the first time and finding out he was safe, along with Kimi’s belief Connell is meant to stay alive, I’ve been a little less worried. But I’d still like to find out why my brother is in the otherworld and get him back as soon as we can.
Connell is highly gifted in magic, even if he doesn’t spend a lot of time using it for much more than making his daily life easier by teleporting things to himself instead of getting off the couch. It makes me think that whoever is keeping him out of commission understands what a valuable asset he could be to us. Or it’s possible, although not as likely, s
omeone wants to keep him safe.
As I travel along the road, I notice how the leaves on many trees have begun to turn red, orange and yellow. They start at the end of August, and by the beginning of October we usually have full fall color. I think about how the second theory of who might be holding Connell isn’t as crazy as it sounds. He’s a creative airhead who walks in front of moving cars and often ends up places he didn’t plan to go because he missed a turn. He’d be easy for the enemy to apprehend. But the problem with the idea of someone keeping him safe is that it doesn’t make sense they wouldn’t let us know he’s okay. Besides, it takes black magic to get into the otherworld, and good witches don’t mess with those kinds of spells unless it’s really necessary.
I pull into Elise’s driveway and wonder how many of her kids might be home. Once my parents found out about how powerful a witch and werebear mix can be, they encouraged Elise and Ian to have as many children as possible. Not that they had to, but because I think both of them love children so much, they don’t mind the houseful of them.
As I walk toward the door it opens, and her two preteen girls step out. Elise yells, “Back by nine. No excuses!”
“Got it, Mother,” Willow says.
Her sister looks at me. “Hey, Audrey.”
“Hey, Sage.” I notice she’s styled her hair with a crimping iron. It’s not the best look for her, but I remember being her age when I started to care about my appearance. “Your hair looks great.”
She touches it and smiles. “Thanks.” And when she and her sister skip off, I chuckle. They’re still kids at heart.
I step through the door that opens up to the kitchen area of the living space. It’s chaos as usual. Ian and Elise have four sets of twins. Dishes clash as Elise deposits them on the counter while a toddler whose face is covered in tomato sauce perches on her hip. I notice his twin brother is still in a high chair at the table in bear cub form and is tossing noodles onto the floor. Witch-werebear offspring start to shift about the time they start walking. Elise nods at me and yells, “Ian! Audrey’s here!”