by V. Vaughn
“I’ll contact Tori. Be at my house by five.”
“Will do.”
I say, “Let’s get you two dressed. We’re going over to my brother’s house.”
Chapter 12
Annie
I arranged for Lucy and Sven to watch the girls. While I could have gotten the nanny to stay, my fear meter is buried in the red zone, and I needed to know the triplets were being cared for by people who could handle a life-threatening emergency. It was decided that because Isabelle and Jean Luc might have been followed, the girls were probably safer somewhere else, so Lucy and Sven took them for a sleepover at her secure apartment. Keith and Brady had set things up to protect Tori as a human, and all it took was a call from my brother to get things reactivated.
When we get to Brady and Carly’s, the aroma of garlic wafts around us, and I’m reminded of the lasagna dinners I served at this house whenever someone new arrived. I think Carly has taken over my tradition, because after the introductions I spy cheesy goodness when she opens the oven to check on the casserole.
Tori and Keith are already at the table with Marion, the current Robichaux alpha, and I’m told Lily is on her way. I place my salad on the counter with a thud and focus my attention on my pregnant sister-in-law, who looks as if she’s ready to pop. I ask, “Goodness, Carly, when are you due?”
“Any day now. If these children are like my current triplets, they’ll pick tonight to arrive.”
“Sit,” I say. “I can take over the cooking.”
“Would you? Thanks.”
“It’s no trouble. We’ll just serve ourselves family style.”
Brady is working on getting people drinks, and the rumble of a car tells me Lily is here now. I walk to the door to let her in. The blond girl smiles when she sees me. “Annie, we really have to work at seeing more of each other. I miss you.”
“Agreed.” A cold breeze blows in, and I step back as I say, “Come on in. We’ve got something quite serious to discuss.”
“I should say so. Human hunters.” She shakes her head as she removes her coat.
When we’re all seated Brady speaks. “Before Jean Luc tells us what he knows, I want to make sure we’re all on the same page with this.” He glances at Carly, Tori, and Lily, “The lives of werebear come before humans, yes?”
The three of them nod, and Tori says, “I don’t think it can be helped. Yes, the rules of our world are different than the legal system of humans, but it’s necessary. We can’t afford pity. The human in me can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree we must take strong measures to survive. I’m on board.”
Carly nods as Lily says, “Without a doubt. We need to eradicate the hunters and save our clans.”
I gaze at Brady as he smiles with pride. The Le Roux received substantial criticism when we decided to bring in human females to save our clan by bearing children. I think he’s quite pleased that the ones who answered the call have proven to be extraordinary. I smile at the three women who have become my friends and say, “We got the good ones.”
Jean Luc begins to speak, and we get down to business. Isabelle and Jean Luc plan to make their presence known so that the hunters’ focus is removed from the rest of the Ouellette clan in Canada. They seem to be after the clan leaders first, and we’re going to lure them.
Lily says, “I haven’t mentioned it before, but I think Patricia may have a hand in this. Call it intuition, but she was after Tori for a reason.”
“I agree,” says Carly. “I don’t plan to underestimate her this time.”
Isabelle says, “I have something to tell you that I think you’re going to find quite interesting.” She looks at Carly. “I have magic powers now, and while I haven’t had much practice with them, I’m told I’m quite strong. I think we can take on Tokala if necessary.”
Carly says, “I think we’ll be spending tomorrow together. What do you say?”
“Sounds like a good idea,” says Isabelle.
More plans and meetings are decided, and it’s late by the time Tristan and I return home with Jean Luc and Isabelle in tow. A pillow thuds softly on the guest bed when Tristan tosses it. He’s helping me prepare a room for his sister and her true mate. He says, “I still can’t believe I couldn’t sense Isabelle was alive. I thought that was something twins would know.”
“She didn’t want you to.” I walk into the bathroom and call out. “The fact that she has magic means she might have subconsciously been able to block her existence from you.” A cabinet clicks open, and I remove towels to set on the counter.
“Maybe.”
I step back into the bedroom and gaze at my true mate. I recall how today when I learned his life was in danger my first instinct was to do whatever was necessary to keep him safe. Seeing Isabelle and being afraid of her should have dredged up all my hate and anger over being betrayed, and it did on a small scale. But what I realized is that it’s now a dull ache instead of intense pain. I’m never going to forget what happened, but I think I’m ready to move on.
I step close to my mate and place my hands on his chest. The thump of his heart beating is under my palm, and I say, “I’d like you to sleep in our bed tonight.”
Tristan places his hands over mine and grasps my fingers. “I’d like nothing better. The hunters have me worried, Annie, and it makes me want to keep you close.”
“I know. I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve put you through the past few weeks.”
Tristan shakes his head. “No. You haven’t given me anything I don’t deserve.”
I slide my arms around his waist and gaze up at him. “I’m ready to forgive you, Tristan.”
“My love.” Tristan leans down and brushes his lips lightly against mine. “I’m devoted to you for life, and I’ll spend an eternity proving it to you.”
I reach up behind his neck and pull him back for another kiss. As I turn it into something sensual I speak in his head. “I love you, Tristan. It doesn’t matter what lies ahead for us; I plan to travel the road by your side.”
“I love you too, Annie. And nothing will get between us ever again.”
I break away from Tristan before we get carried away. “I’ll go tell our guests their room is ready.” I scan his body with my gaze. “And then I’m coming upstairs to bed. Will you be there?”
“For you? Always, my love.”
Tristan and I move down the hall to the stairs, and when he continues on to our room I take a moment to watch. His firm butt is disguised by loose jeans, but my insides smolder at the memory of what it feels like in my hands. I shake my head at my teenaged lust before I make my way downstairs. Isabelle has made tea, and the lemon scent floats toward me as I enter the kitchen.
She’s sitting next to Jean Luc with her head on his shoulder and lifts up when she sees me. Jean Luc nuzzles her neck before he gives me his attention, and the smile on Isabelle’s face gives me a surge of happiness that brings tears to my eyes. The years of mental anguish that girl suffered seem to be gone. She says, “The water’s still hot if you’d like to join us for tea.”
I smile at her because while I’m sure chatting would be nice, I have something more important on my mind. A house without children is the perfect opportunity for us to renew our true mate bond, and after the months of suffering on both our parts, we need this. “Thank you, but I’m going up to bed. I just came down to say your room is ready.”
“Thank you,” says Isabelle. “I really meant it earlier when I said I appreciate you, Annie. I’m finally in a place where I can tell you without the fear that I’m making myself vulnerable.”
Wow, she really has changed. I say, “I know. And I can’t even express how thrilled I am that you and Jean Luc found each other. You deserve to be happy and loved, Isabelle.”
Jean Luc says, “Yes, she does. Our life—”
Heavy footsteps on the stairs make him stop speaking as Tristan’s alpha voice yells in my head. “The girls have been kidnapped!”
Isabelle is standing b
efore he finishes speaking, and her mug shatters when it hits the floor. The noise seems far away as my heartbeat pounds in my ears. I guess Tristan spoke to every De Rozier when through the window I see lights flick on at the dorm and De Roziers pour out the door like bees ready to swarm.
I turn to Tristan, and he grabs my hands as he gazes intently in my eyes. “I’ll get them back, Annie. And mark my words, those responsible for this won’t live to see another day.”
I nod as hot moisture rolls down my cheeks. Tristan pushes his way out the door to the yard, and Jean Luc follows him as warm hands land on my shoulders. I turn to Isabelle as she grasps my arms tight and says, “Annie, he’s right. We’ll get them back.” Her growl is a deep tone that vibrates through me too when she says, “The humans will pay. You can be sure of it.”
Part 9
This is the final installment of Tempted by the Bear -
Annie - Tristan promised me he’d get the triplets back, but I worry about the price we’ll pay. The human hunters are not the only ones that bring danger to the Northeast Kingdom, and I fear I may lose what I’ve finally found.
Isabelle - Jean Luc and I have returned to Maine to save my brother. When we get there I discover I must save so much more. While my magic makes me strong in a new way, it’s the power of love that may teach me the most important lesson.
Chapter 1
Lucy
The whimper of a child wakes me. It’s one of the triplets. My hands ache with the cold, and I scramble to sit up before the rattle of metal makes me forget what happened. The girls came to my apartment for a sleepover. After they had their fill of popcorn and movies, Sven and I tucked them into my guest bed. My mate and I were cuddling on the couch in front of a TV show when we heard the elevator open.
Sven was on his feet in an instant. Nobody comes up unless announced, and Tori hadn’t been back in weeks. That was when gunshots exploded. I squeeze my eyes shut as if that could block out the memory of Sven’s body jerking in reaction to being hit multiple times before he fell.
My head is heavy, and my thinking is sluggish. The stench of urine is strong, and I recognize the odor of manure. I blink in the dark as I glance around. We’re being transported in what I guess is a horse trailer. A bump in the road jolts me as the metal rattles again. In cages. Flashes of light come through the small windows in a slow-motion strobe as the whoosh of a car goes by. It makes me think we might be on a highway. I make out three more cages. Two little bodies are lying down while one is sitting up and staring at me.
I whisper, “Honey, are you okay?”
“Lucy?” Echo’s voice is faint.
“Echo, sweetie. I’m right here. Are you hurt?” The metal rungs of my cage are thick under my fingers, and I feel my way around the seam of the door for an escape.
“I’m cold.”
My fingers ache from the icy temperature too, and I tuck them between my legs.
“I know. Curl up in a ball and wiggle your toes and fingers.”
Echo asks, “What’s happening?”
We’re being kidnapped by human hunters. I send out a message to the two people that can hear me telepathically, my mother and Sven. “The triplets and I are in cages in a horse trailer. We’re moving on a highway, but I have no idea where.”
Sven. There was so much blood. My chest tightens, and my breathing is shallow as I struggle with the fact that he’s probably dead. When he was shot, I ran to him and caught his body as it fell. Before I have a chance to send my mate another message in the hope he’ll answer, my mother’s voice rings in my head. “Thank God you’re alive. We have all available warriors searching for you. Tell me what you know.”
“Is Sven—”
“He’s alive, but unconscious.” Marion pauses for a minute and then adds, “We won’t let him die, Lucy.”
The good news is if I’m able to communicate with my mother telepathically, we can’t be too far from home. I ask Echo, “Did you see the bad men that took us?”
“Loud noises woke me up, and they jumped on the bed to give me a shot.”
When Sven fell, I screamed telepathically for help to my mother, and my skin had barely begun to prickle with my shift before something pinched at my neck. It must have been a needle to tranquilize me. The human hunters want the girls and me alive. Why?
“I want to go home now,” whispers Echo.
“I know, honey. Your daddy is working on saving us.”
I speak to Marion. “At least five men broke into my apartment and opened fire on Sven when they saw him. But they didn’t try to kill the triplets or me. We were sedated instead.”
“Is anyone hurt?”
“I don’t think so. Only Echo is awake.” Our movement slows, and metal scrapes across wood as our containers slide with the motion of the vehicle turning. “We’ve left the highway.”
Now the rattle of our cages is loud, and I say, “We’re on a road that hasn’t been paved in a while.” Unfortunately, that describes almost every street in our area.
I inhale deeply to see if I can detect a distinctive odor, but all I smell is the remains of the trailer’s previous occupants and my fear. While physically a group of human men would be no match for me as a bear, a gun sure is. I try to speak to my mate. “Sven, don’t you dare leave me.”
A hollow blackness hangs where his reply should be.
Marion asks, “Can you hear anything?”
I tune into my sensitive bear hearing, but all I pick up past the road noise is a radio playing. “The human hunters have bad taste in music. They’re listening to country.”
I recall how Sven told me once that polar bear can pick up a scent from hundreds of miles away, and it gives me an idea. “Mom, I’m going to take off my socks and try to leave one behind in the trailer and one on the ground when they move us. Tell the De Rozier.”
My hope is that they can track us once we stop. Marion answers, “Good plan. They’re already trying to track you by scent.”
My boot zipper hums softly as I tug it down. I wonder if the hunters purposely tried to disguise our odor with the stench of horses. I hope they’re stupid enough to believe it can work, because while we’re not leaving a trail of our scent right now, I think the De Rozier warriors will be able to find us. All we need is time.
The vehicle turns again, and another little girl begins to moan. Now the trailer bounces as we cover uneven terrain, and we’re blanketed in darkness. I communicate with my mother again. “We’ve turned off onto a dirt road, and I don’t think there are any street lights.”
The cotton of one of my socks is warm in my hand as I begin to shove part of it through a hole at the top of my cage. I picked a section close to the open window and hope the scent travels easily through it. I never thought I’d be grateful for my smelly feet.
Eva’s tiny voice cries out. “Mommy?”
“Shhh, Eva. Everything’s going to be okay.”
The trailer slows to a stop, and I hold my breath as I wait for our captors to make their next move. “Mom, we’ve stopped.”
“Hold on, Lucy. We’ll find you.”
The engine of the vehicle cuts off, and two doors slam. I let out my breath as footsteps pound toward us. A padlock thuds against metal as it’s released, and the trailer doors twang when they’re yanked open. I squint as a flashlight shines in my face, and I hold my hand up to block the light.
The man mumbles, “Shit. She’s awake.”
“She can’t get out,” says his partner. “The cage is too small for her to shift.”
He’s right. In a sitting position my head almost hits the top, and I can’t stretch out my legs. The first man says, “We need to knock her out again.”
I think Ellie is awake now, and teeth chatter as the little girls shiver in the cold. November in Maine means below freezing temperatures at night. I say, “Wait. You can sedate me again in a minute, but if you plan to leave us out here, you’ve got to find a way to keep the children warm. They’re still too human to survive th
is weather in just their pajamas.”
“Are they, now?” asks one of the men. “And why should I believe you?”
His friend says, “She’s right. Look.” The flashlight moves to the triplets, and the fear on their faces makes my gums ache as my canines threaten to grow with my urge to shift and kill the men that have taken us. Instead, I try to make out our location. My eyes are struggling to adjust to the darkness again as the guy with the flashlight says to his partner, “There are blankets in the barn. I’ll stand watch while you go get them.”
As if he needs to prove how screwed we are, he pulls out a gun and points it at me. I should be afraid, but if he wanted me dead, I wouldn’t be here, so I gaze past him as I communicate with my mother. “There’s a barn with horses, and I see a large farmhouse. Maybe four thousand square feet.”
I realize my description is a bit futile since big farmhouses aren’t exactly novel for this area. But I hope it will somehow help. A floodlight suddenly illuminates the space, and the man holding the gun snaps off his flashlight.
When the guy returns with blankets, the other man says, “Sedate the woman first; I don’t trust her.”
The trailer sinks when the guy climbs in and walks toward me. “Be a good girl and don’t make my friend shoot you.” The syringe in his hand quivers, and I wish I could find a way to keep him from injecting me.
“I’m about to be knocked out again, Mom. Please hurry.” I press my arm against the bars of my cage to make things easy for him, and I say, “I’m not going to hurt you. Please be kind to the children. They’re just little girls.”
The needle pricks at me, and my muscles make me slump before all is dark again.
Chapter 2
Annie
The wet washcloth is cold in my hand as I wipe Sven’s brow. He’s been unconscious for hours, but by some miracle, he’s still alive. The human werebear hunters shot him eight times and left him for dead. Sven managed to call for help telepathically in time for us to save him, but not in time to keep the men from taking Lucy and the triplets. Sven’s going to have a hard time with that fact when he finally wakes.