Primal Attraction (Shadowlands Bear Shifters Book 2)

by Olivia Harp

  Mav’s muscles expanded, his bones cracked and gave way to his animal. His mouth turned to a snout and just as the creatures leaped at him his bear was out, a wild roar exploding out of him, his paws slashing and dicing them away, as if they were made out of jelly.

  Dozens of them surrounded him, leaping above and crawling beneath, biting and stinging him, but his fury was unassailable, the wounds did not hurt. He only had one thing in mind.

  Kill anyone who dared hurt his mate.

  ***

  Faith blinked onto the top of the antenna, Maverick was in the heart of the fight, ripping them apart one by one. His bear was huge and it was angry, she’d never seen anything like it.

  His paws decimated the things, but they continued pouring out from the forest. She needed to help him, he wouldn’t be able to kill them all by himself.

  She bolted down, her clawy hands piercing one of the things right in its center, jumping again to get the next one, and the next one. Maverick roared again, the heat from the fire in the Comms Tower grew hotter. The base was lost now, the whole equipment ruined.

  She yelled and caught one of the arachnids midair, blasting it into the ground, a goopy liquid detonating from it.

  She was getting closer, she couldn’t deal with them like Mav, but she sure could stand her ground.

  Maverick was completely surrounded by them, she could only see a big pile of them trying to push him down and being flung away. Oh God, he’s not gonna make it, she blinked in the air near him, clawing at them. Mav roared and rolled and crushed two of the things on his back, then leaped forward to get a bigger one.

  She felt the sting of one of the monsters on her upper thigh and yelled, then blinked away. The wound started healing immediately. Pay attention, Faith! Mav ran to her, obliterating everything on his way.

  The pain on her leg was gone. She looked down and the wound was closed, a big scar on her leg. It’s not possible, but it was undeniable: she was much stronger than she’d ever been.

  It was him. Drinking him made her stand on the sun, made her body withstand anything, made her heal faster.

  She kicked one of the things right between it’s horrible eyes, crushing its skull, Mav leaped above her and killed another.

  They were still coming out of the woods, out of the puncture. The Shadowlands weren’t holding anything back. The puncture was big as hell and it wanted the White Paws forest. It found a leader in Gerard.

  It found a leader in...

  “Maverick!” she shouted at him, he was bleeding from all the wounds he’d suffered but he still fought on.

  His eyes flashed to her as he continued his destruction.

  “We need to get Gerard! He’s the key to all of this!”

  But it was too late. There was a mountain of Shadow Spiders all around them, each moment their number grew. They were surrounded.

  But they stopped coming forward. They knew they’d won. Everything had happened in a matter of seconds.

  A low, guttural voice came from the forest.

  “You are a creature of the night, Faith,” it said.

  It was Gerard. Or the thing that was once Gerard.

  Maverick stood on his hind legs and roared hard.

  “You belong with us.”

  She looked at Maverick, his green eyes fixed on her. She felt her chest tighten, and then explode. Then she felt it again and again.

  It was her heart.

  He made it happen. He made it come alive.

  Her hands were shaking, but this time it wasn’t fear. It was happiness.

  She caressed the back of his mate, “I love you,” she said.

  The bear roared and jumped forward, she yelled a deafening war cry as they ran against the spiders, ready to take as much of them as they could before the inevitable happened.

  Chapter 25

  The fight raged on, Faith saw Mav throw himself in front of an enemy to protect her. He was on a path of destruction, she was beside him.

  She didn’t want to run any more, she didn’t want to hide. She’d found a crew that accepted her for who she was. And this man had given himself completely to her. He gave her his love, and she couldn’t keep herself from doing the same. Standing under the sun was nothing compared to that, love like that only came once in a lifetime.

  She was fighting for her love.

  Her claws crashed against the monsters, dropping them to the ground. She knew she’d fall but it didn’t matter. Maverick was with her. And each monstrosity she took out was a benefit for mankind.

  The beasts closed in, more and more were around them, there was a sting on her calf, she turned around and elbowed the monster right in its hideous eyes, then there was another flash of pain on her shoulder, then another on her lower back.

  They were everywhere around them, this was it.

  Then Maverick came out of nowhere, his paws pulverizing each of the fucking things. He roared at them so fiercely they backtracked two or three steps, not even their nature allowed them to come forward.

  It was a second of silence, the eye of the storm.

  Maverick looked at her and then up, the fallen antenna was there, high enough for her to blink onto and be safe. She understood. He roared again and she blinked to safety.

  There must be something I can do, she frantically thought, her heart, the one that was cold and still a few minutes ago was now beating fast, she had forgotten that feeling.

  All of the monsters came closer to her mate, their monstrous claws and fangs sinking into his skin. She had to act fast. In the distance, Gerard stood. His dark silhouette calm in the fog.

  She hated him, there was no fear now. Only fury. Then she understood.

  Gerard said she was one of them. But she wasn’t. She was strong. Maverick made her strong. She was a vampire but that didn’t define who she really was. She was more than that. She could fight her most basic instincts and transcend her nature. No one would tell her otherwise.

  She yelled and her eyes went dead black. Her mind was free, she sensed Gerard, he was a dark spirit, a devil, a black presence fused with the Shadowlands, he was the puppeteer, but he wasn’t strong. Deep down inside, he was still a cowardly kid drunk in power.

  She felt his commands like the sea washing on a shore of monsters, the creatures were herded by him. Her blood boiled. She was one of them, but she pushed back. Her will was strong. She ordered the abominations away from her mate. Her whole body burned with power. The spiders started receding.

  Maverick noticed and ran at them, killing them mercilessly.

  Gerard’s will was on her, fighting back. He never expected this. A psychic thunderstorm raged beneath the veil of reality, killing hundreds of the dark creatures. Some of the remaining ones fought Maverick, but most of them, spawns of evil, sped against their previous master.

  It wasn’t going to be enough, but she bought Maverick some time. Gerard was the puncture. He himself had turned into a portal of evil, everything around him was a gate and the beings poured out like a plague.

  She knew what to do.

  Instead of focusing on the spiders, she had to go to him. Her mind was a lightning bolt. She could hear him screaming, then upping his defenses, the gate was starting to close. Thousands of dark insectoid creatures came out of the man, this was his final attack.

  Maverick roared below, the bodies of hundreds of shadow spiders covered the ground. Then, another roar joined the commotion, then another.

  She almost cried as she saw all the other bears coming into the fray. The White Paw clan... black bears, grizzlies, and even a polar bear were ripping the monsters apart.

  She saw the Primal Bear. Huge was not the word for it. It was a mountain, a huge bear whose claws razed its enemies like a hot knife through butter.

  She felt Gerard cower in fear. It was now or never.

  Maverick moved ahead, closer and closer to him, understanding what she was doing.

  Gerard screamed in fear. Most of his creatures died at the claws of much st
ronger beings. He had underestimated them.

  The heat of the Comms Tower fire reached her and she felt Enzo’s eyes on her.

  He was a channeler. A shifter that could use his mind and his connection to nature to command the elements.

  The flames behind her started twisting, forming two separate tendrils, consuming the spiders, then receding into themselves, slowly destroying the nearby shadow beings they encountered.

  Gerard knew it was over.

  Damien was easily double the size of every other shifter, he killed dozens upon dozens of the beings, its paws a wave of terror upon them.

  The black bear, Franklin, was a whirlwind of claws, helping Maverick on his way into the woods.

  Then she saw.

  Maverick leaped at Gerard and she felt him cower in fear. All of his strength had been for nothing. He was alone now, and he had tried to kill what they loved the most.

  She felt Gerard’s terror as he screamed. As all of the pain he brought out was focused on him... as Maverick clawed him and his remains turned into ash.

  The White Paws roared, the remaining shadow spiders were dying, the puncture was closed, their lifeline to the Shadowlands severed.

  Maverick roared, then the rest of the crew.

  Heat emanated from them, the puncture not even a scar in reality. The woods nearby regained their natural color.

  The power of the White Paws came from life. The forest was healed. The Shadowlands were gone.

  She felt Maverick, his heart in anguish for her, but she would be all right.

  She would be all right.

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter 26

  She was in a dark place. Little by little, light filtered in. Everything was blurry.

  There was a flash of pain and she saw herself on the ground, everything around lost in the gloom.

  She started recognizing everything. Her body was in the headquarters area. There were shapes moving, human shapes.

  She saw the big antenna in the ground, and the fire in the Comms room. Far in the distance, the great pine trees started regaining their color, she could see them clearly.

  Was she dead?

  There was movement. She focused and saw Damien and Raiden lifting up the antenna, it had to be tons upon tons of metal but they moved it, their faces hard, their muscles bulging.

  “Faith,” she heard someone whisper.

  She wasn’t afraid. This wasn’t like the other times, this was Maverick.

  The puncture was closed. She knew it, there was no doubt in her mind. She sensed nature itself fighting back, getting stronger, too.

  Gerard was gone, forever, Maverick took care of that. Every creature that came out of the Shadowlands had turned into dust.

  The forest was taking them in. It would make it stronger.

  She felt it. The will of nature. Yes, their remains would be good for the earth, the trees would become stronger, it was a cycle that continued from the beginning of time.

  Warm happiness filled her. It was so ironic. The very things sent to destroy the mountain would strengthen it.

  The blighted forest was now completely changed. The greens were greener, the bushes and insects and trees and animals much stronger.

  This was an old place, it would stay like this forever.

  Maverick was limping, a naked man, his hard arms, his legs, his back and chest... all of his body had been stung. He was bleeding everywhere. Then she heard him again.

  “Faith.”

  She was the only thing in his mind. He didn’t care about the fight, his wounds, his victory. Everything that mattered was her.

  She tried to hold him but she couldn’t.

  He ran to her, and she knew that everything was fine. She could decide to let go, all of her mistakes would be buried with her. She was happy to have met the most amazing person, one who made her feel alive, one who looked at her with such intense love that nothing on Earth could compare to it.

  “I won’t let you,” he heard Maverick say.

  Mav lifted her from the ground, holding her in his arms.

  “You come back to me now,” he ordered, “Come back to me, I love you.”

  And that was it for her.

  How could she say no?

  It was like emerging from a deep, cold lake, pushing against the surface and feeling the warm sun.

  She opened her eyes. Her whole body ached but he was there, his deep green eyes flooding with happiness, his heart almost coming out of his chest.

  He smiled and put his forehead against her.

  “I was afraid you were going to leave me,” he told her in a broken voice.

  She was breathing, she felt her lungs full of air, her body warming, her heart rushing.

  She smiled.

  “You’re not that lucky.”

  He laughed and softly pulled her to him, kissing her softly.

  “Is she all right?” she heard Damien ask from far away, there was urgency in his voice.

  He nodded, face full of pride, “all’s good.”

  “She’s a fighter,” Damien replied.

  She turned and saw the bears putting out the fire. Enzo had his arms up in the air, she sensed his power, he was a channeler. One of the rare individuals who could control the elements.

  The fire subsided. The bears used fire extinguishers on the equipment. The trouble was gone. If she and Maverick had been alone, the fight would have been lost quickly.

  Everything was fine now, she never felt this safe before.

  Then she noticed his wounds. His face was bloody. His arms pierced and black. He was covered in bruises. They were even worse than she had seen in her dream. Was it a dream? Was it real?

  It didn’t matter. He was here. Anyone else would be dead at the first sting of those monsters.

  “You’re hurt,” she whispered. Every word was difficult to enunciate.

  “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine, I swear.”

  “What happens now?”

  “You stay with me. Or I stay with you, I don’t care. We belong together, you are my mate, you’re the only one for me.”

  She smiled at that. His mate.

  “Whatever happens...” she said.

  “We face it together,” he finished her sentence.

  She let out a soft laugh.

  “Always,” Mav said.

  ***

  A fire burned inside Faith.

  She felt powerful, every one of her muscles was stronger than ever, all of her wounds healed.

  The sun shone gloriously outside the lab. Every morning she was thankful for the opportunity to see the light of day again, to feel alive.

  “So, how is she?” Mav asked.

  He had been at her side almost every waking hour. Enzo was checking her vitals.

  That sounds so stupid. Checking my vitals.

  But it was true.

  “She’s doing great,” Enzo said, his eyes on the microscope, “her blood cells are acting pretty much like anyone else’s. I wouldn’t be able to tell if she was a vamp with this.”

  He looked at her.

  “I tried using the old sample with other shifter’s blood. Even Zoe’s, but it doesn’t work.”

  “It’s because we’re mates,” Faith said, half joking.

  “Well, you might be right, for all we know,” Enzo replied.

  It had been a week since the Shadowlands incursion happened. She still was a vampire, but she no longer felt like a monster. It seemed as if Maverick had freed her from the curse.

  “She can still... you know, blink and drink blood and everything.”

  “I just happen to be able to withstand the sunlight.”

  Enzo shrugged.

  “I’m still doing a lot of tests. I feel that the mate thing might be partially right. But there’s something else I have to figure out.”

  “And what would that be?” Faith asked.

  “It wasn’t just you that got stronger. That man, Gerard, was much stronger too.”
r />   Her stomach tightened.

  Enzo saw her and immediately continued, “But don’t worry. Us too. I could channel fire like never before. This is something that’s been a while in the making, it didn’t just happen out of the blue.”

  “So what happens now?” Faith asked.

  “What happens,” interrupted Maverick, “is we leave this guy alone and we go party somewhere in Rosenberg. I’m not gonna worry for anything unless I have too. Would you like to dance with me, darling?”

  She laughed.

  “You’re silly.”

  “Oh yes I am, yes I am.”

  He leaned forward to kiss her, both of them in their own little love bubble.

  Then Enzo coughed and cleared his throat loud enough for it to burst.

  “Guys, please do that outside, I’m cringing too hard in here.”

  Faith giggled “shut up,” then she kissed her mate.

  Mav took her in his arms and walked out of the lab. Nothing in the world mattered but them. They were free.

  Chapter 27

  — One year later —

  Light filtered through the cabin’s window, the drapes swayed in the gentle morning breeze.

  It was six in the morning and the bed was already empty. Faith was in the shower, hot water running down her body. She shampooed her hair, eyes closed, when Mav’s hand grazed her waist.

  She gasped. He was there, naked, ready to join her.

  She loved moments like this. Every time she was near him she could see him beaming. What did she do to deserve all that love?

  This was one of those intimate moments, he didn’t need to say anything. The way he looked at her started a fire inside she couldn’t control.

  “I missed you,” Maverick said, his hands caressing her back, sending shivers down her spine.

  She loved his embrace, the way he touched her.

  “You already want to do it again?” she asked.

  They had gone to bed early the previous night. They promised to behave, they couldn’t stay awake late but, as usual, it was impossible. Being near each other was a constant struggle to keep their clothes on.

  “Your fault, you’re too beautiful,” he said, kissing her.