Bearly Desire: A Bear Shifter Romance

by Liza Lightwood

  Groaning slightly, she forced her eyelids open. Although his image was muddled and distorted at first, Josephine recognized Roman instantly. But instead of the normal suit and tie, he was clad in head to toe black combat gear.

  She sat up and winced when the world around her swam like a whirling vortex of shadows and light. She felt like she’d drunk an entire case of wine.

  “My head,” she croaked.

  “You have a concussion,” Roman murmured softly and placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing her to lie back down. “Try not to move,” he advised. “But don’t pass out again, okay?” he added a bit more forcefully.

  She reached up to probe at her throbbing temple and stopped short when she realized she gripped something tightly in her hand. She opened her palm and on seeing the crumbled document, she sat back upright, and immediately regretted the action.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Roman barked. “I just told you to lie down.”

  “Read this,” she insisted and shoved the Scroll toward him. Slumping back down on the ground, she winced when another explosion shook her entire body. “Who are those soldiers?” she asked and turned her head to watch the battle going on in the distance.

  What had once been a dilapidated farmhouse was now a roaring ball of fire with flames reaching high into the night sky. Wolf howls rent the air along with gunshots and shouts. Roman had initiated a full-on raid.

  “They’re my men,” he answered and turned the parchment to study it from a different angle. “My clan runs a special ops program for the government. I didn’t tell you the whole truth when I said the government contracts us,” he continued almost absently.

  “So what, you’re a super-soldier shape shifter?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Something like that,” he responded and tilted the paper another direction. She sighed in exasperation and reached out to snag the Scroll and turn it right side up for him.

  “Where did you get this?” Roman demanded after glancing at the symbols.

  Sliding her eyes back to him, Josephine shifted uncomfortably.

  “A bear shifter by the name of Christopher Williams,” she explained softly, but not without a hint of anger. “Apparently, he used my friend Clara to introduce you and me. Clara said she dated him in high school.”

  “Chris?” Roman echoed in a voice raw with emotion. “Chris was here? I haven’t seen him in ten years. He’s one of my younger cousins.”

  “I’m sorry,” Josephine murmured. “I hate being the one to tell you this, but he not only had that Scroll, but he also wanted to use it to usurp the leadership.”

  Roman’s face ran a gauntlet of emotions as he processed the idea of his own family betraying him. After a few moments, he simply nodded in acceptance and tucked the Scroll into an inner vest pocket. Bringing his wrist up toward his face, he began barking orders and she realized he had a communications piece on his wrist.

  He ordered his men to look for Christopher and then frowned when an immediate response came. Josephine knew he’d been in the foyer when they’d found her, but she inhaled sharply when she heard the man tell Roman that the bear was gone.

  “We aren’t that easy to kill,” Roman murmured when he noticed her widened eyes. “He was probably just knocked out.”

  “Roman, you have to find him,” Josephine urged. “He’s working with the werewolves. They cursed your father and now they plan on killing you inorder for Christopher to take over.”

  “And so the war continues,” Roman growled and stood. “Did you decipher this Scroll?” he asked and patted his pocket to indicate the one she’d given to him.

  She nodded in response.

  “But you now have both Scrolls, you can take the other one to the doctor and let them cure your father,” she argued. “You don’t have to worry about the one Christopher had.” She gestured towards his vest pocket.

  Roman’s face settled into a frightening mask of rage.

  “Always have a plan B,” he advised. “My men have taken this pack, but as you pointed out, there are many more out there who agree with these barbarians. We can’t afford for my father to die without the necessary rituals, so you’ll just have to translate this one for me and we’ll perform it just in case.”

  Josephine refused to get into the ambulance once it arrived. No matter how hard the EMTs tried, she simply wouldn’t leave Roman. It didn’t matter that he’d said they’d won this particular battle; she wouldn’t leave his side until they were both able to go.

  He’d officially released command to Major Scott, but chose to hang around when word spread that they’d intercepted the pack’s leader, Rafe.

  Within ten minutes or so, two soldiers approached, dragging the body of a naked man between them. Even though his long hair hung in wet clumps around his face, she recognized him as her captor immediately.

  “Clothe him and secure him,” Roman ordered and watched with emotionless eyes as they nodded and turned to drag the shifter to a nearby SUV. One pulled a blanket from the back and wrapped it around Rafe before the other one put a pair of antiquated, silver cuffs on the wolf’s wrists and ankles.

  “Silver,” she murmured.

  “All shifters abhor silver,” Roman acknowledged. “Wolves especially. Some of the old tales are true,” he relented and turned toward her, opening his arms. “But most of them aren’t, it’s how we’ve survived so long in the human world.”

  Tearing her eyes away from the soldiers as they shoved Rafe into the back seat of the vehicle, she moved toward Roman and allowed him to crush her in a warm embrace. Closing her eyes, she laid her cheek on his chest and exhaled deeply. She was safe again.

  “Let’s go,” Roman whispered against the top of her head. “We still need to get you looked at and bandaged up; you have quite a few scratches and scrapes.”

  Nodding at his request, Josephine allowed him to lead her to the ambulance where the EMTs quickly sat her down and began probing and prodding.

  She answered enough questions about herself that Roman could write her autobiography and then grumbled while they went about cleaning and bandaging her wounds. She hadn’t suffered anything more serious than a concussion and even now, the effects were quickly fading.

  When they finally relented and told Roman that she could go home, he helped her into the black SUV and then hopped in the back seat with her. Looking toward the driver, which she wasn’t shocked to see was Leo dressed in matching tactical gear, she simply smiled and settled back against the plush leather seat.

  Within minutes they were back at Roman’s country home and she realized that Rafe had been keeping her dangerously close to his enemy.

  “What are you going to do with Rafe?” she asked as they pulled through the front gates.

  Roman shrugged nonchalantly, and turned cold, almost dead eyes on her.

  “Depends on whether my father lives or not,” he answered gruffly and then swung his door open when the car rolled to a stop. Turning back, he offered her his hand and helped her from the car, up the steps and into the house.

  “Why don’t you go enjoy a nice, long bubble bath,” he suggested and urged her toward the stairs. “I’ll be up shortly,” he promised.

  Josephine nodded hesitantly and turned to start up the stairs when the front doors burst open and Rafe charged in still wearing his chains. He was held by two guards with three others bringing up the rear.

  “In the cellar,” Roman barked and then slid his eyes back to Josephine’s. She couldn’t suppress the shiver at seeing how his beautiful gray eyes had gone fathomless black.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After a nice, long, scalding hot bubble bath, Josephine dressed in a white t-shirt and black yoga pants. Pulling her hair into a bun high on her head, she climbed into the middle of her bed and let her mind picture the symbols on the Bear Scroll. Roman wanted the ritual translated so he could have it performed before his father died.

  Plan B, he’d called it. Josephine felt like he had already said hi
s goodbyes to his father and now he raced to save his clan. But deep in her heart, she knew she could save his father. They’d found the Wolf Scroll and she just needed to make sure the doctor got it.

  Bouncing from the bed, she opened her door and eased down the hallway to the head of the stairs. Stopping, she listened for voices or movement. When she was satisfied that everyone was otherwise occupied, she crept down to the library and began sifting through the documents littering the table.

  Brushing aside the maps she’d had Robert pull out, she searched for the Wolf Scroll. After an hour or so of nothing, she decided that Roman had probably hid it somewhere safe. So, resigned to wait until he emerged from his dungeon of torture, there wasn’t anything she could do but wait.

  She went back to her bedroom and opened the sliding door separating their rooms so that she would know when he returned. Crawling back into her bed, she fluffed the pillows and relaxed.

  She must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, Roman’s bedroom door slammed and her body was suddenly abuzz with anxiety.

  “Roman?” she called and extracted herself from the covers to pad over to the adjoining door. Still clad in his tactical gear, Roman paced the carpeted floor like a caged animal. Anger rolled off him in huge waves.

  Roman whirled to face her. “How are you feeling?” he asked tersely.

  “Better,” she answered and hesitantly moved toward him.

  “Don’t lie to me,” he threatened and pulled her roughly into his embrace. “I can feel your emotions, remember? I can also feel your physical pain,” he added and then held her at arms’ length so he could look her in the eye. “The bond between us has grown very strong Josephine, I never imagined feeling this way for someone,” he admitted softly and then lowered his lips to capture hers in a soft, passionate kiss.

  A knock on his bedroom door had him pulling away from her with a curse. It seemed as though every time they got close, something or someone intervened.

  “Your father has asked to see you,” Robert announced softly once Roman pulled the door open. “He’s awake,” he added.

  “The Scroll,” Josephine gasped and rushed toward Roman. “I need the Wolf Scroll; I can translate it for the doctor.”

  Roman reached inside his vest and pulled out two scrolls. Handing them to her, he padded over to his closet and began removing his battle gear.

  It took every ounce of self control to pull her eyes from the gloriously naked body of her mate in order to study the documents. Within a few moments, Josephine had a tentative spell translated.

  “I have it,” she announced proudly. “I’ve translated the ritual to lift the curse from your father.”

  Roman emerged from his bathroom, a puff of steam hot on his trail. Apparently, he’d found time to shower while she’d been lost in her own mind.

  “Would you like to change while I gather the necessary items?” Roman asked and motioned at her t-shirt and cotton pants.

  “Oh, yes,” she agreed absently. She left the documents lying on Roman’s bed and raced off to her room.

  Once they were seated in the town car with Leo driving, Roman explained that his father was in a private estate they’d retrofitted as a hospital. The doctor who cared for him lived there so that he could be in close proximity to his patient.

  She also learned that the doctor happened to be a very close family friend of the Williams bear clan as he, himself, was a bear shifter.

  After offering these few explanations, Roman fell into a contemplative silence and Josephine chose not to disturb him. Pulling both the Bear and the Wolf Scrolls from her bag, she opened the Bear Scroll and began deciphering the cuneiform texts.

  Even though she knew deep within her heart that Roman’s dad would be saved, she also wanted to be prepared should Roman ask for the other ritual. Luckily the Bear Scroll didn’t ask for anything other than the two participants and a simple chant to sever their ties.

  “Where did you get the ingredients for the Wolves’ counter-spell?” Josephine asked as the thought suddenly occurred to her. The Wolf Scroll called for the blood of the original caster as well as blood from the victim’s sire in order to successfully lift the curse.

  Roman shifted uncomfortably in the seat next to her and produced a small pouch from his inner jacket. Offering it to her, he gave a small shrug and waited for her to study the contents.

  Inside she found two vials: one, containing Rafe’s blood and another one, unlabeled. Holding the unlabeled vial up before her, she arched an eyebrow in question.

  “Blood and other samples are taken when one of us joins the military,” he explained. “Just in case situations like this arise. That’s my grandfather’s blood,” he added with a nod at the second vial. “We keep them all in cold storage.”

  She carefully placed the vials back into the pouch and handed it to Roman. She wanted to question him as to what ‘other’ samples would’ve been taken, but didn’t feel that it was an appropriate time.

  They pulled through the main gates and Roman barely waited for the car to stop before rushing up the steps and disappearing into the house. Leo shifted the car into park and lumbered out, offering Josephine his hand through Roman’s open door.

  “Allow me to escort you in Ms. Baxter,” he offered with an apologetic smile.

  Taking his hand, she followed Leo into the house and down a series of hallways until they reached Mr. Williams’ room. The moment she laid eyes on the pale, sunken body in the bed, she wondered if perhaps they weren’t too late to save him after all.

  Numerous tubes and I.V. lines were connected to his body and machines beeped quietly from various points in the room. One large tube ran to his open mouth and she inhaled sharply when she realized it was a ventilator. Mr. Williams was no longer able to breathe on his own.

  “We don’t have much time,” Roman murmured as he bent over the bed and took his father’s hand in his.

  “What happens if we sever your ties and your father lives?” Josephine asked softly.

  Roman bowed his head and sighed.

  “The answer is complicated,” he admitted. “But essentially, his shifter genes will decrease and gradually, over time, he’ll become mortal. By severing his ties from me, and thus the Clan, he’ll no longer have that connection to his own bloodline. That’s the down side to using magic.”

  “If the ritual causes him to become mortal all at once, will the Wolves’ curse kill him before the doctor can cure him?” she asked, wanting to make sure everyone understood the pressure they placed on her shoulders.

  “He’ll still be a shifter,” Roman answered hoarsely. “It’ll take years for his DNA to convert. I wouldn’t suggest doing the ritual if I thought it could potentially kill him.”

  Josephine nodded. She couldn’t blame Roman for his insistence on performing the severing ritual. He wanted to protect his Clan and his father and this was the only way he could do both.

  “Is there a way for him to re-enter the Clan?” she prompted. She refused to believe that the only way to save the man was to condemn him to a mortal life and death. Having been immortal all his existence, how would he handle being simply human?

  Roman lifted his head and studied her through narrowed eyes.

  “I’m sure a genius like you can figure out a way,” he said and then smiled. “If you’ll stay on as my historian, I’ll give you full access to all my mother’s research and anything else you may need.”

  Josephine’s heart swelled with so many emotions, she almost felt like she would burst.

  “Shall we get started?” Roman prompted.

  Standing solemnly over his father’s unconscious body, Roman took a small scalpel and gently pulled it across the flesh of his wrist. After doing the same with his father’s wrist, he pressed the two bleeding wounds together.

  A palpable weight shot through the room and Roman doubled over in visible pain. When Josephine started toward him, he thrust out his hand to keep her at a safe distance.

  �
�It worked,” he panted and pulled his wrist free of his father’s. The doctor stepped forward and wrapped Mr. William’s wound before turning to tend to Roman’s who simply waved the man away.

  “Mine’s almost healed,” he explained and then turned to face Josephine. “Let Dr. Hemp have the Wolf Scroll and translation. He’ll have to do the rest on his own.”

  Doing as she was told, Josephine offered the parchment to the doctor and then allowed Roman to lead her from the room.

  Chapter Fourteen

  How long did it take to save one life?

  After hours of pacing the hallway before Mr. Williams’ room, Leo suggested they go back home. Since they were both pretty exhausted from the night’s events, Roman agreed.

  Now they simply waited on the call from the doctor. Robert had begged for them all to eat dinner, but nobody could manage to take a bite while they awaited news.

  It seemed childish that she expected everything to immediately be fine, but now they had to wait until the doctor gave them the results. Magic was difficult and often slow when it came to healing.

  Josephine escaped to the library and began her research on how to keep Mr. Williams’ bear shifter genes alive. She knew she had time to figure things out, but she had nothing else to do besides wait. She refused to think about what would happen should he not make it.

  Roman found her, hours later, buried beneath a mountain of books and various documents. She raised dry, bloodshot eyes to his and couldn’t stop the flood of tears as they rained down her cheek.

  “I can’t focus,” she admitted shamefully. “I’ve always found peace and comfort in my work, but now, I just can’t concentrate.”

  Roman clucked his tongue and gathered her into his arms where he began murmuring words in some other language. A large part of her wanted to dissect the language, identify it and then analyze it, but her brain was too tired to do much more than allow herself to be coddled.

  “Everyone is gathered in the parlor,” Roman murmured against her temple. “Why don’t we join them? Robert has a fire going and he and Leo are playing chess. I can have him fix you something to eat,” he offered.