Bearly Desire: A Bear Shifter Romance

by Liza Lightwood

  The women wasted no time in undressing her and shoving her into the pool. She dropped into the basin and sank to the bottom, pulling as much hydration into her as possible. She allowed her eyes to change to her Dragon vision and peered up through the murky, sulfur-scented liquid.

  Sure enough, the two women waving frantically at one another, panicking over the fact that she’d disappeared. Being Fire Elementals, they couldn’t exactly dive into the water after her, not without a fair amount of preparation. Not to mention the fact that should they do so, she could easily outmaneuver them in the cloudy depths.

  Waving her arms to and fro, keeping herself submerged, she wished she could stay underwater forever, or maybe just long enough to formulate a way out. But her human form needed oxygen or she’d force a shift. She reluctantly resurfaced and smiled at the glaring women.

  “What’s wrong?” she taunted. “You girls don’t like to swim?”

  “You bitch,” the blonde one accused. “If we don’t deliver you in pristine condition to his Majesty, he’ll do worse than kill us.” The other one, the red-head reached forward and grabbed a handful of Jazz’s short hair.

  “Don’t fuck with us, you Dragon slut,” she hissed and the implied insult made Jazz pause.

  “You two are human,” she stated as suddenly the reality of everything clicked. “You’re human and he’s offered you immortality.” She marveled at Coffer’s audacity. The lies didn’t surprise her. Dragon-kin were born not made; there was no way he could give them what they sought.

  Apparently he couldn’t raise the numbers he wanted from among the Dragons, he’d turned to manipulating humans.

  Dragon-kind kept their existence a secret until just recently when the Elder’s decreed the Prince’s take mates. Prince Jaxen had gone public when he’d taken a diluted Dragon/Human hybrid. Ever since, he’d acted as Dragon-kind’s Ambassador to the various human governments.

  The Dragon groupies were an unwelcome side effect.

  Smiling, in spite of her current predicament, she reached up and used her Dragon strength to pry the girl’s hand from her hair. She had to give the human credit, she didn’t squeal or cry out at the force of Jazz’s grip, but she did moan a bit.

  Things had certainly taken a positive turn, Jazz mused and rose from the depths of the blissful pool to face the two girls. Studying them a bit more closely, she decided they were around their mid-twenties and either drug addicts or alcoholics. They reeked of Coffer and she decided that he’d used them in more carnal ways as well as servants.

  She gave one last squeeze to the brunette’s hand and then dropped it like a hot potato. The girl cradled her hand and backed away from Jazz with eyes widened in fear. The other girl - the blonde - speared the brunette with a disgust-filled glare and whirled on Jazz like a viper.

  “I won’t let you ruin this for us,” she sneered and pulled a handgun from the back waistband of her jeans. “I know it won’t kill you if I shoot you,” she warned. “But I also know it will hurt like hell,” she threatened. “Now, pick up that robe and get your fat ass dressed,” she demanded and kept the gun firmly trained on Jazz.

  Fear for her unborn child was the only thing that kept her from ripping the blonde bitch to pieces. She didn’t know what a bullet wound would do to the baby and she wasn’t willing to take a chance. So, she bent and picked the pristine white robe from the colorful carpet, donning it without taking her eyes from the crazy human.

  “I will kill you,” Jazz warned. “Your Majesty won’t save you.”

  “We’ll see about that,” the blonde sneered and then waved the gun in the direction of the door. “Now, you’ve got a wedding to get to,” she announced. “Get going.”

  The brunette rushed forward to open the door and moved out into the cool, damp hallway. Jazz fell into step behind the girl, following like an obedient lamb to slaughter, the gun-wielding blonde a few steps behind her.

  Chapter Seven

  They led her through a maze of corridors until they entered a brightly lit cavern, much bigger than any of the others. Stalactites littered the high ceiling but the floor had been cleared of any stalagmites. It was covered instead by a plush, red carpet, strewn with small white flowers; elongated and leading to a make-do altar holding a large book.

  “You are simply beautiful,” a male voice whispered into her ear and she jumped at the unexpected contact. She whirled to peer up at Elder Coffer, wearing an identical white robe. He’d slicked his raven black hair back against his head but the robe managed to hide what remained of his body.

  It wasn’t like she wanted to see it anyway, she just wondered what kind of weaponry he had stashed in that robe. He had to know she wouldn’t make this easy for him.

  “Now,” he boasted. “I waited until now to tell you the good news, but this ritual is to be conducted by the Ancient Ones’ ways.”

  Jazz reeled in shock at Coffer’s admission. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t. It wasn’t possible. Her hands immediately went protectively to her womb. The Ancient Ones completed the mating ceremony in their Dragon forms.

  Her eyes went back to his and she frantically searched for any reason to change his mind. She reached up and tugged at the collar of her robe and inhaled sharply when Coffer grabbed her wrist in a dangerous grip.

  “What is that?” he demanded and nodded at her neck.

  “What are you talking about?” Jazz asked and struggled to pull free of his bone-crushing grip.

  He dragged her over to the altar and swiped his hand across the surface, successfully clearing the crude table with little effort. Upon seeing the article he sought, he grabbed it and shoved it into her face. Jazz tore her eyes from him and peered into the mirror. When she noticed the source of his rage, she almost smiled. Twin, blunt, teeth marks scored the skin at the crook of her neck.

  It didn’t matter if Damien hadn’t meant to claim her, he had, and now Coffer couldn’t mate her. He would die should he even try.

  Smiling triumphantly, she wretched her wrist free of his grasp and took a step back.

  “I’m his,” she declared. “You can’t touch me.”

  Damien stepped into the cavern just in time to see Coffer backhand Jazz hard enough to send her flying through the air. She crashed into the hard wall and fell to the floor with a slight moan and didn’t move again.

  Rage filled Damien and he pulled every ounce of water from the air. He subconsciously noticed two female figures explode as he siphoned the fluid from their bodies, but he ignored them and embraced the shift. He grew until his head touched the cylindrical spikes on the ceiling. Throwing back his massive head, he roared with enough force to bring rocks down, effectively crushing Coffer who’d remained in human form. Three of the Elder’s men rushed Damien and he swept his taloned-hand, effectively severing them into a multitude of pieces. Once they lay motionless on the floor at his feet, he used his claws to rake them into nothing more than red, mushy piles of meat.

  Using his long, spiked tail, Damien shoved through the rubble until he located Coffer’s unconscious form.

  “Damien?” a soft female voice called and his gaze shifted to Jazz standing a few feet from him. Her eyes widened as she took in his true form for the first time. He closed his own eyes and allowed himself to see his massive form through hers. She marveled at the monumental size of his head, the jagged edges of his fangs, his vibrant blue scales and then ended with the sight of his spiked tail coiled tightly around the possibly-dead Elder.

  But suddenly he snapped back into his own mind when he detected something he’d never expected. His heartbeat synced with hers and the little thump-thump of a third shocked him speechless.

  He quickly shifted back to human form and subdued Coffer before rushing over to Jazz. He stopped short of wrapping his arms around her middle and merely stared at her stomach. Sure enough, a tiny bud of light had bloomed within her and he felt the connection instantly.

  She carried their son. His son. His heir.

  “How? When?
Why didn’t you tell me?” he stammered hoarsely. “I don’t understand.”

  Jazz chuckled and took his hand in hers, bringing it to the pudge of their growing child.

  “Our first time,” she explained. “Our first time demonstrating our love and we created this.” She gnawed her lower lip and made a knee-jerk decision. “I don’t care who you’ve chosen as your mate, I claim you as mine and since I’m carrying your heir, you will disgrace us both if you don’t marry me. I refuse -”

  He shushed her by taking her lips with his own. Wrapping an arm around her, he left his other hand on their child and brought her closer to him as his lips devoured hers. He poured every ounce of love, relief and devotion into the kiss.

  “Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?” he asked as he pulled back. “I came to Jamaica to claim you,” he admitted and laughed when her eyes widened. “There’s never been anyone but you. There never will be,” he declared.

  He dropped to his knees before her and pressed his face to her womb, wrapping his arms around her waist. He nuzzled the little bump and almost laughed when he felt the little flutter of life.

  “You two are my life,” he whispered. “I would sell my soul to protect you both.”

  Jazz’s eyes teared and she rested her hands on his head as he continued to cuddle and kiss her stomach.

  “Alright,” Sera called from across the cavern. She entered in enough time to see Damien declare his love for her daughter. “We have a ritual to attend. You two have already skipped to the fun part, now we have to solidify it, get moving.”

  Chapter Eight

  Damien cradled Jazz in his arms and moved across the threshold of their new bedroom. The ritual hadn’t taken long considering that only two Elders attended, they’d quickly sealed their bonds and he’d whisked her away for a more private celebration. Jazz nuzzled the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply to permanently etch his scent in her brain forever. She never counted on them being apart, but being the Prince was a full-time job and eventually his work would force him to travel.

  “Sssh love,” he murmured softly. “It’s our time and nothing is going to pull us apart again. If I travel - you travel with me. I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” he declared and gently set her on her feet. He unclasped the robe and pushed it from her shoulders, baring her entire body to him.

  She mimicked his movements and they stood facing each other.

  “I love you,” Damien whispered and lunged forward, taking her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled them both onto the king-size bed, his body nestled within the center of her legs. He knew her body was already prepared for him, so he didn’t waste any time in plunging balls deep into her heavenly cavity.

  They moved in unison, back and forth, in and out until Jazz tired of his attempt to remain easy and shifted so that she straddled him. Gyrating her hips, she rode him like the stallion she thought he was. She felt him swell even larger inside her and knew they only had a few precious moments to seal their collective fates. Without stopping, she leaned forward and pierced his neck with her teeth. Following her lead, Damien did the same and they drank from each other as they reached orgasm in unison.

  Within moments they lay panting in each other’s arms. Turning onto her side, Jazz snuggled back against Damien’s chest and smiled when he brought their joined hands to the child they created.

  “Our species is at war,” he murmured in her ear. “It’s a dangerous time to raise a child.”

  She heard the worry in his voice and smiled.

  “Already worrying?” she teased. “Don’t. This baby will be the most protected Dragon in creation.”

  Damien smiled into the nape of her neck.

  “You damn right,” he declared.

  THE END

  Paranormal Academy, Elite Deceit

  Chapter One

  I am one of the lucky ones. Most gifted people, most commonly known as monsters, are killed as soon as they come of age. It is a human’s legal right to kill a marked individual on sight. When I was young, as with the majority of my classmates, I was brought to a magically protected boarding school—Edmund’s Academy for the Gifted. Humans are pinged across the world if they attempt to infiltrate, and the gifted with malevolent intentions are sent back from where they had come. As long as they enter the academy with pure intentions, they can stay, even if those intents change.

  As a student, I am safe.

  At the age of nineteen, we gain a marking on our backs. It’s when the gifted become fully grown and legally able to be killed. To us, the marks are simply overdue birthmarks. They are different for everyone. They map out the destiny of their inhabitants, yet can be seen by anyone other than the wearer. After all, it is forbidden to know your calling unless deemed necessary by a prophet. Others are able to see pieces of the marking, but no one person can decipher the entire thing.

  I turn nineteen years old in six minutes.

  “What do you think your marking will say?” Coral asks from the bunk above mine. Her long red waves run down the side of our bed, and her excited voice energizes me. I am jittering from the anticipation of receiving my mark. What will the marking feel like? Will I feel an entirely new sense of importance once I am officially marked? I keep my eyes glued to the clock on the other side of the room.

  “I don’t know. Do you think it will hurt?” I ask nervously. I was born at 4:36 PM on July 2, 2197, and I have been waiting for this moment my entire life.

  “It shouldn’t. I call being the first to see,” she squeaks. I don’t allow my eyes to veer in Coral’s direction, but her hair disappears from my peripheral vision and I hear her walking around the room. Most people don’t have their best friend to comfort them while they receive their marks.

  “What if I don’t have a great destiny?” I ask, biting my bottom lip. I pull my bleach blond hair over my shoulder and allow it to fall down my right side.

  “Snow,” Coral starts, “your destiny is bound to be important. You are the only Elite mermaid in the academy.” I sigh and look away from the clock. Coral’s hair is the first thing that catches my attention, which is not unusual in any way. The mermaid warfare professor calls her Ariel, which is the name of an old movie character from the early 2000s. None of the students in the academy have lived nearly long enough to watch the film. All of the movies that gave monsters a positive connotation were destroyed. The average lifespan of a mermaid is about 300 years, so some of the professors were around to see the movies before their downfall.

  “Being Elite means nothing,” I argue. It is simply the status a person gains if they are the leading individual in their species. They must have good scores in academics, battlefield strategy, ability control, and defense tactics. I just happen to have the best scores in each of the categories. Coral and I are both exceptional at controlling our abilities, so we room together.

  “It means everything. You have more opportunities than any of us. We are all forced into the human world after graduation, but you can stay here forever because you’re an Elite,” Coral says. I nod and look back at the clock. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. “It’s time,” she says.

  I feel a slight burning sensation ease up my back slowly, starting just above my coccyx and widening as it slides up my back. The sensation is unlike anything I’ve ever felt and it fills me with purpose. It continues for less than a minute before stopping at my shoulder blades. My entire back is covered and I run to our full-length body mirror. I turn and pull my shirt over my shoulders before looking into the mirror.

  I see only tanned skin. “Is it there?” I ask.

  She clears her throat, and I monitor her every expression through the mirror. Her eyes widen and she rushes forward. “It’s there,” she murmurs. I grin from ear to ear and attempt to decipher her shocked expression. She can only see a small portion of my prophecy, but what she’s seeing is causing her face to spasm with multiple different emotions.

  “What is it? What do you see?” I
ask.

  She smiles and shakes her head. “Being Elite definitely means something,” she says with a smile. We both know that it is against the rules to divulge another person’s destiny, but I can tell by her mere facial expressions that she saw something important.

  A scream echoes through the corridor loudly and my attention flies to the door of our room. Coral looks at me curiously and I do the same. I throw my shirt over my head before running from my room with Coral on my tail.

  The hallway is crowded with curious teenagers of all different origins. A few pixies float through the air and the magicians stand in the front of the crowd. Vampires make up the majority of the group. There are more vampires than any other species at the academy. A few mermaids are in the hallway, speaking among themselves curiously.

  It’s odd to have so many different species gathered around when we are usually separate. We have classes with our own kind and avoid other groups the majority of the time. I try to push myself to the front of the crowd in general curiosity. Coral leads, but I am grabbed from behind and pulled backward quickly. I don’t struggle against the grip of the person. Once I am in the back of the crowd, I am met with the calculated silver eyes of the academy’s Headmaster.

  “Miss. Annesley,” he greets me, “I have an important matter we need to discuss.”

  Chapter Two

  On the way to the Headmaster’s office, I can’t help but wonder what had happened. He walks silently and I follow closely. When we arrive, I am ordered to sit. “Snow Annesley, it looks like you have killed your roommate,” he says with a firm, unreadable tone.

  I gasp and stand, ready to defend myself. “No, that’s impossible. I was waiting in my room with Coral. I received my mark and she saw it. Jasmine,” I begin, thinking about where my second roommate had gone. “Jasmine went to get an early dinner,” I recall. I look at the Headmaster in surprise, coming to a shocking revelation.