by C. D. Gorri
The resort on the Playa del Carmen was simply beautiful and the tequila was plentiful! Anyone with any photos or video clips of the celebration that evening is encouraged to send those images to Taylor and Krissy for their approval before posting to the Barvale Clan website forum. Use your best judgement. Thanks.
I am also pleased to announce that my mate and I are settling into life after the arrival of our sweet cub. Again your well wishes and baby gifts are all very appreciated. Lacey and Mia send their love.
As head Enforcer, it is my pleasure to inform you that my brother, Nate Cordoza, has been officially inducted into the Barvale Clan. Not only that, but he has volunteered to teach his substantial skills in combat and surveillance to our new recruits. You met them at our last Clan gathering. Bowie Atiqtalaaq has joined us from Alaska along with his cousins, the Nanouk triplets, Locke, Tonic, and Bolder.
The four Polar Bear Shifters are a welcome addition to our New Jersey Clan, bringing with them some much appreciated muscle and enthusiasm. As we all saw during our run with the Arizona Wolves, these four Bears were more than handy at controlling the crowd!
Now, what I am about to tell you is troubling news, but do not panic. Our friends of the Macconwood Pack have notified us of some recent trouble with a group of rogue Hunter Vampires. In case you are not familiar with the term, these are creatures no longer in touch with their humanity. They are dangerous and non-discriminating in whom they hunt. If you see them do not engage. Call the Clan emergency hotline for help. Our new Enforcers will be responsible for the security of our Clan under my order.
Any questions you may have can be directed to our Clan Keeper, my brother Taylor. You can reach him directly on his new cell number, 663-386-2327 (That’s ONE-DUM-BEAR). He’s available to you at any time.
As usual, you can typically find us at Bear Claw Bakery or supervising the ongoing additions to our new Bear Cub Park right here in Barvale! Special thanks to our Falk Clan neighbors, the creators of Draco Fortis, for the donation of some pretty awesome security tech for the park.
Marcus, our Alpha, is back in residence with his mate at the Den, should you need him and Ignatius, retired Alpha is home as well.
Also, I am pleased to announce our very own official Clan doctor! You can meet her at our new Barvale Urgent Care Clinic, secret hours for Clan members will be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 4pm-2am. It is my pleasure to introduce our very own, Dr. Luisa Sposa.
Also, please note, cubs experiencing their first Change are welcome to contact her to discuss anything they are experiencing. That’s all for now.
Thank you,
Daniel Devlin, Barvale Clan Enforcer and co-owner of Bear Claw Bakery Inc.
Prologue
“What the fuck, Daniel?” Marcus roared with his copy of the Barvale Clan newsletter in his hand.
It was still early morning, but the Alpha had been up for hours. Morning sickness, not his, but his mate’s, was a constant companion and it was wearing thin on his nerves.
“What did I do?” Daniel asked trying hard not to gaze adoringly at his mate and cub who were sitting over at the old scarred table in the Den’s kitchen.
“You gave out that ridiculous fucking phone number you got me? For fuck’s sake, Danny,” Taylor grumbled.
“What? I told you I didn’t want to write the damn thing!” Daniel replied angrily.
“Hey all, what’s with all the ruckus?” Nate entered the Den’s kitchen to see Clary, the Devlin boys’ housekeeper and fellow Bear Shifter, humming to herself as she stirred a large pot of what smelled like the beginnings of a savory clam chowder. The woman was a damn fine cook if he did say so himself. Usually, he loved a good chowder, but he was preoccupied as he had been for days now.
Leya, Krissy, and Lacey, the three most important women in the lives of his powerful and sometimes grumpy as fuck brothers, were sitting around the large kitchen table, oohing and aahing over the new addition to their family. Little Mia, his adorable baby niece, was doing something marvelous like gurgling or blinking with her wide bright eyes, while his three half-brothers were facing off in the middle of it all.
“Guys?” He tried again. The growing tension made his Bear want to burst free of his skin and that would not be a good thing with the way he was feeling just then.
“Did you see this?” Taylor demanded tossing his cell phone at Nate, who easily snatched it out of the air. Shifter reflexes and all.
It was only a few days after Taylor’s and Krissy’s destination wedding and as he skimmed the newsletter, Nate tried not to grin. Yup. Daniel had put his foot in it this time. Giving out a newly married man’s cell phone number was kinda insensitive. Especially since he’d assigned the cell phones to the immediate members of the family as Head Enforcer.
“You know Daniel made sure his cell number spelled out one-dum-bear, right?” Leya asked from her chair, her ever-growing belly was pushed up against the wood and Nate wondered if it bothered her for a second. Not that he stared long, he didn’t want to piss Marcus off. Taylor frowned at his sister-in-law and Nate wondered if the man really wanted to leave his mate a widow so soon?
“Yes, love, we knew that. You need anything?”
“No thank you, I’m fine,” she smiled radiantly with that special glow pregnant women seemed to have.
Marcus smiled down at his mate with a look of love so strong Nate felt himself blushing. Damn what he wouldn’t give to be able to express himself so freely. Luisa, he thought and turned to see Marcus drop a solid punch right on Taylor’s arm, probably for daring to frown at his beloved mate. Sensitive much? Fuck yeah.
“Ow! What? You know he’s the fucking jackass here!” Taylor threw a kitchen towel at Daniel who ignored it as he bent over his precious daughter to tickle her tummy.
The baby was just learning to sit up on her own and even Nate had to admit, she was pretty darn amazing. Cubs. My cubs. Mate. Now. His half-grizzly half-Black Bear grumbled from inside of him and he turned his back on his brothers antics for a moment to get himself under control.
Shit. He’d hoped to have this crap all handled by now, but she was avoiding him. Luisa, the bear growled her name again. He felt his Shift coming on strong. Fuck.
He ran out of the house, hitting the woods before he could burst out of his clothes. Again. Shit was happening pretty damn frequently since he’d been back from Mexico.
“Nate?”
“Bro?”
“You alright?”
He ignored his brothers’ calls and kept running, needing to put space between them before he confessed his sins to them all. Krissy was gonna be pissed. That was a given. But what the hell was he supposed to do?
Finding his half-brothers had been a real experience as far as he was concerned. Hell. Who knew the Devlin’s would welcome his sorry ass with open arms? His own little Texas Clan didn’t even want him. After the death of his mother, he had no reason to stay in that shitty little town full of bigoted Shifters who hated him for being a half breed.
Well, fuck them, he thought, as he always did when that small Clan he’d grown up in invaded his mind. The letter he’d discovered from his father, Ignatius Devlin, to his mother had brought him here and he hadn’t regretted it since.
Sure, it was awkward at times, but he’d made peace with the old man. Iggy, he couldn’t bring himself to call him dad, had never known about Nate. Not until he’d come to Barvale and gotten summoned to the Den by Marcus after accidentally hitting on Taylor’s mate.
He hadn’t known the curvy Bear Shifter, now Taylor’s wife, was taken. Her scent had been mildly attractive, and she was good to look at. Of course, now he knew why he’d taken an instant liking to the she-Bear. It was all because of her.
Luisa Sposa. The new doctor in town was shorter than her sister Krissy. Sexier too, in Nate’s eyes. The she-Bear had chin length blonde hair and stunningly large eyes the color of ground espresso beans. She had full breasts and an indented waist that flared out to rounded hips made to
tempt any man to sin.
She looked like a 1950’s pin-up girl, all curves and legs in a petite package. A body heaven made for sin. And she was all his. Nate’s fated mate or she would be if she just accepted it already. Fuck me.
He opened his large jaws and let out a mighty roar. The beast angry and wanting his mate. Mine. His angry tread tore up the grass as he sank his claws into the moist earth. He’d run all the way from the Den, but the Bear was still angry.
He needed an outlet for all his frustrations, but nothing would work. He needed her. Rejection stung and the pain of their separation burned through him. Worthless, he thought, and his Bear growled deep and low.
His animal did not like it when Nate blamed himself for his mate’s skittishness. He urged the man to be patient but firm. To show her he was hers. Claim.
Nate paused his huge furry body for a second as he got near the shore of Lake Ursa. His Bear stood up on his back legs and watched the still water as his human mind wandered back to just the week before.
Seven days, ten hours, and forty-three minutes earlier…
Mexico was hot. Like really fucking warm. Especially to a half-Grizzly half-Black Bear. The plans were made, security set, and Nate Cordoza had nothing else to do. So, he changed into a pair of swim trunks immediately upon arrival.
He’d opted for a dip in the ocean while the others chose to get ready for the party. He didn’t understand the fuss. Shower, shave, put on clothes, what was it that took others so fucking long?
Here he was for Krissy and Taylor’s destination wedding. Whatever the fuck that was. He didn’t really know. Apparently, it was a trend nowadays. To a Texas boy, a trip to Mexico meant hopping in his truck and taking a weekend to drive down to the Gulf.
To his New Jersey brethren, it was more like a week-long party at an exclusive resort that began with a trip in the Bear Claw Bakery private jet. Fuckers sold a lot of pastry, he thought fondly.
Shit. He wasn’t poor. Not exactly. But Nate wasn’t a billionaire. He’d worked his way through college earning his degrees in Fine Arts and Graphic Design online. It had been touch and go as money wasn’t the easiest to come by in his youth, but he’d done it. Sure, his mother had helped, but he’d paid her back before the end. Thinking of her still made his hearts squeeze in his chest. She was the only person in the world who ever truly loved him.
After graduating, he then put his considerable skills to use for Grave Industries. Nate was the sole creator of several one-of-a-kind illustrations for the online roleplaying game, WolfMoon, that launched the Werewolf owned company into stardom.
He’d even gotten Krissy, his soon to be sister-in-law, to pose for him before she’d officially mated Taylor, his half-brother. Good thing too.
No mated Shifter was going to let an unmated male near his woman. Especially not naked as she’d been in order for him to capture her during her Shift. She was a wonderful girl. Real in a way many weren’t in this cyberage of instant gratification and self-importance. Taylor was a lucky Bear.
Nate smiled at the waiters and hotel staff as he jogged down to the sand. Pools were alright, but he preferred natural swimming holes like lakes. He just loved the sea. His Bear was sensitive to artificial things, so chlorine filters were out, but saltwater was just fine with him. The sun shone down on his dark head as he tossed his t-shirt onto what he thought was an empty lounge chair.
“Hey!” the voice seemed to reach out and stroke his beast, the Bear inside him taking notice immediately.
“Shit. Sorry, honey, I didn’t see you over the back there,” he grinned as he walked around to the front of the lounge chair to get a better view of the owner of that familiar voice. Luisa Sposa.
The scent of the ocean had momentarily kept her sweet vanilla mint fragrance from reaching his nostrils, but now that he knew she was there it immediately invaded his senses. Warm and bright, just like her it stirred his Bear and other things. Fuck, he just hoped his trunks were big enough. Grrr.
As usual, his Bear was standing up and taking stock of her presence. The same way the beast did whenever she was anywhere near. Mine. Nate smiled and played off the intensity with which his Bear prodded the ground of the metaphysical plane of reality where he resided when Nate walked the Earth on two feet.
He’d done a pretty good job keeping his distance from the petite she-Bear. It hadn’t been easy. Not when he knew what he knew about her. A whole year of wanting and waiting since he’d first seen the small beauty.
“Yeah, yeah, I am aware that I’m short,” she replied and crinkled her pert nose before standing up in front of him.
The top of her head barely reached his shoulder and it was damned near impossible to stop himself from reaching out and gathering her in his arms. Mine. Still, he resisted. He knew she needed time.
“Not short, honey, you’re petite. Petite and perfect,” he countered with his best smile on his face in an attempt to seem friendly and not so overwhelming.
Though, truth be told, his Bear wanted him to just toss her over his shoulder and drag her away to some cave where he could spend the next few days claiming her and marking her over and over again.
“Same difference, cowboy,” she snorted the last word as if it was funny and sashayed past him in her teeny tiny, hot pink bikini.
Nate growled at seeing all that sumptuous skin on display. Silky and smooth. Her lush curves were highlighted by the sun. The valley between her ample breasts on display as was the curve of her ass in those barely there bottoms.
Shit. His cock grew hard just glimpsing her sweet form. There was no denying that Luisa had a killer body. He could just picture her wrapped around him. Grrr. Probably a bad idea in his yellow swim shorts, he huffed out a breath and followed her towards the surf. He needed to cool down fast.
Those tiny pink triangles did nothing to cover her. She was temptation and promise personified. His gaze was rivetted to her as she walked away on those long legs. Yup, despite her short stature, those babies were about a mile long and led up to full hips, a gorgeous peach of an ass, then finally, to her small, softly indented waist.
Fuck. If he could see all that hotness, it meant others could too. His head whipped right and left glaring at the other beach goers who were gawking at her as if they had any right. Shifters were notoriously possessive over there mates. But she’s not ours yet, he reminded the Bear.
Grrr. Mine. Shit. Nate counted to ten and closed his eyes. He tried to put a leash on his beast, to stop the animal from becoming enraged. Sure, the animal inside him had recognized her as his fated mate a year ago, but he hadn’t exactly approached her about the fact that she was his one and only just yet.
He wasn’t a coward, but Luisa was a doctor and a precious she-Bear. There weren’t many female Shifters out there to be claimed these days. Where he was from, they were often saved and used as bargaining tools for trading with other Clans.
Fucked up and ancient, yes, but that’s the way it was. The Barvale Clan was different, that was true, but he couldn’t help but think he wasn’t good enough. She deserved so much more than he had to offer. No. We are meant to be. Perfect. Destiny. Mates, the Bear argued, and Nate couldn’t fault him for that. The Bear wanted his mate. Now.
The whole concept of fated mates was something of a fairytale to Nate. Though lately it seemed the universe had chosen to grant that special blessing to all Shifters once more, if his contacts through his work for WolfMoon were to be believed.
Perhaps it was because of dwindling numbers, or maybe it was the destruction of the old Werewolf curse, the curse of Natalis, that had affected all of the Shifter World, whether they knew it or not.
It didn’t really matter to Nate. He just knew one thing was true above all else. The very prim and proper, maybe even a little uptight, Luisa Sposa was all his. Mine. And he’d been trying for months now just to get her to smile at him without being a pushy jerk.
He watched as she dove beneath the waves, holding his breath until he spotted her pretty l
ittle blonde head surfacing once again. Determined to ignore him as always, he noted with a frown. She seemed to purposefully swim towards a group of single young men wading in the surf.
He heard them greet her and her noncommittal response. The woman was a hard ass. He’d often admired her spunk and sass, but he was on edge. Especially with her splashing so close to those men. Grrr. He’d given her the space he thought she needed, perhaps he’d given her too much?
He frowned as one man, tall for a normal, swam up to her and reached out to take a small clump of seaweed out of her hair. He was all teeth, smiling at her as if he had a secret and couldn’t wait to share. And she was eating it up! Nate had to pull out all the stops just then, holding on to his beast by the back of his neck while he watched the normal whisper something into her ear.
Whatever it was, she must not have liked it. Luisa’s dark eyes narrowed, and Nate’s Bear reacted. His animal surging forward, prickling along his skin, but before he could swim out to her, his fiery little honey reached out with one closed fist and socked the stunned normal right square in his jaw.
Prim and proper she might be some of the time, but the rest of the time his soon-to-be mate was a total badass. Pride and satisfaction flowed through him. She was perfect.
The normal held onto his no doubt aching jaw and looked as if he was about to say something back to her. Wisely, the fool noticed the tall, menacingly dark shadow that had fallen over him. He looked behind him to see Nate standing right next to where the guy paddled to stay afloat. In the five and half feet of water, Nate’s extremely tall frame stood a good eighteen inches above the near clear liquid.
“You were saying?” Nate drawled.
“Uh, nothing. My apologies, if you’ll just excuse me,” he murmured and swam back towards his group. Nate followed him with his eyes, making sure he did indeed swim towards his buddies before turning back to Luisa.