by C. D. Gorri
“I had that,” she said, treading water, “you don’t have to recue me.”
“I know that, honey girl, but I couldn’t just stand there,” he said in a low voice.
“Fine,” she replied.
“Fine,” he echoed unable to resist the urge to trace the line of her face from her pale blonde hairline, to her dark brown eyebrows, all the way to her plump pink lips. Satin, her skin felt like satin in the water against his fingertips.
“It is natural, in case you were wondering too,” she muttered. He looked at her, cocked his head to the side waiting for an explanation.
“My hair. I’m a natural blonde but my eyebrows and lashes are dark,” she shrugged as if that explained whatever question she’d imagined he’d asked. Then it hit him Hell.
He wanted to turn around and go after the sonovabitch who dared ask her such a thing! Grrr.
“Hey cowboy, I’m fine,” she said with her small hand on his shoulder. The contact sent lightning strikes of awareness zipping through his body and he couldn’t help but growl. Mine.
Her eyes widened, the chocolate depths swallowing him whole and he cursed the stupid fucking normal for talking such foulness to his woman. Shit. None of it mattered to him. Hair color, eye color, height, weight. Nate didn’t care if her eyebrows were blonde, brown, or purple. She was beautiful. Perfect. Mine.
“Luisa,” he began. For a moment it looked as if she was softening to him. Her head tilted back, both hands resting on his broad shoulders and he slowly pulled her closer in the water, holding her afloat.
His eyes glittered at her as she swallowed nervously. He didn’t want her nervous. No. He wanted her blind with passion and deep in lust like he was. Fuck. It was more though. So much more than a physical itch he needed to scratch.
It was his heart she held in his hands whether she knew it or not. Suddenly she pushed off him and he would’ve stumbled if not for the water. His she-Bear packed a powerful punch indeed.
“Save it, cowboy. I’ve got to go. Bridesmaid duties and all,” she said quickly and headed for shore.
Damn. He just watched as she got out of the water and walked with her back straight to gather her towel and wrap it around her luscious curves. Then she just walked away from him. Never looking back. Not even once.
Sassy little thing. His Bear wanted her even more for it. Not only was she gorgeous and smart, but she was strong-willed as well. A real hellion. She will make a good mate, the animal grumbled in his mind’s eye.
A wolf whistle sounded from that same throng of normals, and Nate growled loudly in their direction. His beast enjoyed the way they yelped and swam for the shore. Fucking better run. She’s mine.
Nate snorted and dove once more under the surf. Maybe he could clear his head if he swam hard enough or long enough. But the truth was, the water wasn’t deep enough for him to drown out the burning desire that roared to life every time he looked at her. She was everything to him. His heart and soul cried out for her, but she refused to acknowledge it, to accept him. Pain radiated through him at her rejection.
And seven days, ten hours, and forty-five minutes after that day in Mexico, he still couldn’t forget her. Mine.
“Hey Nate, why’d you run off?” Daniel’s Bear communicated with his through their Clan bond. The strange intrusion was oddly welcomed. At the very least, it shook him out of his painful memories.
“Yeah, bro, what’s up,” asked Taylor, still in his human form.
Nate grumbled and pounded the earth with his front claws. He didn’t want to talk about it. Didn’t know how to admit what he’d done. Daniel head-butted him from behind, hardly moving him.
The slightly smaller, yet strong as fuck Black Bear was obviously trying to get him to open up. But Nate wasn’t ready.
The ground shook as another Bear joined them. This Black Bear was large, thick, and brawnier than all of them, with darker fur and huge fangs that he bared for all three of his brothers.
“Yes, Marcus, you’re the Alpha,” said Taylor and yet, despite his sarcasm, he averted his eyes in reverence to his oldest brother’s position.
Continuing to use his mind link, Nate faced his three half-brothers. He wasn’t sure what to do. His old Clan had different rules, practically none when it came to women’s rights. Instinctively, he knew the Barvale Clan was different, even though he was still unaware of the particulars.
“Okay,” he said, manning up and facing his brothers, “I have something to tell you about me and Luisa.”
“Luisa?” asked Taylor. It seemed that even the mention of his sister-in-law set him on guard.
“Yes. I, uh, we’re mated. She and I.”
“What?” Taylor roared.
“Oh fuck, man, Krissy’s gonna be pissed,” snorted Daniel.
“Nate,” said Marcus, silencing the others, “please, explain.”
“Look, I’ve known she was the one, my fated mate since your engagement party, Marcus-”
“That was a year ago,” he said and if Bear’s could frown, his was. Deeply.
“Yes. I know that. I’ve been trying to give her time, space,” he said and paced again.
“Go on,” growled his Alpha.
“At the wedding, Luisa had been drinking some shots of tequila-”
“Like sixteen shots of that hard, clear stuff,” snorted Daniel again and Nate just growled at the man. Fucking dick couldn’t give him a break.
“Okay, she’d been drinking a fuck load of shots of tequila. We’d had words earlier, flirting if you will, and she was, I don’t know, feeling good I guess and one thing led to another-” he’d Changed back to his human form before he knew it, unable to talk about her, about what he’d done, as his Bear. Hell, the beast saw nothing wrong with it, but the man knew better.
He needed to be human, to speak with his voice instead of his mind. Little did he know he should’ve kept his fur. The sound of his brother moving met his ears too late after his rushed Change back to human.
“Fuck,” he grunted as he stumbled. Pain exploded behind his right temple and he bared his teeth ready to retaliate before he got his bearings.
“You dick! That’s my wife’s little sister!”
“Easy, easy,” Daniel switched skins and was now standing between Nate and Taylor with both hands raised. The Enforcer ready to take both of them apart should the need arise.
“Enough,” roared Marcus. The fact that three of the brothers were standing in the summer heat, dicks swinging in the wind, seemed to matter very little to all of them. Shifters were pretty much used to nudity.
“Look, no disrespect to Luisa, but I am assuming you two had sex? She was a consenting adult?” Nate growled, eyes smartly averted, but answered his Alpha’s question with a quick nod.
“So, what is the issue?” Marcus continued.
“I marked her.”
Fists flew at the statement. A few well aimed kicks too. Nate would have been able to hold his own had he not already been feeling like shit as a result of being apart from his mate over the past week. The thud of his body hitting the ground beneath his two brothers’ combined weight echoed loudly throughout the woods. As was their Alpha’s bellowed commands following the free for all that had begun at his announcement.
“Get off him, you idiots,” Marcus held his head as the three younger Bears stood up slowly. Blood trickled from Taylor’s nose where Nate had elbowed him, and Daniel was wheezing, trying to catch his breath.
“Guess that sympathy weight thing is real?” remarked Taylor who got another elbow, this one from Daniel, right in his gut.
“Oof!” Taylor groaned and sank to his knees, while Nate high-fived Daniel.
“Right,” Daniel said and nodded.
Nate hadn’t noticed really, but he supposed the older Bear had gained a few pounds during his wife’s pregnancy. Not that he was unfit in any way. The guy was a brick fucking house as far as Nate was concerned.
“Okay, fuckheads, you ready to listen?” Marcus asked. They were
Bears, not idiots, so the three younger men nodded.
“Good. Now, if you marked Luisa, may I ask why you’re not living with her? Hell, how the fuck is your Bear not tearing you a new asshole for being apart from her?” His honest curiosity surprised Nate who wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to an Alpha who was as caring and open as his older brother.
“Well,” he hedged, not sure his brothers would believe him.
“Well what?”
“Yeah man, I’d fucking go nuts if I’d been separated from Lacey after we mated,” Daniel added.
“Well, it’s been hard alright,” he grumbled and ran a hand through his thick hair.
“So?”
“So, she’s been ignoring me.”
“What?”
“Oh dude, you gotta be kidding me?”
“Wish I was, man. Truth is, I think she wants her career more than she wants a mate,” he finally admitted out loud and the truth of it fell on him like a ton of bricks crushing his chest.
“How is your Bear not ripping you apart balls first?” asked Daniel, his voice incredulous.
“It’s a near fucking thing,” Nate growled.
“Okay, boys, we need a plan.”
Nate looked at his three brothers and furrowed his eyebrows. The three men who looked a bit like him, who had grown up together, had readily taken him in with nothing more than a little instinct and a letter his mama had saved. Tears threatened to appear in his eyes, and he blinked hard against them because you know, he was a man after all and fuck that shit.
“What do you mean a plan?” He cleared his throat and asked.
“Well, little brother, I am talking about a fucking foolproof Bear Claw Bakery brotherhood plan,” said Marcus.
“Hell yeah,” said Daniel.
“Hell to the fucking yeah,” echoed Taylor.
A loud rumble echoed from their left and all four boys looked to see a slightly graying, large Black Bear amble towards them. The four men tensed before Marcus broke out into a wide grin.
“Am I late?” The huge Bear spoke through their Clan link.
“Nope,” Marcus answered.
“Good. Hello boys. Nate,” he nodded his great ursine head at the new addition to this family.
“Let’s get you properly mated, son,” said Ignatius Devlin and all three of his half-brothers nodded their agreement.
Well, alright, thought Nate.
Chapter 1
Luisa stretched her back as she headed for the pot of what was probably stale or burnt coffee in the doctor’ lounge at this time of night.
The Barvale Urgent Care Clinic was a twenty-four-hour operation open to normals and supernaturals, but most of her patients tended to be from her Clan. The Bear Shifters of Barvale, New Jersey were a rowdy group made up of a couple of hundred Black Bear Shifters and the odd Kodiak, Grizzly, and Polar here and there. Transplants to the northeastern state, but welcome, nonetheless.
The Devlin brothers opened the Clinic for the community as part of their give back program, having made billions when they’d decided to go international with Bear Claw Bakery. Who knew the entire world would go nuts for some organic, non-GMO, honey glazed sweets?
Not that she could blame anyone. Those bear claws were damn good, and with Leya, the Alpha’s mate, heading up their new marketing campaigns, she wouldn’t be surprised to see their goods featured at the White House and the United Nations! As it was, she rummaged through the leftovers on the break table and was disappointed to find every single one of them gone! Pooh!
She cringed at the faux curse word but having to work with kids meant cleaning up her potty mouth. Krissy had laughed at her when she told her what she was trying to do, but she just glared at her older, happily mated sister. No, I will not think about mates cause then I’ll think about him and I have work to do!
Back to the bakery. She’d almost gone nuts when a certain royal couple with a brand-new baby was seen with a specially shipped box of fresh strawberries and cream claws just the other day! Luisa sighed. Boy was that redheaded prince gorgeous! Okay, so she used to have quite a thing for naughty Prince Harry. Although lately her taste ran to tall, tanned, green eyed Bears.
Grrr. Her she-Bear raised herself up in that metaphysical plane of reality where she existed when Luisa wore her human skin. Easy there, she hushed her Bear. She knew why the animal was angry, but she didn’t want to think about it.
Sixteen hours into her double shift, she still had a long way to go before she could get home and rest. No rest. Get mate. The she-Bear inside her was pissed as hell. One week. You’ve denied us a full week. Want. Now. Luisa closed her eyes and counted to ten.
It had been one week. Her Bear was correct about that. One week since her sister Krissy had finally married the man of her dreams, Taylor Devlin. One week since their private jet had touched down in the hot and tempestuous Cozumel, Mexico. One week since she’d been claimed by her mate.
“Shit, I mean, pooh!” She groaned, unconsciously rubbing that spot over her heart where he’d bitten down, slicing through her flesh like butter and staking his claim for the entire Shifter world to see. Shivers ran through her body at the light contact and she whimpered as her sex grew moist and pulsed with need.
“Excuse me, doctor?” Nurse Colby opened the door, poking his shaggy brown head in and stopping when he saw her. She quickly straightened, not wanting him or any other male to see her like that. Just Nate.
Colby was young and dedicated. A Clanmate who’d managed to rise out of the stigma of being a male nurse in the highly patriarchal society of Shifters. He came from a good hardworking family and claimed to love his chosen profession. Luisa knew him from high school. Colby Lee was a good man, a good Bear, and a damn good nurse. She nodded her head expectantly waiting for him to continue.
“Uh, we got, Clan problems,” he murmured low enough so that any normal passing would not hear, but she had no trouble discerning his words. She ignored the slight flare of his nostrils and glittering of his eyes. Staring at him cool as any ice queen she nodded her head.
“Alright, Nurse Colby. Remember we’re calling them Code Black for now?” He ducked his head, cheeks blazing pink. Clearly, he’d forgotten, but she’d let it slide. They’d only been open a few weeks and this was new to all of them.
Shifters were not known in regular society. Their survival depended on keeping themselves separate, a secret from normals or the human world. Normals could be such monsters, she cringed at the thought.
Of course, there were some who felt that Shifters and others should come out and live openly in society, but Luisa knew better. She’d gone to college and medical school. Saw what people did to things they didn’t understand. A hundred years of modern medicine and we are still glorified butchers, she thought with a frown.
She shook her head away from the melancholic turn of thought. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that technology had simply not caught up yet with the medical world. Yes, there were amazing advances every day, but the really miraculous ones were kept somewhere in a lab under lock and key. Doing no one any real good, she thought again angrily.
“Doctor?” Colby interrupted her thoughts as she took a swig of the bitter black coffee in her mug. Ugh. Must be a day old at least!
“Yes, I’m coming,” she sighed and followed the tall nurse down the clean corridor to exam room three.
The familiar scent of autumn sage and sun kissed skin assaulted her nostrils. Her heart sped up. What was he doing here? Then the coppery aroma of fresh spilled blood hit her, and she almost stumbled.
Nothing you haven’t smelled a thousand times before, she reminded herself angrily. And yet. Straightening her shoulders, Luisa stepped into the room. Her Bear roared at the sight that met her eyes.
Four enormous Bear Shifters crowded the table in the small area. All of them reeked of sweat, fur, and earth. Not bad smells, but out of place for her sterile clinic. Her curiosity would have to wait.
She pushed through the throng, ignoring t
hem as she neared the table. Her sense of urgency growing with every second. Her Bear was nearly in a rage. She’d smelled her mate, and he was injured!
“Nate?” The question sprang from her lips as she took in his form. He was lying on the table with blood gushing from his head.
“Hey now, honey girl. There you are,” he smiled, his Texas drawl thick with his nearly unconscious state.
“What the hell, I mean, heck, happened?” She blurted out the question as she checked his pupils and ordered tests.
“Well, you see Doc, it’s complicated is what it is,” Bowie stepped forward. She recognized him as one of four recent transplants from some far away Polar Bear Clan up in Alaska.
He was hugely tall and muscled, with a shock of white hair against his caramel colored skin. Ice blue eyes looked into hers, and she could sense his regret.
“Complicated? It looks like somebody hit him with a crowbar,” she growled and struggled to take off his shirt. One of the other Polar Bears, a set of triplets if she recalled correctly, lifted him, while another stripped the cotton shirt off Nate’s broad shoulders.
“That would be Locke. Though it wasn’t a crowbar, it was a tire iron.”
“What?!”
“We were training,” he said as if that explained everything.
“Explain,” she hissed as she poked his wound, “now!”
“Nate was training us, and well he told us to mount a surprise attack. He just maybe forgot to say when,” the one called Tonic spoke next.
“Why so worried?” Nate smiled drowsily and she growled again.
“Do you four have any idea how difficult it is to give a grown Bear Shifter a concussion?” Luisa spoke through tight lips as she took in the four gargantuan Bears.
Polar Shifters were notoriously big, but these guys were damned near giants to the petite she-Bear. Not that she cared, her Black bear was furious that they’d hurt her mate. Mate. Mine.
NO! She told her Bear firmly. Now was not the time for another trip down sinfully-delicious-sexy-times-lane. Of course that was exactly where her mind went. Holy hell. One night of superb loving from her now unconscious half-Grizzly half-Black Bear mate and she was hooked.