Stolen by her Bear (Black Ridge Bears Shifter Romance Series Book 1)

by Felicity Heaton

  Saint. Was he here? Her nerves returned as she thought about the fact he might be out there, waiting for her to make an appearance.

  “Someone is miles away,” Ivy’s soft voice stole into her thoughts.

  Holly shook herself back to the room and smiled an apology at her.

  Ivy looked beautiful in her more traditional corseted strapless dress, her dark hair twisted in a plait at the back of her head, exposing her mating mark. Her hazel eyes twinkled as she helped Gabi fasten her short, white fur-trimmed cape over her shoulders and smoothed it down against her long, figure-hugging modern ivory dress that almost resembled the green one Holly was wearing.

  Only Gabi’s one had a slit up the left thigh that Holly was glad hers was missing. She was self-conscious in it enough without flashing her thigh with every step.

  Gabi nervously checked her blonde hair, smoothing the braid that encircled her head like a crown, a flicker of fear in her blue-grey eyes. “I know we’re already mated to them, but this makes it all feel horribly real.”

  Ivy laughed at that. “I wonder if they’re feeling the same way?”

  “Cobalt looked ready to pass out when he left us. If he’s nervous, I can only imagine how Rath and Storm feel.” Ember smiled and released Holly, picked up the two larger bouquets of white roses spotted with glittering diamante, and held them out to Ivy and Gabi. “Let’s go find out, ladies.”

  Holly picked up her own smaller bouquet, thinking about what Ember had said. Was Saint feeling as nervous as she was? She wasn’t really sure what to say to him when she saw him, and worried what he wanted to say to her. She hadn’t imagined the first male to make her feel something would be the one male in the world for her—her fated mate.

  Ember sighed and stroked her arm. “Come on. Quicker you see him again, the quicker you’ll feel better. Just treat it like a date. You’ve had dates before.”

  “Yeah, but not with my fated one.” And not with a male she wanted. She didn’t need to say that for Ember to hear it, knew it as her friend gave her a sympathetic, warm smile. Holly blew out her breath. “What if I do something wrong? What if I make a fool of myself?”

  By fool of herself, she meant hurling herself at Saint and climbing him like a tree in front of everyone to stake a claim on him.

  When they had returned to the Creek, she had been faced with not only the brothers and their mates. She had been faced with half of her pride, and among the people who had made it to the Creek were close to a dozen unmated females.

  All of them more beautiful than she was.

  “What if Saint…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

  Ember pulled her into a hug. “Now you’re talking crazy. I saw the way he looked at you, Holly. Saint is going to live up to his name. He’s not going to be interested in anyone but you.”

  Gods, she hoped so, because she wasn’t sure she would survive the blow if the one male she wanted ended up being more interested in someone else.

  It was nerves talking. She was getting herself worked up over nothing, something which Ember had assured her was perfectly natural for a female when they found their true mate.

  “If he so much as looks at another woman, we’ll set the brothers on him… but not in a vicious brawl kind of way. I think he’s had enough of that. I meant it in a make them corner him and teach him how a woman should be treated kind of way. Oh heck, screw getting the men involved. We’ll do the cornering and teaching.” Ivy beamed at her and Holly knew she was serious. “No man in this world can stand up to us ladies when we stick together.”

  It felt good to have Ivy, Gabi and Ember on her side. She had always wanted sisters, and Ember had grown to be like one for her, and now she had two more. She would swap her brothers for them in a heartbeat if she could have them as her real family.

  She followed Ember out into the chilly afternoon air, breathed through her nerves as her gaze lifted to the marquee. Had Saint come? She hoped he had.

  Flint anxiously shifted foot-to-foot outside the marquee, a look of relief crossing his face as he spotted the brides, Ember and Holly.

  “About time,” he muttered and looked them all over, flashing them a grin. “Ladies, you all look incredible. Let’s get this show on the road. I need a beer. Someone brought their new baby with them and Yasmin is melting into a puddle over the chubby little bastard.”

  Holly tried not to smile, but Flint noticed her lips wobbling and frowned at her.

  “I’d watch it… I swear Saint was looking fit to want one of his own just a second ago.” Flint waved her away when her eyes widened. “I kid. I kid. I think maybe he wanted to eat it.”

  “Flint,” Ember snapped.

  Holly was too busy staring at the entrance of the marquee to chastise him herself, her heart drumming as awareness grew inside her, bringing her nerves back to the surface. Saint was in there. He had come.

  And he was going to see her in this dress.

  An urge to bolt shot through her.

  Gabi pushed her forwards. “March your butt in there. Running solves nothing. Believe me.”

  Holly steeled herself and focused straight ahead of her, trying to shut out the rest of the world as the music started and she walked forwards. She felt Saint’s eyes on her the second she entered, the feel of his intense gaze heating her blood to a thousand degrees and making her heart pound. She tried to keep her eyes off him, but couldn’t.

  One glance was all it took to suck the air from the room and electrify what remained.

  Gods, he was handsome with his damp dark hair tousled and a black shirt hugging his broad chest.

  His rich brown eyes seared her, sent another wave of electricity arcing through her, making her sizzle with awareness of him.

  “Eyes front,” Ember whispered out of the corner of her mouth, startling Holly into looking towards the altar. “You can feast on your handsome bear all you want later.”

  Holly wanted to growl at Ember for calling her bear handsome.

  Her bear.

  She shivered again as she felt his gaze on her nape, deep awareness rolling through her. He was her bear. He was hers and she was going to stake a claim on him. Her fangs itched at the thought, blood heating further as her mind raced forwards to imagine the moment.

  She took Ivy’s bouquet and drifted into position to one side of the altar, did her best to take in the ceremony and even teared up a little as the couples made their vows. She glanced towards Saint, wishing she could see him through the crowd. What did he make of this? It was unusual for shifters to have weddings, and she had never been to one before, but she loved it.

  But not as much as she loved the shifter version of getting married.

  A mating was a beautiful declaration of love and was an unbreakable vow. It was forever.

  “You may now kiss the bride,” Cobalt said, a look of relief flitting across his grey eyes as he lowered his cards to his side and his shoulders relaxed.

  Rath gathered Ivy into his arms and kissed her, and Storm did the same with Gabi. Holly’s heart swelled as she looked at the two couples, as she watched Ember going to Cobalt and kissing him too. She wanted the love that they all shared.

  And she had the feeling she had found it.

  She looked for Saint, grimaced as everyone crowded the two couples, pressing her towards them as they all hurried to congratulate their alpha and Storm. She pushed her palms against one male, twisted and reached for Ember, seeking a way out of the crush.

  Her breath hitched as a gap between two people opened and she spotted Saint making a beeline for her, her lungs seizing as her gaze collided with his and she couldn’t look away. Such hunger. Such ferocity. He pushed through the crowd, easily parting them despite his injured shoulder.

  “Congratulations,” he muttered to Rath and Storm, and seized her arm the moment he was within reach.

  He pulled her through the crowd and over to one side.

  “You all right?” His gruff tone backed up the spark of anger in his dark
eyes. “You looked like you were getting squashed.”

  Holly shrugged it off, quivered from his touch as he flexed his fingers around her bare arm, the heat of his hand on it like a brand. She was on fire for this male, and he had to see it. His eyes dropped to her mouth, scalding her lips, rousing an ache.

  A need.

  She licked her lips.

  Saint groaned and scrubbed his free hand down his mouth. “You look beautiful. You are beautiful.”

  She felt exposed as he gave her a slow once-over, his eyes darkening as his pupils dilated to devour the rich brown of his irises, the hunger that ignited in them unmistakable. Arousing. She shivered from his possessive gaze, had a hard time resisting the urge to throw herself at him after all.

  Ember had been right. Saint was done for. She could see it in his eyes, in the need that sparked in them, one that wasn’t all about desire.

  “I want to get you away from all these males.” His dark gaze flicked to beyond her, narrowed as it scanned the room.

  His gaze strayed back to her lips and she knew what he wanted, because she wanted it too.

  She didn’t resist him when he led her to the entrance of the marquee where it was quiet and then out into the fading light, didn’t feel the cold as she gazed up at him, unable to tear her eyes away from his lips or her thoughts away from finally kissing him.

  She tensed, shaken from her reverie as his hands brushed her shoulders, and smiled as she realised what he had done. He gathered his coat closed around her and then drew her into his arms, trapping her hands against his hard chest. His heart thundered against her palms, rushing as fiercely as hers was as she stared up at his face, as anticipation swirled inside her and an ache formed, a desperate need only he could ease.

  A flicker of a frown danced on his eyebrows, there and gone in a heartbeat, and then he dipped his head and captured her mouth.

  Fire swept through her as he claimed her lips, his kiss possessive and fierce, dominant in a way that had her melting into him, on the verge of clawing at him as a need for more crashed over her. She leaned into the kiss, lost herself in it as his heat and his taste branded itself on her mind, as it roused a wicked urge to claw him anyway, to dominate him and stake a claim on him. She moaned and trembled, every inch of her quivering as he gathered her closer, as their tongues brushed and tangled.

  She gasped at air, a little dizzy and wild with a hunger for more, as he pulled back on a curse.

  “That was…” he mumbled, sounding unsure of himself, or perhaps he just felt as off-balance as she did as she swayed in his arms, hazy all over. “I hadn’t expected that.”

  She tingled all over, aching for more as she murmured, “That was some first kiss.”

  He tensed.

  Holly’s eyes shot open, shock sweeping through her too, fear colliding with it.

  “A first kiss for us… is what I meant. That was some first kiss for us.” The words rushed from her, but she could see in his wide eyes that the truth was out there now.

  He knew.

  Her thoughts tangled and twisted into a blur as she stared at him, wanting to say something, to show him it wasn’t a big deal, even when she knew it was.

  “You can’t miss the celebration.” Ivy grabbed her arm, making her jump and blink, and throw a thank you to the gods as Ivy pulled her back into the tent. “You can play with the bear later.”

  Oh gods.

  Holly glanced back at Saint, seared by the fire in his eyes.

  She wanted that so badly.

  Chapter 19

  Saint was undone.

  He couldn’t move, could only stare after Holly as Ivy pulled her into the crowd, as his beautiful blushing female kept glancing his way, a flicker of nerves in her grey-green eyes. He couldn’t think straight, could only repeat one thing in his head, over and over again, trying to make it sink in. Unable to believe it.

  Holly was a virgin.

  Untouched by any male.

  A virgin.

  Knox waggled a bottle of beer in his face. “You look like you need this.”

  Saint shook himself and grabbed the bottle, lifted it to his lips and drank it down in one go.

  Beside him, Knox chuckled. “I admit, she does look stunning in that little number.”

  Saint growled at him, flashing fangs as an urge to rip his head off shot through him. Around them, several cougars fell silent and backed away. Knox held his hands up beside his head, his own bottle of beer dangling from the fingers of his right hand.

  “Fair enough. I won’t compliment her again.” Knox was quick to back off a step when Saint growled again, just the thought of Knox looking at her enough to have him wanting to throttle the male, and then lash out at every unmated cougar in the area.

  Knox went to the buckets and grabbed him another beer, looked at it and then grabbed a second. He came back to Saint and held both out to him.

  “Not sure it’ll help my mood,” Saint grumbled but took the beers anyway, exchanging his empty one for them. He swigged the first one as Knox disposed of their empties and came back to him.

  “You want to talk?” Knox shrugged when Saint growled low at him again. “Or not. We could just stand here drinking beer. Although, I’m feeling like the local freak a little.”

  Saint didn’t like the way the cougars kept stopping to stare at them either.

  “You think Lowe is all right?” Knox’s tone gained a worried note as he stared into the tent. He took a long pull on his beer and sighed, his blue gaze shifting to his right, towards the Ridge. “Not sure what the deal is with this human.”

  Saint wasn’t either, but he was determined to find out. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow. I wanted to have a word with him before we came here, but your brother was… confrontational.”

  Something he usually left to Knox.

  Knox took another long drink of his beer, his dark blond eyebrows meeting hard as he glared into the marquee. He was worried about Lowe, and so was Saint. Although he had the feeling he knew why the male had turned so territorial around the human.

  It was the same reason he was feeling extremely territorial himself as Holly did the rounds in the marquee, smiling at everyone she spoke to, glancing at him from time to time. A virgin. He blew out his breath, sucked one down and held it as he tried to calm his bear instincts. Keeping them in check had been difficult enough before, but now it was impossible. Every instinct he possessed roared at him to go to her, to shield her from the gaze of every male, whether they were mated or unmated. A black need to lash out at them curled through him, had his hands tightening around the bottles he held.

  They were suddenly gone, startling him back to Knox.

  Knox frowned at him as he clutched his own beer and both of Saint’s bottles. “You look ready to crush these, and I’m done doctoring your ass. I’ll give them back if you swear you’re not going to take out your aggression on perfectly innocent and good beer.”

  Saint huffed and snatched the one he had been drinking, lifted it to his lips and drained it. He sighed. “I can’t help it. Look at her. She’s beautiful… lights up that whole damned room.”

  Lit up his whole damned world.

  Knox chuckled and shook his head. “Never thought I’d see you lovesick… and here we are. Got the feeling you’re not the only lovesick bear at the Ridge either. Gods help me… I don’t want to be next. Maybe Rune and Maverick can come back and throw themselves under the love-bus for me? Spare me the horror of settling down?”

  Saint chuckled now. “The likelihood of either of them settling down is slim to none. I’m not sure they could handle a mate.”

  He sobered as he thought about that, went back to a night two decades ago, when he had raided the underground arena run by human hunters, one that catered to their twisted desires to watch shifters like Rune and Maverick trying to kill each other every night. Archangel were sick enough with their false noble cause to deal with only the dangerous non-humans, a lie used to cover the countless raids they carrie
d out on peaceful shifters like his pride.

  Like the one that had taken his parents from him.

  Taken the parents of so many of his kind over the years.

  The fact that there was also a faction within the hunter organisation that were running secret arenas made Saint want to return to his days of uncovering the locations of those disgusting places and taking part in raids on them.

  Freeing the shifters they had forced to fight in the cages.

  “You look ready to crush that bottle again.” Knox didn’t take it from him though. “Thinking about Rune and Mav?”

  Saint nodded. “I’m worried about them. I know they both prefer to be in the city during winter, but…”

  “I’ll call Maverick. Let him know we’re awake.” Knox placed a gentle hand on Saint’s left shoulder. “I’m sure they’re fine. They always are.”

  Saint nodded, tried to make himself believe that. He always worried when the two of them left Black Ridge, fear that they would end up captured and put through that brutal torture at the hands of humans again lingering at the back of his mind.

  “Watch your cougar. It’ll take your mind off it.” Knox tipped the neck of his beer towards the tent.

  It would take his mind off it, but it wouldn’t improve his mood. It took a sharp nosedive the instant he looked for her and found her dancing with Rath. The male was happily mated. He told himself that a thousand times as she smiled and talked to Rath. As he smiled at her and laughed. It didn’t dull the edge of Saint’s need to murder the male for touching what was his.

  “I think I need a little air.” Saint offered a tight smile to Knox when he looked as if he wanted to go with him, patted his shoulder and nodded.

  Thankfully, Knox didn’t follow him as he turned away from the marquee, heading for the bucket of beers. He set his third empty down in another bucket someone had placed beside the ones filled with beer and bottles of wine, and grabbed another beer. He carried it with him as he drifted past the grill and food, following the torchlit path to the firepit. The few cougars sitting there just glanced at him rather than stared, didn’t stop talking.