by M. L. Briers
“I hurt her. I’m not gentle. I’ll never find a mate-”
“Is that what this is about? Geez, what’s with the men around here and mates?”
“It’s not a laughing matter,” Tyler growled in anger.
“No, it’s not.” Connor agreed. “I’ve seen rougher bears than you melt when they found their damn mate.” Connor shot back.
“I don’t want a mate,” Tyler shook his head.
“Sure you don’t.” Connor shot back, and Tyler stopped in his tracks again, rounding on him. Connor’s hand came up in front of him. “I’m not going to fight you and give you what you want.”
“Then go away,” Tyler growled again.
“Be a damned bear, go live in the caves.” Connor snapped back at him.
“Mind your own damn business,” Tyler tossed up a hand and stalked away again. This time Connor waited so he could follow the man at a discreet distance. He guessed the bear had some kind of a death wish and pity party going on.
He’d damn well have to follow him to make sure that he didn’t do anything stupid. The bear was lucky he had all the damn time in the world, otherwise he might just have been on his own in this.
The bear would come around – he just needed time to lick his wounds.
The End.
BROTHERS
Pack Special
TYLER
BY
M. L. BRIERS
Copyright © 2016, M L Briers
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced whatsoever without written permission of the author, except for brief exerts in reviews. Any unauthorised reproduction or distribution of the material herein is illegal and may result in criminal proceedings. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to the internet or distributed via electronic or print without prior consent.
Note from the Author;
All names, places, and incidents contained herein are purely fictional and have no basis in actual events or linked to actual Humans, Witches, Vampires, Werewolves, Lycans, Werebears or persons living, dead or undead.
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CHAPTER ONE
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Tyler had come to a decision about his life. He was going to take the winter off. Hibernate in his bear form throughout the winter months in the caves near the water falls, and then he would see exactly how he felt on the other side of a damned good sleep.
Connor, the vampire, hadn’t stopped bugging him since he’d moved to the caves and he was close to losing it with the damn man. The vampire might have been older than sin but he didn’t have all of the answers, especially not the ones that Tyler was looking for.
The bear was hurting – because Tyler couldn’t forgive that part of himself that had attacked a female. The man hurting even more so, because that female had been his friend.
Life sucked – there was no other way to put it, and if Tyler had his way then he would have walked to the ends of the earth and just dropped off. The only trouble was that the damn vampire kept following him everywhere that he went.
Stealthy – the blood sucker was not. Tyler could pick up on him from half a mile away. Or maybe that was the damn plan, to always remind Tyler that he was there – like a walking blood bank-medicine chest intent on keeping him alive no matter what.
Mari, the female that he’d hurt, had come looking for him a few times, but he’d stayed well out of the way. Hidden in the depths of the caves where she seemed not to want to go, and he couldn’t blame her – She scented of nerves and a little bit of fear, and he couldn’t blame her for that either.
No, he’d decided that what was best for everyone was if he stayed out of the way for a few months.
Maybe it would help him.
Maybe it would force his human side to the back as the bear took over and then they would have to kill him.
Either way, it couldn’t hurt.
Tyler felt weary. His heart hurt and his mind was done trying to figure everything out.
He wanted to sleep.
Hell, he wanted to go to sleep and never wake up.
“Get your backside out here and face me, Tyler.” Cole’s deep voice echoed off of the walls within in the cave and made Tyler growl with the insane need to whip his backside one more time before he slept. Bloody him good and proper.
As second to the alpha at Tyler’s old clan, he and Cole had more than had their share of run-ins over the years. Tyler wasn’t clan anymore, he was pack and Cole had no damn authority over him.
“Go to hell, Cole,” Tyler growled back.
“From what I hear you got there first, boy,” Cole chuckled and Tyler seethed.
Tyler’s hands fisted at his sides as he stalked towards the entrance to the cave and squinted at the harsh daylight that glared in his eyes. Cole grunted at the sight of him.
“You look like crap,” Cole said. Never one to mince his words or spare anyone’s feelings. “Shrek called, he wants his face back.”
“I can wash up, you’re always gonna look that shitty,” Tyler growled. The corners of Cole’s mouth pulled upwards in amusement.
“I hear you’re planning on hibernating through winter,” Cole thrust his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and waited for Tyler to catch up.
“What about it?” Tyler shot back.
“Nothing,” Cole shrugged. “Just wanted to see if that was true.”
“It’s true.” Tyler had nothing to hide, expect the location of his den should Cole want to slit his throat while he slept, no that he would, Cole would prefer to watch the life drain out of his opponents eyes.
“You’re on pack land so the clan can’t keep an eye out for you.” Cole informed him.
“That’s the whole point.” Tyler growled.
He didn’t trust Cole or some of the others as far as he could throw them. He didn’t think they’d try to kill him, not really, but they might have tried to pull some stupid shit why he was out of it.
“It’s not right, Tyler. You should be on clan land if you’re going to hibernate.” Cole looked serious, more serious than he thought he’d ever seen him look before.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m good here,” Tyler was done with the conversation.
He didn’t know what Cole wanted and yet he didn’t care. He didn’t care for conversation too much these days, and he turned on his heels to go back into the cave.
“I know I never bettered you,” Cole offered, and brought Tyler to a halt. The man turned to look back at Cole. “When we were loopy with the magic spell, when we fought in the woods,” Cole explained. “I know you gave up, Tyler, and I know why.” Cole offered.
The magic spell that had caused Tyler’s problems in the first place. It was what had sent him insane with the need to kill wolves. Mari, the she-wolf, was just in the wrong damn place at the wrong damn time. But still…
Damn, but he hated magic.
Tyler grunted his contempt. With a shake of his head he dismissed Cole.
“You’re full of it, Cole.” He started back into the cave again.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Cole called out. Hoping his words would reach the man on an inner level, but Tyler kept walking. “It was the magic, Tyler.” Cole shouted as he watched Tyler disappear around the corner of a jagged rock.
Cole sighed. With a shake of his head he turned away from the cave and walked away.
He’d tried. Nobody could say that he hadn’t tried to help his friend, but Tyler had always been strung differently to other bears.
The man took everything to his heart and let things fester within his soul. He was a good man, kind and considered in his actions, and he hadn’t been a good fit in the White Wolf Mountain bear clan from the word go.
Sure, the man and bear could hold his own and get bloodied with the best of them. His temper was epic and his anger raged inside of him like all good bear shifters… but he’d started to change, started to hanker for a mate, cubs, and a quieter life.
One thing the grizzly pack wasn’t was a quiet life.
>
~
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~
Tyler was deep within the woods collecting stray branches for his makeshift bed within the cave when the rains had come down hard. He’d been collecting stuff for a few weeks now and eating his fill off the land, anything that he could get his hands on to sustain him through hibernation – even the damn care packages that the pack kept leaving outside the cave entrance for him.
He guessed it showed that they cared about him, even after what he’d done. Hell, even Mari kept bringing him baskets of food and leaving them outside his cave.
It was getting… annoying.
He was a mean assed bear shifter and if he wanted food then he could still hunt and kill for himself. Although, the spiced cinnamon rolls and honeyed ham that kept appearing – he guessed from Sadie, one of the older she-wolves – was a nice treat that he couldn’t say no to.
The weather had been bad when he’d woken up that morning and he’d stayed inside the cave for a while, hoping the rain would pass, but this was late autumn in mountains and the lashing rain didn’t seem to show any signs of stopping.
He only had a small window of opportunity left to him to collect what he needed and prepare his body for the harsh environment of hibernation if he was to keep to the deadline. So he decided to push on outside and see what he could find.
Storm clouds hung low overhead like they’d been awaiting his arrival all day, and they lashed the rain down thick and fast as he carried his bundle back towards the cave. Darkness was setting in earlier now as winter approached, soon the mountain would be covered in snow, but he’d miss that this year.
His bear whined within him. The damn stupid animal loved the snow, and loved it even more when the pups from the pack threw damned snowballs at him as he reared up on his back legs and tried to catch them in his mouth, getting splatted in the eye more times than he could count… making the pups roar with laughter… but not this year.
A flash of lightning lit the sky, turning the woods into daylight for a split second, and half blinding him before the sound of thunder boomed out, and he knew that the storm was right on top of him. He cursed and picked up the pace…
The rain pelted down. The sound of the waterfalls could barely be heard over the lashing rain and the winds that had picked up, as the trees, some already stripped of their leaves, creak and swayed against the harsh elements around him.
Tyler moved faster, rounding the large gnarly thick tree trunk and slamming into something soft that seemed to bounce right off of his chest. He’d slung the bundle up over his head and didn’t have the reaction time to grab a hold of whatever that had been before it bounced away…
The sound of a loud shriek cracked the air and hurt his ears, a moment before he blinked a few time to get the rainwater to clear from his eyes, and there was that soft thing, lying on her back in the piles of wet leaves on the sodden ground…
What the hell was a female doing out here in the middle of the woods during a rainstorm anyhow? He growled at her stupidity.
Didn’t she knew not to come out in a rainstorm?
Didn’t she know that the woods weren’t safe for females at night?
Didn’t she know that beasts like him hunted prey that could so easy become her with one wrong move?
He wasn’t safe with her, because she wasn’t safe with him.
He growled a long hard warning.
“Don’t you growl at me, you big bloody oaf!” Chelsea hissed up at him like a rattlesnake that was eager to sink its fangs in, and not shy about injecting its poison into a vein. “Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” She demanded, planting her hands into the dirt and pushing up to a sitting position as she scowled at him like she was about to rip his balls off and hand them too him.
“Well, I’m not the one on my backside, lady. Maybe you should watch where the hell you’re going.” He growled out.
He’d had enough of people. He wasn’t safe to be around, and especially to be around a woman with an acid tongue and the personality of Attila the Hun.
Tyler sidestepped her and started walking.
“Oh no, really. Thanks for the damn hand up, you Neanderthal, jerk, moron!” She bit out.
Tyler felt the rush of anger inside of him. His beast growled.
Walk on. He cautioned himself.
Walk on and don’t get involved.
Walk on and don’t look back.
Walk on and don’t be tempted to kill the damn woman.
You’re not safe… but does a woman like that deserve safe?
He tossed his bundle down onto the ground and spun on his heels to face her. For one long moment he stared long and hard at her as his eyes darkened to black.
Then he set one foot in front of the other and stalked back towards her. His shoulders set. His fists at his side. And the kind of bad mood bear that only a mama could love.
Chelsea almost swallowed her tongue at the sight of him stalking back towards her across the way. His long, thick legs were eating up the short distance as if it was nothing.
His chin was down near his chest and his black eyes were fixed on her and only her, and she cursed every saint and sinner that she remembered from her days growing up in a church community.
She needed to learn to keep her temper under check.
She needed to learn not to say the first thing that came into her mind without filtering those thoughts.
She needed to learn not to challenge shifters, and this guy was definitely a damn shifter if ever she’d seen one.
But most of all – she needed to learn not to attack first and ask questions later…
Chelsea lifted her hands and forced her magic to her palms where it felt as if it fizzled and buzzed wishing to be set free, and she allowed it its wish. Letting loose with a blast that swept the man up off of his big feet, through the air, and deposited him about fifteen feet away in the middle of a clearing.
She had no qualms about shoot first and ask questions later.
Chelsea breathed a sigh of relief that his head hadn’t played ping-pong on any tree trunks on his travels. She didn’t want to kill the beast man, just warn him off, and welcome him to the wonderful world of her magic.
“Surprise,” she gushed as she pushed up to her feet and watched him shake his head from side to side, slightly dazed and confused. “Witch!” She shrugged her shoulders and gave him an innocent smile.
The deep, warning growl that rumbled inside of his chest was louder than the winds and rains combined. She was a good fifteen feet away from the man and yet she could hear it just fine…
Bad mood bear.
Silly bear.
“M-a-g-i-c…” Tyler growled out. Snapping his body back upwards and yanking himself to his feet.
Now she had one, big, mean, miffed off, shifter coming at her – a heck of a lot faster than he had been before, and he looked fit to kill.
Poop!
Act first, worry later, well done, Chelsea…
“Don’t make me hurt you,” Chelsea warned him, readying herself for another round of slam – the – shifty.
“You’d better kill me before I kill you,” Tyler growled out.
That possibility sounded good to his ears. He was done. His bear was growling and clawing within him. He wanted to steamroller this witch and he’d enjoy every damn minute of it.
And if she managed to kill him in the process – well, that was all good too.
~
CHAPTER TWO
~
“Stay back!” Chelsea hissed out in anger.
She didn’t want to have to kill this guy – he was kind of cute, in a moody, broody, I want to rip your head off kind of way.
Those big shoulders and meaty muscled arms called to her in ways that they shouldn’t have, especially when he looked so damn intent of killing her, and yet, it was true to say that she’d always liked a bad boy.
Come on, Chelsea. Think about this…
This is not a movie…
You are not rooting for the gorgeous bad guy intent on world domination! She berated herself.
You’ve been here before, and you are not the helpless virgin running from the big bad monster who always ends up screaming like a banshee, boobs bouncing at the camera, with the – help me – help me – pleading eyes…
You are fierce.
You are badass.
You are going to dropkick this guy in the balls and shot them up inside him until they pop out of his ears like earmuffs!
Seems like kind of a waste…
Chelsea was done arguing with herself, there was no time left to second, third or fourth guess what she should or shouldn’t do. He was coming at her like a twister hell bent on revenge, and he was going to bowl her down like a steamroller if she didn’t act now…
“Damn it,” she bit out, miffed that her day could never just be a mundane nine to five like other people.
“See a shifter, beat him up, all day long you’ll have good luck…” she twisted her body around just before he reached her, and like a damn spinning top unwinding fast. She used her magic to give herself a little boost as she jumped into the air…
Her elbow caught him whack-bang on the side of his nose. His head snapped sideways with the force of the blow, and he took a few stumbling sideways steps like a drunken crab…
She dropped low and spun in place, her outstretched leg connected with the back of his knees and… thud. The man actually shook the damn earth when he landed on his backside on the wet muddy ground.
Jet black eyes stared up at her as she approached him. He looked a little more dazed and confused, as if he couldn’t believe a woman – a girlie – not that she was much of a girlie girl – had taken him down.
“Hold…” she palmed the air over his body. “Heavy as a boulder, flat as a board, heavy as a bolder, flat as a board, heavy-”
“What are you doing?” Tyler growled out between clenched teeth. He tried to sit up, but strained at the merest lift of his head…