by Terry Spear
CLAIMING THE WHITE BEAR
WHITE BEAR SERIES, BOOK 2
TERRY SPEAR
CONTENTS
Foreword
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Terry Spear
Claiming the White Bear
Copyright © 2018 by Terry Spear
Cover Art by Terry Spear
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
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Discover more about Terry Spear at:
http://www.terryspear.com/
ISBN-13: 978-1-63311-044-1
Thanks so much to Lola Faber for loving my bears and books and pictures and always being such a fun-loving lassie on my blog and Facebook.
FOREWORD
Synopsis
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A Romeo-Juliet type family feud, polar bear style, tore them apart; can they find true love again?
It’s nearly Christmas, no tours on the schedule for Edward MacMathan and his brother and so they’re working in their uncle and aunt’s tavern when the love of Edward's life returns with two young boys in tow, and they look a lot like him when he and Rob were that age. Robyn Conibear is in trouble and she's fled her deceased mate's sleuth to keep his parents from taking custody of her and Edward's sons.
Can she and Edward renew the love they had for each other despite the six years that have passed? Or will her return only cause more grief between her family and his as the hostilities renew?
But Edward is the boys' true father and she wants to be with him no matter what. Likewise, Edward is determined to protect her and the boys, both from her former mate's sleuth and her own, and take up where the two of them had left off.
PROLOGUE
Six years earlier, Alaska
Hoping the weather would hold out, Edward MacMathan was eager to pop the most important question of his life to Robyn Conibear, the love of his existence, as he stocked kitchen cabinets with food for a three-day weekend at his family's cabin getaway. In his hometown of White Bear where his polar bear sleuth had settled centuries earlier, Robyn was finishing up her finals on her summer marketing classes before her fall courses began. Her own sleuth lived in Anchorage and they had been the reason for Edward's sleuth relocating and settling White Bear all those years before, but the territorial disputes had been ancient history between the sleuths and it didn't mean anything to Edward and Robyn.
She would join him in a few hours, courtesy of his cousin Craig, who flew a seaplane for rescues and ferrying people and supplies all over the state.
Even though Edward had wanted the marriage proposal to be a surprise, he figured she already knew what he was up to. He was so excited, he could barely think straight. He started a fire in the fireplace, set the table, having even had the foresight to bring a vase of red roses with him, and surveyed the cabin.
Blankets folded and stacked on a shelf in the corner of the cabin, puzzle boxes and books, DVDs on more shelves, all with earthquake proofing, the warm fire crackling in the fireplace. And smore's for some nighttime fixings.
The canoe was ready for some long paddling and short portages. They would have to be prepared for moose and bear encounters on their treks. Not the polar bear kind out here though. Unless they were shifters like them. He glanced at the clock and sighed. Three more hours before she arrived. He hoped she would do well on her test, though he was certain she would. And he was hoping she would say yes to a proposal of marriage. He prayed she wouldn't decline his offer and return to Anchorage after her fall and winter classes were done and she had earned her marketing degree.
Edward had adored her ever since Robyn had arrived at his aunt and uncle's White Bear Tavern with a couple of classmates, human variety, to have lunch and he'd first seen her. He'd dropped by the tavern with the tour group he and his brother and their friend operated. Their fledgling business was just getting started and they were having lunch before they headed out into the wilderness to show the group members the beauty of Alaska.
Robyn had even signed up for one of his tours because she thought he looked like he would be fun to be with, not to mention they were both polar bears. From then on, he and she had been an item and he'd been totally sold on her. He had fallen in love with her cheerful smile and lighthearted humor, her adventurous spirit, and enthusiasm to try new things. Snowball fights, running and swimming as bears, playfighting, paddling, making wild and passionate love, she was the only one for him.
He kept envisioning how he was going to propose to her—on a paddling trip as the sun set, sitting on the deck as the sun's last rays colored the sky and water with their magical colors, or before he fixed them a grilled steak dinner. He wanted to ask her as soon as she got off the seaplane. He wanted to scoop her up and carry her across the threshold and tell her just how much he loved her and wanted her to be his mate forever. But that was the impulsive side of him and he really wanted to make this memorable for her.
He glanced outside at the gray skies. Maybe they wouldn't have any spectacular sunsets while they stayed here.
Well, if it rained the three days they were here, they would still find a way to have a great time. He just hoped she would say yes to his proposal of marriage!
FEAR MIXED with excitement at the prospect of having Edward's baby, maybe twins, since so many polar bear shifters had twins, Robyn was trying to concentrate on her final exam in her last summer marketing course. The baby wasn't planned. She sure hoped Edward was going to propose to her sometime during the stay at the cabin and that he wouldn't change his mind when he heard they were going to have a baby. But after she took the pregnancy test this morning before her last final, she'd been anxious too. What if he wasn't ready to be a father? Not that he had much of a choice.
She worried how he would take the news. She just had to finish the exam and quit thinking about being with Edward and of telling him what she'd learned. She was sure it would be as much of a shock to him as it had been for her.
As soon as she was finished and turned in her final exam, she drove to the place where Edward's cousin Craig would fly her out to the wilderness. She called her parents on the Bluetooth to let them know she wouldn't be home until Christmas break. Though if she was married by then, she might be just staying in White Bear with her mate.
"Hey, Mom, I just finished my summer finals."
"You know we don't approve of you being there."
White Bear, living in the MacMathan bear territory, her mom meant.
Robyn ground her teeth. "Yes, well, they have the best business marketing degree and that's why I came here. Which I've mentioned to you before." Like a hundred times.
"You've been seeing Edward MacMathan."
Robyn clenched her teeth. How the hell had her mom known that? Someone her family knew must have been in town and had seen her and Edward together at some time and reported it back to the
family. She was certain her own family wouldn't visit here. If they had, they sure hadn't come to see her.
"I'm dating him. So?" And mating him, if things worked out about the baby.
"You'd better knock off that nonsense right now before it's too late."
It was already too late. She loved Edward and she was certain he loved her. "It's not happening. Unless things don't work out, of course." She wasn't naïve enough to think that Edward would be totally thrilled about being a father so all of a sudden. But no matter what, she was keeping the baby.
"You won't be seeing him any longer."
"Uhm, Mom, I'm twenty-four and living on my own, which means we're beyond you telling me what to do." Though if Robyn didn't end up mating Edward, she was going to have a tough time of it getting her degree, a job, and raising a baby or more. But she would do whatever it took.
"You're pregnant, aren't you? Damn it, Robyn. You know we're mortal enemies."
"No. We. Aren't. Our ancestors were. Just get over it." She couldn't believe her family could hold a grudge against people they'd never known. She hadn't told her mom that she was pregnant. Robyn figured her mother had just guessed at it. Robyn had no plans to reveal to anyone that she was pregnant until after she told Edward. Suddenly, her bright outlook on a future with Edward was overshadowed by a black cloud—her family's insistence that everyone hate the MacMathan family for all eternity, and now she was carrying a MacMathan's child.
It would take an hour to fly to the location where the cabin was, and the whole time, all she would think about was the baby she was carrying and if Edward was ready for it, or if her family would ever accept their decision to mate, if this was where this was going. So much for taking a mate home to see them for Christmas ever, if Edward and she tied the knot.
"The weather's going to get socked in." Craig loaded her bags into the seaplane. He smiled at her like he was ready for her to be part of the family and he knew what Edward had planned.
They'd all been lovely to her: Edward's brother, Rob, his cousins, Trooper Andy, pilot Craig, and Ben, who worked with his parents at the tavern, and of course, Edward's aunt and uncle who owned the tavern. They were like the parents Edward and Rob had lost when they were younger, due to an avalanche. Miraculously, Edward had rescued his brother from being buried in the snow, but he and Rob had been too late to save their parents. All because a teen polar bear with a grudge against their law enforcement parents had caused their deaths.
At least the MacMathans didn't have any issue with her being a Conibear, and for that, she was grateful.
"We'll have a…uhm, good time, no matter the weather," she finally said, strapping herself into the seaplane. As long as Edward wasn't upset about the unplanned baby or two…or three.
ONLY AN HOUR TO go now and Edward couldn't believe how anxious he was to see Robyn and propose to her. He went outside to cut up more wood for the fire and saw a man approaching, six-foot-four, tall like Edward was, his hair blonder, and his eyes dark, and he was wearing a growly expression.
"Howdy. Are you looking for someone or something?" Edward didn't like the way the man was stalking toward him. His posture was aggressive, and from the way the breeze was blowing, Edward smelled he was a polar bear, his scent indicating he was riled up about something. He wasn't anyone Edward knew. All that came to mind was that the man could be one of Robyn's kin. Maybe a brother and somehow, he'd learned that Edward was dating Robyn and he didn't like it.
"Are you Edward MacMathan?" the man practically growled.
"Yeah." Edward refrained from adding, "What's it to you?" But if the man was related to Robyn, Edward wanted to smooth things over between them, not add to the friction. Not that his family had anything to do with hers. Not until now when he'd fallen hard for Robyn.
"You're the one seeing Robyn." The man stated it like he knew it for a fact.
"Yeah." Edward wasn't going to hide the fact. Robyn must have finally told them that she was and mentioned she was coming here. How else would anyone who wasn't with their sleuth know?
"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from her."
That wasn't going to happen. "Why? Who are you?"
"Her brother Butch, and I've come here to tell you to call this off now."
"It's not happening. I'm proposing marriage to her as soon as she arrives here." Edward had planned a slow seduction, but now he wasn't. If her family was going to get involved, he was going to flat out ask her as soon as she left the seaplane and before he grabbed her luggage.
"After what you did to her—I'm going to kill you." The man began stripping off his clothes.
Hell, Butch was going to shift and fight him? Edward hadn't expected this. Some bad weather. Sure. Not a fight with one of Robyn's four brothers. He suspected the guy wasn't offering idle threats either. And Butch could kill him with one bite if he didn't hurry to strip and shift to battle the bear.
Damn it anyway. This could screw up everything between him and Robyn.
Tossing his shirt last, Edward shifted just as the bear charged him, not waiting for Edward to prepare himself for the onslaught.
Half a ton of bear slammed into him, both growling, their teeth biting, sparring, trying to take down each other. Edward finally tackled Butch to the ground, but the bear was ruthless and not giving up. Butch managed to wriggle free and came in for another vicious attack. It wasn't just a warning bout, meant to tell Edward to stay away from his sister. Edward wondered how in the hell Butch thought he'd wronged Robyn in some way.
Blood trickled from both Edward and Butch's wounds as they continued the onslaught. Edward kept trying to break off the fight, but Butch wasn't having it. Every time Edward would part from him and put some distance between them, Butch would just come barreling in to attack him again. Each time, Edward tried to break off the fight, it was giving Butch the advantage and wearing Edward down. Yet, he would do anything to stop the fight before either of them had to die over some perceived wrong.
They heard a seaplane coming and Edward's heart sank. Robyn would see him and her brother fighting. What if she didn't want to be the cause of the trouble between them and left Edward for good? Hearing the seaplane seemed to spur Butch on, as if he was worried Robyn would choose being with Edward over returning home with her brother. Once again, Butch tore into Edward with the intent to kill.
Edward continued to spar with the bear, continued to get his bites in, continued to try and wrestle him onto his back, and he finally pinned him down again. But he couldn't kill her brother with a clear conscience, though he had every right to protect himself from the bear who was trying to kill him.
Edward released him and backed off. With narrowed eyes, Butch stared at Edward for a moment, and then full of rage, rolled to his feet and charged him again. Edward couldn't keep this up. He was going to make a grave error and Butch would finally get the best of him.
Butch tore into him again, and Edward could barely last the assault. Badly wounded, feeling his strength ebbing, Edward had no choice but to try and stop Butch from killing him. That's all that mattered. He hated what he had to do, if he could even do it now as bad a shape as he was in.
Butch managed to tackle Edward to the ground and he tried to fight back, the bear's teeth sinking into his shoulder instead of Edward's throat where Butch had aimed his large snout and deadly teeth.
The seaplane landed on the water, and Edward knew Butch had to kill him now before anyone could stop him.
"No!" Robyn screamed, sounding horrified as she rushed to leave the seaplane. "Butch, no!"
Butch wasn't stopping for anything and tried again for Edward's throat, but Edward called on more of his strength to pull free from the bear. Robyn and Craig were running from the shore, trying to reach them. To stop them.
Edward tried one last time to end the fight and backed off, but Butch tore into him again, and this time it was the end—his or Butch's. In his heart and his mind, Edward told Robyn he was sorry for what he had tried to
prevent all along, but this time, he couldn't hold back.
He fought with all the dwindling strength he had left and managed with one last ditch effort to kill the aggressor bear. Butch crumpled on the ground and Edward collapsed next to him.
"No!" Robyn screamed.
But Edward wasn't sure if he'd killed her brother or if he would even live himself. All he cared was that he loved Robyn with all his heart, and he was certain he'd lost her because of some damn feud that had occurred between their families, way before they were even born.
1
Six years later, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
When polar bear shifter Robyn Conibear lost her husband, Callahan Gardner, in a hunting incident five months earlier, she never thought she might lose custody of her twin sons—if his parents had their way—unless she ran away from Yellowknife and the polar bear shifter sleuth that she belonged to there. Even so, Robyn had known she would have to leave and had to tell Edward in person that her sons were also his.
She worried that if she had any trouble with Callahan's sleuth, she might not get some help from Edward MacMathan and his family when she drove into White Bear. She had always wished Edward and she could have been together.
She didn’t even know if Edward was mated or not, or if he was seeing another woman by now. After Robyn had left him so suddenly and never had another thing to do with him, he might not even want to see her again. His family might be on the outs with her too.
What if he already had a mate, and once he learned the boys were his, he wanted custody of them? She would be in the same situation she was now, except she was certain that he wouldn’t want to keep the boys from her like she thought her former in-laws did. And they were his sons. She couldn't blame him if he wanted full custody after she hadn't told him about them all these years. If her in-laws managed to get full custody, she was certain they would try to brainwash her sons into believing she was a bad mother and never let them see her again.