The Bear King's Captive: Curvy Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance

by Milly Taiden

  He gave a sharp nod. “We’re trying to figure out if there was any other place they could’ve gone to other than the north side of Tenam Forest. I came to see if there was anything else you might remember.”

  Jessa bit her lip. “No. Our last conversation wasn’t good.” She gulped. “I… He said he needed to think. That running in Tenam was the best way to do that. To clear his head.”

  Raine watched Jessa’s eyes water. Raine squeezed Ryder’s hand in her grasp. He released her fingers and curled his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side. A man walked out of the house, making his way down in unhurried steps.

  “What about James, did he mention if he was with him?” Ryder’s voice softened.

  “No, but you know they were always together. Have you had any luck contacting the southern packs?” Jessa’s voice wobbled. She blinked the tears away and took a deep breath. “If anyone knows where he is, it would be one of those guys.”

  “Thanks. Theo is checking on them now, but I still wanted to make sure there was nothing you might have missed.”

  The other man closed the distance and stopped beside Jessa. “Ryder.”

  “Pete.” Ryder stiffened beside her.

  Pete placed his arm around Jessa’s shoulder and tried to hug her to his side. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes.” Jessa stepped out of his grasp. She glanced at Raine. Discomfort. It was clear in her eyes.

  Raine watched the man take liberties touching Jessa. Touching she clearly didn’t approve of. Pete’s wrinkled forehead and thinning white hair spoke of advanced age, but it was the slick smirk he sported that made her wolf snarl inside.

  “Thanks for your help, Jessa. I’ll keep in touch.” Ryder opened the passenger door for Raine. She sat down, watching Jessa’s sorrow-filled gaze. When Pete tried to grab her again, she jerked out of his grasp, glared at him, and headed back to the house.

  Once Ryder was back at the wheel, she turned to face him, curiosity getting the best of her. “Who’s Pete?”

  “Jessa’s father’s second.” Ryder frowned and gripped the wheel. “He’s been looking to take over that pack for a long time.”

  Oh. “Whatever he’s done seems to be working.”

  Ryder’s gaze drifted her way before focusing on the road. “I’m not sure. Whatever is going on there is the reason Quinn is gone.”

  She nodded. “Where to now?”

  “Let’s go check out that building you went to. Theo’s meeting us on that side of town, it’s not far from Tenam forest and not far from the area Quinn was supposed to have been running.”

  When they reached the dead side of town, she gave him directions to the place she’d been summoned to. They passed multiple broken down buildings. Each structure sat in a drunken stupor, as if ready to fall over. Paint peeled from all the buildings. Some had boarded up windows, while others had dark coverings over them.

  Now that she looked at this place without the desperate need for money, she realized she should’ve noticed there was something wrong the moment she stepped foot in this area. They’d driven a while and she still hadn’t seen a single person. While clothes hung out and over some fire escapes, she had yet to see a single child or animal playing outside.

  “What’s wrong?” Ryder’s asked.

  Frowning, she met his gaze before turning back to stare out her window. “This place is so…dead.”

  He chuckled. “It’s why it’s referred to as the dead side of town. We’re almost there.”

  Theo and a couple of other men waited outside the address she’d given Ryder.

  A strange sense of foreboding crept over her as they got out of the pickup. Her attention was drawn by the door. She didn’t see the ‘Welcome. We’re open’ sign she’d seen when she’d last entered the building. In fact, the place appeared to have never been used.

  “We opened the doors.” Theo held the glass door open for her. His brows dipped low, in a menacing scowl.

  “Have you found anything?” Ryder’s voice was commanding. He placed a hand at her lower back, guiding her forward.

  “See for yourself,” Theo muttered.

  Raine staggered into the building. Her stomach lurched. The white walls were stark without the pretty painting she’d seen before. Some of the square ceiling tiles had been torn down and left on the ground. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. Perspiration gathered in her palms. She wiped her shaky hands on the sides of her pants and walked down the hallway, visualizing the place she’d been taken to sleep. Her lungs constricted.

  They passed multiple empty rooms. When they reached the one she’d been put to sleep in, nothing remained. Goosebumps broke across her skin. She swallowed the thick knot at her throat. The only thing filling the place was a stale stench. Her vision became blurry with tears. Her wolf paced, restless. Her distress, even though she tried to control it, was seeping into the animal.

  Anger and anxiety grew inside her. The wolf was pushing at her skin, wanting to be let out. She jerked around.

  Run!

  Ryder caught her. “Raine!”

  She shouldn’t be in there. Rage built into a monster of pain she couldn’t tamp down. She’d gone into the place thinking nothing of it. Was used as nothing better than a lab rat. Her mind whirled in a million directions, all of them wanting revenge.

  Annoyed at being held back, she twisted in his grasp and slapped her hands on his chest, sending him flying across the room. The surprise in his face would probably have been funny at another time, but right now all she wanted was to get away.

  Her body took on a mind of its own, dashing out of the room. Outside the building, she snarled at the men who headed toward her. They stopped in their tracks, shock visible in their faces. She needed to keep moving. Everything rushed past her in a blur. The wolf demanded to be let out.

  Her gaze landed on the forest entrance at the end of the block. Instinct drove her to head for the trees. The closer she got, the more her skin burned. She glanced at her hands. Claws popped out of her fingers, replacing her nails. Her muscles stretched taut, aching with an intensity she’d never experienced. She dropped to all fours, continuing to run in an odd half-animal half-human lope. It took her a moment to realize her vision had sharpened. Her sense of smell heightened. She skidded to a stop at the edge of a cliff, looked down. She had paws. Fur and four legs had replaced her skin and arms. She wasn’t a monster.

  No.

  She was a wolf.

  Ryder rushed out of the door, his heart hammering in his throat. Raine was running, fast. He’d seen the wild anger in her eyes when she shoved away from him. Her wolf was in control now. She growled at the guys at the entrance.

  The minute she was outside of the building, she got a burst of speed.

  “Holy hell, look at her go!” Theo yelled behind him.

  “Stay here. I got her.”

  Besides, he had a feeling she was about to burst out of her clothes. He didn’t want anyone else to witness her first change.

  The moment they hit the thick of the forest, he saw it happen. It was like watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon. Her body moved in flawless perfection as her muscles shifted and the change took hold. As he’d predicted, her clothes tore with the shift, until she was running on all fours.

  She’d done it.

  Emotion thickened in his chest when he saw Raine’s beautiful brown wolf stop and howl. It choked him up to hear it. The sound was filled with sorrow.

  He slowed down, watching her. She turned her head and yipped. Her bright, golden eyes were confused. He stopped some yards from her. Stripped and shifted. She took her time to paw her way toward him, but he saw the interest sparkle in her eyes.

  She rubbed her nose over his coat. He waited. Her tail twined around his legs, caressing him. He’d known she’d be beautiful in her animal shape, but he hadn’t expected for his wolf to become completely besotted. He nuzzled her neck.

  She took off.

  He waited.

  She t
urned back and barked. Of course. She wanted to run.

  He chased after her. The wind howled around them, a sure sign of a coming storm. Still she ran. But he knew this side of the forest better than her. Everything around him was brighter, much more amazing, because she was there. He imagined one day he’d chase his mate through the woods, but never realized how perfect it would feel to actually do it. Taking a shortcut he’d known since he was a kid, he came around the bend in front of her and tackled her. They shifted, their naked bodies twined together.

  She panted. Her eyes turned bright with arousal.

  “Feel better?”

  She nodded. “I guess it needed to come out.”

  “Not it, she. She is your wolf and a new part of you. You have to learn to embrace her.”

  He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She spread her thighs open for him. He drove into her hard and fast, his animal side still in control. She dug her nails into his shoulders. Flipped him over to his back. She sat up, his cock still deep inside her. Her pussy quivered around him. Fuck this was incredible. To watch her lift and drop her body on his cock made his mouth go dry. She licked her lips.

  He gripped her hips, urging her to move faster. “That’s it. Just like that.”

  “Oh…my…”

  Her skin glistened with perspiration. She bounced hard. Over and over. Lift. Drop. He couldn’t hold back the snarl at the feel of her pussy jerking his cock. Fucking amazing.

  The orgasm built inside him at warp speed. With each of her rocking motions on his dick, he swore he would explode. He lifted his hands to her breasts and tweaked her nipples.

  “Ryder.” His name on her lips sounded like a garbled combination of a growl and a whimper.

  She braced one palm on his chest and used her other hand to flick a finger over her slick clit. Her pussy constricted around his cock in a fitted kiss.

  “Fuck, baby. That’s…” Unbelievable. Amazing. “Perfect.”

  Air fought its way into his lungs. He pinched her nipples harder. She stiffened.

  “Ryder. Ryder…yesss.” Her body shook with the force of her release.

  He groaned, dropped his hands to her hips, and lifted his lower body off the ground to shove his cock as deep as possible into her. Sparks heated his veins until he swore his blood was on fire. The orgasm left him breathless. He jerked into her pussy, filling her with his cum. Powerful aftershocks racked him. He groaned as her pussy milked him of his seed.

  She dropped over his chest. He loved the feel of her warm curves over him. They stayed that way; doing nothing but listening to each other catching their breaths.

  “How did you know to shift back?” He caressed up and down her spine.

  “I don’t know. It just happened,” she whispered against his neck.

  Her soft kisses enticed him to stay inside her, to continue taking her. She was his mate, even if she didn’t realize it yet.

  “I need to go home.”

  This business of her leaving didn’t sound good. He wanted her with him, but he knew she was still uncomfortable with that. Last night had been a good way to start, but in the light of day, she didn’t seem ready to make that kind of move yet. He really couldn’t blame her. She appeared to be a person who liked things under control, so he knew she must feel lost with the changes racking her body. He would not add to her stress by pushing her to stay, even if it made him and his wolf distressed. The thought of her being away from him was like a pierce to the chest.

  “I’ll take you.”

  “Thanks.”

  She lifted off him. They made their way back to the place he dropped his clothes. He couldn’t help grinning at how she hid behind him and kept peeking around to ensure nobody saw her naked. He handed her his T-shirt, and watched her cover her sexy curves with the white material while he put on his jeans.

  She picked up the tattered pieces of her clothing. At least her trainers had been discarded before she’d torn through them. She frowned at her useless jeans and T-shirt, put them to the side and slipped her feet into her sneakers.

  “I had no idea,” she whispered.

  He helped her to her feet. Kissed her swollen lips. “It’s okay. You’ll get used to carrying extra sets of clothes around. Although, you’ll also get better at controlling your wolf when she wants to come out.”

  She leaned into his side as they made their way to the others. Theo’s smile was wide when he noticed their barely clothed state.

  “I didn’t want to leave you all, in case you needed something.” He chuckled.

  Raine stiffened beside him. Ryder glared at his second. “I’m going to take Raine home. And you are going to find out who owns this place.”

  Theo pulled his cell phone and keys out of his pocket. “You got it.”

  “I’ll see you back at Blood Hounds.” He waved Theo off and helped Raine into his truck.

  When they reached her house, he noticed she’d gone silent. He jumped out of the truck and ran around to help her out.

  She smiled, and it settled him a fraction. They walked to the door, hands linked, neither ready to lose their connection. Her smile slid from her face and her back straightened.

  His stomach knotted, wondering why she seemed so…tense. “Is everything okay?”

  “I-I wanted to know if you’d like to come for dinner later?” She continued to glance everywhere but at him. “Look, I’m not familiar with how this works, and I know we’ve been doing things backwards, but I’d still like you to come over.” She finally looked at him. “That’s if you want to.”

  Emotions filled his chest to near bursting. She was asking him on a date. He cupped her cheek. Held her until she looked into his eyes. “I’d love to.” Without a question.

  Her smile made him want to roar. She threw herself in his arms and hugged him. He embraced her, inhaled her soft warm scent, and groaned. Her scent was like an aphrodisiac, taunting him into tasting and touching her again.

  * * *

  Franks stared at the test subject. He’d found Raine himself. Had given Roman the details. Now he waited. What the hell was taking the merc so long to bring her in?

  Buzzing sounded in his pocket. Caller ID showed the number he’d been waiting for all day.

  “Do you have her?”

  He held his breath. Too many days had passed. If he didn’t get her back soon and continue her drug rounds, she wouldn’t be ready for the investors. As she was, she was quite invincible, but not the warrior alpha he wanted.

  “No.” He clenched his jaw, gripping the phone tight in his hand.

  “Why the hell not?”

  “She’s with Storm.”

  “The alpha?” Interesting.

  “Yes.”

  Talkative bastard. Not that he enjoyed the conversations with the mercenary. He tended to act superior than him. Him, a doctor for crying out loud.

  “How close are they?”

  Roman laughed. “He took her home. Looks to me like they’re fucking.” Very interesting.

  This could be a great thing. “Leave her for now. Don’t pursue retrieval just yet.”

  “We have orders.”

  “Goddammit, Roman. This is going to work into my research. If I call your boss he’ll agree with me.” Maybe. Possibly. Why had those idiots let her escape?

  “I am supposed to eliminate.”

  “Retrieve, Roman. Retrieve.” He spit through gritted teeth.

  “I have orders, doc.” Roman sounded bored.

  The asshole lived in a box. Couldn’t he see how important she was to his work? “Give me a few days.” That would do it. It would have to. For all he knew she had already conceived.

  “I thought it was dangerous for her to be out there. Loose.”

  “She’s not dangerous.” Lies. She was very dangerous. Especially when threatened.

  “I will go against my orders to see where you are going with this. You have one week. Then I will eliminate. ” Roman’s accent thickened with his laughter.


  “Attempt retrieval first. But give her a few days.”

  “I will attempt in a few days. In the meantime, I will watch her. She’s a sexy little thing, doc. Bet she’s feisty.”

  That asshole had no idea what she could do to him. “She’s not your type. She’s invaluable to my investors. Your bosses.”

  “You’re no fun, doc. I’m giving her a week. When the time comes, I make no promises.”

  The call ended. He ran his hand through his messy hair. If Raine was sleeping with Storm, that gave him a better chance at getting a pure born alpha cub. All he needed to do was for her to be pregnant when they got her. With mating season so close, he knew there was a high probability of getting what he wanted. He just needed to give them time to mate. To conceive. To give him his new test subject. If she wasn’t when he got her, then he’d go back to plan A and mate her with PE #2.

  PE #2 was a born shifter right out of Storm’s pack. Too bad he wasn’t the alpha. Not that he’d let that stop him. After altering #2’s DNA to get the test subject to the same level as a born alpha, Franks had used it to experiment on Raine. He’d utilized the new alpha’s genes and combined them with his own compound to alter Raine. She wasn’t just a shifter, she was more. If he could get an offspring from her, he would have the perfect result to his experiment.

  EIGHT

  Raine ran around her house in a panic. She’d burned the vegetables and killed the salad. Oh, but that was not all. She’d half destroyed her bathroom trying to get out after she sprayed it with her usual tile and grime detergent. She didn’t know she’d be so sensitive to the scent of the cleanser.

  After opening all the windows and wincing at the burning in her eyes, nose, and throat, she rushed to her backyard and sat in the grass feeling a failure. Frustration rose within her. She was just starting to figure out how to haul the aggression back on the wolf and this shit happened. Great. Just great.

  Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. A glance at the screen showed it was her best friend. “Hi, Mandy.”

  “What’s wrong?” Mandy’s was always concerned when she spoke to her lately.