Bought By The Bear: A Paranormal WereBear Romance

by Jade White

  It wasn’t Katherine’s fault for letting them in. That was Erik, Torrent and Lucca’s fault. The only thing she could have been blamed for was trusting her sisters with something as important as her child. So far, they gave her no reason to doubt them. Katherine hoped they would keep it that way.

  She looked at Mason. He was gone. She didn’t even notice he left. She didn’t even know where he could’ve ran off to. He must’ve been annoyed though if he left. Katherine couldn’t blame him. Too many times they would go off the deep end. “Did you see where he went?”

  Torrent shook his head. Isabel and Willow shrugged their shoulders. Lucca didn’t respond. He blankly stared off into space. His eyes did wander upstairs occasionally, like he was telling her to go up.

  “Maybe he went to sleep.” Mason left his food unattended, and uneaten. He didn’t shuffle his papers together like he normally did. He didn’t even bother to clean up his mess. Mason was gone. He had disappeared out of thin air, and she hated when he did that.

  Katherine stormed up the stairs, trying to stay as calm as possible while she held Louis in her arms. He was still snuggled up against her, his head buried between her breasts. She imagined he was listening to her heartbeat.

  No one had dared to go into the old room where she once built her nest. There was a corpse rotting there. Everyone hoped that they could keep that room as a decoy if anyone tried to take Louis again. Thankfully no one bothered.

  She headed towards their bedroom. She would lay Louis down for a nap, and hopefully find Mason. If she didn’t, Katherine would have her sisters watch Louis while she tracked him down. Or have them track him down. They were better at tracking than she ever was.

  Katherine opened the door. The water was running in the bathroom, and steam was filling the room. A wave of relief washed over her as she sighed. He was just taking a shower. Good. He needed one.

  She swayed to Louis’s crib, and laid him down. He pouted for a moment, not wanting to be apart from Katherine. She brushed her fingers down the center of his face, cooing to him. “Stay calm, my love. I will return.” She turned away, and Katherine could feel a pull to him.

  Every part of her being willed her to pick him up and hold him again. She could feel him reaching for her, his fussy little grunts making her heart melt. Katherine couldn’t leave him in the crib. So she picked him up and held him close “It’s okay,” she cooed to him. “Mommy’s here.” She kissed the top of his head, bouncing him up and down.

  “He’s attached to you,” Mason said.

  Her eyes shot up, meeting Mason’s. “You disappeared. I got worried.” Katherine continued to bounce him up and down.

  “I grew tired of the nonsense downstairs.” He frowned, running his towel through his hair. Mason took in a deep breath, and moved towards the bed. He released the breath on an irritated exhale.

  He was dressed in a pair of sweatpants, and a white t-shirt. Katherine remembered when she used to parade around in his clothes. It was amazing how short of a time ago that was. Just a few weeks, and now she was his mate, and they had a miraculous child. Katherine didn’t know anyone who had half of what she did. She didn’t think she would ever meet anyone who would have what she did.

  “You need to relax.” She started towards him, but Mason stopped her with a stiff arm. “You’ve been stressing too much. I can feel it.”

  “I will stop stressing when I complete my task at hand.” He laid down on the bed, tossing his towel aside. “I can’t do that if I have to worry about you and Louis.”

  “Then don’t. Do what you need to do. I am here to support you, or whatever a wife would say.” Katherine sat down on the bed, and reached over to kiss him on his head. “Point of the matter is, you want to be alpha. Then go be alpha. Just remember you have a wife and child that you need to return to.” She laid Louis down beside Mason, and he curled up next to his father, giving him the same gummy smile he’d given her. “He needs you as much as I need you.” She kissed him again.

  Mason nodded his head. It was amazing how much he did for her. It was time for him to do something for himself. He deserved that much, and Katherine wanted to know that he got that. She wanted to know he received what he worked so hard to achieve. “I will return home. I always will.”

  Katherine stared at him for a moment or two. She took in the silence. She took him in. Every crevasse of his feature. The fine arks of his cheekbones, and the lushness of his lips. They were too feminine, yet suited his masculine structure so well. He was a dream, a man that was made just for her, and she never wanted to let him go. “I love you,” she whispered before kissing him.

  He chuckled. “I love you too.” Mason caressed her cheek, holding her still. He looked her over a few times, his eyes seeming to search her for something.

  “What?”

  He chuckled again. “You’re just so damn beautiful.” Mason kissed her, this time a bit rougher. It was enough to take her breath away, and set her body on fire.

  Katherine nudged him away. “And you are trying to start something that’ll end with another baby.” She motioned down to Louis. He was looking up at the two of them. His toes were in his mouth, and he was happily chewing on them. “He’s so precious.”

  “He’s perfect.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Mason was busy now. He hardly had any time to spare for Katherine or Louis. He was doing his best, training and training. Isabel and Willow offered to train him the way that the Phoenix were. Katherine shot them down before Mason could even reply. She didn’t want Mason getting hurt, and he didn’t need her sisters trying to seduce him. Katherine wasn’t quite ready to kill her siblings.

  She was forced to sit back and watch a little bit. Katherine wasn’t much help to him, and she couldn’t help him with his trials. She was nothing more than a distraction for him, or anyone in that matter. Katherine wasn’t coordinate enough to hold her own in battle, and Mason’s friends and her sisters made a great effort to tell her just that.

  No one would let her step foot inside the training hall. She had to watch from behind a thick sheet of glass. It didn’t look like it was sturdy enough to hold back a pair of shifters, but Erik and Mason assured her that it was more than capable of doing so.

  She watched, impatiently. Katherine missed her mate. She missed the companionship, but was happy to ship that up if it meant he got what he wanted. He was doing something that was needed.

  Every punch that he dodged was only followed by a kick. Mason took so many shots to his face, she was surprised he wasn’t swollen or bruised. He would have been if he was mortal.

  Erik threw jabs at Mason, and he was quick to respond. He ducked under both, blocking a high knee, and punching Erik in his gut. He followed one punch with several others, trying to quicken his pace, but he was quickly shoved away.

  To his right, Torrent came in with a flying kick and knocked Mason to the ground. Katherine knew there would be two people he’d have to fight if he wanted the throne, but this wasn’t fair. Both men were twice Mason’s strength combined, and was clearly outmatching him. She was struggling to stand still.

  Willow and Isabel kept her in place. They held her hands, and tried to tell her about what they were doing. As positive as Willow was trying to be, Isabel only countered with negativity.

  Willow said he was doing good, but as soon as Isabel got the chance, she pointed out the flaws in every single one of Mason’s moves. Katherine wanted to slap her for the negativity. It wasn’t needed, not right now.

  Mason was struggling with just his friends. She could only imagine how he would be when he took on the alpha and his mate. He wouldn’t survive five minutes in the fight.

  “They’re being soft on him,” Katherine mumbled under her breath. She looked at her sisters. Both girls nodded in unison. “If I wanted them to go soft on him, I would be in there.”

  “What are you saying?” Willow cocked a pale brow at her.

  “I’m saying I want you two in there. Don’t let u
p on him, and correct his every miscalculated movement. His friends are too soft on him. I need my husband to come home in one piece.” Katherine shoved Willow and Isabel towards the door of the training hall. “Kick them out, and show Mason what a real fight will be like.”

  It didn’t take much convincing. Both Isabel and Willow walked into the room and tossed Erik and Torrent out. The men weren’t happy, but gave no protest. They didn’t dare to.

  “Why did they throw us out?” Torrent asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.

  “You two weren’t doing anything for him. My sisters will.” She watched the two women carefully as they kicked and pushed him around.

  Isabel gave Mason a swift elbow to the top of his head, and Mason went down for a few seconds. Willow knew no boundaries. She kicked him while he was down, literally. When he got back up, his eyes shot to Katherine. He was scowling, and wasn’t paying attention.

  Willow tossed him to the other side of the room, and pinned him to the wall. She was saying something, but Katherine couldn’t make it out. Soundproof walls made listening very difficult.

  He bucked her off, and was quick to counter as Isabel launched at him at full speed. Mason caught her by the throat. It wasn’t enough to hold her in place.

  Fire consumed Isabel, burning Mason’s flesh, and he released her in a moment of pain. She said something, and once more, Katherine couldn’t make it out. Whatever they were saying to Mason made him more and more angry. She could see his beast longing for freedom, its beastly figure lying at the surface.

  Willow returned to Mason, giving him a swift palm to his ribs. She could imagine the bone breaking beneath her sister’s strength. He tried to counter, but Willow gracefully dodged his every movement. She maneuvered in and out of each swing he made, every attempt to hold her still.

  The longer he stayed inside that room with her sisters, the more she realized he wasn’t capable of taking on the alpha alone. She wasn’t capable of doing it with him. Not now. Not ever.

  Willow and Isabel left the room with their heads up high. They gave Katherine a quick look, smiled then left. They never said anything to her, they just left.

  Katherine ran into the room, pushing Erik and Torrent out of her way. She got to Mason, and clung to him. She checked him for wounds. Thankfully he didn’t have any. Katherine made sure that he was well, and that her sisters didn’t do too much to hurt him.

  He shoved her away. “Stop. I’m fine.” Mason adjusted his shirt. His expression towards her was cold and heartless. There was no emotion towards her, and a darkness stirred inside the depths of his eyes.

  “What did they say to you?” Katherine’s mannerism changed completely. She was almost slumped over, her body growing limp as she kept her head down.

  “Nothing I didn’t already know.” Mason lifted her head up, forcing her to look at him. “If you ever interfere with my training again, I will punish you.” His threat sounded seductive. Katherine hadn’t been spanked by him in a while. It was about time that it happened.

  She reached up on her tippy toes and brushed a kiss against his lips. “Is that a threat or a promise?” Katherine cocked a dark brow at him.

  “Both.” Mason snagged an arm around her waist.

  “Oh,” she purred in his ear. Katherine’s tongue flicked over the pulse at the base of his tongue, and she felt his body shift against hers. It made her smile.

  “You need to be in here too. I need my mate to help me.”

  She shook her head at him. “Oh, no you don’t. I will do nothing but get you killed, or accidentally kill you.” Katherine flattened a palm on his chest, trying to push him away.

  “Why not? You held your own not too long ago.” He frowned at her, and she wanted to make that frown go away. She wanted to make him smile again.

  “I killed someone. You know I don’t like doing that.” Katherine locked eyes with him, searching his emerald depths.

  There was a hunger for powers that surged inside each orb. The two hungers were different though. One craved power from dominance, while the other desired power through unity and numbers. Both were dangerous to possess, and Katherine once saw what they could do to a man or woman. It wasn’t a beautiful sight. She could only pray that Mason wouldn’t be as foolish as so many men and women before him.

  “I’m not asking you to kill. I’m asking you to watch my back. There’s two alphas that are in control of the horde. I need you to help me distract one.”

  Katherine didn’t know what to say. She knew what she wanted to say, but didn’t want to hurt Mason with her opinion. She wanted to tell him that he was completely insane. She wanted to tell him that he’d be better off having a blind, deaf and mute human helping him take the throne of the horde than her. Katherine was completely useless to him, he should’ve stopped trying to convince her otherwise.

  Mason didn’t though. It was long past his training times, and he was still bothering her about helping him. Katherine didn’t want any part of the act of fighting. It wasn’t her strong suit.

  She made dinner for everyone. Katherine tried to sit as far away from Mason as possible, but everyone else insisted on her sitting right next to him. So many people traded spots with her, and so many people weren’t going to be getting any desserts.

  When dinner was over, and the kitchen had been cleaned up, Mason was still bothering her like a child. He wasn’t going to give up until she told him yes. She wouldn’t tell him yes though, and Katherine knew that was going to piss him off. Eventually he would have to stop. Eventually, Katherine would make him stop. He would if he knew what was best for him.

  She rocked Louis up and down in her arms, trying to ease him. His temperature was low, and she feared it was because she hadn’t held him all day. Louis wasn’t getting the consistent warmth from his mother, or his aunts, and he was cold because of that.

  She tried to warm him up with a little bit of fire, but it wasn’t enough. If Katherine made herself any hotter, she might as well go supernova and light the whole place on fire. At least then Louis would have been warm.

  He was fussy, and Katherine didn’t want him fussy. She fed him, and changed his diaper, and still he continued to cry. She tried to give him a warm bath to relax him but that didn’t work. Eventually Katherine just laid him down in the crib and let him cry.

  She shoved her hands in her lap. Katherine wanted to scream. She wanted to cry as much as her baby was. No matter what she did, he wouldn’t calm down. She talked to him, but that made him whine even more. The infant was becoming more of a curse than a blessing.

  At this point she was considering smothering him with a pillow. No one would know. He would come back, after all he was a phoenix. Of course, Katherine couldn’t do that. She would feel too guilty for killing her son. She didn’t want his first death to be by her hands. She wanted him to die doing something stupid or courageous, like most children in her village did.

  “Why is he crying?” Mason asked, coming into the room.

  “I don’t know,” she sobbed into her hands. Katherine scrubbed away her burning tears. She forced a fake smile, but couldn’t hold it for long. She started sobbing again. “I’ve tried everything. He won’t stop crying.”

  Mason walked to the crib, shaking his head. He sighed as he picked Louis up out of the crib. Mason took a few good looks at Louis before holding him close. He patted his back a few times, then rubbed his tummy. Louis went silent.

  She sobbed even harder, burying her face into the mattress. That should’ve been obvious to her. Katherine should have known he was having tension in his stomach. She should have known he was crying because he was having gas that he couldn’t pass on his own. She should’ve known! She should’ve known! She should’ve known!

  “What’s wrong?” Mason asked, laying Louis down beside her on the bed. The little boy looked tired. Anyone would be tired if they’d been crying and screaming for hours on end.

  “I’m a terrible mother.” She didn’t want to look at her son or Ma
son. It was too hard not to though. She took one look, and her heart melted.

  Mason was making googly faces at Louis and the infant was giggling and squealing with contentment. They were both happy. Her men were happy. “Just because he had gas, and you couldn’t tell―doesn’t mean you’re a terrible mother.” He was only trying to be nice to her.

  Louis turned to Katherine and put his head on her arm. He opened his mouth and started to teeth on her arm, smiling widely as he did so. Katherine couldn’t help but laugh a little. Such a sweet baby. She reached out, running her fingers through his growing fiery hair. She didn’t know how he became a ginger, but she didn’t mind. He was a handsome little thing.

  “He’s growing fast,” Mason said.

  “Not as fast as what I’ve seen. This is relatively normal for phoenix children. He’ll slow down in a few more weeks.” By that time, there was no telling how old he would look. He already seemed like he was a few months old, since the moment he first came out.

  CHAPTER 12

  Kane was sick and tired of being pushed around. If he wanted to get beat around, he would have stayed in Mason’s pack. Hello! He left for a reason.

  He cursed the day that he challenged Mason. He cursed the day he even became friends with the bastard. With any of them! He was so tired of being alone, he needed a pack, but instead all he got was a bunch of dumbass morons that followed a power-hungry douchebag. Kane didn’t want any part of it.

  At this point, he was wondering how he survived. He spent most his money on booze, and prostitutes, he barely had anything left. No other pack would welcome him as long as he had the hideous “Mark of Disgrace” across his face.

  Kane had been alone for a week now. He didn’t even know why he left, but he did think it had something to do with nights without sleep. He couldn’t recall.

  As he roamed about some god forsaken country, he tried to remember what he had given up. Memories were all he had. Though those memories irritated him, he still clung to them, unable to forget what once was. Before Katherine.