SCAR (LOST CREEK SHIFTERS NOVELLAS Book 2)

by Samantha Leal

  “There isn’t a moment to lose!” her father shouted as he looked around the room. “Come! The Campbell’s are leaving Castle Grant at first light, let us wed these two this very night and send them off as newlyweds the morrow!”

  Bonnie couldn’t help but squeal with excitement. She was getting everything she had ever hoped for and more… She was going to become part of a powerful Highland dynasty.

  As her mother and father got the bard to play around the room, they raced to wake the priest and sent the peasant boys to gather flowers from the fields. Bonnie was rushed upon by the chambermaids and her mother as they placed petals in her hair, and she knew, at once, that it didn’t matter how or when her wedding took place, as long as she was marrying Alexander, everything would be right in the world.

  As she stood by him at the altar and looked into his eyes, she knew that she had finally found the piece of her that had been missing. A man with dangerous secrets, and a power that most others would crave.

  Now Bonnie was about to be welcomed into the Campbell Clan… And whatever secrets they were hiding were about to be revealed. It should have scared her, but she had never been more intrigued and excited in her entire life.

  15.

  As the priest pronounced them husband and wife, there wasn’t a man or woman in the hall who didn’t cheer and clap their hands in celebration. Bonnie was crying with happiness and as her husband swept her up into his arms, with such intense strength, she wrapped her arm around his neck and nuzzled into him as he walked with her, in big strides, toward the door of the main hall.

  “My beautiful wife,” Alexander smiled as he kissed her on the lips.

  He strode with her through the hallways and up toward her bedchamber as her heart pounded in her chest and her nerves began to mount. She had wanted this more than anything, but now she was facing being taken to bed by a man, especially a man of such power, it was nerve-racking and intense.

  Alexander kicked open the door to her bedchamber and walked inside, carrying her over the threshold. The fire burned wildly in the hearth and Bonnie was relieved to see that Ariane was nowhere to be seen. As Alexander kicked the door closed behind him, he walked with her to the bed and placed her down gently on top of it.

  The only light in the room was the light from the fire and the few candles that burned quietly in the corners. Alexander stood before her and began to remove his armor, and Bonnie’s breath caught in her throat. As he peeled away the layers and revealed his muscular physique, she found herself becoming wet for him, her body convulsing and desiring him even more.

  He stepped toward her and placed her hand over his heart. His skin was so hot she could barely touch him.

  “What are you?” she whispered as she looked up into his eyes and she was sure that something flashed over them that she had never seen before. Something animalistic… Something wild…

  “You’re about to find out,” he breathed, and she was sure that it was followed by a growl.

  Her heart beat faster and her arousal grew feverishly. As he climbed on top of her and she felt the strong poke of his desire, she shuddered and bit her lip. Even though she had never been with a man before, she was more than ready. And now that she was lying there waiting for her new husband to make love to her, she could barely believe how lucky she was.

  Alexander pulled at her dress and ripped it off over her head to expose her curvy, supple body. Her large breasts bounced free and he took them hungrily in both hands and sucked them greedily.

  “Bonnie,” he moaned. “You have no idea what you do to me…”

  With each touch of their skin, Alexander became more aroused and his hands became rougher and hotter. Bonnie let her head fall back as his fingers disappeared between her thighs and found her sweet spot, his thumb massaging her and opening up her flower for him to pluck and devour. She had never felt sensations like it, and as he rose high above her and positioned himself at her opening, she looked down to see his huge, impressive manhood. It was thick, long, rock hard and full of veins. She gasped as he thrust inside of her and took her again and again.

  As he fucked her slowly and sweetly, Bonnie trembled with pleasure. There was something changing in him before her very eyes, he was no longer the man that had asked for her hand in marriage, he was a beast… an animal… a wolf.

  He growled as he powered into her again and Bonnie gasped as, beneath her fingers, his skin tore open and wiry fur sprang up in its place. His hands were paws and they were full of sharp claws which tore at her juicy skin, but it did not hurt her… it only aroused her more.

  “More Alexander!” she screamed as the wolf howled above her.

  She felt herself on the edge of the most intense sensation she had ever felt and as the wolf slid himself inside of her one last powerful time, she opened up and came in a crashing wave of ecstasy.

  Alexander shifted back into his human form and his release thundered through him, he emptied his hot and heavy load right up inside of her and collapsed down on top of his new bride, breathing heavily and completely spent.

  Bonnie looked up at him as he pulled her close and cradled her in his arms. So now she knew that the legends were true. The Campbell Clan didn’t just have wolves with them… they had wolves inside themselves.

  She smiled as she drifted off to sleep, completely exhausted and more in love than she had ever thought possible. She had found a man who was like nothing she ever could have imagined, but that she couldn’t imagine being without.

  A man with a wolf inside of him.

  A man who was going to show her everything.

  16.

  As dawn broke and Bonnie stood looking out of her bedchamber window, she took in the view of the loch and the mountains for one of the last times.

  She knew that she would one day return to Castle Grant, but for now, she had to be loyal to her husband and travel with him on his quest to defeat the evil Rose Clan.

  After the Campbell’s had come to her home and exposed the wicked ways of Lord Drummond, her father and the Campbell’s had entered into a treaty and they were now bound together, not just by their word, but also by the marriage of Bonnie and Alexander.

  She turned and smiled at her husband. He had packed her belongings for her in the dead of night as she slept soundly in the aftermath of their wonderful love making. Bonnie was still blushed and rosy in the cheeks from the things he had done to her… and that wicked wolf who had burst free when he was at his most intense and sexual.

  He stood by the doorway and waited for her. She didn’t need to dwell on the views from her past, she was all about moving forward and she couldn’t think of anyone else she would rather do it with. As she slipped her hand into his and they began their walk down the dark corridors to the grand staircase that led down to the castle entrance, she smiled and waved goodbye to the familiar faces from over the years, including that of Ariane, who rushed forward to hug her.

  As she kissed her parents goodbye and Alexander lifted her onto the back of his trusty steed, she felt as complete and happy as she had ever been, and she knew that it was all due to him and the journey they were set to embark on.

  “Goodbye Castle Grant,” she whispered as they trotted away and over the drawbridge.

  She knew that she would be back one day… But until then, all she could see was her future with her incredible husband… and a pack of wild wolves.

  THE END

  Babies For the Bear

  Cynthia Wilde

  Copyright ©2015 by Cynthia Wilde. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Thank you so much for your interest in my work!

  Chapter 1

  Lois was on her way back to Barrow. She had been unable to take off from work to travel the previous summer, marking the firs
t year of her life to miss the majestic views of Alaska. Now she stood looking out from the boat once again, feeling warm nostalgia for the summers spent in that tiny town on the Arctic Ocean. Her parents had brought her each year to see the whales. Her mother was a marine biologist, who loved sharing the mystery of the sea with her daughter, and her father was the doting spouse, there at her mother’s beck and call for whatever she needed. Lois closed her eyes and felt for a moment as if they were still there with her. It had been 5 years since her parents had been lost in a car accident. Barrow was all she had left of them.

  Her eyes adjusted to the reflecting sun and her heart soared as she took in the small town from a distance. Coming here was like coming home. She still rented the same room at the boarding house where her family had always stayed together, ate at the same restaurants, and haunted the same local hangouts. Her life had been so upside down for the last few years that the familiar had become a rare and precious thing. She had been on edge for a month, waiting for the trip. The laboratory where she conducted research at home had been growing smaller by the day, and once the weather was warm enough for traveling north she was more than ready to go.

  There was still about twenty minutes from the dock and Lois spent the time repacking the few things that she had pulled out of one of her bags. She hadn’t brought much considering her plan to stay on for at least three months, so she was able to carry all of her things off the boat on her own. She walked two blocks to an old garage where she paid to keep her truck and visited with the owner, Old Merl, before she took off to the boarding house on the other side of town. Burrow was quaint; she loved everything about its rugged, small town charm.

  Lois parked her truck and walked toward an old two-story house.

  An older woman hurried out onto the porch, opening her arms toward her. “Oh! You’re finally here! I heard there’s a terrible storm coming and I was afraid you would get caught in Ketchikan.”

  Lois set her bags on the ground to embrace the nearest likeness to a mother she had left in the world. It was as if this woman had been placed in her life long ago for a future that had already been set in stone.

  They walked into the old house together and the familiarity enveloped her. It was exactly like it had always been. Her hand softly ran over the back of one of the couches. “It never changes. That’s why I love it here so much, Miss Beth.” Lois was looking around, soaking up the memories that hung in the air, thick as the scent of the large spruce beams that met overhead in the homey living room. “Do you have a lot of visitors right now?”

  “Oh just you and one other, Jeffrey, he’s in town for some hunting I think. You know how those men are, they get all riled up to kill something with a gun. He is kinda cute, maybe you two will hit it off…” Beth turned away slightly, trying to stay casual.

  Lois raised her eyebrows in amusement. “I doubt that,” she smiled dryly. “And how do you know I’m single?”

  “’Cause I know. You don’t have that glow about you yet, but just wait, it will come in time.” The older woman thought herself something of a matchmaker, and though Lois knew Beth’s successes had been due to the miniscule population of Barrow providing little opportunity for ideal prospects, she wanted to believe her. At twenty-two, she had yet to be in a substantial relationship that went beyond a few dates and awkward kisses. It was long past time for her to get serious, but she found it hard to get close to many people.

  “We’ll see, I guess. When it happens, it happens,” she resolved out loud.

  “That sounds well and good dear, but sometimes you gotta get out there and take what you want. The hell with trying to wait for it to fall in your lap, go find it.”

  Lois was surprised by the advice, but more surprised by the gumption in Beth’s expression. She considered the last few men she had written off after hardly taking time to know them. She weakly attempted to reassure herself that they hadn’t been worth her time. She could keep an open mind without changing what she wanted in a man, after all. He was out there somewhere, but she was becoming impatient.

  “What are you thinking about, dear? You’ve got the strangest look on your face,” Beth interrupted her thoughts.

  Lois blushed and started up the stairs towards her room. She knew it would already be ready for her, probably had been for a week. “Nothing, just my love life,” she laughed absently, “Maybe you’re right, Miss Beth. I need to get out more, and I will, after I get back home this fall. You know there aren’t very many men out here, even at this time of year.”

  “You never know,” said Beth with a twinkle in her eye.

  Lois nodded and promised to be down in a bit for dinner after she cleaned up. She felt tired and dirty from an entire day of travel. She had ended up sleeping in an airport during a storm in Chicago that delayed her flight, and a shower was in order. As she climbed into the relaxing steamy water, her thoughts were still on her non-existent love life and the older woman’s words. It sounded like something her mother would have said. Lois had never truly imagined allowing someone beyond the barriers she had placed between herself and the men she knew in the past. She realized the only thing that held her back from new experiences was fear of the unknown. Looking down at her body, slick with water and suds, she wondered what a man would think of her if she were indeed to open herself up to knowing someone on a deeper level.

  The hot water was a blessing and she was soon feeling human again. Throwing her shoulder-length hair in a bun, she tiptoed down the hall with a towel wrapped around her. There was a tall man in the hallway next to her open door and she could tell he was looking in. He hadn’t noticed her and she almost backed into the bathroom, but she did not want to put the old clothes that reeked of fish back on after her shower.

  “Excuse me, I need to get through,” she said hurriedly. The man turned around and his blue eyes held hers for several moments before the words seemed to reach his brain enough for him to move. She thanked him and walked into her room, shutting the door softly behind her. Her heart thudded as she looked down at herself and was thankful that no part of her had been sticking out. The towel certainly exposed a bit more than she would have liked for a first meeting.

  As she was getting dressed, she couldn’t help but think about the man in the hallway. She tried to remember if Beth had given her his name, then she recalled it was Jeffrey. He was blonde and blue eyed, with broad shoulders, surely over six feet tall. It was the way in which he had looked at her and his set jaw that caused her to think about it for the rest of the evening. She really did not care for hunting, but with Beth’s words in mind, she figured she could go down to dinner with an open mind.

  Beth’s boarding house was one of the best places in town to get food. Many wanted her to turn the old place into a restaurant, but she insisted if you wanted her food, you would just have to stay the night and have dinner. It was one of Lois’ favorite times as she wasn’t much of a cook herself and had mainly subsisted on take-out in the city for the past year. There was also more than a passing thought of seeing Jeffrey again, and at least the next time, she would have some clothes on.

  Chapter 2

  Lois finally made her way downstairs and the aroma of a home cooked meal immediately greeted her as she entered the dining room. Beth had made her favorite, as she always did on the first evening of a summer trip.

  “Smells great, Miss Beth!” she chirped gleefully. Taking a seat, she smiled over at one of the men already seated at the small table. He introduced himself and Lois shook his hand. She nodded to Jeffrey, who was sitting a few chairs down the length of the table. She was unsure whether a proper introduction was even necessary at this point considering their unofficial meeting in the hall only minutes before.

  The three of them quickly fell into conversation about some of the animal sightings around the hotel, and Jeffrey’s face lit up with excitement as he told them about the polar bears he had spotted a few days before.

  “I only get to take one head home. There are some
endangerment laws, but I paid a pretty penny to get the one, so I want it to be the biggest damn one I can get out there. I almost got one earlier this week, but thankfully I missed because that one was a runt compared to the two I saw today.” He paused with a confused look on his face, “They are strange creatures though. I’ve never seen an animal that acted like these bears.”

  Lois was entirely disgusted with the conversation. The idea that someone would pay money to kill something was beyond her. It was not as if he would be eating the bear, he only wanted the head as a trophy. She shook the image from her mind and decided that sleep was in order.

  Miss Beth looked at her half-full bowl with questioning eyes, and Lois shrugged. She bade the group goodnight and plodded up the stairs. Her hopes of a romance with the striking Swedish man were off the table.

  ***

  The next morning, Lois was up and at the dock before seven. The older gentlemen that had let her use his boat in previous years had died over the winter and Lois had sought other arrangements. She had talked to an old friend who suggested she contact Conner Vern. She knew the name from town, but had not met anyone from the locally esteemed Vern family in person. Vern Corporations owned nearly half of the business that operated in Barrow.

  Conner wasn’t able to arrange meeting with her, but keys and a schedule had been left at the boarding house for her use, so all she had to do was find the boat. Looking down at the dock number she had written down, it became clear that the boat was a lot smaller than she had hoped.

  “Well, less money on gas,” she said to herself as she looked at the small boat that was looking like a dinghy compared to all of the others docked around it. She was too eager to get out on the water for it to matter much anyway. She approached her mini boat from the dock and noticed the name, “Fate” painted across the bow. When she climbed onboard, she was pleasantly surprised. While it was old, there were many modern conveniences that she had not enjoyed in a boat before. A crocheted red blanket was neatly rolled and tied with twine, lying in the captain’s chair. She reached to unfold it, and discovered a beautiful notecard attached to the twine. It had a helpful note with basic instructions and well wishes, and at the bottom “The Verns” was signed in large scrolling letters. As she pulled the blanket tightly around her shoulders, she wondered for a moment what kind of people they were, feeling certain that members of the Vern family did not actually take the time to sign cards for placing in each of their rental boats. Starting the engine up, the purr made her smile and she was soon untying herself from the dock and taking off towards the unbroken horizon.