by Amelia Jade
“Carrie?” asked a voice she knew extremely well. “Is that you?”
“Who else would it be?” she asked, and threw her arms up around his face, bringing him down to kiss her.
Jarvis yelped in surprise before her lips pressed against his. She kissed him thoroughly and his initial protest died down abruptly.
They broke apart for air eventually.
“What happened to me?” she asked. “I feel good.”
The power that had been coursing through her body in the cave—which must have been in her mind—was still there.
And in the back of her head, in the cave she’d fallen into from the desert, she sensed the presence of the bear still.
“Jarvis,” she said slowly as the landscape around her came into acute focus. “What the hell happened to me?”
She impaled him with a look that promised anger if he didn’t explain, and explain quickly.
“You were taken by Angelo. I don’t know the details, but the car flipped and caught on fire,” he said, his hand finding hers and intertwining his fingers through hers as he spoke. “If it weren’t for that, I would never have found you.”
“What happened to me?” she asked, tightening her grip on him.
Jarvis winced, and she frowned. “Did I just hurt you?” she asked.
“It stung,” he admitted.
“How is that even possible?”
Jarvis looked away. “I didn’t have any choice,” he said.
“If you don’t tell me what is going on already, you’re not going to have any of something else,” she snarled.
“You were hurt. Badly,” he said, fear entering his voice as he explained to her the damage to her head. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
Her expression softened. “You didn’t,” she told him.
“I know. But only because I did something extreme.”
Carrie’s eyebrows narrowed. “What, exactly, did you do?”
Jarvis met her gaze for a moment, and then his eyes looked away.
“I—” he paused, visibly forcing himself to relax. “I Turned you.”
“Turned me?” she asked cautiously.
He nodded.
“Turned me into what?”
Jarvis’s eyes came back up to meet hers.
“Into a shifter.”
Chapter Sixteen
Carrie
It was two days later, and Carrie was still adjusting to the way the world had just changed around her.
She was a shifter.
No longer a human, but something more. It was…eye-opening. The difference between her old self and her new self was a vast chasm larger than she could comprehend.
Not only was she far, far stronger than any normal human, but she was faster. Her reflexes were quicker. Carrie had better eyesight, more sensitive hearing, and she was nearly invulnerable. Her body healed so quickly from even the worst injuries, that it defied explanation.
That had also explained, as she found out later, how Angelo had survived the knife she’d plunged into his chest. When Jarvis had explained to her that he had also been a Turned shifter, Carrie had almost had a heart attack. That was the last thing she’d expected of him.
“You know what I still don’t understand?” she said, walking back from her sister’s place.
And hadn’t that been a fun conversation!
Andrea was amazing though. She’d been more excited for Carrie than Carrie was for herself. It probably had to do with the fact that she was just glad her younger sister was still alive.
“What’s that?” Jarvis asked, his arm around her shoulder, holding her tight.
Ever since she’d awoken he’d barely left her side, something Carrie was more than grateful for as she got used to her newfound status and abilities. During the day he’d been there to support her, to guide her through everything.
And at night, he’d shown her just how deeply he cared for her.
“Why did Angelo keep me alive in the first place? If he’d just killed me, you would never have tracked him down, and the plan would have succeeded.”
“Ah,” Jarvis said. “Sorry, I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?”
He shrugged. “Once the human teams examined the records, it was revealed that they used your badge and access card to get into the facility before an alarm could be raised. If you’d been killed, that would have been removed.”
“Oh, well that makes me feel sooo much better,” she said.
“There was nothing you could do about it,” he replied, squeezing her tight to quell any further protests.
“I suppose,” she said. “Still.”
“No, no buts, stills, excepts, or any other word you can think of!” he said, turning and spinning her to look her directly in the eye. “You can’t live in the past. Nobody was killed, the dam is still mostly structurally intact, and there’s a new larger river running through the countryside. Nothing bad came of this.”
“Except for the death of Angelo and the Fenris shifters.”
Jarvis nodded slowly. “Yes, but they had a choice, and they made it. Nothing you did forced them to do it, or even affected their choice. So you can’t blame yourself for that.”
“I know,” she agreed. “And I don’t. But I do regret all this needless death.”
“So do I,” Jarvis said softly. “So do I.”
And Carrie was reminded of all the men he had lost along the way, the soldiers he’d trained and seen become Green Bearets, wiped from existence all because of some power-hungry people in Fenris.
“Oh Jarvis, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, pulling him close, nuzzling her head against his, and trying to provide support to him.
“I know,” he said, his voice still quiet and grief-stricken. “I know.”
They arrived at the motel that was still being used for the Green Bearets headquarters in town, and proceeded up the stairs and inside. But to her surprise, they didn’t go to his office, or to his quarters.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“There are some people I want you to meet,” was all he would say.
“Umm, okay?”
They walked down a hallway she hadn’t been down before. Waiting outside of a door were two figures that she did recognize.
“Luther, Aksel, has he roped you into this as well?”
The two Green Bearets exchanged looks of surprise. “Us? No, not at all.”
Carrie was thoroughly confused now. “What the hell is going on?”
Jarvis gestured to the door. “Go on in. We’ll come around in a bit.”
“Is it safe? Is this some test?” she asked cautiously, slowing her pace.
“No!” Jarvis said with a chuckle. “This is for you. I think it will help.”
Carrie frowned.
“Just go inside and talk to them, okay?” he said.
“Oookay,” she said, looking over her shoulder as the three men waited in the hallway. “This isn’t cryptic at all.”
But she didn’t protest any more. Instead, she opened the door and slipped into the room.
Several comfortable chairs were laid out in the center of the room. Two of them were occupied by a pair of women who were chatting.
One of them, the first to notice her, was an auburn-haired beauty who rose with a gentle smile on her face.
“Hi,” she said cheerfully, extending her hand. “I’m Allix.”
“Carrie,” she said, returning the handshake.
The powerful handshake.
Carrie looked down at their hands, then back up. This woman wasn’t a human. She was a shifter!
“I’m Nina,” said the blonde who had risen from the other chair.
“Carrie,” she said, shaking this woman’s hand as well, although she wasn’t surprised to feel the strength in the grip either.
“You two are shifters,” she said matter-of-factly.
The two exchanged a look. “Turned shifters, in fact.”
“Really? But I thought those were rare.”
“They are. We are,” the blonde—Nina—said, gesturing for Carrie to have a seat.
“So where did they find you?” she asked bluntly.
“Well, Captain Luther Klein is my mate,” Allix said.
“And Lieutenant Aksel Muller is my man,” Nina said with a giggle.
Carrie looked back and forth between them. “Are you serious?”
They nodded.
“What are the odds of that?” Carrie asked, finally sitting in the empty chair.
“Pretty damn slim,” Nina said.
“Agreed. It’s a long shot. But here we are,” Allix chimed in. “But, that’s not why Jarvis asked us to come here.”
“Why did he? He certainly didn’t say anything to me!” Carrie said with a laugh.
“Because we’ve been there. We’ve gone through what you’re going through,” Nina said. “Jarvis and his friends know what life is like as a shifter, and they can help you more with some of the, ah, physical things. But they’ve been exposed to this world since they were children. There is plenty that they take for granted about living in the shifter world. Things that they can’t really relate with you about.”
Carrie nodded. “I’d noticed that. Add on top of that the whole Green Bearet lifestyle, and I’ve got to admit, I’ve been rather overwhelmed.” She held up her hands. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Jarvis more than I’ve loved anyone before. We just…mesh, together somehow. But this change has been…hard.”
She inhaled, feeling her hands shake slightly as she finally admitted it.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” she rushed ahead. “I’m so happy that he saved my life. That we now get to spend our lives together. But my entire life has been turned upside down. Inside out. Spun in a circle.”
The other two women reached forward, giving her silent support and sympathy.
Carrie closed her eyes, settling her nerves down.
“How did you two do it?” she asked.
Allix shrugged. “To be honest, with me, I realized that I was finally where I belonged. I’d always been a wanderer, unhappy with what I had. So it was much easier for me.” She looked over at Nina.
“I’m from here in Cloud Lake. Like you,” Nina said. “And it’s been tough. Like you as well though, I wouldn’t change a thing. But the difference between me and my family, who I’ve always been extremely close with, has been hard to get over. We’ve been doing it, but I couldn’t have done it without Allix. Together we’ve been able to figure this out.”
The blonde smiled at her. “So that’s why we told Jarvis to bring you here. We wanted to meet you, and tell you that we’re here for you, if there’s anything you need.”
Carrie frowned. “You told Jarvis to bring me here? He made it out like this was his plan…”
Allix snorted. “Typical. Okay dear, so, here’s the first thing you need to know about dealing with these bear shifters…”
Carrie leaned back in her chair, a smile blossoming on her face as she talked.
I think I’m going to like it here…
Chapter Seventeen
Jarvis
He rubbed his neck. The bite marks were healing nicely. To his surprise though, they were slightly itchy.
“Are you okay, love?” Carrie asked from where she was snuggled up to his side, his arm draped down her back.
“Better than okay,” he replied, leaning down to kiss her head tenderly.
Earlier that morning they’d completed the mating ritual, with Carrie harnessing her bear for the first time and biting him, leaving her mark. He’d been unsure if she would be interested in moving ahead so quickly, but she’d been spending a lot of time with Allix and Nina lately, and that seemed to be helping her adapt to her new life.
“So, what happens now?” she asked, dragging the tip of one finger down his chest idly.
“What do you mean, with us?”
“Well, that, but also with Fenris, the war, everything.”
He nodded.
It had been all over the news. The human government was launching an investigation into Fenris over the dam, and it seemed likely that the outcome would result in some sort of sanction, or possibly even military action.
The war between Cadia and Fenris could be coming to an abrupt conclusion. That remained to be seen of course, and who knew how long the human investigation might take to bear any fruit.
In the meantime, Cadia had to keep her guard up, but for now he was content with the lack of offensive operations. Fenris would be preoccupied and likely unable to do anything. This would give the training programs currently underway with all the various shifter races time to bring more recruits up to speed, swelling their ranks even more.
Which was desperately needed after the disastrous raid on Base Camp and subsequent assault on the cavern, where far too many Green Bearets had fallen in defense of their homeland. Jarvis would be glad for this slight reprieve, but he also intended to use it to hone his assault force in Cloud Lake into something out of Fenris’s worst nightmares.
They were never going to get caught off guard again.
“For now, nothing with the war. It’s not a formal truce, but call it a lull, the eye of the storm perhaps. There’s been rumblings of a deep strike being planned on Fenris though, and that’s likely to stir them up. So, we have to be on guard.”
Carrie hesitated, then planted a kiss on his ribs. “Is there any way I can help?” she asked.
Jarvis shook his head. “Not until you’ve learned to master your bear. Once you can confidently do all the basics, if you absolutely insist, you can sign up for the Green Bearets.” He paused, turning to stare at her with serious, unyielding eyes. “But not until then. I can’t prevent you from signing up, but I can and will do everything in my power to ensure that you are ready when you do sign up.”
His mate smiled and pulled him tight, her squeeze making his ribs creak.
“Easy,” he said, tapping at her hand.
“Oh, right.” Carrie looked sheepish as she eased up. “Still getting used to this whole super-strength business.”
“I know,” he said with a fake croak, holding his side.
“Not fair!” she exclaimed with a giggle.
“So hurt. Ow!” He faked pain some more.
“Stop it,” Carrie said, flinging one leg over him and rolling up to straddle him.
She squeezed her legs, tightening it nice and slow.
“Okay, tapping out!” he said as it began to pinch.
Carrie wiggled her hips. “Really? It kinda feels like you’re liking this!” she said mischievously, grinding her hips a little slower.
“I’m liking you on top of me, without a shirt on,” he said.
She frowned, looking down at her chest. “I have a sh—”
His hands ripped the shirt from her, fabric tearing as he tore it right down the middle.
“I had a shirt on,” she corrected with an arched eyebrow, her breasts swaying slightly under his gaze.
“Come here,” Jarvis said, pulling her down to him so he could kiss her.
This time Carrie didn’t protest.
This concludes Book 3 of the Base Camp Bears series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Although this story is over, there are more adventures to be had. To get access to my newest stories at the introductory price of just 99c, and for other exclusives, sign up for my newsletter!
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THE END
Want More of These Characters?
Base Camp Bears
Green Bearets: Luther
Green Bearets: Aksel
Dragons of Cadia
Gale Dragon
Fume Dragon
Aurum Dragon
Top Scale Academy
Frost Dragon
Fire Dragon
Electro Dragon
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About the Author
Amelia Jade
Amelia Jade loves to write the stories of tall, growly shifter men and the women who come to love them. Living out in the backcountry near the mountains, she keeps her own alpha male close by to keep the bears away and keep her warm. In her downtime (which is rare), she loves to read science-fiction with a dash of fantasy. You can often find her curled up in front of the real wood-burning fireplace, her nose firmly buried in a book or her favorite e-reader. The cold can’t bother her there!
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