Bearly Hanging On (A Werebear Shifter BBW Romance) (Laid Bear Book 3)

by Marina Maddix

  She’d snuck into her dad’s study and used his private line to call her human friends a few times but none of them would take her calls — skanks — and Crystal’s grandparents weren’t listed in the phone book. Add to that the fact she was grounded for life, and there was no chance for her to make it right. She was out of ideas.

  As her mom scurried up the sidewalk to the liquor store, a finger wiggling in her ear in an effort to stop the leftover ringing from Sandy’s screech, fate decided to cut the teen some slack. In her rearview mirror, she spotted Crystal walking up the street. She didn’t look as cute as Sandy remembered — her skin was a weird gray color, her hair was tucked under a faded Pearce Forestry baseball cap and she was in some super-schlumpy sweats. It looked like she was trying to hide or something.

  Her mom said she couldn’t get out of the car, but she didn’t say anything about talking with anyone. Jabbing the button on her armrest, she got her window down just as Crystal was passing by, oblivious.

  “Psst, Crystal!” Sandy waggled her fingers when Crystal turned toward her. “Got a minute?”

  Alarm grew in Crystal’s eyes and a hand shot up to push her hat lower on her head. Looking around frantically and seeing no one else, she edged closer to the car. Sandy spotted the instant she recognized the car as the one Chet had driven on their last date.

  “H-hi, S-Sandy,” she stuttered, poor thing. Sandy would have to work hard and work fast to get it all out before her mom came out.

  “Hey. Listen, Chet and I have been on lockdown all week and I only have a minute. I know things are totally shitty right now but you need to listen to me. Okay?”

  Crystal blinked and Sandy took that as a yes.

  “We’ve all been told our whole lives that werebears and humans can’t mate…marry…whatever. We’re told all sorts of horror stories but it’s all a lie. There are whole towns filled with nothing but mixed pairs who live happily ever after. Do you understand?”

  Crystal blinked, so Sandy continued.

  “I don’t know how it is for humans, but us weres have this, um, thing where we can tell almost instantly when someone is our fated mate. Not everyone finds their fated mate but I believe it’s possible for all of us. Chet felt that for you. Believe it or not, you are his fated mate, and he will never have another.”

  More blinking, this time with tears forming in her lashes.

  “I know you love him, too. He told me you felt the same way. He’s completely shattered, Crystal. When he got here, he was this snobby asshole who was kinda funny. Then you guys got together and he became cool. Now he’s a pathetic shell of what he used to be. Honestly, I’d rather have the first Chet back than have him live in the hell he’s in now.”

  Crystal was trying to form words, but Sandy didn’t have time to answer a bunch of silly questions so she barreled on.

  “His initiation into the clan is tonight at seven, all the way at the end of Skookum Road. Once he becomes a full member of the clan, hooking up with a human would get him expelled, kicked out. But if he’s still a juvenile, if he’s never actually initiated…don’t you see?”

  More blinking, this time very confused.

  “If he’s not a member of the tribe when you guys run off together, he can’t be officially expelled! I mean, don’t kid yourself, no one would talk to him, but it wouldn’t be, like, official. Maybe it sounds kinda the same but, trust me, it’s not.”

  Crystal looked stunned. She opened her mouth to say something at the exact moment Sandy’s mom came hurrying out of the liquor store.

  “You there,” she called. “Shoo! Go on now, shoo!”

  Good grief, this chick blinked a lot! But as soon as she saw Clea bearing down on her, she clamped her mouth shut and tore off down the street without looking back. Sandy let out a big gust of breath, hoping some of what she’d said had sunk in.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Settle down, ladies and gentlemen! The ceremony is about to begin!” A great gruff bear of a man was standing in the center of the circular clearing, raising one hand as twenty or so teenage guys and girls greeted each other with hugs and slaps on the back. They’d grown up together, so seeing each other after weeks of isolation was a party in the making.

  For Chet, it was downright uncomfortable. He didn’t know a single soul in his ‘graduating class’ and they all gave him sideways glances when they noticed his presence as they formed a circle around the clan elder. A couple guys even gave him the evil eye, though why he had no idea. Maybe they’d heard about his dalliance with a human. Or maybe they were just assholes. Either way, he felt no kinship with these werebears who were supposed to form a tight bond with him tonight.

  About a hundred adults wearing rough, brightly colored ceremonial capes ringed the clearing, like they were standing guard. From what, Chet could only wonder. Humans were practically enslaved by Pearce Forestry and they were the only were clan on the island. It would make for good TV, though, he thought cynically.

  As the group of young men and women quieted down, the elder touched a torch to the pile of wood in front of him, setting it ablaze. A thick cloud of smoke whispered around the clearing, the cloying stench of incense settling on him. It was still pretty light out, and would be for a couple hours, so why they needed the fire was lost on Chet. It was probably to build excitement, or maybe the ceremony lasted well into the night. He didn’t know and, he was disheartened to realize, he didn’t really care. He didn’t care about much of anything lately.

  “Tonight is the night when the Skookum Clan welcomes twenty-one new members into its fold! The grand traditions of old stay alive with the young! Only in this way will the clan survive! We are strong! We are one!”

  The elder, who everyone but Chet seemed to know, never stopped shouting. It seemed unnecessary, given there were only twenty other initiants. But it really got the rest of them charged up.

  Everyone but Chet started chanting, “We are strong! We are one!” over and over again. It had to be the clan motto or something. He didn’t want to look like the idiot who wouldn’t join in, so he started mumbling the words to at least pretend they meant something to him.

  He was supposed to be excited about tonight. Every young werebear looked forward to their initiation, talking about it endlessly with their friends, guessing what exactly went on. It was to be his final rite of passage into adulthood, but this whole song and dance had so far left him disenchanted…bored, even. Holy hell, how long was the chanting going to go on?!

  The elder finally lifted his torch to stop the noise. “From cub to elder, we gather tonight to bring our sons and daughters together in an eternal bond! From tonight henceforth, they shall be called ‘brother’ and ‘sister’, fighting together to keep our path true and bloodlines pure!”

  A roar of approval rose up around around Chet, startling him. The words he’d heard throughout his life, the mantra by which everyone he knew lived, suddenly took on new meaning. No longer was it half-meaningless hype meant to rally weres together. Now it sounded like hate-filled propaganda.

  “United we can weather any storm! United we will grow stronger and overcome any obstacles! Our enemies will never defeat us if we are united!”

  The fervor glowing in each face in the circle disturbed Chet. Was he the only one really understanding the words being spoken? Did they not hear the racism — or species-ism, in this case — in the elder’s words? Clearly, the ‘enemy’ was the human race. For the first time, he really listened and was horrified at what he heard.

  Werebears and humans didn’t need to live separately from each other. Sandy had shown him proof that humans and weres could have perfectly healthy families. And more than anything, he wanted to have that life with Crystal. It just about killed him that she didn’t.

  Sleep had completely eluded him after Sandy snuck out of his room the night before, his brain running in exhausted circles after its own tail trying to figure out what he should do. His heart said to do whatever it took to make Crystal his own, e
ven if it meant being banished for the rest of his life. But another part of him rebelled against the very idea. Even his bear whimpered in response to never seeing his family and friends again.

  But Crystal…

  Her ice blue eyes flashed in his memory, drawing a groan of longing from his bear. He glanced around quickly to make sure he hadn’t done it out loud, but no one was looking at him funny so he was safe.

  It was all a moot point anyway. Crystal had made her decision. She didn’t want him, and he couldn’t blame her. Why would she want to be burdened with a cast-out werebear — a mutant by most humans’ standards — when she could live a very normal life with a very normal human?

  The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was for the best that she walked away. She deserved so much better than the life of an exile. She deserved love and happiness and babies and a full, long life in a house with a picket fence and a pool in the backyard. Maybe even a waterslide. The pain he felt couldn’t override his desire that she have a long and happy life.

  “…And by swearing the oath, all are vowing to uphold these principles in all their actions! Step forth and receive your mark!”

  One by one, the other young people solemnly walked up to the elder, who held his torch high and blessed them…with more chanting. “We are strong! We are one!”

  Once a blessing was finished, the initiant was instructed to shift into bear form for the first time as a full clan member. Applause and cheering from the adults rang out, then a medallion was hung around the bear’s neck. The bear walked back to his or her spot in the circle and shifted back to human form, a parent quickly stepping forward to wrap them in a cape of their own.

  “They used to brand initiants instead of giving them a medal,” whispered the pimply faced kid next to him. “Totally barbaric!”

  “Heh. Yeah.” It was all Chet could think to say. He didn’t want to offend the guy by telling him he thought the whole ritual was comically old-fashioned and, frankly, a little silly. Besides, this was his life now. Maybe after the ceremony, he’d get to know the weres in his clan a little better, make some friends.

  Then it was Mr. Zit-Face’s turn. His new best friend…whatshisname. The dude practically floated up to the elder, so eager he shifted in the middle of his blessing. No biggie, everyone got a kick out of it. Chet’s laugh was hollow, but he was pretty sure no one noticed.

  Then it was his turn. He thought he’d be nervous when the time came, that the act of becoming a full member would override his angst. But all he felt was resignation. Resignation to a fate that wasn’t supposed to be.

  Approaching the elder, he kicked aside the growing pile of shredded clothing the others had left behind. If he’d known this was going to be part of the show — um, ceremony — he wouldn’t have worn his best suit. Whatever. Glamor and fashion and popularity meant nothing to him anymore. He knew what mattered in life and he knew he’d never have it again.

  He stopped in front of the elder, doing his best to impersonate someone who gave a shit. The elder held his torch high, as he’d done with the others, and took a deep breath to perform the invocation. “We are—“

  “TUBBS!”

  Chet’s bear recognized her voice an instant before he did, roaring and clawing to get out. Then her scent found his nostrils and he breathed her in. Hope sprang into his chest, making him happier than he’d been in a week. Whatever she had to say to him, he was ecstatic to see her one last time.

  The entire company turned in unison toward Crystal, who was standing at the edge of the clearing, behind the adults. A smattering of snarls and growls echoed through the group. How she managed to sneak into a werebear gathering without a single one of them noticing was impressive. That horrible incense coming from the fire probably masked her scent. Didn’t matter, she was here now.

  Chet took one faltering step toward her, whispering her name. He could barely hear it above the hammering of his heart. This was the excitement he should have felt about the ceremony, but instead he was feeling it about a funny, quirky, wonderfully curvy human girl who had a penchant for pink hair.

  “What—“ He started to ask what she was doing there but was interrupted by his aunt, who’d apparently pre-functioned before coming to the ceremony.

  “Whuh the hhhhelll are you doin’ here, you human whhhore?!” She hadn’t just pre-functioned, she’d had a party all by herself! An ugly rage filled Aunt Clea’s normally perfectly preserved face a split second before she shifted and charged at Crystal, a murderous scream rending the air.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Ever since Sandy hijacked her that afternoon, Crystal couldn’t stop thinking about Chet. Okay, honesty time. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him almost since the moment they met. He was so cocky and ridiculous on the ferry, but something changed in him when they met again at Paulie’s. From that moment on, he was charming and funny and caring and sexy as hell.

  After Chet’s aunt shooed her off, Crystal went for a walk. She walked and walked and walked until her brain hurt. Nana had told her all about the werebears in the area, about how they lived beside but apart from the human population. That they were well-respected members of the community whose ancestors had lived there for generations.

  If anyone else had broken the news to her, she would have laughed in their faces but her grandparents would never play with her like that. Besides, she’d seen Chet turn into a bear with her own eyes and he’d openly talked about it on the way back to town that night.

  Accepting that werebears existed wasn’t as difficult as accepting that she’d fallen in love with one, though. She’d been ready to give herself to Chet — not just her body, which was far from ‘pure’, but her heart, too. The whole enchilada. Then he’d gone and broken her brain with his true nature.

  She barely remembered walking back to her grandparents’ house the night of their big date. It was like she had some kind of amnesia or something. But the one thing she wanted to forget wouldn’t stop replaying in her memory. One minute he was Chet, the next a bear. Chet, bear. Chet, bear. ChetbearChetbearChetbear. It was on a continuous loop in her mind.

  For nearly a week she’d barely been functional enough to make it to work, but it was the only thing keeping her sane. Cleaning out the boats was mindless but it kept her busy and, more importantly, kept her from thinking too much. Thinking would be her undoing, so she came in early and stayed late, venturing home only after everything at The Whale’s Tail had been properly stowed. Andy was particularly pleased, though he might have had some pity on her if he knew the reason for her sudden productivity.

  The nights were the hardest. Her grandparents tried to cheer her up by renting all the videotapes they thought she would like. Of course, it didn’t dawn on them that renting sappy John Hughes romances might not be the best thing for her at the moment. More often than not, she ran crying to her room, tormented by losing her true love.

  No, her fated mate.

  Now she was aimlessly walking the streets of town, trying to figure out what she was feeling, now that she could feel again instead of wandering around like a zombie on Valium. Part of her was devastated that Chet had kept such a big part of himself a secret, the other part was devastated that he felt the need to. He didn’t trust that her feelings for him wouldn’t change, and considering how she reacted, she couldn’t really blame him. What she’d said was unforgivable, and combined with her running off, under the circumstances, was as good as dumping him.

  Was that what she wanted? She’d never given her future much thought, beyond heading to college in the fall and majoring in partying. But now…now she had daydreams about other things, and all of them included Chet. Getting wasted and doing all the other crap she’d been playing with back in Seattle wasn’t even a blip on her radar anymore. The so-called friends she hung out with, the ones she thought she couldn’t live without, hadn’t so much as called her once since she left town and it didn’t even bother her.

  It was all just happening way t
oo fast. She barely knew the guy! It was what? Less than a month since they met? Impossible!

  Wasn’t it?

  Catching her toe on a tree root, Crystal stumbled, snapping her out of her thoughts. She somehow navigated her way to the playground where they had their first kiss. The swings swayed lazily in the late afternoon breeze, calling to her. She couldn’t help smiling when she wedged herself into the small seat. Chet had nearly charmed the pants off her right there on the playground.

  Scuffing her toe in the dirt, she thought back on their stolen mornings and afternoons. No one had known and that made their time together all the more sweet. More than once, she tried to get in his pants but he always stopped her.

  “Are you ready?” he’d ask.

  She knew he meant more than just having sex. Was she ready to commit to him fully, to become his ‘fated mate’? A huge part of her always screamed, “Holy shit, YES!” But her brain kept tripping her up, whispering that it was going too fast, that he’d leave her like all her mom’s boyfriends (and two husbands) left, that they were too different.

  Little did she know just how different…

  The crunch of approaching footsteps drew her gaze. Four very put-out Valley Girls stood before her, their glares practically catching her on fire. “Well, look who we have here, girls,” sneered Tiffany, the ringleader.

  Crystal had almost forgotten about these bitches.

  Her grandparents had hooked her up with them as soon as she stepped foot off the ferry, hoping to ’normalize’ her. Back home, she would have blown off mall rats like them, but her choices were limited out in the boonies, so she let them give her a makeover. Over the course of a week, they transformed her from a “punkadelic freakazoid” to a Madonna wannabe. She’d even thought they might become friends for the summer.