Red's Bear (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales)

by Hines, Yvette

  Red’s Bear

  Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales

  Yvette Hines

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission by the author.

  Red’s Bear

  Copyright © 2013, Yvette Hines

  Cover Artist: Antwan Williams

  Editor: Bernadette Schane

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to eStore and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication

  To my husband, I love you. I’m so happy that every year brings us closer together as we grow and change. We can overcome all challenges set before us. Thanks to all my author friends on FB, when I hit the dark moment with this book and ‘lost it’, I think you all for your encouragement and tips. Most of all for understanding my agony and just being there. For my editor, B, I had a hell of a stressful two weeks with this book then you jumped in and helped things make sense. Thank you so much. To the readers that loved Bear’s Gold and asked for the next erotic fairy tale in Den County, this is for you.

  Prologue

  “Ah! This is so frustrating. I’m never going to get it.” She jerked the fishing pole out of the water and stared down at her empty line, the bait now missing.

  “Yes, you will. It just takes a little patience.” Reaching over, he grabbed the hook from her, making sure he didn’t pierce her fingers with it.

  “What it takes is being smarter than the average fish.” She pushed her bottom lip out in a mock pout.

  His gaze zoned in on that full bottom lip. All day he’d been tempted by her mouth and more than once he’d wondered what it would be like to kiss her.

  She licked her lips and the corners of her mouth trembled in nervousness. The small movement broke his focus.

  He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. Glancing away, he pulled a worm out of the bucket at his side, using that small moment to get himself under control. Other teens, his friends, were splashing around in the water fifty or so yards downstream from where he sat on the pier beside her.

  “Not really,” he replied.

  “It’s a good thing I don’t eat fish, because I would starve.”

  Looking at her, he frowned. He’d never heard of anyone that didn’t eat fish. “Really? You don’t eat it?”

  “I’m allergic.”

  He became concerned. “Is it going to bother you to touch it once you’ve caught one?”

  She laughed. “I’ll have to catch one first.”

  Smiling, he nodded. “True.”

  “No worries. I won’t start breaking out in hives or anything from contact.”

  That made him more at ease. The thought of her being hurt pulled at his core. The urge to protect her was like a stone in his gut: heavy and unable to be ignored. “Okay. Let me show you how to put the worm on the hook more secure so the fish have to work harder to get it. This usually causes them to get stuck on the line.”

  She scooted her hip toward his, moving closer as she stared at his hands.

  Heat raced through his body that had nothing to do with the summer sun beating down on the lake and them. As a sixteen-year-old male who had more than a few encounters with females, he couldn’t understand his response to the teen girl beside him. Just on the cusp of womanhood, she was more awkward and graceless than any other girl he knew. Most of the females his age were strong, swift and lithe.

  So, why does she affect me?

  “Watch how I do this.” Spearing the worm with the point of the hook, he threaded it tightly until none of the body was dangling. “Now you try it.”

  Reaching around him, she bravely took a slimy worm from the tub, it wiggled and twisted around her finger. As she shifted back, her arm brushed his back.

  Fire licked up his spine at the brief contact.

  Swallowing, he calmed himself the best he could. Speaking around the tightness in his throat, he instructed her on the technique.

  “Perfect. Now cast it into the water again.”

  Once that was complete, they both watched the hooked bait sink below the surface of the lake.

  He wanted to talk to her about something. Anything. However his mind had gone blank.

  She appeared to be content just setting there in the sun, so he didn’t push a conversation.

  Feet dangling over the side, they sat and waited.

  “Oh, goodness. I have a bite!” She screamed and almost dropped her pole in excitement.

  Reaching out, he grabbed the pole above her hands. “I’ll help you hold it while you reel it in.”

  Soon she had the large fish pulled in, taken off the hook and tossed into the wicker basket his grandmother had made him.

  “I did it! I did it!” Seated, she bounced up and down on the wooden slats and cheered. “Thank you so much.”

  Before he knew what to expect, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug. Stunned for only a moment, he slipped his arms around her waist.

  “Yes, you did.” It took all of his strength not to glide his hands up and down her back, but he managed to keep them still. “You’ll be a pro before the summer is over.”

  “You think so?” She leaned back, but not enough to break their hold as she gazed into his eyes.

  Her eyes were hazel, green with golden-brown flecks in them. He knew it had to do with her heredity.

  Staring into her eyes, his core tightened. Like a fish on a string, he was drawn to her. Unable to fight it any longer, he gave in to desire. Setting his lips on hers, he claimed her.

  If the sky had opened up and lightning had struck him, he wouldn’t have been more shocked by the fiery current that went through him. A combination of lust and protection swirled through his core.

  Mine.

  This female was his. He and his bear agreed.

  The world around them exploded. A woman’s angry tones called out to the girl as she came running down the path from the house in a rage.

  With her face flushed from the sun and embarrassment, the girl shoved away from him and rushed to meet her mother.

  He tried to make sense of everything that had happened as he watched the girl being dragged away.

  The sound of splashing water clued him in to the fact the other teens had come closer.

  “What’s going on, man?” his best friend asked.

  Once the girl was out of sight in the house, he faced the group in the water. “I’m not completely sure myself.”

  “Wow…amazing…”

  Frowning at the brown-haired girl in the water, he asked, “What’s so amazing about any of this?”

  His cousin, a blonde male teen, splashed water up at him. “Your eyes have gone gold.”

  Chapter One

  “I can’t eat. I’m still nauseous all the time and the medicine you gave me has seemed to make matters worse. Over the last two months I’ve called out two to three times a week from work. Already once this week and it’s only Monday.”

  “Rena, sometimes things like this take time to discover w
hat is going on.” Dr. Jung-tu, a small-framed Asian woman with almond-shaped brown eyes, reached out and patted her knee, giving Rena a sympathetic smile.

  But, Rena Hoodman didn’t want sympathy, she wanted results. Solutions. “How much time? I’ve been like this for months.” Rena hated the whine in her voice, but the aching in her belly was getting progressively worse.

  “I’ve already run a battery of tests with new results. It is not the flu, food poisoning or an intestinal virus.” When Rena opened her mouth to speak, the doctor raised her hand to stop her. “I am not giving up and I will run more tests. For now, stop the anti-nausea medication and see if that was just prolonging it.” She looked at the computer screen and tapped notes into Rena’s medical record.

  Sighing, Rena shook her head and pulled the paper gown tighter around her body. She was cold. Odd, because she was rarely cold. She was even happy to give up the meds, she hated taking them, but she’d hoped today she’d have a few more answers.

  “Keep the BRAT diet going. Bananas, rice, apple sauce and toast. Remember bland is best.”

  “I’m trying, Dr. Jung-tu. I really am. But there’s a problem.”

  Her doctor lifted her right eyebrow.

  Gazing down at her fingers watching them twist the fragile paper dress, Rena said, “While you’re running tests can you please check my iron. It has to be low. I’ve had cravings for fish. Seafood and honey.” She glanced back up.

  Astonished, the doctor placed her hand over her mouth and stared at Rena. “You’re a vegan. You told me you’ve been one all your life.”

  “I know. My mother was a very devout ethical vegan during my upbringing and I’ve carried on in veganism on my own. Ecstatic to do so.”

  Dr. Jung-tu frowned.

  “What!” Rena called out at her silence then rushed on, “Look, I went to the local seafood restaurant three times. It was like if I didn’t get the salmon I’d go out of my mind. I ordered the food, paid and left without eating it.”

  Lowering her hand, Dr. Jung-tu commented, “I’m sure it would have made you ill, never having had meat before, especially with your current situation.”

  “At this point, why do I care if I get sick?” Rena called out vehemently.

  Her doctor sighed. “I know this has been a difficult time for you. However, there are other ways to get what your body maybe lacking. As you know spinach, asparagus, broccoli, collards, watercress and tofu are very high in iron and protein.”

  She made a dry laugh. “I tried those. The sickness still stayed and so did the craving.” Shaking her head, she asked, “How do you crave something you’ve never eaten before?”

  “Any irritability?”

  “Some.”

  “However, that could be due to the ill feeling.”

  Rena shrugged a shoulder.

  “Racing heart?”

  “No.”

  “Exhaustion?”

  “Nope. I lay down because I’m sick, but I’m not overly tired.”

  Dr. Jung-tu scanned Rena’s face and skin more closely as if looking for something. “Stick out your tongue.”

  Complying, Rena opened her mouth wide as her doctor stood and shined the light in her mouth.

  “Not swollen. With the seafood cravings, any dirt, corn starch or other unusual substances?”

  Rena could feel her face scrunch and tighten, “Who would eat…?” She shook the gross thought away and tried to stay focused on her own issue. “Nothing like that but…”

  “But…?”

  “The honey.”

  “What about it?” The doctor flipped the record over and read through the documentation sent from Rena’s pediatrician. “It states you’re severely allergic to it. If you had some that may—”

  “No, no. I didn’t but I wanted to. I’ve continued with agave nectar as is the vegan norm. However, more than I wanted the meat the honey has driven me almost insane. Last night I found myself at the all-night superstore standing in the aisle before all those jars and bottles of various types of honey. I couldn’t even recall getting in my car and driving there.”

  Returning to the stool, Dr. Jung-tu mumbled, “This is very strange.”

  “You’re telling me. I stood there sweating, shaking, salivating, and practically drooling on myself like an imbecile. I was so freaked out I ran from the store.”

  “I believe in some holistic treatments and with all of your stomach ailments I would have suggested adding honey to your diet, but not with the extreme allergies your childhood doctor annotated. So, it is unusual for you to desire it.”

  “It is. Please check the iron levels.”

  “I will add some more blood tests to see what is going on.” Swiveling around in her small, squeaky, black stool again, the doctor turned her computer. “I already have your iron from the two times we’ve pulled your blood.” Tapping away at the keys she called up the information. “You first set of labs taken two weeks ago are completely normal, slightly low on the next, but good range still.” Clicking away again, she continued. “Comparing the results to this week may show us something.” There was more tapping and clicking.

  The doctor added in some notations to her notes, then turned. “The results should be back in a few days then we will see. I changed your medication to something a lot stronger. Zofran. It will definitely take away the nausea. It may make you a little tired so stay active at work.”

  Smiling, Rena felt relieved. She didn’t care if she gave her an elephant tranquilizer as long as the sick feeling deep in the pit of her stomach went away. “Thanks. Should I start taking an over-the-counter iron supplement?”

  Standing, Dr. Jung-tu shook her head. “Since your levels were not that low, due to your natural food diet, I would hold off. You don’t want too high iron either.” The doctor’s mouth bowed up as she comforted her with words. “Don’t worry, we will figure it out. If I can’t, I’ll send you to a specialist.”

  “Great,” Rena groaned. More doctors–that was all she needed.

  “I will call you with the results. Try not to worry until then. Pick your medicine up at the pharmacy. It will be ready when you finish dressing.”

  “Thanks, Dr. Jung-tu.”

  Nodding, the doctor stepped out, pulling the door behind her.

  Dropping her head in her hands, Rena wanted to scream. After months of dealing with this weird illness, she was mentally exhausted. She’d hoped in coming to see her doctor this time there would have been more answers and less questions.

  Getting dressed, she put all of her hope in the new medication. It was stronger, the doctor had said, and she would be happy with the peace and rest it would bring her. Picking up her meds, she got into her car and headed home.

  ~YH~

  There was no breeze blowing that night, but it felt cooler than the air in her house. Inside, Rena felt stifled, unable to breath and ill. Being outside at night was slightly calming, not by much, but she no longer tossed and turned in her lonely bed. Her body was still off balance and her stomach turned worse with the new medication than before. It seemed the stronger the meds her doctor prescribed for her, the more intense her negative reaction to them. Sitting on her back patio, on the third floor of a posh high-rise over top of a city center shopping area, she stared into the sky. The crescent-shaped moon appeared so small in the city. Too many tall buildings seemed to clutter the view. The city lights made the moon look dull and insignificant.

  Rena didn’t know why that bothered her tonight, but it did. Everything was annoying her suddenly. In a few hours she had to be at work. She worked from four in the morning to one in the afternoon as an assistant producer on a local kids network. They brought fairy tales to life for children. She’d been with the company for seven years. She had interned with them during college, gotten a permanent position soon after, and moved up from a gofer’s helper to assistant producer. Her life had seemed perfect, because her career was on a steady rise, until two months ago. Now she got a lot of raised eyebrows and groans from
her boss. Not to mention the station manager was starting to pretend she didn’t exist. Those were not good signs.

  Going inside, she grabbed a light blanket from the couch and curled up on the wicker lounge and attempted to block out the sounds of traffic and the occasional siren. She had to get some sleep and hope that she’d have enough strength and energy for the day at work.

  ~YH~

  “Son, you’re in your third season since you returned home from your wandering years. It is time for you to choose a mate. The time is now.”

  Corduroy Bjorn stretched out beside the lake with his hand in the water and listened to his father, Jasper. He didn’t have to turn his head to know his father’s face was etched with concern. His features had held that expression for weeks now. Most of the male bears in Den County had just returned from a county line run. A couple weeks away from the First Frost Moon had everyone on edge. It was now past midnight. Frogs and other woodland creatures called out to their mates. Cord understood that he would soon be thirty-three. Most of his friends had paired up within the last two years, but they had no problem finding their life mates. Hell, even his friend Theo, who had begun his wandering journey with him, at the last festival had claimed his second life mate—a human female who had been blessed with the Great Spirit. All others had found mates within the community. However, Cord knew deep within that his mate was not in the county.

  “I wish it was that easy.” Cord turned his head and looked at his father who lay unashamed and nude with his back propped against the base of a tree. At sixty-two his father was still a physically fit man. Cord knew it was because of their genetic make-up that his father would never diminish in bulk, strength, agility or lose muscle tone as his temples grayed.

  Sighing, his father pierced him with an onyx-eyed stare, a mirror of his own as well as the rest of the Were-bears in Den. “You have to make it that easy son. If you have not chosen on the night of the First Frost Moon, the next day during the life mate ceremony I will make sure it’s done.”