Shared by the Bear Clan: Box Set (Paranormal Alpha Werebear Romance)

by Lynn Red

  “I can’t help it,” I said with a laugh. “He’s like a giant, lilac-scented teddy bear.” I really couldn’t help it and past that, I couldn’t explain it. Thirty seconds ago, I’d been completely horrified by the giant, stompy, doofy thing, but there I was, hugging him.”

  “So he isn’t bothering you?”

  “He did bring this delicious melon stick,” Grave said. He was still a little perplexed by the whole thing, but he had eaten just about the entire cantaloupe. “I can’t be all that mad, I guess.”

  “This has gone from nothing to amazing in less time than it took for me to eat this watermelon,” Wild said, wiping his mouth with the back of one of his bare forearms. “I can’t believe I’m saying this. I can’t believe it’s happening.”

  With a cloud of dust the size of hell itself swallowing up the entire dirt path leading into our new home, first one figure, then a second, emerged. The first was coughing, and looked to be just about the same size as Grave, although slimmer across the chest and shoulders. The other was… when I saw her, I just about choked, and not from the dust.

  “A human?” I asked. “Really?”

  We, as in humans, have this way of walking that’s entirely our own. It’s something about the way our arms swing at our sides, and how exact our proportions are, no matter what size a person we are. You’d never notice it unless you spent most of your time hanging out with shifters, but you can tell. You can always tell.

  I unwrapped myself from the Atlas creature’s arm and trotted over to the new couple. Immediately, the human handed a bundle to the man towering over her, pushed him back a little bit when he tried to go in for a kiss, and wrapped her arms around me.

  “You have no idea how good it is to see another one of us,” she said. She was slightly choked up, but swallowed her emotions very quickly. “I’m Izzy,” she said. “And I’ve been here for years. It’s great, but… damn it’s real, real good to see a good ol’ homo sapiens for once. Wait, you’re not about to shape shift into a rabbit or something, are you?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “No,” I said, “I don’t think so anyway. At least, I hope not. I’m Adriana and… wow,” I said. “Just wow. What the hell is going on?”

  “Yeah,” Izzy said with a grin, “I spent a lot of time asking exactly that same question when I first got here. I came for a job, and you came for… ugh, I know someone told me why your clan headed up this way but I’ve also got a four month old wolf cub who sleeps about forty-five minutes a day and eats the rest of it and—oh!”

  Izzy looked down at my bulging belly and immediately gave me the big, wide-open eyes of excitement. “You too? Oh god it isn’t twins is it? They’ll kill you.”

  I burst out laughing. “No,” I said, “no, just one. Apparently bears never have twins, so there are always tiny blessings behind abject panic.”

  “So, which one of—”

  Interrupting Izzy’s question, Grave, Wild and Craze all three surrounded me. Wild and Craze came up to either side and Grave stood behind me.

  “All three,” I said with a smile. Izzy’s chin just about hit the floor.

  “But you’re so,” she trailed off, half-laughing, “and they’re so…”

  “Big?” I asked.

  “Muscular?” Wild asked. “Brave, courageous, heroic?” Craze decided to up the ridiculous ante. But nothing on earth could have prepared me for what came next.

  “Awesome,” Grave said.

  Wild, Craze and I all turned our heads, slowly on a swivel, to gaze at the overly-serious, sometimes sour-tempered Grave. “Did you just say that?”

  He cracked a smile first, and then started booming with laughter. All I could do was shake my head. “I guess the war ending really did mellow him out.”

  “I don’t think it was the war, honey,” Izzy said, patting my belly. “Something you’ll get used to real quick, if you haven’t already, is that there’s one sure-fire way to calm down the most obnoxiously alpha of alphas.”

  We exchanged glances for a moment. “Though,” she said with a smirk, “I think you’ve already figured that one out.”

  “I had no clue it made that much difference,” I said with a laugh that spread through everyone. Everyone that is, except the old man with the jingling beard, and the newcomer who was holding the way-too-big baby. On cue, the bundle of swaddling blankets pushed an arm out. I swear I saw a biceps on that fat little arm, I swear I did.

  “This is Gordon,” Izzy said.

  “It’s a family name. And,” the big guy stepped up, extending his hand, “I’m Erik Danniken, bad-ass alpha werewolf of Jamesburg.”

  “I thought we changed your title to ‘mayor’ in the last election?” Izzy asked. “Yeah, we did. Sometimes he has trouble with letting go of the past. We all do I imagine.”

  There was a hint of sadness in her voice, but not enough to tamp down the radiant smile on her face. “I guess we do,” I said, taking the giant hand and shaking. “Nice to meet you, I’m Adriana, this is… well, these are, I corrected myself, my mates. Grave, Craze, Wild, be polite.”

  The three bears who were all holding melons in various stages of being eaten, jolted to life. Grave snorted defensively. “Werewolf?” he prickled visibly. “Jamesburg?” he asked. “Mayor? I had no idea there was a settlement here. I’m not sure this is such a great idea. We’re—”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard it before,” Erik cut him off. “Listen, it doesn’t matter why you’re here, although I already know because let’s say that news travels fast in the shifter world, even if you never knew we existed.”

  “We came here after a war that almost destroyed our clan,” Grave said. “We had no idea anyone was even here. We’ll be going. We need to be safe, my mate, she’s…”

  “Yeah, pregnant,” Erik said, cutting Grave off for the second time. “No, you’ll stay here. We’ve got a couple of bear clans in the woods in either direction from town, and we don’t even charge them much property tax.”

  Grave stared at him with hard eyes, measuring the man in front of him.

  “Right, right,” Erik let out an easy laugh. “That was, uh, a joke. Anyway, we’d love it if you stayed. I see you already met the most offensive resident of our town.”

  “He brought melons,” Grave said. “On a three wheeled pedal cart.”

  “Three wheeled… Oh, he’s riding the tricycle again? He fell off that thing a couple weeks ago and I thought he’d never get back on it.” Erik gave Atlas a slap on the back. “Also, it sounds like you might be related to him.”

  When Grave let out a low, rumbling growl, Erik just laughed again. “Joking, guy, just joking. You gotta lighten up. Anyway, we’re here to tell you you’re welcome. There’s no place safer, more secret and more secure. For the most part. We’ve had a couple of issues in the past, but nothing that doesn’t get fixed.”

  “We’re loners,” Grave said slowly.

  “Well we can fix that,” Craze said as he stepped around front. “It might be time to find some friends, don’t you think? After that business with the wolves, I mean…”

  “It’s a good time to find friends,” Wild added. “And we can’t go any longer without rest. Ade needs somewhere to relax. She also needs somewhere to buy clothes, and I think if she doesn’t get in front of a television soon, she might have some kind of eruption.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Still, I wouldn’t complain, that’s for sure.

  “Well then,” Erik said, “seems like we’re in agreement. This was supposed to be a lot more formal, with me inviting you all to join Jamesburg’s wild citizens, but I heard Atlas got here early and wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything too horrible.”

  “He brought melons,” Grave said. He had a little smile on his face so I knew he was happy, but at the same time, it was wonderful to see him confused. “Can’t complain about—”

  “Well good,” Erik said, cutting him off.

  Let me say that again. Erik cut him off. Without a care in the world, the
guy with the side-swept blond hair and movie-star blue eyes strolled past me and into the pocket formed by the three bears. Gordon stuck his hand out, and immediately I fell into the trap of letting him grab my fingers as he cooed.

  “Look out!” Izzy shouted. “Gordon! Don’t pull on miss—”

  “Oh it’s all right,” I said, “He’s so cute, he—ah!”

  The fat little hand which was connected to the fat little arm with the biceps peak yanked me so hard I fell forward. “Whoa!” Erik grabbed me before I hit the deck, and I came face to face with Gordon, who had poked his other arm out of his bundle. The arm and the hand matched a fat little face, which giggled, then sneezed. When he sneezed he laughed, and when he laughed, he sprouted a few hairs on his face.

  “Don’t kiss him,” Erik warned.

  “Why? He’s got the fattest cheeks I’ve ever seen!” I planted a series of kisses on either of Gordon’s cheeks. Any other circumstance would have rendered these kisses extremely embarrassing, but this mixture between a teddy bear and a baby was just too much. “Why doesn’t daddy want me to kiss your fat cheeks?”

  Izzy was laughing so hard she had started wheezing.

  “Because he’s too manly for all that,” Erik said. “Look how manly he is!”

  “Looks to me like he likes it,” Wild said, sticking a finger toward the baby’s face. He poked one of those big fat cheeks, and a second later, Gordon managed to maneuver his head around and grabbed Wild’s prodding finger between his teeth.

  The gigantic bear let out a wild howl and fell over himself, trying to keep his feet but failing miserably. He ended up in a heap and once again, the entire peanut gallery was screeching with laughter.

  “Is this what it’s always like around here?” I asked Izzy, who was just then recovering from her fit.

  She shook her head for a moment, laughed again, and finally got herself back together. “What can I say?” she asked. “Welcome to Jamesburg. You gotta love it.”

  A mixture of terror, wonder, and the distinct feeling you only get when you’re in the presence of people you love and people you trust—even if you can’t quite explain why you trust them. “Somehow,” I said very slowly as my three bears were all gathered around Erik, who was proudly showing off little Gordon’s ability to grab and hold on. He wasn’t able to yank any of them around quite the same way he did me, but he still had Wild wincing. “I think we’re gonna fit right in. Don’t ask me how, but… yeah.”

  Izzy put her arm around my neck and turned me to look at Craze, Wild, Grave and Erik. They had advanced to passing Gordon around the circle. “Are they gonna need to start wearing clothes?” I asked. “It’s been so long since I wasn’t around a bunch of naturists that it didn’t even occur to me.”

  “Nah,” she said. “Looking like that? Are you kidding me? Making those guys put pants on would be criminal.”

  We laughed again. “Thanks,” I said with a little sniff. “Yeah, I think we’re gonna get along just fine.”

  Thank you so much for taking the time to check out my new book! Click here to subscribe to my mailing list to keep up to date on all my new releases, giveaways, and free books!

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  Want more Jamesburg? Check out part one now!

  To Catch a Wolf

  A Jamesburg Shifters novel

  AVAILABLE FOR FREE!

  Sometimes a wolf’s gotta fight and bark and bite.

  But other times, a wolf just needs a mate.

  Erik Danniken is the alpha of Jamesburg, a small town, hidden from the world, and full of all kinds of shifters, and secrets. But underneath it all, he’s just a big, rough, bad-boy of a werewolf with a tattoo that goes all the way up his chest. Oh, and don’t forget his massive, building-shaking motorcycle.

  He’s done his fighting, he’s done his carousing. Now he’s the mayor of Jamesburg, and he’s done looking for a mate… because he found her.

  Sometimes a girl needs romance and wine and sweet kisses.

  Other times, she just needs a job.

  Isabel Taylor was more than a little frustrated when she answered a very vague job ad and moved across the country. Curvy, tough and with more than a little bit of a naughty streak, Izzy couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw that first Jamesburg hedgehog stand up, turn into a man and order a drink.

  She’s found her place, found a life she thought she’d never have, and found the love she’d given up on… the problem is, she and Erik have to keep it a secret from everyone else in town.

  Erik wants to claim her forever, mark Izzy as his honest-to-goodness mate. Izzy wants him to quit being such a coward and just come out and do it, but will a good old-fashioned small town scandal make them keep their love a secret, and in the process, kill it before it can grow?

  The Fox and Her Bear

  Mating Call Dating Agency

  When fox-shifting Angie Holton goes to work, she’s all business. Being all work, all the time, is starting to wear her down. Angie is lonely, though she’d never admit it. She goes from one thing to the next, more surviving than living, and has more or less given up on the whole love thing – who has time for all that anyway?

  That is, until she meets Dawson Lex – a piano playing, hamburger cooking, sexy-as-hell werebear.

  Dawson’s not just a pretty face and… really, really muscular arms. This bear has a dark, violent past and a present that barely keeps him from exploding again. But once he lays eyes on Angie, he knows he won’t—can’t—let this one go.

  These two will have to scratch, bite, and hold on as tight as they can. Even if they have to survive gunshots, claw fights, and some REALLY obnoxious 911 calls, they’re never going to give up on this weird, beautiful love.

  ***The Mating Call Dating Agency is a series of standalone paranormal romances that can be enjoyed in any order. Each pair finds their own HEA – these books are perfect for a quick getaway in the middle of a hectic day!***

  Hare Today, Bear Tomorrow

  Mating Call Dating Agency

  When you’re a shifter who don’t have the first clue where to find the love you need, WHO YOU GONNA CALL? Mating Call Dating Agency!

  Fate is nice and all, but in the busy worlds of journalism and professional wrestling, sometimes a rabbit needs a hand, and a bear needs a place to grab.

  Garnet Pendleton is a freelance journalist, and moonlighting as a librarian gets the bills paid, but barely. It’s a busy life, but it’s hers. Lately though, she’s felt like something was…lacking. With her life absorbed in pounding pavement and wrestling with the Dewey decimal system, Garnet hasn’t had time for something she’s starting to get REALLY edgy over – finding a mate.

  Stacy Graves’s entire life has been lived in a ring. He’s big, muscled up, and can bodyslam and headlock with the best of ‘em. But he’s also not getting any younger. Stacy’s mind is starting to drift in the middle of matches. Instead of being worried about pinning his opponent, he can’t stop thinking about settling down and finding himself a mate.

  Will Garnet’s journalistic drive for truth and Stacy’s life on the road be too much of an obstacle for them to overcome in the name of love? With mating experts Yvette and Dora on the case, Garnet and Stacy just might stand a chance.

  Can’t Bear to Run

  The Kendal Creek Bears

  Raine Matthews used to be quirky, fun and slightly goofy. She’s not allowed to be any of those things while she is firmly under her husband’s thumb. Her only reprieve comes from distant memories of a man she saw only once six years ago. In that instant, Raine knew there was something special about him. The memory of that twinkle in his eyes, of his careless smile, gives her a shot of hope at her darkest moments.

  She knows the only way to survive is getting away from her husband, no matter what. And in the back of her mind, she can’t shake the feeling that somewhere, somehow, she’s going to see that mysterious stranger again.

  Daxon Mark is the frustrated, irritated, sexy-as-hell alpha be
ar of the Kendal clan. Trapped between shuffling truces with other bear clans, and the meddling of an overbearing shifter council, he can’t shake the feeling that the woman he saw six years before is what he needs to stay sane. He’s teetering on the edge and when a bear as big as Dax goes nuts? THAT ain’t something anybody wants.

  With Raine on the lam and Dax trying to escape the confines of small town politics, the two of them finally meet again – in the most romantic of places – in the toilet line at a concert.

  With a glance, he steals her heart, and with a word she sets a fire in his soul. But with trouble brewing back in Kendal Creek and Raine constantly looking over her shoulder, will these two fated mates find their peace? Or will fear, loss, and murder rip the pair apart before love is allowed to bloom?

  Lion in Wait

  Alpha Lion Romance

  Cassiopeia is lanky, quick-witted, and spent most of her life running from one thing or another. She escaped an overbearing family, and a series of dangerous misadventures, but then landed square in the midst of a traveling carnival. In the gritty, grimy dirt circus, love is the furthest thing from Cass’s mind – she’s much more occupied with avoiding her boss Lyle’s slimy fingers.

  Just about the only things Cass has left are her mind, a few books, and impossibly vivid dreams of a man she’s never met, but who she knows – somehow – is going to find her. And when he does? Well, who knows? But it’s gotta be better than the circus.

  Oh, and then there’s the lion who sleeps in her trailer.

  At first, Lex was impossible to control. He clawed, he snapped, he roared and raged like any lion would, but somehow never hurt anyone, like there was something more to him than caged animal ferocity. He lashed out at everyone except for a certain woman with curly brown hair and a thing for khaki cargo pants.