I wrapped him up to made sure he was hidden from prying eyes before picking up our bag and heading out to the car. We had about half an hour to go before we reached Long Ranch.
CHAPTER 2: Sammie
The town of Landing, Wyoming was already green, despite how early in the year it was, and Long Ranch was breathtaking. I was stunned by its beautiful, mountainous backdrop. Horses ran in a little paddock and, on the other side of the winding driveway, cows grazed with their heads bent low. As I watched them munch on grass, I had the crazy thought that all of those animals could possibly be people.
I parked next to a large, picturesque white farm house that seemed to sprawl on forever. If Mason’s dad was as wealthy as it appeared, I was even more confused as to why he’d never been brought up before. Mallory had never mentioned him, not a word, not until literally the very last second of her life. She’d never brought up child support or anything.
I climbed out and debated with myself about taking Mason up to the front door with me. He didn’t like to be separated from me, but I didn’t know what situation I was walking into either. I couldn’t chance his safety. I decided to leave him in the car. I kept the heat on and reached into the glovebox to grab my gun.
Mason whined.
I quickly tucked the gun away out of his sight and smiled back at him. “I’m going to see if anyone’s home, okay? You stay where you are. I’ll come get you in a minute.”
I shut the door and eased up the steps to the front door. I listened for a minute before knocking. My nerves were frayed after everything. I eased my gun out and held it steady at my side, ready to protect Mason with everything I had.
A big guy opened the door and took a long sniff of the air around me. He raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side. “Can I help you?”
I nodded. “I’m looking for Lucas Long. Are you him?”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’m his brother, Michael. He’s not here right now. Can I do anything for you?”
“I need to see him. It’s important. Do you know where I might find him?”
Footsteps came up behind me quickly and I instantly raised my arm to thrust my gun in Michael’s face as I twisted my body so I could see who was approaching me. “Touch me and I blow his head off.”
A guy equally as big as Michael froze and fur sprouted out on his bare chest. His eyes glowed bright gold and a growl ripped out of his chest. “Lady, you’ve got about two seconds to explain why you’re pointing a gun at my brother’s head.”
“You’re bears, too.” I nearly cried I was so happy to see more humans who turned into bears. “Oh, thank God.”
The pissed off one raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
I gradually lowered my gun and stepped back. “Sorry. U.S. Marshal Sam Delaney. I have a package for Lucas Long. I think you should get him here as soon as possible.”
*****Lucas*****
I’d barely explored the little Texas town of Gumdrop when Alex called with an urgent message for me to get home. Something about an important package for me. Important enough for me to rush home? Said I was needed ASAP. Something in Alex’s voice told me not to take his words lightly.
I couldn’t deny that there was a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach that had me pressing the gas pedal a little harder. It felt dire for me to get to the ranch as soon as I possibly could.
I blew through cities and towns without glancing up from the road. I stopped only when I had to and then immediately got back to it. Sleep had become a fond memory.
When I crossed the Wyoming state line, I just sped up. I felt almost sick with anticipation. I knew my brothers; Alex wouldn’t have called me home unless it was something huge. Had something happened to mom? My sister Bailey? A package Alex had said. Obviously that was a cover. What the hell could be urgent about a package?
I didn’t know what to expect.
By the time I sped down the driveway of our ranch, I’d gone days without sleep and a shower. I’d crossed over from looking rugged to looking like a homeless person, but I didn’t think twice about my appearance as I ran up the steps of the porch and burst into the house like a hurricane.
“Alex!”
He stepped out of the kitchen, looking grim. “Took you long enough.”
Fury filled my vision and my bear was at the ready. My bear had been compressed inside my truck for months. It desperately wanted to get out and stretch its muscles. “I just sped here from bum-fuck Texas. Don’t give me shit right now.”
He shook his head. “It isn’t the time. Why don’t you get cleaned up and come back down here?”
“What the fuck, Alex? This is important enough for me to rush home, but I have time to shower beforehand?”
A prickling of awareness broke through my anger as I breathed in the scent of something like apples and warm cinnamon sugar. It smelled a little like… apple pie? I breathed in deeper and groaned as my dick hardened in my pants. I’d never responded to apple pie that way before. “Who’s in there?”
Just then, a beautiful woman stepped out of the kitchen holding a cub in her arms. Her tall frame barely held the little bear’s weight, but she didn’t show any sign of weakness as she stepped purposefully towards me. Her sweet smell enveloped me until my eyes shut on their own. As I breathed her in, I had to ball my hands into fists to keep from grabbing her.
Underneath her scent, I smelled myself. It caught me off guard and I stepped back as I realized why. My cub. Naw. I took a deeper whiff. Yeah. The woman was holding my cub.
The shock of it hit me hard. I’d been all over the country looking for Mallory. I’d worn myself thin trying to find her because of a drugged-out call she’d made to me one night four years earlier. I hadn’t believed her then, but after everything with Dad’s will, I’d gone out scouring the country in hopes that she’d been telling the truth for once.
Seeing him clinging to the woman, practically trembling, I forgot all of the plans I’d made. I had a son.
I moved closer to them and growled when she held him tighter to her chest. No matter how amazing she smelled, she was holding my son. “Hand him to me.”
Most humans would’ve backed down. Not her. She glared at me through narrowed eyes. Belatedly, I realized her hand was dangerously close to a gun holstered to her side. “I don’t know you. He doesn’t know you. I suggest you back up and give us some time to adjust to you. And your brother’s right. A shower wouldn’t kill you.”
I couldn’t help it, my bear had been cooped inside too long, and I shifted right there in front of her. I was still struggling, man against bear, as I towered over her, dwarfing her. Bear wanted to rub his nose against her delicate looking skin but man won and released a frightening growl in her face.
She didn’t look frightened, though. She stood her ground.
“You smell worse as a bear.”
CHAPTER 3: Sammie
The bear became a very naked man in the blink of an eye. His clothes rested in shredded piles on the floor and I wasn’t the least bit sorry about it. I knew I should look away and give him privacy, but I couldn’t. He drew me in like a magnet. The minute he’d stepped into the big house, I’d felt like I’d gained a sixth sense.
I’d known it was him. Lucas Long. The man I’d been searching for. For Mason, of course. My cheeks burned as my mind noted the slip. I hadn’t been looking for him. I hadn’t been looking for any man.
“Who are you?”
I ran my eyes over his body and then cleared my throat. I had to stop staring at him. I was the bearer of bad news. As always. My job didn’t usually make me a whole lot of fans.
“U.S. Marshal Sammie Delaney. We have to talk.”
His eyes still glowed the same golden shade as Mason’s. He stared at me for a few more seconds before nodding. “Fine.”
He started to walk towards me and I held up my hand. “Shower first.”
He glared at me but quickly ascended the stairs, taking them three at a time. I
couldn’t help but stare at his muscular ass and legs as they disappeared around the corner at the top of the stairs.
“Want me to take him?” Carolyn, his mother, asked from beside me.
I looked down at Mason and stroked his head. “Mason? You want to go to your Grandma Carolyn?”
He whined and tightened his hold on me. His little claws dug into me, but I kept a straight face.
Carolyn breathed in deeply and gasped. “Oh, honey. He’s hurting you. I can smell blood.”
I tried to detach Mason gently, but his claws dug in deeper. I sighed and hugged him back to my body. “It seems that I’ve grown a bear. It’s okay. It barely even stings.”
She looked at me with a worried expression, but let it go. “Well, when he’s ready, you just send him right to me. I’ve got a whole load of toys left from when the boys were little. They’re dusty, but I’m sure we can find something great. Just let me know when you’re ready to play, Mason.”
He whimpered in my ear and I rubbed his back, trying to comfort him. “It’s okay, buddy. These people are your family. You don’t have anything to worry about here.”
At least I hoped that was true. I immediately felt like I could trust the others, but Lucas gave me weird feelings that had me on edge.
Just then, he walked back into the room, sporting flannel pajama bottoms. He hadn’t bothered with a shirt and I swore silently.
Laughter came from my right and Alex grinned at me. “Heard that.”
My cheeks burned and I groaned. “Yeah, well, keep it to yourself. Remember, I’m armed.”
He just rolled his eyes and looked around at his brothers. “Come on, guys. Let’s give them a little privacy.”
Everyone slowly left the room after slapping Lucas on the back and telling him they’d missed him. I watched with weariness, trying to pinpoint what it was about the man that had my nerve endings on high alert. There was something about him that made my insides feel chaotic, but something else that I found calming. Weird.
I circled the couch, putting it between us. “You’ve been gone for a while?”
He matched my steps and faced me head on from across the couch. I felt a little bit like prey being stalked. “I was out looking for Mallory.”
A little sting of jealousy bit at me. What the hell was that? I shrugged it off. It made no sense. Not that it mattered. Mallory was gone. “And Mason?”
“Mason.” He smiled as he said the name. “I didn’t know he actually existed. Mallory was never honest. You never knew what to believe about anything she said, and she only mentioned anything about him existing once, while she was high out of her mind.”
I covered Mason’s little ears and kissed the top of his head. “Watch what you say. That’s his mother you’re talking about.”
Lucas growled. “I’m not going to make her out to be a saint. She’s always been an addict and always will be. It’s amazing that Mason looks as healthy as he does. Why is he still bear, though?”
I adjusted Mason on my hip and he clawed me deeper. “Mason, baby, you’ve got to be careful.”
Lucas circled the couch in an instant and held Mason’s paws. “Mason, stop. You’re hurting her.”
Mason scrambled to get back to me while Lucas pulled him into his own chest. I watched with my hand over my mouth, feeling helpless and vulnerable as Mason fought to get away from his father. Lucas kept his arms gently around Mason, being careful to not hurt him, while keeping him pressed to his chest.
Claw marks appeared and then vanished on Lucas’s chest as Mason scratched him. He didn’t seem bothered by the pain and, as I watched on in a stupor, he healed immediately.
Mason wore himself out and drooped against his father’s chest. Lucas wrapped his arms tighter around his son and blinked down at the top of his head with watery eyes and a pained expression.
When he looked back at me, he was wide-eyed and confused. “What happened to him?”
I turned away to gather myself. When I faced him again, Lucas had folded his large body onto the couch and was holding Mason tightly, gently stroking his fur. The image touched me to the core and I clutched at my chest for a moment. Tears threatened to gather in my own eyes, but I quickly composed myself. I was supposed to be way more put together than to blubber over a father-son reunion.
“Mallory and her boyfriend got into something bad.” I swallowed and prayed I’d get through the story without falling apart. “They were busted and rolled over on a bigger fish to stay out of jail. My partner and I were assigned to keep them safe and hidden until the trial.”
Lucas shook his head and looked disgusted, but remained silent.
“She was doing better. Frank, her boyfriend, was a piece of work, but Mallory was…better. She was doing better.” I cleared my throat. “A week ago, I came back to the house and found them all… gone.”
He sat up. “Gone?”
I stared at him, my eyes pleading with him not to make me say it. “Gone. Frank, Mallory, and my partner, Aaron.”
“Jesus. Where was Mason?”
I looked at the little boy and sucked in a deep breath. “He was there. He was hiding but I’m fairly certain he saw everything. Before… he was talkative. A regular chatterbox. Now, he, well, he’s been like this since that night. He’s terrified.”
CHAPTER 4: Lucas
I tore my eyes away from Sammie and looked down at my son. He was hurting. It wasn’t normal for a bear shifter to remain bear at that age. He still trembled slightly in my arms.
“No one’s going to hurt you, Mason. I’m your dad. I’ll protect you. I’ll make sure no one hurts you, buddy.”
He held onto me tighter and I took it as a good sign. My heart ached for him, for this little boy that I wasn’t even sure really existed. The life he must have already had.
I looked back at Sammie and felt another tugging at my chest from the look of pain on her face. She was obviously tough, but whatever she’d seen had hurt her badly, too. I wanted to reach for her and pull her down beside us and sooth them both.
“I… I didn’t know what to do,” she continued, “I just found this beautiful bear cub and it took me a bit to figure out it was Mason. I didn’t know he could do that, turn into a bear. I just knew that I couldn’t let anyone else find him like that.”
I nodded. We were a private community for a reason. “How did you find me?”
“Mallory… She was still hanging on when I got there.” Sammie stopped and looked away. “She said your name. I didn’t know what it meant, but I went through her stuff and found that she’d kept a piece of paper with yours and Masons name on it. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. I just hoped that you were… umm, like Mason, so you could help.”
I couldn’t help but formulate a mental picture of the scene. My stomach twisted and I had to fight the urge to grab Sammie and pull her into my arms. My bear was agitated, more riled than I could ever remember him being. The sight of her in pain had him rumbling in my chest with the need to comfort Mason while also comforting Sammie.
“Thank you for finding me.”
She nodded and stood up. “I just need to go wash my face. I’m feeling a little-”
“Sammie!” Before I could lunge for her, she melted sideways and slumped to the ground. Her head made an awful thud as it landed on the floor.
Mason cried out and flung his little body on top of hers. I rushed to her side, ignoring the way he growled at me. “I’ve got to make sure she’s okay, Mason.”
I could smell blood, but her head was dry as I brushed my fingers over it. I scooped her into my arms and looked down at Mason. “Come on.”
Mom was already racing into the room. “What happened?”
“She just collapsed. Where’s Michael? Is he still here?” My bear threatened to push forward. He raged inside of me, pissed that I’d let her get hurt. “Where is he?!”
Mason clawed at my legs, fighting to get to Sammie. He roared pitifully and got under my feet until I nearly fell.
>
“Mason! We have to get her to Michael to make sure she’s okay. I know you can understand me, little man. Walk beside me and you can sit with her when we get there.”
He pouted and huffed, but did as I asked.
Mom rushed ahead of us and yelled out of the front door for Michael. He was there in seconds.
He looked at Sammie in my arms and then pointed to the kitchen. “Get her on the table.”
I laid her out on the table and snatched up Mason so he could sit on the table next to her. He immediately curled up beside her and laid his head on her stomach.
Michael ran his hands over her body and it twisted something deep in my stomach watching him touch her. I was growling at him before I even knew what I was doing.
He looked up at me with a frown. “Now’s not the time, big brother. Tell me what happened.”
I fisted my hands and leaned on the table as he continued his examination. I told him what happened through gritted teeth. “Is she okay?”
He rolled her over onto her stomach and flinched when both Mason and I sent a warning growl at him. He gently lifted her shirt from her shoulders and frowned. “The only thing I can see wrong with her is a knot on her head from falling, and just about a million little holes and scratches on her shoulders from Mason. He’s practically torn her shirt to shreds back here. Everything else seems normal. Honestly, I think she just passed out. Let’s give her a little while to rest and then see.”
Michael was a natural at medicine. He’d completed several years of schooling before returning to the ranch. I trusted him.
I moved over to look at her shoulders and frowned. Mason had done quite the number on her. The upper part of her shirt was in tatters. Her shoulders were covered in claw marks, some scratches deeper than others. There was dried blood in spots and fresher droplets in others.
My eyes rested on my son. I’d just been handed him and I didn’t know how to parent a kid, but I knew that he couldn’t be hurting her like that. “You have to be careful with her, Mason. She’s not like us. She won’t heal like we do.”
Rancher Bear Complete Series: PLUS NEW BONUS BOOK: Rancher Bears' Merry Christmas Page 11