Big Bear Blunder: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Suspense Romance (Sweetwater Brides)

by Anya Nowlan

  Sara stumbled, almost falling on her face, touching down on her knee.

  Having your hands tied behind your back doesn’t really do much for one’s balance. Sara pushed herself back onto her feet, wishing that looks could kill.

  “Take a weight off, it’s probably been a tough day,” Keith said, patting the seat next to him.

  Sara’s mouth was still covered in duct tape, so she opted for a stern headshake and a scowl that in a just world would have opened the gates of hell up beneath Keith and gobbled him right up. Keith pursed his lips impatiently, nodding at the tattooed jerk. The man gave Sara a shove and she plunked down on the couch, legs in a tangle.

  She wiggled around into a more upright position, shaking her head to get the hair out of her eyes. Cowboy jerk gave Sara a nasty little smirk before stepping out of the room.

  “You’re probably not very happy right now, but if you sit tight and don’t cause trouble, it will all be over soon, okay little lady?” Keith said, as if he were talking to a child.

  Sara glanced at the tape, signaling to Keith she would like to speak.

  “Well, okay, but be polite,” Keith said, ripping off the tape.

  Sara’s lips stung, her mouth feeling very dry. She had a barrage of insults ready, but she bit her tongue. Obviously, she was dealing with a pretty messed up individual. Best not provoke him.

  “Why am I here?” she asked, staring Keith in the eyes.

  “Tell you the truth, it’s the only play I have left,” Keith said, shrugging. “If you’re Everett’s mate, we’re pretty much screwed. Three Grimpaw brothers with mates? We might as well start packing,” Keith continued, throwing his hands in the air as if he were an actor on some cheap daytime drama.

  “You’re going to kill me,” Sara noted matter-of-factly, her insides turning cold.

  “I haven’t decided on that yet. You could still be useful as a bargaining chip, if you truly are Everett’s mate. We’ll just have to see how he reacts to you being gone. That will tell us all we need to know,” Keith said, looking at Sara appraisingly. “You can help your odds by being cooperative,” he added coaxingly.

  Yeah, right, Sara thought to herself.

  But it was better to play along – maybe they’d lower their guards around her if they thought her a compliant prisoner.

  “Fine,” Sara ground out, turning her gaze away from Keith.

  She didn’t think she could stand one more second of looking at his face.

  The men playing cards at the table chuckled.

  “That’s a good little girl,” one of them cooed, grinning at her.

  Tattooed jerk held up his busted up hands and spoke for the first time since Sara laid eyes on him. His voice was slow, heavy and filled with gravel.

  “Don’t be fooled,” he said, as the other men stared at his scratched and bloody forearms. “Kitty has claws,” he continued, evoking some laughs from around the room.

  Keith looked at Sara with a raised brow and growing interest.

  “Maybe she just likes you,” one of the men at the table offered, smirking.

  Sara stayed quiet, deciding it better not to engage, though it was burning her up not to. She heard Keith’s phone buzz. He looked at the screen and scowled before mumbling something under his breath.

  “Joe, Mike, go get them,” Keith ordered the men at the table, getting up from the couch and tossing the phone at one of them.

  “What’s up?” the man Sara guessed was Joe asked.

  “They got stuck,” Keith grumbled with a sigh.

  Who got stuck where? Sara thought, trying to figure out what else Keith had planned.

  “Figures,” Mike said, throwing his hand of cards on the table. “Just as I was about to win.”

  Cowboy jerk reappeared in the doorway.

  “Need me to come?” he asked, cutting a piece off the apple he was holding and tossing it in his mouth.

  “No, you and Steve stay here and watch the girl,” Keith said, pointing his chin at the tattooed jerk and then at Sara.

  Steve? Sara thought, considering the man.

  She preferred the name she had given him.

  Suits him better, she thought bitterly.

  “My pleasure,” cowboy jerk grinned, sitting down next to her and chewing loudly.

  Sara shifted in her seat, trying to put as much distance between her and the man as possible. She pulled her legs up on the couch and settled in.

  Might was well get comfortable.

  It didn’t seem she was going anywhere for a while. Cowboy jerk edged closer, holding a piece of apple between his fingers.

  “Want a bite?” he asked, leering at Sara.

  “No thank you,” Sara responded, contempt dripping from every word.

  “Bet you’d say yes if it was Everett Grimpaw offering,” cowboy jerk continued, moving even closer.

  “Back off!” Sara hissed, kicking at him with her legs.

  That took the man off-guard, prompting him to drop both the apple and the knife on the dust-covered floor. The blade slid under the couch with a soft clang.

  “Bitch,” he mumbled under his breath, reaching down and shoving his hand under the sofa.

  “Quit messing around and come deal,” tattooed jerk called, sitting down at the now empty table.

  Cowboy jerk threw Sara one last annoyed glance before getting up and taking a seat on the chair opposite his friend.

  There was a small gap between the couch and the wall behind it. Sara glanced at the men, already dealing cards and telling jokes. They were no longer paying attention to her. Sara peered behind the sofa, her pulse quickening. A tiny glint caught her eye. The knife had slid straight under the couch and stopped at the wall.

  Idiot, Sara thought, glancing at cowboy jerk. You fucked up. I’ll only need a moment’s distraction to make you regret it.

  Eighteen

  Everett

  All eyes flew to him when Everett burst through the door of Ethan’s home. Evan and Karen were in the kitchen area, making coffee. Ethan and Jennifer already had their cups and were sitting at the table.

  Zeke was still on the couch but this time accompanied by his brother Aaron. One of Ethan’s lieutenants, Jameson, was also there, pacing the living room.

  “I gather she wasn’t there,” Evan questioned, pouring black liquid into his cup.

  “No,” Everett said grimly, sitting down on the edge of the couch.

  “Keith might not be the brightest bulb in the box, but even he wouldn’t take a girl he’s just kidnapped to his own house,” Ethan noted.

  “I had to try, okay? I can’t just sit around waiting for her to magically turn up,” Everett thundered, lashing out in aggravation.

  At that, Ethan shot up, almost knocking his chair over.

  “You dumbass! You think we’ve been sitting here? We’ve already checked out all known Clearpond properties and have other clan members doing sweeps in hopes of picking up Sara’s trail. We haven’t had much luck. We reconvened here, hoping you’d show up. It’s not like we could call you,” Ethan said, gesturing to Everett’s destroyed phone, still in pieces on the floor.

  Jennifer gently grabbed Ethan’s arm, pulling him back down.

  “This is no time for fighting,” Jameson spoke up. “I understand we’re all emotional, especially you, Everett. But it’s time to cool it and think rationally,” he said forcefully.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry,” Everett muttered, his head in his hands.

  He had let his anger and fear take over. He was no good to Sara like this. It was time to get it together.

  She needs me.

  “We’ll get her back,” Aaron said, reaching out and clapping Everett on the shoulder. “I need to meet the woman that’s got my clan-brother acting like a right fool,” he added with a wry smile.

  “Thanks, man,” Everett quipped, forcing a brief smile on his lips.

  “We need to think, where could Keith be holding her,” Evan said, rubbing his temples.

 
Something sparked in Everett’s mind, a series of coincidences seeming to click into place.

  “The woods. The woods near the motel. Twice now, I’ve seen wolves tail it straight into those woods, but there is nothing there. No one from the Clearpond pack lives there, in fact no one lives there at all, as far as I know,” Everett said, standing and starting to pace.

  “They could’ve just headed for the first available tree line for cover,” Ethan commented, not sounding convinced.

  “Once, sure, but twice now? And the wolf who was creeping on me and Sara from the parking lot really gave me the runaround. At the time I thought he was just trying to shake me, but what if he was trying to hide something instead? Some place the wolves have been meeting at in secret?” Everett continued, growing more enthusiastic about his theory by the second. “I should have stayed on him,” he added, mostly to himself.

  “It’s not like we have any other leads,” Aaron said, shrugging.

  “That’s a lot of ground to cover. Assuming they’ve taken steps to cover their tracks, it could take days to search those woods,” Jameson countered, spreading his hands.

  Ethan got up and disappeared into his bedroom, returning with a laptop.

  “Maybe we can narrow it down,” he said, pulling up a satellite image of the woods.

  Evan and Everett crowded in next to him, and together they went through the images inch by inch. The other men hovered around close by.

  After about twenty minutes, Everett started to doubt himself. It was just miles and miles of wilderness with no buildings to hide in. His fist landed on the table in frustration, just as Ethan spoke.

  “Wait, what’s that?” he said, pointing to a brown blob on the map.

  “Looks like it might be an abandoned building of some sorts,” Evan noted, squinting.

  A quick Google search revealed that a mill had once existed in the woods.

  “How did I not know about this?” Everett asked, puzzled.

  “From what I can gather from these articles, the owner was totally clueless about the timber business and the whole enterprise went up in flames in a matter of months. It’s been abandoned for years now,” Evan commented, staring at the screen. “This was decades ago. We were little more than cubs back then.”

  “That has to be it,” Everett boomed, invigorated by hope.

  “Well then. What are we waiting for?” Ethan concurred, looking around the room. “I think the Clearpond mutts need to be taught a little lesson,” he continued, receiving nods from the other men.

  “Just be careful,” Jennifer said, giving Ethan a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “What she said,” Karen agreed, wrapping Evan in a hug.

  “I think it’s the Clearponds who need to be worried about being careful now,” Everett growled.

  * * *

  The Grimpaw bears got as close to the mill in their pickups as they could without alerting the wolves to their presence. They covered the rest of the way on foot.

  “You guys secure the perimeter, Keith may have friends with him. I don’t want any of them getting away when they run out fearing for their lives,” Everett grumbled, earning an eye-roll from Aaron.

  “You sure you want to go in alone?” Zeke asked with a raised brow.

  “You should have stayed home, you’re still limping,” Evan noted, giving Zeke a pointed look that shut the man up.

  “This is my fight. Keith will pay for every minute he’s kept Sara captive,” Everett hissed, his jaw tightening.

  “Whatever you say,” Jameson grimaced, holding up his hands.

  They knew better than to challenge a bear when his mate was at stake.

  The men spread out, Everett heading straight towards the mill. He could sense several warm bodies moving around inside. Slowly, he crept up to the entrance, keeping his eyes peeled.

  Damp air and the smell of mold hit him as Everett entered the building. He walked through the rooms, hearing the buzz of conversation both at his sides and up front.

  Everett let the bear surface, his eyes turning dark brown and his hands rippling between fists and paws. He kept the shift at the very cusp, the bear straining to be let loose. Sara’s scent hit him, familiar and inviting. Everett drew it in, overjoyed with the knowledge that she was really there.

  He needed to get to her.

  Lord have mercy on whoever stood in his way.

  Everett stuck to the walls as he reached the room Sara was being held in. He could hear men laughing and the sound of shuffling cards.

  “You want some water, little lady?” Keith’s voice purred.

  “Sure. I’ll need my hands to drink it, though,” Sara’s voice echoed.

  Relief flooded Everett. She didn’t sound hurt, at least.

  “Nice try,” Keith chuckled.

  Fun’s over, Everett thought, stepping out of the shadows and into the room.

  Nineteen

  Sara

  Sara gasped as Everett’s tall frame appeared in the doorway. She hadn’t dared hope for a rescue, but a small part of her had dreamed of just this moment. Keith shot up from his seated position on the couch next to her. Cowboy jerk and tattooed jerk also stood, their laughter coming to an abrupt stop.

  “Hello, Keith. I believe you have something that doesn’t belong to you,” Everett said, his voice carrying a menacing undertone Sara had never heard before.

  A howl ripped through Keith’s body as the shift took him. Within seconds, Keith’s frame rippled and morphed into that of a wolf. His coat was light grey, with spots of brown near his face. The jerks followed suit, the tattooed man being replaced by a large, almost black beast and the cowboy by a brown, lean wolf.

  Everett growled, his shape twisting and growing in time with the wolves’ transformations, the grizzly bursting forth and leaving the man behind. The mutts snarled, yellow eyes trained on Everett’s every move.

  They stalked forward, slowly at first, before breaking out into a run. They charged at Everett, teeth bared.

  With a roar, Everett lunged, barreling down on the brown wolf. The bear’s massive build sent the mutt flying, and he landed at Sara’s feet with a yelp. Not wanting to be helpless should the wolf regain consciousness and turn on her, Sara climbed on top of the couch, leaning on the backrest and trying to reach the knife that still lay in the gap.

  I have to get that knife!

  Keith and the black wolf were circling Everett, teeth gnashing. Everett swung his paw in a wide arc, smashing into the wolves and knocking them back like bowling pins.

  Sara was wiggling her fingers around, trying to find the knife. Since her hands were still bound behind her back, she had to rely on touch alone to locate the blade. Glancing down at the foot of the couch, Sara noticed the brown wolf was beginning to stir.

  Frenzied, Sara felt around the damp, dusty floor. Something cold and smooth brushed against her fingertips.

  Yes!

  Sara managed to angle the blade in a way that enabled her to grab onto it. She flopped back on the couch and started moving the knife back and forth against her restraints.

  Everett had the black wolf between his teeth, chomping down until Sara could hear a sickening crunch. Keith’s grey wolf backed away, taking a running start before latching onto the grizzly’s back. Everett howled, the black wolf’s lifeless body falling to the ground in a pool of blood.

  “Come on,” she muttered, furiously sawing the rope against the knife’s edge.

  The thread started to loosen, spurring her on. In front of her, the brown wolf was back on its feet. The sound of claws on wood drew Sara’s attention to the door, past Everett’s bear, who had Keith’s wolf in a deadly embrace. Four large wolves were padding towards the room, the fur on their backs bristling, ears pointed.

  “They got stuck,” Keith’s words echoed through Sara’s mind.

  “Everett, behind you!” she called out, desperate to warn him of the lurking danger.

  Everett scooped up Keith, the wolf thrashing and growling, struggli
ng against the bear’s grasp. Everett spun around, faster than Sara had thought possible considering the grizzly’s lumbering frame. He tossed Keith at the row of approaching wolves, nailing the two that were too slow to jump out of the way.

  To her dismay, Sara’s shout also had the unwanted effect of drawing the brown wolf’s attention on her.

  Yellow eyes alight with bloodlust, the brown wolf approached Sara, saliva dripping from his snarling mouth. The rope around Sara’s hands finally gave away. She wrapped her slightly numb fingers around the knife’s handle, feeling the circulation starting to return to her hands slowly but surely.

  Backing up as much as the limited space allowed, Sara brandished the knife in front of her, trying to keep the wolf at bay.

  The animal snapped its teeth, jumping at Sara with predatory speed. In a blur, Sara found herself beneath the wolf, struggling to keep its muzzle away from her neck. Claws raked across her body, but she couldn’t let that distract her even though the pain was blinding.

  She boxed away the pain, focusing on her right hand holding onto the knife. Hot breath hit her face as the wolf growled and nipped at her. Sara had one shot at survival, she had to make it count and she had to make it quick.

  She angled her arm so her hand was beneath the wolf’s belly. Pushing upwards with a fast, sharp movement, Sara sunk her knife into the animal’s stomach with all the strength she had left. The wolf yipped, twitching before his body went slack, his eyes growing wide before the light in them faded.

  Sara used her legs to shove him off of her. Blood poured over her hand, running down her elbow and splattering her shirt as she pulled the blade from the wolf’s flesh. Sara tightened her hold on the knife, even though her grip was now slippery.

  Turning her attention to the door, she saw Everett surrounded by five wolves, snapping and snarling at his feet. Everett sent his paw down on the mutt to his right, claws ripping and shredding until the wolf’s fur was matted with red. At the same time, the other wolves attacked, sinking their teeth into Everett’s flesh.