Releasing the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 2)

by Meredith Clarke

  “Thanks, Emma.”

  “Anytime.” She studied me for a moment before continuing. “Something’s different about you.” Looking at my face, then my hair, she took in a deep breath. Her growing smile hinted that she knew what happened to me last night. “Who is she?” Emma nudged my arm.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You can’t lie, Brennan. Never could.”

  It’s true that I’ve known Emma since we were kids and she always called me out on things. But I couldn’t have this conversation right now. Not when there was something going on upstairs and especially not when I had no idea what was happening with Scarlett anyway.

  “I have nothing to tell,” I said again, pushing my way into the house and leaving Emma standing on the landing watching and smiling.

  “Well, I hope I can meet her soon. It would be nice to have another female around here.”

  I didn’t acknowledge her comment as I walked up the three flights of stairs to reach the office. Knowing that Emma was already acquainted with Scarlett actually made me want to tell Emma. But as I walked past a large canvas painting of a grizzly fending off a pack of wolves, I realized that this dream of mine could never come true. I was a grizzly. She was a wolf.

  And that didn’t mix in our world.

  “Whoa, Brennan. Get your head out of your ass.”

  My brother Bo startled me when he stepped out into the hallway. I’d almost run into his smaller frame while I admonished myself for even thinking that a life with Scarlett as my mate would ever be possible.

  Bo wore a pair of khakis and a flannel—his typical, carefree and un-businesslike attire. He’d let his hair continue to grow, with waves of brownish-blonde curls almost covering his eyes now. To this day, I always thought he’d fit in better in southern California than Alaska.

  “You look fancy,” he said with a smile, flicking a finger at the front of my jacket.

  “I’m dressed for work,” I grumbled.

  He held out his hands. “So am I.”

  Biting my tongue, I tried to sneak out around him. “Who’s in there?”

  Bo immediately turned serious—something I’d rarely seen in him. As the youngest brother of the three of us, he certainly never did anything to shake that little sibling stereotype. It was an exceptional day when Bo Callaghan actually took something seriously. “You should see for yourself.”

  “What? No warning?” I teased. But the worried look on Bo’s face had me dropping the smile immediately. “How bad?”

  Bo shrugged. “Not the end of the world. At least I don’t think so.”

  Great. Not exactly the vote of confidence I was looking for. So with a steady gait, I stepped into Brandt’s office, feeling Bo following closely behind.

  “Brennan,” Brandt said. “Finally.”

  I opened my mouth to reply to his unnecessary remark, but then I noticed him. Standing off to my right and gazing out the window that looked like we were in the tops of the trees. His back stiffened when I walked in and he turned slowly, like a predator not wanting to frighten his prey. The dominance rolled off of him in waves, making me cough when his scent filled the air. As tall as Brandt, his tanned skin reminded me more of Scarlett’s uncle than anyone else, and his straight, black, chin-length hair had been brushed back behind his ears. But it was his almost orange eyes that caught my attention the most.

  “Brennan, this is Major Patel. He’s with the ISC.”

  “The ISC?” I asked.

  “The International Shifter Coalition,” Bo added.

  I gave my baby brother a look. “I know what it stands for.” I thought I heard Major chuckle under his breath. The ISC was an organization that oversaw any kind of shifter issue, from family grievances to exposure to humans. It was kind of like our secret governing body. Although most shifters hardly ever had any interaction with them. Based out of London, they rarely sent representatives to other countries. We hadn’t met one since our father first became clan leader decades ago. I turned to look at Major as he stepped closer to me with an outstretched hand.

  “Very nice to finally meet you, Brennan Callaghan,” he said with a perfectly posh British accent.

  His orange eyes studied me while his hand squeezed mine a little harder than necessary. He wanted to assert his dominance but I wasn’t ready to succumb just yet. I needed to figure out what kind of shifter he was first. There were very few animals, if any, that would even consider challenging a grizzly.

  “Likewise,” I said while removing my hand. “What are you doing here?”

  I felt Brandt tense without even looking at him. We had a very close connection as brothers and often that meant that we could communicate through movement and looks alone. “Major has brought something to our attention,” Brandt began. He lifted his arm and aimed a remote control at the television on the far wall.

  “A few days ago, one of my colleagues at ISC received an unmarked envelope with a photo card in it that included a link to a video,” Major said as the television screen came to life. “A letter warned us that this video would be posted online if we didn’t pay them money. One million dollars to be exact. After studying the video, we were able to determine the location and that led me here.”

  “The location?” I asked. “What do you mean.”

  “Just watch,” Bo said, arms crossed and face scrunched up in concern.

  The video started playing. It showed a coniferous forest that resembled those in our area of the country. And while the quality wasn’t fantastic, I could still make out the sounds of fighting through the shaky footage. A woman screamed from an opening within the trees, and a bear roared. The person holding the camera spoke to their partner.

  “Holy shit,” he said. “Holy shit, did you see that? Did he just kill her?”

  I stepped closer to the screen. In the background, I could just barely make out the wooden siding on a set of trailers. Suddenly recognizing Bristling Pine Estates, I snapped my head around to Brandt. “Is that the Tik’a pack?”

  He only nodded.

  What the hell. How had this happened? The female screamed again and this time I recognized what was happening. Joshua, the grizzly who’d challenged Brandt for alpha, had attacked Emma while she was still human in order to provoke my brother. And these humans hiding out in the woods had filmed the entire thing.

  “Oh my god,” I whispered, knowing what was going to be on the video next. Several grizzlies ran into the trailer park, spots of brown fur darting in and out of the trees. And then the camera caught Scarlett and her uncle shifting into their wolves at the same time I ran over to help Emma, who had been tossed to the side like a rag doll. I didn’t need to see anymore. It was beyond evident that humans had witnessed the fights that day and our shifter secret was at risk.

  “Where did this come from?” I ask Major, the growl in my voice uncontrollable.

  His eyes flashed a silvery color before returning to their burnt orange. “We don’t know yet.”

  “Derrick’s working on it now,” Brandt said. Derrick was like a brother to us and had always been the one with all of the computer skills.

  “Will he be able to tell us?” I asked Brandt.

  “I’m getting closer,” Derrick said, walking into the room. He gave me a curt nod and handed Brandt some papers. “I think I’ll be able to track down the web provider, but I need a little more time.” That last comment was directed toward Major.

  The ISC representative smirked. “Well, you have three days.” Gathering his suit jacket from the chair at Brandt’s desk, he continued. “This falls under the Callaghan clan and Tik’a pack authority. If you don’t have the situation resolved in three days, ISC will be forced to take our own action.”

  “And just how are we supposed to solve this?” Bo asked.

  “Find the humans and make sure that video never sees the light of day,” Major said, the chill in his words bothering even me.

  “You mean kill them?” I asked.

  “Do whatev
er you need to do.” Major stepped in front of me and stared into my eyes, challenging me for dominance. I didn’t look away. “Just don’t let them expose us.” He made his way to the door and turned at the last second. “Take care, Brandt.”

  He didn’t acknowledge anyone else when he left. After hearing him walk down the stairs, I turned to my oldest brother and our clan’s alpha. “What the fuck are we supposed to do?”

  Brandt fell back into his chair and rubbed his chin. “I have no idea.”

  “I think I can locate the address for the site, I just need a few more hours,” Derrick said. “At quick glance, it doesn’t seem like these humans tried to hide their tracks.”

  “What should I do?” Bo asked. I burst of pride shot through me. My little brother actually offered to do something to help our clan. I was impressed.

  Brandt sighed. “I need you to go talk to the other clan members and just tell them to be on guard for intruders in our woods. We can’t risk another incident being caught on film.”

  “I can do that,” Bo said.

  “And Brennan,” Brandt continued, “I need you to go talk to the Tik’a pack. Get Scarlett involved right away. She’ll know how to keep her wolves in line.

  I swallowed hard, trying to push down nerves. I didn’t want anyone in this room knowing how much I really wanted to see Scarlett again. “Okay.”

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I have an address,” Derrick added. “So you can tell Scarlett and Peter.”

  With a nod, I stood. “Who is Major anyway?”

  “He’s with the ISC,” Bo said.

  “I know that brother, but what role does he have and what kind of shifter is he?”

  All three men in the room stared at me. “You couldn’t tell?” Derrick asked.

  “How could you not smell his animal? It was all I could do not to take a piss on the floor to mark our territory,” Bo said.

  Brandt looked at me with narrowed eyes. “What’s going on with you?”

  “What?” I shouted. “There’s something wrong with me because I couldn’t tell what kind of shifter Major was?”

  “Yes!” all three of them said together.

  “Well, fuck you guys then.” I stomped toward the door. “There’s nothing wrong with me, okay?”

  “He’s a tiger,” Brandt said.

  I stopped dead in my tracks. “Seriously?”

  “Serious as a heart attack,” Bo said with a shudder. “That tiger wouldn’t hesitate to challenge one of us.”

  “Why did they send a tiger?” I wondered out loud.

  “Because this is serious,” Brandt said. “We need to find these humans as soon as possible.”

  “I’m on it,” Derrick replied. He scooped up some papers and then left the office to go work downstairs in a private space Brandt had set aside for him.

  “I’ll go tell the others now,” Bo said.

  “Me too,” I added. But as I tried to walk out the door, Brandt called my name. Bo continued down the stairs, leaving me to fend for myself with our alpha.

  Brandt waved me back into the room. “Would you care to tell me why you smell like a wolf?”

  Shit.

  Hanging my head, I said. “Nope.”

  “Brennan, what’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing, I’m fine.”

  He stepped around his desk and stood in front of me. Putting his hands on my shoulders he forced me to meet his gaze. “Is this something I need to be concerned about?”

  “No.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He looked at me for way too long. My legs tingled with the power of his alpha encouraging me to come clean. But as my brother, I didn’t want him nagging me about a mate until I actually understood myself what was going on with us.

  “I’m trusting you to handle this.”

  I didn’t know if he was talking about Scarlett or the video. And perhaps he was alluding to both. “I can handle it, brother.”

  Brandt slapped me on the shoulder and returned to his desk. “Keep me posted, okay.”

  “Yeah.”

  “On everything,” he said with a deep growl.

  He knew I’d been mated. I could tell. “You got it,” I mumbled as I left the room.

  So now not only did we have to clean up this human mess, I also had to juggle my feelings for Scarlett while our shifter communities depended on me behaving like I should. No more sex with Scarlett. I couldn’t. Not right now.

  Yet as I climbed into my truck and started to pull out of the driveway, I couldn’t stop my heart from beating in anticipation for seeing her again very soon.

  I had to leave my uncle’s side before I strangled him. Sure he was my alpha, but sometimes he’d forget that I was a grown woman and our pack’s enforcer. After Carla’s fight with two coyote men last night in the club, she’d ruined my mood. And I might have reacted a little harsher than necessary.

  Or maybe I didn’t.

  She was only two years younger than me but acted like an insolent teen who threw a tantrum every time she didn’t get her way. Last night she didn’t think one of the men tipped her enough and she nearly shed her wolf in response. Thankfully, Simone and Seth were able to pull her back stage before she showed all of the humans just how dangerous she actually was.

  My uncle and I argued all morning over the punishment I’d given her. I didn’t think a broken wrist was that big of a deal, especially since she’d tried to punch me first. But Uncle Peter didn’t like to see her get hurt. Regardless of how much she deserved it.

  “Where are you going?” he asked from the kitchen table behind me.

  “Home,” I snapped. “I’m tired.”

  “Scarlett, what’s wrong with you?” His voice changed tones and it caused me to stop in my tracks.

  “Nothing,” I whispered. My head was spinning and my wolf was raging. She wanted me to claim my mate and she didn’t care if that act would have consequences even I didn’t know about. She wanted her mate and she was tearing me up on the inside because I wouldn’t give it to her.

  “There is something different about you,” he pondered.

  My uncle had raised me since I was a pup. Both of my parents were teenagers when they had me and both had been killed in a car accident before I was a year old. Uncle Peter was already the pack alpha, so no one argued with him when he took me into his home. I’d grown up listening in on all of the meetings, learning how to get business accomplished while dealing with all types of personalities. I’d enrolled myself in an online homeschool program and had my diploma by sixteen and a degree in business management by nineteen. I’d always been in control of my life.

  And now Brennan Callaghan had thrown a major kink into that.

  “Scarlett! Are you in there?”

  Seth’s voice interrupted my uncle’s inquisition and I secretly thanked him for doing so. I opened the door to the trailer and watched Seth jogging up to it. “What’s wrong?”

  His face was pulled tight as he ground his jaw together. Nothing bothered Seth. Ever. So I knew he wasn’t bringing us good news. “I just got a call from ISC.”

  “What?” my uncle shouted behind me.

  “Why?” I asked at the same time.

  “Some man told me to be expecting a visit from the grizzly clan.” Seth leaned forward, out of breath. Had he run all the way from town?

  “I don’t understand,” I said, just as we all heard the truck entering the road that would bring it into our trailer park. A small cloud of dust warned us about the visitor before we could see who was driving. But my wolf knew right away who it was.

  Brennan.

  “Uncle, you stay here. I’ll go find out what’s going on.” I started to close the door, but my alpha yanked it out of my hand.

  “Not a chance,” he said with a grin. Despite his age, I had to admire how much he was still able to do. And how much he still wanted to be involved.

  So the three of us walked down the center dirt road until
the truck in front of us came to a stop. Brennan and I made eye contact and it took all the self-control I could gather to remain standing beside my alpha and my friend.

  “Peter Kani,” Brennan said when he approached us. He’d dressed in business attire and looked as delicious as anything I’d ever seen. “I’m sorry to barge in on your pack like this.”

  Peter lifted his chin. “We were warned.”

  “Warned?” Brennan asked, surprised.

  “ISC called Seth,” I said.

  Brennan’s gaze fell to Seth, the bouncer who’d seen Brennan frequent my club for the last few weeks. But Seth didn’t give any indication that he’d recognized him or suspected that there was something going on between us.

  “What’s wrong?” Peter asked.

  Brennan shook his head then focused on our alpha again. “Do you have a computer or television I can use?”

  An hour later, we all sat in my uncle’s living room watching the video for the hundredth time. “How could this have happened?” Peter asked.

  “We were all too caught up with Joshua’s attack to even sense the humans in the woods,” Brennan said as though he’d been searching for an answer all morning. When his phone rang, he quickly pulled it out of his jacket and stood. “Derrick? Yeah. Okay, hold on a sec.” Brennan covered the phone and spoke to Peter. “I’m sorry, I need to take this.”

  Peter and I both nodded our approval but only I watched every step Brennan took as he stepped out of the trailer. My wolf was still wild with desire, but now she was also burning with the craving to protect.

  “What are we going to do?” Seth asked. I’d almost forgotten he was in the room.

  “Let’s see what Brennan finds out first. Then we’ll plan.” My uncle may have sounded calm, but I could see the tension in his shoulders and the way he kept opening and closing his fist. Thankfully, the silence between all of us didn’t last too long.

  The front door slammed shut and Brennan cringed. “Sorry,” he mumbled. He remained in the kitchen and looked as though he was about to explode.

  “What did Derrick have to say?’ I asked.

  “He got an address.” Brennan smiled and started to pace, like that would help him come up with a plan. “It’s in Anchorage.”