Ranger Knox (Shifter Nation: Werebears Of Acadia Book 1)

by Meg Ripley

  Then, finally, Knox is standing in front of me, fully naked but fully human, streaked with blood but with only a handful of scratches over him.

  “So,” he says, his voice low. He coughs. “I take it you saw something.”

  “You’re...some kind of...bear...shapeshifter,” I say, shaking my head. “But that’s impossible.”

  “It’s obviously possible,” Knox counters. “You just saw me shift with your own eyes.” He gives me a wry grin. “I’d hoped you didn’t see the first change, but when I heard you tell Shawn here…” he kicks at the bear, which seems to be melting into a human, which is somehow even more unnerving than Knox’s transformation, “that you knew he was human, I figured if I could get rid of him, that would be a good time to come clean.”

  “Thanks, I guess,” I say, still numb and stunned from the whole ordeal.

  “It’s a lot to take in.” Knox looks worried.

  I smile weakly. “Yeah...it is,” I agree. “I just found out that not only are shapeshifters actually a thing, but that I’ve had sex with one more than once without even knowing.”

  “Who knows, you might have slept with one before me,” Knox says. “We’re sworn to secrecy about it.”

  I mentally scan through the last few guys I’ve dated. “Nope. I highly doubt it.”

  “You’d never know…”

  I furrow my brow at that. “So... this is why you wanted to wait a couple of days to see me again,” I say, remembering that tidbit. “This is why you were going to be busy.” I’d figured on any number of outlandish scenarios, but this is one I never could have foreseen. “So, what, is the park some kind of hunting ground for your group?”

  “It’s not only for my group, but any shifter who wants to come here. As long as they’re willing to obey the rules.” Knox gestures absently to the dead bear-man, who now looks completely like a man, and a naked one at that. “He and three others broke the rules when they tried to attack you, and when they tried to fight me on the premises. This one here even killed a few of my friends.”

  “He...and three others…” It hits me then: the four men who tried to attack me on my first visit were all part bear. More of the whole crazy story falls into place in my mind. They were also the bears that had interrupted my picnic with Knox the second time I came to the park. And now at least one of them was dead.

  “I...I think I need to get back to Mary’s,” I say. “I have a lot to think about.”

  “Will you come see me before you leave? And I think--I hope--you’re not going to write about this, are you?” Knox looks more worried than ever. “It would put my entire kind in jeopardy.”

  “I need to think this through before I decide what I’m going to do.”

  I give myself a shake. Questions start up in my brain; on and on, the significance of what I’ve just learned in the last hour or so renders itself to a bunch of trivial nonsense.

  “So, can we meet up like we were originally planning to? How about that?”

  I think about it, and in spite of the shock I feel about what I’ve learned, I have to admit that I’m curious. Knox didn’t hurt me, after all; he saved my life.

  “It’s a deal,” I say. “Now if I can just get the hell out of here...”

  “I’ll show you the way, but then I’ll have to get back to hunting the other bears down,” Knox says. The phrase sends a shiver down my spine, but I don’t ask any more questions.

  Chapter 14 - Knox

  I’m not sure that I’m exactly holding my breath, but at the same time, I’m determined not to be disappointed if Hannah doesn’t show up.

  I’d hoped to keep her from finding out about my bear side--for the time being, anyway--but now that she knows, I need to find a way to keep her from spilling our secret. Above and beyond that, though, I need to see her again. The way I reacted to knowing she was in danger, in my animal form, told me a lot. The fact that I was able to shift back to human form during the full moon told me even more. With Shawn now dead and the other three bears off the territory for good, I finally felt it was safe to have Hannah back here.

  When I see her walking towards my cabin from the front of the park, I feel a wave of relief. If nothing else, she’s agreed to see me, and she looks interested instead of frightened or shocked. I take a deep breath and steady myself. Just because she agreed to come, just because she’s willing to talk to me, doesn’t mean that she’s interested in anything more. And I have to be prepared for that.

  “Hey,” Hannah says as she steps up to me.

  “How have you been?”

  Hannah raises her eyebrows. “I’ve had a lot to process,” she admits. She kicks at some loose mulch on the trail leading up to my cabin and looks up, meeting my gaze. “I’ve given it a lot of thought. It’s unethical for me to not publish the truth, but sometimes in this field, you have to balance ethics with what is truly the right thing to do,” she says. “I mean, if I published the truth, most people would just think that I’ve lost my mind. But, if even a fringe element ended up actually believing me, surely a witch hunt would ensue that would put you and your kind in grave danger. I can’t and won’t take that risk.” She shakes her head. “I’ll just have to write something else.”

  “Well, you could still write about the park,” I suggest. “Just not about the angle that includes people like me.”

  Hannah chuckles. “Let’s go inside and talk,” she tells me, and I’m only too ready to agree.

  We go into my cabin and I offer her something to drink. “I’ll have a cup of coffee,” she says, and I pour one for her, bringing milk and sugar to the table to go with it.

  “Well, I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Where should we start?”

  It seems so stilted, so awkward between us now, and I hate it.

  “Can… can you turn someone else into a bear, or whatever you are, by biting them?”

  I shake my head. “No, it’s something you’re born with,” I reply.

  “I see,” she says, stirring a little more sugar into her coffee. “So... is a shifter baby born as a human, or an animal?”

  “Really, it could go either way,” I tell her. “If the mother is a shifter and she’s in her animal form as she gives birth, the baby will be born in his or her animal state. If she’s in her human form, she’ll give birth to an infant in his or her human state,” I explain. “It also depends on whether or not one of the parents is a full-blooded human.”

  “Wait a second, so humans and shifters are capable of producing offspring together?”

  “They can. Their children would have at least a 50% chance of becoming shifters. Even if they didn’t end up becoming shifters, they would carry the gene. If they mate with other shifters one day, they’d have children who could shift,” I explain.

  “Wow, sounds complicated.” She takes another sip from her mug before asking, “Have…you ever had sex in your bear form?”

  I nod. “Only with another werebear, never with a human or an actual bear,” I say.

  “Okay, so werebear is the term you like to use. Well, what is the connection between your status as a human and your status as a werebear?”

  “I became the Alpha male of the bear pack that is technically the host for this territory when I became the administrator,” I say.

  “Do you have to have a partner to be an Alpha male?”

  I shake my head. “No, but it helps,” I admit. “I’ve been waiting to meet the right person before I choose my mate.”

  I pause for a moment and decide that now’s as good of a time as any to cut the bullshit and tell her what’s on my mind; what’s been on my mind for days now. “If I’m being honest…” I say, taking her hands in mine, “I think that person is you.”

  Hannah’s eyes widen for a moment. “What makes you think I’d be a good mate?”

  I gently take her face in the palms of my hands and look into those gorgeous hazel eyes of hers. “Hannah, I knew I wanted you from the first time I met you,” I tell her. “Every t
ime we got together after that, I knew it even more strongly. And the other night, well, that confirmed it.”

  “How do you know for sure?” she asks.

  I smile slowly. “My bear side tells me you smell like something that should be mine,” I tell her. “Like something I should protect and devote myself to; something I should take care of.”

  She stares out the window for the next few minutes, pondering over it all, but then she cracks a small smile.

  “You know, I’d be lying if I told you I haven’t felt something between us; something strong that’s more than just...” She looks down for a moment, but then her gaze returns to mine. “It’s like I need you, Knox, and no matter what the rational side of my brain screams out to me, there’s something inside that tells me…”

  “That we’re meant to be together?”

  “Yes,” she says. “I know that, in many ways, we’re so different, but if I just go home and try to forget this ever happened--that we ever happened—I know I’ll regret it.” She reaches over to the table to grasp my hands, “I have to see where this will go.”

  This is promising indeed, but I try to press her further to make sure we’re on the same page. “Do you mean in terms of me living here and you living back in Boston?”

  Hannah shrugs. “It would depend, I guess. It’s probably against the rules for an Alpha to get involved with someone who’s not...like you, right?”

  “We Alphas make a lot of our own rules,” I say.

  “Isn’t that going to piss off some of the others?” Hannah looks dubious.

  “Everyone knows and respects that the Alpha lives by his or her own rules, so no. Besides, I’ve never heard of any Alpha being tried by a conclave for choosing a human as his or her mate.”

  She looks at me for a long moment. “All I ask, for the time being, is for you to be patient with me, Knox. This is a lot to take in, and there’s a lot to adjust to.”

  I think about it; in all my musings, in all my hopes, I haven’t thought through what I would do if Hannah would actually entertain the thought of being with me.

  “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make this work,” I say.

  I keep looking at her for a long moment. Being so close to her again, breathing in her scent, I think about what it would be like to be with her--to have her as my mate--for the rest of my life, and it makes my heart feel like it could explode right out of my chest. I just have to make sure to give her a little breathing room.

  “Well, I’ll have to head back home in a few days,” she says. “Why don’t I get clearance from my boss to work remotely, and I’ll come back up and we can spend a little more time getting to know each other here in the cabin? That’s one of the perks of my job; I can pretty much work wherever there’s a Wi-Fi signal. How does that sound?” Hannah sits back slightly in her chair and raises an eyebrow.

  “That sounds like a perfect start,” I say with a grin. “No matter how much time you need back home, I’ll be here waiting for you.”

  All the awkwardness leaves us then, and we’re talking about the future like nothing strange at all stands in our way. The idea of lunch goes out the window completely. When Hannah gets up to put her coffee mug in my sink, I grab her and pull her into my lap, kissing her, tasting the sweetened coffee on her lips.

  We immediately begin working at each other’s clothes, almost tearing them, and I know--deep down--that it’s only a matter of time before she’ll be living up here with me in my cabin.

  I put my mouth to work, dipping down to Hannah’s tits and claiming them, worshipping them with my lips and tongue as I manage to get her panties off and toss them across the room.

  Hannah squirms in my lap, and I can feel her wet heat against my throbbing, aching cock, like our bodies are doing everything they can to merge as one. I fall completely into instinct, getting the last of Hannah’s clothes off and lifting her up onto the kitchen table. I work my way down from her tits to her pussy, and it’s so deliciously soaking wet, so hot and ready for me, that I can’t even bring myself to wait or to tease Hannah. I push her gently onto her back and bury my face against her slick folds, sliding my tongue up and down, tasting her hungrily.

  Hannah moans out and the sound is like music to my ears, spurring me on as I work her with my lips and tongue. I spread her legs wide and bring the tip of my tongue up to her clit, swirling it in tight circles before dipping down to her entrance, sucking as much of her into my mouth as I can. I bring her to the edge of climax in a matter of moments and then back off, slowing down just enough to let her cool down. Over and over again, I get her so hot that I know she can barely stand it and then I stop just short of letting her get what she really wants, until I know she thinks she’s going to die if I don’t let her come.

  I pull back finally and look at her face; she’s flushed and panting, looking almost like an animal herself, and I love her more than I ever thought possible, but I know it’s not the time to tell her. I have to wait for her to feel the same way; for her to feel comfortable saying it.

  The animal in me wants to flip her onto her stomach, but I know I need to be as human as possible around her--for now, at least. I wrap her legs around my waist and guide the tip of my cock against her soaking wet folds, and thrust into her, taking her all at once.

  We fall into a rhythm immediately, with Hannah pushing her hips down, twisting them in reaction to my movements, and it feels so completely perfect that I know she has to feel it, too. I start slow and then gradually build up speed, holding myself back as I bring Hannah to the edge yet again--but this time I let her tumble over it and ride through her orgasm, kissing her face everywhere and dipping down to her tits. I manage to hold my own climax back throughout Hannah’s, and slow down while she’s recovering, moving just enough to keep her going while I maintain my own arousal.

  Then we’re moving together again, speeding up, and the feeling of Hannah’s muscles clenching around me in little spasms is almost more than I can take, in a matter of mere moments. But I keep it together, working up her arousal, turning her on more and more. I take advantage of the lull to worship her tits, her lips, to touch her sensitive little clit, working her until she’s so turned on it must be killing her and then slamming into her with all I’ve got when my need gets the better of me.

  The second time I feel her body clench around me in orgasm, I tumble into my own climax, coming harder than I ever have with anyone else. I groan against Hannah’s chest, against her shoulder, and kiss her as wave after wave of pleasure washes over me, and I feel that connection between us, that bond that I know only happens when a bear--or any shifter--has found his or her mate.

  I sag against Hannah, panting for breath, and I feel her body fluttering around me in erratic little post-orgasmic spasms as aftershocks work through her.

  “Weren’t...weren’t we going to get lunch?”

  I laugh at Hannah’s question. “Feeling hungry?”

  Hannah nods. “I could eat a horse,” she tells me. I breathe in the smell of her; just knowing that gorgeous, intoxicating scent is going to be in my life permanently--even if Hannah doesn’t fully realize it yet--is enough to make me want to shift and run through the park’s grounds, roaring my triumph.

  I pull myself back and grin down at the woman I’ve fallen for. “I’m all out of horse, but I do have a fresh wild duck and some fingerling potatoes and carrots that I’d love to roast up for you,” I say with a wink. “My family has a recipe that’s been handed down for generations that I’ve been dying to make for you. Let me get that started, then afterwards…maybe we could move the party to the bedroom.”

  “That sounds amazing,” Hannah says. “I vote yes.”

  I slip on my boxers and start preparing our meal. Fifteen minutes later, just as I’m putting the duck in the oven, Hannah’s just gotten out of the shower and joins me, wearing nothing but one of my flannels.

  “Hey, I just thought of something…something about the research I’d been doing.”
<
br />   I laugh, “Does your mind ever stop?”

  Hannah gives me a playful shove. “No seriously,” she says. “So, remember how I wasn’t able to find the birth certificates for some of Acadia’s founders?”

  I look up from the cutting board, where I’d been chopping garlic to add to the gravy. “Yeah?”

  “Well, how long have shifters been gathering in Acadia for?”

  I pause mid-chop. She’d seen my clan and the concave shift right there before her eyes, so there was no denying the existence of shifters. But the histories of Acadia and the NPS? I took a sacred oath, vowing to never reveal the true reason behind how they came to be.

  “Shifters have been around just as long as humans have.”

  “You should be a politician,” she says, crossing her arms as she laughs. “I asked how long have they been gathering in Acadia for.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. A long time.”

  “Well, I put two and two together and had the thought that perhaps some of those founders were shifters themselves,” she says.

  “Is that so?” I stiffen, trying to act as nonchalant as possible, but then remember that I hadn’t let her in on the secret; she’s a smart woman, and was able to piece the puzzle together herself.

  “Am I right, or am I right?” she asks, grabbing a piece of carrot from the cutting board to munch on.

  I grin. “Well, what makes you think that?”

  “I concocted the idea that if, say, one of the founder’s mothers gave birth in her animal form, the founder would have been born as an animal...and what wild animal would have a birth certificate?”

  I hand her another piece of carrot. “That’s pretty farfetched, don’t you think?”

  She laughs. “Um, if you’d asked me last week about the concept of a bunch of naked humans morphing into animals under the full moon, I would have told you that’s farfetched. So, am I on to something here?”