Defending the Bear (Blue Ridge Bears Book 2)

by Jasmine B. Waters

  “I don’t think so. They would probably have taken me regardless,” I said.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Neither do you,” I countered.

  He opened his mouth as if he was going to argue, paused, and then frowned again.

  “So, since we might be trapped here for God knows how long, I suggest we try to get along.” I stuck my hand out and plastered on a huge, cheerful smile, trying to ignore that he was completely naked. “I’m Audrey. Audrey Skylark.”

  He hesitated, glancing down at the offered hand as if he wasn’t sure if I’d pull it away. Finally, his warm, calloused hand slid into mine and clasped it tightly.

  I automatically thought better of him. I hated soft, barely-there handshakes. I could never take the limp-shaker seriously after one.

  “Luke Elmsong.”

  My smile broadened and became the genuine article, finally reaching my eyes. He belonged to the weird last name club, too.

  “Pleased to meet you,” I said, letting my arm drop back to my side and swing awkwardly as he released my hand. “Do you know where the hell we might be?”

  He shrugged his huge shoulders, and a lock of stray hair fell into his face. I was tempted to tuck it behind his ear, just so I could have an excuse to touch his face. Gah. Now was not the time to give into hormones.

  “We’re still in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but that doesn’t really narrow down our location. That’s still an area stretching several states.”

  “How do you know we’re still in the Blue Ridge Mountains?”

  “Just an educated guess. The tranquilizer won’t have lasted more than a handful of hours. I don’t think they wanted to risk me waking inside a car speeding down the freeway. So my guess is that we traveled deeper into the mountains.”

  It made a certain amount of sense put that way. But he could be wrong. We could be in a shed in Albuquerque for all he knew.

  “Do you at least know who was after you?”

  “No. The only thing I know is that there were werewolves involved somehow.”

  I raised a skeptical brow. “Werewolves? How can you be sure they weren’t a natural pack after your kill?”

  “They weren’t.” He set his jaw stubbornly. “One, I wasn’t hunting. There was nothing for them to steal. Why confront me without something to gain? Two, there is only one species of wolf native to this area, and it’s not the Red Wolves. Lastly, they started the chase only after someone tried to shoot me with a tranquilizer dart.”

  I raised my hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. Is someone trying to shake you down for money? I’d hate to be on the wrong side of your loan shark.”

  “Something like that,” he muttered, his gaze dropping to the ground.

  He knew something. I was certain of that. But, was it worth making him angry to find out what that was? Even without his supernatural abilities he could do serious damage if he started swinging. In the dark, with no weapon and no bear mace I was at a serious disadvantage. The possibility of facing a royally pissed-off bear kept me from prodding him further.

  Both of our heads snapped up when we heard the rattle of a lock. It appeared there had been a door somewhere that I hadn’t been able to see or feel.

  Several lights bobbed toward us, and at first it looked like a drunken procession of faeries. When they drew near enough, I could make out the features of the men holding the lanterns. They were all about the same build. Or maybe it just looked that way because they were decked out in armor. It was too dark for me to even guess what time period it originated from.

  They were all pale, with long hair and scraggly beards. The leader was a grizzled, old man. It looked like someone had used his forehead and nose for knife throwing practice. Long, faded, white scar tissue knotted his brow.

  “Follow us,” he intoned.

  “Like hell,” Luke growled, shoving himself between me and the approaching group of men. They stopped a few feet away, and the youngest among them, a dark-haired man with a nice face beneath the beard, seemed heartily amused by Luke’s nudity. His eyes flicked down to Luke’s groin once. My eyes followed his.

  I’d been determinedly not looking and had somehow missed the fact that he was fully erect. Wow. The man gave Luke’s…erm…equipment a speculative look.

  Anger flashed through me, hot and fast. I didn’t get my reaction to him. So what if the guy liked what he saw? It wasn’t my dick he was staring at. Hell, I didn’t even have a secondary claim on said dick. Damn it.

  The grizzled, old man gave Luke a sour look. “Follow us. We will take you to more comfortable accommodations. You will be given a full briefing when all are present in the barracks.”

  I latched immediately onto the last word. Barracks. Soldiers quarters. Was this some sort of draft?

  “We’re not going anywhere with you,” Luke said firmly. He planted his feet and uncrossed his arms. They balled into fists at his side. Did he know he was gearing up for a fight, or was it entirely subconscious? Either way, I didn’t like his chances when he was naked and unarmed. It would be a shame for him to lose his junk before he got a chance to use it on anyone. Like me. Or maybe the guard, if that was his thing.

  I put a gentle restraining hand on his bicep. He jumped and finally tore his eyes away from the men across from us.

  “I think we should go.” I kept my voice low and soothing, trying not to spook him. If there was a fight, I’d be in the middle of it, without a weapon or any means to fight back.

  “But–”

  “Please.”

  He stared at me for another long moment before he finally nodded. His shoulders slumped, and his spine relaxed. I released a breath I hadn’t been aware I’d been holding.

  “Fine. Lead the way,” he grumbled.

  It took us a few minutes to even leave the building, as the old man insisted we wear a chain. It was long and light, and wouldn’t hinder our stride, but it was still unnerving to be chained to one another, like a pair of cartoon criminals from a Looney Tunes sketch.

  I felt more than a little foolish when they showed us the exit. It was a sliding door, fitted with a lock. Maybe if I’d been able to locate it, Luke could have charged the door to get us out. And then again, maybe not. If they’d put a bear inside of this place, surely it had protections besides one measly lock.

  There wasn’t much difference between the inside of our prison and the world outside. There seemed to be no moon in the sky. Which was impossible if we were in any sort of reality I was familiar with. We’d just gotten done with a full moon. The moon still had to wane before we got a new moon. Maybe there were storm clouds blotting out the moon and stars. But where had they come from? Had we been asleep long enough for a large storm front to roll in? My forecast had predicted sun all week.

  I stumbled over a tree root as I scowled up at the sky. I pitched forward, and Luke managed to catch hold of me before I could do a spectacular face plant. He pulled me backwards, and I landed with a thunk against his chest.

  The press of his body became distracting as I admired how well his body fit against mine. He was tall, nearly a head taller than me. My shoulders fit beneath his, so it was a simple matter for him to wrap his arms around my torso, banding them beneath my breasts. I could feel his chiseled abs against the small of my back, even through the thick material of my shirt.

  His cock, still hard and ready, pressed urgently against my ass. It was so much worse than looking. I could feel his thickness, the fullness of him so near my sex. My mind nearly gave up the fight to maintain its dignity then and there.

  It didn’t matter that we’d only just met. It didn’t matter that there were three people who would witness the bare-assed show. I wanted him inside me. I wanted him to bend me forward and take me against the nearest tree. My spine curved down in anticipation of rough and dirty doggy style.

  Luke let me go so quickly I nearly staggered again. I suddenly felt hideously naked without his touch, without
his body pressed to mine.

  “Sorry.” His voice came out a little huskier than usual. “Maybe we should help each other. That chain is going to be a pain.”

  His hand found mine in the darkness. The warm roughness of his touch eased the sting of rejection. I found myself liking Elmsong. He hadn’t said it was his manly duty to look after me, or to hold onto him in case I needed rescuing. No, he’d said that we should help each other.

  That seemed like a very important distinction to me. There was a we and a them, and he’d placed himself firmly on my side in whatever we might face. I wasn’t sure why, but that notion warmed me just a little.

  I squeezed his hand lightly. “Thank you.”

  The soldiers muttered to each other as we trekked through the dark toward the barracks. I thought I could catch words in the jumble of hard consonants. Whatever it was, it sounded vaguely like German, which I’d taken in my first two years as an undergrad.

  They didn’t seem worried about an escape attempt. The chain between us clanked as we walked over the bracken. Every so often, it would catch on tree roots. Without prior coordination, the chain would almost certainly quash our attempt at escape.

  It would catch on everything if we ran side-by-side. Maybe if he lifted me into a fireman’s carry it would be possible. I didn’t like the idea of being slung around like a sack of potatoes, but if it would allow us to get away, I could live with it.

  Just as I’d resolved to risk telling Luke my barebones plan, the group in front of us slowed. Just ahead I could hear the sound of more guards. My spirits sank. My luck was going to remain consistent, it seemed. I was going to be shoved into yet another cold, cramped space and left to rot. I squeezed Luke’s hand. At least, this time, I wouldn’t be alone.

  As we approached, light began to filter through the woods toward us. When we emerged I just stared. How the hell had they constructed something that huge without anyone knowing? The shape that loomed out of the darkness was at least the size of a cathedral, maybe several cathedrals. It had an odd shape, like someone had balanced a huge, upside-down dome on a box. Without the light of day, I doubted I’d be able to make much sense of what I was seeing. What on earth were they bringing us here for? Surely, there weren’t enough people in the Blue Ridge Mountains to fill cathedral-sized barracks?

  We were led into the base of the huge building and prodded inside. I immediately noted a few differences from our last prison. This one was warmer, though that wasn’t saying much. It was like stepping from a deep freeze into a refrigerator. It was still cold, but the press of many bodies raised the temperature by several degrees. The smell was different as well. Mustier, maybe. Beside me, Luke tensed, his spine going rigid with stress. A soft growl slipped from between his teeth.

  “What?” I asked. What was he sensing that I wasn’t?

  “Wolves.”

  “What kind?”

  He cocked his head and stared at me. “The wolfy kind.”

  I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or smack my forehead with all the force I could muster. “I know what werewolves are. I’m asking what kind these are. The Loup-Garou? The Wendigo?”

  “Look, I haven’t actually asked them for their biography. They smell like wolves. That’s all I know.”

  I clamped my mouth shut over the tirade that I wanted to deliver. I wasn’t the one with a super sniffer. Maybe all werewolves smelled similar, even though they weren’t physically identical. Who was I to know that?

  In the low light, I could see faces pop out of doorways to stare at us as we passed. They varied in size, shape, and hygiene, but there was a commonality among most of them. Nearly every single person I passed was male.

  I began to feel a bit sick as my mind offered another scenario for me to consider. Maybe I wasn’t here to be drafted. Maybe I was here to be entertainment.

  I didn’t know how he picked up on it, or if he was thinking the same thing, but Luke squeezed my hand tightly, drawing me a bit closer to him.

  “I won’t let them hurt you,” he said, voice dropping to a low dangerous growl.

  “I’m not entirely sure you could stop this many,” I muttered back, as the guard led us around another corner.

  It opened up into a large common area that appeared to have been turned into a makeshift commissary. A few dozen or so men milled about, eyeing each other warily. My face heated yet again when I noticed Luke wasn’t the only man who’d been brought in naked. They all seemed fairly comfortable about that. Those who weren’t completely naked only sported underwear or in rare cases a loose pair of jeans or sweatpants. They were all shirtless, and I felt like I’d just stepped onto the casting call for a Bowflex commercial.

  Beside each beefy man was a smaller, nervous companion. They weren’t all female, so that nixed my theory that I’d been brought here to be a sex slave for a bunch of supernatural jocks. Well, actually given one of our guard’s sexual interest in Luke, it still might not be out of the realm of possibility, but I thought it was the least likely explanation at this point.

  The guard who had been escorting us in whistled sharply, and the muttering in the room died away. Everyone turned to face us. Many of them gave Luke the appraising once over they’d been giving their companions. Maybe I was biased, but he seemed as big if not bigger than most of the guys in the room. I only saw a few men who were broader than he was, and only two who were taller.

  A new man stepped into the room. He wasn’t sporting the leather or chain mail that most of the guards seemed to prefer here. He was a tall, rather handsome, black man. He was lean, like a dedicated runner or a swimmer. His hair was buzzed short, close to his head. He wore a crisp military uniform, army possibly. His features were sharp, his eyes dark and intelligent. The only thing that marred his perfection were what looked like faded burn marks that ran down his face and neck. I’d be willing to bet it was on his arms as well. Even so, he was exactly my type. But, while Luke was the opposite of what I normally went for, I at least had an inkling that he didn’t intend me harm. If this man was responsible for bringing us here, I had no such assurances about him.

  “Welcome to the Blue Ridge Mountains, ladies and gentlemen.” He had a good voice, low and melodic. “I’m sure many of you are wondering why you have been brought here.”

  “No shit Sherlock,” a scrawny woman standing by the door muttered beneath her breath.

  He appeared to ignore it. “For those of you with the ability to shift, you all have a commonality that you may not have yet realized.”

  He paused as if for effect. Most of the men in the room began eyeing one another again, this time in confusion. Possibly wondering what exactly they had in common besides rampant testosterone.

  “Whether you are wolf, or boar, or bear, you all worship the Norse Gods.”

  I tried not to get sidetracked by that tidbit. I could dwell on the fact that I was stuffed in an enclosed space with some of the most volatile types of shapeshifters known to man later. Whatever this man revealed would be important.

  Beside me, Luke went rigid. I wasn’t sure what more he’d gleaned from that tidbit than I had, but now wasn’t the time to ask. The man’s eyes swept the room, taking in the expressions of the listening crowd. They ran the gamut from confused to angry.

  “You have been called upon by the Aesir to do battle. Those of you who do so willingly will not be forced to fight to the death, merely to a crushing defeat of your opponents.”

  Wait. Whoa. Back up. Did he just say fight to the death? As in gladiatorial combat?

  Surely, that couldn’t be right. What was the point? Why wouldn’t the Aesir, who apparently existed, just recruit these were-animals and be done with it?

  “You are the last to arrive. The Gods are merciful and do not expect you to do battle while you are recovering from your journey. You will be allowed to watch the fights tomorrow instead.”

  Recovering from our journey, huh? That was a nice way of putting it. Apparently, if i
t made no God-damned sense, of course they were going to do it. We were being put into a ring to beat the living hell out of each other for the amusement of the Gods. Good grief. Would I ever catch a break?

  There was another outburst of muttering, some of it angry and some of it excited. The latter came from some of the bigger guys. Their companions, I noted, looked less impressed.

  “You will have all noted by now that you woke with a companion when you arrived. You may have also noted that they are one hundred percent human. I suggest you get comfortable with one another, because for the next month your goal will be to protect your human companion from your competitors. If they are severely injured or killed in the fights, you will be disqualified.”

  Luke, who’d been apparently struggling not to shout the man down, finally broke. “What is the point of all this?” He snapped. “The fights, the companions, any of it?”

  The man gave Luke a flat, unfriendly look. “Who are you?”

  “Clayton James.” Luke lied easily. “And who the hell are you?”

  “I am Major Elias Dawson,” he answered curtly. “You may call me the Major, or Dawson. And to answer your question Mr. James, we are fighting to win a war. To win a war you need the best soldiers. We are sifting the wheat from the chaff, boy. If you cooperate, you may leave when you get your ass kicked the day after next.”

  There was a round of snickers, and I had to fight the urge to deck Major Dawson. He wasn’t going to lose. The Major turned on his heel and called back over his shoulder to the assembled crowd as he went.

  “Adner, Burr, and Cadby will show you to your quarters. I suggest you take the time to rest and recuperate. You’re going to need your strength.”

  Chapter 3

  Luke

  The movies hadn’t captured exactly how awful gladiatorial combat really is. Sure, they show some blood; maybe a few people die to make the hero look good. But you don’t really care about the poor schmuck who gets his throat slashed. You didn’t sit across from him in a crowded cafeteria and watch him eat cheerios that morning, talking about how he just wants to get home to his wife.