Simply Bears: A Ten Book Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Collection

by Simply Shifters

  Walter slapped him and Timothy spat out some blood. “Fuck, Walter.”

  “Where is my son, Timothy.”

  “I gave him to someone who understand our kind, Walter. You could say I have a... contact that takes in shifter children from filthy human parents.”

  Walter felt something burn inside of him, and Timothy’s eyes lit up, happy and satisfied with Walter’s reaction. Walter turned away, trembling, trying hard to not lose his cool. He imagined his son being cradled by an enemy, growing up not knowing that his parents really did love him.

  His thoughts turned to the boy in his dream and the man who had yanked him away from Walter. The anger and frustration built up inside of him like a bull suddenly seeing red and preparing itself to charge.

  Walter swung around, his fist barely missing Timothy’s face, and smashed right into the wall. He trembled in anger, not even feeling the pain of his fist going through the wood.

  Timothy whimpered, and Walter smelt the fear and shock that wavered from the tribe members in the room. If he could, Walter would tear Timothy apart limb by limb until he found the answers he was looking for on his own.

  Walter glanced down at Timothy, slowly sliding his hand from the wall. Blood dripped to the floor, but Walter paid no attention to it. He had no words, but Walter let his eyes do the talking. Timothy flinched back, and Walter walked by him, leaving the scene behind.

  Whether his father or the elders called for him to come back, Walter didn’t know, nor did he care. All that mattered was his family; the rest of the world could wait.

  *

  Ursula rubbed at her eyes and turned in the bed, her arm stretching out, but was only met with sheets. She opened her eyes to find Walter gone, the sheets now cold.

  Ursula sat up and stretched, yawning. Her body was a little sore, but the night before was just what she needed. Walter really knew how to make her happy, and for the meantime, she found the strength to keep hoping for the best when it came to their family.

  Sliding out of bed, Ursula pulled on some pants and a baggy shirt, and wandered into the kitchen. She poked her head into the other rooms but didn’t find a trace of Walter. She shrugged and grabbed a box of cereal and a bowl along with the fresh milk that was delivered to their doorstep

  Ursula took a bite, but didn’t really taste her breakfast. She gazed out the window where the blue sky was clean of any clouds. The trees stood tall, their green slowly fading as winter was upon them. Soon, snow would begin to flutter to the ground and bathe the world in white. She had been looking forward to spending the winter with her son, but now she wondered if that would even happen.

  Ursula looked away from the window and shoved another spoonful of cereal into her mouth. She slowly chewed, glaring down at the bowl in front of her as though it was the root of all of her problems.

  The front door slammed open, and Ursula jumped in her seat, the spoon falling out of her hand and to the floor. Walter slammed the door shut behind him, and he didn’t bother to glance over at Ursula as he took long, angry strides to their room.

  Ursula stood up and left her breakfast behind as she caught up with her mate. “Walter?” He only grunted in response, and Ursula did her best to keep up and grab onto his arm. “Walter!”

  “What?” Walter stopped in his tracks and Ursula walked into him. She stepped back and craned her neck to look up at her mate. “Walter, what has gotten into you?”

  Walter’s breath was rigid, but as he stared into Ursula’s concerned eyes, he relaxed his shoulders and his breath calmed. He ran his fingers through his hair and flicked his eyes to the side.

  “Timothy finally talked.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Not much. But I guess we got what we could from him, with Timothy being Timothy.”

  “Which is...?”

  Ursula frowned, frustration twisted on her face. Walter inhaled sharply and bit his lip, the idea of lying to her now thrown away, and he cursed himself for that. Ursula raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

  “Timothy and Rebecca have been stealing children with a human parent and handing them over to someone who raises the children through traditional means. I don’t know who it is or where we can even begin to look, it was all that Timothy was willing to tell us. I—”

  Ursula turned around and left, coming to the front door in no time. Walter followed her out and caught up to her as she slipped on shoes and grabbed her jacket, opening the door and sliding out.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To do what a mother does best. Stay here, Walter. I’ll be back soon.”

  The door shut behind her, and as Ursula left the cabin behind, she was relieved to see that Walter really wasn’t coming after her. She glanced back and could see him watching her from the window, but she kept moving, walking as though the world would end if she stopped.

  ***

  Timothy was held in a different cell away from the regular jail and more isolated from the village. It was a worn-out building where the wood seemed to rot, and the stone that held everything in place had moss growing through the cracks.

  The guards on duty were fierce-looking men that Ursula would have once been too afraid to even glance at, let alone challenge. Each one of them had sharp features, more animalistic than the rest of the tribe. As she approached the solitary confinement, Ursula squinted her eyes at them and wondered if they were more in tune with their animal spirits than the rest of the tribe.

  As Ursula grew closer, one of the guards glanced up at her, his yellow brown eyes scanning her carefully like a predator observing its prey. The other turned and did the same before moving to allow her in. Ursula didn’t bat an eye at them; she stood as tall as her height permitted and pretended to feel what the people around her felt, with the spirit of the animals running through their veins.

  The confinement was dark and musty, and very little light penetrated through the thickness of the shadows. Ursula stopped and blinked. Once, twice, thrice, until she could make out the shadow of the bars a few feet in front of her.

  Ursula slowly felt her way through the darkness until she came face to face with the bars. She squinted, and could make out the figure of a man with his back pressed against the wall as he sat hunched on the ground.

  “Well, well, well, look what the shifters dragged in. What’s Walter’s pet doing here?”

  Ursula blinked, refusing to give Timothy any kind of satisfaction. She tried her hardest to see him, but it was no use. The cell was designed for shifter eyes, not hers. Some light peaked through tiny cracks in the walls, just enough for Ursula’s human eyes to see what little she could.

  “Timothy, I want to know where my son is.”

  Timothy stood up and slowly walked over to her, his body swaying in such an intimidating way that Ursula had to dig her nails into the palm of her hand to prevent herself from stepping back in fear.

  Timothy came to the bars and leaned his arm against it. Through the darkness, she could see his yellow-brown eyes, the pupils, two slits, that allowed him to see her perfectly.

  “What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you.” His voice was low. He knew what she had asked. He could hear as clearly as the animal he could turn into, and she couldn’t stop herself from frowning, not sure if she should take the bait and challenge him or back down. She knew the latter wasn’t an option anymore.

  “Where. Is. My. Son.” Ursula flinched as Timothy spat in her face, the fluid hitting her square in the eye and slowly dripping down her cheek. Ursula calmly wiped it away, trying her hardest not to tremble in front of him. She felt like she was under a microscope, and the slightest wrong move could make everything she had worked up for on her way there suddenly crumble. Ursula would not allow that.

  “Timothy, I’m not here to play games.”

  “Good. Neither am I.” He pushed himself away from the bars and went back to the far wall, pressing his back against the stone and sliding down. Ursula rested her forehead against the bars, pret
ending to see through the blackness.

  “Timothy, please tell me where my son is.” Her voice slowly lost the anger and frustration, an eerie mix of calm and sadness taking its place. Timothy didn’t flinch, but Ursula could feel him staring at her.

  Ursula swallowed the lump in her throat. Her lips felt dry and chapped. “I get we don’t understand each other, and I’ll never fully be able to meet everyone’s standards... I know I’m not welcome here. I know people look at me oddly as the human. I may not have super hearing, Timothy, but I do hear what everyone says about me. And wanna know something?”

  She waited, but silence filled the air. But she could almost sense him tilting his head, perhaps an amused curiosity rattling around in his head. Ursula licked her lips and exhaled, not realizing she had been holding her breath.

  “I didn’t exactly ask to be human, nor did I ask to fall in love with a shifter. I didn’t ask for the prejudice I didn’t expect to get, nor did I ask for the treatment I receive all because I just want to stand by the man I love and welcome a child into this world. I didn’t. It just happened, Timothy, just like it just happened that you were born a shifter. I don’t know about you, but do you remember asking for this life?” The man remained silent. Ursula felt the shakiness in her hands grow less and less as she found confidence in her voice.

  “When I was sixteen, my dad died from a heart attack. None of us saw it coming; he was a healthy man who never challenged fate. He was the kind of man who put his girls first: me and my mom. We weren’t rich, but it didn’t matter. My dad said that we were rich with love, and that’s the best kind of rich. A lot of families don’t have the support and love that I grew up with, and my father told me to never let that die. It’s a dying breed, something that everyone forgets because they’re so wrapped up in the world around them that they forget that you’re already the world to someone else.”

  Ursula licked her lips and continued. “Even before my dad died, I knew I wanted to be a parent just like him and my mom. They were so in love, I guess you could say it was gross. They never quite left that honeymoon phase when they first married; they doted on each other, and rarely fought and always put me first. Even though we didn’t have a lot, coming home to my family after a long day at school was the key to my childhood memories. They always took turns cooking; we sat down around a table and we talked. I mean, really talked. I was never afraid to tell my parents anything, and I wish I still had that luxury now. My mom died two years ago to cancer, and I miss both of them so much.”

  Ursula realized her face was wet from crying. She hadn’t heard her voice crack, but her eyes had given in and were overflowing with water. Ursula refrained from wiping at her face, not wanting to break the atmosphere that she had created. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the bars, her knuckles white from holding on too tightly for so long.

  “And that’s why I wanted to be a mother. I didn’t care who the father was; I just wanted to be the parent that my mom and dad were. I had many failed relationships, and I was just... done. I was thirty-two and didn’t have my life sorted out at all. It was a big decision, but I don’t regret going to the sperm bank that day, and I know that I never will. I didn’t choose to have my son be a shifter, nor did I expect Walter to be one when he first asked me out. Things just fell into place, and I can’t complain.

  Though life has been difficult here... I really do enjoy being among people like you. Everyone here is quiet and humble, loyal and not afraid to fight for what they love. It gives me a sense of pride that my son has this blood and energy running through him, has people who love him as much as I do. And that’s why, Timothy, I want... need to know where my son is. You don’t have to like me, nor do you have to like humans; I’ll never try to change your mind when your heart is set on this.

  But my son isn’t just my son, Timothy. He’s another member of the tribe, a boy who is going to do great things with the beautiful power that comes with being a shifter. He’s going to make the whole tribe proud with the great things he’ll do with his life, even if, maybe his mother can’t keep up. I’d never drag him and Walter down with me being who I am. I just want to see them soar. I really want to see them soar, Timothy.”

  Ursula was crying now, and her voice quivered but she wasn’t afraid to break down now. She meant every word she said, and she refused to take anything back. Her tears didn’t make her weak; they made her feel stronger, as though nothing could touch her. Ursula closed her eyes and wondered if this was what it felt like to have the blood of shifters and spirits running in your veins. It was liberating, and made her heart burn for the people that her mate led.

  The sound of shuffling made Ursula rip open her eyes, and she found Timothy standing before her, his large frame gazing down at her through the dark. In the blackness, Ursula could see his unique eyes. No sadness or anger reflected within them, but his eyes remained wide with curiosity and surprise.

  Ursula flinched but didn’t move from her spot pressed against the bars. Timothy searched her face, his jaw clenched tightly. The staring contest couldn’t have been long, but it felt like years with how intense his face was. Ursula didn’t dare to break eye contact in fear that Timothy would change his mind or turn on her in whatever way he felt suited him best

  “Coos.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Coos. That’s the tribe’s name.”

  “The People by the Sea...” Ursula muttered to herself, finally casting her eyes away without meaning to. She had heard of them, but they were as foreign to her as Walter’s tribe had been before she fell in love with him.

  From what Ursula remembered, the tribes did not get along and often avoided one another. She couldn’t quite remember why, but was it bad enough for them to steal children from Walter’s village?

  “Thank you, Timothy. For everything.” Timothy scanned Ursula’s face and nodded before turning his back and retreating deeper into the cell. Ursula watched him for as long as she could until she could no longer see his outline.

  Ursula sighed and turned to leave. “You didn’t hear it from me.” Ursula turned around to where Timothy’s voice came from, but she still couldn’t see him. “That’s all I ask.” His voice was barely above a whisper, and Ursula could only nod in response, knowing he would see the movement.

  Being in the outside world again was blinding and nauseating. The dank stench that had overwhelmed Ursula in the cell was suddenly replaced with the sweet aroma of the woods around her. The sudden change gave her senses a whiplash, and Ursula couldn’t help but gag.

  The guards turned to look at her, but she just kept moving, not once returning the eye contact. Ursula put one foot in front of the other, her body heading towards the village while her mind wandered in many different directions.

  When the confined prison was out of sight and the village was as equally far away, Ursula stopped and turned her body to where she knew the ocean would be. A light breeze tickled her skin and Ursula closed her eyes, imagining that she could smell the salty air that came in with the tide.

  Somewhere by the sea, away from the rest of the world sat a village that overlooked the never-ending ocean. Ursula imagined people much like Walter’s, going about their business, children running wild as their mothers discussed tribe politics and the men fished or dared each other to dive higher and higher off of the cliffs and into the murky ocean.

  Ursula imagined a baby boy tucked in bundles of home sewn blankets, sleeping the day away as someone came in to check up on him along with other children ranging from infants to older teens. She couldn’t imagine anything unhappy, nor could she picture any tribe to be brutal. But in her mind’s eye, all she could see was the small figure of her son, and that was all the motivation she needed to find the tribe and take back her son. With that, she picked up her pace back to the village, leaving Timothy and all her doubts behind.

  CHAPTER 10

  Walter slammed down the phone, fuming about the words that had been exchanged. Nothing seemed to
be going right, one roadblock being thrown up after another, stopping him from having his son returned. The Coos were almost impossible to deal with, but he had to do something. He groaned and began to pace, the small cabin that functioned as an office for the tribal leaders seeming like it was growing smaller every day.

  The leader walked in to see his son pacing. “Did you find anything?”

  Walter snapped. “Would I be pacing like this if I had found anything?”

  The older man placed his hand on his son’s shoulder, it was a comforting gesture, but it wasn’t anything more than that. It wasn’t what the younger shifter needed. “People like that are so afraid of change that they can’t accept the truth.”

  “That doesn’t help me now.”

  “I know it doesn’t, but when we have your son back it might help you understand what they’re feeling.”

  Walter was outraged. “Do you want me to forgive them?” He was demanding answers.

  “No, but I want you to understand.” His father explained. “Let’s not worry about that right now. Have you found anything?”

  “That bastard wouldn’t even talk to me about it, all he did was accuse us of things.” Walter was close to shouting, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to flow down his cheeks. “He called us terrible names for harboring a human then informed me that I deserved to lose my son for breaking a sacred law.”

  “Hush now.” The older man wrapped his son in his arms. “We will find the boy and bring him home to a safe place.” It was a promise that the older man hoped that he would be able to keep, but he couldn’t make that guarantee. He worried as much as his son did, but his age had allowed him to handle these problems better. Still he wondered how many other children had been stolen from his tribe and how many parents were willing to hide the fact that they had bred with humans. Something was going to have to change, but he didn’t know what yet.

  “You can’t guarantee that. He could already be dead.”