by G. Bailey
Run Little Bear
The Forest Pack Series. Book Two.
G. Bailey
Contents
Prologue
1. Gold
2. Gold
3. Gold
4. Gold
5. Gold
6. Gold
7. Gold
8. Callum
9. Gold
10. Gold
11. Gold
12. Gold
13. Gold
14. Gold
15. Gold
16. Gold
17. Gold
Afterword
Links
Also by G. Bailey
Excerpt from Winter’s Guardian
-W-
Excerpt from Strip for Me…
—S—
Run Little Bear Copyright © 2018 by G. Bailey
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
The author acknowledges the trademark owners of various products, brands, and/or stores referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Cover design by OliviaPro
Created with Vellum
In the fairytale, Goldilocks stole from the bears and got away...but stealing from bear shifters won’t be that easy.
When hunting a rogue wolf goes wrong, Gold finds herself saddled with a new mate that she can’t bring herself to turn in. There is only one place she can think to hide her rogue. With the bears...and the triplet brothers she has been running from. Her other mates.
When a teenage shifter goes missing, someone starts blackmailing Gold, sending her notes and making demands. Can she ignore them, risking her mates’ lives, or steal something sacred from her mates and risk their relationship?
She must decide before it’s too late for her fairytale ending...
For fairytales.
One year ago…
“Looking hot, Harper,” I call out, making Harper chuckle as I walk past her and Nikoli as they stand proud at the entrance to the ball. I smile when I look back for a second, noticing how Nikoli smiles warmly at Harper, his eyes telling everyone in the room how much she means to him with just one look.
“Drink?” one of the hired waiters asks, offering me a tray full of sparkling champagne in silver glasses. I take one, smiling at the waiter who I scent is just a human. He likely has no idea he is working a ball for various kinds of shifters. Including the royal family who will no doubt be here soon. I slowly sip my drink as I stare around the room, seeing everyone happy and dancing, relieved to be alive after the recent attack on the pack. My eyes drift across a mirror on the other side of the room, and I see my reflection in the gold revealing dress, which matches my gold hair that is curled down my back. I look like a doll, rather than the hunter I am. I suppose that can be useful sometimes. I spot an empty table just behind me, and I walk over, sitting down to watch my pack dance and enjoy the night.
“Mate. You’re my mate…I can’t fucking believe it,” a deep, shocked voice coughs out as three shadows stop right in front of me. I look up at the three men who have stopped right in front of me, scenting they are bears straight away…and triplets maybe? They all have thick brown hair, green eyes, and similar builds. I turn to the one that spoke, the leader of them I assume as he stands in the middle, his arms folded against his huge chest.
“What did you just say?” I ask, and he glances away from me for a second to stare at his two brothers. I bet they are the alphas of the nearby bear pack. The biggest pack of bear shifters in the world. Bears were nearly hunted to extinction about a hundred years ago, and to have a pack of them so big…well, it is amazing.
“She is my mate as well,” the one on the left states, his voice sounding like it’s made for seduction with a husky undertone.
“And me. God, we are lucky bastards,” the one on the right says, a big grin forming on his lips.
“Didn’t think our mate would be a wolf though,” the middle one grumbles. “The pack won’t be pleased with an alpha female wolf running it.”
“Woah, hold up,” I exclaim, standing up and staring all three of them down as I place my hands on my hips.
“Yes, gorgeous?” the middle one asks. Who the hell does he think he is, calling me gorgeous?
“You are not my mates,” I state resolutely. I don’t have three bear mates, when I’m a wolf. No one is that unlucky.
“We are, scent us. You will know,” he replies smoothly, stepping closer, and I move back, knocking into a chair that falls over. Suddenly our attention is drawn the door, where Snow and some man are arguing and shouting. I watch as Snow runs away from the man, with her daughter in her arms, and not looking back once. What the hell happened? My eyes meet Erik’s across the room as he starts to follow Snow, and I know straight away that something is wrong.
“My brother needs me, do excuse me,” I say, my words laced with sarcasm as I step around the bears. The one that hasn’t said more than one sentence stops me, grabbing my arm gently.
“We have waited years for you, and even if you keep us waiting, we will continue to do just that. Wait. When you need us, or want us, come to the Bearlay pack. Let us at least get your name before you run?” he asks firmly, his husky voice sending shivers through me as I pull my arm back and walk away, looking back only once.
“My name is Gold.”
“Why do I always have to play bait?” I ask Erik, grumbling as he smirks at me and leans against the car. It's getting ridiculous that I’m always the one that has to pretend to be some clueless innocent as I walk up to the rogue. So sexist.
“Because you have that innocent look. If I walked in that bar now, they would know I’m here to kill them,” Erik shrugs.
“It’s because I’m a girl, isn’t it?” I reply drily.
“Maybe,” Erik shrugs.
“I’m just as good as you in a fight, maybe even better,” I tell him, and he just grins at me again.
“You keep telling yourself that, sis,” he replies.
“Have you spoken to Snow yet?” I ask him, and he glares at me this time.
“Snow won’t speak to me about him, if that’s what you’re asking,” Erik mutters, moving off the car and turning away from me.
“So, you're avoiding both your best friend and your mate, brilliant work of handling the situation, brother,” I retort, my mockery evident.
“Says you, the one avoiding three bears who claim to be your mates. You avoid your problems just as much as I do,” he says, and I don’t respond as I walk away from him and up to the entrance of the bar. Those bears must be wrong, but they have been claiming the same thing for the past year, ever since I met them at the ball. You’re our mate. Come to our pack. Let us talk to you. I’ve had nothing but roses, presents, and invites to their pack since that damn ball.
“Hey…pretty little thing,” a man slurs, his face shadowed as he leans against the outside of the bar. I try to ignore the wave of disgust I feel looking at him and walk into the bar without replying. The bar is packed when I walk in, drunk humans everywhere, and it takes me only a minute to spot the rogue wolf we’ve been searching for. The wolf is in human form, looking a state as he drinks a shot and leaves the drained glass next to the row of other empty ones. His clothes have seen better days, and I can’t help running my eyes over him. He has a very strong looking body that I can see hidden under his clothes. The wolf turns to look at me when I walk closer,
his dark blue eyes locking with mine, and his scent hits me. He smells amazing, and I don’t know what to do as we both stare at each other for a long time.
“Do you even know why you’re hunting me, darling?” The wolf asks, his voice is deep and husky as he puts his finger up and another shot is placed in front of him. I don’t recognise his accent, but it's definitely foreign.
“The royals send the order, I don’t usually check the details,” I respond, slipping into the seat next to him, but never taking my eyes off him as I do so.
“Just a paid lackey, huh? Not checking who you’re hunting because you trust the royals so much?” he says and then laughs.
“Just come outside with me. I will take you in, and I won’t have to kill you,” I say and watch as he takes another shot.
“I recognise you, Gold,” he tells me, tilting his head to the side.
“You don’t look or act like a normal rogue. If you had heard of me, you would run out the door,” I say, used to rogues doing just that.
“That’s why the back door is already locked, and your twin is waiting outside the only open door,” he tells me, knowing our plan already.
“You’re going to make this difficult, aren’t you?” I tilt my head to the side as I look at him.
“No one bit. I won’t hurt you.” He tells me, confusing me further.
“Don’t you know who I am to you?” He chuckles, and I slide off my chair, shaking my head as more of his scent hits me. It makes me want to fall to my knees, and I’m trying hard not to move closer to him like my body wants me too.
“You can’t be…” I whisper hoarsely.
“You’re my mate. I can smell it, and I know some part of you recognises that too,” he chuckles. I shake my head and turn my back on him as I walk out the door. I can’t hurt him or be anywhere near him, they need to send someone else to do this. Erik frowns at me when he sees me walking out, and then he looks behind me. I turn to see my rogue following me out of the bar, stumbling a little as he walks. The wolf is as drunk as he can get.
“Don’t kill him, you can’t,” I hold a hand up to Erik, who frowns.
“It’s our job, Gold, what the hell are you doing?” He asks me.
“Protecting my drunken mate, it seems,” I say and turn around in time to see my rogue fall, face first, flat on the floor with a thud.
“What the hell are you going to do with him?” Erik asks me as I finish tying up the rogue in the back seat and climbing out of the car, shutting the door behind me. I rub my face with my hands as I try to come to grips with what I’m doing myself before having any kind of answer to Erik’s question.
“I don’t know, but I can’t let you kill him,” I say, resting my head on the door as I try to think.
“If we don’t kill him, the royals will just send other hunters after him. He is wanted, and there must be a reason,” Erik warns me.
“We can tell the royals we killed him. They would never know,” I suggest, and Erik just stares at me for a second, and I have no idea what he is thinking.
“I guess there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do for your mate,” he says, clearing his throat. “If we do this, then he needs to be hidden where no royal or royal guards would look. I will tell them I killed him and burnt the body. The royals trust me enough to believe it.”
“Let’s just take him back to the pack and then-“ I start off, but Erik cuts me off.
“-You can’t take him back there, not with the prince having the pack watched and everything that is going on with Harper. You can’t bring danger to them,” Erik says, and I know he is right. There is no way I could bring a potential risk to the pack at the moment.
“Why he is having the pack watched?” I ask, not having a clue about this. I wonder if Nikoli knows the prince is watching the pack? I doubt our alpha would be okay with that.
“Because of Snow. He wants her watched in case of any danger, and Nikoli knows all about it. Not that Nikoli would let anything happen to his sister, anyway,” Erik tells me, rubbing his chin and staring back at the car. “I know somewhere you could take him, and they might help you.”
“Nope,” I shake my head, knowing exactly where he is thinking.
“Gold, do you want to save the drunk or not?” he exclaims. “No one would look for him there, and it will give you time to plan something.”
“They would want me to stay, though. I’d have to join their pack,” I grumble.
“Yeah, but they can’t make you do anything you don’t want. Look, I know the bears, and they aren’t bad guys. I wouldn’t send my sister there if I didn’t think they would keep you safe,” he tells me. I nod, knowing my brother is overprotective enough that he’d never let me near the bears if he didn’t think they were safe. Not that I can’t handle myself anyway.
“I don’t want a mate,” I firmly point out.
“You have four potentials, so it seems like fate is not listening to your commands at the moment, sis,” Erik laughs, leaning over and opening the car door.
“You going to be okay to get back?” I ask him. I'm taking the car, and his is miles away. He nods once, looking up at the sky for a second.
“I think it’s about time me and Snow had a chat about things. Give me a call once you are settled with the pack,” he says, looking nervous as he meets my eyes. He should be.
“I’m glad you are going back to her,” I say, placing my hand on his shoulder. “Not only does Snow need her mate, but Arisa needs her dad.”
“I will try. It’s just every time I see her or Arisa, it reminds me of…” he drifts off, and I know enough to not make him tell me more. I know who they remind him of anyway, and it must be painful for him to think back to that time.
“Tell her how you feel, and what you are thinking. She won’t judge you or hate you for it like I know you think she will. Snow has waited years for you to talk to her,” I suggest, and he pulls me into a brief hug, before letting me go as I get into the car.
“Good luck with the rogue. The file about his past is in the glove compartment,” Erik tells me.
“Did you read it?” I ask, and he nods, his eyes drifting to my rogue. “And?”
“If it was that bad, do you think I’d let you drive off alone with him? Read it yourself and see,” he says as he turns around and walks across the car lot, disappearing into the shadows. I slam my door closed and turn the engine on, reversing the car out of the lot and drive us down the street. I glance in the wing mirror and run my eyes over my rogue's black hair and overgrown beard that covers his face. Even drunk and looking a mess, he smells like the forest and is still ridiculously good looking. God dammit I’m screwed.
“Where are we?” the rogue asks as I drive us through the small mountain range that separates my pack and the Bearlay’s. I don’t know how I’m going to explain all this to Nikoli and Harper when I get a chance to talk to them. Nor do I want to leave my pack to join a pack full of bears and possible mates. Settling down has never worked out well for me, and the Forest Pack is the only place I’ve ever felt accepted in my entire life. My eyes stray back to my rogue, and I sigh, realising I never answered his question and I also don’t know a thing about him.
“What is your name? I just keep calling you rogue in my mind,” I ask, looking back in the mirror to see him sat up, staring at me. I don’t want to risk stopping the car to read his name on the file I have. I don’t usually look at what any of the people we hunt have done to deserve it. I just smell the object they give us with the person's scent on it, and we find them. It’s always the same bad stuff, and after years of reading the horrible things over and over, I just stopped wanting to know.
“When you get the guts to read my file stuck in your glove compartment, you’ll find out, won’t you?” he chuckles.
“Are you always such a pain in the ass?” I snap, and he just chuckles.
“Always, darling, always,” he laughs out, and I see him rest his head back and close his eyes. I guess that’s all the answer I�
��m getting out of him. Why am I saving his ass again? It’s a most silent drive for the next half an hour before we finally arrive at the gates of the Bearlay pack. Five guards stand outside, silent. I’m pretty sure they are deadly, as they let my car pull right up to them and don’t move an inch, their eyes watching my every movement. One of them breaks away, stomping over as I roll down my window.
“Who are you? This is private land,” the man with brown hair that is going grey and dark blue eyes asks. He is massive, like the rest of the guards, and well, like all bears. I don’t think I’ve seen any bear less than six foot and they always pack a hell of a lot of muscle.
“I’m Gold, beta of the Forest Pack, and I need to see your alphas,” I state, and he raises an eyebrow, standing straight. I watch as he raises a hand to open the gates and as they open he clicks a button on his radio, lifting it to his mouth.
“Alpha Cain, you won’t believe who has just turned up at your door,” I hear him say as I put my foot down and drive through the gates. I bet he won’t.
“Bears? Really?” my rogue comments from the back as we drive down the paved road.
“Yes, really. They might actually keep your ass alive, so why don’t you practise that being quiet thing you usually do?” I say, making him laugh and nod his head once at me.
“Yes, darling, whatever you say. I know getting a mate makes you lose your mind and become all loved up. I best start doing as I’m told then,” he teases, and I let out a long growl, looking away and at the pack I’m driving into, rather than playing his games. If the bears don’t kill him, I’m likely to. The road winds around in a circle, which has a water fountain in the centre. It’s full of kids splashing around, and their families are on the grass having picnics. On the other side of the road are rows of houses, all attached, and the houses go all the way down the four ways the road leads off. I look up and see three houses at the end of the road in the middle. All the houses are separate, but they look about the same size. They are nicer than the ones down here, which are nice in their own right. The three houses are made of red brick, with white windows and red tiles on the roof. As I pull into the driveway and park right outside the first house’s door, I notice that the houses look pretty new actually, and they are so close you could walk out of one door and into the other.