20 Shades of Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Demelza Carlton

  She knelt by the ashes of the fire to lay a new one, marvelling as the tiny flame lit up the whole cave. A growl from the darkness turned the blood in her veins to ice.

  Had a real bear crept into the cave during the winter – one who would attack whoever woke it?

  She bit her lip, tasting blood. It was a long time since she'd cast a spell, but this one came naturally, leaving her lips and drifting over the sleepers like the first flurry of snow. Or the warm spring breeze, melting everything it touched.

  Would it be enough? She'd turned them one at a time before, but now she knew the spell, it seemed simpler to just cast the one to encompass them all.

  She held her breath for a moment, until the bears began to transform. Only then did she dare let the breath whoosh out of her, relief that she'd done this right. But that's what Bernard had told her, though not in as many words, last night – turning the people of Berehaven into bears and back again came naturally to the people of her bloodline.

  When the only furry mound remaining was a family of children huddled beneath the same fur cloak, they started to wake. Slowly at first, then all at once, the townspeople came back to life.

  "Is it spring already?" Pan, the baker, asked, stretching. "Why, I feel like I only just lay down to sleep."

  Ursula nodded. "'Tis three months since I bespelled you all, and you have slept through the winter. The snow is melting, and it is only a matter of time before the passes reopen. And when they do…Lord Vauquelin will return, to finish what he started when he slaughtered my family."

  "Then why did you change us back?" Pan rumbled. "I've always wanted to wield my grandfather's axe. It's been in my family as long as I can remember, too big for any normal man to lift, but a bear…"

  "Was your grandfather Pek the baker, who slew fifty men in a single battle?" Ursula blurted out.

  "No, that was his father. My grandfather was Pekko."

  She took a moment to collect her scattered thoughts. She'd thought the tales were merely stories, while her people knew them for the truth they contained. "Would you fight to defend the valley?"

  "Give me back my claws, and I'll put old Pek to shame," Pan said.

  Cries of support came from all sides, asking for claws. The menfolk all wanted to defend their home, and some of the women, too. Even children added their shouts to the clamour.

  Ursula made a swift decision. "Very well. I shall cast a spell on you all, every man and woman in the valley, so that when there is a threat to the valley, you may turn into bears to defend it, and your families. Anyone who wishes me to lift the spell on them may tell me and I shall do it at once."

  It was but the work of a moment to cast the spell, but she would not know if it had worked until Vauquelin arrived. If it had not…then it would be too late.

  Aleka unpacked the basket of food Ursula had brought, portioning out tasks to the other women until a cauldron of stew bubbled over the fire, with a smaller pot of porridge beside it.

  While the others ate, Ursula sought out Father Jacques. She found him sitting close to the cave entrance with a book on his lap, making the most of a beam of sunlight that had seen fit to enter the cavern. Ursula sank to her knees. "Father, I must ask your help on a private matter," she said.

  He glanced at the others, but the townspeople were too busy eating breakfast to pay attention to them. "What is it, Lady Ursula?"

  She twisted the corner of her cloak in her hands. "I wish you to marry me."

  He smiled indulgently. "I realise you have spent a long winter alone, but surely it has not addled your wits. Priests are not permitted to marry."

  She blinked, taking a moment to understand what he meant. "No, I don't want you to marry me. Well, I do want you to, but…while you were all asleep, I met a man the soldiers had left behind. He was a soldier of sorts, too, though he did not do any fighting. He was grievously wounded and left behind to die. I…nursed him back to health and we became…fond of one another. So fond that I have decided to make him my husband, and in Father's absence, the Baron of Berehaven. Berehaven will need a strong man to lead it, and I…I wish to be married as soon as possible. Before Vauquelin returns. Today."

  Father Jacques eyed her with suspicion. "Today, hmm? You know, a quick marriage is usually the sign of a guilty conscience. What have you been doing while we slept, Lady Ursula? How long has it been since your last confession? Or your last moonblood?" His eyes fixed on her belly, as if he could see it twisting itself in knots at his words.

  "Moonblood? Father, I am not…I have not…" Ursula stopped when she remembered the bliss she'd known last night, and her cheeks coloured. She could be with child, Bernard's child, for she was a maiden no longer. "Father, I need a husband, a baron to lead the army of Berehaven to war. Lord Vauquelin would not listen to me."

  He raised his eyebrows. "With the legendary bear army of Berehaven at your back, I think most men, even great lords, would give you their full attention. But there is the succession to think about…if you are the last of your father's line, you must have children. Come to me in the church at sunset tomorrow, and bring the man you hope to make your husband. This is Berehaven, and the people will not accept a baron who is not worthy of them. Especially not when they have a baroness like yourself to lead them already."

  "But I am just…"

  "You are the Baron's blood, and you saved us all. Your soldier…who is he? Does he belong to Lord Vauquelin?"

  Ursula bit her lip and nodded.

  "A man who is not one of us, who fought against us…if you insist, I will perform the ceremony for the sake of your child, so that you might have a legitimate heir, but as soon as the ceremony is over, your husband will have a fight on his hands. For if he is a traitor, and a danger to the valley, he will find himself torn apart by an army of angry bears."

  "I will tell him," she said with a sinking heart. When Bernard found out, there was no way he'd marry her. No man would now. Not if it meant death by bears.

  Chapter 40

  I'm ready, so I will go ahead. I'm sure it's customary for the groom to arrive first, and for the bride to be late," Bernard said.

  Ursula let her breath out in an angry hiss. "If my brothers weren't already dead, I would want to kill them all over again. What possessed them to put mice in the chest with my best dresses…I have nothing to wear to my own wedding!" She scooped up the shredded silk gowns and dumped them back in the chest.

  He stepped forward and folded her into his arms. "Whatever you wear, you will be the most beautiful woman there, and the only one I see. That very first day you appeared by my bedside, I thought you an angel."

  Ursula squinted up at him. "I thought you said you thought I was a harpy."

  He stroked her hair, like he did after they made love. So soothing. "That day doesn't count. I meant the day you told me to get out of your chamber, when you tried to make porridge."

  "This one?" Ursula held up Aleka's golden brown dress and shook it.

  "Yes, that one. You don't know how many nights I dreamed about taking that dress off you…it would give me great pleasure to actually get to do it on our wedding night."

  Ursula couldn't help but laugh. "You're a fool, Bernard. I don't know why you agreed to marry me, especially after I told you about the bears."

  "I would face down an entire army of bears for you, Goldilocks. The only thing that scares me is losing you."

  Then they kissed, and Ursula did not want to stop. Nor did Bernard, it seemed, but he was the one to break it.

  "I'd best get to the church, because if I kiss you for much longer, the only place I'll be going with you is to bed!" He blew her a kiss, before heading down the stairs.

  Ursula watched him go, pressing her fingers to her lips to savour the feeling of his kiss for a moment longer. She worried for him, even if he did not. If her people found out he wasn't just some ordinary soldier, but Lord Vauquelin's son… She closed her eyes, willing the panic to subside. She couldn't lose him. Wouldn't lose him. The moment
someone turned into a bear, she'd turn him into…into…something that ate bears. A lion, maybe. Or something small and swift, so he could run and hide. Or a bird, who could fly away…

  She slipped the brown dress over her head, giving it an extra brush, but it didn't help. It was worn thin, after she'd worn it so much through the winter, and it looked duller than ever. But if this was what Bernard wanted…then she would wear it. She'd wear a man's tunic and hose if he asked it of her. Or nothing at all.

  That made her smile, for he would ask that, later. She tied the laces, then slipped on her best winter boots. Those, at least, no mice had gotten to.

  Ursula took her time with her hair, combing it carefully before winding two small braids about her head like a crown to keep the rest in check as it ran like the river down her back. Just the way Bernard liked it.

  She had no jewels to speak of, for Vauquelin's soldiers had stolen her mother's jewel-casket along with everything else, and it was too early for flowers. This would have to do.

  Ursula flung a cloak around her shoulders, pinning it closed as she hurried down the stairs. She hadn't realised how late it was – the sun was already sinking behind the cliffs, and it would be dark by the time she reached the church.

  The building was alight with candles, though, glowing like a beacon in the otherwise dark town, for everyone was inside the church tonight. Ursula paused at the door, as much to calm her fluttering heart as to remove her cloak, which someone took from her. The crowd parted, turning to see her as she walked from the door to the altar, where Bernard and Father Jacques waited.

  Ursula took a deep breath, and stepped forward. One foot in front of the other, steadily advancing, and trying not to think that every step she took brought Bernard closer to a horrible death. A possible death, she reminded herself. If the people of Berehaven saw him as she did, they could not raise a hand against him. Whatever else he was, Bernard was a good man.

  People shuffled back, making space for her, before closing in behind her again. She wished she could see Bernard, for if she could meet his eyes, nothing would keep her from coming to him. Nothing, and no one.

  So she continued the longest walk of her life, knowing what waited for her at the end.

  Finally, it ended, as the only person between her and the altar was Father Jacques.

  She stood before him, turning to her right, then her left, looking for the man who had to be here.

  But she came up empty.

  "Father, where is Bernard?" she asked.

  Father Jacques shook his head. "I do not know. No one has seen a stranger here, not in the church, or anywhere in town."

  That kiss. That wonderful, longing kiss. It hadn't been a promise at all. It had been farewell. A lump welled up in her throat. It was their wedding day. Bernard had promised. He'd promised to be here. And yet…he was gone.

  Ursula fell to her knees and wept.

  Chapter 41

  Bernard made his way carefully down the steps to the courtyard outside. It was strange to think he hadn't set foot outside the castle in months, but it looked like very little had changed. The snow had just started falling then, and there were only small patches of it left now. He hadn't seen the village then, but in the golden afternoon light, it seemed a pleasant enough place. He had to follow the road through it to reach the church carved into the cliffs, Ursula had said, and that's precisely what he intended to do.

  He carried no weapon, not even his sword, because it tangled with his walking stick and threatened to trip him. Heaven knew he had enough trouble walking without falling over again. Not to mention Ursula would be mortified to marry a man covered in mud.

  Today, she would become his. She'd chosen him to be her husband, and that made him the luckiest man alive. Bernard held his head high as he strode toward town.

  Too high, perhaps, for he tripped, stumbled and fell. Cursing his own clumsiness, Bernard started to climb to his feet, only to find a sword tip a few inches from his nose.

  "Get up, and get on the horse, or I'll kill you myself," Gosse growled.

  With difficulty, Bernard rose, lifting his hands into the air to signal his surrender. "Really, Sir Gosse, this isn't necessary. I'm only going to the church. It is the duty of every man, after all."

  "Not through that village, you're not. I'm not giving them a hostage. Your father would kill me, and rightly so. So get on the horse, and you get to live." He jingled the bridle he held in his other hand.

  Bernard stared. "Where did you find the animal?" It looked eerily like the gelding he'd ridden here on, all those months ago. But it couldn't be – Father had taken it home with him, loaded down with whatever he'd stolen from Ursula and her family. He hadn't even left Gosse's horse here, for Gosse had complained bitterly about it in those first days.

  "In the camp, picketed with the others, of course. Where else does an army keep its horses?" Gosse bared his teeth. "Now, for the last time, get on the damn horse or I'll gut you myself, load your body onto his back and tell your father I was too late to save you."

  Bernard swallowed. He knew it was too good to be true. He'd never escape his father. And Ursula…better that he got Gosse out of here before she came down the road, for who knew what Gosse would do to her?

  He lifted his foot into the stirrup, wincing as he swung his leg over the horse, forcing his injured leg to take his full weight for a moment before he settled in the saddle. Gosse was quicker, bringing his horse alongside Bernard's so that the moment Bernard relaxed, he'd roped Bernard's hands together and tied them to his own saddle.

  "There," Gosse said. "If you even think of riding off, you'll be off your horse and dragging behind mine before you come to your senses."

  Bernard summoned the glare he'd learned at court. "Just because you have no honour, does not mean I suffer from the same affliction. I keep my word."

  Gosse laughed so hard he almost doubled over. "You? Didn't you just promise to meet that whore of yours in the village? You're already forsworn, you fool. Cowards like you have no honour. If you were my son, I would not have let you live, but Lord Vauquelin is a kinder man than I will ever be."

  Bernard did not rise to the insult, for it was no more than he deserved. Ursula…no, let Gosse think she was a commoner, and not the rightful heir to the valley. If her bear army truly existed, he had no doubt she would command it with all the courage of her ancestors. And if he died in the crossfire…he would die happy, for he'd shared this winter with her, and some of the happiest nights of his life. She deserved vengeance, and he…deserved to be free. He would prefer to share his freedom with her, but if death was the only way his father allowed him to escape, he would take it. That had been his original plan, after all.

  He stiffened his spine as he arrived at the edge of his father's camp, ignoring the stares and jeers as the soldiers watched him pass. The man who'd been defeated by a maiden. Bernard allowed himself a smug smile. He'd challenge any of them to have done things differently. She'd conquered him so utterly he no longer cared what common soldiers thought.

  "So you're not dead," his father greeted him. "And Sir Gosse did not have to dig your grave after all. Gosse also tells me we did not kill everyone, so this time, we will be more thorough. And then, Gosse will have his reward. Do you fancy this valley, Sir Gosse?"

  Gosse shrugged. "The hunting is not so bad. They make good cheese, and the goose is tolerable. But I am no farmer, my lord. I would prefer to fight at your side than be banished to such a backwater for any longer than necessary. One winter was enough for a lifetime."

  Lord Vauquelin laughed. "Well said. Who would you recommend I give it to, then, Gosse?"

  Gosse opened his mouth, but Bernard got in first. "I wouldn’t mind it, Father," he said. "I'm fond of cheese."

  "You?" Vauquelin sneered. "You should have kept your sword in its sheath and continued to obey the King so you could stay at court. Only a man as weak as a woman would stab someone in a fit of jealousy. So she stole your lover, and your place in t
he King's bed. Pah! A proper man would have bided his time, and seized the chance to claim his rightful place when the King tired of her, but not you. You're a fool, and I should have left you to die under the executioner's axe." He nodded in the direction of the village. "Or maybe I should hand you over to the villagers, and let them stab you to death with their pitchforks. It would give me an excuse to go in and slaughter them all, not that I need it."

  Bernard prayed Ursula had found her army, or a hiding place no one would find. "I'm sure you will do as you please, with no concern for me. By all means, see what the people of Berehaven do when they are attacked openly, instead of stabbed while they lie in their beds." He leaned forward. "Or are you afraid of bears, Father?"

  "The bears are a myth. I never saw a single one, all winter," Gosse scoffed.

  Bernard snorted. "Of course not. Bears hibernate, you dolt." With his wrists tied together, he couldn't block the blow Gosse aimed at his head. For a moment, his ears rang with it, but it was worth it to see the look on Gosse's face. The knight would have happily left him to die, if not for Ursula.

  "Enough. In the morning, we march on the village, and this time, we leave no survivors. Those who managed to hide in the dark will find no quarter in the bright light of day." Father waved for a servant. "Find my son somewhere to sleep. He will stay by my side tomorrow and watch."

  Wonderful. Bernard was led off, wishing he was anywhere but here.

  Chapter 42

  Only one thing could drag Ursula out of despair.

  "There's an army camped at the entrance to the pass! Lord Vauquelin has returned!"

  Ursula raised her head to see the wide-eyed boy before he shouted the news again.

  "How many?" Pan demanded, grabbing the boy's arm.

  "More than us," the boy said, twisting free. "I dunno."

  With a nod, Pan despatched two men to investigate.