Ray: An Alpha Bear Shifter MC Romance (New Law MC Book 4)

by Hope Ford

  “Are you sure you want to try and walk? I can carry you. It’s no problem,” I tell Keri. This morning the air between us has been stilted, but she’s doing her best to act like everything is okay.

  She walks by me, barely looking at me. “I’m fine. See. Barely a limp. I can walk.”

  I look at her with doubt, and unable to hide the care I feel for her. “I don’t want you to make it worse.”

  She pats me on the chest. “I’ll let you know if it starts to hurt.”

  She stops at the opening of the cave and turns back to me. I’m staring at her, wishing I could find the words to explain to her what I’m feeling. But I can’t. She gestures toward outside. “I’ll have to follow you because I have no idea where I’m going.”

  I walk outside and make a point to go slow. “Stay close to me,” I tell her.

  We walk for only a few minutes before we are confronted by a bear. Keri is right at my back, and I grab on to her hand, telling her not to move. “Keri, I need you to go hide in the cave.”

  She comes around to the side of me, shaking her head, looking between me and the bear. “I’m not leaving you.”

  The determined look on her face and the way the bear is pawing at the ground with nostrils flared tells me that I don’t have time and have to make a choice right now.

  I look into Keri’s eyes. “Don’t be scared. Okay?”

  I gently push her to the side and turn back to the bear in front of me. He’s a shifter from the Eater clan, a rival to the New Law and my family. I’ve seen him before. I’ve been in battle with him before, but I know I can take him, especially if I know I need to keep Keri safe.

  I shift, my skin pulling tight, my claws coming out, and my body morphing. I don’t have any time to look at Keri because I’m instantly in a dual with the Eater. The fight doesn’t last long before the Eater takes off down the mountain. Instead of following him, I know that Keri needs me, so I shift back into my human form and run back to her.

  She doesn’t know it, but she is now in great danger because the Eaters will make sure there are no witnesses, and the New Law will want her changed or killed. Death is not an option. I won’t let any harm come to her, no matter what.

  She’s not where I left her, but I can track her easily and find that she’s back in the cave. I pull extra clothes out of my bag because the ones I had on are shredded to pieces. After getting dressed, I go to Keri, knowing what needs to be done.

  Keri

  There’s no denying it. I know what I saw this time. I was completely lucid and aware. Ray is a bear shifter. I’d heard rumors of such things being real, but I’ve never believed it. Not until I saw it with my own two eyes. I know I should be terrified, but I’m not. He’s still the same man that saved me. The same man that I made love to last night.

  I let my head drop in my hand, and I feel a slight headache coming on. I hear Ray come into the cave, but I don’t even look up. I had no doubt he would defeat the other bear and come back for me. And now here he is.

  I look up at him slowly and try to read his face, but it’s blank. He’s not giving anything away.

  “Is this what you were talking about? Is this why we couldn’t be together?” I ask him.

  He walks over to me and sits down beside me. “Yes.”

  “You could have told me,” I accuse him.

  He smirks a little, but stops when he sees how angry I am. “How do you even start that conversation, Keri? Hey by the way, I’m a bear shifter? It wouldn’t have gone well, and you know it.”

  I pop up to my feet. “Fine. You’re a bear shifter. Can we go now?”

  He grabs on to my hand and pulls me back down until I’m sitting on his lap. He has me turned so I have no choice but to look at him. “What is it?”

  “There can be no witnesses,” he says softly, searching my eyes for understanding.

  Confused, I ask him, “What does that mean?”

  “That bear was an Eater. A rival to my club. Since you didn’t shift too at danger, he knows that you’re a human. His club, the Eaters, will make sure you die. My club will tell me that I need to either change you or kill you.”

  I wait for him to laugh, but he doesn’t. He’s looking at me so seriously I have no doubt but to believe what he’s saying to me. “What does change me mean?”

  His arms tighten around me as if he’s afraid I’m going to run or something. “If it was up to me, we would wait for your feelings to grow for me. I admit I don’t do the whole relationship deal. Well, I never have anyway, but I know what love feels like and this is it. I love you, Keri, and I can wait for you to love me back. But unfortunately, you don’t have a choice about becoming a shifter. Death is not an option.”

  He loves me! Did he really just tell me he loves me and also say he can’t kill me? If he wasn’t being so serious right now, I would laugh. “You love me?”

  “Yes,” he answers quickly. “I knew last night I loved you. Fuck, I knew before that.”

  I take his words in stride, but really my insides are doing little flips. He loves me. “Okay, so what does this mean… I need to shift?”

  He takes his time, spelling it all out, making sure I understand. I need to become a shifter if I want to live. I’m scared, there’s no doubt about it, but I don’t even question Ray about it. I may not have known him long, but I trust him. “I’ll do it.”

  He nods his head as if he knew all along what my decision would be. “The first couple of times you shift, it will be painful. But it doesn’t last. Just breathe through it and know that you are going to be okay. You will be strong enough to do it.”

  “Do you bite me or what? How do I become a shifter?”

  He kisses me then and it’s hot and sensual. He doesn’t stop until I’m underneath of him, naked and pleading for him to take me. There’s a little bit of hesitation, wondering if it’s a bite I’m waiting for or what. The delay of it is too much and I have to ask. “I’m scared, Ray. Just bite me. Get it over with.”

  “It’s not a bite, baby. It’s my cum inside you that will shift you. That’s why I pulled out last night. Fuck, I wanted to make you mine then, I almost did and then my conscience got the best of me. But not today. Today, I’m going to make you mine… forever.”

  His lips capture mine as he slides between my legs, his long hard length penetrating me. He’s bucking inside of me and doesn’t try to control the wild urges ravaging through him. He pounds into me, and I beg him for more, because right now I don’t want anything more than to know I’m tied to Ray forever. I squeeze my core, remembering how it set him off the night before, and again he throws his head back, his hands on my waist as he thrusts in and out of me. His hand slides between my legs, caressing my hot, swollen bundle of nerves. He brings me to the edge and back again. I’m about to beg for it, for him to let me climax when he finally brings me to the very edge again. “Now, Keri. Be mine, baby. Forever.”

  His thick cock spasms inside me, shooting rope after rope of cum deep inside me. My whole body is taut, pulled to the max as I take it all in. The muscles of his back moving under my hands. His thighs flexing against mine. The feel of his heart thundering in his chest. I feel it all, and it consumes me, making me his in every sense of the word.

  He collapses beside me, pulling me over top of him. He kisses me, telling me over and over how sorry he is. “But I promise, Keri. I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never let anyone or anything hurt you. I’ll spend my life making you happy.”

  Dazed, I lie in his arms, letting his words surround me, warming me up.

  Naked we lie there. Ray is tender with me, probably knowing that I’m a little freaked out. “If you can shift, we can make it to my truck at the base of the mountain and drive into town. The New Law will back us up against the Eaters.”

  “What do I do?” I ask him.

  “Try to shift. Imagine your body shifting. Your body is already stronger.”

  I try, doing exactly what he says, but I can’t shift.

 
I feel so much warmer, and stronger too. It’s an intoxicating feeling knowing I’m as strong as a bear. Ray is patient and we lay here for the longest time. He nuzzles against me, wanting me to breathe and stay calm.

  After a while, Ray tries to help me shift again when the challenging roar of the Eater who was here before sounds, shaking the cave.

  “Stay in here. Don’t come out,” Ray tells me.

  He gives me one quick kiss and leaves, shifting into his bear before he goes out to fight. I look out the cave and see that the Eater has brought two of his friends with him. I know I have to shift if Ray and I have any chance of surviving.

  When Ray is attacked by two of the three bears it’s almost like I can feel it too. Like we’re connected. I watch the bears taunting him, one pulling at his fur as the other one claws at him. The first sight of blood I see on Ray goes through me, and I can feel my body start to morph. If there’s pain, I don’t feel it. I can hear and feel my bones creaking, my skin pulling, my whole body tingling, but no pain. As soon as I shift, I fall to the ground on all fours and take off. I launch myself at one of the bears and fight him with all the strength I have.

  I take out the bear, slinging him to the tree and knocking him unconscious. When I turn around, Ray is in front of me, guarding me against the other two.

  It’s two against two, but I know I’m no match for the much larger two bears. But I will beat them or die trying.

  There’s a commotion behind the two bears, and I can tell a shift in Ray, as if he’s relieved. A wolf is walking toward us with a sloth of bears behind him. The two remaining bears, who were about to kill us, take off down the mountain.

  Confused, I look at the gray wolf, all the bears behind him, and then to Ray’s polar bear. Are the wolf and bears with us?

  Because I have no control, or maybe it’s because I don’t have fear anymore, I shift back to my human form and fall to the ground, exhausted.

  The wolf and bears are all watching me, and Ray shifts next to me before picking me up and carrying my naked body into the cave. He holds me so close, so tight I can barely breathe, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

  He pushes the hair off my face. “You did good, Keri. But you may want to remember that when you shift, you’re naked, and I don’t want my brothers seeing you like that.”

  A blush creeps across my cheeks. “I didn’t even think. I’m so tired, Ray.”

  “I know. You’ll get stronger and stronger. You’ll see. Thanks for saving me back there.”

  I reach up and kiss him on his lips. “I had to. I didn’t get to tell you that I love you too.”

  “You love me?” he asks breathlessly.

  I just roll my eyes. “I have to. I mean, I just fought a bear for you.”

  He laughs, the sound vibrating around the cave. “Fuck, I love you so much.”

  I push his long hair off his face so I can see his blue eyes. “I love you too, Ray.”

  Epilogue

  Ray

  Ten Months Later

  I can’t believe it’s been ten months since I saved Keri on that mountain. Of course, she makes sure I know that she saved me too. I thought it would take time for her to get used to this way of life, but she seems to be a natural. She enjoys the hunting, fishing, and the hiking. I wouldn’t tell her this, but she’s probably better at catching fish than I am.

  She walks out onto the steps of the cabin as I pull in the driveway. I shut off my motorcycle and just sit there taking it all in. She’s holding our baby, RJ—our little cub as I like to call him—and she looks more beautiful than ever before.

  She leans against the post. “You coming in?”

  “I’m just admiring the view,” I tell her.

  She just shakes her head. She used to get upset when I would compliment her, like she couldn’t believe what I was telling her. But I’ve made it my mission to make sure she knows just how beautiful and desirable she is to me. She’s perfection. And she’s mine.

  I walk up the steps, and as soon as I reach her, I’m wrapping my arms around her and pulling her and RJ against me. She leans up on her tiptoes and kisses me, long and hard on my mouth. When she pulls back, she wipes my lips off with her fingers. “I owe you—” she starts, but I stop her.

  “You’ve told me thanks a million times, Keri. You don’t have to keep thanking me. I wasn’t going to leave you on that mountain.”

  She shrugs. “No, I want to thank you for this. For loving me, for giving me the family I’ve always wanted. You, RJ, and all the other New Law. I’ve never had anything like it.”

  I take the sleeping RJ from her arms and walk with them back inside. I lay him down in the playpen that’s set up in the living room before taking my wife to our bedroom. Stopping next to our bed, I start to undress her. “I’m the one that should be thanking you, Keri. You saved me from a life of being alone. You gave me your love and RJ. I couldn’t be happier.”

  She smirks up at me, and I love when her playful side comes out. “Don’t forget about me saving you against that bear too.”

  I laugh, “And the bear. You saved me then too.”

  We both laugh until our kisses get more intense and then I have to show my wife just how much I love her.

  Free Books

  Want FREE books? Go to www.authorhopeford.com/freebies

  JOIN ME!

  JOIN MY NEWSLETTER & READERS GROUP

  For Up To Date Information on New Releases, Specials, and More

  JOIN MY NEWSLETTER

  JOIN MY PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP!

  CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY READERS GROUP ON FACEBOOK

  A place to talk about Hope Ford's books! Find out about new releases, giveaways, get exclusive content, see covers before anyone else and more!

  Find Hope Ford at www.authorhopeford.com

  About the Author

  Bestselling short romance author Hope Ford writes short, steamy, sweet romances. She loves tattooed, alpha men, instant love stories, and ALWAYS happily ever afters. She has over 80 books and they are all available on Amazon.

  FOLLOW ME – Click on the link or below to follow Hope Ford on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, and more!