Bear Lake, page 1
Bear with me
By
A. B. LEE
And
M. L. BRIERS
Copyright © 2015, A. B. LEE. M. L. BRIERS.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced whatsoever without written permission of the author, except for brief exerts in reviews. Any unauthorised reproduction or distribution of the material herein is illegal and may result in criminal proceedings. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to the internet or distributed via electronic or print without prior consent.
Note from the Author;
All names, places, and incidents contained herein are purely fictional and have no basis in actual events or linked to actual Humans, Witches, Vampires, Werewolves, Lycans, Werebears or persons living, dead or undead.
Cover Design: SelfPubBookCovers.com/Shardel
Table of Contents
Bear with me
Chapter one
Chapter two
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
Other books you might enjoy in the A B Lee series are:
Books you might enjoy by ML Briers:
Chapter one
Alex kicked down on the clutch and dropped down the gears. The engine roared and the tires spun on the gravel drive for just a second before the car took off with a purpose. That purpose was to get her the hell away from Bear Lake.
She hadn’t wanted to come to this hellhole in the first place. She’d known it was a bad idea right from the get-go. Now she wanted to get out as fast as the car could get her to the next county.
If Jackson Porter thought he could keep her in this shitty little backwater town then he had better think again. She didn’t take kindly to being given orders, and Mr Damn Porter was good at that and only that. He could go whistle in the wind as far as she was concerned, or words to that effect.
Life was tough enough. She wasn’t about to toss away the life that she was carving out for herself on a Werebear with attitude and not much between his ears. No meant no, damn it, and she wasn’t going to change her mind for him or anyone else.
The hulking figure jumped out into the middle of the roadway ahead and Alex had a split second to decide if she was going to hit the brake or not. With a curse; she stomped her boot clad feet onto the brake pedal and kissed her freedom goodbye. She should have just hit the damn man with her car and kept going.
When the car finally screech to a halt with gravel flying all around her, Alex’s eyes glared at the Alpha’s second standing in the roadway in front of her. Her heart was hammering in her chest and her pulse was racing, and she still had the damn urge to hit the accelerator and take this arsehole clean off his feet and right over the top of her car. Her hands fisted the leather steering wheel for a moment longer until she managed to resist that urge to kill him.
Fuming mad and with the need to kick arse; her hand yanked open the door and her boot wedged it wide as she climbed out from the driver’s seat. Alex faced the behemoth down with fire in her eyes and steel in her veins. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight and if this man wanted to try then good for him and her. It was time that she put her newfound skills to the ultimate test.
“I can’t let you leave, Alex.” Chance’s deep gravelly tones rumbled up from his chest. Funny, when she’d first got to Bear Lake she’d been drawn to that sound, that rumble, and now she hated it.
“You can’t make me stay either, Chance.” Alex reached back for the baseball bat that she’d tucked by the side of her seat. Chance’s steely blue eyes took in the sight of it fisted in her hand and he gave a slow shake of his head. Even as a man he still reminded her of his bear.
“Don’t piss off my bear, Alex.” He warned. “You know how he gets.”
“Get out of my damn way, Chance. I’m leaving.” Alex issued her own warning, but she doubted that Chance would hear it. In his mind she was already the alpha’s mate and leaving wasn’t an option.
“Do you really want to try to go through me, Alex?” That sounded like a bad idea to her ears, and yet she didn’t see another way.
Alex raised the bat as if she was preparing to take a swing at an incoming fastball, and yet it wasn’t a ball that she’d be aiming to knock out to left field. For one long moment Chance held his ground. With another shake of his head and a long sigh he started forward towards her.
Alex knew two things. One, her life was probably about to change on the swing of the bat that she had a death grip on. Two, Chance wasn’t a man that you wanted to anger. His bear was one of the fiercest and the hardest to control.
This could very well be the end of the road for her one way or the other.
“Alex…” He shook his head again in a warning as he came towards her, but he didn’t take his eyes off hers for a moment. “You could have, should have, made this easier on yourself.”
“By rolling over and playing dead? No thanks.” Alex shuffled her feet. This didn’t feel right. She shouldn’t have needed to do this. They should have just let her walk away from here, from them.
She waited until she figured that he was within reach and then she swung with everything that she had. Chance caught the bat within the palm of his hand and she felt it being wrenched from her hands, like Chinese burns her palms stung, and yet she wasn’t done yet. She reached into her back pocket and fisted the retractable baton, flicking it out behind her and bringing her other hand around to club Chance against his temple.
Chance roared at the pain that shot through his head. His bear didn’t even give him the chance to respond, instead it burst from his body and roared to life right in front of her. He saw a red mist come down and felt the need to fight tear through him. Claw, bite, rip, and kill.
Alex stumbled backwards. Her eyes were wide at the sight of Chance’s bear. She’d hoped to knock the man out and now she was faced with an uncontrollable pissed off bear.
She’d been right. This really was the end of the damned road.
“Chance…” Alex took two steps backwards away from the killing machine. Just in time to see the large black bear that torn from the woods behind Chance and run on fast paws towards him.
Chance spun and roared at the sight of a challenger. The black bear barrelled into him as claws slashed and blood was spilt. Alex used that opportunity to race back to her car. Throwing herself into the driver’s seat; she shifted the gears and fisted the steering wheel.
The sight of the bears tearing strips off of each other held her gaze. She knew that it was now or never, and yet she couldn’t seem to press the damn accelerator. She knew exactly who the second bear was, her mate, Jackson.
The fear that gripped her wasn’t just for his wellbeing. If he lost this fight then he wouldn’t be the alpha anymore. Chance would kill him and take his place as alpha of the clan, and for some damn reason that disturbed her more than she thought it would.
Alex made a split decision. Her fist slammed down onto the middle of the steering wheel and the horn sounded out into the relative silence of the day. It was a calculated risk, but one worth taking in her book because it didn’t look to her as if either bear was going to give up the fight until one was dead.
At the sound of the horn both bears broke away from the fight and circled each other. Their eyes occasionally flicked towards her car and she prayed that neither bear decided to take his anger out on her only means of transport out of this shithole.
“You were out of fucking order, Chance.” Jackson used the mental link with his second to get his damn message home.
“You were going to allow her to walk away…”
“That’s my decision to make, not yours.” Jackson growled. He’d had enough of this bullshit. His clan deciding to take matters into their own hands wasn’t going to happen again. He was the damn alpha and he was going to have to rein his people in.
“She’s your damn mate.”
“You’re not getting it, Chance. This isn’t your place to intervene.”
“Someone had to, Jack.”
“Get the fuck out of here, man. I’ll deal with your shit later.” Jack was done talking.
Thanks to Alex, Chance’s bear had calmed down some, enough for him to be able to get through to him. He waited as Chance turned on his paws and limped away. Then he shifted back into his human form and turned towards Alex.
Alex eyed the man through the windscreen. His hard, muscled body had been beaten and bruised, and the deep cuts from the other bear’s claws had opened up his skin in wounds that were already healing. Blood was an everyday part of the clan’s lives. If they weren’t fighting each other they were fighting other foes, and she didn’t want to be caught up in the middle of that shit.
There was a part of her that wanted to go to him, and there was a part that wanted to stomp on the accelerator and make him get out of the damn way as she tore down the road and out of this shithole little town. Jackson’s eyes held her gaze. Black and sorrowful, and she shared that sorrow. If things were different and he wasn’t the alpha of a damn clan that had the combined amount of patience of bear coming out of hibernation… well…
Jackson turned on his heels and started away from her. Alex felt her heart lurch inside of her chest at that sight. There was a sudden empty ache within her body, and without even thinking about it she punched her fist back against that car horn.
Jackson stopped in his tracks and slowly turned his head to stare at her o
“Fuck.” She bit out. This was harder than she’d thought it was going to be. If Chance hadn’t of shown up she would already have been out of town by now. Seeing Jackson again…
Jackson narrowed his eyes on her for what felt like forever and she knew that she’d caught her breath within her throat but she couldn’t seem to let it go to draw another in. Then he turned back towards her and started to pad slowly in her direction. Every muscle in his naked body was on display for her eyes to take in, and she did, she couldn’t seem to drag her damn eyes away from him.
When he reached the driver’s door and yanked it open the hinges protested. Her heart leapt in her chest and she managed to gasp in a breath. Then one large hand was reaching in for her and his long, thick fingers wrapped around her wrist and he yanked her out of the car…
“Jackson…” Alex bit out his name as if she was warning him of something, but she had no clue what that warning could be. Her mind had taken flight, and when his other hand came up and he fisted her hair; his lips came down on hers with just enough warning for her to steel herself from the onslaught.
Jackson Porter could do one thing right and that was kiss. He didn’t persuade, there was no gentle teasing for her to consider. He took what he wanted, what he needed, and he devoured her with a lust that made her damn knees knock together.
Alex felt herself being moved to where he wanted her. Pressed back against the side of her car with his hard body all around hers. Caged in by an alpha bear shifter with his hard, thick cock pressed against her stomach was more exhilarating than she would have liked to admit.
She was lost somewhere between heaven and hell and in Bear Lake that seemed to be all there was. No in between. No reprieve, and Jackson wasn’t giving her body any now.
He released her wrist and his hot hand came down on her collarbone. His fingers fisted her shirt and he ripped the fabric downwards, exposing her naked breast to the autumn winds before his hand closed over it. She felt that touch right between her legs.
Jackson didn’t say a word as he released her lips and dipped his head. His wet mouth covered one hard, peaked nipple and he sucked hard, like he was trying to suck it clean off her body. Her head dropped back against the roof of the car and she cursed out loud.
Her body was too responsive to his touch, to his demands. She wanted to climb up his body and wrap her legs around his hips. She wanted to be naked and rubbing her clit against his cock. Damn it, but she wanted that damn cock inside of her, thrusting hard and taking her deep…
Alex’s hands weren’t taking instructions, they were acting on pure impulse. Her fingers got lost in the thick mane of his hair and she fisted it, keeping his mouth against her flesh even as he rumbled a deep growl of desire though his chest that vibrated against her skin. Every inch of her hummed with the need for him. Jackson raised his head and tugged on her flesh as it ran through his blunt teeth and popped for his mouth.
“Tell me you’re staying.” The sound of the bear rumbled through his voice and it made her shiver to her very core. He was demanding something from her that she couldn’t even contemplate right then. Not with him against her like that, not when she wanted him inside of her so damned much that she ached with the need.
“I can’t do that.” Alex watched his lids come down for just an instant. There was so much sadness in his eyes when he gaze back at her again that she wanted to physically cry for his pain.
Jackson eased his body back from hers. He wanted nothing more than to pick her up, wrap those long legs of hers around his hips and carry her back into her rented house so he could spend the next week mating with her in every way possible. He’d love her until she cried and fuck her until she begged him to make her come over and over. But he wouldn’t do it like this, with uncertainty that she would be there in the morning.
Alex was his mate, but if he mated with her and she left then his bear would go into meltdown and that wouldn’t be good for anyone living within fifty miles. Being a bear with a damn sore head didn’t even come close to the rage that would fill his animal if his mate deserted him. It was all or nothing and right now she was offering him neither.
Jackson couldn’t find it within himself to pull away from her. She was his and he’d been prepared to let her go, but now he’d tasted her one more time he was back in limbo. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. Her hands were still fisting his hair and he could have wrenched away from her but he liked it, he liked that she was still holding on to him, but he needed to let her go, either for now or forever, and that was her choice.
“You know where to find me when you’ve made up your mind, Alex.” He forced his body from hers. Felt her fingers tug against his hair as her hands fell away. There was a stabbing pain to his heart, but he moved off on fast feet anyway.
Alex tried to steady her heart. Her eyes feasted on his naked body as he moved away from her. She hated herself about as much as she hated him right then.
She wanted him to lose himself in her. She wanted him to take the damn decision right out of her hands. Mate her and be done with it, so she didn’t have to choose…
“Fuck you, Jackson.” She yelled out at the top of her lungs. He didn’t stop. He didn’t hesitate in his step. He just kept walking away. She wanted to do the same, but there was just something that kept her there watching him leave, and she knew that if she could figure out what the hell it was then she might just have stood a chance of some sanity.
Chapter two
Shane sat outside of his cabin with a beer in his hand and a scowl on his forehead. He’d seen Chance come back all bloodied and torn up and he’d waited for the next member of his clan to emerge with the same kind of injuries. Out of the five shifters that occupied all but one of the six cabins in the woods, anyone was a likely suspect, but from the look on Chance’s face he’d guessed that it had been the alpha that he’d been fighting.
Sure enough not long after; Shane’s eyes locked on the naked alpha storming back through the clearing with red welts covering his body and the look of death on his face. This clan was all about fighting and had been for a long time, but something had come between them of late, and that someone was a little human female that just happened to be the alpha’s mate. Three of the clan believed that the alpha should just carry her off and mate her, while he and Jackson thought differently.
“Beer.” Shane launched the bottle in Jackson’s direction at the exact same time as he called him a warning. Jackson’s hand came out fast and snatched it from the air. He lifted the cap to his teeth and wrenched it from the bottle, a neat party trick for a bear shifter.
Jackson didn’t slow his step as he wrapped his lips around the bottle and in a few long gulps the contents was down the back of his throat. Uncharacteristically for the alpha he tossed the bottle away into the underbrush. Then he cursed, stomped one large foot, turned on his heels and went back to snatch it up again.
“Don’t say a fucking word.” Jackson growled at Shane and the man chuckled. Shane knew better. He reached for another bottle and tossed it at his alpha. Jackson caught it and growled long and hard as he stopped with his foot on the bottom step of his cabin.
“Chance was out of line.” Jackson growled as he shook his head on his neck and looked anywhere but at Shane.
“Guessed that much.” Shane offered back.
“He tried to stop Alex from leaving.” Jackson could feel the uncertainty within him. There was a part of him that wanted to go back and fuck her to oblivion, put his mark in her skin. Then there was the part of him that knew she needed to come to him of her own free will.
“She gone?” Shane reached up and scratched at his head. His eyes were fixed in the distance. There was a moment when his heart leaped in his chest, it was the moment when he thought that he might just have to put his alpha down if the man’s mate had left him.
“Not when I left her.” Jackson growled again. He bit the cap off the second bottle and drown his sorrows. Draining it dry. Now he had two empty fucking bottles and he could have plunged head first into a casket of scotch. His bear was pissed at him for not claiming their mate, and he felt like shit.
