Bear Unbound: A BBW Bear-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 1) (8 page)

She was in danger. Someone had been there and convinced her to go with him… Because he was sure the person was a man. As he ran through the trees, almost blinded by rage and fear, Tyler caught a third scent. He growled when he realized there hadn’t been just one man, but two. Two strangers had kidnapped Amber right from under his nose because he had been stupid enough to leave her alone outside. Why hadn’t he sensed their presence earlier? He had been too distracted, too drunk with happiness, and he had let his guard down.

The brown bear ran faster, crushing leaves and twigs under his enormous paws. Who were they? What did they want from her? Had they hurt her? The mere thought of Amber being hurt made his vision go red. His muscles ached with tension, his head was swimming with questions. He hated himself for having been such an idiot.

Tyler came to a halt when his nose caught the three distinctive scents again. He sniffed the air for a second, then went left between the trees. The forest wasn’t as dense here, which meant that the two men intended to take Amber out of the reservation. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He started running again, faster than he had ever run in his life. He came upon them just as they were heading towards the edge of the forest.

The two men heard him and turned around, fear painted on their faces. The brown bear walked slowly towards them, saving his energy for when he was ready to strike. He took his time to observe the kidnappers and come up with the best plan. They both seemed to be quite young, maybe in their thirties. They were tall and strong. One of them had blond hair, cut so short that he looked almost bald from a distance. The other one had long brown hair tied up in a loose ponytail. The blond one was carrying Amber, and he resumed walking towards the edge of the forest while his partner blocked the brown bear’s path.

Tyler growled in annoyance. If he could, he would have cursed out loud, because it was clear what was happening. The brown-haired man knew what he was. He knew he was a shape-shifter, not just a random brown bear roaming the woods, and he was determined to stall him until the blond guy took Amber God knew where. No, he wouldn’t have that. He would kill the man if he had to. No one was taking Amber away from him. And if he did end up killing the man, Tyler wouldn’t feel guilty in the least. If the brown-haired guy knew he was a shape-shifter, then he could belong to one secret organization alone: the Assassins’ Guild. Getting rid of him meant doing all supernatural people a major favor.

The assassin was a bull of a man: wide shoulders, broad chest, bulky arms and fists like hammers. But he was no match for the brown bear, and he knew it. He aimed his riffle and hoped it would do the trick. It wasn’t exactly the perfect weapon right now, but he and his partner hadn’t expected to be faced with a bear-shifter. An angry lover, yes, but not a bear-shifter.

Tyler managed to avoid the bullets which could have been fatal to him, but he did take one in the right shoulder, while another one scratched his thick neck. He would have to pull them out later so the wounds would heal, but right now he didn’t even feel the pain. He launched himself at the assassin, flung the rifle out of his hand, and sank his claws into his side. The man dropped to his knees, trembling hands trying to stop the flow of blood, then fell face first in the dirt. The brown bear didn’t wait to make sure he was dead. He had wounded him badly, but he was probably still alive. He didn’t care, he didn’t have time for such insignificant details. He ran after the second assassin.

Amber was half conscious. She had her hands tied behind her back, and her legs tied at the ankles, so she wouldn’t struggle. She would have screamed her lungs out by then, but the two men had made sure her pretty lips were secured with duct tape. When her captor dropped her to the ground, she winced at the impact, opened her eyes, and tried to crawl away from whatever was happening above her. She could hear growls and curses, and while she knew the curses were coming from the blond man who had carried her for miles as if she were a bag of potatoes, she couldn’t be sure about the growls. It sounded like a big animal. Scratch that. A huge animal. She managed to sit up with her back against a tree, but when she saw her captor fighting a brown bear, she wished she had been unconscious. Tears started flowing freely, leaving thin lines of dirt on her cheeks. When the bear was done with the man, it would come for her.

It took even less effort to turn the blond assassin into a lump of cracked bones and dark blood. His hands had been busy with Amber’s body, so he hadn’t had his gun ready when Tyler had approached him from behind. When he was done with him, the man was lying on the ground, barely breathing. Tyler didn’t bother to apply the last blow. Actually, he didn’t want to. When he rose on his hind legs before Amber, he saw how frightened she was. She was tied up, unable to move or scream, her red hair was a mess, her clothes were torn, her cheeks were dirty, and hot tears were dripping down her chin, onto her blouse. It took him a moment to realize he was the one she was terrified of, and when he did, it hurt.

The brown beast took a step towards her, then hesitated and stopped. Amber watched it in terror. What was it taking it so long? She couldn’t believe she was still perfectly aware of what was happening. All her life, she had believed she would faint if she were ever in a life-and-death situation. But she was more conscious than ever, her mind working at full speed, even though it couldn’t come up with any sort of solution. There was no solution, there was no escape. Then, the unbelievable happened.

The bear’s body contorted painfully, and Amber forgot how to breathe when she heard its bones snap and saw the muscles rearrange in a completely different shape. A human shape. Her chest hurt from lack of oxygen, and she had to force her brain to work properly and send the right signal to her body so she could breathe again. Brown fur disappeared into the animal’s pores, leaving white, soft skin behind. The long snout retracted, and the bear’s jaw took the form of… Tyler’s jaw. Now, the man she loved stood naked before her, his deep brown eyes staring right into hers.

Amber fainted.

***

Amber woke up in Tyler’s bed, at the cabin. Her wrists and ankles were sore, her lips were chapped, and her mouth and throat felt terribly dry.

“I’m thirsty,” she whispered, but when Tyler gave her a glass of water, she jumped up in bed, moved to the edge, and looked at him with frightened eyes. “You…”

Tyler sighed and placed the glass back on the nightstand. He ran a hand through his shoulder-length black hair. This was not how he had envisioned his confession, with Amber curled up in a ball as far from his as possible, and him on the other side of the bed, struggling to find his words, fighting to ignore the pain of seeing her so terrified by his very presence.

“Amber, sweetie… I’m so sorry. I should have told you sooner.”

She didn’t react. She just kept staring at him as if this was the first time she saw him.

“Hell, I should have told you years ago, when we were just two long-distanced friends, wasting their lives online.”

Amber eyed the glass of water. She was still thirsty. Thirstier than ever. With trembling fingers, she touched the tender skin around her lips. It was all coming back to her. Those two freaks sneaking up on her on the porch, the blond guy muffling her scream with his big hand, while the other one tied her up with duct tape. She had felt so scared, so helpless. She had genuinely thought she was going to die. Then the brown bear… Tyler.

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t possible.

“What are you?” she finally found the power to ask.

“A shape-shifter.”

Amber opened her eyes and studied him carefully. He didn’t look like he was kidding. Also, he certainly didn’t look like he was capable of harming her.

“I don’t…”

“Believe me?” Tyler smiled bitterly. “I was afraid of that. It’s why I kept the secret from you for so long. But not anymore, Amber. I want to tell you everything. Everything I should have told you ten years ago.”

What was he talking about? She had heard him right, she was sure of it, but her brain refused to process the information. He stood up, and she hugged her knees to her chest. The look in his dark eyes told her the gesture had hurt him. But what could she do? She couldn’t deny that he scared her. More precisely, the beast he could turn into scared her. To death. He started pacing the room.

“I’m a bear-shifter, but there are many other species of shape-shifters all around the world. Wolves, lions, tigers… And shape-shifters aren’t the only supernatural people. I know this might sound insane, but there are vampires, witches, angels, demons, even fairies out there.”

Amber shook her head again, this time harder.

“This is a joke, right? It’s a stupid, retarded joke, and you’re only making fun of me. What have I ever done to you?”

She sniffed loudly and fought back her tears. She wouldn’t cry in front of him.

His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, as his bear stirred and growled deep in his chest. He hid his hands behind his back, lest Amber noticed and got the wrong message. It hurt to see her like that, so scared and vulnerable, and it hurt even more that it was because of him. And there was nothing he could do to make things better. He couldn’t hug her, couldn’t kiss her cheeks, couldn’t caress her messy red hair. Not right now.

“No, Amber. It’s all true. I knew it would be hard for you to believe me, and that’s why I hesitated. I was going to tell you everything tonight. I left you on the porch, I went to get your cardigan… I wanted to tell you the whole story while we were watching the stars and listening to the sounds of the forest.” His jaw tightened when he remembered why she had been kidnapped. He should have never left her alone.

Amber didn’t say anything this time.

Tyler took a deep breath and decided it was a good sign she hadn’t tried to run yet. She could change her mind at any time, however, so he knew he had to take advantage of every minute he had.

“There are legends about supernatural people and how they came to exist. Shape-shifters, vampires, angels… and when I say angels, I don’t mean the ones in the Christian books. These legends are so ancient that no one really believes in them anymore. There might have been writings, but the few of us who’ve studied the matter have come to the conclusion that they were destroyed, probably to protect the supernaturals.”

“Have… have shape-shifters, vampires, and all the others you’ve mentioned appeared at the same time?” What was she doing? Asking questions meant she was willing to listen to him, right? Maybe even believe him.

“No. Apparently, they didn’t even appear in the same part of the world. As far as I know, vampires are the oldest of the supernaturals. The first vampires were created in Ancient Sumer. Shifters are a bit more recent and the first ones are said to have come from Ancient Greece.”

Amber shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

“Created. Vampires were created.” She knew most fantasy novels and movies went that route, but this was real life. She hadn’t expected real life to be so full of clichés.

“All supernatural people were created, and even though we are so different, it seems there is one thing we have in common: witches. Witches are the only ones who are born with their abilities, or with the ability to learn the ways of nature and use them as they please. Vampires were created in Ancient Sumer by three witches. A mother and her two daughters. Shifters were created in Ancient Greece by a witch who wanted to prove a man wrong. At least, that’s what the legends say.”

Amber started laughing, then realized how silly and inappropriate it was and covered her mouth.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that… once again, women seem to be at the root of all evil.”

Tyler furrowed his brows.

“Evil,” he whispered.

There was no inflection in his voice, but Amber knew her comment had hurt him. It had been such a stupid thing to say.

“I didn’t mean it like that…”

He smiled. “It’s okay.”

“No, really. I didn’t mean it like that. And, anyway, there are male witches, right? Wizards?”

“No, not exactly. Men can learn to perform some magic, but they lack that special, natural connection women seem to have with the universe.”

Amber looked at the glass of water again and decided she didn’t want to die of thirst. Tyler didn’t seem dangerous, at least not in his human form, so she crossed the double bed on all fours and grabbed the glass. After she emptied it, she remained on Tyler’s side of the bed. Her simple gesture made him smile and relax his shoulders.

“So, shape-shifters were created because some witch had an argument with some guy?”

“Kind of. Yeah.” He sat down at her feet. “Her name was Aspasia. She was one of the most famous hetaerae in Athens, and she was also wealthy. So wealthy that she had her own brothel.”

“She was a sex worker?!”

Tyler shrugged. “Well, a courtesan. But in those times, courtesans were very well regarded. They were the only women who were free, who could have their own money, and who were allowed to participate in the social life, and even in politics. While men kept their wives at home with the children and slaves, they respected the courtesans to the point where they talked literature and philosophy with them. That’s how Aspasia met Protagoras. He was a philosopher and a regular client at her establishment. They often spent hours debating ideas, although their conversations rarely ended well.”