Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) Read online

  Bear’s Gold

  Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales

  Yvette Hines

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission by the author.

  Bear’s Gold

  Copyright © 2012, Yvette Hines

  Cover Artist: Antwan Williams

  Editor: Andrea Jackson

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to eStore and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedication

  To the fierce and passionate male in my life; my husband. You are always there to drive me wild and protect me. I love that about you. To my readers…thanks for your patience and support. To Bernadette…remember sitting around in my house talking about those bear shifter? ’Here’s to a night of sitting in a restaurant talking about more naughty books’.

  Chapter One

  “Oh, shiitt!” Riley screamed as the sound of something exploding echoed through the interior of her car and her sedan jerked to the side. Gripping the wheel tight, she attempted to control the vehicle as it began to fishtail and veer toward the black walls on the side of the road; curtains of darkness. The sheets of water pouring down before the windshield didn't help and the road was too slick for the tires to gain sure traction. That’s what she deserved for not getting new tires four months ago like she was supposed to. She tried to pump her brakes as all the driving manuals instructed, but things were quickly rolling out of control. Before she knew it, her car was sliding recklessly and didn’t stop until it had nose dived into a tree.

  She was thankful that she wasn’t going fast enough to discharge her air bag. The last thing she needed was a concussion or bruised sternum. Static crackled through her radio, the top forties station lost at some point through her death defying adventure. Flipping the dial to turn the radio off, she assessed her current situation.

  There was nothing but darkness all around her. Her windows looked as if they had been painted black; she couldn’t see anything. Out of the front window, one headlight shone bright, illuminating the side of the thick tree she had plowed into. The same tree that had knocked out her other light. The hard rain pounded against the roof of her car and echoed through the interior of her vehicle. Pulling her cell phone out of her purse, she looked at it and became more aggravated. There was plenty of battery life bars, but no signal. “Great.”

  Not even an occasional flicker when she waved it around praying to find a connection. Nothing. Disgusted, she tossed the phone down and heard it bounce off the center console and land somewhere. Normally she would have searched for it, but it served no purpose at the moment.

  She needed help. The only thing she knew about the area was that she was in Northern California. She could have traveled straight down the highway, but she wanted to take the secluded scenic route because something about this neck of the woods called to her. The part she had seen while there was still light was beautiful; thick redwood trees, vibrant green foliage, and wild flowers in styles and colors she hadn’t witnessed since childhood. The detour off the beaten path made just in case Fred had decided to follow her. Now, she wished she had risked him locating her instead of having a wreck in the middle of nowhere. A few hours back, she had crossed the Stateline from Oregon. The last sign she had passed was a town about thirty minutes away. Some place called Den County. She didn’t know how close she was to the next town or city, but maybe if she could get her car back on the road, she could slowly drive toward the last town.

  Driving around in the dark with only one headlight probably wasn’t wise, but neither was just sitting in a car all night. Putting her car in reverse, she pressed on the gas pedal and tried to get the car to back up. The engine revved loudly and then the car lurched forward—and died.

  “No-no-no-no-no-no-noooo…” Riley banged the wheel. Stepping on the brake, she threw the gearshift into park. Turning the ignition off then on again, she tried to get it to start. Over and over, she tried. All the lights in her dash slowly faded; then the single headlight went out. Dropping her head on the steering wheel, she felt like crying. But she hadn’t shed a tear in all the months Fred harassed and threatened her and she wouldn’t start now. What seemed like a lifetime ago, but truly had only been before dawn that day, she had packed her car with only things that were essential and left Dodge. As she sat there in the dark trying to think about what to do next, she became aware that the rain had stopped.

  Leaning back, she gazed out the window and noticed a faint light in the distance. She figured she had missed seeing it before because of her car light reflecting off the wet trees and bushes. Straining her eyes, she was positive it was a light of some sort.

  Is it a house? She wondered. She couldn’t tell how far away it was, but it was her only hope. She didn’t want to walk through the woods in pitch black, but she had no other choice.

  Taking a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, she felt around and got her purse. Blindly searching, she tried to locate her cell. If she located it, she would at least be able to walk with some light and possibly she would stumble on a signal, especially if the light was attached to a house.

  Finally her fingers brushed against it and she quickly snatched it up from the passenger side floor. Getting out of the car, Riley stood shielded by the open door. The rain had stopped and left behind it an eerie quiet that was amplified by the darkness. Nothing but the occasional patter of water dropping from one leaf to another.

  She shut the door, just in case she needed to return to the car; she didn’t want to be greeted by any forest animals who may have decided to make her car their home. If it wasn’t a house in the distance then she would have to sleep in her car until morning.

  With a plan in mind, she set out on foot. Pressing the button to activate her cell’s indigo light, she waved it slowly around in front of her to see if she could locate a path. Seeing a break in the trees that appeared to offer the most direct trail to the house, she moved forward gingerly. She tried to move as fast as she could through the dark, each step she took cautious, ensuring she didn’t trip over a tree root or step into a hole and break an ankle. Every time she’d seen some scary movie that took place in the woods, it was always some girl dressed inappropriately to be hiking through the forest and sure enough, she always twisted her ankle making her more vulnerable. Riley was determined that she would not be that girl.

  The rain and the night air were making it cold, making her shirt feel damp and chill bumps rise on her skin. Wrapping her arms around her torso, she glanced away from the ground. Her tennis shoes sloshed through the muddy ground, the thick, cool substance oozing around her feet. Yuck.

  She looked up and checked her distance to the house. The light was getting closer, but the darkness still was making it hard for her to determine what her lone beacon was attached to.

  Please let it be a house.

  Owls hooted and called out to each other around her and occasionally she heard the sound of rain splashing from leaf to leave among the trees, but
other than that all was quiet around her. It was in between the owl’s signifying that she felt nervous and unsure of deciding to venture out in the dark. It wasn’t because she heard anything, just an eerie silence. However, it was in those silent moments the hairs on the back of her neck would raise a little higher each time.

  A tingling sensation raced up her spine as if someone was watching her. She swung around and clicked her cell phone, aiming the soft light behind her. She saw nothing. Standing still and even holding her breath, she listened, tried to decipher and dissect every noise around her. Even though owls seemed to understand her need and remained silent, still she got nothing. Turning, she continued on her makeshift path. She chalked it up to her nerves being frayed because of Fred her ex boyfriend—the gambling stalker.

  Fred had made her life miserable for the last few months. They’d only dated for two years, but when she had ended it because of his gambling and control issues, the man wouldn’t go away. While they lived together, during the last year of their relationship, he had bled her savings dry. When she finally moved out, he began harassing her by phone first, then kept showing up at her apartment and her job. She took a restraining order out on him; which only pissed him off. She ended up moving and transferring to another pre-school, but he located her there. Forced to quit her job, she’d had to move in with a friend. When they went out jogging early one morning and saw him sitting in his car at the end of her street, she knew she’d have to leave the city to get rid of him.

  So, without telling anyone where she was going, she waited until Fred went to work, then called and verified that he was there. Then she loaded her car with her things and left without telling anyone. She taped a note to her friend’s bathroom mirror saying she was fine and would call her soon. Headed home to her brother’s house in Sans Town, California, she was trying her best to disappear. Fred had never been to visit her family. Never spoke to them on the phone. He’d only met her sister once a year ago when Stevie came for a visit. Her ex was so self-absorbed; she doubted he even recalled where she was from original.

  Her parents lived in the same area, thirty minutes away from her brother. She really was not looking forward to them saying “Told you so.” Her parents, her mother especially, never wanted her to move away from home and repeatedly told her she needed to settle down. When she’d started dating Fred, they’d told her he was not the one after her father had one conversation with her ex on the phone. Well, they’d been right about that.

  She didn’t want to mooch off her brother, Danny, but she would have to crash there until she got a job and an apartment.

  Something snapped.

  Shifting around quickly, she held up her phone, turning one way then the other trying to peer into the dark, get a view past thick trees and bushes. It was pitch black beyond the small glow from her cell making it impossible for her to see anything. Closing her eyes for a brief moment she strained her ears, listened as hard as she could, attempting to pick up any sound. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  Then why is my heart racing?

  That was the first thing she noticed as she slowly opened her eyes. Her heart rate had picked up as if she were running, but she wasn’t doing anything except standing in place. She reminded herself that she was in the middle of the woods sometime after midnight and it was normal to be scared.

  Yes, that’s it. That was why her hands were starting to tremble and shudders were racking her body. Anxiety. The stress her ex had put her through had caused her to have anxiety attacks and now she was just having another one.

  Inhaling deeply, she allowed the autumn night air to fill her lungs as she turned back around and proceeded toward her destination. One step after the other, she moved closer to the light. Just when she believed she had herself calm to a normal degree, she heard a rustling sound. This time she didn’t try and determine what or if anything was behind her, she started running in the only direction available to her.

  With something following her, she couldn’t go back the short distance to her car and lock herself inside so she had to give it all she had and make it to the light. Please, God let it be a house.

  The fierce pumping of her blood from her heart filled her ears and the wind whipped across her body and face, making it hard for her to decipher the sounds around her from hers or something else. Her sneakers dug into the ground and slipped more than once but she refused to stop. When she thought she heard a growl behind her, she made a misstep and fell face down in the mud and debris. Scrubbing the woodland flooring from her face and eyes, she rolled over, glancing in the dark as her hands searched the ground to find her phone as she peered into the darkness.

  She came across a broken branch about the size of a club. Wrapping her hand around it she pulled it closer as she used her free hand to locate her phone. When her fingers finally connected with her slick cell, she quickly pushed the on button and waved the soft light around wildly. Something was out her with here and she knew it in every fiber of her bones. As she scrambled to her feet, she swore she saw eyes reflecting in between on opening in the trees and a large dark form when light dimmed. What was that?

  Pressing the button again, she aimed it in the same direction, but didn’t see anything.

  It was probably a deer. She tried to tell herself as she moved backwards not wanting to turn her back on whatever was out there.

  What if it were a wolf? A hungry wild dog ready to tear into her and drag her back to his pack. But the shadow she had seen appeared larger and wider than a wolf. She bumped into a tree, screamed then bit down hard on her bottom lip to stifle anymore noises, and high-tailed it through the woods. Whatever was out there was not going to catch her easily. She refused to give herself over like a silly woman in a horror movie.

  Squeezing the branch just in case she needed the makeshift weapon, she tried to protect her face and body from the trees and bushes she ran through. However, she could feel the tearing of her clothing and light jacket.

  Finally, she broke through the grove of trees and almost passed out with the relief when she saw the two-story log cabin style home before her. The light she had seen was affixed to the front porch. The house was dark with the exception of a soft glow coming from an upstairs window. Please let someone be home.

  She crossed the twenty-foot distance between her and the house, barely recalling her steps. Once she arrived at the door she started pounding on it, hard enough to wake the dead, her mother would have said, but this was not the time for good manners. Not with a hungry beast on her trail.

  ~YH~

  Theo heard the hard knocking on his door that resembled the force of the beating going on in his chest. Grabbing his jeans that lay haphazardly across the top of his washing machine, he pulled them up quickly and moved through his house to the front.

  Yanking open the door he stared at the woman before him, covered from head to toe with mud and debris. He could barely tell what her clothing or features looked liked she was so disheveled. However, her outward appearance didn’t stop his body’s reaction. His heart rate kicked up another notch and his mouth went from parched to salivating in seconds. The worst of all was the fact that his skin felt tight as if it didn’t belong to him, caused by the tension in his body. Flexing his hand, he attempted to alleviate some of the tightness and keep himself under control.

  “Thank goodness.” Her eyes stretched wider and her hands began waving wildly around her as she looked from him to behind her then turned back around as she attempted to communicate. “My car….broke down. Chasing…something… Wolf. Deer…run…cell…”

  He’d never heard anyone speak so fast and definitely not so incoherently. “Stop,” he growled low. “Take a breath or two.”

  Resting a hand on her chest, she did just that. The breaths she was taking were so fast he was concerned that she would pass out on his doorstep. “Come in and take a seat.”

  Stepping back, he allowed her to enter his home.

  “Thank you.” She stopped only two
steps in the door.

  “Take any chair you like.” He frowned, wondering why she didn’t move forward. She was still breathing heavily and swaying a little on her feet.

  “I can’t see them. Can you please turn on a light?”

  Glancing over his shoulder, he realized that with the exception of the glow coming from the porch light that barely crossed the threshold of his door the house behind him was pitch black. Used to moving around in the dark and low lighting without any problems, it sometimes took him a moment to realize there weren’t lights on.

  “One second.” Shutting the door, darkening the interior even more for a moment, he flicked up the light switch on the wall beside it.

  When the light came on, he watched her glance around his home. He wondered what she thought as she took in the sight of the large plush area rug over his hardwood floor. Instead of a couch and love seat like some of his friends had in their living room, he had three recliners in a semi-circle before a large flat screen television. The reception in most of Den County was nonexistent, forcing the residents to watch videos for entertainment, especially during the winter months.

  “I’m pretty filthy…” she glanced down at herself.

  “No worries, they're all leather and can easily be wiped off.” Keeping a good distance from her, he led the way deeper into the living room. “Please, sit.”

  Following him, she got to the sitting area and he watched her glance from one chair to another; one narrow, a medium plush and the last one larger and wider than the other two.

  Standing on the other side of the oak wood coffee table before the chairs, he couldn’t help but feel the pride in chest as she went to the middle chair and gingerly sat down. His chair.

  “Tell me… Miss…” he allowed that to drag out.

  Hoping that she would not only fill in her name, but also that she would not correct him and tell him she was married.