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

  “I don’t understand. Am I imaging things?” She clutched at his arm that touched her and leaned in to keep all of the town’s people, who she was sure were now gathered around them, from hearing. “Bernard…he…he, was a bear. A bear cub.”

  Not breaking his gaze with hers, Theo nodded. “I know.”

  “How?”

  Theo let out a heavy breath. “I should have told you this before now. Days ago.”

  Now she was really mystified. Theo knew about his son’s ability to change into a bear? Was it some kind of medical disorder? Did Aubrey have the same problem? “What’s going on?”

  “We try to keep our lives a secret. The reason we don’t have much contact with outsiders.” Theo gazed around at the Den residents standing around them.

  “Why? Because of your son’s condition? How did it happen?”

  He squeezed her arm. “How it came about is a long story. However, it’s not only Bernard—”

  “I figure it was Aubrey, too. But, I’m sure there are specialists or something that can help…fix him.”

  “Listen, Riley!”

  His voice grabbed her attention. The expression on his face was a look of determination not anger. She realized whatever he was attempting to tell her, he needed her to be quiet so he could get it out.

  “I’m listening.”

  Taking hold of her hand, he said, “It’s not an illness or problem that needs to be fixed. It is not just my two sons, it is the entire county. We are Bear-shifters and have been for hundreds of years.”

  “Bear-what?” This had to be a sick joke. Stuff like this only happened in movies, a part of ancient folklore. Shifters didn’t exist outside of Hollywood, California studios.

  “Shifters. It is genetic. There are other species in the world also. Those wolves that killed my wife.” His dark gaze was filled with sincerity and something that appeared to be a plea for her to understand.

  She wanted to understand. Her heart urged her to understand, take his confession and not judge, but she couldn’t. Somehow she’d landed in some alternate universe where everyone was mad. That freezing cold feeling in her veins was back and this time there was nothing that could warm her. Pulling her hand out of Theo’s, she rose to her feet, backing up a step as she looked around at all the faces of the townspeople around her. People she had begun to have fond feelings for because of their kindness to her. Jack, Sherriff Smokey, Shayna, the Gobi’s, Natasha and Kaley… She wouldn’t allow herself to think about the three most important people she’d connected with, even when she’d attempted to keep her heart secured, her emotions had still become engaged. Her shoulder and wrist began to throb; she ignored it.

  That was something she would have to figure out later. Possibly see a doctor about the one on her shoulder.

  At this moment, she could feel their three gazes as she glanced at the others.

  “Riley…please just listen…”

  Out of her peripheral, she saw Theo take a step toward her. Quickly, she turned to face him and held her hands up, halting his movements. She couldn’t let him touch her. Right now she was already confused and feeling his hands on her would just add to it.

  “Look, Theo…” She licked her lips as she struggled to find the right words. “This isn’t any of my business.”

  “What?” His brows pulled center as he stared at her.

  Rubbing her hair, she fingered the band at the back of her head holding her hair, fidgeting. She was unsettled. Was it possible that if they thought she’d let their secret out they would attack her, treat her like the wolves. Her heart began to start pounding with fear. “I won’t tell anyone. I just want to get my keys and leave.”

  She took another step away and bumped into a tree—she was trapped. It wasn’t anything but her own internal strength that kept her from running screaming. It was one thing when she just thought one child had a condition that doctors could possibly fix, and then discovering it was a whole pack or den with the same “genetic” ability.

  Disregarding her earlier request, Theo closed the gap between them and took hold of her shoulders. She bit down on her lip in order not to flinch. This man could unsheathe claws and slice her in two if he wanted.

  You can trust him. The voice inside her reminded her. She’d lived with him and his sons for a week and they had kept her safe. None of that mattered, she told herself—it had all been a lie.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Riley, I don’t want you to rush off like this. Confused and afraid.” His thumbs stroked her arms. “I can see fear all over you. Smell its sour musk. It doesn’t have to end like this. Stay a little while longer and talk to me. Remember we are the same people you’ve gotten to know, just a little different.”

  “I…can’t.” Her voice broke as she shook her head. “I need to go.”

  She glanced away from him unable to stare into those dark compelling eyes. Flashes of them metallic gold with desire filled her mind, she blinked it away.

  “Alright, I won’t force you.” He dropped his hands as if he couldn’t bear to touch her any longer.

  He began to turn when she stopped him, needing the answer to one question that had been nagging at the back of her mind. “You bit me.”

  His gaze roamed along her face until it landed at the curve of her shoulder, the spot in question hidden by her shirt. Those dark orbs of his flashed bright for a moment then the shine faded as his glanced back into her eyes. Finishing her thoughts, he said, “Don’t worry, Riley, it takes three bites before you become one of us…infected.”

  She wanted to feel relief at his words, but couldn’t as she watched him turn and walk away, taking one twin’s hand in each of his as he moved further into the crowd of onlookers.

  Her eyes began to burn as the three Kodiak men moved completely out of her reach. She should have said good-bye to the boys. Explained why she had to go. Let them know she didn’t dislike them. They were children, little more than toddlers, and she knew from experience of working with that age group that they would blame themselves. However, it was too late for that now. That bridge had been burned. Theo wouldn’t let her close to his boys ever again.

  “Riley?”

  Turning to the person now standing at her side, she looked at Jack. He stood there with her keys dangling from his fingers. “Theo wanted me to give you these.”

  She stared at the keys. Something that she had wanted for the last five days now seemed so unimportant. Reaching up, she grabbed them.

  “Thank you, Jack.” Those damn tears became more insistent, but she held on to her sanity for just a moment longer. If she gave in to crying it was possible she wouldn’t be able to stop. Taking a shaky breath, she firmed up her resolve. It was time to go, Riley.

  “You’re welcome, little lady.” His face held understanding as he said, “If it is any consolation, my mother was a human female who my father fell in love with and changed. I grew up hearing stories of how hard my father had to work to convince her. Seeing our world through an outsider’s eyes can be hard.”

  Unable to resist, she wrapped her arms around the older man and whispered, “I appreciate your words. Please tell everyone…Theo… that I didn’t mean to hurt him and the twins. I just—”

  “Don’t worry about that Were-bear; he’ll find some way to deal with it.” Jack patted her back.

  Nodding, Riley stepped away. She was sure that Theo would be better after tomorrow night; he’d find an available female during the run that was already a part of his world. Someone that would help him raise his boys.

  “Thank you for everything.”

  “Your car is at the end of the opening of the fairgrounds on the main street. I’ll bring a couple Weres with me to clear the barriers for you.”

  “Okay.” She turned to head to her car.

  “Riley, if you ever need anything, my address is on the card in your glove compartment.”

  Smiling at his kindness, she moved through the path the people created for her. Like the Red Sea, p
eople parted before her as if she had some kind of disease they didn’t want to catch. Ignorance was always contagious.

  Understandable, they didn’t want to have any contact with her. Blocking her mind, she kept her pace brisk and fast as she crossed the grassy area headed to town.

  “Ms. Riley! Ms. Riley!”

  “Wait! Ms. Riley, wait!”

  Hearing her name chanted she turned to see Bernie and Aubrey running in a full sprint toward her.

  Her heart swelled. Bending down, she scooped them up in her arms as they squeezed her in a tight hug. The tears escaped her eyes then.

  “I’m sorry I have to leave, boys,” she told them.

  “Dad said you have to see your family,” Bernie said once she’d set them on their feet on the ground again.

  Theo had protected her and his boys. Kept them from hating her, because of her rejection of what they were.

  “We’re going to miss you.” Aubrey wiped the tears off her cheek.

  “I’ll miss you two as well. Be good boys for your father.” She stroked her hands over their wind-tousled dark hair.

  “We will.” Bernie leaned in and kissed her cheek.

  Aubrey claimed the other one.

  Smiling, she gave them one last hug and left.

  Five minutes later, she pulled up to the barriers blocking the main street of town from unwanted visitors during their festival week. Jack had two men with him; both of them took hold of an end of one of the concrete barriers and lifted, taking it out of her path. She could not help but be impressed at the strength of the Were-males as they did the job normally accomplished in her world by a forklift.

  With her foot on the gas, she drove past Jack and smiled as he waved good-bye.

  His words about his parents haunted her as she traveled down the highway leaving the county. She wondered if one day she could have grown to accept the shifter life; unafraid of her own human weakness in the face of their strength and ability. She doubted it. The big difference was that Jack’s parents had love to guide them through his mother’s transition/acceptance. Not the same for her and Theo. Liar, her heart told her.

  ~YH~

  Theo sat in his living room starting at fire blazing in his hearth. Soon after Riley had left, he’d taken his boys and returned home. None of the Kodiak males had felt like a concert or log rolling. The last thing he’d needed was to be around people who looked at him with pity.

  Damn it. He wanted to tear up something with his bare hands. He hadn’t put a claim on Riley. There was no need for the people of Den to look at him as if she’d walked away from his commitment request. They all had known from the beginning that Riley would leave. Her stay here was an accident, a temporary situation. Nothing more was expected.

  Liar, his bear taunted.

  He chose to ignore the word. Two good lays and a bite did not make a partner. There was a compatibility and connection.

  His bear reminded him, he had connected with Riley. The two mind-links they’d shared. Something that shouldn’t have happened with him only biting her once. He shook his head not willing to dissect the reasons behind it happening.

  His bear refused to give up, showing him the image of Riley on the fairgrounds going feral on Gordon when the other man had dared to put his hands on Bernie and Aubrey. He’d been across the field when he spotted the interaction. As he’d run toward the small group full tilt, he’d seen Riley’s gaze turn red and the roaring speech coming from her mouth as she launched at Gordon making the man stumble. Something not possible for a human woman.

  Theo explained it away thinking about humans who performed extraordinary feats when someone they loved was in harm’s way. Riley had acted like a mama-bear against someone attacking her cubs.

  However, they weren’t hers, nor did she want them to be. He shoved up from the seat and went outside to stand on his front porch. He couldn't believe that a week ago Riley had stumbled onto his doorstep and ingrained herself into his life.

  Into your heart.

  “Shit! Fuck it! Let it go,” he roared at his bear. Just because his bear had claimed Riley, marked her once, didn’t make her his.

  This had to be a sign of insanity. Maybe he’d experienced more than a normal Were-bear could handle. He’d only been at odds with his bear one other time. In his youth, when he’d been out on his own, searching out the world becoming a man, in the end he’d decided to return to Den and his bear had whined for him not to give up. Keep searching. Then Theo didn’t know what or who he was supposed to be finding and realized it was time for him to settle down.

  She was it.

  Theo drove his fingers through his hair in frustration. The urge to shift and run ate at him, but he’d already done his check for the night and he didn’t like to leave the boys for extended periods.

  Go after her.

  A part of him wanted to ask how his bear had determined that Riley was the one he’d been looking for all those years, but he refused to drag himself through the tortures of assumptions and hypothesis from his animal side. Most likely to end up with no more answers but that his bear wanted her to be.

  Yes, the sex had been incredible between them, more profound than he’d ever experienced before, even with Cindy, but that wasn’t enough. His boys had fallen for her and that still wasn’t enough. He’d followed his bear’s leading for years and had still come up empty handed. He would not do that to himself again.

  Besides he was a papa of two cubs that needed him.

  Lifting his hand he stroked his chin, feeling the bristles of his beard, rough against his hand. He’d grown the beard after Cindy’s death. In some ways he’d used it to hide, not face his loneliness.

  Riley had made him feel alive. Being around her had shown him he’d been attempting to bury himself along with Cindy. Now it was time for him to start living again, time for a change.

  Even without Riley.

  His core shook as his bear roared in sorrow within him.

  So, just like before, he’d attend the festival bear run and would find another mate. It was time for him to get on with his life. That life didn’t include Riley. Best his bear came to grips with that.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Hi, mom. You mind if I help you all with breakfast?” Riley came into the kitchen of her parents’ house, the home she’d been raised in until she left for college. Last night she’d driven to her brother’s house to stay the night. No sooner had she walked in the house, interrupting Danny’s family’s dinner, her sister in-law Molly had promptly got her mother on the phone.

  The conversation had not gone well. Her parents were upset she didn’t let them know she was moving back and even more hurt she didn’t come home. She’d convinced them that she wanted to spend time with her nieces and nephew, but would be there first thing in the morning.

  That had prompted a family breakfast, with both her siblings and their families. Only thing that kept the morning from being jovial was that her mom was still pissed at her, barely saying a word.

  Her mother nodded in the direction of an empty bowl at the end of the counter surrounded by raw eggs and vegetables—western style scrambled eggs fixings. Taking her cue, Riley knew that meant she was assigned the task of chopping and preparing.

  “I’m so glad you’re home, Ri.” Stevie set down her spatula from the pancake station she was manning and crossed the kitchen to embrace her.

  “It’s good to see everyone.” Riley couldn’t lie that it was good to be in Sans Town, this wasn’t home to her. Riley hugged her sister, the oldest of all the siblings. They weren’t as close as she and Danny, but they got along.

  “You here for good?” Molly asked as she forked bacon around in a cast iron skillet.

  Starting right off with the tough questions. “Um, I’m not making any other plans at the moment. I’ll have to see how the job situation pans out.”

  “Hm.” Her mother, Lacey Gold, a short woman with medium length hair that was starting to show way more silver than golden bro
wn, darted a quick look at Riley then back at her task of cutting out biscuits from the fresh prepared dough.

  Riley had gotten her coloring from her mother’s side of the family. Her sister and brother were more cinnamon brown complexioned like her father with black hair.

  Ignoring the disapproving sound from her mother for the moment, Riley continued chopping.

  “So, whatever happened to the guy Fred you were living with?” Stevie asked.

  “That’s over. He was an a—. Jerk. I can’t be with someone I can’t trust not to keep things from me.” That’s why I had to leave Theo.

  However, he wasn’t lying to hurt you, but protect his people. Riley shut off her heart, this wasn’t the time. She’d cried herself to sleep last night minutes after she’d arrived at her brother’s house, she couldn’t go there again. No future lay down that path. They were too different.

  “Probably a good choice. I never did like him much when I came up to visit you last year.” Stevie gave her a supportive smile, her lips stretching wide.

  “Good riddance,” Molly chimed in.

  Riley agreed but stayed quiet and worked.

  “Danny said the factory is looking for a new secretary.” Molly scooped out the bacon that was now crispy and brown and laid it on a plate then added more to the pan.

  Dumping the chopped onions and bell peppers into the bowl, Riley started on the tomatoes. “I don’t think the factory is for me. I’ll see what the school board has open. If nothing here then I’ll broaden my search.”

  “Then what?” Her mother’s voice helped a bit as Lacey stopped her biscuit cutting.

  Damn it. Couldn’t this discussion wait until tomorrow? Couldn’t she and her mother just last twenty-four hours without a confrontation? At least her father, Raymond, had given her a fierce embrace, kissed her on the forehead, and said ’welcome home’ when she walked in twenty minutes ago. Her mother had stomped off to the kitchen without even a hello.

  “I don’t know, Mom. I just got here. Can I have a little time to breathe, see what my options are?”