Mountain Bear

  He walked across the room and wrapped the towel around her shoulders. The look in his eyes was penetrating and unyielding. She held the towel around her body and met his gaze with equal intensity. She wanted him to know that she was ready to be with him.

  "Why did you leave civilization?" she whispered.

  "The world is full of betrayal and death.”

  "Just because things are bad doesn't mean you have to be alone all the time," Daisy said in a soft voice.

  He gritted his teeth and growled. His shifter eyes shined down on her.

  "I'm not alone. I have the forest."

  "And now you have me," she said." Cyrus, I…"

  "Do I have you, Daisy?" he asked, spreading his fingers through the hair at the back of her head.

  "What do you want from me, Cyrus?" she breathed.

  He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. “I want you to be mine.”

  Daisy exploded with desire at his touch. She could barely contain her panting breaths as he swept her off her feet and carried her across the room to lay her across the feather bed.

  “Cyrus…”

  He climbed over her, his leather pants brushing over her naked thighs. Daisy sucked in a deep breath before Cyrus pressed his lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. His chest was bare against hers under the leather vest he wore.

  Cyrus slid his tongue between Daisy’s lips. She groaned at the taste of him, his scent enveloping her and dominating her senses. She had never wanted anything like she wanted to be with Cyrus now. She kissed him back, hard and greedy, gripping the leather of his vest in her manicured hands. Cyrus ran his hand up her side to cup her breasts. He squeezed gently.

  She moaned as he flicked the pad of his thumb over her nipple. He pulled back from their kiss to rain kisses all over her neck, shoulders, and chest. She sucked a deep breath as he nibbled at her nipple and kneaded her other breast.

  "Cyrus," she groaned.

  He licked her body, inching down. He slid his tongue over her thighs and gripped her ass. Daisy arched her back. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind simultaneously.

  He gripped her thighs and spread her legs wider. Cyrus licked his slick tongue up the slit between her legs. Daisy moaned loudly, never having experienced so much pleasure.

  Daisy gripped his shoulders, rising under the burning pleasure he poured down onto her. He focused his tongue on the mound of pleasure between her legs. She gasped and threw her head back. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders, unable to comprehend what was happening to her body.

  "Cyrus, Cyrus," she begged.

  "You’re mine, Daisy. All mine."

  She moaned as her climax built inside her. She called his name over and over, mixing it with beseeching prayers for release.

  He growled and pulled his vest off. He pulled his pants open, revealing his massive, hard cock. He dropped his pants and climbed back on the bed, his hands on either side of her.

  "Cyrus," she whispered as he pressed the head of his cock against her soaking wet opening.

  Daisy let out a sighing breath, wanting more than anything to let him inside her. She leaned up and claimed his mouth in a deep kiss. Cyrus pressed the tip of his cock against her opening. She felt him slide into her, stretching the walls of her core. As strange and slightly painful as it felt, her body called out with greedy need.

  "Yes," she groaned.

  “I need you now, Daisy,” he growled.

  “I need you too,” she whispered.

  He kissed her deeply, sliding his tongue between her lips and tasting her mouth in luxuriant strokes. She felt herself open to him as he pushed deeper inside. All thoughts of who and what and why melted away and all that was left was her and Cyrus, in that moment where everything was perfect. The sting of his thick manhood pressing into her virgin core. She sucked a sharp breath through clenched teeth.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, kissing her neck and nibbling on her ear.

  “Yes. I’m okay. I need this. I need you,” she whispered, arching her back.

  Cyrus growled and pressed deeper, coming against her resistance. She let out a little groan of pain as he sliced through, shattering what was left of her innocence. As he sank the base of his member and pressed his hips against her pelvis, she groaned and panted, clinging to him desperately.

  Fireworks exploded behind her tightly shut eyes. She didn’t know where one of them ended and the other one began. The mix of pleasure and pain radiating through her, sent her into a tailspin of emotions. She needed Cyrus now more than anything. As he rested against her, letting her breathe through the pain of her first time, he kissed her gently on the mouth and gazed into her eyes.

  Silently and slowly he slid his hips back, only to press inside her again. This time the sensation of opening to him had a pleasure she’d been waiting for. It felt so good.

  “Oh my God,” she breathed as he began to move in a tantalizing rhythm.

  He built her up and pushed her further up the peak of pleasure that his movements promised. His big hands caressed her skin and worked her body. Between the fire of her emotions and the blood of her body, she was swept up into an altered state of consciousness. The romance novels she read had not prepared her for this moment.

  She experienced a whole new awareness in Cyrus’s arms. He slowly increased the speed of his rhythm, moving over a deep seed of pleasure inside her. Her breath hitched as he moved a finger down to play with her clit. All at once, she felt a rush so intense, she thought she might die from the overwhelming flood.

  Cyrus growled into her neck, pressing his teeth against her skin. She felt the bite of his sharp fangs as her body contracted and throbbed around his manhood. Without a word of warning, he clamped down hard and came deep inside her. Jets of hot semen pumped inside her, her nipples tightened into bullets, and his teeth, deep and sharp, clamped to her flesh.

  In that moment, the world stood still and time stopped. A whirlwind of thoughts and feelings swept her up and carried her away to another world, where she and Cyrus were united as one. She felt the monumental expanse of the man she had come to love. The totality of Cyrus flowed into her as she flowed into him. The sensory impression of her mate swirled around her and mingled with her own identity. She knew in her heart and soul Cyrus was feeling the same thing that she was. They were merging, becoming one, true mates in every way.

  She felt his sorrow and his pain, his integrity and his determination. She also felt his warmth and loyalty. His deep need to understand and to solve the problems of the world. She admired him beyond words. Beyond explanation.

  As he pulled his teeth from her neck, he licked the wound, salving the pain and healing it quickly. They lay together, tangled in each other’s arms. She rested her head against his chest and listened to his deep thrumming heartbeat as he held her close and kissed the top of her head. Daisy had never felt so complete, so real, so rooted in her own womanhood as she did in that moment with Cyrus. Fate had given her this beautiful opportunity to give and receive love. In all her life, she had never felt anything close to this perfection. She wanted it to last forever.

  That’s when she heard the pop, pop, pop of gunfire outside.

  Chapter 8

  "I think they found me," Daisy said.

  "I should have known this was going to happen."

  "I'm sorry," she said, putting her warmest clothes back on.

  Fifi yipped from under the bed and Cyrus grabbed his shotgun off the rack over the mantle.

  "I'm going to take care of this."

  Cyrus peered out the window, scanning the yard to count the men out there. He counted six, all equipped with shotguns and military grade body armor.

  “Are you going to shoot them all?" Disney asked.

  “Send out the girl!” one of them yelled.

  He hated how scared she looked. The smell of her fear wafted through the cabin.

  "Not a chance," Cyrus yelled out through a crack in the front door.
>
  "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Cyrus," the man yelled.

  Cyrus peered out the window again, taking in the group of men approaching his cabin. When his eyes focused on the man who’d just spoken, his heart sank into his stomach. He couldn't believe his eyes. He hasn't seen this man in years. Not since the war. Of all the betrayals one could experience, the betrayal of his brother-in-arms was the worst. It was Pierce Evert, the wolf shifter who had shot him in the back, quite literally, during the war. And left him for dead.

  "Get off my land, or I'll kill you all," Cyrus barked.

  “You asked for it, buddy," Pierce said.

  The men had been in the same regiment during the Great War. Pierce had been like a brother to him, and he had trusted him like a brother. But that trust had been misplaced. In the chaos of war, there were no consequences.

  "Pierce Evert," Cyrus yelled out the crack in the front door. "This one's for you."

  Cyrus pointed the muzzle of his shotgun out of the crack in the door, aiming with his shifter senses for absolute precision. He pulled the trigger and the bullets flew. It hit Pierce’s left shoulder, cutting through his body armor with a loud thwack.

  "So, you want to play this the hard way," Pierce said.

  "The next bullet will land right between your eyes."

  "Take cover, men," Pierce ordered.

  "That's right," Cyrus yelled. "Run."

  "Don't flatter yourself," Pierce growled right back.

  Cyrus shut the front door and turned to Daisy. He crossed the space between them and put his hands on her shoulders.

  "Who is that?" she asked.

  "Someone I used to know," Cyrus said.

  "Who is he?"

  "We fought in the war together."

  "Why is he here?"

  "He’s here for you."

  Cyrus grimaced, angry to the core. He couldn’t even look into his mate’s eyes. It hurt to have the beautiful moment they had just shared broken like this.

  "Can you beat them?" she asked.

  "I’m outgunned and outnumbered. Those men are all shifters. Five hyenas and Pierce, who is a wolf.”

  "I never meant to bring them to your door, Cyrus. I'm so sorry."

  "This is not your fault, Daisy," he said.

  "I should give myself up."

  "Never. I would die first."

  Cyrus tensed up and crossed the room. Anger, fueled by love, flashed inside him. He looked out the window again, motioning to Daisy to duck below the line of fire under the window.

  A round of bullets riddled the cabin and Daisy screamed, covering her head with her arms.

  Cyrus aimed his gun at the dark shadows at the edge of the forest where he knew Pierce was hidden. He opened fire on the shadow, sending a dozen bullets through the air. There was a scream and a grunt as someone was hit.

  A grenade flew and landed right outside of his cabin. The flashbang went off in a blazing cacophony of sounds and light. Cyrus fell back as bullets riddled his cabin again.

  "This is your last chance," Pierce yelled. "Give up the girl, and I will let you live."

  "There's your mistake," Cyrus yelled. “If you let me live, I'll spend the rest of my life hunting down every last one of you."

  "Then we'll just have to kill you," Pierce said.

  "You can try," Cyrus said, gritting his teeth.

  He shot out the door several more times, aiming for any sign of movement in the yard. He would protect Daisy with his last breath. If that meant giving his life to take down these men that’s what he would do. But that wasn’t his intention. His intention was to live a long happy life with her on the mountain. Far away from men like Pierce.

  A second grenade crashed against the wall. Tools and dishes fell on the floor and shattered. Daisy screamed. He had to get her out of here. He couldn’t believe that after all this time that he was being tested by a man like Pierce, but he had something more important to do than to prove himself better than that traitor. Cyrus crawled across the floor to Daisy and sat beside her while she huddled over her barking little dog.

  “Daisy, we’re going to make a run for it. I need you to listen closely to me. We’re going to run out the back window, and once we get out of sight of the cabin, I’m going to shift and you are going to ride me down the mountain, back to Timber Bear Ranch. Do you understand?”

  She nodded her head vigorously, tears running down her cheeks.

  Daisy put Fifi in her carrier and gripped the handle.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  He used the butt of his gun to break the window flinching at the harsh noise and then helped Daisy out to the other side. He jumped out himself a moment later and grabbed her hands, pulling her into the forest behind his cabin.

  The bullets continue to fly behind them, but he didn’t look back. He held her hand tight and ran as fast as she could manage. Daisy was surprisingly quick and agile for a human and was able to follow him through the thick forest to a sheltered thicket where he stopped.

  “You are going to ride on my back now,” he said.

  “Okay,” she said weakly, clutching Fifi’s bag in both of her hands. Cyrus quickly removed his leathers and handed them to Daisy. She folded them up and put them in a compartment under Fifi’s case. Cyrus stretched out his body and shifted, falling on his big grizzly paws with a light grunt. He motioned for Daisy to climb on his back. She stepped on his knee and grabbed his fur to lift herself. When she was securely on top of him with her fingers threaded through his fur, and Fifi’s case slung over her shoulder, he started through the forest.

  Chapter 9

  Daisy clung to Cyrus’s back as he galloped through the forest. The wind blew against her face and through her hair as they galloped. Cyrus charged through the forest, narrowly missing tree limbs and branches that slapped her face and legs as she clung to him. Fifi barked in her carrier. Bullets followed behind them as Cyrus ran. Howling followed close behind.

  Cyrus growled in response, picking up his already fast pace. She didn’t know how long he would be able to keep it up. He had left his shotgun behind in the cabin and they were defenseless except for his grizzly.

  Cyrus climbed upwards, she saw the peak of Fate Mountain in the distance as he barreled toward the place where her stepfather had landed his helicopter.

  “Why are you going this way?” she pleaded.

  He growled and continued. Gunshots fired in the distance, growing fainter. She tried to comfort Fifi and herself.

  “I think we lost them,” she said.

  Cyrus continued to barrel through the forest at top speed. She could feel heat and his fatigue under her legs and knew that he must be exhausted from running so hard for so long. As the night fell he came to a stop and she slid from his back, taking her crate with him. The forest was dark and the wind howled through the trees. It was so cold and the snow was gathering around them. Cyrus shifted beside her and put on his clothes.

  “What are we going to do?” she asked, through chattering teeth.

  “I have to keep you warm. I will shift and lie beside you through the night.”

  “How much further is it back to town?”

  “At least another day.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” she said.

  “I’m going to take care of you,” he said, looking her straight in the eye. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  “I have an idea,” she said cautiously. “It might help.”

  “What is it?”

  “What if you…” She hesitated.

  “It’s okay, Daisy. You can trust me.”

  “What if you turned me? Then I could help you fight.”

  “I’m not going to do that. I won’t put you in danger.”

  “I’m already in danger.”

  “I can’t…”

  “I’m not as weak as you think I am.”

  “I know you aren’t weak, Daisy,” he said, lev
eling his gaze at her.

  “Then you’ll do it?”

  He let out a long sigh and looked at the ground. He rubbed his bearded chin and looked back at her.

  “I’ll change you. If that’s what you really want. I’m not going to ask you to fight these men. Your first shift will be hard and you will still be a fledgling shifter after the change. You won’t have full control of your abilities. You won’t be a match for these men.”

  “You’ll shift me then?”

  “I will.”

  “Okay then. We should do it now, before night holds.”

  She opened the neck of her shirt and exposed her jugular to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. Her eyes were tightly closed, and she didn’t see him move in on her. His sharp teeth bit through her skin, right where he had bitten her to claim her. Pain sliced through her body as the changing venom seeped into her blood. She couldn’t feel or think, all she could do was stare up through the canopy of the forest into the clear, cold blue sky. He pumped her full of the venom, and then he let her go. Her eyes widened, bulging. She clenched her neck with her hand.

  She hadn’t expected the feeling to be so immediate. There was something new, growing inside her. Clawing forward from deep within the belly of her mind. Somewhere in the fragments of her were the tiny seeds of a grizzly bear. On shaky legs, it pawed forward, coming clearer behind the screen of her eyes. Cyrus gathered her into his arms and licked the wound on her neck until it closed.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, tenderly. “How do I make it work?” she asked.

  “You focus on your inner bear and you invite her to come out. Then you will see the world as I do. As I am growing to see. Now that I’ve given you the changing bite, I know how much I want to share this world with you, Daisy.”

  His words grew fuzzy and distant. She could feel the young grizzly growing stronger and stronger, its face emerging in her view. She felt as if she could almost reach out and touch it. Cyrus was there as well, linked inside her mind through their pair bond. He encouraged her grizzly with the voice of his own, growling inside her mind.