Loved by the Bear - Part 4 Read online

  Loved by the Bear - Part 4

  V. Vaughn

  Sugarloaf Press

  Copyright © 2018 by V. Vaughn

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover by Ravven

  Editing by Jodi Henley and Angie Ramey

  Contents

  About This Book

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  More from V. Vaughn

  About the Author

  About This Book

  Josie is determined to find Max, and when she manages to enter Le Roux territory, she thinks she set. Unfortunately, no amount of training can prepare her for what she finds.

  Madison is in love — true-mate style. She’s ready to take the next step on her journey with Trace. She meets his parents, dreams about the family and even comes to terms with the painful ceremony of changing. All she needs now is her new clan alpha, Marion Robichaux’s blessing…

  One

  Audrey

  "Max!" The invisible bond of my father's alpha order keeps me on the shore as I watch two werebear warriors rush into the water to help Nick and Evan search for Max. My true mate. After I took him over the waterfall he landed in the churning water, and something happened to keep him from surfacing again.

  What was I thinking? He had no idea what was going to be down there having never been here before. He also didn’t have prior knowledge of what I was going to do. Did I really have to be such an alpha? Force him to commit a dangerous act because I knew his alpha side wouldn't allow him not to? Why the hell did I have to prove to my true mate that I'm just as strong and powerful as he is? I inhale sharply with a sob I immediately squash and wonder if I'm going to pay the ultimate price for my overinflated ego.

  The weight of my guilt is heavy on my chest, like the rock that has likely trapped Max underwater, and I gasp as I struggle to breath. I reach out my hand as I scream in frustration and despair. My fingers tingle with—my magic?

  Oh, my god! I look at my fingers that are glowing with the power I contain. Immense power. I can't believe I didn't think of it before. I may have only had magic for a few days, but what I've got is stronger than most have ever seen. I can do something! I close my eyes and look inward to my powers, and my lungs open up to allow me to breath. I take in a deep, oxygen-rich breath of air to help fuel the white, hot ball of power I'm building inside me. My body is buzzing with electricity when I finally open my eyes. I'm ready to explode with the magic I'm building up, but I think I've only got one chance to get this right and I need to pay careful attention to what I do. I stare at a spot on the river about ten feet in front of where the waterfall lands. Scooping my hands in the air, I throw out my magic with the hope it will do the same to lift the water. I don't bother to think about what might happen if I don't do what I plan right, because in my mind all I can see is Max on the bottom of the river, trapped as he fights the urge to inhale lungs full of water that will kill him.

  I let out a roar with my exertion, and the water begins to rise. I dig deep, all the way down to the very core of my being, to give my power more juice, and I create a shelf-like structure. It's as if an invisible platform has been installed to provide shelter to a fifty-yard area. Water splashes onto the platform and then rolls off the edge again somewhere behind me to flow down the river.

  The warriors stare in awe at up at the water rumbling on the invisible shield overhead as the remaining water they’re swimming in flows away. The riverbed is revealed, and it's littered with rocks, rotting tree limbs, algae, and mud. Evan trains his gaze on me, and I see the intensity that would be fear in a normal person's eyes. If the barrier suddenly let go, thousands of pounds of water would land on him and the other warriors, crushing them in an instant. But fear for his life is not something a warrior gets to consider. And when I scream out "Max!" again, the warriors take action. Still unable to move into the river to search for him, thanks to my father's order, I can only watch them slosh through the mud to search for my true mate.

  Nick stops and lets out a roar before he shifts back to human form in an instant and yells, "Over here!"

  "Dad!" I yell telepathically so he'll release me from his order. I have no doubt Nick communicated what's happening to my father at the same time he called out.

  "Go!" Dad replies, and I jump down to land in the muck and move through it as fast as I can to get to Max's side. It takes me a moment to figure out why his legs are bent at an odd angle. Bones are sticking up through his thighs, and blood is oozing out as more spurts up in an arc from an artery. The splashing blood lets me know he's alive, and I drop to my knees and grimace as I imagine the pain he must be in.

  "Audrey!" Nick yells, and I look up to see water is dripping down onto him. I gasp when I discover there is a crack in my barrier right above his head.

  Shit! I jump up and hold out my hands as I imagine sealing it off, but nothing happens. "Get him out of here!" I yell. The crack begins to wind its way forward like a snake slithering through the grass, and I'm afraid the barrier is about to come crashing down. "All of you. Leave! Now!"

  The roar of my father's bear rings in my ears, letting me know he's here. "Audrey, get out of there!"

  I want to follow his order, but I can't until the warriors are safe. I won't. And my father must know it because he doesn’t use his alpha voice to prevent me from defying him. I throw my hands up in the air as if I can hold the water back and push everything I've got toward it. I'm panting as if I'm running, and sweat stings my eyes with my efforts.

  "Audrey!" yells Nick. "Get out of there now!"

  I realize he and the warriors are on land, but I don't dare take my focus from the water above me. I move toward the shore as quickly as I can without looking at the ground, and I cry out when I stumble over a rock and fall to my knees with a splat in the mud. My footing slips as I scramble back up to my feet, but I fear that taking my eyes off the water overhead will allow the barrier to come crashing down, so I continue to stumble toward shore.

  Suddenly a high-pitched cry fills the air, and it's matched by another voice, a bit lower in tone to harmonize. Kimi! I sneak a glance over at the shore line that is now above my head since I’m still at the bottom of the river bed, and I can see the ancient medicine woman's hair blowing around her shoulders as she holds out her hands. Elise is beside her doing the same, and I understand I can back off some of my power to concentrate on getting to safe ground.

  But even with Kimi and Elise's help, the crack has spiderwebbed out, and water is falling through it like rain. I have seconds before my barrier is going to come crashing down. I look away with the hope I'm fast enough to get to safety. But I'm too far away from dry ground, and fear plunges its icy nails into my heart. I'm not going to make it. I hear the snap of the crack finally making it to the edge and the platform splitting in two. In a nanosecond, I manage to throw up a bubble-like shield around myself and hope it can withstand the force of the water as it comes crashing down.

  The world goes black as the sound of water crashing nearly deafens me. But I don't feel anything more than the sensation of oxygen being sucked out of my bubble, and I'm completely conscious and aware that my magic didn't fail me.

  My stomach lurches as I'm suddenly tossed into the spin cycle of the river. It throws me and my bubble around like
a beach ball in the waves. I close my eyes to ward off the nausea, and exhaustion begins to take over. I've depleted almost all my powers and likely any energy I have left is what's maintaining my protective container. But none of that matters. Joy and relief fill me because I managed to save Max, and I'll take my licks in whatever form fate wants to give them to me to pay for the sin of my ego that almost killed my true mate.

  My magic just might have an expiration date after all, because my shield finally falters before it disappears completely, and I find I'm being swept down the river in my naked human form. Fortunately, I'm in a deep section that isn't dangerous. I managed to hang on to my ball of protection long enough to keep me safe, but I'm too weak to fight the current yet or even shift, so I float and let the river take me where it will. I've never felt so physically exhausted, and even breathing seems to be hard. I focus on taking long breaths as I try to keep my eyes open and stay awake.

  "Audrey," my mother calls to me telepathically.

  "How's Max?" I manage to ask.

  "Thank god you heard me. He's going to be okay. Where are you? Are you okay?"

  I let out a sigh of relief. "Down the river. So tired…"

  "I'll be right there to get you."

  I smile when movement off to my left catches my eye just seconds later, and I look over to see my mother running in her bear form along the shoreline. I manage a weak laugh as I think about how no matter how old I am, I'm always going to be her cub. It occurs to me that the panic I felt for Max must be what it’s like for her worrying about her child. She dives in to come get me, and I grip her fur with what remaining strength I've got as she swims to the edge again to get out onto dry land.

  My mother scoops me up in her arms to climb from the water and deposits me gently against a tree before she shifts into human form. "Audrey." She hugs me so tight it hurts before she lets out a whoosh of air and releases me. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

  I notice the tears in her eyes and try to make light of what happened. "It's not like I went missing in the grocery store, Mom."

  "No. You chose to take years off my life by letting an entire river crash down onto you instead."

  I let out a little squeal of joy. "Did you see it? Was it incredible to watch?"

  My mother lets out an incredulous noise. "What is wrong with you? No. I got here just after your barrier broke."

  "Jeez, Mom. I got my magic shield in place in time. I wish you could have seen it." I'm speaking brave words, but I wrap my arms around myself in an effort to stem my shaking when a chill runs through me.

  Mom must see it, but she sighs as she smooths hair away from my face. "You are such an alpha, honey." She gives me a wry smile. "You got your daredevil ways from your father, but at least you got my magic to keep you alive."

  I realize if my magic hadn't worked, not only would Max be dead, but so would four warriors. And me. What I did was insane, and I shouldn't have endangered five lives to save one. "I couldn't help it, Mom." I frown, wondering if I would have been able to sacrifice Max if I’d thought about anyone else. A good alpha wouldn't have let her warriors do what I did. A good alpha also wouldn't have gotten herself into the situation in the first place. Shame fills me, and I can't look at my mother when I say, "I'm sorry. It was a stupid thing to do."

  Mom makes a small noise of acknowledgment, but I don't need her words to tell me what I should know. Not only did I let my need to prove my worth to Max cloud my better judgement, but my cockiness over my new-found powers could have caused needless deaths. And I'd be an alpha cursed with the guilt of that for the rest of my life.

  I stand up now that some of my energy has returned. I'd like to go to Max and assure myself he's okay. But I've got more important things to do to make up for what I've done. I need to find the warriors who saved Max and beg for their forgiveness.

  But I don't get the chance. A roar that can still shake me to the core and make me fear for my life comes from the bear approaching us, and I bow my head to my father as I await his punishment.

  Two

  Josie

  I stare at the supersized door of the Le Roux home that a teenaged girl just slammed in my face. A laugh nearly explodes from me over her attempt at being a mean girl, because that's not going to keep me from getting what I came here for. I knock again.

  When nobody answers, I walk back toward my car and survey the grounds. The gardens full of color that I couldn't help notice on my drive to the house make me imagine the Le Roux have a gardener to take care of them all, and I picture some poor clan member slaving away to please his alpha. At the rear of the house, which is just as pretentious as the front with everything being supersized and reinforced like Fort Knox, are woodlands I imagine are handy for when the Le Roux want to run as bear. I quickly turn my sneer into a smile when a man comes from behind the house to walk my way. His massive and totally fit body makes me think he's one of the werebear warriors who escorted me here.

  I give him my best Madison impression. "Hey." I hold out my hand as I move toward him. He appears to be a few years older than I am, and he narrows his blue eyes at me as he approaches. He's so big that my physical confidence wavers, and I decide I'd better do my best to get on his good side. "I'm Josie, and I was hoping to find Max here."

  "Max?"

  "Yeah, tall, big guy." I giggle as I attempt to flirt with him. "Like you, and—" I let out a dramatic sigh. "This is going to sound so crazy, but I met him just the other day and—" I frown as if I'm struggling to say the next part. "Well." I roll my eyes in what I hope appears to be embarrassment. "We had this attraction and—"

  "This Max guy… He told you he lives here?"

  "Not exactly." Crap. I let out another sigh as I search for a good excuse. "My brother's a cop, and I may have had him run the plates on his car." I hold up my hand. "I swear to god I'm not a stalker though." I shake my head as if I'm beyond embarrassed now. "You know what?" I begin to back away with the hope the guy won't let me get far, and I hear the front door of the house open as I say, "I shouldn't have come. I'm so sorry I wasted your time."

  "You ran his plates?" asks a girl from behind me.

  I turn to see two girls who must be twins walking toward me. "Yeah," I say. "I already regret it, but I couldn't find him anywhere on the internet."

  "She's a creeper, Kelly," says the one who slammed the door on me.

  "Tell me about it." Kelly crosses her arms and gives me the once-over before sneering at me. "You should go."

  Damn it. This is not going the way I'd hoped. I still don't know if Max lives here. "Look. I'm sorry. I'll go, but would you tell Max I stopped by? Please?"

  "Why?" asks Kelly's twin in a condescending tone. "Such a shame he's out. What on earth would he want to do with you?"

  Bingo. He lives here. I resist the urge to smile and shrug instead. "I got the impression he was into me too. And I'm a sappy romantic who'll do just about anything for love."

  The girls look at each other and laugh in what is definitely a mean girl way. And to be fair, a stranger showing up looking for their relative claiming she thinks they're soul mates or something is odd. At least it would be in the human world. But even though true mates exist in the Le Roux girls' world, it’s possible they aren't considering the fact that someone who appears to be human can have a dormant werebear and a true mate. Either way, I've at least gotten some information and know when to cut my losses. I turn to the guy. "Can I leave you my number in case Max feels the same way?" I know he's going to say yes, because I bet he's going to want information he can use to find out more about me. He won't find much, though.

  "Sure." His expression hasn't warmed up at all, but at least he's agreeable to my suggestion, so I spout off my number. I can't count on my phone number actually getting into Max's hands, and I still don't know what Max's relationship to the Le Roux clan is, but the fact he lives with them is enough. I can barely contain my excitement over the knowledge that I have the perfect in to the most powerful fa
mily in all the clans of the Northeast Kingdom. Now I just have to find a way to see him again and let our true-mate bond take care of the rest.

  I thank the man for his time, and as I walk back to my car, I can feel his stare as he watches me. But when I open my door to get in my vehicle and look back at the guy, I see he's running toward the woods, and the girls run inside as if something has scared them.

  I glance around for what the danger might be and notice something else running in the woods. Likely a bear by the sound, but it doesn't reveal itself to me. It makes me think the danger isn't coming, but rather they're running toward it. I wonder about what it could be as I chug along in my beater car down the driveway. When I see another flash in the woods off to my right, I turn to catch a glimpse of what I'm sure is a bear running. Something is definitely going down. Adrenaline spikes in me, because whatever the emergency is, it's likely got something to do with the Eradicators. Anger begins to boil in me too. It would be just like Link to start something to make things harder for me, so once I get out of the Le Roux's driveway I pull over on the side of the road with the intention of investigating.

  I grab my bag from the back seat and rummage through it for workout clothes. One of the things I learned in my training is how to move through the woods with barely a sound, and how to track my prey. Being in Le Roux territory, the last thing I need is to be discovered, and I'm good, but werebear have excellent hearing. The possibility of running into a guard is strong. However, I have a plan. I squirm in my front seat as I maneuver myself around the steering wheel to change into running shorts and a t-shirt, and I grab my headphones for the excuse that I was running and got lost.