A Bride For The Bear (Bear Brides #1) (8 page)

He growled but she looked up
at him, unfazed, unafraid.

“Take me, fully,
completely,” she whispered.

Cole stared deeply into her
eyes and saw that she meant every word. Her heart and body were
strong. She knew that his bear was a part of him, and there was no
separating the man from the bear. She was his mate, and she wanted
him, all of him.

A roar sounded as Cole
grabbed her and pounded into her. He fucked her hard and deep,
giving her everything. She arched her back, a keening sound escaping
from her throat as she surrendered to the fiery, primal lust that was
consuming them both.

Abby gasped as Cole's sharp
teeth scraped along the swell of her breasts and grazed her sensitive
peaks. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he fucked her with
all the animal lust and passion of his beast. It was rough and wild,
and she loved it. She threw back her head and moaned, whimpered and
begged.

Cole's breathing was harsh
and ragged as he stared down at his mate's luscious, feminine body.
Her large breasts heaved and bounced in time to his thrusts, and her
head was thrashing with abandon. This was sex, raw, uninhibited,
passionate sex. His mate might be human, but she wasn't cold, shy
and delicate when it came to sex. She loved it hot and wild, and he
could take her, pleasure her, fuck her without worrying about
breaking her.

She was so amazing, so damn
perfect.

A scream tore from her as she
shattered suddenly and violently beneath him. Cole clamped his teeth
down at the base of her neck and thrust deeply into her. He roared
out his release as he hurtled over the edge with her in a powerful,
explosive orgasm.

For a few thundering
heartbeats, the world disintegrated into fragments of light around
them. When the world finally fell back into place, Cole found Abby's
flushed, curvy body entangled in his long, muscular arms and legs.
Sighing, she turned towards him and snuggled sweetly into the heat of
his body.

“Mine,” he
breathed as he pressed his lips against her temple.

He kissed her again and
rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “Are you cold?”
he murmured.

“No. I feel fine. I
feel...more than fine,” she smiled.

Cole tucked her tightly
against him and lay back on the grass. “Tell me about your
family,” Abby said softly, drawing lazy circles on his abdomen.

Cole's throat moved but for a
long while he didn't speak. He debated how much to tell her.
Shifters lived by a different, more primal code. Violence, vengeance
and bloodshed were common in the shifter world. Debts were paid in
blood, and families and clans could be wiped out in one fell swoop.
His entire clan had been brutally, mercilessly slaughtered. Young,
old, women, children, none were spared. Only the four of them
survived.

Abby didn't rush him, but she
sensed his discomfort and hesitation. Taking his hand, she kissed
him and said, “I know you won't lie to me, and I don't want you
to hide from me either. I don't have a censor button in my brain.
Some people don't like it. They can't take it. They prefer their
world to be polite and pretty, all tied up in a bow. I lost my
parents at a young age. My grandmother did her best by me, but
still, I had to grow up fast. The bow had come undone for me a long
time ago. I've learned that things aren't shiny and sparkly, but
still I wished for a fairy-tale ending for myself. Luck and fate
hadn't been that kind to me, but I guess that was to toughen me up
and prepare me...for you,” she whispered, touching his face.

“I found you, Cole,”
she smiled down at him. “You said it yourself. I wasn't
scared to come out here to Moonstone Creek all by myself to look for
you. Do you think I'll be scared by the truth, by your past?”

Cole held her warm hand
against his cheek.

“Abby,” he said
with fierce love and conviction. “I must have been a real good
cub to deserve a mate like you. My Ma was right.” Cole
laughed. “She told me that my mate would be a beautiful,
strong, dauntless female, a true Alpha's mate. She would have loved
you, Abby.”

Abby smiled. “Tell me
about her.”

Cole pulled her to him and
lay back on the grass. Staring up at the stars, he began to talk.
He hadn't talked about his family in such a long time, but the
memories and images came easily. He saw them all, and he saw himself
as a young, carefree, daring cub. He shared all his memories with
her, happy ones, sad ones, long-buried, painful ones.

They talked through the
night, telling each other everything, sharing all their hopes and
fears, and laughing as they revealed tiny tidbits about themselves.

Abby listened quietly as he
told her about his clan, and her comments revealed just how
perceptive and intuitive she was. “Nightfire,” she
whispered. “The name of your clan is a reminder of that night.
The night you lost your family.”

“Yes.” Cole
closed his eyes, forcing away the image of the burning houses and
bodies. “One night. One fire. And everything was destroyed.
I have to remind myself, control myself, discipline myself. I don't
want to make a mistake that will cause my clan to be razed to the
ground in a night fire.”

As the stars gradually faded
from the sky, so did their whispers and murmurs. The sky had turned
a deep, impenetrable black by the time his mate finally fell asleep
in his arms.

Cole carried Abby to his bed
and dragged the covers up over her flushed, sated body. The sight of
her naked body made him rock hard again, but he forced himself to
step away from the bed. He had taken her so hard, man and bear
claiming and marking their mate with a primal, possessive ferocity.
When she murmured his name in her sleep, his heart swelled with pride
and love.

“My mate,” he
growled low and kissed her soft, brown hair.

His phone beeped on his
bedside table. Cole frowned at it but answered immediately. Dalton
wouldn't call him at this hour unless it was an emergency.

“Graig is leading a
bunch of Blood Shadow bears into our territory,” his Beta said
without preamble.

“How many?” Cole
said tersely.

“I reckon Graig had
around fifty bears with him.”

“That's about half of
the Blood Shadow clan.” Cole narrowed his eyes. “Mobilize
our people. The entire clan.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Cole clicked off. Even with
the entire Nightfire clan behind him, they were outnumbered. But
Graig had just declared war by invading their territory with fifty
Blood Shadow bears. Cole suspected that Haluddin, the Blood Shadow
Alpha, knew nothing of this invasion. Graig was going behind his
Alpha's back, using his clan's power to settle his petty grievances
and grudges.

Cole pulled on a pair of old
jeans and walked out of his house, bare bodied and barefoot. He
would be shifting into bear form for the battle. His bungalow was
built on an incline, allowing him to see anyone coming up towards the
house before they even realized they were being watched.

In a few minutes, he saw
members of his clan converging at the bottom of the slope before
marching up grimly towards him. Dalton was at the head of the group,
while Tony and Brad brought up the rear of their tight-knit clan.

“Alpha.” His
clan stood before him, awaiting his orders. They had all been roused
from their beds, but they stood ready and alert.

“So the Blood Shadow
bears are itching for a fight,” someone muttered. “I'll
shred them, and be home in time for breakfast.” There were
chuffs of assent and the sound of cracking knuckles.

Cole put up his hand for
silence. His bears were fearless and loyal. They were all powerful,
deadly fighters, but still they were outnumbered. “If I can
avoid sending you into battle, I will,” Cole told them quietly.

“There is no avoiding
this battle,” Tony snarled.

Cole took a deep breath and
carried on, “I will battle Graig. Alone.”

Shocked, indignant protests
rippled through the ranks.

“You can't do that!”
Dalton exploded.

Cole smiled tightly. “I've
battled men like Graig. Graig won't be able to resist my challenge.
He won't want to look weak in front of his men. He will take me on,
just to take me down.”

“Yes, but if you
lose...” Dalton snapped in frustration.

“If I die, Dalton will
be your Alpha,” Cole announced to the clan. “Obey him,
and fight for him.”

“Yes, Alpha,” his
bears muttered unhappily.

He had given a direct order
as Alpha. No one, not even his Beta, would challenge that order.
Cole's keen eyes found Brad's. His younger brother held his gaze for
a beat and nodded. He understood what Cole was going to do and he
would back him up.

Cole's nostrils flared as the
wind carried the hostile scent of the Blood Shadow bears. “They're
here,” he growled.

As his clan members prepared
to move out to the periphery of their territory to meet the threat
head on, Cole glanced over his shoulder and saw Abby standing at the
front steps of the house in his large t-shirt. Her eyes looked
stricken and she was pressing her fist to her mouth in an effort not
to make a sound. He stared at the mate mark on her neck and smirked.
She was his, and he would protect her, fight for her and
live
for her.

Cole wasn't one to take
unnecessary, foolhardy risks. He always calculated his chances and
his odds before embarking on any course of action. He had brawn, but
he used his brain more. His resourcefulness, incisive judgment and
quick-thinking had ensured the survival and growth of the Nightfire
clan. His clan might be small, but they weren't weak. Under his
leadership, the Nightfire clan had grown swiftly in influence and
power. They were a force to be reckoned with in Moonstone Creek.
Cole knew that if he gave the order to fight, his bears would be able
to hold their own against the Blood Shadow bears even though they
were small in number. But if he could help it, he would avoid
spilling the blood of his people.

Cole saw Abby stand tall in
front of his house and ball her fists at her sides. Her lips
quivered as she mouthed the words to him.

I love you
.

His lips curved up. His Abby
might be human but she was strong. She was the mate of the Nightfire
Alpha. She was worried for him, but she wasn't afraid. Her stoic
stance and silence showed that she understood shifter politics. He
had explained to her that packs and clans valued their honor above
their lives. They would stop at nothing to avenge their loved ones
and they would fight to the death to defend what was theirs.
Violence was inevitable in his world. It was kill or be killed.
Walking away from a challenge, a war, was not an option. Enemies and
rivals were always watching and waiting, waiting for your back to be
turned. All it took was one mistake, a show of weakness, and
everything, everyone you loved would be destroyed.

Abby understood his world.
She had listened to him, talked to him, asked him questions and even
countered his arguments. But she knew, instinctively, intuitively,
immediately that there was no place for fear and hysteria at a time
like this.

What had to be done simply
had to be done.

Abby watched him in silence,
her eyes conveying all her intense, powerful emotions eloquently and
clearly. She loved him, believed in him and trusted him to come home
to her.

She didn't wave. This wasn't
a farewell. Neither did she scream and flail hysterically, crying
and begging him not to go.

She simply stood behind him,
watching him, supporting him, loving him. A hundred percent.

Cole smirked, his eyes
flashing as his predator rose. His mate was standing at his door,
waiting for him to come home.

His protective and killer
instincts flared.

His bear was ready to make
the kill.

He would come home to Abby,
whole and alive.

Cole let his claws slice out
and roared out a command to his clan. He led his men down the
incline and cut through the streets to reach the large field behind
their territory. The Blood Shadow bears had already breached the
dividing line and were advancing steadily towards them.

Cole put up his fist and his
clan stomped to a halt behind him. Detaching himself from his clan,
he walked towards Graig and jerked up his chin.

“What can we do for
you, Graig?” Cole was according Graig the civility and respect
that his rank deserved. He was the Beta of the Blood Shadow clan,
but he behaved more like a ruffian than a leader.

Graig spat noisily and
stepped up to Cole. “You are a dead bear, Cole Jameson.”

Cole stood his ground,
letting Graig push his hooked nose into his face. “I didn't
think the high and mighty Alpha of the Nightfire clan would be
interested in human scraps,” Graig jeered.