BearyMerryChristmas (6 page)

Then what would ye hae us do, go slowly and arrive after they’ve frozen tae death?

Dammit, Connor. We can run part of the way there. We just can’t go storming into the area and risk being seen.
Jamie loved Connor like a brother, but the other man
did
have a penchant for leaping before he looked.

Then we’re agreed?
Connor asked just before he took off toward the light in the sky.

Jamie wasn’t unaware of the symbolism of the situation. Here it was, Christmas Eve and they were out looking for a group that included a pregnant woman beneath a light in the sky.

The three of them rounded the top of a hill and with a giant leap, landed on their bellies and slid down the incline. Normally, this would be fun. He couldn’t wait to do this with Lara riding his back, the warmth of her woman’s parts pressed tightly against him, her breasts squashed between his shoulder blades as he careened down the steep hill.

For a moment, he wondered if she would scream with fear or joy, then remembered her bravery. She wasn’t a cowardly woman. That was one of the reasons they found her so attractive. The scent of fear meant prey. Their mate was no prey and there was no doubt in Jamie’s mind that Lara was their mate.

The three of them jumped to their feet and continued to run at top speed when they reached the bottom of the hill. They poured on the speed even more when they realized that the light was farther than they had first thought. It had been dark for over an hour now and the temperature had dropped drastically when the sun went down.

We hae tae get there quickly. The children won’t last long and with the stress of their situation, the woman could go into labor at any time.

You’re right, Duncan,
Jamie agreed.
As unsafe as it is for us tae do so, we must get there as fast as we can. Perhaps the gods will look kindly upon us for this good deed.

Perhaps. We can only hope. I would hate tae think that any of us would endanger the clan trying tae be heroes.
Connor was always a pessimist.

Jamie shook his head. None of them wanted to endanger the clan, but they couldn’t allow innocents to die out here in the middle of nowhere.

Quickly, they closed in on the light. They certainly hadn’t expected to see what they did when they entered the area. The small bus was on its side, the children nowhere in sight.

Do ye think we’re too late?

Will ye stop being such a pessimist, Connor?
Jamie growled at the other man. Generally, he didn’t care to fight his fellow clan mates, but he would if provoked and Connor had been mighty provoking this night, with his nay-saying attitude.

The scene was quiet, almost surreal as they neared the downed bus. It looked almost forlorn, dejected as it lay on its side in the snow. They’d almost missed it as they approached as its white color blended in with its snow-covered surroundings. What gave it away was the large spotlight on the exterior that pointed up at the night sky. It was obviously the light that led them here.

Jamie wondered how long the light had been on, because the battery didn’t seem as though it was in danger of losing power any time soon, the light was as bright as ever.

Slowly, the three of them rounded the end of the bus and opened the back door. The sight that greeted them was enough to bring every one of them to their knees if they still had them.

“Witches!” It was Duncan who voiced what they all thought. He’d changed into human form just as they opened the door so as to not frighten the children.

The children huddled around one another, all of them giving off a warm dark blue glow as they knelt around the other who stayed so still within their circle. Jamie searched for the teacher and wondered if it was her that they all protected.

* * * *

Duncan entered the bus. The warmth that emanated from the vehicle drove Jamie and Connor back. As long as they were in bear form, they could overheat easily and they didn’t need that. Jamie leaned down, picked up a mouthful of snow and let it melt in his mouth. Connor did the same. Since he’d changed into human form again, Duncan had no worries.

He looked at the children, all girls, as they knelt around the woman who lay so still on the side panel of the small bus. The bus was more like a large van really, but there was no time for semantics now.

The children, the youngest appearing to be around seven, parted as he approached. That was when Duncan got his first good look at the woman who lay so still on the window at her back. She wore no coat as it was wrapped tightly about the newborn babe in her arms.

The children looked up at him and just as he knelt to see if the woman was still alive, the oldest spoke.

“She’s alive, but she needs tae be warm.” The girl glanced at the others. “We did our best tae keep her and her baby warm, but we’re cold as well. We cannae continue to make heat when it seeps slowly from our own bodies.” Leaning to the side, she looked around him, her eyes widening as she saw Jamie and Connor waiting at the back of the bus.

“Are ye here tae kill us then? We’ve heard of the bear people. Ye kill our kind, don’t ye?”

Reaching up, Duncan took her hand. In the gentlest sounding voice he could muster, he said, “Nay. We dinnae kill your kind, lass. We merely wanted tae survive ourselves. We only killed your kind when they hunted us for our pelts and our organs for spells.”

The girl wrinkled her nose. “We hae since found that we dinnae need the help of your dirty toenails tae make our magic.” She sniffed. “No witch has even tried tae kill a bear in over three hundred years.”

The girl turned back to the woman and the babe. “Will ye help us? Our teacher is human. She and her babe will surely die soon after we lose our warmth.”

Duncan could do no less than save these children as he’d promised to do. Even if the girl lied to him, he couldn’t condemn children, innocent or otherwise, to a cold, lonely death in this overturned vehicle.

“Aye, lass,” he said with a weary nod. “We’ll help ye. Stop expending energy ye dinnae hae tae spare. I’ll keep the woman and the babe warm. Ye need tae make your way tae the back of the bus and climb up onto the backs of the two bears that await ye. Dinnae worry, they won’t harm ye.”

He knew the others had heard the conversation. He also knew Jamie was aware of his thoughts on this matter.
Connor and I agree, old friend. We cannae allow children tae die, no matter how misguided their parents may be. If we do this thing, perhaps it will bring peace between our people.

There
was
that, though it had been the farthest thing from his mind. The most important thing at this moment was to get the woman and her babe on Jamie’s back.

Connor stepped away from the bus and lowered himself until his belly touched the snow. He was still a huge bear and difficult to mount, but the children managed. All eight of them climbed up on his back and he stood.

“Hold on carefully, children.”

“We will, mister. Anastasia has already cast a spell tae keep us from falling off no matter how fast ye travel.” She looked down at Connor, a tiny wrinkle ceasing her brow. “Why is he so warm?”

“Polar bears overheat easily. While in that form, he must do whatever he can tae stay cool. He must be using every heat-releasing gland in his body tae cool himself off.” He raised a brow. “Or perhaps he’s doing it tae help ye stay warm.

She smiled at him. It was a beautiful smile for a child and he found himself grinning back. “Then tell him we’re grateful either way.”

“There’s no need for that, lass.” Duncan chuckled. “He heard ye well enough.”

Duncan placed the unconscious woman on the thick blanket he’d fashioned and placed on Jamie’s back, took her babe in his arms and settled himself over her.
Well, old friend, we’ve done this twice in two days now. I would really rather
nae
make a habit of it.

Jamie nodded, his head moving up and down on the polar bear’s long neck.
I would hae tae agree with ye there, Duncan.
He paused for a minute as Duncan settled himself over the woman.
Are ye ready?

Aye.

How fast a pace do ye think she can stand?

Duncan stared down at the side of the woman’s face and sighed.
As fast as ye can manage without dumping the little lasses off Connor’s back. I dinnae think this woman will stay alive much longer.

With a sigh, Jamie began to lope up the hill as Duncan held the babe and teacher in his arms. He only hoped Lara would understand the need for him to share his warmth with the strange woman.

Chapter Seven

Lara stood staring through the window, the tip of her thumb between her teeth. It had been hours since the other teams had returned, all of them shaking their heads.
No luck,
they had said. Was it taking the last three so long because they had found the bus? Were they staying with the group of children until help arrived? With the phones down now, there was no way to even contact the authorities and tell them where the rest of the men have already searched. It could be several more hours or days before the authorities could get to them, depending on how long this storm lasted. She didn’t know much about snow in the highlands, but this storm seemed like something they didn’t normally see. Even the inhabitants of this castle were worried

The possibility remained that someone could have spotted the three impossibly large bears racing through the woods and shot them or tried to. How many people around here had rifles for hunting? She knew it was a sport here, much as it was in the United States, but their gun-ownership laws were much stricter here. She continued to stare out through the snow, worried over two men she barely knew. Never in her life had she ever cared this much for a man she’d just met, not to mention two.

The sight of their large forms disappearing into the woods had nearly brought her to her knees, making Lara wonder if the other women felt the same or if her reaction was because she had some strange sort of tie to those two. It was still difficult for her to believe that shapeshifters existed. She had an open mind and she’d often dabbled in the occult with her friends, but she never once entertained the idea of having a relationship with a shifter. Before yesterday, she hadn’t known they existed. Now, she knew a castle and surrounding area filled full of them.

The question uppermost in her mind was how could they exist here? How could a city full of shapeshifting polar bears exist in Europe with no one being the wiser? She wasn’t sure about others, but she was certain that if
she
ever saw an almost ten-foot-long polar bear roaming the woods near her city, she would tell someone about it.

Lara’s eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. Maybe the reason no one ever reported a sighting was because they killed outsiders. Who knew? Perhaps they made a meal of them. She wrinkled her nose at the thought. Somehow, Lara stew didn’t sound very appealing to her. But then again, she was human. They were not. Not wholly human anyway.

Stop thinking such things, lass. You’re only scaring yourself.

Duncan!
Despite her morbid thoughts, the sound of his voice was reassuring. She strained for a glimpse of them coming through the heavy snow but couldn’t see anything but white, which wasn’t surprising if she thought about it.
Where are you?

We’re close. We’ve found the children. Their teacher had already given birth by the time we found them. The mother and the babe will both need medical attention when we get there. Tell my mother and the other tae get things ready. We should arrive in about a quarter of an hour.

Fifteen minutes. She had fifteen minutes to get these people moving and ready. Turning, she saw Duncan’s mother sitting in front of the fireplace wearing a serene expression. As ridiculous as it seemed, it was almost as though the woman
knew
what was going to happen. Why had he contacted her instead of his mother? Wouldn’t it have been faster to cut out the middleman so to speak and contact her instead?

“Ma’am,” Lara said softly as she knelt next to the older woman’s chair. “They’re all right. Duncan just contacted me.” She blushed when everyone turned to stare at her. “He said they’ve found them, but the woman had her baby and will need medical attention when they arrive.”

“He contacted ye instead of me?”

Lara didn’t know what to say to the woman. “Yes,” she said with a nod, then cleared her throat. “I don’t know why, but he asked me to tell you to have things ready when they arrive. Even though they’re traveling very fast, he said they wouldn’t be here for another fifteen minutes.”

“Did he now?” His mother asked, suddenly all business as she stood. She held her hand out to Lara, urging her to take it. “Come along, daughter. We have much work tae do afore my son arrives.”

Daughter? “Ma’am, I—” Lara resisted for a split second before she began to follow the older woman.

“That’s right, lass. Call me Mam. Tis fitting as I’m your mother as well now.”

What!

Jamie’s chuckle in her head did little to relax her.
She only means that you’re her daughter now that Duncan has made his choice.

What choice?

He paused for a minute, then amended,
It’s time we told ye, lass. We come as a pair and we hae chosen tae take ye as our mate if you’ll hae us, lass.

Lara stopped in her tracks, inadvertently pulling Duncan’s mother to a halt as well.

“What’s the matter, lass? What troubles ye?”

Lara glanced the woman’s way before she bit her lip. “Uh…I…I don’t even know them! Not really.”

Duncan’s mother threw her head back and laughed. “They told ye, did they?” She patted Lara’s hand. “Dinnae worry, lass. Ye ken them better than some of the women ken their intendeds in the old days.” She tugged on Lara’s arm. “Now, let’s get moving afore the men get here and we’re not ready for them.”

Lara let the other woman lead her toward a room close to the kitchen. The room was so clean and sterile-looking, it couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than what it was. A type of hospital right here in the castle. The large room contained a few beds behind a curtain on one side and huge cupboards filled with implements and medicines in bottles and jars.