Claimed At First Sight (Curvy BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance)

CLAIMED AT FIRST SIGHT

(BBW PARANORMAL BEAR SHIFTER ROMANCE)

BY EVELYN GREY

COPYRIGHT 2015 EVELYN GREY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WHAT’S INSIDE THIS STEAMY SHIFTER ROMANCE?

Curvy Layla Banks just found herself caught between a rock and a hard place.  After stumbling upon a secret she was never supposed to hear, she’s on the run.

Werebear Case Vitori never expected to meet his mate like this.  And he sure as hell wasn’t planning on claiming her before they even had a first date.  But circumstance has left him with no choice.  He has to claim Layla without delay, or he’ll lose her forever.

But once she’s been claimed, will he be able to prove to her his love? Or will her transformation forever bar her from seeing him as anything but the man who cursed her for life?

CLAIMED AT FIRST SIGHT

I grunted with pain at the blisters that were forming around my ankle.  When Gerri invited me to spend a few weeks at her grandfather’s old cabin, I didn’t exactly have a seven-mile hike through the mountains in mind. 

“How’re you doing, Layla?”  Gerri asked, not a bead of sweat on her pretty little face.

“Great,” I muttered sarcastically as I fanned the perspiration from my hair and neck. “I’m getting blisters on my blisters, but I’m pretty sure I’ve lost five pounds.”

“No pain no gain, right?”  Gerri giggled and held out her arms towards our surroundings.  “Besides, isn’t this beautiful? And I bet the blisters are keeping you-know-who off your mind!”

Gerri was right--for the first time in two weeks I wasn’t thinking about Danny, or the slutty little brunette with perky tits who was forever burned into my memory. 

“Come on, just another mile,” she grinned, popping her headphones back into place and taking off like a damned jackrabbit. 

I gritted my teeth and pushed on. Danny didn’t deserve anything from me, not even my anger.  Still, it hurt.  It hurt that he had lied to me for so long.  It hurt that he blamed his infidelity on my weight, and it hurt that he hadn’t so much as called me to apologize.  Thank goodness that I had a friend like Gerri.  Honestly, if it hadn’t been for her, I would probably still be lying in a heap in my apartment, balling my eyes out. 

As we climbed the woods began to thicken, creating a dense canopy of cool shade. The forest was different at this elevation…quieter, more ominous, and yet somehow I felt drawn to the darkness.

“This is it,” Gerri exclaimed as we came over a ridge. The trees suddenly dropped away and exposed the most amazing view I had ever seen in my entire life.  Pristine countryside with rolling green hills and a sparkling blue lake stretched as far as I could see. In the center of it all, perched on the side of the lake, was the most picturesque cottage I had ever laid eyes on.  

“Oh wow!” I uttered with astonishment.  Suddenly even the blisters seemed worth it. 

“First things first: we’ll eat, and then we’ll go swimming,” she chirped, running ahead and disappearing into the quaint little cabin. 

****

A week had passed and my entire attitude had changed.  Losing Danny was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.  But it was only now, now that we were separated, that I could really see it. He had taken every ounce of positivity from my life, shut me away from friends and family, and harped on me about my weight—which by the way, had never really bothered me before I met him.  I had always been curvy, but my mother insisted that men liked a woman with curves.  I grew up with plenty of self-confidence, and it was only when I started receiving snarky remarks from Danny that I began to feel less than the goddess that I knew I was. 

“I’m getting a beer, you want one?”  I asked Gerri one day while we were sunbathing in a rubber raft not far from the shoreline.  

“Sure,” she replied absentmindedly, not looking up from her magazine. 

Holding my nose I rolled into the water, diving down deep before popping up at a wooden dock that jutted out into the water. Feeling refreshed and cool, I lazily made my way down the dock and towards the cabin. 

I must have been in a happy little fog, because it wasn’t until they were right in front of me that I noticed them…

“Well, well, and who might you be?” the tallest of the four asked, lifting an eyebrow and cocking his head to the side.

I took a step back, startled. 

Pick up your jaw,
I scolded myself, taking in the quartet.  Normally, something like this would have concerned me.  But finding myself surrounded by four of the hottest men I had ever laid eyes on wasn’t exactly normal.  My eyes flicked south and my stomach clenched as my gaze ran over them. 

What was it he asked?  Oh that’s right, my name.  I was severely distracted, because ‘yum’ was the only thing that came to mind. 

“I…um,” my jaw tightened as the four of them watched me struggle to spit out my name. 

The tall one was grinning now, and his gaze raked up and down my flesh as he waited for my reply.  I had completely forgotten that I was wearing nothing but a bikini; a much too small, only-wear-it-in-private-when-you’re-working-on-your-tan sort of bikini. 

I crossed my arms over my chest instinctively and bit my lip.  “Layla,” I finally squeaked.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful young woman,” he said, never taking his eyes off my hips. “We’re the Ash Ridge Search and Rescue Crew.”  He drew his gaze slowly back to mine.  “We work the forest between Waynesville and Black Mountain.  I’m Case.  This is Lucas, Micah, and John.”  He extended a hand for me to shake, revealing a dark tattoo on his arm. 

Hmmm…that tattoo
, I thought to myself as I examined his arm.  It was
exactly
like the one Gerri had!  My eyes flashed to the other three, each of them displaying the same ink job.  “Hey, your tattoos! It’s just like my friend’s,” I said with surprise.

“Who’s your friend?” Micah asked with alarm, looking past me with an expression that startled me.  It wasn’t curiosity as much as it was angry recognition.  His eye twitched and his hands balled into tight fists. “Gerri?!” he roared, his brows drawing down with a look of irritation as he darted past me.

I tried to follow him, but Case stopped me in my tracks with a firm grip on my shoulder.  “Don’t worry, he won’t hurt her.” His eyes were a brilliant shade of light green, a beautiful, glowing, calming green.

I inhaled sharply, shivering against the heat that emanated from his touch.  The sensation drew something primal from my core, sending thrills radiating up my arm and drawing my nipples into hard little buds. 

“The two of them grew up together and were mated when she disappeared.” 

“Mated?!” I gasped. 

Lucas and John shot Case an icy glance.  “Married,” Case corrected himself, nodding back towards the water. 

Holy hell,
I thought nervously.  Gerri had never mentioned anything about being married!  But then, Gerri never spoke much about herself in general.  Getting her to open up was a lot like pulling teeth.

“We should get her out of here,” John whispered to Lucas and Case as all three of them moved their massive bodies in such a way so as to obscure my view of Gerri.

“Get me out of here?”  I protested.  “Not a chance, not until I know she’s ok.” 

Just then a sound that was neither human nor friendly tore through the sultry mountain air.  I writhed under Case’s grip, my only good fortune being that I had lubed myself up in baby oil just before coming ashore.  I had no idea that the next few seconds would change my life--but then, how could I have?

Two bears now thrashed in the water; Gerri’s raft was empty and Micah was nowhere in sight. 

“Where is she?!”  I screamed with horror.  “You have to help them!” I cried, my knees beginning to shake as Case drew me into his arms and held me against him.

“Gerri is a shifter,” Case said calmly, his free hand stroking the side of my face gently, the way a parent would soothe a child. 

If it weren’t for the remnants of her swimsuit, I wouldn’t have guessed what he meant. But strung around the leg of a bear was the shiny gold bikini Gerri had been wearing.  I shook my head in confusion as Gerri and Micah emerged from the water, the two of them growling at one another, teeth barred viciously. 

“Stop him,” I pleaded, horrified as the two bears began tumbling over one another in what looked like an attempt to rip one another’s throats out. 

“Just wait,” Case breathed, his calm demeanor helping to reign in my own fear.

Gerri’s bear twisted violently, pinning Micah against the ground, her jaw clamped around his neck. A second later, it was over—she had won the tussle, and he would have to submit to defeat.

Gerri stood up, her body shifting back into her human form, completely unharmed, and completely naked.  Her eyes flashed our way, and soon she was stalking towards us.  “Some way to greet an old friend,” she growled, her eyes narrow with irritation. 

Micah followed behind in shame, keeping himself at a safe distance.

“I see the four of you are just as reckless about keeping our secrets as always.”  Gerri’s eyes flashed to me, only this time they were different, they were glowing a vibrant shade of burnt orange. 

“Layla is trustworthy,” Case growled, pulling me back defensively beneath his arm. 

“Are you going to bet your life on it?” Gerri hissed.  “Because I certainly am not.”

“She is a human,” Lucas groaned.  “You know what the council would say, Case.” 

“It’s true. We can’t exactly trust a human to keep our secret,” John agreed reluctantly.

“I’m in charge here, and I say we can.  Layla has no fault in this.  The two of you exposed us,” he gestured towards Gerri and Micah. “If anyone is going to suffer for it, it won’t be her.  I forbid you all from changing.”

“I’m not one of your pawns, Case, and your Alpha display doesn’t do shit for me.  Besides, you and your men came looking for trouble—you guys are to blame.  You know as well as I do that this land is past the boundary,” Gerri growled, her eyes landing on mine and growing darker.  Gerri no longer looked like the woman I knew; she looked wild, lethal. 

“You weren’t too concerned with the boundary when you were fucking around with Micah now, were you?”  Case retorted angrily. 

Gerri scowled with anger and her body began to shake.  “That was a mistake,” she spat, “one that I’ll regret until the day I die.”  

My knees began to wobble unsteadily and my stomach wrenched. 

Case hunched down, his mouth just inches from my ear.  A low vibration was building deep within his chest.  “I need you to run,” he whispered, an edge to his voice that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. 

If the urgency in his tone wasn’t enough to convey the gravity of my situation, seeing his bear come out through his skin definitely was.  He was magnificently built, pure muscle and power.  Gerri, too, had changed; her bear smaller, but infinitely more agile.

“Go!” Micah bellowed, bringing me back to my senses and kicking my legs into overdrive.

The little cabin seemed farther away than I had remembered, and with each step my breathing became a little less controlled and the sounds behind me seemed to be closing the gap that I had made.  In my haste my foot lodged itself between two large rocks.  A sickening snap and a wave of pain overwhelmed me as my body flew forward and slammed into the ground.  The sound was too close now, there was no use fighting against the inevitable.  I rolled over, tears streaming down my face just as Gerri came crashing down over me. 

Her jaw expanded and her lips drew back, exposing her huge white teeth.  She let out a terrifying growl, but my body was locked into place under the weight of her paw.