Rescued by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan 1) (6 page)

For a split second, he felt guilty that his friends were going to be dragged into this fight. They might be hurt, or even killed. It was always a possibility. However, they knew he would do the same for them. That was what bears did; they stuck together through thick and thin. As if reading his mind, Daryl and Hal brushed past him, they looked at him, and nodded. The bears were going into battle.

Brad threw back his head, bracing himself on his sturdy legs, to let out a long, loud roar. As it ended, he lowered his head. These creatures needed to understand, bears never gave in to trespassers. They were no match for a bear who was fighting for the virtue of his mate.

As he leapt forward, a hyena jumped on his back. He swung around, snarling at it, his teeth bared. Snapping at him, he caught its leg, and then swung his weight around. The hyena flew off, crying out in pain as he hit a tree. One down, so many more to go. The other three joined him now, taking on foxes, and another couple of hyenas. The loud mouth leaning against the tree sighed, and then changed into his other self.

Brad looked up; in his jaws, he held one of the foxes, no match for him. But the lynx that had shimmered into being in front of him. Now that might be a problem.

It all happened so fast. She was on the back of a motorbike, heading up towards Brad's house. Only half way up the other bikers who had been sent to fight her pursuers met them.

"That was quick?" The man in front of her, the man she had her arms wrapped very tightly around, asked.

"They ran." One of his men answered, and then sneered. "They saw us coming and ran."

"Which direction?"

"The falls."

"Come on. We have to go rescue the sheriff."

The others laughed. "Why not leave him to his fight? He can handle those idiots."

"There's more of them. And I don't know about you, but I would prefer to keep the sheriff we have, rather than one from outside."

There was a rumble of agreement. Then they were moving, too fast, back down the track, and out onto the road. She clung to him tightly, her body crushed against his. But despite this closeness, she felt nothing for him. Not like the intense heat that consumed her when she was around the sheriff. Brad. She closed her eyes and prayed he would be OK.

Motorbike headlights flooded the road, their rumbling engines filling the night with their sound. They shattered the peace of Bear Creek, a warning that they were on their way. Abbi hoped it might be enough to frighten off the men waiting to ambush Brad. However, a loud roar echoing down the valley told her it was too late. The fight had begun.

The biker in front of her stiffened. He had heard it too. To have been heard over the motorbike engines, she knew it must be loud. A challenge or the sound of defeat? A challenge, she told herself. Made herself believe. Brad would be OK. She wanted to shout, to let him know they were coming, but she guessed the bikes did that.

Turning off the road, they headed up a narrow trail. She had lost her bearings, but she was sure it headed back towards the house. He had been on his way to her. That was how they set up the ambush.

Once again, she reminded herself she was being stupid. He didn't care for her that much. As they bumped up the uneven trail, the headlights made the trees into silhouettes. She could hear the loud roars and howls of a battle. For someone he didn't care for, the sheriff was putting on a fierce fight.

Her brain struggled to cope with this information. She hadn't really accepted the truth that he was a bear. How many of these creatures were there? How did you become one? Was it a bit, like the werewolf myths. Would he bite her, and turn her into one of these beasts? That was too much, and her stomach lurched. How the hell had, she ended up in the middle of all this.

The bikers stopped, and were off and running, throwing their helmets to the ground. As they moved they blurred, and in one fluid movement, they were bears. Big hulking bears. teeth bared, roaring with rage they entered the fray. Carnage ensued, the assortment of other animals screaming in pain. She tried to make out which bear was Brad, but she had no idea. The whole scene was a mess of thick brown fur. Large bodies intent on one thing, defending their territory.

It ended quickly, no beast able to withstand an attack from this number of bears. Most ran off, but one, a cat of some sort was pinned to the ground under a giant bear claw. While she watched, one of the bears shimmered before her eyes. He faded into nothing before he materialised as Brad.

She gasped; his body had scratches across it. His chest showing what looked like cat claw marks, seeping blood. That he had gone through so much for her, made her ache to soothe his pain away. The other bears didn't change. They stood in a group, snarling and growling at the cat lying on the floor.

"This is a warning, cat. Leave our territory. If we so much as scent you around Bear Creek, you will not be spared. Now go tell your boss. Abbi belongs to another."

The cat looked up at him and hissed. The bear still pinning him down pressed a little harder. The cat hissed and then meowed like an injured pussycat. Then the bear took his weight off, and the cat leaped up. In a streak of fur, he jumped into the undergrowth, moving fast to get away.

Now calmer, the bears changed, one by one becoming men.

Brad went up to motorbike guy. "Thank you, Will. We could have handled them." Will laughed, and Brad conceded, "But it would have been a lot harder without you."

He looked at the rest of the men; none of them so bruised and cut up as Brad. "Thank you all. You don't know how much this means to me."

Abbi stood there stunned. His words to the cat, and then to everyone else. He said she belonged to someone else, and then thanked them all for helping him. Did he mean that she belonged to him? She wasn't sure she liked the idea of that. There was no way she was going to live as a modern day slave just to thank him for saving her life.

His eye caught hers, and read her expression. Her emotions were spiralling out of control. One part of her craved to be his, the other part of her wanted to run away. She had not swapped a tiger for a bear. Don't say she had to go on the run again. But when he came towards her, she stood her ground.

"Can I say thank you too. Thank you all. I don't know you, and you don't know me. But thank you for helping get rid of those..."

"Animals," Will said. They laughed, and the mood broke. Then they talked and laughed, many re-enacting scenes from their fight. All be it a little over exaggerated. They were just like normal men. They could be talking about a football match rather than a battle between beasts.

Brad came over to her, by his face she could tell he was unsure how close to get, or what to say. "Are you OK?" Were the words he settled for.

"Yes. Thank you." She looked at his wonderful body, all beat up and scratched. "You really look as if you need to see a doctor."

He looked down at his chest. "It'll heal." He hesitated, and then said, "We heal pretty quickly."

She looked into his eyes, seeing his nervousness. He was so unsure of her reaction. She had been wrong to imagine he was anything like Tarnac. He wasn't going to push himself on her, to make her do anything she didn't want to do. Attacking those beasts had been done to keep her safe as much as for him to claim her as his own. The question she had to ask herself now centred on how she felt about belonging to this man. Not as some slave, but as his mate. A bear’s mate.

The idea excited her.

"By we, I take it you mean bears."

He nodded, not taking his eyes off her face. "I would have broken it you more gently. But..."

"It's OK. I'd already worked it out."

"You had? How?"

"Some of them came to your house. I heard them talking ... Oh that reminds me. Your house. They were inside. I don't know what damage they've done."

"As long as you're OK. Everything else can be replaced." He smiled. "Wow that was a corny line."

"Yes. It was." She looked up at him shyly. "But I liked the sentiment."

He grinned. "I think it would be a good idea to break up the party and get home." He turned to the group of men behind him. "I think it's time we dispersed."

"Right, Sheriff." Will said saluting Brad. "Come on, I'll take you home."

Abbi looked at him, and then back to Brad. "I'm not sure..."

"I thought you said he wasn't interested." Will smiled wickedly, and winked at Abbi, who blushed furiously. "So I thought you and me could hook up."

"She's mine." Brad squared his shoulders, his fists clenched. Testosterone filled the air.

Will laughed again. "I'm glad you admitted that to her. Otherwise I might have had to take her home and show her what it is to be with a real man."

Brad opened his mouth to retort. But Abbi placed her hand on his chest, and smiled up at him. He relaxed immediately, and looked down at her. "He was only joking."

"I know. It's just I feel like I owe you an explanation."

"That can wait until later. I really want to go home."

He froze. "Oh, of course. Ask Will, he'll take you wherever you want to go."

"I meant your home."

More than anything, that was what he wanted, to take her home. To take her to bed.

"I'll give you a ride," Will said, sauntering back to his bike.

Brad felt his jealousy rising. Was Will purposefully trying to make him angry? Whether he was or not, Brad's temper was flaring. Abbi was his mate. He was grateful they had all helped him, but she was his. He kept repeating that to himself, he knew he should be telling it to Abbi, proving it to Abbi. But he was afraid to come on too strong. He didn't want to go all caveman on her.

"How are you getting back?" Abbi asked him.

Her words cut through his brooding mood. It was a good couple of miles over rough terrain. He would probably be better to go bear. Otherwise, he would have to accept a lift of one of Will's bikers. Not good when you're the sheriff and those boys sometimes skirted close to breaking the law. If he asked her, she might walk with him, but she looked dead on her feet. And she was half naked. He should have noticed that before.

"I'll walk, well run. You go with Will. It'll be quicker. You must be freezing."

She smiled through gritted teeth. "Now you mention it. I didn't exactly dress for the outdoors." She swayed towards him, and he wanted to wrap his arms around her protectively. Perhaps he should carry her home instead. Then he remembered the state he was in. He needed a good shower.

"You go with Will. He'll get you home safely."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. He can take it as payment."

She looked at him questioningly. "Payment. How exactly will I be paying him?"

"When you get on that bike, he will know how hard it'll be for me to watch you go with him. To him that's better than money. Not that he needs money; he comes from one of the richest families in Bear Creek."

"So you are asking me to ride off into the night on the back of a bike with a millionaire."

"More of a billionaire. But he won't overstep the mark. You'll be safe."

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't take long," she said. Reluctantly, she went over to Will's bike, slipping on behind him, but not holding on too tight.

He smiled. He liked Abbi. It was one thing to be mated to another, but it didn't always mean you were happy. If you asked Will that was exactly what he would tell you.

Watching her go was still hard. But he returned to Sam and Daryl, Hal had already disappeared into the night. He didn't know how to behave in groups of more than two or three. He would probably already be back at his cabin in the mountains. Unless he had decided to chase down any stray trespassers.

"Let's go. I'm starving," said Daryl.

"Nothing like a good fight to work up an appetite," joked Sam. "Although I think our sheriff might have worked up a different kind of appetite."

Before he could answer, they had changed, and were already lumbering off into the dark night. Brad took a moment, before following, to take in everything that had happened. How things had changed in the space of twenty four hours, he would never believe.

But they had. His whole life now on a different path. He might even be a father by the end of the year. He always dreamed of having little cubs to share things with. Fishing, hunting, and sitting in deep cool ponds on hot days.

"You've gone soft already," he said to himself, and grinning, turned into his bear. As he loped off after his friends, he still had a big bear grin on his face.

The ride back was a little hair raising. The bikers sped along, whooping, their adrenalin fuelled mood contagious. They stopped at the point in the road where Brad's truck was still firmly planted in the bushes.

"I forgot to tell him about that," Abbi said.

"Don't worry about it. He'll forgive you anything." Will throttled his bike and they lurched up the track leading to Brad's house. She had to hold on tighter, and she was sure she felt his chest rumble with laughter. Perhaps he was hoping Brad would already be back at his house. Then he could watch them pull up, with Abbi desperately clinging to Will.

She needn't have worried, the bears could not travel that fast. So she got off the bike, and stood catching her breath. "Thanks, that was exhilarating."

"Any time. If things don't work out with the sheriff. You know if you find him too straight for you..." He winked. "I'll be more than happy to teach you some bad ways."

"Don't you have a mate?" she asked, hoping that would remind him she was spoken for. At least as far as she knew she was spoken for. She wasn't a hundred percent sure, how the whole thing worked.

"I did. I do. Let's just say we don't see eye to eye."

"I'm sorry. This is all new to me. A few weeks ago I had no idea about any of this world."

"Some say that we all have fated mates. I think that sometimes the fates like to have a joke. And other times they are romantics." He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.