Bound To Her Bear (Bear Bluff Clan 1) (2 page)

Drew Stanton: they had known each other in school and had been on friendly terms afterwards. But since he had become part of the council, she, like many others, had avoided him. He shook his head; it wasn’t because of the council, was it? Of course not, it had more to do with the fact his father, Wayne McCormac, had given away Garrow’s Creek to Carson Frasier. He was unsure how many people knew the full story surrounding what happened, but he knew news usually leaked out.

He sighed, his joy of being free gone. Eirik knew he should return home and do his duty for the Clan. He should get back to work, making sure there were no other issues with his father’s handling of the accounts of Bear Bluff. Then there was his mom, heartbroken by the revelations his father had sex with a bear.

He cringed at the thought. A female from Bear Creek had preferred her bear form above being human. Some men from around the two towns would go to her and mate in bear form— something frowned upon. This female had given birth to a child. That much was true.

Somehow, this Carson Frasier had found out Wayne McCormac's secret. Then he had convinced Wayne that he was his father, making him heir to Wayne's role as Holder of the Deeds on the council. After Wayne’s death, Carson had got his hands on the deeds from Garrow's Creek and threatened to tear the Bear Bluff Clan apart.

All these claims were refuted with DNA proof, but his mom was still left shaken. Not being a shifter herself, she had assumed she had been a let-down as a mate, and that was why Wayne had died young.

He stopped, wanting to get these thoughts out of his head. The autumn sun rose in the sky and he felt the sudden urge to roll in mud and swim in the river that crashed out of the mountain into a deep pool. Wash away all these bad memories. He often wondered if he would ever make any good ones to replace them.

With some relish, Eirik McCormac, newest and youngest member of the Bear Bluff Council, threw himself into the stickiest muddiest puddle he could find. There he rolled on his back until his coat was plastered in mud. Then he got up and shook himself, feeling the great globs of mud flying through the air. My, that felt good.

The old Eirik McCormac made his way further up the mountain to the river. There he stood looking at his reflection in the pool. It shimmered as ripples from the waterfall reached the edge where he stood. Taking a deep breath, he jumped into the air, feeling the water drag at his great bear coat. Kicking his short legs, he propelled himself up to the surface; there he swam around in a circle before heading for the bank.

Hauling himself up, he shook the rainbow of water droplets from his coat. That was so good, but now he wanted to swim in his human body. Shimmering into his other form, he quickly stripped his clothes from his body. He made his way further up the trail, to find the best place to dive in. His heart felt lighter, it was good to be here and alone.

Only he wasn’t: a pair of eyes watched him. Watched every move of his big, muscled body and allowed herself to fantasise for once, after all.

She had come straight up to the pool, figuring he would go out across the open plain. But instead he had come here, and she had been unable to tear her eyes away from him. First as a bear and now as a solid, muscular dream of a man.

It felt so forbidden: to be here, watching him like this, when he had no idea. He certainly hadn’t invited her to invade his privacy. Yet she couldn’t let her guilt stop her watching him, as his powerful arms propelled him the short distance across the deep pool. How she longed to touch him, to run her fingers across his wet chest and feel his heart beat there so strong and real.

Would she ever have that privilege, with any man? Or would she always be the one who had to look after her father? Until this moment, when she stood with her mouth dry and
other
parts of her body intimately wet, she didn’t realise how much she craved a man. A man to love and cherish her. A mate who would help her and make her feel safe, not in a protective, possessive way. She didn’t need brute force to help her through the day, more of a shoulder to cry on, a man who would listen to her, comfort her, and be there for her. No one in her life was there for her, not since her mom had passed.

So caught up in her own dream world, her eyes misty with unshed tears, she completely missed him turn to look directly at her. Not until he spoke did he pull her from her fantasy.

“Are you going to just stand there and stare, or do you want to join me, Drew?”

She pulled back, hiding her bear body from him. How did he know she was here? What should she do?

“I won’t bite.” His voice was easy-going, it reminded her of the days when they were friends.

She held her breath; he knew she was here. He’d used her name, so it wasn’t as if he just knew any female was here. The image of him came to her, followed by the feeling of need. A need to talk to someone other than those she worked with and her drunken father.

In town, she would never have a chance to talk to Eirik; he was too good for her. But here, in the mountains, she could almost pretend they were equals. Taking a chance, she allowed herself to change, pushing the bear out of her mind when it wanted to stay and pant in appreciation at Eirik’s naked body, now half covered by water.

“I didn’t know you were coming to the river,” she said as she stepped out of the bushes. “You usually run out on the open meadow. So I thought I would have avoided you by coming here. I could just leave you in peace.” Did her voice really have that hopeful lilt to it, the one that said
don’t send me away?

“No. If you wanted to swim, I could leave ... or you could join me. If you don’t mind my company.”

“Your company? Why should I?” She came around the path that led down to the pool, then she pulled off her shoes and socks and settled for dangling her feet in the water. “Damn, that’s cold.”

“It certainly is. I had forgotten how cold it is. It’s certainly woken me up.”

She cast a sideways glance at him. His body was even more magnificent this close up. “I’m surprised to find you up here. I thought you would be too busy with council business.”

He groaned, the sexiest sound she had ever heard. “Don’t remind me. Ben thought I should come out and try to clear my head. Then he got a message to go back to town to help deliver a baby. But then you know that, don’t you?” He smiled at her. His words weren’t meant to be accusing.

“I figured you wouldn’t want my company.”

“Why?”

“Now you’re a council member. Different social circles.” They had always been in different social circles, only now, with the state her dad was in, they seemed more pronounced.

He laughed, another sound she could listen to every day. Damn, if he wasn’t the sexiest thing on two legs or four. It was just a shame he wasn’t her mate. And for the first time she wondered what it was like to be a true human, one who picked who they dated and ultimately married, instead of having it decided for you. At this moment, if she had to pick, she would pick him. But she doubted he would ever pick someone like her.

“I might be a member of the council, but I don’t feel as though I exactly fit in.”

“What do you mean? Your dad was on the council and his father before him. You were always going to be Holder of the Deeds, or whatever the title is.”

“After the shame my father bought on our family name, I wonder if they would prefer to elect someone new.”

“Don’t be silly. Your father didn’t do anything bad.”

“He brought shame on our family and the Clan.”

“By mating with a bear. There are worse things.”

“Like giving the deeds to Garrow’s Creek away?”

“A little lapse in judgement, but not your judgement. We are not our parents, Eirik.”

He smiled. “Thank you, Drew.” Then he flicked the cold water up at her and splashed her in the face.

“Ohhh. You wait.”

“For what?” he asked, swimming out into the middle of the pool. “Going to join me?”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? You said you weren’t avoiding me because I’m an outcast of sorts.”

“You are not the outcast,” she snorted.

“Drew?” he said quietly, swimming back to the side of the pool. “Come into the water.”

She hesitated, then he lightened the mood once more by splashing her properly, soaking her T-shirt. “That does it.” She stripped her pants off and dived in, not caring that the rest of her clothes would get wet. There was no way she was going to swim naked like he was. As she surfaced, she nearly choked on the water. She had completely forgotten he was naked. That she was only feet away from a naked, sexy Eirik McCormac. Too late now.

She flicked water at him, causing him to dive under the water to get away. She couldn’t do that; if she opened her eyes she would be able to see him in all his manly glory. She swallowed her desire for him. And took up the chase. He was fast, his strong arms making up for his big body, which was in no way streamlined. She splashed after him, putting her face in the water and then surfacing, both for air and to see where he had swam off to.

For a while, they played like children. Splashing and chasing each other. Excited cries and screams filling the air. He teased her mercilessly when she couldn’t catch him and then called no fair when she pretended to have cramp and splashed him in the face when he came to her aid.

Somehow she ended up in his arms, her hands pinned to her sides so that she couldn’t splash him. It was only then, when he looked at her properly, that he saw the bruise on her face.

“How did this happen?” he asked, his voice filled with barely concealed anger.

Her breasts heaved against his hard, toned body as she fought for her breath before answering, “I slipped.”

“Don’t lie, Drew, you would have knocked yourself clean out if you had slipped and hit yourself there.” He smoothed the hair away from the bruise that was just above her eye socket. She cursed getting into the water: if her hair hadn’t been so wet, it would have hidden it.

“It’s none of your business,” she said, trying to pull away, but he held her fast.

“Then whose business is it? You have no mate and your mom is gone. My guess is the only other person whose business it is happens to be the man who gave you this.”

“It’s not what you think,” she said petulantly.

“It never is,” he replied, relaxing just a little. “I just want you to know, if ever you need anything, I’m here.”

Her bottom lip trembled and for an awful moment, she thought she was going to break down and cry in front of him. “That’s kind of you, Eirik. But you don’t have to pity someone like me. As I said, it’s not what you think. He’s never hit me.”

“Not directly.”

“It was an accident.”

“That’s what women tell themselves.”

She shrugged him off now, suddenly feeling the chill of the water deep into her bones. “I’m not some foolish girl who lives in a fantasy world. I know what I am and I know what my father is. Don’t you think I see how we don’t fit in? Pitied because my mother is gone. Most of the townsfolk prefer it if my dad is in a drunken state of collapse. Because it means they don’t have to look him in the eyes and see the loss there.”

“Drew,” he called as she swam for the bank.

“I have to go,” she said, pulling herself out of the water, her body now shaking with the cold. Pausing, she tried to wring out her T-shirt, cursing at having been stupid enough to go into the water at all. She should have kept herself distant. That was always the best way. Don’t let anybody in. She had thought she wanted to have a relationship, find a mate. However, that was just her lust for Eirik’s body talking. She pulled on her pants, struggling to get them over her thighs; her skin was damp and cold, making them stick. Her good mood had completely disappeared and she wished she had never come here. And one thing was for sure: Eirik McCormac was not her mate, and she should get all ideas of him out of her head.

It was her duty to look after her dad, and be alone. They were a perfect match. He had lost his mate and she would never find hers.

He moved quickly, climbing out of the cold water and heading for his clothes. For some reason, he couldn’t let her leave like this. She wasn’t his mate; the pull to be with her would have been much stronger than this for both of them if she was. Yet, still, there was a side of him that wanted her to be happy, to be safe. And that side didn’t want them to part on bad terms.

His clothes stuck to him, his T-shirt rolling up when he tried to pull it over his chest. Steadying his hands, he took his time to unroll it and then tackled his jeans, which were cold against his wet skin. But his bear blood soon chased any chill away, and he turned to look where she was. Too late—he was still pulling on his boots when she shimmered into her bear and took off at a run down the mountain.

Cursing, he changed, the air crackling, a sign his emotions were no longer under control. This was an unusual experience for Eirik, who had learned to mask his emotions well. He was sure that as he sat around the table with the council, they could not tell what he was thinking. How he felt, under his cool, calm exterior. Only his uncle, the chief of the Bear Bluff Clan, had any idea how hard it was for him to deal with everything that had happened.

Drew moved fast, faster than he expected. By the time he was close to her, she was way back down the mountain and near the place where she would change. It was where they all changed, the little grove of trees above the town. It was safe there from prying eyes.

That was where he could catch up with her. Bar her way if needs be, to stop her from storming off. He hated that he had upset her. He also hated the fact that she had a bruise on her face. No matter what she said, he knew her father was responsible, but he had to admire her loyalty. Part of him wished he could earn that loyalty from her, that he could find a way to make her loyal to him.

Yet that kind of loyalty should be reserved for her mate. And she
wasn’t
his mate, he reminded himself once more. But deep down, the stirrings inside him, as he turned back into his human form, told him he really wished she was.