Big Bear Blunder: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Suspense Romance (Sweetwater Brides) (9 page)

S
ara could feel
the car rumble to a stop. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as she tried desperately to remain calm. She would need to have her wits about her if she was going to get out of this one.

Heavy footfalls approached the trunk. She briefly entertained the idea of kicking at whoever opened it, but the pain in her gut from when the tattooed jerk had punched her made her reconsider.

No way of getting away if I’m coughing up blood and curled up in a ball.

She had decided to call the man the tattooed jerk. The other one was cowboy jerk. Not very original, she had to admit, but being kidnapped hadn’t really put Sara in a creative mood.

Tattooed jerk opened the drunk and dragged her out. Sunlight blinded her for a moment as her eyes readjusted. She looked around, trying to ascertain where she was. It was necessary information, if she attempted to escape at some point.

She was surrounded by trees as far as the eye could see. She couldn’t hear any cars or other sounds indicating civilization, so she was probably pretty deep in the forest.

Well, shit,
she thought.
Even if I do manage to run away, I’ll probably just get lost. How am I supposed to out-sprint shifters?

Of course, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t try if the opportunity presented itself.

Cowboy jerk appeared from behind the car, grabbing hold of the rope binding her hands and yanking her towards an abandoned-looking building a few yards away. Sara decided not to struggle – she wouldn’t have been able to outrun these guys anyway.

The house was large and looked like a factory or mill of some sort. The wood was sodden and discolored, the windows just gaping mouths with no glass.

The inside of the building was mostly empty, some workbenches and large metal wheels the only things remaining. The jerk duo led Sara to the back, where someone had dragged an old couch against the wall. Two men were playing cards at a tired-looking table next to it. Sara remembered seeing one of them the day she dropped off her shipment. Lounging on the sofa was another familiar figure.

Keith Clearpond was typing something on his phone, not even bothering to look up when Sara was pushed into the room. Sara’s captors stood at either side of her, waiting in silence. When Keith finally finished and looked at her with a smile, they shoved her forward.

Sara stumbled, almost falling on her face, touching down on her knee.

Having your hands tied behind your back doesn’t really do much for one’s balance. Sara pushed herself back onto her feet, wishing that looks could kill.

“Take a weight off, it’s probably been a tough day,” Keith said, patting the seat next to him.

Sara’s mouth was still covered in duct tape, so she opted for a stern headshake and a scowl that in a just world would have opened the gates of hell up beneath Keith and gobbled him right up. Keith pursed his lips impatiently, nodding at the tattooed jerk. The man gave Sara a shove and she plunked down on the couch, legs in a tangle.

She wiggled around into a more upright position, shaking her head to get the hair out of her eyes. Cowboy jerk gave Sara a nasty little smirk before stepping out of the room.

“You’re probably not very happy right now, but if you sit tight and don’t cause trouble, it will all be over soon, okay little lady?” Keith said, as if he were talking to a child.

Sara glanced at the tape, signaling to Keith she would like to speak.

“Well, okay, but be polite,” Keith said, ripping off the tape.

Sara’s lips stung, her mouth feeling very dry. She had a barrage of insults ready, but she bit her tongue. Obviously, she was dealing with a pretty messed up individual. Best not provoke him.

“Why am I here?” she asked, staring Keith in the eyes.

“Tell you the truth, it’s the only play I have left,” Keith said, shrugging. “If you’re Everett’s mate, we’re pretty much screwed. Three Grimpaw brothers with mates? We might as well start packing,” Keith continued, throwing his hands in the air as if he were an actor on some cheap daytime drama.

“You’re going to kill me,” Sara noted matter-of-factly, her insides turning cold.

“I haven’t decided on that yet. You could still be useful as a bargaining chip, if you truly are Everett’s mate. We’ll just have to see how he reacts to you being gone. That will tell us all we need to know,” Keith said, looking at Sara appraisingly. “You can help your odds by being cooperative,” he added coaxingly.

Yeah, right,
Sara thought to herself.

But it was better to play along – maybe they’d lower their guards around her if they thought her a compliant prisoner.

“Fine,” Sara ground out, turning her gaze away from Keith.

She didn’t think she could stand one more second of looking at his face.

The men playing cards at the table chuckled.

“That’s a good little girl,” one of them cooed, grinning at her.

Tattooed jerk held up his busted up hands and spoke for the first time since Sara laid eyes on him. His voice was slow, heavy and filled with gravel.

“Don’t be fooled,” he said, as the other men stared at his scratched and bloody forearms. “Kitty has claws,” he continued, evoking some laughs from around the room.

Keith looked at Sara with a raised brow and growing interest.

“Maybe she just likes you,” one of the men at the table offered, smirking.

Sara stayed quiet, deciding it better not to engage, though it was burning her up not to. She heard Keith’s phone buzz. He looked at the screen and scowled before mumbling something under his breath.

“Joe, Mike, go get them,” Keith ordered the men at the table, getting up from the couch and tossing the phone at one of them.

“What’s up?” the man Sara guessed was Joe asked.

“They got stuck,” Keith grumbled with a sigh.

Who got stuck where?
Sara thought, trying to figure out what else Keith had planned.

“Figures,” Mike said, throwing his hand of cards on the table. “Just as I was about to win.”

Cowboy jerk reappeared in the doorway.

“Need me to come?” he asked, cutting a piece off the apple he was holding and tossing it in his mouth.

“No, you and Steve stay here and watch the girl,” Keith said, pointing his chin at the tattooed jerk and then at Sara.

Steve?
Sara thought, considering the man.

She preferred the name she had given him.

Suits him better,
she thought bitterly.

“My pleasure,” cowboy jerk grinned, sitting down next to her and chewing loudly.

Sara shifted in her seat, trying to put as much distance between her and the man as possible. She pulled her legs up on the couch and settled in.

Might was well get comfortable.

It didn’t seem she was going anywhere for a while. Cowboy jerk edged closer, holding a piece of apple between his fingers.

“Want a bite?” he asked, leering at Sara.

“No thank you,” Sara responded, contempt dripping from every word.

“Bet you’d say yes if it was Everett Grimpaw offering,” cowboy jerk continued, moving even closer.

“Back off!” Sara hissed, kicking at him with her legs.

That took the man off-guard, prompting him to drop both the apple and the knife on the dust-covered floor. The blade slid under the couch with a soft clang.

“Bitch,” he mumbled under his breath, reaching down and shoving his hand under the sofa.

“Quit messing around and come deal,” tattooed jerk called, sitting down at the now empty table.

Cowboy jerk threw Sara one last annoyed glance before getting up and taking a seat on the chair opposite his friend.

There was a small gap between the couch and the wall behind it. Sara glanced at the men, already dealing cards and telling jokes. They were no longer paying attention to her. Sara peered behind the sofa, her pulse quickening. A tiny glint caught her eye. The knife had slid straight under the couch and stopped at the wall.

Idiot,
Sara thought, glancing at cowboy jerk.
You fucked up. I’ll only need a moment’s distraction to make you regret it.

A
ll eyes flew
to him when Everett burst through the door of Ethan’s home. Evan and Karen were in the kitchen area, making coffee. Ethan and Jennifer already had their cups and were sitting at the table.

Zeke was still on the couch but this time accompanied by his brother Aaron. One of Ethan’s lieutenants, Jameson, was also there, pacing the living room.

“I gather she wasn’t there,” Evan questioned, pouring black liquid into his cup.

“No,” Everett said grimly, sitting down on the edge of the couch.

“Keith might not be the brightest bulb in the box, but even he wouldn’t take a girl he’s just kidnapped to his own house,” Ethan noted.

“I had to try, okay? I can’t just sit around waiting for her to magically turn up,” Everett thundered, lashing out in aggravation.

At that, Ethan shot up, almost knocking his chair over.

“You dumbass! You think we’ve been sitting here? We’ve already checked out all known Clearpond properties and have other clan members doing sweeps in hopes of picking up Sara’s trail. We haven’t had much luck. We reconvened here, hoping you’d show up. It’s not like we could call you,” Ethan said, gesturing to Everett’s destroyed phone, still in pieces on the floor.

Jennifer gently grabbed Ethan’s arm, pulling him back down.

“This is no time for fighting,” Jameson spoke up. “I understand we’re all emotional, especially you, Everett. But it’s time to cool it and think rationally,” he said forcefully.

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Everett muttered, his head in his hands.

He had let his anger and fear take over. He was no good to Sara like this. It was time to get it together.

She needs me.

“We’ll get her back,” Aaron said, reaching out and clapping Everett on the shoulder. “I need to meet the woman that’s got my clan-brother acting like a right fool,” he added with a wry smile.

“Thanks, man,” Everett quipped, forcing a brief smile on his lips.

“We need to think, where could Keith be holding her,” Evan said, rubbing his temples.

Something sparked in Everett’s mind, a series of coincidences seeming to click into place.

“The woods. The woods near the motel. Twice now, I’ve seen wolves tail it straight into those woods, but there is nothing there. No one from the Clearpond pack lives there, in fact no one lives there at all, as far as I know,” Everett said, standing and starting to pace.

“They could’ve just headed for the first available tree line for cover,” Ethan commented, not sounding convinced.

“Once, sure, but twice now? And the wolf who was creeping on me and Sara from the parking lot really gave me the runaround. At the time I thought he was just trying to shake me, but what if he was trying to hide something instead? Some place the wolves have been meeting at in secret?” Everett continued, growing more enthusiastic about his theory by the second. “I should have stayed on him,” he added, mostly to himself.

“It’s not like we have any other leads,” Aaron said, shrugging.

“That’s a lot of ground to cover. Assuming they’ve taken steps to cover their tracks, it could take days to search those woods,” Jameson countered, spreading his hands.

Ethan got up and disappeared into his bedroom, returning with a laptop.

“Maybe we can narrow it down,” he said, pulling up a satellite image of the woods.

Evan and Everett crowded in next to him, and together they went through the images inch by inch. The other men hovered around close by.

After about twenty minutes, Everett started to doubt himself. It was just miles and miles of wilderness with no buildings to hide in. His fist landed on the table in frustration, just as Ethan spoke.

“Wait, what’s that?” he said, pointing to a brown blob on the map.

“Looks like it might be an abandoned building of some sorts,” Evan noted, squinting.

A quick Google search revealed that a mill had once existed in the woods.

“How did I not know about this?” Everett asked, puzzled.

“From what I can gather from these articles, the owner was totally clueless about the timber business and the whole enterprise went up in flames in a matter of months. It’s been abandoned for years now,” Evan commented, staring at the screen. “This was decades ago. We were little more than cubs back then.”

“That has to be it,” Everett boomed, invigorated by hope.

“Well then. What are we waiting for?” Ethan concurred, looking around the room. “I think the Clearpond mutts need to be taught a little lesson,” he continued, receiving nods from the other men.

“Just be careful,” Jennifer said, giving Ethan a quick kiss on the cheek.

“What she said,” Karen agreed, wrapping Evan in a hug.

“I think it’s the Clearponds who need to be worried about being careful now,” Everett growled.

T
he Grimpaw bears got
as close to the mill in their pickups as they could without alerting the wolves to their presence. They covered the rest of the way on foot.

“You guys secure the perimeter, Keith may have friends with him. I don’t want any of them getting away when they run out fearing for their lives,” Everett grumbled, earning an eye-roll from Aaron.

“You sure you want to go in alone?” Zeke asked with a raised brow.

“
You
should have stayed home, you’re still limping,” Evan noted, giving Zeke a pointed look that shut the man up.

“This is my fight. Keith will pay for every minute he’s kept Sara captive,” Everett hissed, his jaw tightening.

“Whatever you say,” Jameson grimaced, holding up his hands.

They knew better than to challenge a bear when his mate was at stake.

The men spread out, Everett heading straight towards the mill. He could sense several warm bodies moving around inside. Slowly, he crept up to the entrance, keeping his eyes peeled.

Damp air and the smell of mold hit him as Everett entered the building. He walked through the rooms, hearing the buzz of conversation both at his sides and up front.

Everett let the bear surface, his eyes turning dark brown and his hands rippling between fists and paws. He kept the shift at the very cusp, the bear straining to be let loose. Sara’s scent hit him, familiar and inviting. Everett drew it in, overjoyed with the knowledge that she was really there.

He needed to get to her.

Lord have mercy on whoever stood in his way.

Everett stuck to the walls as he reached the room Sara was being held in. He could hear men laughing and the sound of shuffling cards.

“You want some water, little lady?” Keith’s voice purred.

“Sure. I’ll need my hands to drink it, though,” Sara’s voice echoed.

Relief flooded Everett. She didn’t sound hurt, at least.

“Nice try,” Keith chuckled.

Fun’s over,
Everett thought, stepping out of the shadows and into the room.