Obeying the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 1) (7 page)

I tensed but Brandt stayed calm. “There was a note, with a lone wolf print on it, left beside the mutilated body of our second. We found him yesterday and some members of the clan are ready to come after you.”

“I see.”

Brandt continued. “My brothers and I do not believe that your pack had anything to do with this. And then I received Scarlett’s note this morning and thought this would be an opportunity to get some answers.”

Peter paused and looked at Scarlett, giving her permission to speak. “I’ve been watching your clan lately,” she said. “There seems to be a divide among you.”

“You’ve been watching us?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“Yes,” she smiled. “And welcome back.”

Brandt squeezed my thigh in warning to be silent. “Why have you been watching us?” His voice rumbled with displeasure and I was sure both Peter and Scarlett picked up on that.

“For security,” she said flatly. “If there is something amiss in your clan, it has the potential to trickle down into our business and our privacy.”

“It is no secret that we had been…working with your father to secure a say in the happenings in these mountains,” Peter said. “But our negotiations didn’t always end favorably.”

Brandt hung his head. “I did not know this.”

“I assumed as much,” Peter continued. “And we are willing to open these discussions with you again, should you become the new leader.”

Scarlett studied Brandt for a moment before speaking. “You do not have the support of everyone, correct?”

“Correct.”

She nodded. “Well, I believe you are being tricked into inciting a war with us in order to see you fail.”

“Why do you think this?” I asked. Brandt tensed beside me but said nothing.

“Your bears like to frequent our establishments and they also like to talk.” Her establishments were the three strip clubs the pack owned in the neighboring towns.

“Son of a bitch,” Brandt growled. “So you didn’t kill Dixon?”

“Of course not,” Peter said. “Nor did we have anything to do with your father’s death.”

“You need to look at one of your own,” Scarlett said, then added softly. “And I’m sorry for that.”

As a leader, she would definitely understand what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you trust. Or by someone who, by blood and pack, should be trusted until the day they died.

Brandt rose from his chair, ready to jump into action. “Thank you for telling us this.” He then pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and laid it on the table between us. “I was going through my father’s things and found this contract. Should I become alpha tomorrow, I would like to offer you what’s rightly yours.”

Peter glanced down briefly and then grinned. “I shall wish you success in your challenge tomorrow.”

Scarlett grabbed the paper and read the highlighted part. Her lips turned up in the corner and she gave Brandt a wink. “I look forward to talking to you again about this.”

We both made our way around the table and waited for Scarlett to open the door. “I’ll walk you out,” she said.

There seemed to be nothing else to say, and Brandt used the silence to digest what we had just learned. I could see it in his tensed jaw and raised shoulders. I had no doubt he was scrambling through the list of everyone in his mind wondering who would be stupid enough to kill their alpha and their second.

Scarlett caught up to us and stood beside Brandt. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, she froze. I smelled it at the same time as a wolf howled in the nearby woods. “Someone’s here,” she growled.

The dirt road in front of us was empty, but just a few seconds later, the dust kicked up around our truck where two giant grizzlies charged full speed toward us.

“Shit,” Brandt growled, stepping forward in an attempt to ward them off. He lifted his hands and shouted at them. “Stand down now!”

Scarlett started taking off her clothes, a signal of her impending change. The bears didn’t stop running, and if they continued on their path, they’d destroy Brandt. I tried to call out to him but suddenly found myself flying face first into the ground. I screamed in pain when a pair of grizzly teeth crunched down over my shoulder and lifted me into the air.

Brandt spun around and charged at us, but the bear holding me in its grip shook me violently from side to side in warning. Pain seared down my arm as my human flesh ripped into pieces and blood splattered all over my face.

“Let her go!” Brandt yelled.

But the bear didn’t listen. Instead, he dropped me to the ground and stood, with two paws, on my back. It crushed my stomach and ribs making it very difficult to breathe. I closed my eyes, fighting through the pain so that Brandt wouldn’t do something stupid and get himself killed.

“Joshua,” Brandt warned, taking a step closer. “Let her go.”

Joshua huffed, his hot air blowing against my torn skin and lifting the hair off my face. He placed both feet on the side of my head, relieving the pressure on my torso for just a few moments. Droplets of drool fell on my face, wretched breath smothering my senses. I heard something scuffle off to my side but I couldn’t see. Had that been Scarlett? Or Brandt?

“Joshua,” Brandt warned.

But I knew the grizzly above me had no intentions of obeying Brandt. I could feel it in the air, the angry and defiant scent of a crazy person.

“Joshua don’t!” Brandt screamed out in fear a second before I felt it.

Pain ripped through my neck when Joshua clamped his jaw over the back of my head and picked me up again. I think I screamed, but I couldn’t tell anymore. The fear of being mulled to death by one of my own suddenly became a reality and I froze. Joshua shook me viciously back and forth, back and forth.

And then I was sailing through the air. I landed on the other side of the road and rolled until I hit a lawn ornament on one of the lots. Blood poured from my neck, the light in me quickly seeping into the ground. I managed to focus, ever so briefly on Brandt, just in time to see him burst from his skin and leap at Joshua.

D
eath and blood
. That’s all I saw when Joshua tossed my mate to the side like a deer carcass. Pure fury and rage pounded through my blood and encouraged my change much faster than I’d ever been able to do before.

Unfortunately, Joshua disappeared by the time I’d landed on all fours. With a warning roar, I called him to me. The earth shook below my feet each time I stomped the ground. I scented Emma’s blood and looked over at her again. She lay still, her human flesh torn and her heart beat slowing. Crying out, I ran toward her as a grizzly, my mate wanting to protect her at all costs.

But I didn’t make it. Just a few steps away from Emma and a large grizzly slammed into the side of me. The hit knocked the breath out of my lungs and when we fell to the ground, we rolled over each other several times. Teeth snapping and biting, I tried to get a hold of Joshua and kept missing. His claws dug into my side, but then disappeared as we came to a stop and he darted away from me again. I stood, shaking my head and bent forward, ready to give into the chase.

“Brandt!”

Turning to see Derrick and Brennan running at me as humans, I paused for just a second. Then, from behind one of the trailers, four gray wolves charged at them. Neither man saw them at first and everything seemed to slow. I barked my warning and then slipped in the dirt as I propelled myself forward. Brennan’s eyes found mine just before he turned and spotted the wolves. I wasn’t going to make it in time and they weren’t going to change fast enough to fight back. I roared again and then a large, jet black wolf ran past me toward Derrick and Bo. Her growl echoed between the trailers as Scarlett stopped the four wolves from attacking my clan members. She nipped at one of them and barked at the others. Seconds of communication was all it took for them to realize that they had been attacking the wrong side.

Scarlett looked back at me and dipped her head. Then she led the group back toward my truck where Joshua had been running off to. Derrick slid to a stop in front of me, looking up at my eyes while still respecting my power.

“Fuck, man. You didn’t answer my calls.” A bear growled in the distance and we all turned our heads, listening. Derrick continued, “Brennan and I got wind of this attack and tried to warn you.”

“Someone on Joshua’s side found Scarlett’s note before you did this morning,” Brennan added.

I huffed and looked back at Emma. None of that mattered right now. Scarlett ran past us to the trailer where another black wolf with a graying face was coming out from behind a set of shrubs. She barked at him and lowered her head, submitting to her alpha.

Ignoring everything else, even the chatter of Derrick and Brennan trying to explain what was happening, I pushed past them and trotted over to Emma. Her eyes were closed and her heart stuttered every couple of beats. I licked her neck, tasting her blood and fueling the anger inside.

“Jesus Christ,” Brennan said and then crouched down next to her. I nudged him away with my nose. She was mine. “Relax, Brandt,” he said calmly. “I need to help her.”

Wanting to push him away again, I was distracted by the group of grizzlies charging at us again. They were next to my truck at the end of the road but would be on us in seconds. Scarlett and Peter joined me on my left, a look passing between us that solidified our relationship. Derrick shifted on the other side of me, ready to fight and drooling at the lips in anticipation.

“I need to keep the pressure on,” Brennan said when our eyes met. And while I could have used his muscle in this fight, it was more important for him to help Emma. I huffed my approval and then turned to face the traitorous grizzlies from my pack.

Joshua was out front, leading them in some kind of coup. Several more joined behind them, coming from various locations within the surrounding woods. Scarlett howled and pawed at the ground. Then her alpha made a noise that called to the rest of their pack. In an instant, several small groups of wolves emerged from their hiding places, even the small pups watched the impending fight but stayed on the porches of the trailers.

Emma screamed out in pain and I lost my focus. Brennan was hovering over her, whispering in her ear and waving me off when he saw me watching. Derrick nudged my side, making me look ahead again. Joshua and his group slowed to a walk and he stood in the center of the wolf and grizzly circle. The bears to his back turned so each one faced one of the groups of wolves. I even spotted someone, Joshua’s mate I think, eyeing up the young pups. A growl ripped through my throat, the threat in it evident. Eliza snapped her large, light brown bear head in my direction and showed me her teeth. It was a moved that defied my dominance and one which set my bear into a fit.

Peter trotted forward, eyes only on Joshua. I grunted my displeasure, but this was his territory. He looked regal and confident strolling up to a grizzly five times his size. And when he got close enough, he nipped at Joshua’s legs. The grizzly roared with anger, swiping at the alpha wolf each time he got too close. Peter bared his teeth with his continued warning to the bear who’d trespassed on his property. But Joshua seemed unfazed.

The surrounding wolves closed in and the rest of Joshua’s grizzlies puffed up in preparation for a fight. Emma screamed once more and I cringed. But then Joshua, even as a bear, sounded like he laughed at her pain. I whipped my head to stare at him only to see, and smell, the defiance rolling off of him. He’d intended on killing Emma and was happy to see her suffer.

My bear shook with uncontrollable rage.

As I let out a deafening roar, I charged at my challenger. We were supposed to fight tomorrow but today seemed as good as any. Joshua stood on his hind legs, waiting for my attack. I jumped forward, claws ripping at his sides as I clamped down on his shoulder. Blurs of gray and brown darted past me when the rest of the wolves and bears engaged in the fight. The sounds of battle flooded the tiny trailer park. Derrick went after Eliza and Peter’s wolves broke into small groups to attack each grizzly.

Joshua and I met each other swipe for swipe as we engaged. He was longer, but I was quicker. When one of his claws dug into my shoulder, I let out a cry but immediately retaliated with a bite on his arm. He dropped to the ground, circling back to regroup before charging me again. I jumped on his back, my bear aiming for the vulnerable spot behind his neck. Yet I couldn’t get a good grip. And when Peter’s broken body slammed into mine, I lost all concentration for a split second.

Scarlett cried out an ear-piercing howl and ran over to her alpha. He wasn’t moving, his side all bloodied and his eyes closed. She tried to drag him away from the fighting, but her own injured leg made it difficult to get traction. A small roar from my side had me looking back at Emma. She still lay on the ground but had shifted into her bear. The change would help her heal and seeing her bear alive gave me another round of strength.

Brennan, now as a grizzly, ran over to Scarlett and was immediately met with the wrath of her canines. But he didn’t fight back and instead lowered his head slightly letting her know he didn’t want to harm her. I didn’t understand his move until I watched him help Scarlett drag her alpha to the safety of his trailer.

And then Joshua slammed into my side again. His teeth pierced my neck, ripping free before they could get a good grip. I kicked back at him, slicing open his gut and forcing him to retreat. He stumbled backward, falling to the ground in a pile of dust. I felt the blood loss getting to my head, but my rage kept me from giving in.

Joshua screamed out in pain, the human sound morphing the bear’s call as he reluctantly shifted back into his human form. And the moment he changed, all of his bears surrounded him in a protective circle. Many of them bore the signs of a fierce battle—scratches on their face, hind ends ripped apart by the wolves. But it also appeared that none of the shifters, aside from Peter, were suffering too badly.

Joshua clutched his stomach, blood seeping out around his hand. He lay on his side, pushing further away from me with each step I took. His bears growled but I showed them my teeth. They knew it was over—Joshua had lost. One by one, they backed away leaving me a clear route to the man challenging me for alpha.

With a bark, I asked him to submit. But Joshua shook his head. “Fuck you, Brandt. You are not the strongest alpha.”

I stepped down on his leg and he screamed. My claws cut into him despite me just trying to make a point.

“Fuck. You.” He said with a whisper.

I lowered my head and growled in his face. He pinched his eyes closed and turned his head enough that he wouldn’t have all of my breath on his face. Several drops of drool fell onto his cheek and he cringed even more.

“Brandt, you have to finish this,” Derrick spoke from somewhere behind me.

Even my bear understood what he meant. I needed to kill Joshua.

Emma barked and I immediately recognized her intent. She was supporting me and supporting Derrick’s statement. Looking around the trailer park at the angry wolves and defeated grizzlies, I knew what I had to do.

When I made eye contact with Joshua, he recognized my intent and held up his hand in defeat. “I submit, I submit.” His voice shook with fear but there was still a taste of defiance in the air.

I clamped down on his hand and he flinched. “Brandt Callaghan is alpha. I accept this!” His words pushed out through gritted teeth and even still, my bear knew he was lying. With a quick glance up to all of those who’d defied me and sided with Joshua to attack our own kind, I covered his head with my mouth and picked him up off the ground. With just a few shakes, his neck snapped and Joshua Housten was no longer my challenger.

Dragging his body to the side, I walked over toward Emma. She was still breathing heavily and looked exhausted from her change. And while I’d killed my challenger, Emma has the right to seek her own revenge. With a huff, I tossed Joshua’s limp body at her feet and spoke our communicative bark. Emma roared into the sky and then stomped on his body several times. The sounds of human bones breaking continued as she took out her rage and frustration. Everyone around us stayed silent, even Eliza knew her place now.

Emma nudged at Joshua, flipping him over and over. And then she opened her mouth and clamped down on his head. With the paws on his torso and her mouth pulling from the top, she ripped his head from his body and tossed it at the bears who’d attacked us.

Emma Davis had just solidified her role within our clan.