Red, red, everything’s red. Dead, dead, Easton’s dead.
Another bear pummeled her in the side like a cannon ball. Legs splayed, she skidded across the ground, scrabbling across the chalky gravel for traction. Four bears against her, but Easton was on the ground now, and she was so close. Pain slashed across her side, down her ribs, and across her arms as the other bears fought and bit. She fought like a demon, clawing and hurting. She latched onto one of their necks and punctured him. Just a warning, she missed the artery on purpose. Next time she’d be more lethal. Leave me the fuck alone.
She reached Easton, but one of the bears knocked her legs out from under her. No matter, she could do damage from here. She latched onto Easton’s kicking hind leg and bit down with all of her strength. The clean snap of his bone rattled her jaw.
Easton bellowed in pain.
A pitch black bear hovered over Easton, teeth bared. Smelled like Creed. He roared a warning and a wave of power brushed her skin. Made her bear focus. He was trying to tell her something. Something important. He was important. Boss. Alpha.
She shook her head, uncertain.
Easton was bad. He was a bad bear. Bad.
But…he’d been nice to her before. Back when she was human. Gifted her a knife. Smiled at her after he came home from work with the others. Got mad at Jason for teasing her too much. He’d defended her. He’d made an effort to spend more time with the crew because she’d asked.
Not a bad bear.
A broken bear.
Like her.
Closing her eyes, Willa tucked her bear back into her skin. It hurt. Her bones ached too much to hold her weight, so she sagged to her knees in the dirt with a sob. She looked down at her arms, covered in claw marks and puncture wounds. Everything hurt.
She looked up at Matt’s bear, a scarred warrior, dark as a redwood and pacing tightly in front of her, between her and the other bears. Protecting her.
He’d told her once that no one else bled like Gray Backs.
She looked down at her crimson arms and lost a vital part of herself. The part she’d been clinging to that this was all just some nightmare, like the one Matt had endured. She lost hope that this could be fixed. That she could be fixed.
No one bled as much as a Gray Back.
And now she was a Gray Back bad bear.
Standing on shaky legs, she looked down at Easton, who screamed as he Changed back. He was shredded, clawed up, and gritting his teeth in pain.
“Dude,” Jason said, looking beat up and bloody. “I can see your intestines.”
Creed shrank back into his human skin. His neck had a claw mark down it, and she felt like grit.
“That’s what he fuckin’ gets,” Creed muttered.
“Set my bone,” Easton pleaded. “His leg had been snapped in half, and a jagged, white shard stuck out of his knee.
Clinton moved toward him, but Creed halted him. “I should kill you, Easton. It’s against shifter law to Turn people without consent. You claimed your Gray Back brother’s mate. You are no longer in contention for second or even third. You were just bested by a brand new sow. Willa is second in the crew now, if she chooses to stay with us. Her true mate, Matt, is third. That’s not your real punishment, though.” Creed angled his head as his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Your punishment is resetting your own bones.”
“I can’t,” Easton panted. “I can’t do this one. It’s too bad.”
“Then you shouldn’t have fucking Turned her!” Creed roared. The alpha jammed a finger at Clinton. “I forbid you to set his bones.” He turned to Jason. “I forbid you to set his bones.” He gave the same order to Matt, who was still a red, scarred-up bear. And at last, he turned to Willa. His voice went hoarse. “This is the way our world works, Willa. I can tell from your face you want to help him, but grizzly shifter law is in place for a reason. He was wrong. He shouldn’t have hurt you. Easton’s punishment is a permanent limp to remind him of what he’s done to you. I forbid you to set his bones.”
Easton let off pained noises with every breath now.
Willa couldn’t look at him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to him, tears streaming down her face.
Unable to bear the sound of his agony anymore, she ran for the woods, for the falls. For the first place she’d been when she visited these mountains. She was dirty on the outside and in. The only thing that could wash her clean was Bear Trap Falls.
The ground was uneven and stung the bottoms of her feet with cuts, but she didn’t care about that now. She’d heal in no time. All she cared about was getting as far away from Easton as she could.
He’d hurt her, Turned her, but she’d hurt him back. The sound of his snapping bone echoed through her mind, over and over. Tears blurred her vision as she stumbled through the woods toward the distant sound of running water.
Faster and faster she ran until the forest morphed into a smear of brown and green. She could run forever now and not get tired. Her bear pulsed inside of her, relieved to be away from the others and in the woods. The woods felt like home. These woods felt like home.
A sob tore out of her as she skidded to a stop on the bank of the river. “I’m a monster.”
“No, you’re not,” Matt said from behind her.
Oh, she’d known he was following. She’d sensed him and heard him. He hadn’t tried to follow quietly.
She turned, and he caught her, clutched her hard to his bare chest.
“You’re not a monster.” His voice sounded raspy, as if he were forcing the words through his tightening vocal cords. “You’re so fucking beautiful. Your bear is perfect. Strong and fierce, just like you, Willa.” He picked her up and carried her into the water, then washed the blood from her arms. From her face and neck as she cried silent tears.
“How will I tell my Dad?”
“I’ll help.”
“How will I tell my friends?”
“The bombshells? They’ll be insanely jealous. And if they don’t like it, you can eat them.”
The first hint of a smile curved his lips.
With a sigh, she traced the long, open gash across his shoulder. “I hurt you.”
Matt snorted. “I’ve had worse. You were terrifying and lethal. Powerful. Do you know how rare you are?”
She frowned and hugged his neck as he walked along the sandy bottom toward the falls. “What do you mean?”
“Did you not hear Creed declare you second in the crew?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means you are second only to the alpha. Easton and I have been battling for that rank for two years. It’s why I always come home bloody.”
“Oh no, I took your spot? I’m sorry.” Shit, she couldn’t do anything right.
“Nerd, I’m glad you took it. I don’t care about rank. It’s a dominance thing with our bears, and your bear is a beast.”
Chills rippled up her arms. “You say that like it’s a good thing.”
“I just watched my mate whoop Easton’s ass. That was fucking awesome. I wanted to kill him.” Matt gritted his teeth so hard a muscle in his jaw twitched. “I wanted to rip him apart limb from limb for what he did to you, but I didn’t have to. You can defend yourself just fine.”
“You don’t think the boys are going to be mad at me for…you know…”
“Taking every one of us on? No, not mad. Shocked, but not mad. You just dumped our little crew on its ass, Willamena Madden. And you came damn close to taking this crew out from under Creed.”
“I wanted you to do it,” she rushed out.
“Do what?” he asked, touching her cheek just under her eye.
“I thought about this, Turning. I imagined what it would be like years from now if we decided to do it. I know you didn’t want to Turn me, but I thought if I was ever like you, it would be because you chose me.”
“Oooh, Willa,” he whispered, stroking a damp tress of her hair from her face. “I already chose you. I just didn’t want you to have to r
egister to the public. I didn’t want you to ever go through what I did with IESA. I wanted to protect you.”
“So you regret that I’m like this?”
He shook his head, his blue eyes so sad. “No. If anything, I love you more.”
She smiled through her tears. “You love me?”
“I do, and I can’t stand that Easton was the one who claimed you.”
“Will you fix it?”
Matt nodded uncertainly. “It’ll hurt.” He brushed his fingers over the uneven skin of the scar Easton had bitten into her shoulder.
“Do it quick. I don’t want to be Easton’s.”
Matt’s throat moved as he swallowed hard, and he turned her gently in the water. She exhaled a shaky breath as he laid a kiss over her claiming mark. This would seal their linked fates. His bite would tether their lives together for always, and a trill of excitement blew through her as he kissed her scar again, grazing his teeth against her this time.
“You ready?” he asked in a gravelly, sexy voice.
The cicadas died down as if they anticipated the life-altering moment. The frogs and birds didn’t sound as deafening as she prepared to receive the mark that would change the course of her future. Toes on the sandy river bottom, water lapping at her breasts, gooseflesh on every inch of her body, she nodded. “I’m ready.”
Matt’s teeth sank into her shoulder. Burning, blinding pain consumed her for a moment as he clamped down and cut into muscle, and then he released her, and the ache lessened. Cleaning her gently with river water, he told her, “You’re mine now, Willa, and I’m yours. I’ll protect you from now until the end of my life. I don’t have much, but you can have all of it. All of me.”
She relaxed back against him as happiness flooded her veins. I don’t have much. He had more than enough for her.
Matt kissed her earlobe and opened his mouth to say something more, but someone whooped and splashed into the water right beside them.
Jason popped up near Willa and grinned. “Hey Gray Back Badass.”
She washed the tears from her cheeks. “More like Gray Back Bad Bear.”
“Please,” he muttered, kicking away with a splash. “All Gray Backs are bad bears. Wear that title with pride.”
Matt laughed from behind her and splashed Jason. Clinton swung from the rope swing and tucked his body into a ball. His canon ball wave dumped over them. When he came up for air, he said, “Hey, remember that time this girl no bigger than a kid turned into a monster bear and kicked all of our asses?”
“I told you,” Creed said from where he was sitting on the beach. “C team.”
“Not C team anymore,” Clinton argued. “Everyone will be jealous. If Willa is part of our crew, we have a dominant badass chick to add to our already substantial awesomeness.”
“Who can cook gumbo,” Jason added with a teasing smile.
The boys seemed happy, excited even, but she’d only been a bear for half a day and had just tried to kill and eat one of their own, like a psychopath. Sarcastically, Willa muttered, “You’re all so lucky.”
“We are,” Easton said from the trees. He was leaning heavily on a towering spruce, his eyes averted.
If she didn’t have her new bear hearing, she would’ve missed his soft admission.
“Better get a towel on if you don’t want everyone to see you naked,” Creed called from the shore where he held up what looked like a cartoon turtle beach towel.
“Hate to break it to you, but everyone has already seen me naked. No use in hiding my teeny ta-tas now.”
“Yes, our crew has, but unless you want the other crews to see you, I’d suggest you hurry scurry. I’ve called our friends and they live close.”
Matt grinned and kissed her, then swam her to the bank and carried her out of the water.
“What friends?” Willa asked.
“You’ll see,” Matt whispered against her ear.
Creed settled the towel around her shoulders and sighed. He gripped her shoulders and slowly pressed his forehead against hers. “Welcome to my crew.”
Clinton, dripping wet with a grin on his face, did the same and pressed his forehead to hers. “Welcome to the Gray Backs.”
Jason followed. “Welcome to the new A team, Gray Back Badass.”
Matt kissed her forehead for a long time. “Welcome home…” His smile lifted his lips, then faded. “Mate.”
She gripped his wrists and squeezed her eyes tightly closed, absorbing the hope she’d thought she’d lost. Maybe she wasn’t broken after all. Maybe she could be a better version of herself here, if she worked hard enough.
She turned to Easton, who hadn’t moved from his place by the trees. From the way he was hunched over in pain, he likely couldn’t move well. Approaching slowly, she hoped he didn’t hate her.
“You said you were sorry for hurting me,” he murmured as she squared up in front of him.
“I am.”
He looked up at her, green eyes full of remorse and sadness. “It’s I who am sorry, Willa. I didn’t realize it was wrong. I liked that you were nice to me, and I didn’t want you to go away. My selfishness hurt you. I’m sorrier than you’ll ever know.”
Willa tried to smile, but she was too emotional. “Welcome me home then, and I’ll think about forgiving you someday.”
Tenderly, Easton, her maker, stood straight and cupped her face. Leaning his forehead against hers, he whispered, “I welcome you home, Second.” He eased back and angled his head at a crowd of people traveling up the bank of the river. “Now go on. You have more people to meet.”
Baffled at the large number of people gathering by Matt, she padded toward them. A blond-haired woman stood at the front, tears rimming her eyes. “Is it true?” she asked Matt thickly. “Have you found her?”
Matt nodded and pulled Willa against his side. “Cassie, this is my mate, Willa. Willa, this is my sister, Cassie.”
The woman pulled them both in close. She was crying, shoulders shaking with quiet sobs. “I always hoped he’d find you.”
Willa sniffled and hugged Cassie and Matt tighter.
Cassie eased back and wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand, then gestured toward the crowd behind her. A pair of women were sniffling and smiling kindly, and a tall man with striking blue eyes shook Creed’s hand, while a little bear cub and a little girl chased each other through the crowd. Another man was holding a box of red wine. Each one of them looked different, but they all wore similar, welcoming smiles on their faces.
Matt clapped the back of a dark-headed man with tattoos up his neck, then turned to her. “Willa, newest member of the Gray Back Crew, meet our allies, the Ashe Crew.”
As Matt led her to each of the Ashe Crew to introduce them, and then through the Boarlanders and the Lowlanders, Willa was awed at what she’d stumbled onto here.
These people, these crews, were like families, and she’d chosen hers in the Gray Backs the day she’d fallen for Matt. And even though she was scared and had a lot to learn about her bear and this new world she’d fallen into, she was proud to be here. To be a part of a crew. To be second to Creed, and Matt’s chosen mate.
The claiming mark on her neck tingled as Matt gripped her shoulder and hugged her close.
She was safe and alive and wanted.
But more than all of that, she belonged.
As long as she lived, she’d have a crew at her back. People to protect and care for. People who would protect and care for her.
The bombshells’ purpose suddenly became so painfully obvious. She’d had to endure unhealthy friendships to appreciate what she had here.
“Are you okay?” Matt asked, looking down at her with worry in his eyes.
“Better than okay.” Pushing thoughts of painful past friendships away, she smiled up at him, her loyal, adoring, scarred and imperfect, but always patient mate. “I think I’m going to like being a Gray Back.”
Up Next in the Gray Back Bears Series
Gray Back Alpha Bear
Coming August 2015
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Want more of these characters?
Read T. S. Joyce’s bestselling Saw Bears series.
Complete series, available now.
Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)
Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)
Timberman Werebear (Book 3)
Sawman Werebear (Book 4)
Axman Werebear (Book 5)
Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)
Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)
Other Series by T. S. Joyce
Fire Bears
Bear My Soul (Book 1)
Bear the Burn (Book 2)
Bear the Heat (Book 3)
Bear Valley Shifters
The Witness and the Bear (Book 1)
Devoted to the Bear (Book 2)
Return to the Bear (Book 3)
Betray the Bear (Book 4)
Redeem the Bear (Book 5)
Bear Valley Valentine (Valentine’s Day Novella)
Hells Canyon Shifters
Call of the Bear (Book 1)
Fealty of the Bear (Book 2)
Avenge the Bear (Book 3)
Claim the Bear (Book 4)
Heart of the Bear (Book 5)
Wolf Brides
Wolf Bride (Book 1)
Red Snow Bride (Book 2)
Dawson Bride (Book 3)
Standalone Shifter Romance
Coveted by the Bear
Amazon
Standalone Contemporary Romance
Shelter Me Home
Amazon
About the Author
T. S. Joyce
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. Experienced at handling an alpha male of her own, she lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.