Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
1. Hunting feral shifters
2. Executing feral shifters.
When I was young, a rabid feral bear slaughtered my entire pack and I’ve spent my life trying to right that wrong.
I’m a lone wolf now, hellbent on revenge.
I’ve eliminated dozens of bears over the years, but this last one is proving to be tricky.
For the first time ever, I’m hesitating.
It’s not because of him. I have no sympathy for a feral bear.
It’s because of his sister.
She’s my mate.
And if I put down her brother, she’ll never forgive me.
But if I let a feral bear go loose, I’ll never forgive myself.
My mate or my destiny.
An impossible choice.
But one that I have to make.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
Adalynn
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” I ask as my brother Colin bends over and starts taking deep breaths with his head between his legs.
This is not good.
This is the worst place for him to have one of his ‘episodes.’ We’re in a crowded amusement park surrounded by families and kids.
I glance at my seven-year-old nephew, Nathan. The look on his face is pure joy as he rams some other kid in his blue bumper car. It’s going to break his heart if we have to leave.
“I’m okay,” Colin says as he stands up with his hands squeezed into fists.
He doesn’t seem okay. His voice is part growl and I swear he looks about fifteen percent larger and bulkier than he did a few minutes ago.
“Put your sunglasses on,” I quickly say when I see the golden tint in his eyes.
He pulls them off his shirt and slides them on.
“Colin,” I say in a soft calm voice despite the shakiness I’m feeling. “We can’t stay here. Not if you’re going to…”
“I’m fine,” he barks. The anger quickly fades and his big chin quivers. “I’m not leaving. I’ve been promising Nathan this for months and we’re not leaving after his first ride.”
His tone says it’s final. I’m not so sure.
My stomach is a ball of nerves as I look around at all of the happy oblivious people. They have no idea that a furious grizzly bear might burst out of my older brother and go on a rampage of destruction through the amusement park at any second.
The buzzer goes off and the bumper cars slide to a stop. Nathan’s huge smile gives me a pang in my heart as I watch him run over and leap into Colin’s big arms.
I know that the two of them have been waiting a long time for this summer together. Nathan and his mother, who was a long-ago one-night fling for my brother, live several states away in Oklahoma. Colin tries to see his son as often as he can, but Nathan’s mother has full custody and keeps the boy on a tight leash. Her parents are very strict and extremely prejudiced against shifters.
Nathan has been turning into his little grizzly cub more and more lately, so his mother thought it would be a good idea for him to come to Montana and be around his shifter father for a few weeks.
My brother was finally able to get Nathan for the summer, and now this… What a time for his grizzly bear to start acting up.
“What should we do neexxxtt?” Colin asks, the last word coming out in a growl. “Sorry. My throat. It’s a little hoarse.”
Nathan doesn’t notice, but I do. I warned my brother against coming here. There are too many people and way too much noise.
“Can we go on the swinging pirate ship?” Nathan asks, bouncing up and down. “We can all sit in the last row!”
“I don’t think your dad is feeling up to going on—“
“Let’s do it!” Colin says, interrupting me. He grabs Nathan’s hand and they hurry over to the giant ride.
I’m worried as I keep my eye on Colin’s muscular back. It’s looking larger than it was this morning. I’m not sure if it’s my imagination or not, but the fabric of his T-shirt seems to be pulled tight across it.
Everywhere we go there’s loud thumping music, screams, and laughter. The metallic clunking of the rollercoasters over our heads mixes with the hollering of the employees trying to get customers to come and play their games.
It’s not just the sounds that are a problem. There are so many flashing lights, fast-moving rides, and all the smells—candy, French fries, hot garbage, body odor, and sunscreen. Colin’s inner grizzly must be going wild right now.
He’s been having a lot of trouble with him. The bear seems to be losing his mind lately.
He told me that his bear burst out of him in a shopping mall last week when he heard one of the alarms going off. It was chaos as everyone fled in panic. Windows shattered, merchandise got trampled, and one older man even had a heart attack, but he was okay. The police were looking for that bear all day long.
“It was terrifying,” Colin told me when he showed up at my house with only a tarp wrapped around his waist that night. “I was stuck inside him all day, watching helplessly as he ran around in a rage. I could feel his fury and couldn’t do anything to stop it. He wanted to break everything. He wanted to kill. I didn’t recognize him anymore.”
After I got him to sleep, I dove into the shifter forums online and discovered that his bear was turning feral. It’s rare, but it does happen.
Sometimes, when a bear shifter is forced to live without their mate for a long time, the bear begins to lose its grasp on reality. The longing becomes so intense that it can slide into a cascading spiral of anger, resentment, and fury. Most turn violent. Some even kill.