Rebel Bears MC: (A Bear Shifter Romance Collection) Read online

  “I just don’t understand why we have to stay here.”

  “It’s better than bunking down in the woods somewhere.”

  “Speak for yourself. I would feel safer there than in the middle of them.”

  She’d tried to hide her feelings, but the comments made throughout the meeting were enough to make her hatred of them impossible to hide.

  “I need a mattress. There have been too many nights without one lately.”

  Claire frowned at him. “I will spring for a hotel. I have my card with me. I always put it in my pocket.”

  “Then your family and police will be able to trace you. I have money as well. I have a job, a life, just like everyone else.”

  “Just like us stinking humans, you mean?”

  He turned to her and frowned. “You know that I had to say that stuff, right? I didn’t want him to think that I was helping you.”

  “Or being decent to me, apparently.”

  He frowned deeper. “I didn’t mean any offense, but dealing with these guys, takes a light touch. You have no idea how much worse it is. My father was selling female humans into slavery. He sent them to other countries in shipping containers.”

  That made her pause. Claire hadn’t thought that far. She’d thought that someone taking advantage of her was going to be the worst of it. Two in the swamp was somehow better than a life of slavery. Claire hadn’t even realized that such a thing was on the table.

  “Well, I guess I should be happy that it wasn’t your father that found me then.”

  “No truer words have ever been spoken.”

  Claire looked over at Donovan. His teeth were clenched, and he had this far-away look on his face. She wanted to know what was going on with him, but she wasn’t stupid enough to ask.

  “I don’t think I will be able to sleep with you. I will make a pallet on the floor.”

  “No, you won’t. I will. I would never let a woman sleep on the floor if there were another option.”

  “Even a human?”

  He sighed louder. “Look, it’s just how it is with the shifter clans. It’s not that humans are hated; it’s just that we don’t think about you the same.”

  She shouldn’t have said anything. Claire knew where she stood, and it was far beneath them. It wasn’t like it mattered, but how could someone keep her safe if they didn’t even think of her as an equal?

  “I’m just tired. It’s been a long day, as you can imagine. My little brain and all…”

  Claire turned off the light and got into the bed. She took off one of the blankets and a pillow, setting them down where he was going to sleep. She was mad, but she wasn’t mean. Not like them.

  Chapter Eight

  Claire stayed on his mind even after Donovan went to sleep. He had said some harsh things, going alongside equally bad things about humans that Clint had spewed. It was clear that the Bennigans didn’t care for humans at all. Donovan would have ventured to guess that they were as bad as Dean was, hating their very existence because they got more of the world. A world that was for the magic folk, not the commoners.

  The human had gotten to him. He woke up with her on his mind and Donovan knew then that he was just going to have to deal with her. He wanted to apologize, but not there. She was too apt to say something more, seemingly unafraid of men that could shift into panthers and eat her. She didn’t care, getting mad and spouting out barbs instead.

  It made him smile in the dark, and he looked towards the bed. He wanted to see if she was up, but with how quiet it was, he imagined that she was still sleeping. She’d had a big day the day before. She’d learned that she wasn’t the top contender, and it was hard to imagine how it would make him feel if he were put in the same situation.

  Donovan didn’t see her on the bed, and he sat up from his place on the floor. He was sure that he was just not seeing her from that angle. She was small, but she wasn’t that small.

  Claire wasn’t in the bed, and he started to panic. The door was locked when he went to check, but the window was open.

  He cursed out loud, and his immediate need was to go find her. Donovan didn’t know where she’d gone, but he was sure that he was supposed to find her. It was hard to make it like it was not his fault. He’d not been acting right to her. He knew that.

  Donovan never thought ill of humans. He just didn’t think about them much. Humans were the background, barely noticed but there. Claire had not been that way. She’d been beautiful, courageous, and he wanted to know more. He could have let her go, but really, he wanted to be around her a bit longer to learn all her secrets. To figure out the draw he had to her.

  Now though, she was gone, and Donovan was wrestling with the urge he had to find her and drag her back. A part of him wanted to. But the other side of him wanted to let her go. It was the right thing to do, and it wasn’t just his family that Donovan had to make amends to. It was the universe in general. He’d made too many mistakes, putting a dark mark on his soul. Donovan was determined to scrub some of it off with his good deeds. One way or another, even if it hurt. Letting Claire go could be one on the good side.

  Donovan wasn’t so sure why the absence of the human hurt, but he could feel it as an ache in his chest. It was the feeling that he’d made a big mistake and ruined something that could have been great.

  He got dressed slowly, trying to piece together exactly what it was that he had said to make her jump out of a two-story window. The roof made it easier to get down, of course, so she wasn’t likely hurt, but there were definitely guts involved. Donovan knew many men that wouldn’t go to such lengths to get away.

  The deal had been struck with Clint the night before. It was in favor of the Bennigans, but Jake had been clear that he wanted the truce with them especially. Donovan didn’t know why, but he’d delivered. He’d also lost his companion, and that stung. Donovan wanted to get out of there and politely refused a dinner with Clint before he left. He just wanted to go on his way, not worrying about what was lost.

  “My brother will be here to see you soon. He’s busy fixing the mess left behind by our father but soon will make the journey to meet all of his new allies. It is good to be able to tell him that you are one of them.”

  Clint agreed, and they shook hands as Donovan was about to leave. He then stopped, turning around to ask Clint if he had seen Claire.

  “The human?”

  He chuckled, asking Donovan if it was that hard to keep up with her. Donovan gritted his teeth, not liking the innuendos or the man at all. He wasn’t someone that he would have chosen to be friends with or to work with. His father had been right about Clint, or he had seen the evil inside of him as well and didn’t want the competition.

  “Yeah, the woman I brought with me. She was gone this morning, and I figured you guys have people outside at night keeping an eye on the place.”

  He waved Donovan off, saying that they didn’t worry about it all that much. “It is quiet out here and hard to get to. No one ventures into the swamp this far out, except people that want something.”

  Donovan waved and turned away. Another minute in the conversation and he was going to want to hit him. That wouldn’t do well for his forgiveness tour, so Donovan thought it best to walk away.

  He also walked away from the woman that had made him want to feel something again. It was the best thing he could do for her: stay as far away as possible.

  Donovan was about to take off, finally shifting into his bear form. It was then, though, that he picked up a familiar scent. Human, Claire more particularly, and while he told himself he was going to let it go, he couldn’t. The scent wasn’t coming away from the swamp he was leaving, but deeper into it. She was still there, and Donovan didn’t think that she was free.

  He started to walk back towards the village he’d just left. Donovan knew that he should just walk away. He was going back into the hornet’s nest, and there was a big chance that he was going to be stung. The bear could see her through scent almost as clearly as t
he man could see with his eyes. She was in one of the back homes.

  Clint saw him coming up. He held his hands up, and Donovan turned back to his human form, trying one more time for diplomacy. The rage was back, and he was okay with taking it to another level if he needed to.

  “I thought you said that she wasn’t here?”

  “Who?”

  “Claire?”

  Clint sighed and waved him off with exaggerated movements. “Are we still talking about that damn human girl?”

  “Yes, Clint, we are. I want her back now. I will give you much of the same warning that I gave your other two people. I would suggest very strongly that you do not make the same choices that they did. It didn’t end well for them.”

  Clint’s face changed, and Donovan was sure that it was going to end much the same way. He was looking forward to it, and even though it was going to sever ties with the Bennigans, it didn’t hurt his feelings any.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I want you to go in there and get her. Release her to me and that will be that. We can walk away with the new deal intact.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  Donovan gritted his teeth, trying hard not to say what was on the tip of his tongue—some creative way that he would make him pay. It was all he could think about, and it was doing him no good. None of it was, sadly.

  “Why would you even ask such a question? Why would you not release her, as you have no business having her? You say that you want to start fresh, but this is not the way to show that.”

  “She’s just a human.”

  “Yes, well, she’s my human, and I’m not letting her go. If you don’t, there will be hell to pay, and I will get her back. There is no way that you’ll be able to stop me.”

  “There are a lot more of us.”

  “That may be so, but I have a feeling that if I take you out, the rest will be worried about other things, like who is going to take your place. You don’t have a son, do you?”

  The man’s face tightened, and that was all the answer that he needed.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Well, that’s going to be a free for all. Go get my damn human, Clint. I will not ask again.”

  Clint made a motion to one of the men behind Donovan. He hadn’t noticed, too intent on the guy in front of him. He wasn’t going to let him out of his sight for even a second. Clint wasn’t happy about it, but the woman came out with a few marks that set Donovan on edge.

  “What have you done to her?”

  “She was the one that was trying to get away. We needed to make sure that no one else knew what she knew. We don’t let humans live.”

  “Your guys shouldn’t have changed in front of her then. She would have been out of both of our lives if that were the case.”

  “My offer still stands.”

  Donovan was trying to hide his contempt, but it wasn’t easy. He was too perturbed with the whole thing. He didn’t even look at Claire. She was not only hurt, but her eyes were puffy, like she’d been crying. It was taking everything in him to walk away.

  He was also upset that she’d left in the middle of the night. He’d told her that he would keep her safe. This was what Donovan hadn’t wanted to happen.

  There was no sense in saying any of that, though. Instead, he switched into his bear, getting low to let her get on. He didn’t have to do more than that, not saying a word. She held on tight with her legs and her arms wrapped around his neck. Donovan was going to have to forget that as well.

  Chapter Nine

  “You just seem to have a knack for getting yourself in trouble, Claire, like you want to be saved.”

  She scowled at him, and it made Donovan laugh. Claire didn’t like the idea of being the damsel in distress, but that was exactly what she had been the last couple of days. She didn’t even want to think about what that would mean for her.

  “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I was just going to go in the night. Then no one would have to decide what to do with me. I would just go. I would have never said anything about you guys.”

  Donovan told her that he knew that, but Claire didn’t think it was enough.

  “Were you just going to let me go?”

  “I was. I figured if that’s what you wanted, then I was going to give it to you. I didn’t think that fighting with you about it was going to help all that much. I never wanted to hold you against your will. I figured if you wanted to go badly enough to jump out of a second-story window, I wasn’t going to stop it.”

  “So, will you let me go again?”

  He shrugged and she frowned. He acted like he didn’t care, and even though it should make her happy, it didn’t.

  “If that is what you want. I would wait till we get out of these swamps first. You don’t seem to have good luck here, and I would hate to think of you hurt and back in their clutches. You know what they will do.”

  The idea of it was enough for Claire to realize that she was just going to have to go with it. She felt safer with him, and Donovan was right: twice now he’d come to her aid. Claire didn’t want to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t been there. Either time could have been her last moments. Neither time would have been pleasant.

  “I think I will travel with you for a while more. Where are you going to next? Have you got another evil biker gang that you’re trying to recruit?”

  Donovan sighed. “It’s not like that. Is that what you think I’m doing?”

  “Isn’t it? You are trying to get these people to work with you. I can’t imagine any other reason for it. They aren’t the best people.”

  Donovan shrugged. “It’s complicated. I used to be one of those guys—not the sexual assault part, but violence in general. If my father wanted it done, I would do it. I regret it, and now I want to make it up somehow. I want to balance it out a little bit. My older brother took over our gang, and he wants peace. Everyone still blames me for carrying out father’s orders, so this gets me away from all the looks for a while.”

  “Well, with me around, you don’t have to worry about that all that much. They are all looking at me, unfortunately. I never did like all of that attention. Sometimes it is a bit too much.”

  “It’s because you’re beautiful, Claire.”

  She blushed and thanked him, though she admitted that it was the human thing that made them stare. It was like they knew as soon as she was in the room that she was different. That made her wonder why, so she asked Donovan.

  “How can you tell that I’m human so quickly?”

  “You smell.”

  “Pardon?”

  He grinned at her rosy cheeks. “Your scent is different than magical creatures. Everyone is different, but humans are another class all to themselves. It’s not unpleasant, just unfamiliar.”

  “Why do you guys hate us so much?”

  Donovan took her hand. “It’s not like that at all. It’s just that we stay away from humans. We’ve been hunted and killed many times over, so those that remained decided that it was better to stay away, not be seen, and eventually we would just be a fairytale that children heard. No one would believe it, and that has largely worked. Those that see us and try to say something about it are considered to have mental problems.”

  She frowned, and he asked why she wanted to know that.

  “I just never felt so hated as I did yesterday. I don’t know why, but I really think they would have killed me, and I didn’t do anything to them.”

  “You’re a threat, Claire, nothing more.”

  He handed her some fruit that they’d stopped to eat. Claire was exhausted and sore from sitting on his back. She agreed to go to the next encampment with him, not sure what the following experience would bring. Whatever it was that drew her in, it made her feel safer to be on his arm. There, she felt like nothing bad was ever going to happen.

  “I don’t want to be a threat.”

  “But you are. If you told the right people, if anyone learned ou
r secrets, we would be hunted once again, and none of us want that.”

  “I won’t say anything, though.”

  “I know you won’t. I shouldn’t trust you; I have no reason to, but I do. I don’t know what that means exactly.”

  “Have you ever been around a human much?”

  He told her that he hadn’t. Claire wasn’t sure if she should feel special or not. It was surreal to be even having the conversation or to consider how other people thought of humans. Until a couple of days ago, everyone had been human. Now, she wasn’t going to be able to look at any stranger again and not wonder to some degree who or what they were.

  “Not really. It’s just not done.”

  “And you won’t be with a human, you know, in that way?”

  “No, that would be frowned upon by all.”

  “Why?”

  Donovan scoffed. “You really have a lot of questions.”

  “When else will I ever be able to ask them? I am interested, that’s all.”

  “In who we can be with romantically?”

  “Well, that and lots of other things.”

  “That’s what is on your mind?”

  Claire had a retort on the tip of her tongue, but she pushed it back. It wouldn’t turn out well if she started down that path with him. It was hard enough, trying to figure out what he was going to do next. She didn’t want to make it worse, egging him on.

  “I am not saying that at all. It was just a question; if you don’t want to answer, that’s all you have to say.”

  Donovan smiled, and then he said something that stopped her in her tracks.

  “Having children with humans will weaken our bloodline. The offspring would be half, and then a quarter, if they made the same choice. In a few generations, we would be wiped out, or close to it. What makes us unique would be bred out of us, and only a lucky few would even shift at all. Now, if the baby is full shifter, it will always shift. A half-and-half, could go either way. They usually get some of the pros and cons of it, and the rest will be human. It’s just not good for the continuity of the race.”