Mail-Order Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 5) by Natalie Kristen Page B
Authors: Natalie Kristen
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silence.
“Those men. They're
wolves,” Eddie said, staring at the crumbs on his plate.
“Yeah,” Lauren
said absently as she drank her milk.
“No, Aunt Lauren, they are wolves,” Eddie repeated.
Lauren started and stared at
her nephew.
“How do you know?”
she asked carefully.
“I can smell them,”
the boy said.
Lauren nodded slowly. Her
elder brother, Alex inherited the shifter gene from their father,
while she took after their human mother. Alex could shift into a
bear, and evidently, he had passed the shifter gene on to his son.
Eddie had never shifted, but he was still very young. Alex only
started shifting when he hit puberty.
Lauren bit the inside of her
cheek. There were rumors that the Dire Wolves were wolf shifters.
She had never seen any of them in wolf form, but it made sense that
these fearsome gangsters were wolves. They were certainly as brutal
and merciless as animals.
“What about me?”
she asked Eddie with a teasing smile. “What am I?”
A bear like you ? she thought hopefully. If she could shift into a bear like her
father and brother, she'd be able to protect Eddie much better. If
anyone dared harm a hair on his head, she would let her inner bear
out and claw the bastard to shreds!
“You're Aunt Lauren!”
Eddie replied.
Lauren laughed. “Yes,
yes I am. All right now. Put your plate and glass in the sink and
let's get you to bed. It's been a long day and the sooner it's over,
the better,” she muttered grimly.
Eddie was fast asleep by the
time she drew the covers over his shoulders. It had been a long,
stressful, exhausting day.
Lauren sat down heavily at
the kitchen table and put her head in her hands. This was a
thoroughly rotten, horrible day, but she knew there would be even
worse days ahead.
She had to think of a way to
get the Wolves off their backs. How could Alex do this to them?
She stared at the clock on
the wall, following the movement of the second hand. Her vision
began to blur and she realized that she was crying.
For a long time, Lauren sat
alone in the kitchen, angrily wiping away her tears. She didn't want
to cry. Crying accomplished nothing, and it made her feel stupid and
weak. But she couldn't help her tears.
Her brother was a selfish
sonofabitch! She had shouldered his responsibilities during his
lifetime and now, even when he was in his grave, she had to shoulder
his debt.
It would take her years,
decades, several lifetimes to pay off his disastrous, crushing debt!
What was Alex thinking,
incurring such a mountainous debt? The simple, stark answer was—he
wasn't thinking at all. Not of them, certainly. If he had given
even the slightest thought to his family, his young son, he would
never have done this and dumped this terrible, dangerous burden on
them.
Lauren shuddered with pain,
fear and rage.
Her life was over if the Dire
Wolves got their claws into her.
CHAPTER
FOUR
Lauren knew the Dire Wolves
would never let her go so easily. She owed them, so they owned her,
body and soul. The Wolves would chain her to one of their strip
clubs and work her to death.
She was only twenty-one, and
she had her own dreams and girlish hopes. She didn't need to be
swept off her feet by some fairy-tale prince, but she did hope to
fall in love, get married and have a family. Of course Eddie would
stay with her, and he would have so many cousins to play with.
But that dream was going up
in smoke. She would never have that beautiful, happy family. And
what was going to happen to Eddie?
Alex was gone, but his
troubles hadn't gone with him. They were crashing down on their
heads, burying them alive.
Going to the sink to splash
cold water on her face, Lauren rubbed her eyes and forced herself to
think clearly.
She replayed the Wolves'
words in her mind. She remembered that older wolf, and how he had
spoken very slowly, very deliberately to her. That wolf was trying
to tell her something.
But if you are no longer
his family, we don't go after someone else's
“Those men. They're
wolves,” Eddie said, staring at the crumbs on his plate.
“Yeah,” Lauren
said absently as she drank her milk.
“No, Aunt Lauren, they are wolves,” Eddie repeated.
Lauren started and stared at
her nephew.
“How do you know?”
she asked carefully.
“I can smell them,”
the boy said.
Lauren nodded slowly. Her
elder brother, Alex inherited the shifter gene from their father,
while she took after their human mother. Alex could shift into a
bear, and evidently, he had passed the shifter gene on to his son.
Eddie had never shifted, but he was still very young. Alex only
started shifting when he hit puberty.
Lauren bit the inside of her
cheek. There were rumors that the Dire Wolves were wolf shifters.
She had never seen any of them in wolf form, but it made sense that
these fearsome gangsters were wolves. They were certainly as brutal
and merciless as animals.
“What about me?”
she asked Eddie with a teasing smile. “What am I?”
A bear like you ? she thought hopefully. If she could shift into a bear like her
father and brother, she'd be able to protect Eddie much better. If
anyone dared harm a hair on his head, she would let her inner bear
out and claw the bastard to shreds!
“You're Aunt Lauren!”
Eddie replied.
Lauren laughed. “Yes,
yes I am. All right now. Put your plate and glass in the sink and
let's get you to bed. It's been a long day and the sooner it's over,
the better,” she muttered grimly.
Eddie was fast asleep by the
time she drew the covers over his shoulders. It had been a long,
stressful, exhausting day.
Lauren sat down heavily at
the kitchen table and put her head in her hands. This was a
thoroughly rotten, horrible day, but she knew there would be even
worse days ahead.
She had to think of a way to
get the Wolves off their backs. How could Alex do this to them?
She stared at the clock on
the wall, following the movement of the second hand. Her vision
began to blur and she realized that she was crying.
For a long time, Lauren sat
alone in the kitchen, angrily wiping away her tears. She didn't want
to cry. Crying accomplished nothing, and it made her feel stupid and
weak. But she couldn't help her tears.
Her brother was a selfish
sonofabitch! She had shouldered his responsibilities during his
lifetime and now, even when he was in his grave, she had to shoulder
his debt.
It would take her years,
decades, several lifetimes to pay off his disastrous, crushing debt!
What was Alex thinking,
incurring such a mountainous debt? The simple, stark answer was—he
wasn't thinking at all. Not of them, certainly. If he had given
even the slightest thought to his family, his young son, he would
never have done this and dumped this terrible, dangerous burden on
them.
Lauren shuddered with pain,
fear and rage.
Her life was over if the Dire
Wolves got their claws into her.
CHAPTER
FOUR
Lauren knew the Dire Wolves
would never let her go so easily. She owed them, so they owned her,
body and soul. The Wolves would chain her to one of their strip
clubs and work her to death.
She was only twenty-one, and
she had her own dreams and girlish hopes. She didn't need to be
swept off her feet by some fairy-tale prince, but she did hope to
fall in love, get married and have a family. Of course Eddie would
stay with her, and he would have so many cousins to play with.
But that dream was going up
in smoke. She would never have that beautiful, happy family. And
what was going to happen to Eddie?
Alex was gone, but his
troubles hadn't gone with him. They were crashing down on their
heads, burying them alive.
Going to the sink to splash
cold water on her face, Lauren rubbed her eyes and forced herself to
think clearly.
She replayed the Wolves'
words in her mind. She remembered that older wolf, and how he had
spoken very slowly, very deliberately to her. That wolf was trying
to tell her something.
But if you are no longer
his family, we don't go after someone else's
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