Snowbound With The Bear (Bear Creek Clan 4) by Harmony Raines Page B

and lifted her head. Her eyes opened, but all she could see was snow. If she was dead, then she wished she could have at least woken on a warm beach somewhere. Typical.
    The nuzzling was insistent. With a great effort, she sat up and turned her head. A bear. A great, stinking bear. That was her mate? The spirits of the afterlife must like a joke. Why couldn’t they have given her a long-limbed timber wolf as a mate?
    The cold bit into her and realisation dawned on her. She wasn’t dead. Somehow, he had revived her and unless she wanted them both to die, she had to get up and move. Slowly, she dug her front paws into the snow to get a grip and tried to stand, only to fall again. Her body trembled from the effort and the cold. There was no way she was going to get up.
    He stood watching her, his head tilted to one side. This must be a let-down for him too. Instead of a nice bulky bear as a mate, he had her. Pale as the moon and fast on her feet. At least in wolf form. As a human, she was still pale, her hair startlingly white, but her body too round for most men to contemplate any romantic advances. Not that she cared. She had saved herself for her mate, as was the traditional way in the clan. Although traditions were another thing being trampled. Her clan was leaderless and losing its way.
    The bear moved around to the front of her, staring her in the face. If they were the same species, they might be able to communicate. But they weren’t, so apart from snarling and growling, which only served as a warning, they were like humans from different lands. He tried to put his broad head under her chest and lift her up, but she slid back down. Again, he tried and this time she put more effort into it, straining to get her back legs off the ground, but she couldn't do it. If she was human, then she could cling to his fur. She would have to change; it was the only way.
    Flopping back down on to the ground, she tried to summon the energy to change. Focusing on her human form, she tried to walk into it, to take that form. For a moment, she thought she had it, but the energy fizzled out. She closed her eyes and tried to ward off sleep. If that took her, she would die here.
    All around her, she felt the crackle of energy; he was doing the very thing that had evaded her. Opening her eyes, she watched as the bear disappeared from this world. Electricity sparked around him as slowly a man formed in its place. And what a man. He was broad-chested and strong, everything a man should be in order to protect his mate and his cubs.
    In one swift movement, he was on his knees, her head in his warm hands. She whimpered against him; if she had the strength, her tail would be wagging like a common dog. He looked into her eyes and spoke, “I’m going to carry you. Do you understand? I need you to stay calm and not struggle.”
    She nodded her head almost imperceptibly, but he felt it. They understood each other.
    It took him a couple attempts to get her up into his arms. She tried to stay relaxed, not hard when your body is incapable of any real movement, but still he struggled to stand. When he held her securely, he leaned down and grabbed the strap of his pack. Somehow, he found the strength to carry her and drag the pack behind him. She had no idea where he would take her, and it did not matter. Anything had to be better than dying in the snow.
    Endlessly, he trudged through the snow, climbing up the steep slopes with superhuman strength. Consciousness came and went. Every time she opened her eyes, she expected to see something different. Every time it was just white everywhere, swirling around them, clinging to them and soaking them as it melted.
    She was jolted awake by the sensation of falling. At first she thought he must have reached their destination and be setting her down none to gently. But as she scrambled to right herself, she saw he was falling forward, too—his foot had gone down a hole and tipped them forward. Lying on the snow,