Bearly Mated (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) Read online

  Annie hesitated. She tapped fingers against her thigh, and her gaze went unfocused as if she considered what she would say next. Lizzie began to relax a little. If Annie was telling the truth, she would have more solid evidence. There was none. Lizzie wanted to believe in Patrick’s hope for the others to come around. What better way to bring the two peoples together than to have a shifter and a human mated? They might be looking at a new era rather than having humans become shifters, leaving the human race completely.

  “Come with me,” Annie blurted.

  Lizzie blinked. “Excuse me?”

  “To a meeting,” Annie said. “There are a few who don’t like how things are right now, and they are very serious about changing it. Come to one of the meetings, and you’ll see.”

  “Are you crazy?” Emmy shouted. “You want to get Lizzie alone so you can kill her.”

  “No, I promise I’ll protect you, Lizzie. As much as I’d love to toss you to them, I will make sure you come home safe.”

  Emmy snorted. “We believe you.”

  Annie met Lizzie’s gaze, unblinking. “If anything were to happen to you, the alpha would literally lose his mind. He wouldn’t stop until he has killed us all.”

  Lizzie gulped. “You’re being dramatic.”

  “The most powerful shifter there is, Lizzie, is an alpha who is defending his mate, and if she has been killed, he can take on a whole army. In the end, he would probably die, but so many would go before that happens. We’re not like you. Most of us can’t survive long without our mate.”

  Lizzie twisted her hands together. She didn’t like this one bit, and only an idiot would put herself under the protection of her fiancé’s jealous ex-girlfriend. Yet, she didn’t see any choice other than to find out just how bad things were for herself. Patrick certainly wasn’t going to level with her.

  “I have to think about it,” she said.

  Annie blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine. Here take my cell number, and call me. The meeting is tomorrow night.”

  “That soon?” she croaked. “And what makes you think I can get away from Patrick without letting him know what I’m up to?”

  Annie smirked. “You’re a woman, aren’t you? Pick a fight and tell him you’re going to go cool off and that he better not follow you if he knows what’s good for him. Men, whether they’re human or shifter, don’t like dealing with pissed off women. Unfortunately, you can’t fake the time of month with us.”

  “But she can fake PMS,” Emmy chipped in, unhelpfully.

  Lizzie groaned. “I don’t like deceiving Patrick, but I’ll think about it.”

  “Call,” Annie snapped and left at last.

  Lizzie sank onto the sofa, groaning, and slung an arm over her eyes. “Why me?”

  “Because you fell in love with a shifter.”

  Lizzie groaned again and peeked out beneath her arm. Emmy watched her with one raised eyebrow and hands on her hips. “Wanna talk about it?”

  “No.”

  “Do you believe Annie?”

  Lizzie sat up and sighed. “I don’t know, but if I don’t take a risk, I’ll never know. I might go, Emmy.”

  “It’s too dangerous.”

  “It might be too dangerous not to go.”

  “Then at least tell Patrick.”

  She shook her head. “Not yet, and don’t you say anything. Promise me.”

  Emmy frowned. “All right. I promise not to say anything until I believe your life is in danger, and Annie plans to turn you over to Patrick’s enemies.”

  Lizzie gave a dry chuckle. “That’s good enough.”

  Chapter Ten

  “It’s not you. It’s me, Patrick. I just need some air, okay?”

  Lizzie started to turn away, but Patrick crowded her in. She took a step back and bumped the refrigerator. His arm came up to block her escape, and he pressed a palm to the cold, hard surface behind her. The stubborn man followed this challenging move with his hard body and stole her ability to suck in a breath. He wasn’t playing fair.

  “You’ve been trying to pick a fight with me all day, Lizzie.” His voice cast low, he moved in closer. Their bodies weren’t touching yet, but they might as well be. She was starkly aware of him on every level. Blood rushed through her ears, and Patrick looked down with her as her chest rose and fell on each shallow breath she drew in. To her extreme annoyance, her nipples tightened, defined through the too thin material of her blouse. Patrick had been telling her not to wear a bra, and she had been ignoring him, but even the stiffest material refused to keep her nipples from straining to get to his palms.

  Patrick leaned down and cut his gaze up toward hers as he brushed a bud with closed lips. Lizzie squeezed her thighs tighter together. If he thought she was turned on, he wouldn’t believe she was pissed at him.

  “It-it’s hardly been all day since you’ve been gone most of it,” she quipped.

  “Is that it then? You feel neglected?”

  “No!” She licked her lips. “I mean…”

  This wasn’t working out at all. She didn’t want to fight with him. She wanted to ride his cock until her pussy was sore and her thighs trembled, but that wouldn’t get her to the meeting she had arranged to go to. Annie would meet her in an hour, and she hadn’t managed to shake Patrick off.

  “I would believe you weren’t in the mood if this didn’t happen whenever I’m around you,” he said, nodding to her nipples. “And that.” He indicated her pussy but didn’t touch, which made it worse. Damn him, her panties were soaked, and of course, he knew it. He was right. She did get hot every time he entered the room. When he walked through the door earlier that day, she’d done all she could not to jump on him. Since their first time together, her desire for him had multiplied, and to try to resist now was ludicrous. What she wanted to do was snatch her panties off and bend over the table. Better yet, he could just thrust—

  Stop, Lizzie!

  She shut her eyes and turned her face away from him.

  “Lizzie, do you want me to go away?”

  She said nothing because “no” refused to form on her lips.

  “Lizzie.” His voice sounded near her throat, but again, he didn’t make contact. Her body burned for the smallest touch. “Do you want me to eat your pussy?”

  “Don’t talk like that.”

  “Take off your panties.”

  She looked at him. He’d backed off. She debated between running into the hall and out the front door and staying where she was. Patrick folded his arms, and she read the clear challenge in his eyes. He wanted her to run! The bastard actually wanted to chase her. How did she fight against a man who could make her crave him so much without speaking or touching her?

  That’s easy, silly. You don’t.

  Lizzie slid the dress she wore up her thighs and hooked thumbs in the waistband of her panties. A fire lit deep in Patrick’s eyes. He watched her every movement with interest. She let the panties drop and hooked them with the heel of her boot to raise to her hand.

  “Bring them to me,” Patrick ordered.

  Lizzie sauntered to him and lifted her arm with the offering, but Patrick encircled her wrist and jerked her to him. She stumbled against him, and his arm sealed her to his chest. With his free hand, he nabbed the panties and brought them to his nose. A deep inhale had her clutching tightly to his shirt.

  “There’s no way I’m letting you leave this house smelling like this, Lizzie.”

  “You make it sound like I need a shower,” she teased. He didn’t crack a smile, and she gulped. While she knew he wouldn’t hurt her, the intensity of his desire always gave her pause. Patrick stuffed her underwear into his pocket, and her jaw dropped. “Hey, what are you going to do with those?”

  He smacked her ass, and her pussy gushed. Patrick grabbed the back of her dress. She yelped. “No, Patrick, don’t tear it!”

  His hand snaked beneath her dress, and he cupped her bare ass. When his fingers barreled between her legs and touched her most sensitive sp
ot, she moaned.

  “Push that ass out for me, baby.”

  She did, and he gave it another smack before stroking her. Lizzie couldn’t hold back the moans, but why should he have all the fun? She reached for his crotch and gave his cock a squeeze. Patrick pulled her hand back and spun her away from him.

  “Oh no you don’t,” he said as he marched her toward the kitchen table.

  “You want me to touch you, don’t you?” She peered at him over her shoulder, and he tapped her lips. Another bump forward, and she reached the table with him behind her.

  “There isn’t any part of you I don’t want.” He lifted her dress, exposing her ass.

  Lizzie leaned farther over the table and wiggled her hips as she looked back at him. “I want you too, Patrick. She slid her hand over her hip and around to her cheeks to spread them, feeling her folds open. Patrick’s gaze narrowed, and he leaned back to study her offering.

  “You’re dripping wet, Lizzie.” He unbuttoned his pants, and she panted seeing the tent there. “I’m going to have to do something about that.”

  “Yes, please,” she begged, growing hotter. Screw Annie. They could all wait or talk to her some other time. She couldn’t leave. Not now when she had to have her lover. “I’m burning up, Patrick. I don’t know why I want it worse and worse every day. It’s killing me. Take me now!”

  “Whatever you want, baby.”

  His hands closed over her hips, and the head of his cock touched her pussy lips. She pushed back to force the plump head to thrust into her sex. A cry left her throat, and she threw her head back while hiking her ass as high as she could get it.

  “Fuck me,” she begged.

  Patrick pumped deep into her pussy once and then pulled out. He teased her entrance and eased in again. She keened, wiggling and pushing to get all of him, but he maintained control. “You need it more often and can’t satisfied because your bear is waking up, baby. She needs the energy I give her when I fuck you. The more I’m inside you, the more she grows stronger.”

  Lizzie reached back to grab his ass and drag him toward her. She dug her nails into his skin, demanding all of his cock. Patrick grunted and thrust forward hard and fast. She screamed his name, and he splayed a hand over her belly, flattening it to hold her to him. A few pounding plunges into her pussy, and she was close to an orgasm.

  She wanted to tell him he was just saying that about the sex and bears, but all she could do was moan and plead. One minute she shouted for him to fuck her harder, the next she didn’t think she could take it anymore. Then her orgasm hit, and she dropped to the table, bracing herself with curled fingers and nails digging into the wooden surface. Patrick fell over her, positioned the same. He said something deep and guttural, but she didn’t catch it. His hips jolted against hers, and his come splashed into her pussy.

  After a few moments, Patrick pulled out and straightened.

  “Traitor,” she moaned.

  He raised her hands from the table and whipped her into his arms. She squeaked.

  “Patrick, I’m too heavy. Put me down.”

  “Quiet.”

  He carried her to their room to finish what they started.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lizzie woke to sunlight and an empty bed. “Damn it!”

  She sat up and pushed wild tangled hair out of her eyes. The bedside clock read eleven. What had she been thinking? First, she had blown off the meeting to fuck Patrick all night. Then she had slept away half the morning when she had already told her dad she would return to working in the bookstore that day.

  The shop could wait. She knew her dad would understand even if she did feel guilty, but she needed to find out if what Annie told her was true. This wasn’t a game. Patrick might be in danger, and she wasn’t about to shift into a bear at any moment.

  Annoyed, she showered, dressed, and headed downstairs as she texted an apology to Annie. Then she erased the apology and the excuse and wrote instead, “I wasn’t able to come. Can we meet during the day?”

  Her phone rang immediately. “The fact that you didn’t show up proves you’re not the one for him,” Annie groused.

  “Can it. I’m feeling really bitchy this morning. If you want to fight, come on over!”

  Annie was silent for a while, and Lizzie first thought she had hung up.

  “Hello?”

  “I’m here. Okay, I’ll arrange for you to talk to someone who you have to believe. This time don’t blow it off.”

  “I can’t imagine who I would believe more than you?” Lizzie said with saccharin sweetness and was surprised at herself. She was feeling bitchy, but this was worse than her normal bad moods. She ran her fingers across the scratches on the table and turned away shaking her head. Her husband-to-be was a real beast. “One o’clock at my dad’s bookstore. He’ll be at lunch, and so will the other girl that works there. Be on time, or don’t call me again.”

  Lizzie disconnected the call, grinned, and patted herself on the back. Let Annie stew on that. Lizzie could play the role of alpha bear too. She dismissed Patrick’s ex from her mind and searched the refrigerator for something good to eat before she headed out.

  * * * *

  Lizzie hefted a stack of books to her cart and straightened. She scrubbed an arm across her forehead and stretched, expecting to feel the terrible twinge that meant she was out of shape and weak. The ache was there but much less than usual. Good, she might be able to make twice as much progress with the book reorganization. At least with work she’d dispelled some of the annoyance she had been feeling since she woke up that morning.

  She glanced at the clock and noted it was just ten minutes until Annie and whomever she was bringing with her would arrive. Her dad had already gone to lunch and the assistant he had hired to cover for Lizzie while she was away. The girl would be with them during the day another week and then switch to afternoons and evenings. Lizzie’s dad had insisted she not spend long hours every day buried in the bookstore as she had done most of her life. Rather she should be home with her husband “making babies.” Lizzie had been so embarrassed to even discuss the subject with her dad, she’d been tongue-tied, and he had walked off laughing. Honestly!

  The bell over the door jingled, and Lizzie looked up from her task to see Annie, dressed as usual in clothing that showed off her perfect figure. Today, Lizzie didn’t care. Her attention slid the man coming in behind Annie. So like Patrick in appearance, Daniel Scott’s presence was nearly as strong as his brother’s. Lizzie frowned at him as he approached her with a smile.”

  “Hello, Lizzie. You’re looking well.”

  She dispensed with the pleasantries, knowing why he was there. “So you’re betraying Patrick?”

  “Never! I’m loyal to my alpha, more so because he’s my brother.”

  “But you’re here to convince me I’m not the one for him?”

  He tilted his head to the side, studying her. “Hmm.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’m here to judge you.”

  “What?” She clenched her hands at her sides. “Where do you get off, Daniel?”

  “I think we could be friends, but the timing is wrong. More than half of the pack believes Patrick made a mistake mating with you. Among them are at least a handful that have the strength to be alpha.”

  Lizzie gasped.

  “My brother didn’t tell you but he was attacked the day after your ceremony.”

  “That’s impossible. We—” She stopped. The day after their ceremony, Patrick had walked out and left her alone. He didn’t return for a full twenty-four hours. She knew enough about them that if he wasn’t seriously injured, he could heal in that time with her not knowing the difference. She had also learned if she was a shifter and truly his mate, she would have known he was in trouble and gone to him. Tears pricked her eyes, and she blinked them away, not wanting Annie to see. “Why should I believe you?”

  “Because I love him,” Daniel said simply. “He was born to lead
, and I was born to be his beta. I will always support him, and if it comes to a fight, I’ll be there with him. You—”

  She shook with emotion. “I can’t help him. I can only hurt him.”

  “You’re different than when last we met,” he said. “I think—”

  Annie elbowed him aside. “You see the truth, don’t you, Lizzie? We were at that meeting to try to convince the others to wait. Give Patrick time to make the right decision.”

  Lizzie felt like she would throw up at any second. She clutched her stomach. Something horrible and painful came over her at the prospect of leaving Patrick, but she began to think it was the only way.

  “He won’t just give me up,” she whispered.

  Annie sneered at her then schooled her features. “I don’t know what he sees in you.”

  Daniel offered a kind smile that made things worse. “I do.”

  Annie glowered at him. “Oh, shut up, Daniel!” She grasped Lizzie’s shoulders a little too hard, and Lizzie knocked them away. Both Daniel and Annie stared at her, but Annie recovered first. “If you tell him you changed your mind and that you don’t want to be with him, he won’t force you. He’ll respect your wishes.”

  Lizzie knew that wasn’t true, but she didn’t say it out loud. Not that Patrick would force her, but that he wouldn’t be able to let go while facing her. No more than she could. There was no way she could look into the eyes she loved so much and tell him with any sense of honesty that she didn’t want to be with him. All he needed to do was speak her name, and she would be wet for him. He would know. The solution was to leave.

  “I understand what I have to do,” she said.

  Annie opened her mouth to argue, but Daniel grasped her arm to pull her back toward the door. “Wait, Daniel. I wanted to tell her—”

  “It’s fine, Annie. Let’s go.”

  “What’s fine?” Annie demanded, but Daniel propelled her out the door.