Fighting Bear: A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Love Laid Bear Book 4)

  Fighting Bear

  Love Laid Bear Book 4

  By

  Amber Belmont

  Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright 2017 by Amber Belmont - All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Epilogue

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  Chapter One

  A slow, lazy smile spread over my face as I stretched out in bed, eyes still closed as I reached out for my fiancé.

  Fiancé. My grin broadened at the thought that it wouldn’t be long before Caleb and I would be walking down the aisle together. It had been a long time coming, but I couldn’t wait for the day when I could call him my husband.

  I patted the space next to me. The sheets were still warm from Caleb’s body heat, but I couldn’t feel him anywhere in the bed.

  “Caleb?”

  I opened my eyes in confusion and sat up to look for him, not bothering to cover up my breasts.

  “Now that’s what I like to wake up to,” came Caleb’s voice from the doorway. I gazed over to where he was standing wearing nothing but briefs, a breakfast tray in his hands.

  I not-too-subtly arched my back to emphasize my ample cleavage as he admired the view. It wasn’t too long ago that I would have been far too self-conscious to do anything like that. I didn’t think that my body was anywhere near perfect, but Caleb made me feel beautiful. What a difference a few months of mind-blowing sex could make.

  “And I like to wake up to find you in bed next to me,” I pouted. “Where did you go?”

  “Sorry,” Caleb apologized. “But I figured that since it’s our six month engagement anniversary, you deserved something special.”

  “Six month engagement anniversary?” I laughed. “You really remembered that?”

  “Of course,” smiled Caleb. “Like I’d ever forget one of the best days of my life.”

  He crossed over and placed the tray in my lap and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

  “Strawberries and chocolate?” A large bowl of juicy red fruit was in the middle of the tray with a smaller bowl of melted chocolate next to it, while a single red rose in a vase sat in the corner.

  Caleb shrugged. “I know it’s not the most traditional of breakfasts, but it’s definitely the most fun…”

  He picked up a strawberry and scooped up a large dollop of chocolate, holding it up for me to take a bite.

  I looked Caleb straight in the eye, arching an eyebrow as I sensuously licked the chocolate from the tip of the strawberry before it dripped down onto the bed, then took a large bite out of the fruit, leaving the leaves behind. Picking up a strawberry, I dipped it in the chocolate fondue and held it out to him.

  “Hold that thought,” Caleb told me, standing up and hurrying out of the bedroom. He came back a moment later brandishing a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

  “Wow,” I beamed as he popped the cork. “You really are going out of your way to spoil me, aren’t you?”

  “You’re worth it,” Caleb replied simply. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life spoiling you, so you might as well get used to it.”

  He poured us out a glass, passing one to me before holding his up. “To us and our happy every after.”

  “To our happy ever after,” I echoed, sipping the champagne.

  “Of course there is another reason why I chose strawberries and chocolate for breakfast,” Caleb told me.

  “It contains all the necessary food groups?” I guessed.

  “Close,” nodded Caleb. “But the correct answer is that it’s an aphrodisiac…”

  He dipped another strawberry in the chocolate, but instead of giving it to me to eat, he reached over to my breast, lightly tracing circles around my nipple to leave a trail of chocolate behind. I gasped as he leaned forward and took my nipple in his mouth, taking his time about sucking the chocolate off. I grabbed a handful of his hair, not wanting him to stop as his tongue drove me wild.

  I moaned in disappointment as he pulled back.

  “Shall we move this out of the way?” he suggested, pointing at the tray that I’d all but forgotten about. I nodded, momentarily lost for words as he took the breakfast things from my lap and put them on the ground.

  “Now. Where were we?” Tenderly holding my face in his hands, he kissed me, gently at first, but becoming more demanding as I felt his large cock pressing against my thigh.

  “Let’s get you out of those,” I murmured, reaching down to tug at his briefs.

  Caleb didn’t need to be told twice, yanking them off to lie naked next to me.

  Damn, the man had a fine body.

  I reached over to take his impressive erection in my hand, but he gently pushed me away.

  “Nuh-uh.” He shook his head, wagging his finger at me, a wicked grin on his face. “This is all about you.”

  I arched my back, pushing my body against him as he kissed me hungrily. I wanted nothing more than to feel him thrust his enormous cock into me, but Caleb liked to take his time before penetrating me, knowing that the anticipation always made my orgasms more intense.

  He continued to kiss me, working his way round to the sensitive corner of my mouth, knowing that when he flicked his tongue against the edge of my lips, it would send shivers of pleasure through me. I moaned, as he nuzzled against my neck while his hand moved down to my breast.

  He lightly rubbed my nipple with his thumb and I could feel myself getting wet, needing to feel him inside me. As if he’d read my mind, he reached between my legs to play with my clit. His fingers moved in slow circles, finding that sweet spot, and I gasped as he slipped two fingers inside me, his thumb continuing to work on my clit.

  As I could feel myself growing closer to climax, I clutched at his shoulder, my fingernails digging into his skin hard enough to leave scratches.

  “Oh. My. God!” I moaned, closing my eyes as I was overwhelmed by sensation. “Yes! Oh my God, Caleb, yes!”

  When my orgasm hit, I felt as though my body shattered into a million little pieces. I screamed, panting as Caleb’s fingers continued to work, not giving me any rest as a second orgasm followed hot on the heels of the first.

  “You have to fuck me, Caleb. NOW!” I ordered, knowing that if he took me while I was on a high like this, I’d lose track of how many times I came.

  “Your wish is my command,” he grinned, moving so that he could insert his beautiful cock into me, but just he was about to thrust into me, his cell rang.

  “Shit.” Caleb cursed, moving to pick it up.

  “Leave it,” I begged, reaching out to pull him back.

  “I can’t,” he apologized before taking the call. “It’s Uncle Robert.”

  “Shit.” It was my turn to cuss. If his Uncle Robert was calling, it was clan business and clan business came first, no matter what.

  Sighing, I picked up the tray and started nibbling on a strawberry, but I’d lost my appetite. I’d been looking forward to a morning in bed together, but I supposed that this was the deal when you marry into a shifter clan. Caleb’s shifter family was always going to come first.

  “How do you fancy a trip up to the cabin?” Caleb asked when he finished speaking to his uncle.

  “What’s happened?”

  “We’ve got a new shifter struggling with the change,” he explained. “Uncle Robert thinks that you might be able to calm him, like you did before, but if you prefer to stay here and enjoy your day off, that’s absolutely fine. New shifters are dangerous and I don’t want you to get hurt. We don’t know if you can do what you did for Tyler with all new shifters.”

  “No, I’m coming.” I scrambled to grab some clothes. “If I’m going to be part of the clan then I want to help in any way I can. Maybe what happened before was a fluke, but we won’t know if I don’t try.”

  “If you’re sure…”

  “I am.”

  “Good.” Caleb nodded and I caught the look of relief in his eyes. “But I want you to promise me that if I tell you to get away, you’ll do what I say, no question. I’m not risking losing you.”

  “I promise.”

  We both got dressed in record time and headed out to the clan cabin.

  Chapter Two

  A strange sound ripped through the air as we pulled up outside the cabin, a combination of a bear’s roar and a man screaming in agony. The only time I’d ever heard anything like it was when Tyler had shifted the first time, but this was worse, more tortured.

  “Dear gods
. How do you cope with that kind of pain?” I breathed, as Caleb and I hurried towards the grove where new shifters went to change.

  “The first time’s always the worst,” Caleb reassured me. “Now I feel barely a twinge when I shift. It would only hurt if someone else forced me to change.”

  “Forced you?” I frowned. “How is that even possible?”

  Caleb didn’t have time to answer as another cry broke the peace of the forest.

  “That really doesn’t sound good,” he muttered, picking up the pace. I stumbled to keep up with him and he reached out a hand to steady me.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “Don’t worry about me.” I waved him away. “Worry about the poor kid who’s shifting.”

  “Climb on my back,” Caleb suggested.

  “What?” For a moment, I had a weird vision of Caleb jogging through the forest with me on his back, but then I realized what he meant as he shifted into his bear form.

  Quickly, I grabbed a couple of fistfuls of fur, swinging my leg over his back and leaning forward to find my balance. I had just enough time to squeeze my thighs tightly to get a better grip before Caleb took off, running through the forest faster than I ever could.

  It wasn’t long before we could see the lights of the grove up ahead. Caleb slowed his pace and I slid off his back as he turned back to human form. Normally, I’d take a moment to admire his naked body, but all my attention was focused on the sight in front of me.

  In the middle of the clearing was a youth who couldn’t have been more than around eighteen. As he screamed again, his body seemed to swell out to become more bearlike before contracting back to human. Thick fur spread across his body, but he seemed to be struggling to complete the change.

  “Thank goodness you came.”

  I looked up to see Caleb’s Uncle Robert hurrying towards us. I went over to meet him while Caleb slowly walked towards the lad to try and calm him.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. “What’s happening to him?”

  “He’s fighting the change,” Robert told me. “It happens sometimes when the shifter doesn’t want to face their true nature.”

  “But you can’t just stop being a werebear, can you?”

  “No.” Robert shook his head, his expression grim. “But you can choose to fight the change.”

  “Does that work? Can you really just not change?”

  “No, you can’t.” Another scream came from the boy and my heart ached for him. “If he continues fighting, the stress will be too much for his heart.”

  “You mean-?”

  Robert nodded. “He’ll die. That’s why I was hoping you’d be willing to help. If anyone can get through to him, you can. After what you did for Tyler, you’re his best hope of accepting his bear and surviving the night.”

  “I’ll try,” I promised, turning to look straight at the new shifter. “What’s his name?”

  “Noah.”

  At the sound of his name, Noah turned and roared at us. “What’s happening to me?” he wept.

  “It’s nothing to worry about,” Caleb soothed. “It’s just the change. You’re a bear, Noah.”

  “I. Am. NOT!” Noah lashed out at Caleb, who dodged back, narrowly missing being slashed by Noah’s claws. With a movement too swift to follow, Caleb grabbed Noah by the wrist, twisting his arm round so that he was standing behind the youth, immobilizing him.

  “Aargh!” Noah screamed in pain and it was hard to know whether it was because of the change or Caleb.

  “Caleb! Let him go,” I ordered, stepping forward.

  “I can’t risk that, Shelby,” he replied through gritted teeth, struggling to keep Noah restrained. “The last time someone fought the change like this, people got hurt. If this is Noah’s choice, then I’m going to make sure that he doesn’t take anyone else down with him.”

  “Caleb, please,” I begged. “He’s just a kid. Let me talk to him.”

  “Listen to her, Caleb,” Robert advised. “She’s Noah’s best chance of getting through this.”

  Caleb looked at me, then Robert, then back again before letting Noah go. The man turned to attack Caleb, but before he could lunge at him, he doubled over in pain as another wave of agony washed through him as his bear fought to break out.

  “Noah, can you hear me?” Slowly, I edged towards him, taking care not to make any sudden moves that might spook him.

  “Y-yes.” I could see how much of a struggle it was for Noah to form that one simple word as he tried to keep his bear at bay. “It hurts!”

  “I know, I know,” I soothed. “I want to help make the pain go away. Will you let me help you?”

  “Yes. Help me. Someone help me…” Noah whispered, falling to his knees, his bear desperate to get out.

  I knelt down beside him, stroking his back as his torso filled out, becoming rounder and more bearlike.

  “Make it stop!” begged Noah. “Please. Make it stop!”

  “Only you can do that,” I told him, continuing to massage his back. “You have to let your bear run free.”

  “I don’t have a bear!” he protested.

  “You do, honey, you really do.” I smiled sadly at the anguish in his eyes. “And if you just let it out, all this pain will go away.”

  “But I don’t want to be a freak.”

  “You’re not a freak,” Caleb told him, but I slightly shook my head in warning as he stepped forward, sensing that if Noah saw him come close, he’d attack before Caleb could stop him and, this time, someone really would get badly hurt. Caleb took the hint and moved away again.

  “You’re not a freak,” I repeated. “And there’s so much beauty in being a bear, you have no idea. You have family who love you and a clan who will always be there for you. You can run free through the forest in the moonlight faster than any human ever could and I’ll tell you something – all the girls love a shifter. You’ll be fighting them off!”

  Despite the pain, Noah managed a little smile. “Really?”

  “Really,” I nodded. “How do you think Caleb got me?” I winked at him and I could feel Noah relaxing under my touch. “I promise you, everything will be all right. Just let it happen.” As I stroked his fur, I could feel a warmth flowing through my hands and into Noah. The healing energy seemed to help him and at last, I felt him let go of his final inhibitions and his bear was able to come out.

  With one final, shuddering roar, Noah finally shifted into a small brown bear, falling unconscious to the ground with exhaustion.

  “You’ll be all right,” I whispered, giving the bear one final pat before standing up.

  “He certainly will – thanks to you,” beamed Robert, as Caleb hurried over to hold me tight.

  “Are you all right?” he whispered in my ear. “I was worried that he might have scratched you. Calming Tyler was one thing. Noah was willing to self-destruct and take us all with him.”

  “No, he wasn’t.” I shook my head. “He didn’t want to die. He just didn’t understand that being a bear isn’t the end of the world. Yes, his life as he knew it is gone, but there’s a whole new world out there for him to discover.”

  “When did you get so wise?”

  “When a shifter came back into my life,” I replied, tilting my head back for a kiss. Caleb leaned forward and when his lips met mine, the forest melted away and it was just the two of us.

  “A-hem.”

  I’d forgotten that Robert was still in the clearing with us and I broke away from Caleb, embarrassed.

  “Do you think you can help me make Noah a little more comfortable?” he asked Caleb.

  “Sure.”

  “Do you need my help?” I offered.

  “We’re good.” Robert waved me away. “But if you’d like to head back to the cabin, I think there’s someone there who’d like to see you.”

  “Okay.” Intrigued, I turned and headed back to the cabin, leaving Robert and Caleb to deal with the slumbering shifter.

  Chapter Three

  “Linda!” I smiled when I saw Caleb’s mom coming out of the cabin to meet me.

  “Now, Shelby. I’ve told you before,” chided my future mother-in-law. “Call me mom. You are going to be family after all.”

  “Yes... mom.” I blushed a little. It had taken me a long time to stop calling her Mrs Love. I’d grown up being in awe of her and now I was adjusting to being part of her family. All those years I’d known her and I’d never guessed that she was married to a shifter. It was all still so surreal.