A Promise To Bear (Second Chance Shifters 4) by Meredith Clarke Page A

messed with my truck. I’m fine, but you need to get back to the lodge. Something else is going on here, and you need figure out what it is.”
    Jasper hit his brakes, and the tires squealed beneath him, sending up a cloud of dust around his truck. “What do you mean? Why do you think Twila’s in trouble?”
    “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling. I mean, I come and warn you guys about some rogue bear, and suddenly my truck is tampered with? That can’t be a coincidence. Not with how her parents died.”
    Jasper shook his head, his bear growling underneath his skin. He was trembling with anxiety trying not to Change right inside the vehicle. He put the truck in reverse and turned around as quickly as he could, his tires squealing in the dirt. He took off as fast as possible, pushing the gas pedal to its limit. “Thanks for the help, Mills. Are you all right? Someone there to help you out?”
    “Yeah, a couple of clan members saw me in trouble and came down to help. I’m fine. You just worry about Twila.”
    Jasper hung up the phone and drove as fast as possible to the lodge. As he got closer, he could feel his bear clawing underneath his skin. He couldn’t contain him any longer. He pulled over to the side of the road and got out, but as he started to strip, his bear completely took over, and the Change was upon him. Within seconds, he was a giant bear pacing back and forth in front of his truck, trying to decide which way to go.
    He lifted his nose up into the air, and suddenly he could smell her. Fear. It practically burned, it was so strong. But could he really smell her from the lodge? He looked down into the woods and realized he was close to a stream, which meant he was right near the water. Twila didn’t know she was in trouble. She could have easily gone for a walk or been eating lunch outside when something went wrong. He had to get to her and fast.
    He tore off through the woods and down a steep hill, charging toward the water. As soon as he got to the lake, he would be able to see if she was down there. Twigs and branches tore at his fur, but he kept pushing on. He almost stumbled at one point, his bear losing its grip on the muddy path, but instead of allowing gravity to overtake him, he simply jumped onto a different ridge and continued down the mountain.
    When he got to the water, her fear permeated the air. It surrounded him. About a hundred feet in front of him, he saw her, lying on the ground with a man standing over her, and he knew, in that moment, that he would kill him.

11

Twila
    T wila hardly noticed the bear charging at the man from behind him. She just saw a shadow along the shoreline. The man, her uncle, continued to ramble on about Elizabeth and how he loved her and how it was Twila’s fault that all this had happened. She heard the growl and knew instantly that it was time for action. She picked up the rock from behind her and slammed it into the man’s leg. The bear took it as a signal, and as he fell, grabbed the man by the neck and shook him. He clawed at his chest and stood over him, holding him down with a strong paw. He snarled in his face and took a bite out of his arm. Blood trickled down the grey stones and flowed into the water as the man screamed in agony.
    “Ahh! Help me!” he screamed. “I can’t shift. I can’t defend myself. This is against the law!” Only with that final phrase did Jasper back off. Even though he wanted to kill the man, he knew that he was right. A shifter couldn’t fight another shifter in human form as a bear. Instead, Jasper went over and stood in front of Twila protectively. If a shifter went after a mate, all bets were off. The law no longer applied. And now that he knew that Twila was Jasper’s mate, this man would have to walk away.
    Twila heard yelling from the top of the hill and saw Lauren running at her with the police officer on her heels.
    “Twila! Twila, are you okay?”
    Twila didn’t even acknowledge Lauren. Instead, she