Bearly Living: Foxhollow Den #1 (Alaskan Den Men) by Kizzie Waller

avoided and dreaded. That ball of inner bear just below the surface. She imagined it now growing inside of her to a point she’d lose all control. If she lost control, she’d be in a matching cage beside Grant. The worry slowed her progress, so she shut it out. All she allowed was the focus of shifting, but not into a complete shift. Saving Grant.
    The rusted lock snapped, and she let out a guttural grunt of satisfaction. Grant ran his hand over the fur on her half-shifted arm before pushing out of his cage to shift away the lock on his Ray’s cage.
    “Now, shift all the way, and get the hell out of here. We’ll meet you at the cabin.”
    “What about the injured true bear?” she asked.
    “Her leg got caught in a trap. I don’t think she can run.”
    All three tore out of the back of the trailer in their fully shifted bear form. The fourth true bear was too injured to join them, so she’d been left in her cage. Grant and his brother wouldn’t leave the bear for long. Bobbie headed toward the woods to rendezvous at the cabin but stopped at the tree line to make sure Grant and Ray didn’t get shot. The stark realization that she was in total control of her bear-self empowered her.
    A simple swack from Grant to the heads of the two surprised trappers had both men flat on their faces in the grass. Grant and Ray shifted back to human. Grant fished around the pockets of both men until he came up with a set of keys. When he started the truck with the last cage still inside, Bobbie felt confident enough to run full speed to Grant’s cabin. As a bear. In control. So this is what it should feel like .

 
     
     
Chapter Seven
     
     
    “That was more excitement than my life needed,” Samantha said. Since her clothes had been left out in the woods, she’d been forced to ransack Grant’s closet. Plaid flannel didn’t look bad on her, but the camo pants hung loose on her waist.
    Bobbie’s own clothes had been ripped in the shift. She slipped into a pair of boxers and a camo T-shirt. “You were great. The guys are on the way with the truck. I didn’t smell anyone nearby, but we need to be on alert.”
    “I think you’ve officially gotten in touch with your bear side. Impressive.”
    “Don’t tell Grant that. It’ll only inflate his ego.”
    Samantha moved to the window. “They’re here.”
    Grant was the first through the door. “Don’t tell me what?”
    The distance between them closed in seconds, and Bobbie clung to his naked body. “I was so worried.”
    He nuzzled her neck and kissed her cheek. “I like having someone worry about me.”
    “I like having someone to worry about.”
    Ray walked in close behind Grant. His hands covered his male parts, and his cheeks were a hint of hot pink. He nodded at Samantha as he walked by with his back to the wall. “Whatever the issues between you and our sister, all I can say is thank you for coming to our rescue.”
    Samantha’s cheeks pinked to match Ray’s, and her gaze dropped to the hardwood floor. “You’re welcome.”
    “What did those men want with you?” Bobbie asked. She didn’t want to let go, but she knew he needed to put some clothes on at some point.
    “Hides. Fighting. Black market delicacies. Even they couldn’t make up their minds about what they were going to do with us,” he said. “They were literally idiots, yet somehow we let them get the drop on us. Once they shot us with the tranq guns, we turned back human.”
    “What’s going to happen now?” Samantha settled into the nearest overstuffed chair and rubbed her temples.
    “Now we turn their truck and guns over to the authorities. Ray and I took some pics before we shifted and got ambushed, so we have enough to I.D. them. They’re lucky we’re the shifter family they crossed this time. I know families in other regions who would’ve killed them. The true bear will have to go to a wildlife rehab center for her leg.”
    Ray bounded back into the room. “I’ve got to get home.