Romance: Menage Romance: The French Quarter Hostages (Paranormal Action Shapeshifter MFM Bear Shifter Romance) (Fantasy BBW Taboo Interracial Love Triangle Werebear Mates Short Stories) Read Free Page B

frantically pulled out her notebook to scribble down notes. As she was reviewing her notes, something hit her.
    “Jake?” she whispered.
    “Yea?” he said, still watching the bears play.
    He had the biggest, goofiest grin on his face and that almost made her forget her original concern.
    “If the cubs are here—where’s the mom?” Elizabeth asked.
    Jake seemed to sniff the air before he whipped around. Elizabeth jerked around too to see an enormous black bear, walking at the top of a hill. She stared down at them and Elizabeth could see the bear’s face contort into a vicious scowl. The bear growled loudly, and Elizabeth could hear the weak growls from the cubs answering her. Elizabeth grabbed onto Jake’s chest, but it was too late. The bear was barreling towards them at full speed. Elizabeth was frozen, her feet rooted to the ground in shock. She could faintly hear Jake yelling for her to move and she could feel him pulling her arm, but she was frozen.
    “Elizabeth!” Jake yelled as the bear closed in on her.
    Jake yanked Elizabeth out of the way as a massive brown grizzly bear tore through the woods and tackled the black bear to the forest floor. The bears were growling at each other bearing their yellow, razor-sharp teeth, and clawing at each other’s faces. The black bear was putting up a strong fight, but she was clearly on the defense. The grizzly was about double her size and fighting with a palpable ferocity.
    “Let’s go,” Elizabeth said, pulling Jake’s arm.
    They were watching the fight from behind the tree a few feet away from the bear cubs. The cubs were getting very agitated at the noises and alternating between weak growls and mewling in the direction of their mother. Jake seemed to be wrestling with something, bouncing on his feet and looking from the fight to the cubs to Elizabeth and back to the fight.
    “Jake!” Elizabeth said, feeling her senses return to her.
    All she wanted to do was run for her life now, but now Jake was the immobile one.
    “Damn it!” Jake said, pulling away from Elizabeth.
    “Wait, what are you doing?” Elizabeth asked, as Jake approached the fight.
    He was ignoring her and waving his hands frantically, like he was trying to get one or both of the bears attention. The brown bear seemed about ready to deliver the fatal blow to the exhausted black bear, but Elizabeth distinctly saw it look at Jake with a sense of recognition.
    “Chris, stop! She has cubs,” Jake said with panic in his voice.
    The grizzly bear growled, shook its massive shaggy head, and ran off into the woods. The black bear ran towards her cubs and away from Jake and Elizabeth. Elizabeth watched the mama bear limp off into the woods with her two black cubs in tow.
    Jake’s shoulders seemed to be shaking as he turned around to look at Elizabeth.
    “Jake, what was that? What the hell is going on?” Elizabeth asked, stepping backwards.
    Jake took a deep breath, ran his fingers through his dark hair and stared at her.
    “I’m, sort of, a bear, kind of,” Jake said barely above a whisper.
    Elizabeth felt like the ground had fallen out underneath her. It’s like her mother said, “if a guy seemed too good to be true, he’s probably a psychopath.” Elizabeth could not reply. She was too shocked, by what he said. He stepped towards her, not saying a word, but his eyes seemed to plead with her to understand his bizarre admission. Elizabeth knew this man had to be very ill and everything in her told her to run. She did not wait for him to say anything else, she took off running, full speed out of the woods and as far away from Jake as possible.

Chapter 5
     
    Elizabeth typed up everything she could remember from yesterday in her daily report. She had to send her professor her findings after her excursions into the wood. Ideally, she would send it in the same day, but she was too rattled after returning to her dorm room.
    This trip was feeling a lot more science fiction than science. Voodoo