Tempting The Bear: Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Gray Bears Book 4) (7 page)

A hand fell on her shoulder.

Harper spun round and her eyes
widened.

Disbelief, distress and a
trace of anger rippled across her features. Why? Why him?

“
Douglas...”

Douglas didn't even look her
in the eye. Instead, he stared unblinkingly at the boy in her arms.

But there was no love at all
in his hard, gray eyes.

“
You refused to listen
to me, Harper,” Douglas said in a voice that sounded
deceptively calm and reasonable. “You gave birth to him after
all.”

“
Yes, b-but he's not
yours. He's someone else's cub now. Jeremy belongs to me and my
mate. He has nothing to do with you! Jackson has marked him as his
cub.” Harper tried to back away, but Douglas's claws stabbed
into her shoulder and held her in place.

“
Yes, I can scent that a
bear shifter has marked the boy as his. He has marked you too,
Harper,” Douglas sneered, glancing at her neck.

Harper nodded jerkily.
“Please leave us alone, Douglas. We are no longer in your
life. You have a promising future ahead of you, with the Alpha's
daughter...”

“
Precisely. I am about
to marry the Alpha's daughter, but the Alpha is a suspicious old man.
He has ordered his lieutenants to investigate me, find out about my
past and my background before he will allow the marriage to take
place. I can't let them find the boy. He has my blood. I cannot
allow a bastard to ruin my future!”

“
He's not a bastard,”
Harper said angrily.

“
He's my son.”
Douglas's lips curled. “I told you to terminate the pregnancy,
Harper. He cannot live.”

He shook his head at her. “I
have given you the chance to do the right thing, but you refused. He
should never have been born.”

Douglas glanced at Jeremy
impassively. “You have given birth to him...only to watch him
be killed.”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

“
No!” Harper's
blood ran cold.

She twisted round desperately
but there was no one in the park behind her. The little path led
away from the park and towards a shallow forest. It was a scenic
walk and relatively safe, since there were only small animals in the
shallow woods.

Even if she screamed, there
was no one around to hear her.

Harper turned and tried to
shield Jeremy with her body as Douglas lunged for the boy. She felt
his claws rake down her arm but she held on fast to her baby. She
would not let him touch her son!

Douglas roared and shoved her
away. Forcefully, he wrenched Jeremy out of her arms.

“
No! No, don't hurt
him!” Harper begged, reaching for her baby.

Jeremy whimpered and flailed,
his little face turning bright red. Then he shifted smoothly into a
lion cub and growled.

Douglas laughed mirthlessly as
he held the cub by the scruff of his neck. “So...he can
shift.”

“
He's not yours,
Douglas. Please...” Harper sobbed. “Let him go! No one
will find us. I won't tell anyone. He doesn't even look like you!
He has my eyes and his hair is light brown, almost blond, like his
dad. Jeremy doesn't have red hair and...c-cold gray eyes...”
Her voice trailed off as she started to shake uncontrollably.

She'd never realized how cold
his eyes were. Cold and cruel and calculating. Swallowing her
terror, she said as firmly and clearly as she could, “My son's
name is Jeremy Gray, and he's the son of Jackson Gray. It's the
truth.”

Douglas brought the squirming
cub to his nose and sniffed. Without warning, he used his claw and
drew blood from the side of the cub's neck.

He ignored Harper's cries and
licked Jeremy's blood from his wound. “No.” His eyes
flashed. “He has my blood. He must die, Harper. I'm sorry
you didn't listen to me.”

Harper let out a demented
screech and ran at Douglas. “I won't let you kill him! You'll
have to kill me first!”

Douglas dangled Jeremy from a
claw and smiled. “As you wish, Harper. As you wish.”

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Jackson ran up the front steps
of the house and threw the door open. “Daddy's home! And look
what he got...”

He stopped waving the big
teddy bear in front of him and stared around. The crew had completed
the construction project ahead of schedule and everyone had gotten
off work early today. Instead of joining Tristan and the rest of the
crew for Happy Hour at The Thirsty Toadstool, Jackson had gone to a
toy store and bought a big teddy bear for his son.

He had been so excited to rush
home and give the cuddly bear to Jeremy. Gramma and Ne-ma had told
him that Harper had left the inn more than two hours ago and she
should be at home with Jeremy now.

Jackson lowered the teddy bear
and frowned. The house was empty. He sniffed the air and followed
their scent outside. They hadn't gone far. He could still taste
their scent in the air.

Jackson followed their trail
and jogged down the street. He grew increasingly uneasy and worried.
Something wasn't right. He could sense it. Harper was a strong,
brave woman, and she didn't scare easily. She would do everything to
protect Jeremy, but he could feel her pain and anger rising as he
turned towards the park.

His body jerked suddenly and
he threw the teddy bear to the ground and charged forward. The
sudden, sharp pain he felt in his heart told him that both his mate
and cub were in terrible danger.

Jackson shifted into bear form
as he ran into the park. He saw Jeremy's stroller near a park bench
and his rattle on the ground.

Harper's scream brought him
thundering up the lane towards the woods. He saw a huge male lion
lunging towards Harper and Jeremy. The little lion cub was
fearlessly standing in front of his mother, trying to protect her.
Harper tried to pull Jeremy back but the cub snarled and flew at the
lion, teeth bared and tiny claws gleaming.

The lion swiped his massive
paw at the cub and sent Jeremy hurtling towards a cluster of rocks.
“No!” Harper shrieked and threw herself sideways, arms
outstretched to catch her son.

Jeremy landed neatly in his
mother's arms but Harper was badly cut by the jagged rocks. One side
of her blouse was torn and bloody, but she didn't let go of her son.

Jackson roared in fury and
slammed into the lion just before he could snap his jaws around
Harper's throat. The lion staggered away and crouched, looking for
an opening.

Jackson glanced over his
shoulder at Harper and Jeremy. The feisty little cub was trying to
struggle free of his mother's grip so that he could join in the
fight.

His gaze lingered on his
beloved mate and cub for a second too long.

The lion took the chance to
launch himself into Jackson's side. He knocked Jackson away from
Harper and Jeremy, and turned to slash his claws towards Jeremy's
head.

Harper angled her body to
shield the cub and those razor-sharp claws raked down her back,
gouging deeply into her skin and flesh. She bit down her scream and
clung on to her son.

Jackson reared up with a
terrible, thunderous roar and swiped his claws inches from the lion's
face. He knew that this was Douglas. The coward had attacked a
defenseless human woman and a small cub when he thought no one was
about.

Douglas fought back but
Jackson kept charging. His bear was maddened beyond reason. So was
Jackson. This piece of shit tired to kill his cub and mate!

The bear and the lion circled
each other, both bleeding from their deep, vicious wounds.

Douglas's eyes gleamed
suddenly as he lowered himself to a crouch. As Jackson roared and
rushed at him, the lion leaped up, his powerful hind legs launching
him high into the air. He landed behind Jackson, just inches from
Harper and Jeremy.

Harper was curled up on the
ground, groaning softly in pain. Her eyes were closed and her
breathing was quick and shallow. Jeremy was beside her, licking her
face tenderly.

Sensing the threat to his
mother, Jeremy growled and ran forward.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

The tiny cub let out a baby
lion roar and flung himself angrily at the big, bad lion who had hurt
his mother.

The lion's jaws widened,
preparing to catch the cub between its deadly teeth. All it needed
to do was snap its jaws shut over the cub's fragile neck.

The cub would be dead in a
heartbeat.

Jackson saw his brave little
son hurtling through the air towards the lion. Time seemed to freeze
as Jeremy's very first words echoed in his mind: “Da-da!”

A roar that was filled with
wrath and pain exploded. Jackson lunged forward with the deadly
speed and strength of a bear protecting its cub. He slashed down
with his claws and his fangs buried themselves in the enemy's
jugular.

Jackson's bear wasn't a
bloodthirsty predator, but that didn't mean it couldn't kill. It
could and it would. Jackson would never attack and kill an innocent,
but Douglas was not innocent. He had come after Harper and Jeremy,
and he was going to kill them in cold blood.

Jackson clamped his jaws
tighter over the lion's throat and brought the beast down. Even as
Douglas fell, he snapped his savage jaws mere inches from the
tumbling cub.

Jackson bit deeper into the
lion's jugular. He held the lion down even though the lion had
stopped moving. He would only let go when he was sure that Jeremy
had scrambled to a safe distance. The little cub staggered and
stumbled, but finally made his way back to Harper. Jeremy continued
growling and guarding his mom even though his tiny body was shaking
with fright.

Jackson finally stepped away
from the dead lion.

He went to Harper and nudged
her gently with his nose. “Is he...dead? Are we safe?”
she whispered, pulling Jeremy to her.

Jackson nodded and licked his
mate and cub, nuzzling them and scenting them.

He glanced at Douglas's
carcass and gave a low snarl.

He would have to inform the
Sheriff straight away. Winston Knight was a lion shifter, and he
would let the Hamilton pride know that Douglas had been killed when
he attacked another's mate and cub.

Jackson pressed himself to
Harper and Jeremy, feeling their warm breaths on his neck. He would
have to get them to the hospital quickly. He shuddered to think what
would have happened if he had arrived just a minute later.

He would have lost them both,
the two most precious people in his life.

Harper and Jeremy were badly
hurt, but they were alive.

Alive.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

Harper arranged the huge
plates of food neatly on the long table. Behind her, Gramma and
Ne-ma were squabbling over the color of the streamers and balloons.

“
This bunch of balloons
should be red!”

“
No, blue! There are
enough red balloons already!”

They started muttering a spell
together, and a big bunch of purple balloons appeared.

“
I said, red,”
Gramma huffed.

“
They should be blue,”
Ne-ma countered and threw up her hands. “Great, now they're
purple.”

Aidan and Jackson laughed as
they hung a banner from the staircase railing.
Happy Birthday,
Jeremy!

The birthday boy wasn't home
at the moment. He was out with his Uncle Mason and Aunt Suzanne.
They had brought him to the mall to shop for his birthday present.
The house was a flurry of activity and psychedelic sparks as Gramma
and Ne-ma spat their spells out in a hurry, anxious to get everything
ready before the birthday boy arrived.

As just Elle carried the
birthday cake out of the kitchen, the doorbell rang.

“
Ooh, they're here!”
Ne-ma cried.

“
Neveah, come and help
me get this present wrapped up! I can't get the bow right,”
Gramma snapped. “Hurry!”

Ne-ma chanted a spell and the
long ribbon spun round the present a couple of times. “There!”

“No!” Gramma
gasped. The entire present was covered in a messy tangle of red
ribbon. “You've ruined my wrapping,” she wailed.

“Oh! What should we
do?” Ne-ma wrung her hands.

“It looks great,”
Harper hurried to assure them. “Don't worry about the
wrapping. Jeremy will just tear everything off in a few seconds. He
doesn't care how it looks. It's what's inside that matters.”

Jackson threw the door open
and Mason and Suzanne trooped in, grinning widely. Jeremy was
sitting on Mason's shoulders, and Suzanne was carrying a big train
set under her arm.

“You didn't wrap the
present up,” Gramma said.

“Jeremy didn't want it
to be wrapped up. He wanted to look at his train set the whole
time,” Mason answered, setting his nephew down.