Free A Bride For The Bear (Bear Brides #1) by Natalie Kristen

ground, snarling and snapping their jaws at each
other. They were evenly matched in size and strength, but not in
skill.
    Graig's uncontrollable rage
made him reckless. He attacked blindly, too eager for Cole's blood.
Cole parried his blows and let Graig wear himself down. He danced
out of the way with some fancy footwork, subtly poking fun at Graig.
As expected, Graig exploded in rage, his bloodshot eyes bulging as he
tore towards Cole. The black bear lashed out viciously, aiming for
Cole's eyes and throat. Razor sharp claws whistled past Cole's
shoulder, and Cole bit down hard on Graig's forepaw as it swung in
front of his nose.
    Graig roared in pain and tore
into Cole's side with his claws. Cole unclamped his jaws to release
Graig's bleeding paw and managed to score a forceful kick at Graig,
toppling the panting black bear. Staggering up, Graig charged again
and again, working himself up into a murderous rage.
    Graig's attack was chaotic,
without thought and direction. He reeled and stumbled to the side,
losing energy and focus. He wasn't going to last long. Cole knew he
only had to bide his time and keep circling and baiting the big,
black bear. Graig was going to make a fatal mistake soon, and then
it would be all over.
    Cole swiped Graig's massive
paw aside and raked his claws down the black bear's shoulder. Graig
lashed out and aimed his fangs at Cole's throat. His teeth found
Cole's leg instead and Cole roared at sharp fangs pushed deep into
his flesh.
    They both sported injuries
all over their bodies, but Graig's energy was running low. His
wounds were deeper than Cole's and he lacked Cole's patience and
stamina. Cole raised his head, and caught his brother's scent. Brad
was returning from his mission. And from the scent and sound of it,
he had succeeded.
    It was time.
    Cole launched into a
full-scale attack, rearing up with his fangs bared. He smashed into
Graig, and toppled the black bear. Cole didn't give Graig a chance
to get up. His claws slashed down mercilessly, shredding Graig's
face and tearing out chunks of fur and flesh.
    Graig bellowed in pain, but
Cole wasn't done. He clamped his jaws around Graig's throat and
tightened his hold. He bit down just hard enough to draw blood, but
not to kill.
    He looked up just in time to
see Brad shift back to human form. Behind his brother stood
Haluddin, the Blood Shadow Alpha and the rest of the Blood Shadow
clan.
    Cole shifted swiftly to human
form, but he left his claws unsheathed. He held Graig firmly by the
throat, his claws lodged in the bear's bleeding neck. All it took
was one powerful thrust and he would rip out Graig's throat. He was
literally holding the life of the Blood Shadow Beta in his hands.
    “Haluddin,” Cole
greeted the elder werebear.
    “Cole,” Haluddin
replied without inflection. Despite the speed with which he had
traveled here, not a strand of Haluddin's thick silver hair looked
out of place.
    The Nightfire and Blood
Shadow clans were gathered on opposite sides, watching the grisly
scene before them in silence. Cole was covered in blood, and his
claws were embedded in Graig's furry neck. The black bear struggled
and bellowed in agony, but no one moved a muscle. The slightest
movement would mean his instant death.
    The Blood Shadow bears who
had come with Graig were utterly silent and tense in the presence of
their Alpha. Cole could see some of them trembling.
    “I did not authorize
this invasion of Nightfire territory,” Haluddin said, his black
eyes glittering. He raked his gaze over the fifty shamefaced Blood
Shadows bears. “Are you under his command—”
Haluddin pointed at Graig. “Or mine?”
    As one, the fifty soldiers
lowered their heads and fell to one knee in a display of submission
and allegiance to their Alpha.
    Haluddin's lined face was
stony as he pronounced, “I will not banish you. But every one
of you will be duly punished.”
    At a command from one of
Haluddin's lieutenants, the fifty soldiers joined the rest of