Free Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) by Yvette Hines Page A

Gold.”
    Sheriff Smokey moved closer to her
and held his hand out with a smile. A good looking man, younger than Riley expected
for the head law official in a town. He looked to be around late forties.
    Wrapping his fingers around her
hand, the officer smiled. “Well, it is a treat to meet such a pretty visitor to
our county.”
    The sheriff was charming and Riley
could not help returning the smile. “Nice to meet you.”
    There was a low toned sound from
Theo who still stood beside the other man. Riley ignored the intense man and
the strange sound.
    However, she did notice a subtle
twitching and wiggling Sheriff Smokey was doing with his nose and she pulled
her hand away. Nervous that he may attempt the ‘Den County custom’ of sniffing
the back of her hand.
    She shoved her hands into the small
pockets of her jacket, just to keep them away from the men in town.
    “I hope you plan to join us for the
festival. You’d be a delight on the last day,” Sheriff Smokey said.
    “She’ll be gone soon.” Theo spoke
first, the texture of his voice gravelly as if he had a handful of rocks in his
throat.
    Staring in his direction, she ground
her teeth. This overbearing man was beginning to get on her last nerve. She
could speak for herself. His adamant demands that she wasn’t staying for whatever
the excitement of this festival was made her want to contradict him and stay.
She’d always lived life on her own terms and when someone else tried to control
that she did whatever the hell she wanted to do anyway.
    If it weren't for the fact she was
on borrowed hospitality of the infuriating man, she would have announced that
she planned to stay, just to show him she was in charge of her comings and
goings.
    Rolling her eyes, she looked back at
the lawman. “Sorry, Sheriff, I do have pressing plans. Maybe the next one since
I’m just a little over three hours from here.”
    “Next time then.” Turning to Theo,
he said, “I’m sure this lovely lady would like to see more of Den then my
office.”
    “We’re on our way out. Come on,
boys, let’s go and see what entertainment is happening at the fairgrounds.”
    “Yea!” The twins, who had been
chatting with Natasha as they drew on sheets of paper the receptionist had
given them, began to jump up and down.
    “Thanks again for allowing me to use
the phone.” Riley said to the receptionist as she walked past her desk and out
the front door.
     

Chapter
Six
     
    Theo didn’t know what in the hell
was wrong with him. He was acting as if he’d never been around a human female
before. Even though they didn’t get many visitors to Den, he still traveled to
various areas to pick up supplies or other items on occasion and had contact
with other females. But, he felt as if he was going to crawl out of his own
skin around Riley. Last night had been bad enough. His reaction then he
couldn’t sort out, but if that wasn’t fucking bad enough, now he was acting as
if he had some type of claim to Riley.
    A claim that he as a Were-bear
should not be trying to make on a human woman. Fuck. It was too complicated to acclimate
a taker to their way of life; especially with winter home hibernation coming
up. He’d heard stories of how newly transitioned Were-males and females became
claustrophobic being stuck in the dwelling for six months. Some going insane or
even leaving. Those first six months were important for gestational time of a
pregnant female as well as securing the family unit. Because of their species
bear and human genes everything within them was accelerated and most women only
carried for six months, bringing forth two to three children before the Fish
Moon in late Spring. Most new parents took their infants out and bathed them in
the river before the moon and experienced the baby’s first shift with them.
    Shifting from his shoulder to his
back against a tree at the edge of the playground where Riley was pushing both
the boys on the swing as other children ran around