Free Bear Cop: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant Page B

for me?” Her hand was trailing up his chest beneath the shirt now.
    Chris gave her another approving growl.
    God, not only was his mate beautiful and brave, but she was also damn sexy.
    “Mostly for you,” he admitted, his heart beating faster as her fingers slowly moved lower again.
    He was already hard once more, just from the way she was looking at him, and when her fingers grazed the bulge in his pants, he made a hungry sound and pulled her close.
    “I think it will take them long enough before we are rescued to—” He hadn't yet finished the sentence before the familiar, angry cry of a predator shattered the quiet once more.
    Then the jaguar came racing at them out of a copse of birches.
     
    ***
     
    Eve didn’t even have time to cry out in warning when something large and very, very fast exploded out of the trees before them. It was the jaguar once more, its jaw open to display sharp fangs.
    While it was still in mid-air, Chris shifted, and Eve felt once more that fundamental sense of disbelief as the lines of his body blurred and a heartbeat later, the shaggy form of a large bear roared at the jaguar in fury. The attack had come so quickly that the cat managed to jump onto Chris’ back—Eve cried out in fear as she saw those fangs pierce his shoulder. Then the bear rose to his hind legs and shook himself furiously, dislodging the jaguar, and scoring a hit with his own paw as the cat retreated a few steps.
    There was blood on Chris’ fur. Eve’s heart clenched with fear. But the cat was injured as well: Chris’ claws had slashed across the creature’s back and opened wounds from which even now blood was running down the spotted body. The jaguar hissed at them, although it did not advance, and Eve frantically tried to remember where they’d left the axe. At last she spotted the tell-tale gleam of metal by the pit where their signal fire was still sending up a slender pillar of smoke into the air.
    How many steps to the axe? Eve tried to think past the roar of blood in her ears.
    The jaguar was hissing, still glaring at Chris from eyes full of hate, and the bear rose up once more in threat.
    Could she make it to the axe? Right now, the jaguar seemed focused on Chris. They still didn’t know what it wanted. If she moved—would it come after her?
    Ten steps to the axe. Less if I run.
    But would Chris be able to tackle the cat in time, should it come after her instead? Her heart thudded so loudly in her chest that she thought the jaguar would have to hear it.
    Ten steps to the fire pit. Twice the distance to the cabin.
    She didn’t want to abandon Chris, but Chris was a bear, with claws and paws and teeth meant to rip, while she was just a human, perfect prey for a predator like the jaguar. Chris was defending her. She knew Chris wanted her to be safe—but how was she going to get to the cabin? She swallowed, her throat dry as she watched the jaguar take a step forward again, its teeth bared in a snarl at Chris.
    For one moment, time seemed to stand still. Then the jaguar exploded forward once more, so fast that Chris only had time to raise up his paws in defense before it jumped at him. The sound of his roar was deafening, and in despair Eve took her chance to sprint towards where the axe gleamed in the grass.
    She was so terrified she couldn’t breathe, but she wrapped her fingers tightly around the haft and then raced on towards the beckoning safety of the cabin. Any moment, she expected to feel the hot breath of the jaguar against her neck, or the pain of teeth digging into her calves, but still she ran without turning back. Only when she reached the door did she turn at last, the axe raised in terror, afraid that the jaguar had already pounced at her—but what she saw instead made her blood freeze.
    There were three of the large cats now. Three jaguars circling the bear, who shifted his weight from leg to leg as he roared at them in defiance. Chris was bleeding from additional wounds: they had