Free Her Bear Protector (BBW Shifter Romance) by Bonnie Burrows Page B

be killed by a bullet, since shifters could only be killed from a bite to the heart from another shifter, but during one of our hikes, Aaron had mentioned that bullets could temporarily incapacitate shifters. I figured if I ever was attacked by one, it give me enough time to get away.
                I continued flipping through the TV channels, not really even seeing anything, wondering how fast I could get back to my cabin in the U.P if I sped. There, I'd be close by, just on the off, off, off-chance that something really bad happened to Aaron. There, I'd prove to myself that I could be a hang-er in-er. Not a runner.
                Soon I dropped the TV remote, having a sudden thought. Even though Aaron had told me he'd be okay, me and my gun could guarantee that. If I were somewhere very near the battle when it occurred. If   I were, say, hidden in the forest nearby. I could watch from the trees, and if it seemed that any of the wolves were close to overtaking Aaron, I could just shoot them. I'd have to disguise my human scent to avoid detection. But I could make absolutely certain that Aaron would be okay.
                I clicked off the TV, deciding I was done running.
                I grabbed my suitcase, took the elevator to the lobby, and handed my room key to the very surprised looking young man at the front desk.
                "You're checking out already?"
                I glanced over my shoulder on my way out of the lobby. "I've decided I'm done running. I'm going to be a fighter now."
                I made it back up to the top of the northern peninsula just in time to board the last ferry of the day. The man who stowed my car, the same one who had done it earlier that day, seemed just as surprised to see me again as the young man at the hotel had.
                I began driving down the winding dirt road-trail that led to my cabin just before ten o' clock at night. I knew that just over a mile away from my cabin, Aaron and his family were probably already camped out in the woods near where the battle would take place the next day at dawn. I wondered if they were sleeping. I wondered if I'd be able to sleep that night.
                But after a very late dinner, it turned out I didn't have any problems. I was out before my head even hit the pillow, secure in the knowledge that everything the next day would be okay. The evil shifter wolves would be taken out so they couldn't hurt people; Aaron would be safe; and I would be safe. As long as I could manage to disguise my scent and hide in the woods well enough to avoid detection, which I was sure I could do.
                But shortly after my alarm went off at four-thirty in the morning, I realized I had a bit of a problem. I knew I could make my way down the trail that led to Aaron's family's cabins well enough, but I had no idea where the clearing was. I remembered Seth saying that the clearing was a half-mile east of the cabin settlement, but I didn't know any details or directions other than that. I didn't know if a trail led to the clearing, or if it was just reached by cutting directly through the woods. But, figuring that "a half-mile east" couldn't be too hard to screw up, especially with a compass, I began getting ready for the day.
                After showering, scrubbing my skin hard to try to get rid of as much of my human scent as possible, I took some of Aaron's dirty clothes from the laundry hamper and rubbed them all over my body. Next, I took the clothes that I'd been wearing the night before, when I'd rode home on his back when he'd been shifted into a bear, and rubbed them all over my body as well. I even rubbed them on my hair. I dressed in the jeans I'd been wearing when I'd rode home on him and a sweatshirt that still strongly held his clean, woodsy scent.
                At a quarter after five, I was ready, and I set out on the