Free ROMANCE: Highland Bear Love : A BBW Paranormal Historical Billionaire Romance (Fantasy Alpha Male Shape Shifter Short Stories) by Clara Moore

Chapter One
     
    Kendell
                 
                  They chased her. Kendell Proctor ran deep into the woods, the thorny branches clawing at her dark blonde hair and sun-kissed skin. She had thought she’d gone in the direction of the road, but as the trees grew thick around her, blocking out the day, she realized she’d made a terrible mistake. She was lost in the woods, lost in the territory of those who hunted her – the wolves. It was only a matter of time before they caught up to her muddy footprints.
                  This was not how the weekend was meant to turn out. Needing a break from the city, she’d come to the woods with her friends for a girls-only glamping trip. Her friends didn’t know she was missing. They thought she was flirting with the basketball player a few tents down. As Kendell ran for her life, her friends were sitting in their pretty canvas tent, painting their nails and gossiping about college life.
                  Kendell wasn’t in college. Her family didn’t have the money to pay for it. But none of that mattered at the moment. The only thing that mattered was getting away, no matter how impossible it seemed. She was strong, but the wolves were fast. She’d only managed to get this far because their paws couldn’t climb up the rocky hillside she had earlier.
                  Close by, a wolf howled.
                  God no , she thought, frantic. Please, no. I’m so tired of running…
                  Steering right, she hoped to find a tree she could climb, but she ran straight into the side of a cave, with no opening in sight. She was trapped against the rock. Backtracking meant delivering herself to the wolves. Staying meant letting the wolves find her.
                  Refusing to make things easier for them, Kendell stayed and searched for a weapon, finally finding a large branch to use as a club. She was just in time. Three wolves broke through the dark of the woods, walking slowly towards her, playing with her, their eyes yellow and hungry.
                  “Stay back!” she screamed, and she swung at the wolf closest to her, but it grabbed the branch in its bony jaws and tore it away from her hands.
                  This was it. Her fate. The wolves had finally found her. Too exhausted to fight anymore, she fell to her knees, surrendering to their will. Death would be merciful right now, but she doubted they would kill her. Not straight away.
                  The woods around her began to go black. She thought the sun had eclipsed, until she realized it was her exhaustion overwhelming her. I’m going to pass out , she realized, but she tried to hold on. Once again, she would not make things easier for the wolves.
                  They circled her, closing in, making sure she truly was finished fighting, delighting in their conquest. Wolves did not speak, but she could see their satisfaction. They had won, and they knew it. Finally, ending her misery, one wolf lunged towards her.
                  He didn’t reach her. An enormous brown bear barreled into the wolf, coming from the woods. The wolf fell on its side, whimpering. The others sneered at the bear and snapped their jaws, preparing to attack. To showcase his absolute strength, the bear stood on his hind legs and roared. He was massive, a god amongst the creatures of the forest.
                  He proved his point. The wolves went running, scattering into the forest. Kendell would have cried from relief, but she didn’t have time. Her exhaustion dominated her and she passed out, falling to the leaves on the ground the way the rain fell before a storm.
     
    ***
     

Dermott
     
    An Hour Earlier
     
                  There was nothing better than fishing. Dermott sat on the pier of the lake his house overlooked, his fishing pole in hand. The waters