Free Bear Apparent (BBW Shifter Romance) (Stone Claw Clan Book 1) by Jade Woods

how true it was. Besides, if Dahlia got wind that he was imperfect, she might reconsider her decision to mate with him.
    She looked at Garrett, her silent question hoovering in the air.
    Taking a deep breath, he threw Bruin a glare who meekly stuffed his mouth. “All of us were tossed out of some clan or another. As I explained, no shifter ever did well alone, so here we are.”
    “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t insult any—”
    “Are you kidding?” Jet spoke up. “Garrett is the bestest clan-leader ever.”
    Leto nodded in agreement with his brother. “Yup.”
    As Garrett’s bears lavished him with praise, he blushed. They’d never openly voiced their approval of him before, but their continued will to follow him proved they respected his authority. He just wished he was a stronger leader for them.
    “I’m so happy you all found each other. No one should have to be alone,” she said, her eyes glittering with warmth.
    “We wish Garrett wouldn’t be alone, either,” Bruin spoke up, and Garrett issued a none too subtle warning, the growl filling the room. Everyone looked down in submission while Marcus cleaned his nails with a toothpick.
    There was a moment of tense silence, but Bruin had already lit the spark, and there was no snuffing out Dahlia’s curiosity. Resigned, he waited as everyone cleaned their plates as silently as possible.
    “What do you mean?” she finally asked.
    “He means that I am stronger with a mate,” Garrett said, eying the bear all the while who simply kept his attention on his empty plate. “Remember what I told you about the mating-bond increasing a shifter’s strength?”
    “Oh.” Garrett didn’t like the distant tone of her voice. He’d have words with Bruin later. “But why is that?”
    Marcus threw his hand into the air, and jumped out of his seat. “Me! Let me tell the story.”
    “Here we go,” Vance said, rolling his eyes and he sunk into his chair.
    Garrett signaled to Marcus, and the bear clapped his hands together in excitement. The male lowered his voice, and motioned his hands in the air for effect. “It’s a story handed down through the ages by shifters, a tale of mystery and of Gods and demons. A story cloaked in myth and legend—”
    Jake slapped Marcus on the butt playfully. “You were always one for drama. Get to the story.”
    The bear growled at his mate, but grinned. “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted… It’s an old story. A story told before humans could write. Beautiful, unearthly beings came from the sky, and everything they touched became something more . They lived on Earth for many years, observing, cataloging and creating. They weren’t the only of their kind though, and like all good stories, a villain is required. One could call them demons, I suppose, but unlike the sky-people, these beings were ugly and twisted, and only thought of war and dominating those deemed lesser.”
    “So we were created—” Jake cut in.
    “Hush! Don’t steal my show!” Marcus hissed then smiled innocently at Dahlia who was absorbing the whole thing with fascination. “The sky-people were the live and let live type, and didn’t take kindly to the demons running around, killing pointlessly. Besides, they had come to Earth first. So, they took the best qualities of many different species, and combined them into a single organism. A bear’s strength, a cat’s agility, a salamander’s ability to heal and regrow limbs… all these attributes instilled in the most promising and successful living being at the time… humans.”
    “You can regrow limbs?” she gaped, her eyes like saucers in her face.
    “Sure, but it takes a while and it’s painful,” Marcus said. “Basically, we were laboratory experiments, a bunch of parts thrown together to make the perfect guardian. Bears were one of the first shifters, and the closest to the sky-people. To get to them a demon would have to break a line of bears, and that’s not easy to