Free Bear Run: A Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Pine Ridge Bear Shifters Book 1) by Belinda Meyers

with us or we will rip you apart.”
    Taggart’s gaze swept from Kane to
the other two bears. “At least my brother’s not with you.”
    Kane spat. “I ordered Sam to await
you back at the camp. I could have allowed him the satisfaction of ending you,
but I wanted that for myself if it came to it.” His chest swelled. “Does it?”
    “One on one?” Taggart said. “Or
will these two be joining in?”
    Kane’s expression was pitying. “Do
you really think I’d need them? Especially in your condition?”
    Taggart’s face ticced in rage.
“Let’s find out.”
    “No!” said Alice, and threw herself
between the would-be brawlers. Why were men always so quick to fight? Was it
really easier than talking? “We’re leaving, and we’re doing this peacefully.
Kane, you and your people go one way and we’ll go the other.”
    “It’s no use, Allie,” Taggart said.
“All Kane and his kind understand is violence.”
    As if to confirm this, Kane said,
his gaze fixed on Taggart’s like a snake’s: “I will bleed you for this. Submit
and I’ll try not to do it all the way. But I will break your legs.”
    “I choose freedom,” Taggart said.
“If the price is death, then so be it.”
    “Very well—” Kane said, then
quickly cut off, as another gunshot cracked through the forest. Blood burst
from the side of his neck, but it was only a flesh wound. He spun toward the
sound, and so did Alice. It was Pa and Bradley, of course, having taken shelter
behind a boulder fifty yards away—as if anyone here had a gun that could fire
back! Maybe they thought one of the bears had a gun hidden under their fur. Or
maybe they were just concealing their numbers, wanting the shifters to think
there were more than just two of them.
    At any rate, it must have been like
a godsend to Pa and Bradley: four bear shifters for the price of one! She could
practically hear their giddy laughter.
    “At them!” Kane said.
    So saying, he Turned again,
unleashing his bear self. A huge scarred black grizzly erupted from his skin
and charged toward Pa and Bradley, and the other two Black Valley bears
followed. They lumbered past Alice and Taggart and loped toward her family. For
a moment fear suffused her. Pa and Bradley might be killed! Still, she couldn’t
deny that they had brought this on themselves. Her heart ached for them,
though, even as stupid and pig-headed as they were. Please be safe , she thought, then turned to Taggart.
    His eyes had also gone to Pa and
Bradley’s hiding place, and it was clear he wished he could do something to
help them, too. She loved him even more for that, that he was willing to risk
his life to help those who’d tried to end it. At last, though, he seemed to
realize there was nothing to be done and turned to Alice.
    He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go,” he
said.
    She swallowed. Nodded.
    With bear growls and gunshots
sounding behind them, they turned on their heels and ran.

Chapter 9

 
 
    “How are you?” Alice said.
    Taggart forced a grin. “Fine.”
    She glanced at him with worry in
her eyes. They were moving through the forest at a good clip, and Taggart
thought they must be nearing the edge of it. He could hear a small amount of
road noise and smell, just faintly, the acrid odor of exhaust and asphalt.
    “How are you ?” he said. He knew she must be thinking about her family. He
was, too. When she didn’t answer, he said, “There’s a chance they got away.
Kane wouldn’t want to commit murder so close to town. Too much chance of the
authorities finding out.”
    She nodded. After a few minutes,
she said, “Your breath sounds ragged.”
    “It’s nothing.”
    “It’s not nothing. You’re shot and
starved.”
    “I’m fine.”
    “I can hear your belly growl!”
    That was true. It had been growling
for a long time now, much to his chagrin.
    Before he could say anything, she
plowed on: “I know your people need lots of food on a normal basis, but this
isn’t normal. You’ve been in