Free Big Bear Problems: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Romance by Anya Nowlan, Rory Dale Page A

air, tickling her nose.
    “Is he going to be okay?” she asked, feeling a little bit foolish for being so useless.
    She’d seen Ethan shift when he ran out of the house and for the longest moment, she thought she was seeing things. Like maybe the fire had cast odd shadows and she was being hysterical, thinking there were things outside that couldn’t possibly be there. But when she stepped into the darkness and heard the frantic howls of wolves and the enraged growl of a bear with the exact same rumble to its voice as Ethan’s, she knew she hadn’t been imagining it.
    She’d just spent one of the best nights of her life with a werebear. And then he’d almost gotten killed – for her.
    “How long has he been here?” Jameson asked, a deep scowl lining his face as he looked up expectantly at Jen.
    “And where the fuck are the cowards who did this to him?” Everett demanded, looking like he was ready to rip right through any wolf that was foolish enough to cross his path.
    “Maybe half an hour. Not more,” Jen said, trembling like a leaf. “I followed the noises until the edge of the clearing. I saw as he charged into three of the wolves and fought them, all of them hanging off of him like… I can’t even find the words to describe it. He slammed one of them into a tree and mauled the other two pretty badly. When he went down, the wolves were no longer in any state to fight,” she explained, her voice trembling.
    “I ran to him as soon as the wolves… men… shifters scraped the last of them out from underneath him and disappeared into the forest. When I felt that he had a pulse, I got on a phone and called Maisy.”
    Jen was pale in the face, slumping to her knees next to Ethan. She put her hand on his arm and felt he was burning up with heat. There were deep wounds on his stomach and chest and several cuts on his neck and face. She could see some of his cheekbone through the wounds and to her, it seemed like no man could really come through injuries like that unscathed.
    “Those fucking Clearponds. We should get the clan together and –“ Everett started, his face twisted in anger.
    “Focus. Help me get him inside,” Jameson said, grabbing Ethan’s legs.
    Complying wordlessly, Everett helped Jameson carry Ethan into Jen’s house. They put him down on the same couch where she had just made love to him no more than an hour ago. The cars in front of the house were still burning with a low flame, spreading black smoke.
    “I’ll go take care of that,” Everett said, stomping past Jen and Maisy and slamming the door behind him.
    “Don’t mind him. He just needs to take a few breaths,” Jameson said with a mild grin, leaning against the wall and glancing at Jen.
    “So what’s going to happen now?” she asked, gingerly approaching Ethan and sitting down on the floor in front of him.
    She put her hand on his, squeezing it lightly. Her eyes were shining with tears, but she’d been swallowing them bravely so far. A million contradicting thoughts bounced around in her head and she felt sick to her stomach with anger and fear and worry, all combining into one. It felt like someone had reached inside of her, put their icy claws around her heart and were now squeezing as hard as they could.
    “He’s like this because of me. This is my fault. Shouldn’t we be calling the paramedics?” she asked, looking helplessly at Maisy and then Jameson.
    Jen had been planning to call the emergency line right after Maisy. Thinking back to it, she was still not sure what made her dial Maisy’s number first, but the mild-mannered waitress had made it very clear that Jen shouldn’t call anyone else and just sit tight until she got there.
    Maisy shook her head gently, pursing her lips. “No. This is shifter business. The doctors couldn’t really help. And from what I know of these bears, he’ll be fine. Just needs some time to recuperate. Right, Jameson?”
    Jameson nodded, seeming to be deep in thought. “Right.