Free The Steel Bear: A BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Highland Brothers) by Meredith Clarke, Ally Summers Page A

who can handle your bear.”
    “She can handle it.” He had to laugh. “I’m pretty damn happy. I’m not interested in another bear. Or woman.” His eyes pierced hers. “Nice to know we were being watched.” He glared at her. “How did you even know there was a bear in this area?”
    She laughed. “Three brothers. A family dynasty. The Highland property is famous. I took my chances you would be here.”
    Crawford didn’t like the idea that Jackie had been spying on them, especially last night. He wondered if she had spotted Hudson or Striker on either of their visits.
    “There are a lot of ways a she-bear could find a mate. I don’t recommend this one again.” He was ready to get out of here.
    “Maybe so, but you need to realize what you’re doing to her. I can be the kind of mate she can never be.”
    “Leave Mila out of this,” he roared.
    Jackie’s nose twitched. “And what happens when you fill her with so many cubs it kills her?” Her eyes shot to his. “Or they change on her and she has no defense against them? She doesn’t know how to be a mama bear. Teenage boys are a handful. I bet you were.” She winked at him.
    Crawford shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. She’s not the first to be with a bear shifter.”
    “And she won’t be the first to die from it either.”
    Crawford stepped away from her. “No. I love her. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”
    “This is why bears should be with bear mates. Look at you.” She ran a hand along his back. He shuddered at her touch. It wasn’t right feeling someone else navigate his body. “You’re a strong, alpha bear. You need cubs. Lots of them.” She circled him. “And imagine the magic between two shifters. Imagine what we could do together. Imagine the power in our two bodies.” She growled low and seductively.
    Crawford stepped away from her. “No. I’ve claimed my mate. Find someone else.”
    “But it’s tempting isn’t it?” Her eyes were mesmerizing. Little swirls of cobalt blue swimming through faded lavender. “Have you ever thought about being with a she-bear?”
    He nodded. “Of course. I’m a shifter, not a damn priest.”
    She smiled. “Then why settle for a human when you could have what you always wanted?”
    “Because I’m in love with her.” He tried to press his words into the thick air surrounding them.
    “Love? How do you know you’re in love when you haven’t even tried a shifter?”
    “Stop it!” he roared, his voice echoing off the cave walls.
    Instead of scaring her, he had done the opposite. Her breath hitched. “I knew you were powerful.” She licked her lips, inching closer toward him.
    Crawford looked around the cave. There were tunnels on either side of him. He didn’t know how he got here, or how in the hell he would get out, but he had to try. He had to get back to Mila.
    He listened, hoping he might recognize a sound that would point him to the exit he needed, but instead he heard screaming. His chest seized with panic.
    His eyes flashed to Jackie. “What have you done?”
    “I thought we could put an end to this if your mate released you. I brought her to you.” She smiled.
    Crawford stared in horror as another bear dragged Mila over his shoulder, wrapped in the sheet from the cabin. She kicked, beating her fists against the brute’s back.
    “Let me go!” she screamed.
    Jackie watched Crawford. “See, lover? She’s weak.”
    Mila squealed as the bear deposited her on the floor, she gripped the sheet to her chest and spun in his direction.
    “Crawford?”

15

Mila
    W hat in the hell was happening? She had been ripped from the cabin’s porch, lugged through the forest, and dropped on the floor of a cave.
    She looked up, her heart warming at the sight of Crawford. Thank God he was ok.
    “You’re ok?” she asked.
    He nodded, but she could see the look in his eyes. It was the same one he had before a board members’ meeting. It was the one