Free The Island Of Bears: A BBW Paranormal Romance by Amira Rain Page A

things could be real. The words he’d written me in text flashed through my mind. Being scared doesn’t mean a person isn’t strong; it just means they’re human.
    But just as quickly as the possibility that I was simply scared crossed my mind, I dismissed the thought, shaking my head again. “No. Not a chance all that stuff is true. Holden is just into some seriously twisted delusions and mind games. And now you’ve slept with him. You’ve slept with a man who possibly kidnapped you.” Rolling my eyes, I paused for a second. “And now you’re talking to yourself, Haley. Brilliant. Maybe Holden’s right. Maybe you are ‘emotionally and mentally fragile.’”
    Still muttering to myself, I gathered up my clothes, hastily dressed, and then began striding up from the beach to the jungle area bordering it, intending to find a log or a stump or something to sit on while I waited for Holden to return.
    A short while later, I sat on a log, tracing designs in the sand with a stick, now finally quiet, out of things to say to myself, I supposed. The alarm siren had stopped, too, so now the only sound to be heard was the gentle crashing of the surf. I hoped Holden wasn’t going to be long doing whatever he was doing. I hoped he’d return right away. I was tired, and I was kind of mad at myself for sleeping with him, despite the fact that I’d very thoroughly enjoyed it, and I just wanted to go back to my cabin and go to bed.
    Holden didn’t return right away. At least twenty minutes went by without any trace of him. After gazing up at the moon for a short while with my chin on my fists, I picked up my stick again and resumed tracing designs in the sand. And that was when I heard it. A low, faint growl, coming from somewhere very nearby behind me.
    I froze, my breath seeming to catch in my throat. I didn’t want to turn. I didn’t want to do it with every fiber of my being. I was scared. Terrified, actually. But I knew I had to turn. I had to see what was behind me. Either that, or simply wait for some wild creature to attack me from behind. So, I gritted my teeth and simply forced myself to turn my head just far enough to look over my shoulder. And what I saw made me gasp.
    Two pairs of glowing green eyes stared at me from inside the jungle, maybe only ten or fifteen feet away. I heard another low growl, followed by a distinct howl. Wolves . In a jungle. I couldn’t believe it. However, I knew I didn’t exactly have time to sit around stewing in denial. What was happening was happening, and I knew I had to deal with it. I had to act or I might soon be dead.
    Springing up from the log, I brandished my stick, which was about the size of a baseball bat, but with a fairly sharp end. “Get away! Get back!”
    I’d heard that a human voice could frighten wolves away, but these didn’t seem like any ordinary wolves. They actually crept closer after I’d spoken. Their green eyes glinted in the moonlight, and one of them snarled.
    I began backing up to the beach, still brandishing my stick. “I mean it! Get the hell away from me!”
    With my words seeming to have zero effect on them, the wolves continued creeping closer, their large, silvery bodies visible in the dim light now. I considered running, but I just knew I wouldn’t get very far. I had to hold my ground and scare them off somehow, or I would die. But other than shouting, I wasn’t quite sure what I could do.
    Thrusting the sharp end of my stick forward in what I hoped was a menacing gesture, I yelled again, but this time the loudest I had yet. “You hear me? Get! Back! I’ll stab you with the sharp part of this stick! I’ll kill you!”
    Though my legs were trembling so badly I was beginning to fear they wouldn’t hold me up much longer, I was sure going to try.
    “I’ll kill you both!”
    My words sounded absurd to my own ears. I knew the chance of me killing two wolves with nothing more than a sharp stick was slim to none. But I had to at least try.