Free Clay (BBW Secret Baby Bear Shifter Romance) (Secret Baby Bears Book 4) by Becca Fanning

Frisbee,” Owen uttered nearby. “Eddie is the worst player in the clan. And the worst teacher. Don’t listen to anything he says. Just do what instinct tells you to do.”

    With Eddie’s hands on her waist and his musk filling her senses, her instincts told her to turn around and lure him into his trailer for their own game of horseshoe.

    “Thank you for the blanket,” she said as she aimed. “And for fixing things with Brianna. I figure you had something to do with the sponsorship.”

    “I had nothing to do with it. Brianna earned it on her own. I just made sure it went ahead despite the pigs running amuck.”

    “See, you can be gallant. Your brother was right to leave you in charge. You’ve got this.”

    “Actually, I’ve got you,” he said, tightening his hold on her waist.

    She threw three horseshoes and missed each time, but it was fun. When the last horseshoe flew out of her hand and nearly hit Jacob in the head, a giddiness took hold of her, and she laughed so hard her stomach hurt.

    “Arrest her, Colby,” Jacob joked. “She ain’t playing fair.”

    She instantly lost her humor. “Arrest me?”

    “Colby’s a cop,” Eddie explained.  

    She swallowed, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. “A real one?” she asked, causing the group to burst out laughing.

    “I’m a part-time officer, only on duty when we’re back at the ranch in New Mexico,” Colby said. “Don’t worry, I have no jurisdiction here. Jacob will have to take it up with the local police.”

    Dakota forced a smile, her heart pounding, realizing just how dangerous a game she was playing. To take the focus off of her, she quickly changed the subject. “Where did Holden go?” she asked.

    The group looked around uncomfortably. Running a hand through his hair, Eddie told her. “Shifters around these parts are disappearing. He went to figure out why.”

    “What do you mean disappearing?”  

    “One day they’re throwing horseshoes. Then they’re gone.”

    Worried, she thought of her friend back home. “Only these parts?”

    “That we know of. You thinking of your shifter friends?”

    “I only know one. She’s my best friend. Lillian. She’s a wolf.”

    Eddie put his arm around her. “I wouldn’t worry. She’s probably safe.”

    “She may be safe, but you aren’t,” a man bellowed behind them. It was the fat bookie who had thrown Eddie out of the beer tent the day they met. A gang of thugs accompanied him, brutes carrying chains. “I hope you have a ride to the hospital, because that’s where I’m going to put you.”

    He was speaking to Eddie.

    Their arrival caused a scene. Others in the campsite stopped what they were doing to watch, statues in the desert sun.

    “You know you don’t want to mess with the Tyrell Clan,” Colby said, stepping forward, speaking with the authority of a cop and the audacity of a cowboy. “Be on your way, Girey. We don’t want no trouble.”

    Girey sneered. “Trouble is what you’re gonna get. You don’t scare me. I know what you are, and I don’t care. Men rule over the wild. Bears like you should be locked up, especially after your little stunt yesterday. I had money riding on that competition. You cost me, and I expect you to pay up.”

    A pair of strong hands pulled her away. It was Brianna. “We gotta go, chickling,” she said. “It’s about to get ugly.”

    Dakota didn’t protest. There was nothing she could do to help Eddie. He had his clan for that. She would only be in the way, a liability.

    They hurried to Brianna’s truck. As they pulled away, Dakota opened the window and looked back, seeing Girey and his men, and four angry bears.

Chapter Four

    A full week had passed since the barbeque. Brianna was gone, out fulfilling the duties of her sponsorship, including numerous press calls, leaving Dakota alone in the apartment. When she had first arrived in West Texas, she would have been delighted to have the space to herself, but Dakota no