Read Online Clawed (Black Mountain Bears Book 1) by Ophelia Bell, Amelie Hunt - Free Book Online Page A

around for her to find peace, however. First there was the incredibly intimate awakening she’d had, followed by the most overwhelming need, which both men had fulfilled more expertly than any lover she’d ever had.
    She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that they weren’t even really human, and neither was she.
    Something rustled in the foliage nearby and she turned, but nothing was visible in the darker shadows. Yet out of the corner of her eye, she was sure she caught the dark shape of a huge, black-furred animal keeping pace with her. After a few more steps, she believed another one walked through the woods on the other side of the path. She kept her gaze fixed on the way ahead of her, strangely comforted that they’d chosen to follow her, even though she’d asked them to let her go alone.
    “You’re more worthy than you give yourselves credit for,” she whispered.
    * * *
    Emma couldn’t have imagined a more spectacular home for what she now understood was ursa royalty. The majestic structure was part living tree, part mossy stone. A long, wide veranda spanned the entire front of the lodge that seemed to go on forever. Instead of wood columns along the front, the massive trunks of ancient, living poplar trees shot up through the roof and high above, their greenery speckled with the familiar orange-yellow of the tulip-shaped flowers Emma had always loved so much.
    As she made her way closer, four figures ventured into the sunlight in front of the lodge. A regal woman in a long, green dress came first, her long, silver hair spilling in cascades of curls down her bare shoulders. She wore a wreath of flowers around her head and her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. From the eager smile on her face, they couldn’t be tears of sadness.
    Emma’s throat closed up and tears of her own threatened to spill when she saw the familiar man at the woman’s side, his arm wrapped around her and his other hand at her elbow, as though supporting her.
    “Papa!” Emma yelled, and tore the rest of the way up the stony, tree-lined path.
    He stepped toward her with open arms and a wide smile splitting his bearded face. “Emma, baby. I knew you’d make it in time.”
    She buried her face in his chest and held him tight. “God, I missed you.” In her peripheral vision, she saw the other couple step close to support the woman her father had been standing beside.
    Emma pulled away and looked at the woman, smiling, then to her father. He rested his arm across her shoulders and turned to face the others. “Emma, this is your mother, Maia Stonetree, and your aunt Mona, Maia’s younger sister. I think you know this other numbskull already.” He casually pointed at her uncle Ted, who rolled his eyes in mock irritation.
    Emma laughed and stepped in to hug the silver-haired woman. “Mama, I’ve waited my whole life for this.”
    “Oh, baby, so have I. So have I,” her mother said in a reedy voice. She shook a little with emotion, her arms far thinner and her body more delicate than Emma had expected. Now that Emma had her arms around the woman, she was suddenly concerned she’d hurt her if she hugged too hard.
    After a moment, they released each other and Emma wiped her eyes, turning to greet the others. “Aunt Mona,” she said, gripping the woman’s hands. Mona was dark-haired and robust, with shining brown eyes fringed by long lashes. She greeted Emma with a warm hug.
    Emma’s Uncle Ted stepped in close and gave Emma a half-hug, squeezing her close and kissing her on the crown of her head.
    “It’s good to see you again, Em,” he said.
    Her father ushered them all inside, and as Emma followed, she was alarmed to see how much the others doted on her mother, her father giving her support as she struggled to climb the steps. They started toward what looked like a throne room of sorts, directly inside another set of doors. A giant chair, elaborately carved from a single tree trunk, rested on a dais, surrounded by