Read Online Grayslake: More than Mated: Bear Up (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Mina Carter - Free Book Online Page B

about this?” She peered at Lilly intently. “ YOU ? A bear? You faint if you get so much as a paper cut!”
    Lilly shrugged, looking sheepish. “I really hate paper cuts? The way the paper slices through your skin…” She shuddered. “It’s horrible.”
    Kacie shook her head. Lilly was actually going pale at the very thought of a little paper cut. Amazing.
    “But… a bear?” She blinked as some of the memories from that night melded together and made more sense. “You fought them off, didn’t you? You saved me. You and Kait. Oh hell, is Kait a bear too? Is that why she disappeared off to the city? Some secret bear business?”
    “No, not at all. Kait’s as human as you are.” Lilly chuckled, shaking her head. “She did help, though, when we were attacked.”
    It felt like the blood drained completely from Kacie’s body. “Oh hell, is she okay? If she’s not a bear… Did those assholes hurt her?”
    “She’s perfectly fine, I promise.” Lilly smiled, reaching out to give her upper arm a reassuring squeeze.
    “They’re still out there though… we have to fetch her, make sure she’s okay.”
    “Oh, she’s fine, believe me,” Lilly chuckled. “She’s with Creed, and now he’s finally gotten her, there’s no way he’ll let anyone hurt her. Ever.”
    Kacie’s eyes widened at the hint of gossip. “Kait and Creed? No way!”
    “I know! It’s great, isn’t it?” Lilly’s grin of happiness for their friend said everything. Then movement behind Kacie caught her attention and her expression became serious. “We’ll catch up later, hon. I’ve got work to do.”
    “Go.” Kacie shooed her away. “Go do whatever it is you bears need to do. But… girly night in and you give me all the gossip. Soon.”
    Lilly threw a grin over her shoulder. “Deal.”

Chapter 6
    T he instant Dean strode into the Watsons’ home after speaking to the bears outside, he was assaulted by the scent of blood and unfamiliar bears. He paused for a second, curling his lip back from his teeth as he breathed in to study them.
    Five males, all unfamiliar… He growled, the rumble of pure rage made into sound. These males had invaded his territory, killed a human under his protection and taken two bear females from his clan. And if that wasn’t enough to seal their fate, they’d also hurt his fated mate.
    He bunched his fists, his claws aching to burst free. They might be walking and talking, breathing and all that, but they were dead. They just didn’t know it yet.
    “Itan?” The girl’s mother, Elisa Watson, stood in front of him, her youngest child held tightly. Her expression was haunted, eyes red-rimmed from tears. “Thank the moon. Please… you have to get my babies back. They… Angela…”
    He took her by the upper arms, expression open and determined. “We will get them back, Elisa. You have my word as Itan on that.”
    “Thank you,” the woman whispered, tears welling in her eyes again. She didn’t ask anything else, didn’t need to. He was Itan and he’d given his word. Her children would be found, or he would die trying.
    And that was where assholes like Anderson went wrong. They pursued power for its own sake. They wanted people at their beck and call, looking up to them, and to issue orders. They forgot that an Itan was not a free bear. Forgot that the Itan didn’t only lead the clan, he served the clan as well. His word was law, but it was also his bond. And no Itan could ever break that.
    “Mrs. Watson? Hi, I’m Kacie. How about I make you a nice hot drink and we’ll let the…” she paused for a moment, flicking a glance around the room. Anderson and his deputies were already in the next room, where the scent of blood was the strongest, but other bears were already here, waiting Dean’s orders. She didn’t skip a beat though. “And we’ll let the Itan and his associates deal with the sheriff, shall we?”
    A hand under the terrified mother’s arm, Kacie led her away into the