Read Online Return To The Bear by T.S. Joyce - Free Book Online

was staring at the bleeding cuts Brody had made into her flesh.
    The shifter ghosted a glance to Brody, then slowly back to Nathan. “This woman is mine now, a part of my clan. She’s been claimed by one of my people.”
    “She’s my mate.” Nathan’s dominance cracked against the clearing and the air filled with the smell of a lightning storm. The hair on her arms electrified, and she was horrified to realize the same power was coming from behind and beside her. From Brody and Riker.
    Brody stood, pulling her with him. “I don’t know how it’s done in the Long Claw Clan, but she has the right to choose.” He pulled the collar of his shirt to the side, exposing the bleeding wounds. “She’s made her choice. It’s not you. She’s mine now, a member of Bear Valley under Riker, my alpha.”
    Nathan shook with fury, his body vibrating under the weight of his infinite rage. “You’ve just brought war upon yourselves.”
    “No,” Riker said. “You brought war when you broke your peace treaties and murdered your allies.”
    A ripping sound rattled the space behind her and she turned to see Riker stand on his hind leg s, at least a dozen feet tall. A fully muscled, scarred, infuriated grizzly, whose murderous glowing gaze was honed on Nathan. He roared long and loud, followed by three short bursts.
    Brody gripped the back of her neck and forced her to look at him. “I need you to run now. Go west until you find the truck. Take Hannah. If the Long Claws get through us, you change and fight them. Keep her safe, do you understand?”
    She gripped his hands, wishing she could keep them against her skin forever. “I understand.” Her voice came out very small, and shook like a grass fire.
    “You’re strong,” he breathed, his gaze dipping to her lips. “You can do this.”
    “I won’t let you down.”
    His smile was slow and disappeared as fast as it came. “I knew you wouldn’t.” He kissed her once more, and a growl trickled from his throat, which turned into a roar as he grew upward and thick fur sprouted from his skin. He was a heavily muscled grizzly, lighter in color than Riker but just as scarred, as if he’d been in many battles. His hard gaze left her and focused on Nathan.
    “Holy. Shit s nacks,” Hannah breathed, her horror-filled gaze glued across the pond.
    A flash of snow white fur said it was past time to go. Joanna had to trust that Brody and Riker were strong enough to take on Nathan and the Long Claw guards who were no doubt storming the woods. She grabbed Hannah’s hand, but the woman pulled back.
    “He’s a…that’s a…”
    “We have to go now,” Joanna said, pulling her arm harder.
    “You didn’t tell me he was a freaking polar bear!”
    “Move your feet, Hannah, or we’ll be caugh t in the middle of a battle we don’t want to be. Move!”
    Brody and Riker charged past them, their thick bodies lithe and powerful, flexing great girths of muscle with every step.
    Hannah’s eyes were wide as she watched her mate, but they were out of time. Gripping her shoulders, Joanna spun the woman and shoved her toward a trail. “Run and don’t slow down.”
    Roaring filled the air, and clawed slaps echoed through the woods. There would be more bears joining Nathan soon. Joanna could hear them and her heart sank with the realization that it was Brody and Riker against a Long Claw army. They would die in these woods and it was her fault.
    It was in the middle of her epic bout of self-loathing when she heard the crashing of the trees up ahead. She skidded to a stop, pulling Hannah back with her just as thirty bears charged through the woods around them. She ducked as a charging, red-furred bear leapt over them, shielding Hannah, but the woman only pulled her forward.
    “They’re ours,” she said simply, and began running again.
    Ours? It hit her then. Even if she died here today, she wouldn’t pass into the next realm as a Long Claw. She was a Bear Valley shifter now. Even if it was