Bear With Me (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance) Read Online Free Page A

sprung up into the air, sailing smoothly over my head and throwing itself bodily at the intruder, its claws extended and its jaws wide open ready for battle.
    Only then, safely forgotten, did I allow myself to move. I twisted around and found myself face to face with a bear. It had drawn itself up to its full height, which must have been at least ten feet. I had to crane my neck upwards to so much as glimpse its face, which seemed tiny and isolated in the middle of a huge expanse of deep dark fur. It seemed to almost embrace the wolf as the creature hurled itself straight at the bear’s throat, not wasting a moment and going straight for the killing strike.
    The wolf barely grazed the thick brown fur before the bear raised its paw and dealt the smaller animal a brutal blow to the head, sending it flying back to ground with a crash and a whimper. This sent its pack mates into a snapping, snarling frenzy, although it seemed that they were under some sort of instruction not to move. The air around us was a quiver of pent up energy as the leader – I assumed the fallen wolf was the leader as it was far bigger than any of the others – struggled to right itself, its tongue falling from its mouth as it panted heavily, struggling for breath from the pain of the impact of landing on its back.
    We all watched – the other wolves, the bear and I – and waited for the wolf-leader to make its next move. The bear was obviously refusing to strike first, the smaller wolves had been forbidden to join in the fray… There was some sort of tacit agreement between the two groups, some sort of truce that could not be broken. But the leader-wolf was bristling with fury, its hackles raised, and would not be contained by the same rules that the others were deferring to. Shivering with anger and pain, it slunk in a wide circle around the bear, its eyes – bright with malice – never leaving wavering from its enemy. The bear watched it with equal intensity, its own lips drawn back in a silent, warning snarl.
    But the wolf would heed no warning. It had been grievously insulted, and it would have its revenge.
    Holding itself low, it slashed at the bear’s legs with long, scythe-like claws – first one and then the other in quick succession. With a howl of pain, the bear fell heavily onto all fours, the ground shaking with the impact of its great weight. Great gashes – long and deep – were already oozing with thick dark blood which seeped down its ankles and matted its fur. The sight of the wounds made my own skin tingle in sympathy, all too aware of how that could easily be my own fate. One slash of a paw. That’s all it would take.
    As the wolf continued to stalk its foe in a wide circle, carefully calculating the perfect moment to strike, I knew that I could run if I wanted to. I had been forgotten completely by that point. But whilst my mind knew it and considered it, my feet were firmly rooted to the ground and refused to budge an inch. I could slip away, I tried to tell them desperately. Before the fight’s over and they realise they’re hungry again… There’s still a chance of survival.
    But they would not comply, and I was forced to stand there – like a deer caught in headlights – and watch this great war of nature taking place around me. I was no part of this, and yet I was caught up in the middle of it all.
    The wolf stopped, considered its position for a moment, shuffled back on its haunches, and then leapt once more. It sprung high into the air, twisting its neck to get a good angle with its teeth. I saw the bear flinch as the wolf landed on its back and its jaw closed around the scruff of its neck, holding fast. My heart thuddered in my breast, and I found myself praying for the bear that saved me. There was no way that wolf would be letting go until the bear was dead, its jaws and determination were stronger than iron, and it was safely out of reach of both the bear’s claws and its teeth. The battle was all but