Claim the Bear Read Online Free

bloody blouse she was still wearing. And now, she was out of money.
    What had she been thinking when she left without her purse or even a change of clothes?
    Panic. Fear. Terror at what would be done to her for the sake of saving her species—that’s what she’d been thinking. It had clouded her judgment, and now she was speeding down the highway in her old bug toward certain and painful death by bear claw.
    Who would win in a fight—a bear or lion ? That was the easiest question to answer. The damned bears, every time. And she wasn’t even a good fighter. Her ingrained submissiveness screwed that little talent right up. She’d probably roll over, retract her claws, expose her belly and faint while they maimed her. God, this was so stupid.
    But what choice did she have?
    The pride were excellent trackers, and no way would they let one of their females go quietly into that good night. Even her. As much as they pretended to hate her, they needed her. Or, at least they needed her genetics.
    And some instinct inside of her screamed that Thomas wouldn’t let her go until she was his, and utterly shattered by his poisonous affection. No, if she was to survive leaving the pride, it had to be like Logan had done. He was smart. She’d always secretly wished he would be the one to breed her. Not because she harbored any feelings for him, but because he seemed to hate the pride as much as she loathed being a part of it. And he seemed gentle. Or at least he had looked at her like she was actually a person, and not just a slimy hole to stick his dick into.
    When she’d heard he had found a love match with a bear, she’d been happy for him. Relieved even that at least someone had been able to escape. If she was going to ever be okay again, it would have to be outside of the pride, and the bears were her only shot at sanctuary.
    Douglas firs and Ponderosa Pines blurred by the window as she navigated the winding mountain road. She had to be getting close. Dipping a worried gaze to the gas gauge, she inhaled slowly and tried to slow her hammering heartbeat. Any moment now, the gas light would come on and trigger the full-blown panic attack that was lurking just under her surface. Her lion had long ago shriveled in on herself until Breshia was basically a human. Pussy, pussy, pussy cat , she thought as she eyed the map sitting in the passenger’s seat again.
    The turn off should’ve been right around here, but all she saw was more road.
    Crunching metal sounded as Breshia’s car lurched forward. Terror seized the scream in her throat as the front end of her car brushed the guardrail that separated her from a massive drop off. Straightening the wheel, she lifted her terrified gaze to the rearview.
    Thomas’s black SUV was tailing her.
    “Oh, my gosh,” she breathed.
    This couldn’t be happening. He shouldn’t have been able to catch up to her! Unless…unless Shay told him where she was headed. No, Shay was the one who told her to come here. She wouldn’t betray her like this. Unless…
    She swallowed a sob.
    Unless Thomas made her tell him where Breshia was headed. She swallowed bile just thinking about the awful things he could’ve done to Shay to get answers.
    He rammed her car again, sending her skidding sideways against the guardrail.
    He was going to kill her! He wasn’t here to bring her back at all. Thomas had lost it and was going to end her life before he surrendered her to Hells Canyon.
    Gritting her teeth, she straightened out and slammed the gas pedal to the floor. If he was here to end her, she wasn’t going down without a battle. She would scratch and claw for her life, because she wanted to live. And despite what she’d been told her entire life by the pride, she deserved to live.
    There. The sign for the turnoff was coming up. She just had to make it to the campgrounds and she would be safe from Thomas and his infinite rage.
    She slowed just enough to take the curve on all four wheels. Ding . The gaslight