A Bear of Her Own Read online

  As the alpha, he had a duty to protect his brothers, and Darren nodded.

  "You’re smart Travis. Most alphas would run away, but you want to stay here. I have a feeling you’re either watching out for all of us, or you are a damn fool. I haven’t figured it out yet," Darren said.

  "Probably a little bit of both. But Alana wasn’t running away, nor did she look completely terrified. I think... I think there is something deeper here, everyone. I want to see if it’ll happen though before I start this relationship,” he said.

  They all nodded, listening to Travis’ words and agreeing with him.

  “Very well. Be smart with this Travis. You are the alpha, so I know that you’ll do what’s right for everyone.”

  “That’s what I hope. I sometimes worry that I don’t, but my brothers haven’t abandoned me yet, so I'm going to do what I feel is best,” he said.

  Travis went to his office, sat there and looking at the screen. He typed into the search engine “Murders Hoopole” and started to search it. As Travis read through, he began to realize that this place needed him.

  As much as he wanted to leave, he couldn't. There was no way in hell he was going to leave her like this, and even though their relationship would be awkward initially, at least till they spoke about it, Travis needed to stay here to protect her.

  Over the next week, he could feel the tension in the air. Travis would avoid town whenever possible, going to the grocery store later at night, and he would try his best to avoid Alana during his walks too. However, she would sometimes come out during the same time as him. At those times, she would look at Travis for but a moment before walking away. She never uttered anything, and Travis felt a bit unsure of what to make of that.

  On the one hand, he liked that she wasn't getting in too deep, but on the other hand, he also knew that they couldn't just act like this forever. Travis wanted to help her, and he could tell, especially from the way her eyes would linger a little longer on him than usual, that Travis was hitting something in her heart, whatever that might be.

  A week later, Travis got a call from Darren while he was out doing his rounds. He picked it up, holding the device to his ear.

  "What’s up?”

  “There’s been another murder,” he said.

  "Where?”

  "Farmer Bob’s place. Apparently, it got the chickens, and one of the cows. And apparently, his little girl got attacked too,” he said.

  Travis grew pale as he heard those words.

  "You mean Emma?”

  "Yeah. Billy and Ben are there right now. They’re talking to her, and talking to Bob. They told me they’re reporting back to us later on tonight, so the best thing for all of us to do, is to wait and listen to them,” he explained.

  Travis nodded, taking in all that was said.

  "So it was another person attacking them, right?” he asked.

  "We don't know for sure whether it was a person, or something else. Apparently, there have been wolves and lions spotted in the area, around our home turf. So that might point to something," he said.

  Travis turned white as he heard those words.

  "I see. Let’s meet, and we can make a decision from here,” he explained.

  “Very well. I'll see you around,” he said.

  He ended the call, heading back to the house where the rest of the clan was. When Travis got in, he noticed Ben there with a pen and paper in his hands, looking at him with a fixed gaze on his face.

  "I got the information,” he said.

  “Very good. Tell me what’s happening,” Travis said, a hint of desperation in his voice.

  "Well, Emma was in the barn getting the cows ready for milking, and she said that she was heading out of the barn when she heard a sound. She turned to figure out the source of it, only to discover something was in there with her. It attacked, and she blacked out. The only thing that indicated there was an assailant was some scratches on her arms,” Ben said.

  Billy pulled up the picture, and Travis looked at the sight.

  “That’s not a human,” he said.

  "What do you mean?” Ben asked.

  "I know those marks. They’re wolves. Wolf shifters aren’t supposed to be here though. I talked with Carl about sharing territory, so why the fuck is he in this area?” he asked.

  He looked at the other shifters, seeing their gazes fixed on him. Travis knew something was amiss, and as he took a moment to process it, he then spoke.

  "We need to stay here. We won’t be leaving. This place needs protection. I do not know why there is so much commotion going on, and why there are attacks, but right now, we as shifters need to stop this before it’s too late,” he explained.

  The group nodded.

  "I feel the same way,” Ben said.

  "We need to be on our guard," Darren replied.

  "Yeah. You guys should try to look into anything related to this. Search the databases for wolf shifters. And, if you notice anything attacking humans, please stop it,” he said.

  The other men nodded, and then, Darren spoke.

  "What about Alana though?”

  He was right. Alana was a factor that Travis didn't really know how to handle. He took a deep breath, feeling the hesitation grow within him.

  "I know that she needs protection, and I want to stay here to do it. I'm not going to put my feelings at the forefront though, other than to protect her,” he said.

  Darren nodded. "A sign of a strong leader" he said.

  "Yeah. I'm really trying to keep myself together and to keep my thoughts in place. I do feel I have to talk to her though,” he said.

  “Do what you must, sir. Remember that you’re the alpha, and you’re to make sure nothing goes awry,” he said.

  Travis nodded. “That's the plan. We should make sure that we continue the investigation of this place, and figure out as well what is happening, and if there is a way to fix it,” he told them.

  The group members all agreed, and they began the process of putting together a plan. They would continue the investigation for as long as needed, and Travis would continue to lead and do his own investigation. He needed to protect her, and the best way to do so would be to put his feelings aside and to do something about this.

  After the meeting, he went to his room and picked up his phone. He dialed Alana, holding the phone to his ear. He heard the sound of the phone ringing for what seemed to be forever, and then, after a bit, he heard the familiar voice.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey Alana, it’s me. Listen, I'm sorry for the other night but, there is something I need to discuss with you. I don’t like being dishonest, and I need to make sure that you know the truth about everything as well," he said.

  There was a pause, and he wondered if she would respond. After all, she seemed to still be a little upset. He could tell from the length of time before she responded.

  "Why?”

  "Because I think you need to know everything, and I'm not going to beat around the bush with you Alana. I'm being serious here, I want to help you, and I want to make it possible for the two of us to make this work,” he said.

  There was another moment of silence, and then, she spoke again.

  ‘You’re serious about this, right?”

  "Yes, Alana. I'm serious. I'm not going to hurt you,” he said.

  She sighed, and Travis could tell it was like pulling teeth for her, but then, she spoke.

  "Fine. Let’s meet up,” she said.

  "Great. When do you want to do this?”

  “Tomorrow. It’s already late. Come around six,” she said.

  “That works. I'll see you then,” he replied.

  He clicked the phone off, feeling happy that he could be honest with her. But, there was that nagging fear that it might not be the smartest decision, and he feared just what might happen next between them after agreeing to something like this.

  Oh well, it’s not like he could back out now, unless he wanted to look like a piece of shit, i
n her eyes.

  Chapter 5

  Alana hung up, her body slightly shaking, and her heart racing.

  “He really wants to see me. Even after all of that,” she said.

  She felt weird, struggling to accept what Travis was. It was at the back of her mind every single day. She would look at Travis, and then remember the bear form that she had seen, and she always felt a surge of fear as she did this.

  She wanted to know more. It was like it called out to her, begging for her to find out, but she also feared what might become of all of this. Alana wanted to learn more, she desired the truth, but she also feared what might happen if she let this bear into her life.

  Alana spent the rest of the night and most of the day thinking about their meeting that night, getting only a little bit of writing done as she did this. It was so distracting for her, and she couldn't think about anything else. That night, however, when she heard the knock at the door, she rushed over to it and her breath caught up in her throat upon seeing Travis there.

  He still looked amazing, his toned body, beautiful blue eyes, and dark hair tousled in his face. However, she continued to remember what he was, and that sparked slight apprehension in her body.

  She feigned a smile, holding herself together as she looked at him.

  “Hey,” he said to her.

  “Hey. Come on in.”

  Travis stepped inside, smiling at her, and for a moment their eyes met, neither of them saying anything about the truth of what he was. She felt that urge to ask him, to find out why he was a shifter.

  But, she feared what might happen as a result of asking him. He might get upset with her, and tell her that she should mind her own damn business. However, Travis surprised her by patting the seat near her, and began speaking with soft voice.

  "I guess we should talk about what happened that day,” he started.

  “That would be a good place to begin,” she said with a chuckle.

  "Well, I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but I'm a shifter,” he stated.

  “No way,” she teased.

  "Yeah. I actually have been a shifter since right after high school. It was... an interesting experience.”

  Alana felt curious, but she also feared what she might find out.

  "What happened? If you don’t mind me asking,” she questioned.

  ‘Well, I actually ended up in a really bad accident after prom, and the girl I was with... you remember Sarah, right?” he asked.

  "Yeah, the one that died.”

  "It wasn’t just that she died. She gave her life up for me. She helped me when times were rough. I didn’t really like her as anything more than a friend, but I wanted to go to prom with someone, and you were with Caleb at the time,” he said.

  "Yeah. Him,” Alana said, rolling her eyes.

  He laughed, and Alana turned slightly red.

  “That’s kind of how I felt. I did feel a connection with you back then, but I went to prom with her because I kind of didn’t know how to ask you, or anything. Well, we got into a car accident, and that’s when I discovered she was a bear shifter. But, she didn’t have the reproductive capabilities that she needed to find a mate and reproduce. So, she told me she was better off without this. I asked her if I could help at all. She told me that if I wanted to, I could take her powers, and live the life of a shifter. It was a gamble, I'll tell you that. I didn’t know what the fuck I was getting into. So, I took them on and I became a bear shifter,” he explained.

  Alana’s eyes grew wide as she heard all of this.

  "And nobody at school knew?” she stated.

  “Not a single person. In truth, I thought about telling someone about it, but I feared what might happen. I didn’t know what would come about,” he said to her.

  "I understand that,” she replied.

  "So, I went about my normal life, but I also had the shifter blood in me. I felt a bit more violent, which was the main side effect of the change. The other big side effect was that sometimes I would get really frustrated with everything, and also I was always hungry, which was both a blessing and a curse. Being a bear shifter was way different from what I expected, but I managed to, after high school, move out and have my own ranch here. Nobody knew, of course until I decided to find a few friends,” he said.

  “How did those guys find out about the pack?” she inquired.

  "Simple. They ended up finding out about me through other shifters. Turns out I was a lot more popular than I thought,” he said with a bitter smile.

  "Wow. I guess because of the aggression?”

  “Little bit of that, and the fact that I didn’t take much shit from anyone. So, I managed to make a name for myself from this. But, it wasn’t easy. I did a lot of different things, a lot of work, and I made a lot of decisions, both good and bad, to get to the point where I'm at. I feel like... if I hadn’t gone though that, I wouldn’t be here. A part of me always looks back on that night, and I wonder how different my life would be if we hadn’t been get in that accident, and if she hadn’t made me a shifter. It was so strange, because in order to do this, she had to make a deep gash in me to mix our blood. It was a scary experience, but it was something that did put me on this path. And, well, I met you again,” he said.

  Alana nodded. "You did. It almost seems like yesterday that we were going to school together. Back then though, you didn’t really speak all that much to me,” she said.

  "Sorry, I was a dumbass. I was trying to prove my worth when in reality I didn’t have anything to prove,” he said.

  "Yeah. But, I'm glad now,” she said.

  "I am too,” he replied.

  There was a pause, and then, Alana looked at him, blushing red.

  “The thing about the past is, you sometimes begin to learn that you had feelings you refused to admit back then, and sometimes you kind of regret it,” she said.

  “How so?” he asked.

  She looked at him, staring at him deeply with large eyes. She wanted to tell him everything, to admit that she did have feelings for him, and she was a dumbass for not telling him early on.

  "If I told you that I had a crush on you, would you be upset about that?” she asked.

  He looked at her, and she immediately thought about what he would say. Would he deny it? Was he just stringing her along?

  “No, I have a crush on you too Alana. That’s why I'm here. That’s why I'm admitting I'm a shifter and hoping to God you don’t end up leaving me,” he said.

  She nodded.

  "Good. Because I do have a crush on you. I admit I was a bit scared of you. I didn’t know what to make of you, mostly because the idea of you shifting freaked me out. It still does. I mean, I didn’t know if you were of sound mind either, which also was a worry. But, you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, and I'm glad about that,” she admitted.

  "Good. I'm glad too.”

  She looked at him, leaning in and staring deeply into his eyes. She smiled to herself as she thought about what to say next, and then finally, she spoke.

  "You know, I could be afraid of you and avoid you, or I could accept you for who you are, and be with you. And honestly, I want to learn how to accept you, how to make you happy, and I want to learn to grow with you, even if it does mean a different sort of life,” she said.

  He nodded, looking at her with a grin, and then, he leaned in closer.

  "Well, I'm glad I didn’t scare you away then. I was almost worried I did.”

  "You’d have to do a little bit better than that to get rid of me that easily,” she teased.

  Travis moved in close, bringing their lips together into a gentle kiss. The contact between their lips made Alana feel happy and satisfied. At first, the kiss was cute, and it felt like something out of a fairy tale. Alana smiled to herself, feeling the excitement in her body and the happiness that washed over her. She started to kiss him back, pushing against his lips and kissing deeply. He continued to kiss her back, and the two of them made out, both of them re
lishing the taste and feeling of one another. Alana felt him deepen the kiss, his tongue snaking in and touching hers. She kissed him back, enjoying the way his tongue felt, and the way they both accepted and embraced one another. The feeling was perfect, and for Alana, she wanted nothing more than to indulge in this feeling forever and ever. The two of them continued to make out for what felt like forever, but then, Travis pushed her down on the couch, causing her to let out a small gasp. His lips moved towards her neck, lightly grazing her flesh, moving his lips softly. She groaned with pleasure, and she soon felt the urge to cry out. The aching need that grew within them drove her crazy, and with each caress, each touch, and each motion she could feel her body growing hotter and hotter, the need igniting as he let his tongue move down her neck towards her collarbone. He nibbled on the flesh there, inciting a moan from Alana as he continued his descent downwards.

  His hands began to explore, moving towards the buttons on her blouse. Her body tensed as she breathed out, looking up at him, but with one gaze, she immediately relaxed. His hands moved upwards, lifting the shirt from her body and tossing it to the side. He gazed at her breasts for a moment before reaching out, to touch them, making Alana tense up and moan out loud.

  His touch was electric, better than she had expected, and when she let out a small, subtle moan of pleasure, he looked at her, capturing her lips in a kiss.

  “That was pretty cute,” he said.

  Alana blushed, feeling on the spot as he teased her, and soon, she felt him move downwards, his lips gliding over her nipple with his lips. She let out a breathy gasp, shock overcoming her body as she felt him tease the tip of her nipple, moving his lip against the very edge, making her shiver with delight and cry out in pleasure as she felt him continue to tease her like this. Travis let out a smile, letting his tongue curl around the nipple, causing her to let out a small moan of desire. He teased the tip of it, letting his other hand move towards her other pinkened bud and teasing the contours. The sensation was enough to drive her mad, making Alana cry out a little bit in pleasure as he did this. He smiled as he continued to move his lips to pleasure her body.