Warlock and the Bear Read online

  “Bennett, wanna calm it down a little there, bud?”

  Morgan deliberately kept his voice low and calm. No sudden moves. Being mauled by a bear wasn’t on the top of his list of things to do today. Or any day. Because that was going to end one way, with him blasting the unfortunate teddy into next week.

  “We don’t wanna put on a show and scare people off, do we?” he added pointedly, trying to get through to the man under the bear. Bennett was clan-born and bred, he knew the laws just as well as Morgan did. Better.

  Humans didn’t find out about them.

  And while Beauty had a resident bear clan, not everyone in town had paranormal blood. There were humans living here as well, like the group by the door, glasses paused halfway to their lips as they tried to watch what was going on without looking like they were.

  The low growl from behind him only added tension to the situation, and he tightened his arm on Lilly’s in warning. Challenging a bear on the edge was never a good idea, which was why he hadn’t. Not yet. Warlocks were just as hardy as shifters, so he could take Bennett in a fight. Probably. Definitely in human form, but that would require him to throw some serious magic to lock Bennett’s bear away.

  “How about we take this someplace else, eh?” Dean said, stepping up and wrapping his arm around Bennett’s shoulders and neck in a male-bonding, bros kind of way. Only someone who knew him would clock the hardness in his eyes, and only those sensitive to either magic or shift potential would feel the shiver over their skin as the bear prime locked the younger man’s bear within his skin. It was a nifty trick only alphas could pull off.

  “Move,” Dean ordered them all, nodding toward the door. “Back to the lodge. And yes, that means you too, Braun. You can explain what the fuck you think you’re playing at.”

  “Me? I wasn’t the one about to… let the cat out of the bag!” The woman behind Morgan squeaked with an edge of a rumble in her voice. Fuck it, even with a hint of her other nature showing through, she turned him on.

  Without saying anything, he turned on his heel, bundling her toward the door at the same time as Dean marched Bennett that way, the two of them working like a team. Just like they always had.

  He cast a quick glance at Bennett as they reached the door, making sure to keep him and Lilly apart. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Bennett’s black gaze hadn’t left Lilly for a second. Poor guy couldn’t even talk—the snarls from his enraged bear lodged in his throat. Morgan hadn’t seen a bear so far gone for years.

  Anger filled him. He wasn’t an idiot. Lilly had only kissed him because of Bennett, and he didn’t like being a patsy for anyone, not even a babe as hot as Lilly.

  Which meant little miss “hey handsome” had some fucking explaining to do…

  Chapter 2

  She’d fucked up. Like fucked up, good and proper.

  Kissing Morgan had seemed like an awesome idea at the time. If Bennett thought she was in a relationship with the big warlock, then he’d drop the idea of them as a couple. Right? Because between the two men there was no contest. Bennett was cute and all, young and virile, but Morgan was… ohmygod handsome with a dangerous edge that got all her attention, and a hard, muscled body she appreciated on a very feminine level.

  But kissing him had been a bad idea. A really bad idea. Lilly sat in the passenger seat of Morgan’s truck, Dean in the back with his arm still around Bennett’s neck as the younger bear snarled and struggled. Admittedly, it wasn’t much of a struggle, not with Dean’s shift magic wrapped around him closer than a boa’s coils.

  The journey back to the lodge was short and sweet. Thankfully. The tension in the big truck was stifling, something that kept her quiet almost as well as the sheer stunned surprise that still rolled through her after that kiss.

  She’d thought it would be a quick peck on the lips. One brush, convince Bennett they were a couple, done.

  She hadn’t expected his arms to close around her, or his hand to drive into her hair. She hadn’t expected him to kiss her back. Or deepen the kiss. She certainly hadn’t expected the heat and need that had hit her like a flash fire as soon as he did. The memory of his lips covering hers, the sweep of his tongue against them as he’d demanded she open up, filled her mind and it was like she was there again.

  A shiver hit her, and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying not to look at him. It didn’t work, and he caught her side-look, an irritating as fuck smile curving the corner of those sinfully full lips.

  Great job Braun, she chastised herself. Now he’s onto you.

  Fuck. Her weakness where the big warlock was concerned was something she’d kept under wraps since he’d arrived in Beauty. They couldn’t work. He was a warlock, and she was a bear. The two didn’t work… they just didn’t.

  Most magic users had a thing against shifters, so why should oathbreakers, those who had left their families or been exiled, be any different? Hell, she’d even heard him once tell Dean that shifter blood was nothing special, that they were boring. Practically human.

  They pulled up outside the lodge. Bennett had calmed enough that it just took Dean’s hand on his shoulder to get the younger bear out of the car and into the lodge. He paced the main room like a caged bear, shooting looks at Lilly and Morgan.

  “What the fuck did you think you were doing, Bennett?” The prime all but exploded, fury on his face. “Beauty is our town, yes, but there are still humans here. We can’t show ourselves. You know that.”

  The guilt that showed on Bennett’s face hit Lilly twice as hard. Shit. She’d done that. Pushed him so much that he’d almost broken the rules. But just as quickly, she pushed back against the emotion. No. She was not responsible for a man’s reactions. He knew the rules. He knew no meant no. She wasn’t responsible if he was a jerk and didn’t see that.

  “Sorry prime,” he muttered, bowing his head as the bigger man stalked around him. “I… I guess I lost sight of what mattered for a moment. I…” He looked up and toward Lilly.

  She sucked in a hard breath at the need and longing there. Shit. He had it bad. But… her bear didn’t feel anything for him. In fact, the creature positively turned her nose up and huffed. And if her bear didn’t like a guy, it was a non-starter.

  “Don’t look at her,” Dean growled, drawing Bennett’s attention again. “Look at me. You almost revealed us, over a female. That’s unacceptable. You’ll be on lodge duties for the next month, understand me?”

  Lilly kept her expression level. Lodge duties meant Bennett would be coming here every night after he’d finished his day job, and doing anything that needed doing about the place. Any and every menial task required to keep the clan’s lodge running… including cleaning toilets and laundry. Usually they all pitched in, every bear in the clan on rotation, unless someone pulled extra as punishment. Even Dean, their leader, was on the rotation.

  “Yes prime,” Bennett didn’t look at Lilly again, his tone despondent.

  “Good. Now get out. Report back here tomorrow.”

  At the order the younger bear filed out. As he went, he shot a look at Morgan, his bear visible in his eyes.

  Dean groaned as the door shut behind Bennett and turned on the two of them. “Okay, tell me what the fuck just went on? You do realize he’s half matestruck, don’t you?”

  Lilly stilled. Matestrike was rare. So rare most people thought it was a myth. And it was bad. It meant a bear had fixated on a potential mate to the point he could barely think, and he’d stay that way until the fascination was broken, or he mated with the object of his affections.

  In this case, her.

  “Don’t look at me.” Morgan held his hands up in surrender. “I’m the victim of unsolicited kissing here.”

  Lilly gasped. What an utter asshole. “I didn’t see you arguing though,” she shot back at him. “And I didn’t ask you to kiss me back!”

  “No. I agree,” Dean replied with a sigh, rubbing between his brows. “You looked like you were enjoying it. More than enjoying it
.”

  The warlock just shrugged. “What can I say? I can’t help it if the ladies find me irresistible.”

  “Oh, get over yourself,” she growled. “I’d have kissed Dean if he was single. But he’s not, so it was you. And I only kissed you to get Bennett off my back.”

  She wouldn’t have kissed Dean, her prime, in a month of Sundays, but they didn’t need to know that.

  “Second choice?! Lady, you wound me,” Morgan exclaimed, clasping his hands over his heart dramatically.

  “Dickhead warlock.”

  He was, he really was. She had no idea why she’d kissed him now.

  But he really could kiss. And she really wished she didn’t know that.

  “Ball-buster bear,” he shot back.

  “I’d like to bust your balls.”

  “I’d rather you do something else with them.”

  “Children!!” Dean’s roar stopped the squabbling, and they both looked at him. He glared at Morgan.

  “Stop antagonizing her.”

  She turned her head, about to be completely juvenile and stick her tongue out at him when Dean turned his glare on her. It was not the amused and amiable look of a happy man. It was the pissed off look of her prime.

  “And you. I have no clue why you dragged Morgan into this, rather than come to me, but now you can live with the consequences. For the next however long, until Bennett’s fascination with you has worn off, you and Morgan are an item.”

  “What?”

  “You gotta be kidding me! Why am I being punished?”

  They both exploded together. Lilly’s head snapped around. “So you see being with me as a punishment, do you?” She accused, her temper flaring. “Well it ain’t no better for me, handsome. You think I want to put up with an arrogant jerk like you? I’d rather mate a were-hyena. At least they have manners.”

  And with that, she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

  Morgan shook his head as the door slammed.

  “That girl seriously needs a personality transplant, or to get laid. Or something,” he chuckled, looking over at Dean.

  But Dean’s expression wasn’t the smiling one he expected. Instead, Dean’s face was set in firm lines.

  “Well, you need to figure out which, because you’re stuck with her for the next couple of weeks,” he bit out.

  “What? Don’t tell me you were serious with all that crap about being an item?” Morgan’s jaw hit the deck.

  “Are you deaf as well as stupid?” The big bear asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or perhaps I’m speaking Swahili?”

  Morgan didn’t point out it wouldn’t have made any difference if he was—a small spell could solve any language issues. But instinct warned him that being a smartass was not a wise course of action. Not right now, not when Dean looked like he was ready to rip heads off. And Morgan had no intention of one of them being his.

  “I thought you were just saying that to scare her. Braun, I mean. Put her in her place for kissing me.”

  Dean smirked. “Yeah? Because you have such an issue with women just up and kissing you out of the blue, don’t you? Don’t you answer that,” he ordered as Morgan opened his mouth. “No. I wasn’t joking. Bennett is so close to matestruck, I could virtually taste it as soon as we walked into the bar. Which means at the moment, he’s a clear and present danger to Lilly. And it could cause panic in the rest of the clan it if got out. Some idiots still believe it can be passed on by touch.”

  Morgan’s ire fled, every cell of his body still as he focused on Dean. “What kind of danger?”

  So help him, if the guy touched a hair on her head, screw all the rules, Morgan would take him apart, piece by piece.

  Dean ran a hand through his close-cropped hair. “When a bear gets matestruck, it’s total obsession. All they can see, hear, and think about is the woman they want. And it’s usually males. I’ve never heard of a female getting matestruck. Ever.”

  “So he’s going to mope around and write bad poetry to the sparkle in her eyes or something?” Morgan asked hopefully.

  He’d never heard of this matestrike thing, but then, he wasn’t a shifter. Until he’d joined up, he hadn’t had much to do with them. Not with the family he’d come from. Shifters of any type were seen as mere animals. That wasn’t to say those with magic didn’t have their own issues, even obsessions, but it was normally the allure of power rather than another person.

  “I wish.” Dean sighed and dropped into one of the deep leather couches. “No. He’s more likely to try and carry her off to his lair and keep her there until she agrees to mate with him. Or mate with her anyway.”

  The blood froze in Morgan’s veins. “He’d kidnap and rape her? My god, why didn’t you say?”

  He’d already started to turn, ready to rush out of the door and go after the bear-woman when Dean spoke again.

  “Hold up. It’s not that desperate. I’ve locked him into his human form for now. So, if he does try and kidnap her, he’s got to do it as a man without his bear. And against Lilly Braun? He’d be fucked. And not in a good way.”

  “Yeah. She’s got a temper on her, for sure.” Morgan relaxed a little, a smile crawling over his lips. “So, if she doesn’t need protecting, why the farce?”

  Dean’s gaze pinned him. “Because it’s not enough. As long as she’s unmated, then Bennett will be a danger to her. Even if I sent him to another clan, he’d make his way back. No, the best way is to make him think she’s mated to someone else.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Morgan spat in exasperation. “You guys keep saying you’re not animals, and now you tell me you don’t get that no means no?”

  “Like humans, some people are just assholes.” Dean’s voice dropped low with frustration and his bear. “And it’s even worse with matestrike. Literally, he will not be able to tell that her protests are real. He’ll concoct some story in his head about people turning her against him. It’s a sickness, and a very serious one.”

  The prospect of Lilly, any woman, in that situation chilled Morgan right through to the soul. “So I get to be the sacrificial lamb, huh?”

  Dean chuckled. “You get to live with a hot chick you’ve been eyeing up and wanking over for years.”

  “Hey!” Morgan protested. “That’s not true. I have not been eyeing her up. I’ve been ogling her. Big difference.”

  Dean barked a laugh. “I note no argument to the…” He moved his fist in a jerking off motion.

  Morgan chuckled as he turned to leave. “Fuck, no. I’ve done that every night since I met her.”

  She wanted to drive away and leave the asshole warlock in the dust, she really did. But, as Lilly emerged from the lodge, she realized she’d missed one important detail.

  He’d driven them here.

  “Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me,” she hissed, staring at Morgan’s truck parked in front of the lodge. But, as much as she stared, it stubbornly refused to turn into her little pink SUV.

  For a moment her gaze flickered to the road. She could walk back to town. It wasn’t that far and… She looked up at the darkening sky. Nope. It would be dark when she got home and while she wasn’t scared of the dark, she’d be cold, damp and even more pissed off by the time she got there.

  She shivered at the thought. She hated being cold. Even more than she hated paper cuts. So walking home was out. A quick query to her bear about shifting to run home was met with a snort.

  No help there then.

  Lilly knew better than to push. Her bear was a force of nature, and unfortunately, very much her own creature. Quite what had her in a snit now, Lilly had no idea. She got moods occasionally. Like when she’d decided she didn’t like cashmere all of a sudden and poked fur through Lilly’s skin every time she wore the stuff. Eventually Lilly had gotten it out of her bear that she thought it was made from bunny rabbits, and she was protesting their ill-treatment.

  It was just her luck to have gotten an eco-warrior for the other side of her shifter-soul.
r />   Growling to herself about asshole warlocks again, she stomped to Morgan’s truck, folded her arms, and leaned against the passenger door.

  It wasn’t more than a minute or two before he walked out, the door to the lodge swinging shut behind him. She’d looked up and for a moment, all she could do was drink in the sight of him as he walked toward her. Tall and heavily muscled, anyone could have been mistaken for thinking he was the bear, not her.

  Quickly, she got herself under control. The last thing she needed was for him to figure out what he did to her. The asshole’s ego was big enough already, he didn’t need her adding to it.

  He didn’t look impressed, his expression hard as he walked down the steps in front of the lodge toward her.

  “Meeting with Dean go okay, loverboy?” She threw at him archly. “Please tell me he’s given up on that ridiculous idea of you a—”

  He didn’t stop when he reached the bottom of the steps. Before she could stop him, he had pinned her against the side of his truck with his hard body. Heat swirled in his eyes before he crashed his lips down over hers.

  A muffled squeak of protest sounded in her throat, and she tried to push him off. She really did. But it seemed her hands hadn’t gotten the memo that he was an asshole, and instead of pushing him away, her traitorous fingers curled around the edges of his leather jacket instead.

  Her protest became a moan as he parted her lips with a hard tongue, driving inside to slide against hers in an inferno-laden dance of pure temptation. She gasped, losing all reason as she pressed herself against him. She kissed him back in hot, open-mouthed exchanges, her entire body aching.

  He broke the kiss abruptly. “That should convince him you’re hot for me.”

  She felt the smile against her lips a moment before the penny dropped. He hadn’t kissed her because he’d wanted to. He’d kissed her because they had an audience. Bennett must be watching them.