Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,200

ceiling on strings that swung in the breeze from the hole in the corner of the roof. The walls were the same dark wood as the rest of the cabin, but it was almost entirely covered in scribblings and notes - chalk diagrams underneath scraps of paper pinned haphazardly across one another. It looked like a scene from a bad indie horror movie. It had to be the witch’s room.

Brooke checked the bundles carefully, giving most of them a wide berth. They smelled… wrong… like something natural taken and perverted for something it was never intended to be a part of. Brooke had never understood magic, but she knew enough to be on her guard. There were probably hundreds of things in this room that could kill her if she got too close.

Her gaze caught a string of red peppers and hurried over to them, pulling one down. She could vaguely remember Angela telling her once that there was a natural pain relief found in capsaicin in chili peppers. She carefully dug her fingernails into the skin of the pepper and pulled it apart. She felt ridiculous, rubbing a split apart pepper onto the gashes in her wrists and even more stupid when the pain flared rather than receded but, after a minute or two of breathing through clenched teeth, the pain did start to fade some. Progress. She had to remember not to touch her face until she’d found something to wash her hands; it was no use numbing her wrists if she was blind.

She looked once more at the witches' workroom. Freaky fucking voodoo room, more like. It looked like it had been set up months ago - had Vince really been planning this for that long? Connor and his sleuth must not even know about this place, she thought, worry churning her gut and mixing with another stab of betrayal.

Connor.

Vince’s words from the night before flooded over her. He was going to attack the lodge, with over half her pack at his side and ready for battle. It would be a bloodbath if Brooke didn’t warn them. A new sense of protective fury welled up within her - Connor was her mate now, even if he could never see her as his, even if her pack would never accept it. She knew it in her heart, this pull to protect him and be protected in return.

There’s no way she could stand by and watch him and everything he cared about be destroyed.

Brooke headed back to the entrance on sore but determined legs and faced the door. It took two swift kicks for the wood to cave and fresh sunlight spilled across her face as she stepped outside. She followed the sounds of the river, until she stumbled upon the stream where she and Connor had sex. She wasn’t far from the lodge at all. Bless Vince for being such a fucking moron.

Her wolf screamed at her to get to Connor as soon as possible but she knew she had to try to settle this herself. The only way she was going to earn back her right to be alpha was to prove she had what it took to take Vince down, prove she was the better protector, the better provider. She just prayed there was still some of a pack left to help her.

She moved on instinct, shifting in order to run faster, and raced down the mountain until she reached the apartment complex. She stood, panting heavily in the parking lot, trembling faintly. What if no one was there to stand by her side? What if Vince had gotten here before her, taking the last of her family for himself?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door being flung open and frantic footsteps racing towards her. A warm body slammed into her, sending pain sparking through her body, and Brooke twisted, ready to fight when Carlo’s familiar voice cried out her name, burying his head into her fur.

“Brooke! Thank God you’re alright!”

Brooke shifted instinctively, relishing the feeling of being held. His soft curls tickled her face and she looked up to see Angela standing at her other side, a relieved smile on her face. Behind her, three pairs of eyes stared at her. Simon, Lola and Ria. That made five.

Five of her pack had waited for her. Brooke felt tears come to her eyes and she pushed Carlo back to rest her forehead against his.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I drove everyone away -