Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,204

to fighting humans, not in this form, but he knew better than to shift back. As a bear he might be a bigger target, but as a human he’d be dead in seconds. He could still hear Brooke and Vince fighting behind him, growling and snapping at each other, but every time he tried to get closer to them, to help Brooke the way every fiber of his being was screaming for him to do, the witch would attack him.

Finally, Connor managed to get behind her and, with one strike, he took her head. She fell to the ground, blood pouring out over the leaves, already forgotten as Connor finally focused back on Brooke.

She was injured, blood seeping through her fur and limping as she favored one of her front legs, but Vince looked to be in a similar position. He was confident, tail high in the air, but Brooke was pure fury with a laser focus, keeping low to the ground, looking for any weakness in Vince’s defenses.

He ran forward to help but stopped when she turned towards him. He knew that mates were supposed to be able to communicate with one another, just like members of a sleuth. He had seen it countless times with his brothers, holding secret conversations with their mates while they all sat eating lunch together, and this felt similar. He couldn’t hear what Brooke was saying, not with words, but he knew her face so well, he didn’t need to hear her with his ears.

Please, she said. I need to do this.

Connor grit his teeth but did as she asked. Fine, he replied. But I’m not leaving.

The wolves’ fight resumed in earnest, the snapping of their jaws echoing off the trees like gunshots. It took everything in Connor’s power not to leap into the fray. All other sounds seemed to fade from his mind as he watched his mate circle Vince, lashing out as quick as a whip and tearing into his flesh, retreating before the bastard could retaliate. She was a better fighter than Vince, Connor could see it in the way the two of them moved. While Vince was all cocksure and half-assed, guessing movements instead of waiting, Brooke took her time, searching for a weakness before she made her move.

Mates were supposed to protect one another, be there for each other no matter the cost. But his mate was an alpha - she had to protect her own. This was her fight. All Connor could do was watch.

Vince lunged, an obvious move that even Connor saw coming. Still, his teeth sink into the meat of Brooke’s shoulder, bringing her to the ground with a loud thud. Brooke rolled around, never settling for a moment and, quick as a flash, she flipped them around, twisting Vince loose and pinning him to the ground, breathing hard. Her sides heaved, solid proof that she was alive, breathing, victorious. As she stood there snarling at her defeated opponent, as she pushed him into the dirt, she was breathtaking. Connor was hit again by how deep his love goes for her.

She howled and her voice reverberated through the air like a song. She lets out another howl and Connor instantly knows what it means: I have won. The whole pack heard it and, as his worry for his mate subsided, Connor could hear that the rest of the fighting seemed to have stopped. A few of the wolves join the song - their howls adding to Brooke’s, building into something like a war cry.

Brooke stopped howling, staggered back off of Vince, turning her head towards Connor. She looks exhausted. All Connor wanted to do was take her in his arms. They had won.

Connor moved forward to meet her, uncaring of his own pain when something moved behind Brooke - Vince.

Connor cried out, but it's too late! Vince collided into Brooke’s back, teeth sinking into the scruff of her neck. Brooke whines, high and panicked. A thread of pure terror gripped Connor, he leapt, unthinking, towards the pair.

Vince was dead before Brooke’s body hit the ground.

The sudden silence was deafening. Connor could hear the tiny little rasping breaths leaving Brooke’s mouth. He let out a roar, loud and thunderous, and dropped gently to Brooke’s side.

He could only hope the others got there in time.

Epilogue

Brooke

“Do you really think this would suit me?”

Brooke looked up, smiling when she recognized the woman she’d just spent an hour helping pick out literally hundreds of outfits. She smiled, nodding and beckoning