did. Shifting when they were almost to the creek, the two grizzlies bolted.
Running after a particularly wily buck, the two huge grizzlies poured on the speed. Over the hills, down into the valley, around the huge redwoods then racing through the woods, they would almost catch the deer, then slow down just enough to let it get a fifteen- or twenty-yard lead.
It was all about the chase, at least for the first hour. Burning off the nerves, letting instinct take over, it was what he’d been made for. Why he was a shifter, an alpha, a bear.
Jack had been right. Being outside, part of nature, letting his grizzly take the lead was exactly what Beau needed. Coming over Hunters Rise, his mind raced back to the first time he’d seen Lucy as a wolf.
Standing on that exact spot, the last rays of the sun disappearing from view, he’d been out looking for a lost calf when the scent of sun-kissed citrus and female wolf filled the air. Unable to do anything but follow, he’d caught her mid jump.
And just like that, Beau imagined him and Lucy hunting together. The feel of her lithe, muscular form running next to his set his heart to racing.
It was as if he could hear the soft pounding of her paws against the earth. He envisioned the sharp, wonderful contrast of her stark white fur to his chocolate brown pelt.
There was no doubt in his mind that they would take their prey down together, as a team, the way the goddess intended. Lucy was his mate, his partner, an equal in all things, and hunting would be no different.
“Hey, lover boy.” Jack’s gruff chuckle burst through Beau’s mind. “You wanna turn down the lovey dovey bullshit? I thought we were out here to get something to eat.”
“Yeah, well, eat my dust, little bear.”
And with that, the two grizzlies took down the buck in a perfectly choreographed sequence of moves they’d been using since they were only cubs. Eating their fill, the alpha and his beta shifted back into their human forms, cleaned the rest of the deer and left pieces for the smaller animals through the forest.
Stepping onto the patio behind his house, Beau was once again focused. He could see the path before him and knew exactly what he and Lucy had to do.
Standing in the shower, dreading putting on his tuxedo, but looking forward to having Lucy back with him, Beau’s hand shot out as the claws of his bear scratched the tile. Reaching for the towel rack with his free hand, he was barely able to breathe as fiery rage and unadulterated fury nearly drove him to his knees.
Vision blurring. Bright lights flashing behind his eyes, nearly blinding him, Beau’s perspective was spinning. Stopping when he felt as if he was upside down, not to mention, staring at a denim-covered ass, the grizzly instantly realized he was looking through Lucy’s eyes.
Falling onto his ass before his head followed, crashing onto the wet floor, Beau could hear Lucy growling at her dad. Time was going backward and forward, everything spinning, the grizzly had no idea what was going on, only that his mate was in trouble. She needed him.
Cleland was threatening Lucy. Beau heard the name Terrance Holloway, and the bear with whom he shared his soul roared. The slimy wolf was rotten to the core, would sell his own mother if he thought he’d make a buck.
Another wolf entered the conversation, or maybe he just entered the room, Beau couldn’t keep up. Things were spinning out of control. Lucy’s anger was palpable. She was furious but resigned to keeping calm and making her father see reason, then all hell broke loose.
One second, she was yelling, and the next, there was nothing. No, not nothing, something. Lucy was alive. That was a seriously significant something. She was awake, another big plus, but something was keeping her from speaking, holding her hostage.
Then there was a wave of Cleland’s overwhelming arrogance. The world spun one more time, and Beau felt a shoulder go into his mate’s stomach as if it was happening to him.
No longer able to see anything, Beau reached into the darkness. Calling for his mate, he struggled to get to his feet. “Lucy! Lucy!”
Bear roaring in his head, the shift taking over, the need to save his mate was the only thing that mattered. Cleland’s voice echoed through Beau’s mind: “And as for children, there is more than one way to impregnate