Bearly Saved My Life: Madison Range Shifters (Quake Lake Bears Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Bearly Saved My Life

  Madison Range Shifters

  Quake Lake Bears #2

  By

  Margery Ellen

  Copyright © 2017 Margery Ellen

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be

  reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without

  the express written permission of the author except

  for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction.

  Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents

  are either the products of the author’s imagination

  or used in a fictitious manner.

  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead

  or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Thank you to my husband for

  giving me inspiration and encouraging

  me to write.

  Cover Design

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  Scarlett eBook Covers

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 1

  Robert tried to be cheerful, but he seemed to be put out about something. “What’s the problem, little brother?” Charles finally confronted him. “You’ve been walking around here with a chip on your shoulder for weeks. Out with it.” He figured it was a good time to talk, Jackie was taking a nap.

  “There’s nothing wrong with me, I’m fine.”

  “Look me in the eye and tell me that,” Charles told him. “You’ve been acting like someone stole your best friend.”

  “Someone did,” Robert snapped.

  “What!” Charles was dumbfounded. “Who?”

  “Jackie, asshole.”

  “You’re pissed off because of Jackie? Tell me you’re not.”

  “I’m sorry, Charlie. I didn’t mean to say that, it’s just you and I used to do so much together and now we don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jackie. I guess, to be honest, I’m jealous. I want a mate. I want to be in love. I want to have what you have.” Robert hung his head. “Have I really been that bad?”

  “Worse!” Charles laughed. “It’s okay. Jackie was afraid you were ill and afraid to tell us.”

  “What am I going to do, Charlie? I’m going to be really lousy company over Thanksgiving, maybe I should take off for a while.”

  “You’ll be fine, plus it would disappoint Jackie immensely if you’re not here.”

  Thanksgiving was just around the corner. Charles and Jackie had company coming for Thanksgiving, staying until the following Saturday.

  Jackie was so excited, she would finally get to see some of her friends and her cousin from Oregon. She could share her news. She didn’t know how Charles could keep from telling his brother Mack in California, she was pregnant.

  It was an extremely rare pregnancy, she’s a bobcat and her mate, Charles, is a grizzly bear. It’s very rare for two different species to conceive a child. Not impossible for shifters, but no one could recall when it ever happened.

  The doctor warned, during the first half of the pregnancy, there was a high risk of miscarriage. She was to have plenty of bed rest and no strenuous activity. After the second month, if everything looked normal, she could resume normal activity. As normal as a pregnant woman carrying a rare shifter baby could be.

  “Look Robert, stick around long enough for Thanksgiving dinner and if you still feel the same, you can take off. I need your help cooking dinner. I know Jackie is almost off restriction, but I don’t want to take any chances. I could never live with myself if she lost the baby.”

  “Alright, but I’m taking off right after dinner. Jackie will have enough friends here to help with everything else.”

  “Agreed. Thanks Rob. Hang in there, you’ll find your mate when you least expect it, I know you will.” He gave him a pat on the back. “It’ll happen.”

  “Yeah, right.” Robert had things to do and took off for a while. Charles ran upstairs to check on Jackie.

  “Is everything all right with Rob?” Jackie frowned when he came into their room.

  “He’s fine. He feels cooped up and wants to take off on his own for a while.”

  “It’s because of me, isn’t it?” Jackie didn’t know what to do. “Charles, how can I fix this?”

  “Sweetheart, you can’t fix it. What he is feeling isn’t your fault. He wants to find his mate. He wants to be as happy as we are. Can you blame him?” He sat beside her and kissed her gently. “Umm, I miss making love to you,” he whispered.

  “Not half as much as I do.” She kissed him back. “Do you think we could if we were careful?” She whispered.

  “Not until the doctor says so. I’m not taking any chances. Not only could you lose the baby, I could lose you.” He gave her a hug. “I love you too much to take that risk, I couldn’t live without you.”

  “Party pooper,” she let out a long sigh. “I miss you. If having babies mean I can’t make love to you, then, no more babies. This is it.”

  Charles frowned at her. “Let’s wait and see. The doctor told you it’s just the first time that we must be so careful. Remember, this wasn’t supposed to happen. It may never happen again.”

  That hurt him. She knew Charles would love to have a bunch of kids and he was right. There was no guarantee it would happen again.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.” She reached up and pulled him in for a kiss. “I love you and I want lots of kids and lots of sex.” That got them both laughing.

  “Don’t worry, you’re not the only one suffering, you know,” he kissed her back. “I plan to make up for lost time.”

  *****

  A week later, Jackie’s company arrived as planned. It gave Jackie four whole days with her cousin and a few of her new friends. They arrived Monday night. Fra
nny Cox, Jackie’s cousin came with Heidi Chow, Becky Brooks and Bradley Fletcher.

  They would stay until Saturday morning when they would have to leave to get back to Oregon and work. All four of them had been through the same ordeal. They had been kidnapped for a sick shifter sex trade. The bad part was, they didn’t know they were shifters at the time. When they were rescued, Jackie taught them how to shift. It was late when they finally arrived.

  After hugs and introductions, Jackie offered them something to eat.

  “Oh no, we stopped in the last town and got some burgers,” Bradley told them. “We knew we were going to get here late, we’re good.”

  “How about some apple pie and homemade ice cream? I have a fresh pot of coffee.” Charles offered and gave Bradley a look that said. ‘I know you want pie and ice cream.’

  “You twisted my arm. Everybody calls me Fletch,” Bradley said with a laugh. “I could never turn down pie and ice cream.” They all headed for the kitchen. Charles had two freshly baked apple pies and a whole bucket of ice cream. They sat until almost midnight catching up on everything from home.

  When Jackie announced that she was pregnant, Charles had to cover his ears. The three girls screeched with delight. While the girls talked about the baby, Charles grabbed a couple of beers and took Fletch outside to get away from the noise. There was snow on the ground and it crunched under their feet. The lake was frozen around the shoreline.

  “If it wasn’t so late, we could have shifted and gone for a run. We can do that tomorrow,” Charles told him.

  “That would be great. Congratulations on the baby, man. What a surprise.” Fletch expressed his happiness for him. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

  “I can’t tell,” Charles replied. “It has something to do with Jackie’s cat. She doesn’t give off a scent like other females.”

  “Wow, do you know if it will be a bear or a bobcat?”

  “Nope. If she was human, we know it would be a cub, but Jackie being a bobcat and this is so rare, we don’t know.”

  “It’s amazing how little the rest of us know about shifters. New questions come up constantly. We’ve learned so much from you and Jackie.” Charles and Fletch sat on the bench by the lake enjoying their beers. “You have a nice place here. I love the lake. How’s the fishing?”

  “The fishing is great,” Charles told him. “Do you like to fish?”

  “Oh hell, yeah. I mean, I’m a bear.” Fletch was a black bear shifter. That made Charles laugh. “But beside that, I learned to fish long before I ever learned about being a bear.”

  “You’ll have to come back in the summer and spend some time here.”

  “I’d like that.” They finished their beers and walked back to the house.

  Jackie had shown the girls to their rooms and everyone was getting settled for the night by the time Charles and Fletch returned.

  Robert had said very little all evening and sat out of the way. He kept staring at Heidi Chow. There was something about her that bothered him, annoyed him. He had been looking forward to meeting her, but now that she was here, he felt differently.

  Heidi had been working on a biology project for the University of Beijing at the Seattle zoo when she was abducted. Her parents were no longer living. She had paternal grandparents and an aunt and uncle still living in China, but she could never go home again.

  Heidi Chow was short and on the skinny side, like she didn’t eat enough. She had beautiful long, jet black hair and gorgeous sea-green eyes. He had no idea that she would be Asian. He knew she was a panda bear shifter and hadn’t thought about anything else. He never considered what she would look like. He had to admit she was beautiful and that annoyed him even more. He finally had enough and went to bed without saying a word. He didn’t even say good night to Jackie.

  What Robert didn’t know, was, Heidi had been watching him. She thought he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Robert was six-foot-seven, broad shoulders, slightly long, light brown wavy hair and amazing dark brown eyes. The moment she saw him, she was drawn to him.

  Chapter 2

  The next morning was extremely chilly.

  Fletch told Charles how great he slept when they met in the hall on their way to the kitchen. The girls weren’t up yet. They had a late night and Charles didn’t expect them to get up for a while.

  Robert was already up. The coffee was ready and he was cooking pancakes, sausage, bacon and eggs.

  “Morning Charlie. Fletch, would you like some coffee?” Robert pulled out some mugs.

  “Yes, thank you.” Fletch sat down while Charles got plates and silverware.

  “I hope you’re hungry,” Robert flipped some pancakes. “I’ve made enough for a small army.”

  “Starving.” Fletch blew on the steaming coffee and took a taste. “Mmm, that tastes good.” No one said anything and enjoyed their coffee. All that was heard was the sizzling of bacon and sausage.

  “Did you get a chance to meet and talk to the girls last night?” Charles asked. “You didn’t join us outside.”

  “I went to bed.”

  “You didn’t talk to them at all, not even Heidi?” He gave Fletch a wink. “You were so excited about meeting a panda.”

  “They were busy with Jackie, so I went to bed,” he snapped. He didn’t want to talk about it. Just then they heard the girls coming down the hall. Heidi, Franny and Becky came into the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” Becky said cheerfully. “I had the best sleep. Is Jackie up yet?”

  “No, I’ve been letting her sleep in. She needs a lot of rest,” Charles told her. “The doctor only released her from restricted activity a couple of days ago. We still want to take things easy.”

  “Oh, you poor thing,” Franny giggled, “I seem to remember some very loud activity from a certain room at that hotel in Oregon. Has that been restricted too?”

  Charles was a bit embarrassed. “I wasn’t talking about that.” He wasn’t used to talking about his sex life with females other than Jackie.

  “Franny, give him a break,” Fletch piped up. “Remember, he isn’t used to being around us. We’ve changed a lot since Charles met us.”

  “When I met you, you were all afraid of your own shadows. It’s nice to see you have adjusted so well,” Charles told him.

  “Luke, I mean Agent Adams, had a lot to do with that,” Franny replied.

  “And Mother,” Becky added.

  “Did you know Luke got married?” Franny asked

  “Yes, I did. Robert and I have known his wife Paula for years. She used to work for a friend of mine. Who is Mother?”

  “She’s an old fox shifter that lives down the street from Jackie’s old house. Super sweet old lady. She has always known that Jackie and I were shifters,” Franny told him. “We were always afraid of her when we were little, we thought she was an old witch. Did you know Vicki went to Seattle to work for Luke and Paula? Paula’s going to have a baby, too.”

  “Yes, and I know that Luke is a Prince.”

  “You really keep up on things,” Becky remarked. That made everyone laugh. Everyone sat down in the kitchen. The only one that didn’t say anything other than good morning, was Heidi.

  “How are you this morning, Heidi. Did you sleep well?” Charles asked.

  “Yes, I did. Thank you.” She was very quiet. “Do you have any tea? I’m not much of a coffee drinker. I can drink water if you don’t have any tea.”

  “Robert, do we have any tea?”

  “I have no fucking idea!” He snapped.

  “Robert, what’s your problem?” Charles yelled at him. “Apologize to Heidi, that was rude.”

  “Sorry.” He didn’t sound very sincere. He didn’t even look her way. He tossed the spatula into the pan he was using and went to the pantry. When he returned, he had a tea tin in his hand. When he handed it to Heidi, he touched her fingers and jumped like he’d been shocked. He dropped the tin, but Heidi caught it before it spilled.

  “Robert, are you alrig
ht?” Charles gave him an inquiring look.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Apparently, I’m the only one that didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Sorry, Heidi.” He looked at her this time, but quickly looked away. He reached for the spatula that he had tossed and didn’t realize it was hot.

  “Ouch, son of a bitch.”

  Heidi ran to her room and came back with a jar of salve and she went straight to Robert.

  “Give me your hand,” she said quietly.

  “I’m fine.”

  She opened the jar and held out her hand waiting for his. He placed his hand in hers and she gently rubbed the salve into his palm. His hand started to feel better almost immediately. He knew his hand would heal, but she took the sting out of the burn. As she massaged the salve into his palm, he started to have feelings he’d never had before. He instantly pulled his hand away.

  “Sorry. Thank you.” He couldn’t look at her. “Excuse me.” Robert left and jogged up the stairs to his room.

  “Sorry, Heidi,” Charles apologized. “I have no idea what has gotten into him. He is normally very cheerful. I’ll have to talk to him later.”

  “Well, don’t do it because of me. We all have our days. Some good, some bad. He’s just having a bad day. No big deal.”

  “What was that you put on his burn? It seemed to quickly relieve his pain.”

  “Something my mother taught me to make. It’s good for cuts and scrapes, burns, insect bites. It’s good for a lot of things, but it seems to take the sting out of burns the best. I can leave this with you if you want.”

  “I’d appreciate that. Robert and I are always getting burns.” Charles liked Heidi, she was different. “I’ll be sure to get with you before you leave, I’d like to know what it’s made of.” He instantly started thinking about sending it to his brother Mack. They could produce it for Search and Rescue. Burns were bad during forest fire season. They needed something fast acting. “Can you guys handle breakfast? I’m going to see if Jackie is awake, yet.”

  “What does Jackie like? We’ll fix it for her,” Franny told him.

  “Her favorite is bacon waffles. My sister-in-law makes them. Give me a minute to check on Jackie and then I’ll show you how to make them.” Charles ran upstairs to check on Jackie, but stopped to see if Robert was alright. He knocked on his door. “Hey, little brother, how’s the hand?”