Forbidden Love: A BBW, BWWM Paranormal Romance (7 page)

Susan interrupted, “Between the two of us, we
should be able to get it pretty close.”

Riley looked at her and nodded. Of them all, Susan was
the most observant, although most of the time she didn’t care
enough to pay attention to her surroundings.

He pointed out the main entrance of the camp, the
cooking area, and the amphitheater. He drew an additional set of
squares in rows and explained these were the tents. He marked X’s
around the perimeter of the camp and told them he’d assign
everyone their spots in the morning.

After the plan was complete, every one said their good
nights and went to their tents. Cammie, Riley, and Susan waited for
them all to depart so they could have a private family discussion.

“
Tell me the truth. How much blood was there?”
Cammie questioned her children. She’d held her panic at bay
while the others were near, but now it was threatening to rear its
ugly head.

Riley and Susan exchanged looks, debating on whether to
tell the truth. Cammie saw the movement. She lifted an eyebrow at
them in the mom look that frightens children even after they’re
adults.

“
Ok, ok,” Riley conceded. “There was a
lot of blood. It had pooled near a fallen tree and soaked into the
ground.”

“
How big was the pool of blood?”

Susan held her hands out, fingers curled in to create a
circle about six inches around. Cammie stared at her hands for so
long that Riley finally reached over and pushed Susan’s hands
down.

“
Mom, she has to be alive. I could smell her.”
He put his arm around his mother to comfort her, though he knew it
wouldn’t be much comfort.

“
I could smell her too, Mom. You know once we die,
our smells change, and I smelled the Alice I smell every day,”
Susan emphasized.

Cammie nodded and swiped at her eyes. Tears had fallen,
but now it was time for sleep. “Thank you, my loves. Tomorrow
we save our girl. Let’s get some sleep or we won’t be
much use.”

She turned toward her tent and walked away. Riley nudged
Susan, indicating that she should go with her. She nodded and ran
after her, chattering in her ear about who knows what.

Riley looked at the sketch he’d made and adjusted
a few positions as different scenarios crossed his brain. Like his
mother, he knew he wouldn’t sleep much, but he walked to his
tent anyway. He’d try. But first, also like his mother, he’d
pray to the gods of their clan for the safe return of his sister.

*****

Alice and Alex lay content in each other’s arms.
Alice shifted, and Alex looked down at her with concern.

“
Did we hurt your leg?” he asked, putting
his hand over the area gently.

“
No, no. I heal very quickly. In a few days it
will be nothing but a scar.”

“
Same here,” Alex replied. “That’s
just one more thing werewolves and werebears have in common.”

Alice smiled at him. For a brief moment, she thought of
regret, but it disappeared quickly. She had wanted this, wanted it
again, wanted it forever.

She reached up to caress his cheek. “I’m
glad I decided to ignore my responsible brain.”

Alex touched her breast and replied, “Me too.”
He put his mouth on her and suckled until she writhed beneath him. He
looked up and asked, “Again?”

Alice laughed loudly. “Yes, please!”

*****

Bud and Mike had asked two of their pals to join them in
the collection of the pelts. They’d also created a sketch like
Riley’s trying to find spots where they could put on their
gilley suits and hide in the brush.

“
Bud, won’t they catch our scents. We’re
four big men,” one of the newcomers asked.

Mike answered, “They’ll be too busy worrying
about each other to bother smelling for any other scents.”

“
I’ve bought some deer urine to spray
around. That will confuse them and hopefully hide our scents some,”
Bud explained. The three of them nodded their heads.

Bud gestured to the sketch he’d created and said,
“This is the main entrance, but back here we can sneak in
behind the tents and ambush them.”

“
I kinda thought a couple of us would be in the
trees nearby for a higher ground perspective. We can take some of
them out sniper style,” Mike commented gleefully.

“
That’s not a bad idea, Mike,” Bud
answered, smiling. “You’re a good shot, so you can be up
in the tree. But only you. I’ll need the others on the ground
with me.”

“
Sounds good to me,” Mike said. The other
two were suspiciously silent. “What do you guys think?”

“
I’m thinking the plan is good,” said
the one who’d already spoken once.

The other, a calculating man who kept his opinions to
himself for the most part, commented, “I’m just wondering
how safe we’ll be on the ground. And what our percentage of the
take is.”

Bud stared at him for a moment before replying, debating
with himself about the man. Mike had brought him in, and he’d
brought the other guy. Bud didn’t know either of them, didn’t
trust them, and didn’t want to get screwed over.

“
There are four of us, so we’ll do
twenty-five percent each,” Bud commented with no intention of
giving them that much. Mike maybe, but not the other two. He’d
be selling the pelts to his guy, so they’d never know the true
amount.

The big guy, Jason, nodded his head in agreement.

“
All right, let’s finish the plan and get
ready to go. I want to be there before the werebears arrive.”

Alice
woke up alone, stretching her arms high above her, completely
satiated and happy. She raised up to look around for Alex, but he was
not in the tent. She lay back down, and the doubt poured into her
brain like rain during a deluge.

What
have I done?
she questioned herself. Not only
had she had sex with a man she’d just met, she had also fallen
in love with him.
How is that even possible?
her mind screeched. But she knew the answer
wasn’t simple. The answer was complicated and filled with
possibilities and fears and triumphs and doubts. In her heart, she
wanted to discover all those things with Alex.

What
about my family? HIS family?
She looked up at
the ceiling of the tent, noticing a small rip where the sun shimmied
through.
Well, what about them?
She’d never followed the rules, had always gone her own way.
Yes, her way always led her back to her clan, but she’d always
known one day she’d leave it, either when she married or was
just ready to find adventures on her own. The alone time she sought
had grown more frequent of late, as if she’d been looking for
something.

I
think I’ve found it,
she mused.
And
he’s a damn werewolf!
She giggled at
the absolute hilarity of the situation. She pictured her mother’s
face when she told her. She’d be shocked at first, of course,
but her mother had always let her make her own decisions. This
wouldn’t be any different. Riley, though, would be the one to
convince. As the future leader of the clan, he could toss her out for
this breach of clan protocol. Loving a werewolf, the mortal enemy of
the clan? He’d never forgive her.

Alice’s
thoughts continued down this path, and she was so lost on the path of
her thoughts that she did not hear Alex open the tent flat. Nor did
she notice him until he spoke.

“Come
back to the world, Alice,” he murmured gently, sitting next to
her and touching her cheeks.

Alice
realized that she hadn’t even jumped when he’d spoken.
Already she was accustomed to his presence. She smiled at him and sat
up, drawing the sheets with her for modesty’s sake. “Good
morning, Alex.”

He
stared at her for a moment, then grinned like a child looking at a
beloved pet. “My God, Alice. You’re even more beautiful
in the morning.”

Her
eyes widened at the unexpected compliment, and she reached up to pat
her hair. “Come on, Alex, no need to tell little lies. I know
I’m a complete mess in the mornings.”

“Nonsense.”

She
shook her head at him and giggled. He reached up and tugged on the
sheet, eyebrows wiggling at her. She laughed again and pulled it back
up, shaking her head at him.

Alex
grinned and leaned in close, kissing her. He moved down her throat,
kissing her until she positively purred. “You see, Alice. You
don’t mind a little loving in the morning, do you?”

Alice
rolled her eyes and chuckled. She pulled his face away from her
throat and kissed him heartily on the lips. After a lengthy kiss that
almost changed her mind, she told him, “Alex, I’ve got to
get back soon. My family is probably worried to death.”

Alex
sat up quickly. “Oh wow, you’re right. I hadn’t
even thought of that.” He looked away from her, a frown on his
face.

“I’d
like to come back, though, to see you,” she murmured quietly,
touching his cheek gently and pulling him to face her. “I
really like you.”

Alex’s
smile brightened his eyes. He kissed her hard and replied, “I’m
so glad to hear you say that, Alice. I kinda didn’t want you to
leave.”

“I
wish I didn’t have to,” she replied. “But don’t
worry. I’m not running away from you, and you better not try
and run from me!”

“Oh
really? What are you going to do, gimpy?” Alex teased. She
scoffed and tapped his shoulder. He rose and extended his hand to
her. “Come on. I can smell breakfast. I’m starving after
all the exercise we got last night.”

Alice
giggle and shook her head at him. “I’m still naked! I
mean, we’re pretty easy going in my clan, but I don’t
know any of these people!”

He
laughed loudly. “I’ll run and get you something to put
on.” He left shaking his head at himself.

She
watched him leave, staring at that ass encased in jeans, and sighed
longingly. She really had wanted to stay and make love with him
again. But she had to get going. Her mother was probably terrified.

*****

Cammie
was beside herself with worry. Luckily, Susan had chattered about
nothing for awhile after they’d entered her tent, and she’d
insisted on sleeping with her mother. Cammie had been comforted by
her youngest being near her throughout the night, but she hadn’t
slept. Before dawn, she’d been up and moving, making a hearty
breakfast for the warriors who would help her find her daughter.

Horrible
thoughts crossed her mind as she cooked, something so easy for her
she didn’t have to think about it. She’d heard the
stories of cruelty in the werewolf camps, although she didn’t
actually believe them. In her lifetime, she’d met her share of
werewolves, and just like werebears, werecats, and humans, some were
evil and did evil things, while others were good and encouraged good
in others.

But
her daughter was with this werewolf pack, and hard feelings surfaced
again and again each time the groups met. For decades, her clan had
hated that particular pack. She’d asked her father, who
couldn’t remember the reason for the feud. She’d asked
her husband, the clan leader whose place she’d taken, but he
couldn’t remember either. He’d told her the cause
probably died with the generation before her grandfather’s.

If
she’s been injured by them in any way, I’ll have them all
slaughtered. But, if they’ve helped her, cared for her while
she was wounded, maybe this could be the opening that closes the gap
between the clan and the pack.

She
put thought to that idea. A truce would make everyone’s life so
much easier, after all. The territories were already marked and
legally owned by members of the clan. She assumed the pack also
legally owned their territory. So the dispute wasn’t over land,
or not anymore. Werebears didn’t cross onto pack land, and
werewolves also followed the boundaries set long ago.

But
what if?
she mused.
What
if we could end this and become allies, if not outright companions.
It made sense. Join forces, protect their own
as well as each other from poachers, from werecats, from the ogres
that occasionally came down the mountains.

Cammie
pushed those thoughts out of her mind. None of that mattered if her
Alice had been hurt by a single member of that pack.

But
still, a truce would be nice.

*****

Alex
returned quickly with a striped maxi-dress for Alice. He handed it to
her and stood there, waiting for her to get up. She stared at him.

“A
little privacy, please.”

“We
made love more than once last night. I know your body, in,” he
wiggled his eyebrows at her, “and out. Why the shyness now?”

She
shrugged and dropped the sheet. When she tried to stand, her injured
leg gave a little. She gasped in pain, and he immediately grabbed her
arms and held her.

“See
why I had to watch. How does it feel?” Alex asked her, brushing
his hand across her cheek.