The Right to a Bear's Arms (A BBW Shifter Romance) (Wolf Rock Shifters) (2 page)

The young man
, who looked bigger and stronger by far than either of the two fighters, pushed his assailant backwards, and the drunk went flying into a table, knocking it and several glasses to the floor. Zoe began to feel uneasy as she saw the bartender’s agitation grow. The situation was becoming far too memorable for her liking, and if nothing else, she knew that she needed to avoid being memorable.

The bartender
raised the partition which separated him from his customers and began to make his way towards the fray, wanting, no doubt, to break up the fight before it cost him any more money.

The young fighter, who seemed to be enjoying the conflict that had arisen, grabbed the other pool player and seemed on the verge of throwing him against the wall when the bartender reached them both, grabbing the more sober of the two by the shoulders.

Zoe stood and walked towards the door, wishing to avoid being caught up in the middle of a fight that would no doubt end in a police presence. She turned towards the brawlers and caught the t-shirt-clad man’s eye again, but this time she caught sight of something else: a sharp, glistening set of fangs which retracted just as she spotted them, as though shy of her glance. Restrained by the large hands of the bartender, the man thought better of his plan and let his victim go before beginning an all-out assault.

That was the last that Zoe saw of him before she
stepped outside, looking tentatively towards the woods across the road. Her eyes darted around the parking lot then, searching for a better solution. If only she had a set of keys to one of these vehicles. She began to wonder if her panther form had another long hike in her near future.

Seconds later, the young man
, who was now glistening with beads of sweat, came careening out through the bar’s front door, no doubt flung out by the angry bartender. Zoe watched as he debated whether to re-enter the premises or to cut his losses. He opted for the latter, making his way to a nearby pickup truck and wiping his brow with the back of a large hand.

This, she knew, was her best chance.
She followed him, hurrying her pace to catch up before he reached his vehicle.

“Take me with you,” she said.

The man turned and looked at her, irritation on his face. This woman had distracted him in the bar. It was her fault that he’d been involved in a fight with two low-life assholes.

“What
did you just say?” he growled.

“Wherever you’re going. I need a ride. Please.”
She attempted a friendly smile, though her usual instinct to be charming wasn’t kicking in amidst the desperation within her.

“You have no idea where I’m going,” he said, opening the truck’s door and looking her up and down. “An
d I don’t give strange women rides.”

“I’ll pay you,” she said.

“With what? You don’t even have enough cash to buy shoes, by the looks of things.”

“I’ll find a way. Just
…please. Help me.”

The man saw Zoe’s eyes shifting towards the woods and, though he wanted nothing more than to get away from the bar
and be on his way, he saw the fear in her expression and in a moment of weakness, said, “Get in.”

“Thanks. You won’t regret it.”

“Oh, I’m sure I
will
regret it. But get in before I change my damn mind.”

He opened the passenger door and extracted his bags, which he tossed into the back of the truck before gesturing to Zoe to climb in. Then he made his way around and got in himself, sitting
down hard in the driver’s seat.

“What’s your name?” Zoe
said, smoothing her skirt over her legs.

“
Colson.”

“
Colson, I’m Zoe.”

“Nice to meet you, Zoe. I
suppose.”

“You too.”

“I’m headed to Wolf Rock,” Colson said as he started the ignition. “Heard of it?”

Zoe knew of the place. It was a shifter town; the first of its sort
, and certainly the most famous. Run mostly by the local wolf pack, its residents were predominantly shifters themselves, or humans sympathetic to their kind.

“Yeah, I know of it.” Zoe looked
sideways at him, studying his profile. Colson had light brown hair and eyes that were a combination of green and yellow. His jaw was square and strong, and his handsome face seemed to match his perfectly muscled frame very well indeed. It was really too bad, thought Zoe, that she had no intention of getting involved with anyone. And too bad that she’d chosen today to go back to her natural, less than perfect form.

“So then, are y
ou a shifter?” she asked him, knowing the answer full well.

“That depends. Do you like shifters?”

“I have nothing against them.”

He pulled o
ut of the parking lot and accelerated down the straight country road.

“Then yes, I’m a shifter,” he said.

“I figured. I thought I saw a couple of canines that were longer than most.”

“
Yeah, you shouldn’t have seen that. I was just having fun and got a little carried away. The animal in me likes to dance.”

“Ev
en if your teeth hadn’t been on display, you have the look, you know,” she said.

“Do I?
I suppose I do. I forget sometimes that there’s a look.”

“Well, some have it
. Some don’t. The wolves are easy. It’s all in the eyes. If I were to guess I’d say you’re a…lion?”

“Nope.”

“A stag.”

“No, not even close,”
Colson said, laughing. “You’re not good at this game, are you?”

“Maybe not. Okay then. A wolverine
.”

“Try again.”

“I give up,” said Zoe, laughing. She was pleased that her driver seemed to be warming to her. It meant that he’d let her stick around until they’d reached their destination.

“Well, that didn’t last long, did it?
” asked Colson. “I’m a bear. A spirit bear, if we’re going to be specific about it.”

“A spirit what
now?”

“Spirit bear. We’re not the most common breed.”

“No, you’re not. I’ve never heard of one.”

“Well, then let’s just say I’m special.”

“That you are,” said Zoe, smiling. It was in her best interests, she knew, to keep Colson on her side while she was in his vehicle. She would do her best to charm him until they reached Wolf Rock and then she’d become invisible. In the meantime she wanted his trust. God, men were so easy to please, even if you weren’t tall and willowy. All you had to do was grin at them, seem to find them amusing and, when they were in need of further enticement, show them a bit of skin.

Colson
didn’t seem to demand skin, though. It was almost a pity.

“To be honest with you, spirit be
ars are really just black bears,” the young man continued. “The difference is our colour. My bear form is blond, a little like smaller polar bears. But that doesn’t mean I’m not an exceptional badass with indomitable strength and physical prowess.”

Zoe laughed again.
“Is your family light-coloured then?”

“My father’s a black bear
. My name is sort of a joke. Coal’s son. Colson.”

“I see what you did there,” said Zoe. “Cheeky parents.”

“Yeah, they’re nothing if not clever.”

“So why did
you fight back there?” Zoe asked, changing the subject. “Those guys were just a couple of drunks.”

“Let’s just say that I don’t like being hit. I suppose you might call me defensive.”

“Fair enough.”

“And you? What were you doing at a bar in the middle of nowhere, with no shoes and no money?”

Zoe remained silent, and looked out the window. She didn’t want to explain either why she’d left her shoes far behind or that she had far more money than he would guess.

“Not going to answer me, then?”

“I’d think you’d figure out that the fact that I was in the bar in the middle of nowhere with no shoes and no money means that I probably don’t want to talk about it.”

Colson
took his foot off the gas and pulled the car to the side of the road, slowing it to a crawl before stopping entirely.

“Zoe,” he said, turning to her. “
If that’s actually your name, which I sort of doubt. You’re in my vehicle. I don’t let just anyone into my truck. I don’t let just anyone talk to me, even. And if you want to stay in my truck, you’d better answer my question. Or I’ll be more than happy to let you and those bare feet of yours walk the rest of the way.”

“I was
getting far away from someone,” she said quietly.

“A boyfriend? Did someone hurt you?”

“Look,” she said, her voice quivering. Colson didn’t know if she was truly upset or if this was some sort of act. “I don’t want to talk about it. Please. Can we just go?”

“Fine,” he said, starting up the engine again. “I’ll take you to Wolf Rock, but you’ll have to find your own way to wherever it is that you want to go. It’s a shifter town, and you’re not going to find it the most suitable for your needs, if you’re looking to start a new life somewhere.”

“What, are they anti-human?”

“No. I don’t think so. But I’m just saying that maybe you ought to figure out something else. Shifters can be unpredictable and dangerous. We have tempers, as you noticed at the bar.”

“I can look after myself.”

“I don’t think you can. If you could, you wouldn’t be here, with me,” he said.

“You’re right,” said Zoe, turning to him. “Thank you, Colson, for helping me.”

She laid a hand on his denim-clad thigh.
Colson found his eyes veering downwards.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I just wanted to thank you,” she said, her voice softening, and her fingers tightening gently around his firm, muscled thigh. “For helping me.”

She pulled her fingers
away then, knowing that he would feel the absence of her touch as acutely as he’d felt it in the first place. He would, she knew, want more contact. They always did.

She looked out the window and smiled to herself.

***

Colson
felt the hand on his leg before he saw it. This woman, whoever and whatever she was, had been working some sort of magic on him. The first moment he’d seen her across the bar he’d felt a twitch inside his jeans, and her hand on him almost made him drive off the road, though he’d done his best not to kill either of them. This time his cock did more than twitch; its growing thickness pressed hard against his boxers and causing a sweet, painful agony as he tried to calm himself, to forget what he was feeling.

He wanted her. He didn’t even know her, but he wanted to be inside her, to feel himself push into her slick, tight pussy. He’d picked up her scent from across the bar
and it was fucking delicious. But this contact, this insane desire was more than that of a horny bear shifter. Colson knew what had happened, and what was still happening. Somehow fate had pushed him towards this woman. She was as likely as not meant for him.

He had only to wonder i
f she felt it too; if that gorgeous, voluptuous body of hers told her how much she needed him. How much they had to be together. He wondered if her lips were swelling and tingling, if her clit was throbbing for his touch as his blood was flowing to the place between his legs, urging him to find his way to her.

Much as he wanted and all but needed to know
what she was thinking, there was a sort of wariness and distance in her that instructed him to let her dictate what would happen next, and how. Colson was not the sort of man who forced himself on women, and this was not a woman to be pressured. She reminded him of a wild animal; terrified enough to stand back, frozen, but aggressive enough to defend herself if she needed to.

***

Zoe had learned to manipulate men at an early age, out of a sort of necessity. Her ego had been trampled by an early rejection by her parents and in order to rebuild it, she’d relied on attention from men. But she wasn’t an easy girl; in fact she never let anyone get close to her emotionally. In her desire to protect her innermost workings she had built a hard wall around her heart which meant that she saw others merely as tools to get what she wanted.

Colson
was just such a tool. A man with a truck. A bear with a truck, even. The only complication was that he was a very handsome tool, and seemed like a kind one as well. It was harder to use someone mercilessly if they were attractive. Something in Zoe felt drawn to him, as though there were a thread attached to him, pulling her towards him. But she knew that she had to maintain her distance, and to say good-bye when they reached their goal. She needed to sort her life out and complications weren’t in her plan.

“Look, Zoe,” said the young man as they drove, “Wolf Rock’s about another half hour away. When we get there, let me buy you some shoes so that at least you can walk. I’ll take you for some dinner and then maybe we can find you a place to stay for the night.”