Grayslake: Never Kiss a Wolf (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free PDF Page B

as much as the woman. Having them both in the room made that much easier.
    "Now tell me what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into so we can start figuring out how to solve it."
    She fiddled with the buttons on her neon green shirt and looked down at the floor when she spoke. "It's not what you think. At least I don't think it is."
    She spared him a glance and he softened at the worry etched across her forehead.
    "It doesn't matter either way. I'm prepared to accept whatever it is."
    "Clan Hale is about as old school as I think you could ever imagine. I grew up in the most uncivilized backwoods of Alaska where there were nothing but bear shifters and wild animals for hundreds of miles. As a child I lived in a one-room cabin with my family. It was a simple life and we didn't have much beyond each other. We had to work hard every day to make sure we survived and things like electricity and running water weren't even heard of in our parts."
    Which explained why she couldn't figure out how to operate her basic television.
    "Until I turned fourteen and became mating eligible."
    Greer stiffened at the quiet whisper of those words and a sense of rage began to build inside him. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like this story after all.
    "At that time I was forced to leave my small village and move to another within the clan many miles away. I believe eligible women are moved around so a certain amount of inbreeding can be avoided. Although I didn't know that at the time. I just knew they took me away from my family and it terrified me."
    A pit of despair on her behalf began to build alongside his anger. At fourteen she was NOT a woman. The wolf stirred and it wouldn't be long before he had an all out fight on his hands for control.
    "There I lived in a cabin with anywhere from five to ten other eligibles, depending on status."
    "Status?" he asked.
    "Usually whether you were pregnant or not determined where you lived. Male bears are extremely protective of the women who are carrying their cubs. So if you got pregnant right away you had to live with the male and his family."
    "His family?"
    She nodded. "Most of the males in our clan are already mated. Some with cubs and some without. But with a harsh environment and limited resources, our clan numbers are dwindling and it's a female's duty to do everything she can to fight that by beginning her reproductive years as early as possible. With or without a mate of her own."
    Greer turned away to hide the wolf's anger fighting to get loose. Her story was going to break his heart. The idea of his mate being used as a part of a baby-making factory made him see red.
    "Don't get me wrong, Greer." She touched his arm. "Many of the eligible women end up mated right away."
    He turned back to her on a snarl. "Are you trying to tell me you already have a mate?"
    Her head dropped and she shook it. "No. The year I turned fourteen there were a lot more eligible females than males looking for mates. I was not chosen by one of them. I was however, picked by one of the strongest bears in that village and many, including my parents, believed it was a great honor."
    He wanted to haul her out of here right now and drag her somewhere he could protect her. An honor? He nearly choked. The idea of her as a child... His wolf couldn't bear it.
    "But you escaped." That idea alone gave him a little hope.
    "Not right away. It took me years to plan how I would leave and where I would go. Little information is known to most of the clan about the outside world. But I had a cousin who went on the twice a year supply runs and he told me stories. He too wanted to leave the clan. Only he got into a fight over one of the eligible women and got himself killed.
    "So I went into his cabin before anyone else could and stole the maps he collected and all of his notes about the outside world. It’s the information I used to make my escape."
    "That's crazy, babe."
    "You have no idea." Her voice lowered again. "But you