Hidden, Clan of the Werebear Read Online Free PDF Page B

womanhood from the man’s gaze. “I-I was just moving through the area. I must have gotten lost.”
    “The river isn’t safe to be frolicking in like a mermaid. More than one person has fallen victim to the river.”
    “Mermaid?” Elaina asked. “What’s that?”
    “A naked nymph with a tail like a fish. How is it that you don’t know that?”
    “I’ve lived in the wilderness most of my life. I don’t know all that much about mythical creatures.”
    He laughed. “You mean like a werebear, or shifters in general?” He took in a breath. “You smell like a werewolf,” he said at first. “I could smell you when you came to the river.”
    “And what do I smell like now?”
    “Perhaps I should taste you and then tell you.” He moved his lips close to Elaina’s and she jerked away.
    “No!” Elaina shouted. She leapt up and ran up the riverbank toward her clothing. The man lumbered after her with a pounding of paws, as he was once again in bear form. Elaina was very frightened now. She had no choice but to shift. She splashed through the river where it was shallow and reached the other side. It was then that she realized she was cornered. A rocky bluff extended twenty feet up with raging water both upstream and downstream, and she was on the opposite side of the river from where her clothing was.
    She whirled, and the werebear that followed her stood on two feet in the river, bobbing his head like he was laughing at her. Elaina lunged at him, swiping a paw at him. Instead of striking him, she fell face first in the river. She raced for the other side of the river and into woods, the werebear’s laughter driving her to a near panic. He shifted just to laugh at me , Elaina thought.
    Elaina doubled back, hoping to find where she left her clothing on that branch.
     

Chapter Six
    “Is there a reason you’re naked, Cullen?” a man asked as he walked toward the river, holding a rifle in his capable hands.
    Now back in human form, Cullen risked a glance as branches snapped when Damon passed them. “Come now, Damon. It’s not like there is anything improper here. I saved a damsel in distress, or I tried to.”
     Damon breathed in deeply. “Oh, really? Another werebear or human?”
    “Werebear, and a skittish one at that.”
    “How fun.”
    “She’s most likely trying to get back to her clothing upstream.”
    “That’s no fun. What are you waiting for? We should head over there.”
    The men strode over to where the clothing hung on a branch, collecting it. They kept a keen eye on the line of trees. Cullen could smell the younger werebear not far off, and that’s not all he smelled. She had the fever. Cullen had to distract his mind. There’s no way he’d be able to conceal his hardening member if he thought about how sexy the curvy werebear had looked naked.
    * * *
    Elaina stared in shock. She had shifted back to human form and now she had two men to contend with, both werebears from the smell of it. One of them held a rifle and Elaina wished she’d never left the pub and Samson’s protection.
    There wasn’t any way out of it now. She’d just ask for her clothing back. She had no other choice. She could stay in shifted bear form, but eventually she’d have to shift back to that of a human, and she’d be nowhere near available clothing.
    Elaina hid slightly behind a tree. “Please give me my clothing,” Elaina implored the men.
    Her clothing was wadded up by the naked man and tossed into the woods. She reached for it and quickly dressed as the men advanced on her.
    “Did the clan send you?” the man with the rifle asked, his eyes shifting side to side.
    Cullen tossed his head back in laughter. “Does she look like she’s from the clan? She’s more like a helpless cub.”
    “She smells all woman to me, Cullen.”
    “I’m Cullen and this is my brother, Damon,” the naked man said. “We mean you no harm, but I’m curious about who you are and what brought you to our territory.”
    Elaina