Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

them.
    Russell glanced over at Emma, who nodded slowly, despite the pain.
    “Mine,” he said regretfully. “Now will you go inside?” he pleaded yet again.
    Gwen thought about it for a long moment. “No,” she said firmly. “If you,” she looked at Emma, “can proclaim it, and you,” she looked back at Russell, “can do it, then I can bear witness to it.”
    Like Emma, there was no give in her voice. She had made her decision, and that was that. Gwen stepped up next to Emma and stood firm, looking out from their slightly elevated position over the parking lot.
    “Why are you doing this?” Russell asked.
    Gwen hesitated for a moment to form her reply, but there was no doubt in her voice. “This is your way of life. This is your culture. While it clearly bothers the both of you, neither of you are freaking out. I’ve seen and dealt with death more than I would have liked lately. I’m not pretending that I’m okay with it. Nor am I likely to forget it any time soon. To me it seems fucked up, but it clearly does not to you. So, if you can stomach it, because that’s the way it has to be, then I can do so as well. I’m terrified, but I think, deep down, we all have a fascination with death as well, whether we’re willing to admit it or not. If I’m going to live here, I need to become exposed to the culture, and acclimatized to it, no matter how horrifying it may seem to me now.”
    Russell sighed. Stubborn woman. Smart, intelligent and fucking sexy, but stubborn. He knew she was going to regret it, but he also recognized when he couldn’t talk someone out of something either.
    He had to fight back a smile as he realized he was proud of her for thinking it all through, and having the conviction to understand that despite her experience with a different system, that this is how it was done here in Genesis Valley. That life was not as valued a commodity as it was elsewhere.
    With slow, measured steps, he took his place in front of the last remaining Opal shifter, the one still in bear form. He paused. After a moment, the shifter returned to human form.
    Then everyone waited.
    From behind him, he heard Emma draw in a breath. He turned to face her, as did the rest.
    “Do you witness?” she asked.
    “We do,” the assembled bears replied. Gwen added her voice a half-second later.
    “My name is Emma Labelle, and I am a Liaison, duly appointed by the Lionshead Mining Consortium at the approval of Valen and Marcus Kedyn. Does anyone dispute this claim?”
    “No.”
    “The unnamed in front of us have been found guilty of the following crimes: One, refusing to obey a citizen business owner. Two, destruction of civilian property in bear form. Three, refusal to obey a direct order from a Lionshead Mining Consortium superior. Four, putting a human in harm’s way while in bear form. Five, harming a human using the superior strength of a shifter.”
    It was that final charge that had placed them out here, but the other four combined would have been enough for Emma to sentence them to ending. She wouldn’t have, however, because she hated doing so. But the moment one of them had struck her and injured her, she had no choice. The law was the law.
    “Does anyone here dispute this judgment?”
    There were several noises from the bears in front of them, but none of them could say that they hadn’t done the above. The remainder of the bears voiced that they did not.
    “Very well. I sentence you to summary ending, to be carried out immediately.”
    She nodded formally in the direction of Garrett, Ajax, Ferro, Gabriel, and Russell.
    The quintet turned to face the condemned.
    Russell knew what he had to do, but that didn’t mean he liked it. With a thought, his bear ripped from his skin once more, landing on all fours in front of “his” prisoner. He wished it didn’t have to happen this way, but it did. To his left he heard loud snapping noises as the others discharged their duties. Closing his eyes, he took the