Mating Fever (Morgan Clan Bears, Book 3) Read online

  “I’ll call the elders and your cousins,” he offered. “We will have everyone over for dinner tonight to celebrate.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” she cheered. The happiness died on a yawn, and he leaned over to kiss her lips one last time before he headed to the big kitchen in the main part of their home.

  “Take a nap.”

  “Yes, sir.” She rolled her eyes, sinking down into the covers. Once she closed her eyes, he clicked off the bedside lamp and made his way out.

  As soon as he locked his mate in their quarters, the sound of the sheriff’s booming voice echoed into the hallway. He narrowed his eyes and put a little power behind his steps as he hurried to the kitchen.

  When he arrived, Drake and Rex were already there. Angry scowls tightened their faces as Gaia stood next to the panther’s caretaker. “What the fuck is going on?”

  A protectiveness like he’d never felt came over him as he stalked the lawman. He already gathered the reason for the male’s visit wasn’t a good one.

  “We found the fourth hunter, but he fled.” Garrett sighed like he didn’t want to repeat himself. Too fucking bad. “We chased him to a wooded area about five miles from here where he bailed out on foot. I’ve asked a few of the Shaw pride to help find him.”

  “Why didn’t you call us first?” Gunnar questioned, making fists at his side.

  “They were closer,” Sheriff Lynch replied with his own narrowed eyes. There was a flash of white in them, but as quick as Gunnar saw it, it was gone.

  “We also have some news about these hunters,” Gaia stated as she came around the table to stand in front of Gunnar. Her green eyes changed into the swirling blue of her true nature. When they cleared, she smiled brightly at him, pulling him into a comforting hug. “Oh, Gunnar. I’m so happy for you.”

  “What are you going on about?” Drake grumbled. “We’re talking about these hunters.”

  “Gunnar first,” she beamed. “Then the hunters.”

  “What?” Rex asked, his voice showing frustration.

  “Anna Claire and I touched last night,” he announced, his smile widening with the news. “We also made a cub.”

  The cheers could be heard throughout the home. His brothers, and even the lawman, clapped him on the back with congratulations. “I appreciate that, but I need to know what other information you have.”

  Gaia and Garrett launched into the information the sheriff had found on the dark web. It led them to Harvey Helms, the remaining hunter, but what was uncovered sent Gunnar’s protective instincts into high gear.

  There were others out there. More than one hundred hunters had been identified across the world. “They’re using this dark web group to plan an attack on all grizzlies?” Gunnar had to make sure he’d heard them right.

  “We don’t know how they found out about your species, but it’s been done. Their goal is to kill you and present your bodies to the world. They want fame, and with that fame, they believe they will get a lot of money.” Garrett cursed and ran a hand through his short, brown hair. “They even have a document that shows the going price for breaking news photos from each of the major news outlets.”

  Harvey Helms emerged from the forest not far from the bears’ compound. He’d spent the last two days searching for a way to get to them. The forest behind their home was riddled with foot paths where the shifters obviously hunted. Several trees had scratch marks on them, proving their claws were just as dangerous as the grizzlies in the wild.

  He needed to report back to the group and make his plans for the first day of June. The hacker had set the date, saying it was the end of their mating season, and if they’d kidnapped any human females, they could be saved before they could turn them into killing machines.

  The thought of one of his daughters being caught in their grasp sent an anger through him. The police were no damn help. They were obviously on the shifters’ side. Shifters were abominations of God, and Harvey was going to make sure he took out as many as he could before they came for him.

  He knew he couldn’t use his car anymore. That damn sheriff was out for him, but he had a plan. There were other grizzly hunters within an hour’s drive of his town. He’d placed an emergency call to one of them earlier, requesting a pick-up at the local bar. He was set to arrive around seven. After that, he’d go hide out for the next two months and study the area. He’d already taken pictures of the entrances to the house, plus the three cabins on their land.

  Once the first of June came, they’d eradicate the grizzlies and claim their fame as they paraded their lifeless bodies in front of the media. It was time to stand their ground against the devil’s pets and send them back to their maker.

  Chapter 7

  “It’s been 3 weeks since you conceived,” the pride’s healer began. “I’m just going to take your blood and ask you a few questions today.”

  Anna Claire nodded when necessary and waited for the panther to put on his gloves. She breathed a sigh of relief. The thought of being accidentally touched by a male that wasn’t Gunnar scared her to death.

  “Just a little stick,” he mumbled as he worked. She’d already met the male a year ago when she had been rescued. He was a gentle soul, and she liked him even if the Morgans were apprehensive about the cat shifter being in their home. “How have you been feeling? Any sickness?”

  “Just a little in the evenings,” she replied with a cringe. Gunnar’s bear rumbled from inside his chest. She hadn’t told him of the symptoms she’d been having. “It’s not bad, though.”

  “Try some chicken or toast,” he suggested. “I’d prefer you get as much protein as possible, but your body will tell you what it needs. My only request is that you stay hydrated.”

  “I can do that.” Anna Claire glanced at her mate, and he was staring intently at the back of the healer’s head. She knew they were on edge with the hunters and having another shifter in the house, but they could at least relax a little. The healer wasn’t an enemy.

  Hell, the Morgans didn’t really like anyone other than their own kind. Tessa had told her about their parents one afternoon last summer while the males were away working in their fields. As she glanced at the three brothers standing at attention around her, she really wished they’d accept the friendship the panthers offered.

  “Thank you, healer,” she said, sweetly. “Would you like to stay for coffee?” She ignored Gunnar’s narrowed eyes and focused on the doc.

  “While I appreciate your hospitality,” he began, giving her a knowing smile. “I have to get back to my pride for another appointment. Maybe the next time I come over, I’ll have some extra time to chat.”

  “That would be lovely,” she replied as he removed the needle.

  He labeled the vials and put them in his black bag. The tall, older male stood and shook Gunnar’s hand. “Congratulations, papa. I’ll call Anna Claire after I get these tests back.”

  She noticed how the doc showed her mate respect, but he announced he would be calling her, instead of Gunnar, with the results. There was a rumor going around about how the female panthers of the Shaw pride were now working as Guardians, and she wondered if it was true. She didn’t want to ask him in front of the males, but she made a mental note to slip in the question the next time he stopped by for a checkup.

  “Let’s get you some lunch,” Gunnar offered as he started for the kitchen. The brothers walked the healer out to his truck and returned to their quarters. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d been feeling sick?”

  The hurt in his voice brought tears to her eyes. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

  “I’ll always worry for you,” he replied.

  Anna Claire stood from her seat and walked up behind him while he dug through the fridge. The moment she slid her tiny fingers under his shirt and around his body, they both shivered from the electric touch.

  They’d become friends before they were mates, and she couldn’t have asked for a better second half to her life’s story. The first p
art was slowly fading into nothing but a bad memory. Being with Gunnar and his brothers had changed her, molding her into a stronger version of herself.

  “What’s wrong?” Gunnar stiffened in her arms, and she let out a soft sigh when he turned around to pull her close to his chest. He didn’t give her a chance to respond before capturing her lips in a scorching kiss.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” she promised. “Just thinking about how happy I am.”

  “Good,” he stated with a short nod. “Now, let me make you some lunch before I have to relieve Luca from the fields.”

  Her cousin and Gunnar had taken shifts at the fields during the current planting season. The weather was holding out, and they’d been working from dusk to dawn to get the seeds in the ground.

  “Tessa’s friend, Tulley, is supposed to be delivering the things we need for the home garden today.” Anna Claire couldn’t wait to get to work on their plot behind the house. The males had expressed their concern for the females working out in the open, but Tessa had calmed them when she pointed out how safe the location was. They were covered from all sides; the front of the land being the most important. With them directly behind the house, no one could shoot at them from across the road.

  The males had gone out to check the land behind the home a week ago, and they hadn’t found any lingering scents that would’ve alerted them to a stranger on their land. They’d had a lot of rain, and any footprints would’ve been seen, too. There was some concern over whether someone had been on their land before the weather changed since their scent would’ve washed away with the recent storms. Thankfully, they were safe…for now, but the males were on high alert. The Morgan brothers were always paranoid, and she was starting to understand why.

  With the sheriff’s knowledge of an attack on the first day of June, the clan was preparing for the worst. Drake had ordered extra ammunition for their weapons, and a plan was in place to protect the females and young. Doug and Alfred were setting traps around the land, going a bit old school in their hunting techniques.

  “Don’t linger in the garden,” he warned as he set a bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup in front of her. She ignored him and took a bite. The flavor was exceptional. “Luca and Drake will be out there with you.”

  “I’m not worried,” she admitted. “We are relatively safe out there.”

  They were interrupted by his phone. Her mate frowned as he answered it. “Gaia?”

  “Get to the diner now,” she yelled in a panic. “It’s been shot up.” With Anna Claire’s excellent hearing, she understood everything the female was saying. There were tears in her voice, and Anna Claire’s heart dropped into her stomach.

  “Call the sheriff and get to your office,” Gunnar barked as he jumped from his chair. His eyes landed on her, but Anna Claire made a fast motion with her hands to send him out the door.

  “I’ll call the others,” she promised and reached into her dress pocket for her phone. Her first call was to her cousin, Ransom. He was at his cabin and could be at the house in the blink of an eye.

  Her next call was to Drake. She didn’t have much to tell him other than what she’d overheard from the phone call. When they disconnected, Anna Claire glanced over at her mate, who was pacing in front of the kitchen island.

  “I have to go,” Gunnar fretted. “Don’t go outside for anyone. Do you understand me?”

  “I won’t. Now, go!” Anna Claire sat heavily in her chair and placed her hand over her erratic heart. He kissed the top of her head and produced keys from his pocket as her cousin came in the back door.

  “I don’t have time to explain,” Gunnar said in a rush. “Stay with the females. I’ll call as soon as I know something.”

  With his phone to his ear, her mate ran out the door. Ransom came over and pulled her into a comforting hug. It was nice to know she could still touch her blood relatives. “Someone shot up Gaia’s diner.”

  “Son of a bitch!” Ransom snarled, running his hands through his long, dark hair. “Do you think it’s related?”

  “I wouldn’t doubt it,” she replied.

  Gaia cursed as she held a rag to the wound on her arm. Unlike the shifters, she couldn’t heal as fast. The only saving grace was that the bullet had grazed her instead of killing her.

  The call to the sheriff was met with the same anger as it’d been when she called Gunnar. He’d used his supernatural magic to transport himself to the diner in an instant.

  “Talk to me, Gaia,” he said in a panic. “Where else are you hit?”

  “I’m fine, Garrett,” she promised. “It’s just my arm.”

  “Fuck!” the angel cursed, causing Gaia to raise a brow. She wanted to scold him, but she thought better of it when he queued the mic at his shoulder to call for backup.

  “Can you get to your office?” he asked her as he glanced around at the patrons who were staring at him in wide-eyed shock before lowering his voice. “I have to take care of the humans.”

  She nodded and hurried to her office, falling into the chair behind her desk. She pulled the rag away and flinched at the sight. She’d need stitches. If the bullet had been six inches to the left, it would’ve killed her, and that would’ve been bad…like bad, bad.

  She was the human embodiment of Mother Nature, but she didn’t have the extra abilities like the shifters. If she was mortally wounded, it would kill her. If she died, so did the earth and all its inhabitants.

  The sound of emergency personnel arriving eased a little of the tension she was feeling. Thankfully, the diner had been slow, and only a handful of customers had been there between the breakfast and lunch rush. From what she’d seen before Garrett arrived, no one was injured. She’d taken the worst of it.

  The blood slowed from the pressure she was keeping on the wound, but it wasn’t stopping. The moment she went to stand from her seat, she felt a wave of dizziness come over her, sending her ass right back into the seat.

  “Woah,” the sheriff gasped as he entered her office. “You’re white as a ghost.”

  “Blood loss,” she frowned. “I need another towel. There are some under the sink.”

  “What?” he asked, going to her attached bathroom to grab what she needed. The male looked worried for once, and that scared her. What had happened outside after she was sent to the office? “Why aren’t you healing?”

  “I won’t heal like them,” she admitted, accepting the towel. The sheriff produced a pair of blue latex gloves from his pocket and quickly put them on. “Let me look at it.”

  When she pulled away the new towel, Garrett narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t you have their healing abilities?”

  “I am Mother Earth,” she reminded him, refraining from rolling her eyes. “I heal as the earth heals…with time.”

  “Are you serious?” he snarled, his eyes flashing white. The angel inside him was rearing its head, and while she appreciated it, she didn’t really want to discuss too much of her life with the lawman.

  “Look, Garrett,” she began after a long sigh. “I need stitches. There is no need for an antibiotic. I can use the earth for any infections I might get from the wound.”

  “Can you go to a human hospital?” he asked as he swatted her hand away from the rag, using his gloved hands to put pressure to the wound.

  “I…I really don’t know,” she answered. Honestly, she didn’t know if they would question her should they draw blood. She was in human form, but she didn’t know if her chemical makeup was the same as the humans. “I don’t want to risk it, though.”

  “Well, someone out there knows about you,” he growled. “This had to be connected to the bears. No one shoots up the town. We don’t have that type of violence here.”

  Garrett was right. Olive Branch was a safe, quiet little town. They’d had some run-ins with a few bad eggs, but they were mostly from the Memphis area, trying to come across the state line to look for more homes to rob, but the sheriff’s department had kept that to a minimum.

  “Whoever
it is, I want them found, Garrett,” she ordered, feeling her eyes swirl. “They came here to hurt me, and in the process, they hurt humans.”

  “The humans are fine,” Garrett assured her, taking a peek at the wound as he knelt at her side. “No one was injured.”

  “Still, they were attacked, and I don’t want them to be scared to come here,” she fretted. Gaia loved the humans. Well, the good ones. The ones who destroyed her earth were the lowest of scum. Whoever shot up her business was going to be grouped into that category as far as she was concerned.

  “Let me call the pride’s healer to come here and stitch you up,” Garrett offered. “I don’t think you should be going to the hospital.”

  “I think you’re right,” she replied, and hissed when he removed the rag.

  “Your bleeding is under control, and that’s a good sign,” he replied, but his brow was furrowed. The lawman used his other hand to retrieve his phone from his pocket. “You scared me, Gaia.”

  “I scared myself, Garrett,” she replied as he connected the call with the panther’s doctor.

  “Stay here,” the sheriff ordered. “I’ll go check on things out front and get someone over here to either board up your windows or replace them before the day is through.”

  “Thank you.”

  The door to her office was pushed open as Drake, Rex, and Gunnar entered, stopping in their tracks when they saw the sheriff still holding the rag to her arm. They all started yelling questions at the same time, and she couldn’t understand anyone while they growled through their questions.

  “Calm down,” she warned, raising her free hand in the air. “I’ll explain everything.”

  “Keep pressure on that, and I’ll be back,” Garrett stated as he nodded toward the bears. She took over with the rag and watched as the male left the office. He didn’t even flinch when all three of the Morgan brothers growled in his direction.

  “So, what the hell just happened?” Drake bellowed.