My Sexy Stepbrother is a Werebear Book 2

HELEN

BANG! BANG!

Bullets whizzed over my head, disappearing into the trees behind me.

I stared down at my paws.

What the ACTUAL fuck?!

How have I transformed into a bear???

All I knew was that Chris threatened my family and suddenly I was consumed with anger and then… well...things got a little bit hairy.

No, scrap that. Things got a lot hairy.

“You’re a monster!” Chris screamed as he reloaded.

I didn’t have time to think. My family was still in danger.

Without hesitation, I barreled toward Chris like a hairy freight train of rage.

The gun fell from his hands, and he backed away, turning whiter than his teeth.

“Helen, stop…,” he whimpered. “It’s me! Chris Reynolds! We’ve made out!”

Even though I knew he was just trying to save his sorry ass, no words could’ve stopped me right then. Not even a brick wall could stop me. A hundred Navy SEALs wouldn’t have made me fucking blink.

Chris had threatened my family.

And he would get no mercy.

When he saw I wasn’t stopping, he turned around to make a run for the tree line. He didn’t get very far.

I swiped at his back, toppling him like a stack of blocks. In a flash, I was on top of him, my bear drool dripping into his face, scarred and bloody from the fight at the warehouse. Without his sparkling ivories, I barely would’ve recognized the bronzed hottie I’d spent so many years crushing on.

“Helen, please…” he tried again.

I growled, and my snout came closer, drooling onto his chest. He blinked from my hot bear breath, writhing under my weight, struggling to free himself.

“UGH! GET OFF ME, YOU GRIZZLY BITCH!”

ROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!

I opened my jaws wide and went straight for his head.

After that, all I saw was red.

Blood red.

I’m not sure if I blacked out or what... But the truth is I can only remember glimpses of what happened next.

I dragged Chris’s body… Well, his remains… closer to the tree line. I dug up the dirt until my paws were filthy. I nudged what was left of Chris into the hole and filled it back in.

After that, I wandered aimlessly around the yard, empty and exhausted.

My large body felt heavy. I had no way of turning back.

As the sun began to rise, I lay down, finally overcome with exhaustion.

The next thing I remember is waking up naked, with Sam looking down at me, furrowing his brow.

“What happened, baby?”

How much did he know? How much could he tell?

I looked down at my naked body, covered in dirt and bruises.

“Helen, you were a...I saw you shift!”

So there was no hiding the fact that I’d transformed into a bear...But the other thing—that I’d lost control and killed someone—maybe it wasn’t too late to keep Sam from knowing the truth.

That I was a murderer.

“What happened?” he asked again.

“I—I don’t know.”

Sam gathered me up and took me inside.

The next day over eggs and bacon, the whole family marveled at how I had been able to shift. They were completely obsessed with how it had happened…

Something to do with the pregnancy?

Maybe being marked by a shifter can bring on the change?

They were all so amazed I had shifted, and I was glad for the distraction. Because I couldn’t keep my hands from shaking.

Because, there was nothing amazing about it.

My bear had killed someone.

I’d killed someone.

And I didn’t want to know what they would think of me if they ever found out.

***

“HELEN! HELEN GOULDING!”

I snapped to attention.

Oh shit.

I was onstage at my college graduation. Hundreds of my classmates were watching me from the folding chairs set up on the football field.

And I’d been lost in my head. Thinking about that night...again.

Ever since my shift, I’d hardly been able to think about anything else. But somehow I’d managed to knuckle down and finish college.

Professor Hammond stood a few feet away from me, as handsome as ever in his own robe. He held my shiny award, staring at me like I was an insane person.

Which I suppose is fair.

I glanced at Emma who was giving me wide “what the hell are you doing?” eyes. I shrugged and got to my feet.

I looked across the crowd and caught my mom’s eye. I forced a smile because I couldn’t help wishing more of my family were there. In particular, my sexy stepbrother and the love of my life.

That morning when I’d left Bear Creek, Sam had told me that he’d be with me in spirit.

“Helen Goulding,” my professor repeated, a twinge of annoyance in his voice.

I chuckled awkwardly as I walked toward him. The crowd applauded politely. Hammond handed me the award with a half-hug.

“You’re a strange one, Helen,” he whispered in my ear. “But I’ll miss you.”

I chuckled, thinking back to the time I’d drawn him naked in art class. The incident had only been three months ago, but it felt like three million years.

In some ways I’d grown up and matured a lot since then.

But in other ways, I thought, giggling and wondering what was hiding under my former crush’s robe.

I hadn’t grown up at all.

“Thanks, Professor Hammond. I’ll miss you too.”

I walked off the stage proudly carrying my plaque. It was my department’s highest honor: the Reynolds Foundation Fine Arts Award for promising young artists.

Growing up, I’d been warned about pursuing a career in the arts—people had always said I’d end up broke and living in a van.

But this award gave me the confidence to go after my dream.

Taking my seat, I glanced up at the sky.

I knew my dad, always my biggest fan, was smiling down on me from somewhere.

Graduations were always bittersweet, but mostly I was excited.

With school over, my new life could finally begin.

***

“College graduation is the final stop on your journey to adulthood,” our guest speaker said from the stage.

Regina Reynolds was a Boulder State trustee and the head of the foundation that sponsored my art award. She was a tall, composed, and striking brunette, with the world’s tightest ponytail and jewelry for days. No, weeks.

And Chris’s mom, I thought guiltily, sinking down in my chair.

Memories of that night at Jack’s cabin continued to haunt my graduation ceremony.

I shuddered, trying to forget my gruesome thoughts as I watched Mrs. Reynolds speak.

“Soon, you’ll be out in the world, living life to the fullest, without professors or grades. Some will be starting careers. Some will be getting married and starting families. Some will do both!”

“I heard she and Chris’s dad are getting a divorce,” Emma whispered. “He couldn’t keep his shit together after the, um…disappearance.”

“I met her once, when Chris and I were a thing,” my ex-rival Brittany whispered from my other side. “She seemed like a genuinely nice person.”

“Too bad the apple fell a long fucking way from the tree,” Emma shot back.

“Do you think she knew?” Brit asked. “You know, about the hunters?”

Heads turned in front of us. I shushed my friends.

Noisy bitches!

“Making the decision to speak today was difficult,” Regina said, her stiff, waspy face cracking with emotion. “As many of you know, my son Chris and his friend Sean were classmates of yours.”

She glanced at the big framed photos of Chris and Sean propped up on one side of the stage. Even in pictures, Chris’s teeth shone like the moon.

Sean, meanwhile, still looked like a skunk shifter.

The boys had “gone missing” months before. Their bodies were never found. Most people thought they were dead, though some held out hope they were still alive.

Not me.

“Chris loved his time at Boulder State, and he would’ve wanted me to give you a proper send-off,” Regina said, wiping away a tear. “And as difficult as these past few months have been, a mother must always act on behalf of their child.”

My hand unconsciously drifted to my belly, where—though I’d barely begun to show—I knew my own child was growing.

A mother must always act on behalf of their child.

The words hit a little too close to home.

I hadn’t exactly planned to miss a few days of birth control and get knocked up by my lumberjack lover. Motherhood had been the last thing on my mind during our logjams.

Will I always be able to watch out for my baby?

I can barely handle my own shit!

I had a good support system in Bear Creek. Sam was already in dad-mode, and Jack and Mom were a help too.

Normal parents might’ve been mortified to learn that their kids were having a kid together. Luckily, they were anything but normal.

But even with all my people around me, meeting my baby bear in six short months freaked me the fuck out.

Will I be ready for the responsibility?

Do all new moms feel like this? Or just my crazy self…

What kind of mother would do what I’ve done?

“Anyway,” Mrs. Reynolds said, managing a small smile. “On behalf of Chris and Sean, I want to wish you the best of luck going down this road we call life. Happy graduation!”

I couldn’t help but stare at Chris’s and Sean’s portraits as she left the stage. A big cheer went up from the crowd, and some of my classmates started chanting the guys’ names.

I glanced at Brittany and Emma. Their faces were as sullen as mine.

None of us joined in.

***

After the ceremony ended, and we got our diplomas, my friends and I stood together in the parking lot outside the stadium.

We’d spent the past three months bunking together at Jack’s cabin in Bear Creek, waiting out hunter retaliation after what had happened with Chris and Sean. Jack and Sam had managed to scrounge up some Internet so we could take our remaining courses remotely.

Even though I’d spent most of my time with my baby daddy, the three of us had grown closer than sisters.

As graduation approached, the Bear Council decided it was safe for Brit and Emma to come out of hiding, and they both had new lives waiting in the outside world.

Emma had an internship at Catwalk, a fancy fashion magazine in New York City, while Brittany was moving to Denver to start her art career.

I was a little jelly that my friends were both moving to big cities, but my heart was with Sam, who sure as hell wasn’t leaving Bear Creek anytime soon. He wouldn’t even come to my graduation ceremony.

I couldn’t exactly blame him after what he’d dealt with last time he came to Boulder. Almost getting murdered was a real bummer.

My new home was still a hick town, but at the same time, country life was growing on me. Especially once we got Wi-Fi.

“I’m gonna miss you girls so fucking much,” I said, going in for a group hug with Emma and Brittany, half-blinded by my own tears.

“I’ll miss you more,” Emma sniffed. She was crying too. “Don’t hang out too much without me, alright? Just because I’ll be on the east coast doesn’t mean I won’t get jealous!”

“Tough shit,” Brittany laughed. “Cuz I’m gonna be visiting Bear Creek all the time.”

“Shacking up with shifters?” Emma said with a wink. Brit grinned and gave her a playful push, breaking up the hug.

“Shut up,” she said. “You guys have been the best friends I’ve ever had. I mean it. Don’t even think about losing touch!”

“Helen, honey!” I heard Mom’s voice and looked behind me—she’d already pulled Jack’s truck around. We had a long drive back home, and it was time to go.

I said a last goodbye to my girls, then turned for the truck—nearly colliding with a squat, middle-aged woman who smelled like a cat had pissed on dirty laundry.

She turned to me with a crazed look in her eyes, and before I could say anything, she thrust a piece of paper into my hands.

“Pam Broadhurst,” she barked. “Have you seen my son Sean?”

“I…er… No, I’m sorry,” I answered slowly, caught off-guard. The woman scowled and moved on to accost another passerby.

I looked down at the piece of paper. It was a crudely made missing person flyer with an unflattering photo of Sean, probably higher than a rocket ship, playing video games.

#WHERESSEAN, the flyer read in big red letters above Pam’s contact info. ~#INVESTIGATEBEARCREEK~.

I did a double-take.

How does she know about Bear Creek?

I scanned the lot for Pam, who was questioning more of my classmates. They dropped the flyers on the ground once she’d left them alone.

I took a calming breath.

Phew. At least no one’s taking the poor woman seriously.

But as I headed to the truck and climbed into the passenger seat beside my mom, I felt a pang of guilt for both Pam Broadhurst and Regina Reynolds.

Because right now, I was the only person who knew the truth.

I knew exactly what had happened to their sons.