ROMANCE: PARANORMAL ROMANCE: Mated, Bearfoot and Pregnant (Bear Shifter BBW Pregnancy Romance) (Werebear Hero Fantasy Romance) Read online

  "I'm sorry, V," he told her softly. "I want to spend today with you and treat you right before tonight. How about I take you out for breakfast at Sidelines tomorrow, and this afternoon we do something else? You have any running around you need to do for work?"

  From sex and the promise of breakfast to waiting around alone and spending the afternoon concerned with work. Victoria's mood did not pick back up.

  "Let's see how long Finneus needs you for, and then we'll make plans depending on what time we've got left before tonight."

  "Sounds perfect," Gabriel said with a tender smile. He pressed a sweet kiss to Victoria's lips, then exited the shower without having washed at all. Grabbing a freshly laundered white towel, Gabriel rubbed the water from his skin and ran the towel through his hair quickly before he walked, naked, from the room. Through the frosted glass Victoria watched him go, disappointment welling in her chest. It wasn't Gabriel's fault, she knew, but the feelings were hard to deal with.

  "Maybe it won't be such a long conversation," Victoria mumbled to herself, knowing very well that was unlikely. Finneus was a lawyer, and if there was one thing lawyers liked to do it was talk.

  But maybe things were better this way. Victoria would have plenty of time to tend to her appearance and make sure she looked on top of her game. It wasn't every day that the man who'd won her heart met with his pride to tell them his arranged engagement was ending because he'd taken a human mate, and she wanted to make sure she looked worthy. After all, as Gabriel's mate they would have to respect her as Queen.

  Queen.

  Victoria shook her head. She'd never thought of herself as Queen material. Then again, she'd never thought that something as strange as a lion shifter would be real. Life was nothing if not unexpected, and she was learning to roll with the punches.

  Learning, but not quite a professional yet. There were punches that would land and knock her off her feet; if only Victoria knew how close the first blows would be.

  Chapter Two

  "What you mean to tell me," Finneus set both of his palms upon the marble surface of the island, "is that you intend to inform the pride tonight of your decision to end your engagement, but you haven't spoken with Jessica yet at all? Not even to touch base?"

  Gabriel sat across from his friend, his hands on his lap. While Victoria had showered he'd dressed in his military green cargos and a loose hoodie Finneus had sent him years ago from his alma mater. Gabriel had never attended university, but he appreciated the old school aesthetic most university wear had.

  "That's right," Gabriel replied. "Lewis Leroux was the one who held Victoria captive, Finneus. You think he hasn't already told Jessica what I've been up to? She knows what's coming, and if she hasn't moved on already, she's preparing to. That I haven't heard from her since that night means that she's not crushed that I've found The Bond with someone."

  It was hard to tell, but Gabriel thought he could see something pulse near Finneus' temple. The lawyer clenched his fists, anger rising.

  "Jesus Christ, Gabriel," Finneus hissed, "maybe staying behind to go to school would have done you some good. Uncle Sam obviously doesn't encourage his lackeys to think for themselves. Do you know how ridiculous you sound?"

  For a moment there was silence. Finneus and Gabriel locked eyes, Finneus' sharpened with rage, Gabriel's narrowed in reaction to the insubordination. Finn was his cousin, but it didn't mean that he could insult the King. Maybe Gabriel hadn't been in power for long, but his position was absolute.

  "Do you want to take this outside, Finneus?" Gabriel asked, voice dripping with danger. Finn did not back down.

  "This whole thing is a mess, Gabriel. If a fight is what you need to sit down and listen to logic and sense, then I will fight you. I am serious about this pride, and it's about time you started listening to the advice of others. It's what a good leader does. It's what your father would have done."

  Silent anger rolled between them. Gabriel's hands had clenched into fists, and Finneus sat tensed and ready to pounce across from him. But Gabriel knew that Finneus was serious. The aggression he showed in his own kitchen told Gabriel his friend had an insight Gabriel hadn't yet grasped. How many times had Finneus scolded him for trying to chop food atop his Carrara marble kitchen counters? If a kitchen knife nicking marble sent Finn into a tizzy, Gabriel could only imagine how much Finn really did care about what was happening. The damage two fully grown lions could do to a designer kitchen was leagues above what a knife ever could.

  "I'm listening," Gabriel said, steel still present in his tone.

  "Thank God," Finneus mumbled, one hand massaging his temple once the tension broke. "I didn't want to actually fight you. I'm no Liston."

  They were cousins through Gabriel's mother, but even though Finn wasn't Royal by blood, Gabriel had always thought him the better leader.

  "Finn, I'm listening," Gabriel said again, voice hard. "I made plans with Victoria and I had to disappoint her to be here talking with you. Please don't waste my time."

  From the way his friend's lips tightened, Gabriel knew he'd struck a chord. However, nothing was said. Finneus drew in a grounding breath and then began.

  "Right now there are two worlds at play, the emotional and the diplomatic. In other words, there are matters of your heart, and then matters of the pride at stake. Understandably, issues related to your heart are weighing upon you more heavily than anything else right now. Are you following so far, Gabriel?"

  What Finneus said wasn't anything too difficult to grasp. Gabriel nodded his head but did not otherwise reply. It was enough for Finneus, who continued.

  "Since we were born, there has been peace between the Liston pride the Leroux pride. Each pride has stuck to the established boundaries, and so there has been no reason for any strife. The purpose of you engagement to Jessica was to begin to erase those boundaries. It was to be an easy transition whose end goal was to amalgamate the prides. It was never about forcing you to marry who you didn't love or share The Bond with, it was simply a good political move for the Liston pride. With Jessica as your mate, the Leroux pride would gradually cease to exist as Liston-Leroux heirs would be born."

  "I know all of this, Finneus," Gabriel said with a sigh. "But that's not the way it's going to work. We'll figure something else out, that's all. Jessica understands."

  Finneus closed his eyes and inhaled deeply to try to quell his anger.

  "No, you're speaking from an emotional standpoint again. That's not how this works, especially not with the Leroux pride."

  The tension had left Finneus' shoulders and hands, and he drummed his fingertips against the counter of the island. Gabriel remained respectfully silent.

  "The Leroux pride has always been sly and underhanded, and they are looking for complete control of the city just as much as we are. If you think they are going to shrug off the ended engagement like it's nothing, you're wrong. There is no doubt in my mind that the Leroux pride is already mobilizing to take advantage of this breach of trust. Just as much as we want to end the division in prides, you can bet that they do as well, and they would prefer that the Leroux name be the one history remembers. Lewis may not be as strong as you, but he is cunning. Sometimes that's enough to win a war."

  War. Gabriel shifted uneasily on his stool. Finneus always used his words strategically, and he was sure that mention of conflict wasn't dropped by accident. Was that what this was? A war of wits between two prides? Gabriel didn't care for mind games.

  "You think they're going to try to take us down?" Gabriel asked.

  "I think that Lewis is going to try to get under your skin to hit you where it hurts. When you are vulnerable and irrational, he'll make a plea that your leadership is questionable at best, and that you are not fit to rule. If our pride finds that to be true and cast you out, they will be left to either join with the Lerouxs or venture off on their own. I know if I were Lewis, it's what I would do."

  Had they not been friends since birth, had Finneus not been blood, G
abriel might have lashed out at him right there. For as wily as Finn depicted the Leroux pride, he was often just as underhanded and deceitful. Knowing that his own cousin would take him down and injure him were he in Lewis’ place was hurtful, and Gabriel felt his heart harden towards Finneus. The hypothetical betrayal stung.

  "So what you're telling me is that I should be dealing with a foreign pride first before I share good news with the men and women who've been loyal to the Liston line?"

  "I'm not forcing you to do anything, Gabriel. The ultimate decision is your own. I am simply informing you that, in my opinion, leaving Jessica and the other Leroux lions to their own will make your life much more complicated than it needs to be. I want to make sure that you're being careful."

  The lawyer cleared his throat, and then lifted his gaze to meet Gabriel's.

  "You're more like a brother to me than a cousin, and I don't want to see you get hurt. I also don't want our pride to fall apart, so I want to make sure you're prepared for what may come. I am confident that you will be able to deal with it, but it is better to be prepared than to be greeted by the unexpected. That is all."

  For a moment they sat in silence, eyes on each other.

  "That, and be prepared that news of Victoria may not go over as smoothly as you think it will. Some may not believe you have shared The Bond with a mortal. Others might not accept a mortal as their Queen. There might be some dissension."

  It was a reality Gabriel hadn't been willing to face. Mutely he nodded, then he rose from where he'd been sitting.

  "I am on your side, Gabriel, but you are a new King and I want to make sure you are prepared. No leader can lead on his own; you can depend on me to give you advice."

  It had always been this way between them, Gabriel rash and emotional, easy to trust, and Finn guarded and logical. Gabriel knew he should value what Finneus had to say, but the heat of the moment made it difficult to value Finn's words.

  "Thank you," Gabriel said simply. It sounded hollow, even though he'd meant to invest sincerity into the words. Finneus was unfazed. "I'll see you tonight. Seven, at Carver's."

  "You know I'll be there," Finneus replied. Gabriel did not wait for any more words to pass between them. He left the kitchen and passed through the side door that led down into the basement.

  As a soldier he was braced for war, but love was an unexpected battle. But no matter what happened, no matter where his choices brought him, Victoria was worth it.

  "I'm done with Finneus. You still want to try to catch breakfast?" he asked as he descended into their apartment. There was still morning to burn, and Gabriel knew that tonight would be much more stressful for Victoria than it would be for him. Downtime on the battlefield was essential to keeping morals high and wits sharp, and today they'd had fun. He'd make sure of it.

  But Victoria was already gone.

  Chapter Three

  The call had come just after Victoria had stepped out of the shower. Gabriel had finished dressing and had closed the door leading into the main house, leaving her on her own. A fresh white towel wrapped around her torso, Victoria had been on her way to the bedroom when the cheerful tune had surprised her. No one called, and she was used to the silence. Maybe it was Gabriel calling, she thought. It would be strange, but there had been plenty of strange things that had happened since she'd met him. Compared to learning that there were men and women who could turn into lions at will, an out of place phone call seemed a minor anomaly.

  When Victoria ducked out of the bathroom and entered the bedroom to answer the call, her caller display told another story. It wasn’t Gabriel on the phone—

  Peter was calling.

  For a second Victoria stared at the name plastered across the screen, hoping he'd just hang up. But even as she let it ring, Peter did not give up. The phone rang and rang until she relented to her curiosity and pressed on the answer button. For the first time in a week, Victoria lifted her phone to her ear to speak to her ex.

  "Hello?"

  "Victoria, thank God you answered." There was a rushed kind of panic in Peter's voice, and Victoria's heart sank. She'd expected him to scream at her or give her crap for leaving him, but whatever was happening was far worse than that.

  "Peter?" Victoria asked. "What's wrong?"

  "The hospital has been calling all morning for you on the home phone. Your parents were in a car accident."

  Cold fear swept through her heart, and Victoria felt her hand begin to tremble. As the strength left her she sank back upon the bed, still warm from where she'd been curled up with Gabriel. Shock prevented her from crying, but she knew the tears would start soon.

  "Are they okay?"

  "They're as good as they could be. Both of them were moved from the hospital already, into an outpatient rehabilitation facility."

  Victoria placed her free hand over her eyes, breathing out in relief. For as bad as it could have been, it sounded like both of them had been lucky.

  "Do you have an address?" she asked. "I have to go see them. I have to go be with them."

  "It's a new place, the address is 103 Knorr. They're set to be there at least for the next few hours."

  Knorr. Victoria recognized it vaguely as an address near the motel she'd stayed at. It seemed an odd part of town to have a medical facility, but at that moment she didn't doubt what Peter told her.

  "Thank you for calling, Peter."

  There was a moment of awkward silence. Usually she'd end calls with an 'I love you', but that was not true, and hadn't been for a long time. Peter had hurt her. That he'd been decent enough to call her and tell her about the accident seemed a small miracle.

  "You're welcome." Another pause. "Bye."

  "Bye," Victoria mumbled as the call ended. Hearing Peter's voice again left her feeling vulnerable. Since she had left him, Gabriel had done his best to build her up to make her feel important and worthy. Peter hadn't said anything offensive or derogatory, but the way he spoke made her remember everything he'd done to her over the years. Why would Gabriel ever want to be with a woman so weak and unworthy as to stay with someone who had treated her like garbage? What kind of a Queen had such low self-esteem?

  Shaken both by the news and by Peter's voice, Victoria rose on feeble legs and dressed. Hair still dripping, she exited the basement through the back door and called a cab as she headed down the street and towards the downtown core. The morning air felt crisp in her lungs, stress and uncertainty making each breath feel heavier than usual. By the time the cab had arrived, tears had begun to surface. The shock of the call had worn off.

  The drive across town took some time, and by the time the cab dropped her off, Victoria had calmed. As soon as she'd paid and exited, the vehicle sped off. 103 Knorr didn't look like a medical rehabilitation facility at all. Dirty, crumbling brick and an ill-fitting door waited for her. The numbers 103 hung crookedly above the door, but there was no commercial name visible, nor any opening hours on display. This place didn't feel right, but the addressed matched the one Peter had given her.

  Peter had said it was new, so maybe they hadn't set up the exterior or renovated yet. The neighborhood wasn't the most refined, so maybe it was an issue of time. Maybe the inside of the facility was presentable. If not, maybe she'd find someone who could give her proper directions. Uncertainties explained away, Victoria approached the door and entered.

  The inside was no better than the outside. The tile floor was chipped in places, revealing the grey mortar beneath. Dirt and grime stained it further, leaving each tile looking worn. Only one of overhead lights worked as it should have, the fluorescent tube providing harsh light. Another flickered and fought for life, but the rest of them had already succumbed to inactivity. A wooden receptionist's desk sat across from the front door, but it was empty and barren. The calendar that hung on the wall behind it was dated back two years.

  "Is there anyone here?" Victoria asked. She'd taken a few steps forward, looking this way and that. There was no way this was the right p
lace. But as she was about to turn, the door she'd come through clicked heavily. It had locked. Victoria turned on her heels and found herself face to face with her ex.

  "I'm here," Peter said simply. He leaned against the locked door, slipping a thick silver key into his back pocket. Victoria swallowed, momentarily lost for words. "Looks like you're here, too, so that's two of us."

  "Peter, what's happening?" she asked. "Where are my parents? I don't understand."

  Peter did not move from the door. He crossed his arms over his chest, watching her with eyes narrowed just slightly. Victoria recognized the look well; it was the look he got when he took revenge against those who'd done him wrong. Most of the time the revenge was petty, but Victoria had a feeling that the wrong she'd done to him by leaving him would be avenged by a much more serious punishment.

  "Your parents are back home, safe. There was no accident; I just really needed to get you out here so we could talk. We haven't been doing a lot of talking in the past week, you know?"