Lord of the Bears: Wild Ridge Bears, #1

By Kimber White

This virile bear shifter thought fated mates were just a fairytale…until he found his.

 

Destiny made Jaxson Lord the new head of one of the most powerful bear clans on Wild Ridge. But Jax's birthright will only carry him so far. To stay on top, it'll take all the strength and cunning he has to prove to the other mining crews he's worthy. He's got no time for distractions and thinks fated mates are just a fairytale. Until he meets curvy Nora Gentry and she sets his virile, protective, inner bear on fire. The trouble is, she's caught the eye of the rest of the clans and now Jax has more than just his own crew to fight for.

On a nature photography assignment, Nora finds herself alone in the woods and face to face with a fierce, Grizzly. When Jax appears out of nowhere and comes to her aid, Nora knows there's something compelling, dangerous, and familiar about him. There's magic in those woods and Jax is at the center of it. But giving into their passions can bring dangerous consequences neither of them ever expected.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nokay Press, LLC
• Release date: Mar 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215647981

Kimber White

Kimber White writes steamy paranormal romance with smoldering, alpha male shifters and kickass heroines (doormats need not apply). Because she just can't help herself from torturing her heroes…expect edge of your seat suspense as Kimber's characters fight for their happily ever afters and their fated mates. Kimber lives on a lake in the Irish Hills of Michigan with her neurotic dog and wildly supportive family. For the latest scoop on Kimber's new releases plus a FREE EBOOK as a welcome gift, be sure to sign up for Kimber's newsletter at www.kimberwhite.com

Book preview

Chapter One

Nora

I wasn’t technically lost. Just, well, geographically challenged. A little. I swiped my smartphone screen with my thumb to pull up the compass. The little red pin pointed north. Straight ahead. If I headed that way, I’d eventually come out of the woods and find my way back to M-28. That is if I didn’t fall and break my neck or something first.

An owl hooted above me, hidden somewhere in the vast canopy of maple, birch, and red oak trees. If I had to guess, the little fucker was expressing doubt about my abilities to find my way back to civilization. I kept heading west, undaunted. North wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was my car. I had a job to do and I would damn well get it done. A cool, spring breeze kicked up, rustling the leaves all around me. They were the entire reason I came out here. With the midday sun poking through, some of the larger maple leaves shimmered like jade. I slowly raised my camera’s eyepiece into position and snapped another picture.

God, I sighed. It’s glorious. It really was. I came out here to get pictures for a promotional calendar my boss wanted to put together. I worked for the Vista Foundation, a privately funded conservation group as their Director of Online Marketing. Which was really a fancy way of saying I ran their Facebook and Twitter accounts, at least for now. I had bigger plans. My real passion was photography, but my parents insisted I get a marketable degree first. A fair point, but it didn’t keep me from racking up a mound of student loan debt and working in a job I didn’t always like…until today, that was.

I came to a clearing where a rotted log had fallen over a trickling brook. I crouched low, zooming in on a gray-green pattern of moss over the gnarled wood. Snapping the shutter, I smiled. I could literally point my lens in any direction and come up with something spectacular. The hard part would be deciding which shots to use back at the office.

I checked my phone again. Nearly two o’clock, I’d been due back almost two hours ago. I couldn’t help it though. This part of Wild Ridge Forest seemed untouched. I could imagine mine were the only human footprints ever left here. Maybe they were. A whiff of sassafras filled my nose, intoxicating me. I kept heading west.

Northeast of me, I knew I’d find the ridge that gave this part of the world its name. Towering cliffs overlooked the crystalline waters of Lake Superior. The Vista Foundation was partly responsible for keeping that stretch of coastline free from tourists, unlike other parts of the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was one of their crowning achievements. It was also the other reason I was out here this morning. The last profitable copper mine in the state operated about ten miles west of me. We had reason to believe the Wild Ridge Mine had started secretly harvesting lumber from protected areas. The calendar gave me a good cover story in case I ran into anyone. But, if I could find proof of deforestation where there shouldn’t be, the camera around my neck would provide a weapon. So far, though, I saw no evidence of anything wrong. Just lots and lots of tall, healthy trees.

As I hopped over the fallen log, my phone vibrated in my pocket, jarring me out of the sense that I’d walked back through time. I hadn’t gotten a clear signal for the last hour but must have hit a clear spot. A text came through from my boss, Damon Spence.

Status? Did you get lost? Aaron’s worried.

Sighing, I pressed the phone to my forehead before trying to think of a good answer. Aaron was Damon’s son and board Vice President. He’d helped me get the job on account of the fact last year we dated for a while. Everyone told me it would end badly, and it did. But, I liked my job even if I didn’t care for the boss’s son that much anymore. With good reason. Aaron gave a terrific first impression, but once you got to know him, he was nothing more than a spoiled, entitled rich kid. Sometimes he was downright mean. I knew eventually this was going to cause me more problems. For now though, I was hoping I could keep it handled at least until next semester’s tuition came due.

Great stuff for the calendar, I texted back. Taking a bit longer than I hoped, but I should be heading back within the hour. I hit send, but the progress bar got stuck halfway when the signal dropped again. Sighing, I tucked my phone in the back pocket of my jeans and trudged forward. Just a little bit farther. I could see another clearing about fifty yards ahead. It might even be an old hiking trail. There was supposed to be one around here. Adjusting my camera strap over my shoulder, I quickened my step.

Spruce branches blocked my path. The needles stabbed into my forearms as I pushed through. When I did, the ground shifted beneath me and I tumbled down a short drop over tangled tree roots. I landed hard on my left hip but managed to protect the camera. The cost of doing so was a scratch across my cheek from a low tree branch. My flesh stung hot. I pressed the back of my hand to my face. I was bleeding. Not badly. I was lucky I hadn’t poked out my eye.

Tucking an errant blonde curl behind my ear, I dusted myself off and started to stand. When I looked up, my breath caught in my throat. I wasn’t alone.

Or at least, this wasn’t the barren wilderness anymore. Ahead of me, an ancient, weathered log cabin nestled amid the birch trees. Stumbling forward, I raised my camera and snapped away.

Holy shit, I whispered as I approached. I ran my hand along the side of the structure, crudely built with round logs with the bark left on. It was old. I was no expert, but this was probably here during the pioneer days. Some of the logs suffered from rot, and part of the thatched roof caved in. But what a find! I took pictures from every angle. Even as I did it, I felt like a trespasser. Surely whatever Michigan pioneer lived here was long gone. But, someone had called this place home. It might seem strange to say, but it was almost as if I could feel their ghost watching me. Not unfriendly. Not a threat, but a presence nonetheless that made the hair on my arms stand on end.

I grew bolder, peering in through the window. There was just the one, the glass long gone. The frame itself bloated and cracked from decades of rain. I couldn’t see much inside but shadows and piles of rotted leaves. But an intricately carved stone hearth took up the center of the room, its chimney gone.

I tried the front door. It wouldn’t budge, not locked, but the rain-swollen wood jammed into the frame. I could crawl through the window, but if I hurt myself, I was all alone out here and miles from my car. I took my phone back out of my pocket. My battery was nearly dead, but I had a weak signal and hoped it would be enough. It was. I pinned my location and stood back to take more pictures.

The ground vibrated beneath me. A low, rumbling thunder came from all around. Scanning the sky, I saw nothing but bright blue and sunshine. I raised the camera to my eye again. The thunder reached a crescendo and came from my left. I froze. Something was happening. It was as if I could hear it with more than just my ears. My nerves crackled and gooseflesh rose on my arms. With dawning clarity, I realized it wasn’t thunder at all. It was breathing.

Slowly, I swung my camera back over my shoulder and turned toward the noise. I should run. My brain told me that. But, my body told me something different. I took slow, gingerly steps in the direction of the sound. I couldn’t see anything but more trees. At least, not at first. When I got closer to the largest red maple I pressed my hand flat against the rough bark. Just beyond it, a huge, petrified oak tree arched back at an angle. I followed its trunk to the ground. It had torn away from the earth, leaving a natural alcove.

I don’t remember moving. I don’t remember making a conscious choice to go to it. Nevertheless, I found myself standing directly in front of that massive, ancient tree and its twisted roots that had long ago erupted out of the ground. The thunderous growl shook the leaves in the surrounding trees and sent a spear of heat straight down my spine. There was something in that hollowed out ground. I moved toward it, half remembering to lift my camera. But, I couldn’t focus. I was breathing. I had to be. And yet, it felt like the air had been sucked right out of me.

Trembling, I got closer. At first, I just saw shadows and leaves. Then, the form in the hollow began to take shape. A lump of massive brown fur. Something dead. My heart stopped.

It was a bear. The largest creature I’d ever seen. It had huge, black paws stretched out in front of it. Even lying motionless on its side, the thing came up nearly to my waist. God. What could have killed such a thing?

Then I realized it wasn’t dead at all. The ground shook again as it took a great, slumbering breath and its fur rose and fell. Not dead. Sleeping. Hibernating.

Without thinking I snapped the shutter. Too afraid to take my eyes off the giant in front of me, I took pictures blindly. Again, the voice in my head told me to run, swift but quiet. And yet my feet seemed to take root just like the knotted trees all around me. The bear exhaled again.

This wasn’t right. This wasn’t natural. Bears aren’t supposed to be this big. Are they? I should have been terrified. But, I wasn’t. Instead I was…enthralled. That was the best word I could come up with to describe it. It was if that sleeping bear held some kind of power over me, making me stay. I needed to be close to it. I was meant to be here. I was crazy.

I wanted to touch it. No. I needed to touch it. With trembling fingers, I reached forward. He was just a foot away. Yes. He. The certainty of that knowledge filled me as I stretched my arm forward. Coarse bristles brushed against my fingertips. Heat flooded through me, making my pulse trip as if I’d received an electric shock. The bear felt something too. Because the instant I made contact, one hooded eyelid snapped open. The great, black orb beneath it clouded over for an instant then went clear, focusing straight on me.

I took a staggering step backward. That huge eye blinked once. Twice. Then he raised his head, his movements lumbering, unsteady. I took another step back, my heart pounding. He crawled forward and turned so we faced each other straight on. I took another step back. At the bottom of a small hill, I had to step up to step away. He put one giant paw forward, then the other, kicking up wet leaves and earth as he did it. He let out a chuffing breath that blew hot across my skin.

I reached behind me, grasping for something to swing at him in case I needed it. A branch maybe. He tilted his head from one side to the next as if he were shaking the cobwebs loose after his long slumber.

I’m sorry, I whispered. It seemed important. I didn’t mean to…

He was up now, standing on all fours in front of me. God, he was huge. His head hung inches above mine. He staggered sideways, and I knew this might be my only chance. So strong with powerful haunches he could have split me in two with one swipe of those deadly front claws. He arched his back and craned his head forward. Taking one great breath that seemed to kick up the wind all around me, he let out a thunderous roar, his lips curling at the force of it. The sound filled the world around me, rattling tree branches and vibrating down to the marrow of my bones.

A declaration. A warning.

Only then did I scream. Only then did the urge to run overtake whatever power compelled me to touch him. Turning, I tripped over tangled branches and clawed my way up the side of the hill before me.

He roared again, the sound disturbing the birds and every other living thing around me. They knew to get the hell away from him instantly. Why hadn’t I? I ran past the log cabin, heading toward what I hoped was north as fast as my legs would carry me. But it wouldn’t be fast enough. It could never be fast enough. I stumbled and fell, scraping my knee against the bark of a fallen branch. Another piece of wood stabbed into my hand where I broke my fall. Blood pooled in the well of my palm and poured down my wrist. I found the strength to haul myself back to my feet and keep on running.

I looked behind me, one of the millions of mistakes I seemed to have made that day. Some detached voice in my head told me those mistakes would be what killed me. I had no one to blame but myself. The bear roared again and it seemed so much closer. I chanced a look behind me. He’d woken with a fury and came toward me. He didn’t run. He didn’t have to. Stumbling backward, I watched him rise to his full height on two legs. Oh, God. He was a monster. He seemed more than twice as tall as any man I’d ever known.

I screamed again. Hot tears streamed down my face and mixed with the blood from the scrape along my cheek.

I lost my way. The woods spun around me. The trees themselves seemed to come to life, gnarled branches pointing the way in every direction and none of them right. I took one last look over my shoulder and saw a blur of brown fur as the bear closed in.

Chapter Two

Jax

The bear woke before I did. Light and sound crashed through me, jarring me out of the darkness. But, the bear was already on the move before I could see anything. His hunger was mine. His fury too. Something had dragged him into consciousness, and it had nothing to do with me. I felt only primal need and aching hunger. One clear thought tore through him and finally reached me.

Want.

It finally made me open my eyes to see what the bear did.

She couldn’t be real. It wasn’t possible. How in God’s name could someone like her have found her way back here? Not even another bear would dare to trespass here. And yet, she had.

There was just an instant when she wasn’t afraid. If I’d been able to get control of the bear, it might have been different. I would have kept him still so she’d think he was dead or even just sleeping. But, the bear was fully in control at that moment and all I could do was look at her. She had robin’s egg blue eyes, wide and bright. She blinked once and did the unthinkable. She reached for me. She reached for the bear. Long, slender fingers came closer.

Want.

Her scent. Her touch. Heat speared through me. Desire flared through my synapses, short circuiting my thoughts and the bear’s with it. God, he wouldn’t mean to, but he might kill her if I couldn’t stop him from reaching for her. I was him and he was me. The same thought tore through both of us.

Want.

She froze then staggered backward. Golden blonde hair framed her face in spiral curls that bounced like springs as she tried to get her footing. We inhaled, the bear and me. Impossible. She was just a girl.

Want.

Her screams filled the air and stabbed into me. Stop! I wanted to shout. Or run, perhaps. But, the bear was still in control. The roar rose