Hidden, Clan of the Werebear by Madison Johns Read Free Book Online Page A

walked away from him before her face or eyes betrayed her. It bothered her that it was so easy for him to cast her aside in favor of that skinny redhead. She must be one small bear when she shifted , Elaina thought.
    Damon showed her the way to a stream nearby. He motioned to a large boulder for her to sit, and Elaina sat down. A line of maples concealed the stream from the pathway. Directly above her head on a tree limb, a squirrel chattered and a woodpecker hammered away on another tree not far away. The ground was carpeted with fallen leaves from the previous year and grass jutted from between rocks.
    “Why does he hate me?” Elaina asked Damon.
    “Who, Cullen?”
    “Yes, one minute he was—you know—touching me, and then he rejected me.”
    Damon stepped back with a shocked expression on his handsome face. “Rejected you? That doesn’t sound like Cullen at all. He’s never been one to have self control, especially with someone that looks like you.”
    Elaina glanced down at her curvy body. “I know I’m too big, but Sa ... I mean, I’ve been told bears are supposed to be big boned.”
    “Some are, and I hardly think your body has anything to do with Cullen’s decision not to mate with you.”
    “That redhead is very skinny.”
    “She’s a human. We found her wandering the forest last year and took her in. She’s produced two cubs, one for me and one for Cullen.”
    “So you share her?”
    “We have, but during different seasons. Our bloodline is important.”
    “Important how?”
    “Well, most of the men in our line have been taken this last year. We lost ten werebears in all. Cullen and I have royal blood that can be traced back to our ancestors in Russia. It’s been said that our ancestors escaped across the ice in the winter, fearing to be massacred as most of our other ancestors were.”
    This was making sense. The ice between Russia and Alaska would be easily crossed during winter when it would be frozen over.
    “Surely you and Cullen can’t be expected to populate the earth with your cubs.”
    “I told you as much,” Cullen said as he approached us. “What’s so hard to understand?”
    “What happened to the other men in the village? Who took them?”
    Cullen’s face tightened. “That’s not something I want to dwell on. We don’t know you well enough to speak to you about these matters.”
    That took Elaina aback. “I just don’t understand. How can you expect to keep the village safe with just the two of you? Certainly there have to be more men here?”
    Damon’s mouth tightened. “The other men are—”  
    Cullen interjected with, “None of your business. I won’t have you asking us any more prying questions.”
    “Is that right, Damon? Am I asking too many questions?”
    “Yes, you are. We live a simple life here and don’t need any more upheaval right now. Choose which one of us you want to mate with first and be about your way.”
    Elaina stood there with a surprised look on her face. “First? You can’t expect that I’ll be mating with both of you.” She backed up a few paces. “Won’t that be confusing if I become pregnant?”
    “You’ll be gone, most likely, before you realize you’re with child, so it matters not,” Cullen said, moving closer.
    Damon caressed Elaina’s back. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”
    Elaina pushed away. “No? You’d impregnate me and leave me to my own defenses without a mate to protect me?”
    Cullen smiled. “There’s a way we could mate with you without spilling our seed inside of you, if you insist, insuring that you don’t get with child. I personally don’t like to waste my seed that way, but since you’re unknown to us, it might be for the best.”
    Elaina wasn’t ready for this conversation. “I thought you didn’t want me. You said as much earlier.”
    Cullen lifted a tendril of Elaina’s dark hair that curled around his finger. “I was reluctant to be your first, but it can’t be helped