Loyal To The Bear (Second Chance Shifters 2) by Meredith Clarke Read Free Book Online

His grizzly bristled under the surface and he quickly shifted. In his grizzly form, he was enormously large, even for an average grizzly bear, and his fur was so dark that it almost looked black. His senses were heightened, and he was able to discern Carly’s scent easily even though she had been there only a few hours ago. His large paws hit the pavement, and he raced down the street, growling at pedestrians to let them know to get out of the way.
    He reached Carly’s apartment, where Andre was already out front. Andre must have alerted the rest of the Search and Rescue Team since several other shifters, along with some police officers, were there as well. Andre flung him an extra pair of clothes and Henry quickly shifted into his human form and pulled on the pants.
    “Any sign of her?” Henry asked.
    “There’s none,” Andre said. “The doorman was off duty earlier today and didn’t start his shift until about thirty minutes ago.” Henry punched the door in frustration. Andre grabbed his arm.
    “We will find her, Henry,” Andre said. “We have at least a few days until the full moon.”
    Henry pushed his phone at Andre. “I need you to call her mother, Amanda, and get all the information you can about the man that called her. See if he sent pictures or if she can tell us anything about where he was.” Andre nodded and walked over to the police officers with the cell phone. Henry pushed himself inside Carly’s apartment and tried desperately to calm himself down. He glared at the security guard as he walked in, even though he knew it wasn’t his fault. His grizzly was furious and wanted nothing more to rip someone to shreds for taking his mate.
    He had to find her.

10

Carly
    C arly slowly opened her eyes . Her vision was blurred, and a sharp pain emanated from the back of her head. Carly focused her eyes and realized she was lying down on a concrete floor. She tried to push herself up, but realized that her hands and feet were chained and wrapped around a pipe. Sheer panic gripped her, and the broken memories of walking back to her apartment flooded back into her mind. Someone had attacked her, and she tried to fight back, but she lost. Her eyes darted back and forth, realizing that she was in a decrepit warehouse. Adrenaline kicked in, and Carly desperately started to wiggle her hands to somehow slip her wrists out of the cold, hard metal.
    “It’s no use,” a female voice said, coming from the other side of the darkened room. Carly froze in place, fearful of the voice.
    “I’m not the one that put you here, if that’s what you’re thinking,” the voice said again. Carly let out a shaky breath and squinted through the darkness, trying to make out where it was coming from. She heard chains rattle as a twig of a woman scooted her frail body out into the light. Carly could see she was barely wearing any clothes, and when the woman looked at her, she could see that her green eyes were sunken in and her dyed red hair was in tangles.
    “I’m Marissa,” she said.
    “How long have you been down here?” Carly asked.
    “About a week, I think? It’s gotten a bit hard to keep track of the time. The only thing I know is when that monster throws down food, and that when I was brought here, there were two other girls. Now both of them are gone.”
    “Where did they go?” Carly asked. Marissa gave Carly a sad smile, and she knew that their fate was not one she wanted to have.
    Carly was about to ask more questions, but she was stopped short by the sound of the door to the warehouse creaking open.
    “Shit,” Marissa said under her breath, and she scooted back into the darkness, leaving Carly in the light all by herself. A figure moved forward, and Carly held her breath, hoping that this was not how her life would end.
    “Well, well, look who’s finally awake,” a familiar rasping voice said in the darkness. Carly scooted herself back against the cold wall in a desperate attempt to put space between