River Bear (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Blue Bear Rescue) by Terra Wolf, Holly Eastman Page B

peppered with gray, but his eyes were sharp as they locked on to Jake behind her.
    “Ray,” Jake breathed, confirming her suspicions. His voice was strangled, and she felt his panic ripple in the air like radio waves.
    “Jake-ass,” Ray said, teeth clenched, eyes gleaming. His hands tightened around something, and she spotted a crowbar gripped in his hand. She shuddered and took a step, but Ray just nodded at Lyle. “Keep her busy,” Ray said. “This one’s mine. Time to teach this boy a lesson once and for all.”
    Delilah thought Lyle winked at her as he charged, but she couldn’t be sure before she was forced to duck underneath his fist barreling toward her face. At least he didn’t have a crowbar of his own. Probably thought he didn’t need one. Asshole. She planned on showing him otherwise.
    “Delilah, run!” Jake screamed, dodging the curved end of the crowbar less than a foot away in the small room.
    Lyle grunted as his swing met only air and the momentum carried him forward. Off balance, he leaned toward her, and she knew she couldn’t waste an opportunity.
    Vaguely, she heard Jake yelling over and over for her to get out, but she couldn’t go now. Lyle would just chase her down. Damn, if she were a polar bear right now, this wouldn’t be an issue. She waited until Lyle had almost doubled over in front of her, his missed punch sending him off balance, and then slammed her fist into his stomach.
    “Ugh,” Lyle grunted. When he bent low, clutching his abdomen, she brought her fist down again, this time on his back. He crumpled, and she kicked hard with her boot.
    Her toe landed in his groin, and she smirked down at him as he rolled to the side, moaning and clutching his man-parts. Maybe she didn’t need polar bear strength after all.
    Nearby, Jake let out a deafening roar. Delilah looked up to find out what had caused Jake to go crazy, but she couldn’t see past the blur of white that was his bear. He’d shifted? In this tiny room?
    A blast went off, ringing in her ears, and suddenly all sound dropped away as the bang echoed in her skull. She was driven backward and stumbled when her legs hit the mattress. She went down next to Lyle, who was still writhing from her well-placed kick. She landed in a folded heap on the floor, her head propped on the bedside. A dull ache radiated from her chest just above her left breast, and she looked down, frowning in confusion.
    No one had been anywhere near her. How had she fallen?
    She stared down at the red stain forming on her shirt, spreading steadily outward from the aching point in her chest. “What the…?” She couldn’t seem to form the right question.
    Across the room, Jake tipped his head back and roared again. His eyes had gone wild, rounded and bulging as his mouth hung open with the intensity of his bellows. This time, when he leveled his gaze, she saw what had him so upset.
    Ray Donovan held a shiny, black gun pointed straight at Delilah. His mouth curved nastily into a satisfied smirk as he stared at where she lay in a heap on the floor. “You’re the reason I lost ten years of my life, boy,” Ray said. “A life for a life seems fitting to me.”
    The air in the room charged with pressure and tension. Delilah could feel it even through the pain, which was pulsing stronger with each breath. Jake’s entire frame shuddered, and the air around him seemed to splinter. He surged forward, mouth open, sharp teeth aimed straight for Ray.
    Ray whirled, eyes wide, and tried to raise the gun at Jake, but the bear’s teeth closed on his wrist, and his fingers went limp. He screamed, and the gun fell. Delilah watched, not even a little sorry, as Jake released Ray’s wrist and went for his throat. Ray screamed, and Jake dragged him backward out the motel door. The two of them disappeared, Ray’s screams drowning out Lyle’s labored breaths beside her.
    Delilah’s chest pulsed, every heartbeat sending a wave of blood out of the wound. She tried taking