Page 1 of Bear Facts

Chapter One

Goddess help him, but life with bears could be a serious pain in the … fur.

Take, for instance, one fine January morning when Shane strolled out to the kitchen for breakfast to find Cormac, his mother’s mate, already up and pouring himself a bowl of cereal. A giant bowl—the whole box streamed into it.

Shane groaned and slapped his hand over his eyes. “Gods, I do not want to see that first thing in the morning.”

The flow of cereal halted as Cormac upended the box. “Sorry, did you want some? It’s Honey Bits.”

“No, I mean I don’t want to see that.”

Shane snatched his hand from his eyes and pointed at the vivid pink robe that barely encased Cormac’s big body. It was Shane’s mom’s robe, with embroidered red roses down the placket.

Cormac glanced down at himself. “It was the first thing I found to throw on.”

“Stop!” Shane growled.

Cormac’s infectious grin spread over his face. “Stop having sex with your mom? I can’t do that, Shane. She’s the mate of my heart.”

“Please?” Shane’s growl became another groan. “At least put some clothes on before you come out here. I like you, Cormac, but I can’t take your naked ass in my kitchen.”

“My ass isn’t naked. I’m wearing boxers.” Cormac lifted the robe to reveal teal blue shorts with white hearts on them.

Shane’s hand met his eyes again. “Shit, I have to get out of here.”

Four bears living in a small house in the heart of the Las Vegas Shiftertown was three bears too many. Bears liked solitude. Shane never found any.

Still covering his eyes, Shane staggered toward the back door … and ran smack into another bear Shifter with a meaty thunk.

“Steady.” Brody, Shane’s younger brother, caught him by the shoulders. He pulled Shane into a brief hug and gave him a big pat on the head. “You can’t run off by your lonesome today. We’re needed.”

“What for?” Shane smoothed the hair Brody had ruffled, though his brother’s truncated hug had made him feel somewhat better. Shifters liked touch—it was calming. From the right Shifter, anyway. Anyone touching without permission got a fist full of bear claws coming at them.

“Graham’s wolves are causing trouble again.” Brody stepped around Cormac with a grin at his attire and grabbed an empty mug off the counter. Coffee from the old-fashioned percolator pot soon sloshed into it. “Same old thing. They’re demanding more autonomy for wolves. Wolves shouldn’t have to listen to Eric, should have their own closed-off section of Shiftertown. Yadda, yadda—you’ve heard it before.”

Shane’s irritation built toward rage. He wondered why the bear inside him was acting like a cranky shit just waking from hibernation, but he hadn’t had time to analyze his feelings. Being a tracker for the top bear in Shiftertown kept him busy.

“Why can’t Eric and Graham take care of that?” Shane all but snapped. “It’s early. I want to go for a run.”

Graham was the leader of wolves who had been thrust unceremoniously into their Shiftertown, but Eric was the overall leader—the boss man, the big cheese. Nell, Shane and Brody’s mom, was top bear in Shiftertown, but even she answered to Eric.

Shane’s runs took place on the seven-thousand-foot-plus elevation of Mount Charleston, where he could shift to bear and pound through the woods. By himself. Bliss.

“Because Eric doesn’t want the wolves to see him and Graham get into it,” Brody said. “Those two have to be bestest buds. Unrest is handled by the trackers.” He pointed to Shane and himself. “That would be us.”

Shit. There went the morning.

Trackers acted as seconds and enforcers for the Shiftertown leaders, dealing with things the leaders didn’t have time to take care of themselves. Shane worked directly for Nell, while Brody had been lent on a more-or-less permanent basis to Eric. Shane didn’t mind the job most of the time, but this morning, it was damned inconvenient.

The majority of wolf Shifters who’d come here from northern Nevada were fine—Shane had made friends with several of them. Unfortunately, Graham still had some hotheads who were seriously pissed off that they’d been shoveled into this Shiftertown without being given a choice.

Shane didn’t blame them for being angry, but he did blame them for trying to make everyone’s life hell instead of figuring out how to deal with it.

Cormac set aside the empty cereal box and poured a quart of milk into the filled bowl. “Want me to come with you? We’ll form a wall of bears and make them go home.”

“In Mom’s robe?” Brody snorted into his coffee mug. “It suits you, Cormac. Really does.”

Cormac’s laughter filled the room, which almost soothed Shane down. He could make anyone feel good.

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