Page 3 of Marked By the Possessive Polar Bear
The nice aged leather is currently hanging in threads between Magnus’ claws. Its guts are sticking out—ripped stuffing, snapped springs, and broken wood spilled everywhere.
Magnus’ bear turns to us when we get to our feet. He snarls and lowers his head like he forgot we were even here.
This is not right. My brother has lost it.
“We’re not going to be able to hold him back like this,” Julian says. “We need to let our bears out.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him that our bears have no chance of holding this savage beast back either.
But, it’s the best of two bad options.
Come on out,I tell my girl.Maybe you can talk some sense into him.
Our bears are brothers and sisters too. Maybe my grizzly bear can help calm him down.
I grit my teeth and flex my arms as I let her come bursting out. I feel the sweet pain of the cracks and pops as my body expands and morphs into a grizzly and I’m pulled inside into the darkness.
She lands on her paws and snarls back at him. Julian’s grizzly emerges beside me, growling in warning as well.
Julian’s bear is a hulking beast of a bear too. And even though mine is smaller and not nearly as strong, my bear is still nothing to take lightly. I was raised with two older brothers after all. I can hold my own.
Normally.
But normally, we’re not fighting a larger, feral bear who is pissed the fuck off.
Julian’s grizzly circles right and my grizzly circles left. We’re trying to usher him toward the door before he destroys the rest of our shop.
But Magnus doesn’t head to the door. He sprints forward and lunges on Julian. The two grunting bears crash into the reception desk, shredding it to pieces.
No!
All of my tattoo sketches for the week are in there. It will be a miracle if they don’t get destroyed.
My brothers are a rolling blur of brown fur, snapping jaws, and slicing claws as they fight on the ground, taking out the mini fridge and a folding table in their reign of destruction.
Magnus ends up on top, pinning Julian’s bear to the ground.
He’s going to kill him…
My bear runs over and sinks her teeth into his back, piercing his thick hide with my sharp canines. He roars in outrage, but my bear holds on, pulling him back toward the door.
I get him halfway before he swipes me with a massive paw, sending me flying backward, crashing into the drywall. The picture frames I hung up fall and shatter on the ground as my bear forces its way up onto our shaky legs.
There’s no recognition in Magnus’ golden eyes as he sprints toward me to finish the job.
My bear thinks fast and rushes out the door. Magnus follows her out, followed closely by Julian’s grizzly.
I hope we don’t have any walk-in customers arriving because they’re about to see three vicious bears fighting in our parking lot. Luckily, there’s no one. And we’re far enough from the main road, surrounded by trees and mountains, that there isn’t anyone around to see us.
Magnus’ grizzly jumps on my back and my bear somersaults forward with the heavy beast on top of me. My girl puts up a hell of a fight, snapping and biting and thrashing her claws. But Magnus’ bear is like an onslaught of power and no matter what I throw at him, he keeps me pinned down.
Until Julian’s grizzly joins the fight. He crashes his shoulder into him, knocking him off.
My bear is already out of breath and panting as she stands back up. But she’s not giving up yet.
Julian stands beside me and we face our brother’s feral bear down.
Magnus’ bear lowers his head and snarls. His long black claws—claws that have just pierced my skin in several stinging spots—sink into the ground as he gets ready to attack again.
