Page 22 of Mated to Four Bears

“You also know I wouldn’t allow Richard to come if I didn’t think he could. He’s going to be fine,” Thomas promised.

I wasn’t sure, but William was nodding as if this made sense to him, so I had no choice but to go along with it. I just hoped Thomas was right, and that this decision wouldn’t lead to any of us getting hurt. Everything was fraught enough.

I watched Richard carefully as he headed outside. Seeing his bear burst free so easily filled me with relief. Maybe we really were all going to be alright at the end of this. With a bit of luck anyway.

I put my nose to work the moment I shifted and tried to pick up Samantha’s trail. Unfortunately, she was great at magic, and even I found it very difficult to pick up on her scent.

We ran off as fast as we could. It helped that we were faster when we were bears, but it didn’t feel quick enough. We couldn’t get to Samantha quick enough. It made me even more anxious to know that I still couldn’t pick up Samantha’s trail.

There wasan eerie atmosphere surroundingGrayson’s Farm. It was like a magical mist designed to throw people off track. If I wasn’t in my bear form, I knew it would have confused me.

Antonio was getting more annoying by the minute. I was starting to feel a similar level of rage as William. If he made one wrong move, he wouldn’t survive this, that much was for sure. An asshole like him didn’t deserve to anyway, not if his only purpose was to cause problems for anyone who had the misfortune to cross his path.

I led my brothers to the old, decrepit farmhouse, then William took us inside. We crept behind him, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t the only one with fur standing up on the back of my neck. Fuck, this place was a creepy hell hole.

I stayed close to William as we moved from shitty room to even shittier room. It didn’t look like anyone had properly lived here for a very long time. What the hell had he done to need to hide out in a place like this?

Where the hell was Antonio? If he wasn’t here with Samantha, then what the hell were we going to do? We didn’t know anything about him, really, so this wasit. I didn’t realize how much we were relying on them to be here until now.

“Hello?” The distinctly female, but unfamiliar voice set my nerves on edge. “Did I just see some beautiful creatures coming in here? Because I would like to warn you that it is a very dangerous place. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

I didn’t hesitate, I shifted back and headed over to the front door to see who this person was. I might have been putting myself in the firing line, but we already walking into danger. And if this brought me closer to Samantha, then so be it.

“Ah, so you are a shifter.” The graceful-looking woman with long dark hair smiled when she saw me. I could almost feel the magic rolling off her; she didn’t need to get her wand out for me to know what she was capable of. “Like I said, this is a dangerous building. I don’t know what goes on here, but it doesn’t feel good.”

As she shuddered, an idea grabbed my attention. If she didn’t like Antonio, then I was sure she would be willing to help me out. On the way out the door, I grabbed a t-shirt of Samantha’s, just in case we needed a reminder of her scent.

“The man who has been staying here, and doing…whatever,” I shuddered too, “has captured someone I care about a lot. Buther tracks have been covered up. I was wondering if you might be able to do a tracing spell for me so I can save her.”

She took the shirt from me and gasped. “This is the garment of your fated lover,” she declared with a smile. “I can feel it.” She brought the top to her nose and sniffed. “But not just you. The other people within this building as well. She is bear bonded to you all. This is one of the strongest bonds I have ever felt in my entire life.”

To hear our suspicions confirmed by an outsider who knew nothing of our situation really amplified everything for me. Samantha was fated for all of us. She was ours, and we belonged to her as well. That really was worth fighting for. Especially when our bond was as strong as this woman suggested.

I still couldn’t help but worry that even a tracing spell wouldn’t be enough. If so, we wouldn’t even know where to start looking. But we wouldn’t give up, especially not if she was our fated lover.

We needed her, and right now, she needed us more than ever. We couldn’t let her down.

15

SAMANTHA

Oh my God. Where the hell was I? What had happened to me? My brain was foggy, as if I had been in a deep sleep, flooded with dreams I couldn’t escape. Maybe this wasn’t even an escape now. Maybe I was still stuck.

I tried to move my body, but an overwhelming pain cascaded through me. There were binds around me, keeping me in place, making it impossible for me to go anywhere. I really hadn’t managed to escape my nightmare yet.

“Help,” I cried out desperately. Or at least I tried to, but I couldn’t get any words out. There was a thick, painful ball lodged in the back of my throat.

“Ah, so you’re awake at last.” That voice was familiar, but it really wasn’t welcome. “Good, because I was starting to get a little bored with you being so quiet. Not that you can say much now anyway.” He tossed his head back and laughed nastily. A sound I had been blessed to be away from for such a long time. “But at least I can talk to you and make you see what I need from you.”

I tried to struggle free from what I now knew were magical binds, but nothing worked. This had to be one of those terriblespells that Antonio had perfected. He wasn’t about to free me until he was ready. He was in control here.

“You don’t know what happened, do you?” Antonio laughed again. “You got lost in the fog outside the farmhouse, which I put there just for you.” He ran a finger under my chin, but, unfortunately for me, I couldn’t pull away. This man was disgusting. How did I ever fall for those slimy good looks and smarmy fake charm? “I knew that you were going to come for me, because I know exactly what you’re like. Self-righteous until the very end. Since you’re surrounded by thoseanimalsat the moment…” His face screwed up with the same disgust that tainted his voice. I didn’t know he had this much hatred for shifters. That was just another red flag I missed. “And you wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt for you, even though it’s a bit too late for that.”

I writhed and tried to let out a scream of frustration. How fucking dare he smirk about what he did to Richard? I hated him.

“You aren’t getting out, so you might as well give up the fight. And no one is going to save you here.” He glanced around at the very unfamiliar room. “This isn’tGrayson’s Farm. I wouldn’t hang around there for your bears to come for me. I’m not an idiot. I tricked you with the fog, then when you were immobilized, and I bound you and brought you here.”

I didn’t want the Osbornes to follow me, which was why I magically hid my trail, but at the same time it made me very nervous to know that no one would be able to find me here, no matter how long Antonio kept me like this. He could do whatever he wanted to me, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do. At least if I was atGrayson’s Farm, the Osbornes might find me eventually,

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