Chasing His Polar Bear Read online

  Chasing His Polar Bear

  Big Bad Bunnies, Volume 4

  Golden Angel

  Published by Golden Angel, 2019.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  CHASING HIS POLAR BEAR

  First edition. March 1, 2019.

  Copyright © 2019 Golden Angel.

  ISBN: 978-1386756217

  Written by Golden Angel.

  Also by Golden Angel

  Big Bad Bunnies

  Chasing His Bunny

  Chasing His Squirrel

  Chasing His Puma

  Chasing His Polar Bear

  Chasing His Honey Badger

  Bridal Discipline Box Set

  Pride and Punishment

  Commands and Consequences

  Bridal Discipline Series

  Philip's Rules

  Gabrielle's Discipline

  Lydia's Penance

  Benedict's Commands

  Arabella's Taming

  Domestic Discipline Quartet

  Birching His Bride

  Stronghold Doms

  The Sassy Submissive

  Taming the Tease

  Mastering Lexie

  Hardcore Vanilla

  On His Knees

  Bound to the Past

  Breaking the Chain

  Stripping the Sub

  Tempting the Domme

  Stronghold Doms Boxset

  Nights at Stronghold

  Stronghold: Closing Time

  Entering Stronghold

  Venus Rising Quartet

  The Venus School

  Venus Aspiring

  Venus Desiring

  Venus Transcendent

  Venus Wedding

  Standalone

  Pieces of Stronghold

  Undisciplined

  Night of the Wild Stags

  Venus Rising Boxset

  Watch for more at Golden Angel’s site.

  Chasing His Polar Bear

  Book 4 of Big Bad Bunnies

  Golden Angel

  Acknowledgments

  Thank Yous!

  I have a lot of people to thank for helping me with this book:

  My amazing beta readers, who are invaluable in helping me catch mistakes, continuity issues, and working through problems with me. Katherine, Nick, Marie, Karen, Marta, Annie, and Jessie – you all make these books so much better! Thank you for being such great cheerleaders, helping me with mistakes, continuity issues, and constantly asking questions.

  Lee Savino for being my author-sensei.

  Miranda and Hannah for your quick editing skills, words of support, and general awesomeness.

  Eris Adderly for the absolutely stunning cover.

  My husband for his continued loved and support.

  And, as always, a big thank you to all of you for buying and reading my work… if you love it, please leave a review!

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Titles by Golden Angel

  Prologue

  12 Years Ago

  “Happy Birthday, Sheila!”

  “Happy Birthday!”

  Smiling and nodding, Sheila waved as she hurried down the hallway, feeling a little thrill burst in her chest every time someone called out to her. Today she was eighteen years old, the birthday she’d been looking forward to, the birthday she’d been training for, ever since she was a little girl.

  She couldn’t actually remember when her parents had made the arrangements for her to be married to Eli Mansfield; it felt like things had always been that way. As a little girl, she hero-worshipped him, as a teenager, she had a massive crush that left her a bit heartbroken when he’d gone to England for college, and as an adult, all of her dreams were finally going to come true.

  Arranged marriages were becoming less common in their shifter clan, but they were still widely accepted. Part of her realized that she should probably be furious that her parents had presumed to decide such an important part of her future, and maybe she would have been if they’d chosen someone else. But they’d engaged her to Eli.

  All of the young women in the clan wanted him. Sheila was going to have him.

  Handsome. Charismatic. A gentleman. He’d even come home from England with a slight English accent that made them all swoon. The last time he’d been home he hadn’t been romantic with her, but he had been kind. Attentive. He’d taken the time to speak with her, which he hadn’t had to do. She’d only been sixteen, and she’d done everything she could to impress him with the poise, manners, and social graces her mother had been drilling into her head. Her bear had been taken with him too, just as infatuated with his shifter side as she was with his human.

  As the Alpha’s mate, she knew she wouldn’t have the same level of power within the clan as him, but she would be his helpmeet, his shoulder to lean on, and she was ready for it.

  At the same time, Sheila had been reading the books she’s been borrowing from her mother’s private bookshelf, and she was ready for everything she’d been reading about in those, too.

  Kissing.

  Touching.

  Caressing.

  And more.

  It hadn’t exactly been easy, being a teenager and knowing she was already claimed. All her friends had had their first kiss years ago. Most of them had done quite a bit more since then. They had experiences that she didn’t… But she was going to have Eli, and he would be her first and only for all of those things. She’d decided it was a fair trade.

  She would have her romance eventually. Seeing the envious looks of the other female bear shifters her age, she knew they would have been willing to make the trade too.

  Now, it was finally her birthday, the day when she was ready to be married to him, and he was here.

  Which was why she was speed-walking—far faster than was ladylike—down the hallway of the Clan Lodge to the conference room where her friend Brandi had said she’d seen Eli going with Neal, their current alpha, and the other Clan elders. She wondered why her father hadn’t called her to come, since he was one of the elders. Hopefully, something wasn’t wrong. Her bear rolled inside of her, sleepily sending a wave of reassurance to her, but her animal didn’t understand everything that was happening.

  The Clan was on the verge of breaking up, that she knew. Neal was getting closer and closer to stepping down, and the only person the Clan had ever been able to agree on replacing him was Eli. He was a natural leader and always had been, as well as being a powerful shifter, and had what her father called ‘the right temperament.’

  Unlike some shifters whose alpha leadership was hereditary, bear shifters chose their alphas. Without one, they wouldn’t remain a clan and would scatter. Eventually, they might unite with a different clan or reunite if a leader came out and brought them back together, but bears weren’t willing to follow just anyone. Eli had a twin, Aiden, who looked almost exactly like him, but somehow didn’t have quite the same impact, the same aura of power… Or the right temperament. He’d left the Clan already, going to work with humans in the city, rather than staying in a clan his twin would lead. No one had been overly surprised—it wasn’t unusual for an alpha’s siblings to go off on their own or to choose a different clan.

  Sheila hoped that some of the elders hadn’t changed their mind about Eli. After so many years of grooming him for the position it would be shocking if they had, but she supposed it was possible.

  Her steps slowed as she approached the closed door and she realized she hadn’t quite thought through what she would do when she arrived. Even though she was going to be the Alpha’s Mate, she wasn’t yet, and she couldn’t just walk right in. She could hang around the hall though, waiting for them to finish…

  Waiting to see Eli.

  The door opened as if in response to her thoughts, and Sheila brightened before she registered the angry shouting that was now spilling into the hallway. She skidded to a halt, blinking in confusion, suddenly unsure about how to move forward. The voices in the room merged together, a cacophony of upset and accusations, although it was impossible to make out the specifics of why everyone was so angry.

  What is going on?

  Eli stepped into the hall, taking her breath away, and not just because of his movie star good looks. He was wearing a suit, his fingers tugging at the sleeves with jerky motions, as if he was annoyed, and his blond hair looked slightly rumpled rather than perfectly in place the way it normally was. Bright blue eyes flashed with annoyance as he turned back to face Elder Wayne, who was following behind him, his lips set in an uncommonly thin line.

  “Think about what you’re doing,” Elder Wayne practically shouted, although Sheila barely blinked at his volume. He was constantly irate and shouting; while the Clan gave him the respect his age demanded, they were all also aware that he was one seriously crotchety old man.

  “I have thought about it,” Eli responded, his words clipped and sharp as he glared down at the shorter man. Sheila’s breath caught in her throat as the air seemed to thicken with Eli’s power, and she took an involuntary ste
p back. Even Elder Wayne was affected, his head jerking upwards and his mouth shutting with a click of his teeth. “I have thought about little else for the past year. My decision is final. This clan…” His voice trailed off for a moment, and he sighed before continuing, his tone even firmer than before. “The direction the Elders believe we should move is not the same as the direction I would lead to.”

  “That’s because you won’t listen to reason,” Elder Wayne said, gathering his strength and drawing himself up, his stubborn chin jutting into the air. He might be shorter than Eli, weaker in power, and have lost much of his muscle mass due to age, but he was still a shifter. “What you want is impossible—”

  “Not in the rest of the world,” Eli said, interrupting Elder Wayne, and making Sheila gasp. No one ever interrupted the Elders.

  She clapped her hand over her mouth as both men turned to look at her, only now registering her presence. The arguing in the room behind them had begun to slow, becoming just quiet enough that they’d heard her. Sheila wanted to sink in the floor as she was pinned by two powerful gazes. Inside of her, her bear finally started to stir, responding to her distress.

  Male is here. The happy anticipation in her bear’s thought made her want to kick the animal. Yes, it was the middle of winter, and her bear was more interested in sleeping and eating than anything else, but Sheila needed her to be less slow on the uptake.

  Yes, Eli was here, and her bear was happy to see him—great. Now if the animal had some way to make Sheila invisible, that would actually be helpful.

  The hard look in Eli’s eyes softened, and Sheila stared back at him, her mouth dry, barely aware of the sneering expression on Elder Wayne’s face.

  “Why don’t you tell her?” Elder Wayne demanded. “See what she thinks since you’re so interested in having females make decisions for us.”

  Ignoring him, Eli strode forward as Sheila tried to figure out what Elder Wayne was talking about. Females making decisions for him? For the Elders? There weren’t any female Elders. It was something that irked her and the other young women in the clan, but it was also just the way things had always been done. None of them had been brave enough to bring it up to anyone who could do anything about it, but…

  Eli had.

  Sheila swore she could feel herself falling even more in love with him right then and there.

  But the look of adoration she sent toward him was not returned. If anything, he looked grimmer than ever as he faced her, and her happy little heart felt like it tripped over itself as she realized he must have set himself completely at odds with the Elders. And it didn’t look like either of them was going to be giving in any time soon.

  What did that mean for the clan?

  Eli pushed forward, his expression remaining grim, but Sheila reacted to his nearness anyway. Her heart beat faster in her chest, her breath coming more shallowly, and she felt her body flush all over. The anxiety she had started to feel was nothing compared to her other senses as her bear immediately relaxed in his presence.

  “Sheila,” he said in greeting, his voice gentle. She smiled up at him. He was standing so close to her that it was hard not to reach out and touch him, but she wasn’t sure if she should or not. This was one of those times when having no experience with romance really sucked. “I’m leaving the pack. You’re free.”

  He dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead as she blinked.

  Wait… what?!

  There was no way she’d heard what she thought she’d just heard.

  Except that Eli was already walking past her, the impression of his lips on her skin—her first freaking kiss—burning against her forehead. She stared across the hall at Elder Wayne, whose face was now bright red with anger.

  “Do not expect an invitation back, boy! You leave now, you can never return!” The Elder actually raised his fist and shook it.

  Frozen, numb, Sheila watched the elder, the surreal moment stretching out so long that it felt timeless. What was happening? Eli was leaving? Eli was banished?

  You’re free.

  What did that mean?!

  This was all some horrible dream… Wasn’t it?

  As if drawn by Elder Wayne’s shouts, the rest of the elders finally ceased their bickering and began to come out into the hallway. The men were all still arguing amongst themselves, some of them immediately confronting Elder Wayne to insist that he had no right to say such things without a vote. Sheila didn’t care about any of them though. Her dark eyes searched for her father, and when their gazes met, she wordlessly begged him to say something—anything.

  He looked away.

  This… this was real. Eli was leaving the clan.

  Panic clawed its way up Sheila’s throat as her chest began to ache painfully. She could practically feel her dreams slipping through her fingers. Her polar bear made a high, mourning sound inside of her head, upset and confused by what was happening and Sheila’s distress.

  No!

  She whirled around, running down the hall, away from the room. She was promised to Eli. She was supposed to be marrying him… Somehow, she’d make him see sense. Somehow, she’d make him come around. That was her job as Alpha’s Mate.

  But he was already gone.

  And her life was left in ruins.

  1

  Heroically choking back his laughter, Eli thoroughly enjoyed the utterly dumbfounded look on Brice Bunson’s face. It wasn’t often that he saw one of the Bunsons completely nonplussed. The hybrid shifters tended to be pretty self-contained since gaining their freedom – being captured as children and experimented on for years can do that. Rarely did anyone get to see them at a complete loss.

  Three out of the five siblings, all the Bunson brothers, had come to Eli’s facilities at Lakewood to train and learn how to be part of a pack. Two of the brothers had already returned to the pack which had rescued them, while Brice had stayed with Eli and his men. They were the ones actively hunting the Company, which was responsible for the Bunsons’ captivity and their parents’ deaths. So far, Eli had found Brice and his siblings to be intelligent, capable, and almost single-minded in their pursuit of vengeance. Not that he blamed them.

  They’d recently discovered that Eli’s twin brother, Aiden, was part of—possibly the leader of—the Company. That pushed Eli to become pretty single-minded himself.

  So there hadn’t been much to smile—much less laugh—about lately. It almost felt like a relief to know that he still could. Even his polar bear was amused.

  And it was impossible not to laugh at seeing Brice Bunson fall metaphorically flat on his face when approaching a female. It was something that Eli had certainly never witnessed before. The Bunson males hadn’t had to do much more than smile at a female to have her falling all over them; the tragic backstory certainly hadn’t hurt them in that department one bit.

  Watching the youngest Bunson brother lose his usual suave demeanor and declare Rana Morn, Honey Badger Princess, his mate… Only to receive an immediate brush-off? Well, the expression on Brice’s face was the funniest thing Eli had seen in weeks.

  “Eli, it was good to see you, I’m outta here,” Rana said, pulling her helmet over her head and striding to her Harley. Seeing her movements, the rest of the honey badgers who rode with her were already getting on their bikes as well, to the disappointment of Eli’s soldiers. But the females had only been stopping by to check in with Eli before continuing on their way to Cryus Peak, where Rana’s cousin Jacqueline was pack omega. Coincidentally, Jacqueline was also part of the pack which had rescued the Bunsons and was living where the rest of Brice’s siblings were.

  Staring after her, mouth ajar like a cartoon character, Brice looked like he was about to fall over as he watched the woman who was his mate drive away. It really shouldn’t be funny but… it was. Brice had no way of knowing just how badly he’d messed up meeting Rana, just as Rana had no way of knowing that Brice was telling the truth.