A Baby for the Bear (Wylde Brothers, 1) Read online

  A Baby for the Bear

  Wylde Brothers, 1

  Jenika Snow

  A BABY FOR THE BEAR (WYLDE BROTHERS, 1)

  By Jenika Snow

  www.JenikaSnow.com

  [email protected]

  Copyright © September 2020 by Jenika Snow

  First E-book Publication: 2015

  Cover Designer: Designs by Dana

  Editor: Kayla Robichaux

  Proofreader: All Encompassing Books

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: The unauthorized reproduction, transmission, or distribution of any part of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  This literary work is fiction. Any name, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental. Please respect the author and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials that would violate the author’s rights.

  Contents

  Synopsis

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  February “Ary” Felina, an ocelot shifter, decided getting drunk on her Dirty Thirty birthday was a bad idea. But at the end of the night, she was in Charlie Wylde’s bed, the intimidating alpha bear shifter in the town of Sweet Water.

  But then the unthinkable happened. The contraception broke during their wild, passionate night, and Ary found herself knocked up by the possessive, growly shifter.

  When Charlie saw Ary for the first time, he instantly wanted her. The bear in him needed to mark and claim her until everyone knew she belonged to him. And so he made that happen—took her to his home and claimed every part of her in the raw, animalistic way of his kind.

  She might’ve thought this was a one-off night of pleasure… but she was wrong. He wasn’t letting her go, especially not now that she carried his baby.

  Reader note: This story was previously published as Bared for Her Bear. It has been re-edited and revised.

  1

  “I think you should do it, Ary.”

  February “Ary” Felina looked over at Melissa and rolled her eyes. “Of course you do. It isn’t like it’ll be you that’s putting yourself out there for rejection.” Ary took a long swallow of her Sex on the Beach and glared at Melissa and Candace.

  “Why do you think you’ll get rejected?” Candace asked right before she sucked her piña colada through the bright-pink straw.

  “Because that asshole Frank told her she wasn’t any good, which, I’ll add, I would have been happy to kick him in the balls for that one.” Melissa didn’t mince her words, and Ary loved that about her. “Besides, what do you expect from a jackal shifter? Jackals are always assholes if you ask me. You remember Chuck the Big Old Fuck?”

  How could any of them forget? Usually, Melissa only dated wolf shifters, but she’d given Chuck, the douchebag, a chance, which only ended up in him sleeping with her cousin behind her back at her sister’s wedding.

  It was true though. Ary stayed in the verbally abusive relationship with Frank—the jackass jackal, according to Melissa—for a year too long. Everything started out great, but of course nothing in her life could go the way she wanted it.

  First, there had been the subtle hints she should watch her portions at dinner, and then it escalated to Frank “jokingly” calling her plain and homely in front of his friends. So what if she was Plain Jane all the way? She loved her body and looks, and the person she spent her life with would love them as well. That she had no doubt about.

  Maybe she should have just stayed with her own kind, or even with a human. They were weaker than even her, a female shifter, and tended to find being with shifters some kind of kinky oddity.

  But to be honest, male ocelot shifters were too clingy and submissive for her liking. February had always wanted a guy who could take control, but apparently she looked in the wrong place where jackals were concerned.

  This was her thirtieth birthday, after all, and Ary had grown comfortable with the way she looked. She loved every aspect of herself, and it was a damn shame the jackal fucking shifter hadn’t seen the beauty in that.

  So, she called it quits with Frank, especially when he continued to make comments about her looks in front of his buddies, who laughed like they were high on nitrous oxide. She’d broken up with him a week ago, and now she was ready to put his sorry ass behind her and move on.

  She might have the self-confidence now, but that didn’t mean she still wasn’t a woman who worried about rejection from a guy for putting herself out there.

  “It isn’t even about Frank, guys.” And it wasn’t, really, but the looks her two wolf shifter best friends gave her told February they didn’t fully believe her. “It’s true. Anyway, you can’t tell me you don’t have a moment of hesitation when confronting a man. In fact, I know you two like to be sniffed at and approached like you’re some kind of prize.” Both looked at each other, and Ary had her answer without them having to say a word. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  They both shrugged, and Melissa leaned forward. “Okay, change of subject then. What else are you going to do to celebrate the big three-oh, Ary?”

  Oh, Lord.

  “Can’t we just sit here and enjoy our tropical drinks without you going all sex-crazed?”

  Melissa grinned in a purely wolfish way and shook her head. Ary loved these girls like they were her sisters, but sometimes she wanted to wring their necks, especially Melissa. Ary had known them since high school, and when the three of them stood in the cafeteria that first day of freshman year, each of them looking scared shitless, they found a friendship like no other that very moment.

  It was hard enough living in a world where some humans could shift into animals, but tack on the fact that she couldn’t find a decent man, and well, that just made it even more frustrating. She was getting older too, and February would be lying if she said she didn’t look into the future and see herself with a wonderful husband and a handful of children.

  “Hell no, we can’t just sit here and drink these frilly-ass drinks. You’re thirty years old now, and let’s all be honest and admit you’re not getting any younger.” Ary glared at Melissa and noticed Candace sitting smartly quieter to her right.

  “I’d like to remind you that you’re the same age, bitch.”

  Melissa grinned and leaned back in her chair. She gestured for the waiter to bring them another round, which February objected to.

  “Melissa, I do have to drive home tonight.”

  “Not if I can help it. My goal is to get you in the car with a hot—and safe—male.” She looked around the bar and tapped her perfectly red painted nail on her chin. “Although we are in Sweet Water, so that might be harder than it sounds.”

  “If you actually think we will find someone here, you’re insane,” Candace said right as their waiter brought them another round of drinks. Ary didn’t miss how the coyote shifter winked at Candace, or the blush that spread across her much quieter friend’s face.

  “Why don’t you harass Candace? It looks like she’s more likely to get laid by that coyote shifter than I am of
even finding a guy tonight.”

  “February, why don’t you just hook up with a human?” Candace asked.

  Melissa made an exaggerated noise, and they both looked at her. She looked between the two of them with feigned wide eyes. “What?”

  “Why did you make that noise?”

  Melissa shrugged and scanned the bar. “Who the hell wants a human to fuck?”

  Ary wasn’t shocked by her friend’s words. That was just how Melissa was.

  “All I’m saying is if you want to kick thirty in the ass and celebrate like the awesome fucking cat you are, you need to find one hell of a shifter.”

  “There isn’t anything wrong with being with a human,” Candace said but quickly drank her colada when they stared at her.

  Melissa scoffed. “Yeah, right. The few humans I’ve fucked have been pussies. They didn’t even compare to the alpha-ness I require in my men.” She looked at Ary then Candace. “It’s true. If you want a male to really bruise your uterus, you need to go for a bear shifter.” She started fanning herself and leaned back in her chair.

  “God, Melissa. Do you have to be so damn vulgar?” Ary asked but couldn’t help smiling.

  Melissa shrugged and lifted her gaze to something behind Ary. “Now that right fucking there is what I’m talking about.”

  Ary turned around and felt her mouth part at the men who walked through the door. Big, muscular, and all-around badass described them to perfection. Males moved out of their way, and the females all but dropped their panties and grabbed their ankles.

  “I would so let those Wylde boys fuck me into next Sunday.”

  “God, Melissa,” Candace said, but February was too transfixed on the bear shifters.

  February, along with every other breathing female in the town of Sweet Water, knew who the Wylde brothers were. The oversized, dominating alpha bear shifters who didn’t take shit from anyone, got into far too many fights, and slept with the majority of the women in town were a force to be reckoned with.

  The three bears made their way to the bar, and here was February still staring like one of the other horny females who surrounded them. In fact, a horde of them seemed to charge forward like a damn herd of cows. When she finally forced herself to look away, it was to see Melissa’s smirk and the wary expression Candace wore. She looked between the two of them.

  “What?” February grabbed her drink, sucked it back, and gestured to the waiter for another while coughing from the alcohol going down the wrong pipe.

  “I think you should go over there and take one of those hunky bears home.”

  “Are you insane?” Their waiter dropped off another drink in front of her, but before she could say her thanks, he was facing Candace and flirting heavily with her.

  Melissa tossed her curly black hair over her shoulder and glanced at the shifters in question. “I can assure you I am totally sane.” She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, and February groaned aloud. She knew that look, and it was one everyone should be afraid of.

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  Melissa scowled over at her, but that expression soon morphed into one of wicked intent.

  “I said no.”

  Melissa may have not said anything, but February knew her well enough to know she was concocting something.

  “Listen. You’re here, it’s your birthday, and we were just talking about finding a kick-ass male.” She pointed over to where Ary knew the bears to be. “What better way to celebrate and send a big ol’ ‘fuck you’ to the jackass than to hook up with one of those big boys?”

  February was shaking her head before Melissa even finished talking. “No.” She looked over at Candace for a little moral support, but it seemed their timid and quiet little strawberry-blonde-haired friend was getting cozy with the coyote.

  “Give me one good reason why not, Ary.” Melissa threw back her shot and wheezed. Good. Serves her right.

  “I can rattle off three.”

  Melissa leaned back, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared at her, clearly waiting for her to name them.

  “First of all, they look like they’d tear a female up in bed.”

  “So? That just means they can fuck good and hard, and believe me, I’ve heard the filthy and ridiculously arousing desires of the female population where they are concerned.” Melissa wagged her eyebrows. Yeah, they all had heard the rumors, but that wasn’t the point.

  “Secondly, I am so not even in the same league as them.”

  A dark mask covered Melissa’s face. “You cut that shit out right now and stop being a bitch. You know damn well you’re hot as fuck.”

  “It isn’t even about that, Melissa. I have fine self-confidence.” And she did, but February knew when men were out of her league. Besides, she knew damn well she couldn’t handle even one of them. They were just too big, too muscular, and looked like they would do some serious damage to her vagina, but in a seriously good way. “I don’t really need a one-night stand, and you and I know that is what it would be.” Not that she had never had one before, but that had been so long ago and was not really something she wanted to try again. She was a grown-ass woman now.

  In reality, she wanted something stable and meaningful now that she was older. Looking over her shoulder and training her eyes on Charlie, the oldest Wylde brother, she felt her panties become impossibly wet. How desperate and pathetic was she that just looking at all that tanned, hard, bulging, and lickable flesh encased in a plain white tee and faded denims could have her so needy?

  “Girl, you can’t lie and say you don’t want that, especially when I can smell how hot they make you.”

  Ary felt her face flame with heat at Melissa’s words. She turned back around quickly and chugged the rest of her drink. Already, she was feeling the effects of the alcohol zipping through her bloodstream. It was a welcome feeling and one she didn’t want to have end just yet despite her earlier disapproval of more drinks.

  “Can I get another?” She held her glass up to their waiter, who was still flirting with Candace. “Yo.” The coyote turned and offered her an apologetic smile. “Can I get something stronger, please?”

  “Sure thing.” He grabbed her empty glass, asked Candace and Melissa if they wanted anything else, and went back to the bar.

  “Looks like someone is getting laid tonight.” Melissa slapped Candace on the back in a congratulatory manner. If Ary wasn’t already sexually frustrated, annoyed with herself and Melissa, she would have joined in on the friendly banter. As it was, she was uncomfortably aroused and looking to get drunk, although mixing booze when she was turned-on might not have been the best idea. The coyote waiter, named Chad, came back with three shots of Crown.

  “When I said something stronger, I don’t know if I meant straight-up whiskey.” Ary picked up a glass. She didn’t need to bring it to her nose to smell how potent it was.

  “These are courtesy of the gentlemen at the bar.” A scowl was on Chad’s face as he set Candace’s shot in front of her. The three of them turned around to see all three Wylde brothers looking at them.

  The men watched them with the same stoic expressions. Their appearances were similar, but they each had their own subtle differences. Ary, as well as pretty much every resident in Sweet Water, knew about the bears. Bram, the youngest of the Wylde brothers at thirty-three, had a faux-hawk going on with his black hair. His skin was tanned, just like the other two, from working out in the sun, and his light-blue eyes added to the striking combination.

  Ford, the middle Wylde brother, was thirty-five. He had the same striking blue eyes as Bram and dark-brown hair that was shaved close to his head. The oldest brother, and the one who was staring directly at February, was Charlie. At forty, he wore his age damn well. He had the lightest coloring of hair, and the dirty-blond strands were a haphazard mess around his head. They were all built the same: at least six foot three inches of powerful muscle.

  She knew bear shifters were one of the biggest around, in all aspects,
but having them this close to her made her feel wholly feminine. All she could think about was why Charlie seemed interested in her, when there was a swarm of half-naked females practically in his lap and vying for his attention.

  “Holy fucking shit.”

  Ary snapped her attention back to Melissa. Her friend stared at the men with wide eyes before schooling her features and popping her breasts out.

  “Ary, you need to get with Charlie, like yesterday. That boy is eye-fucking you like crazy. And I’ll tell you what.” She fluffed her hair out and stood. “I call dibs on Bram.”

  “Melissa, don’t push her,” Candace said, but only half-assed, because her attention was surprisingly not on the Wylde brothers, but instead on Chad. Melissa scoffed and ignored Candace. She started making her way past the table, and Ary looked at Candace.

  She knew she shared the same stunned expression as her friend. When Melissa walked by her, she reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping Melissa. The wolf looked down at her with one eyebrow cocked in question. “What?”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  Melissa cocked her other perfectly plucked eyebrow, so now both were dark arches.

  “What do you plan on doing?”

  “Uh, go over there and thank them for the drinks, which, I might add, is the polite thing to do.” Instantly, February felt like a huge bitch. “Then I’m going to invite Bram back to my place.” She wagged her brows, and February rolled her eyes.

  “Just sit back down, Melissa.” Candace spoke up. “Those bears are far more animal than man, and too much for even you to handle.” For a moment, no one said anything, and the steady beat of music surrounded them, but then Melissa started laughing.