Worshiped By The Bear Kings - Complete (10 page)

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

Gabe had been sleazing onto her a
bit, but never laid more than a suggestive tone of voice on her. Not long after
their first glass of wine he became distracted with a heated phone call, and
soon departed the room.

“I won’t be
too long,” he said before going. “If you’re bored there’s books, TV do whatever
you want.”

And then
Jasmine was left alone. The obvious thing for her to first try was an attempt
at escape. Unfortunately even as she came close to the door, she could hear the
other bears still lurking the corridor, talking in a vulgar manner. Then she
felt a pain in her stomach. She went to the bathroom to freshen up.

It had been a
rough day, that was for sure. She’d been dragged from one extreme to the next.
Being left alone now, facing herself in the mirror, she knew there were things
that she didn’t want to think about, but were fighting for control of her mind.
There was a reason Jasmine had been so free and happy with the bear kings that
was deeper than just the instinctual attraction.

Two months
ago, Jasmine’s best friend Stacey Caversham, had met with a dragon shifter
named Zane and fallen in love, deeper than either of them could have imagined.
Seeing her with Zane on the day of the wedding, she had been so happy, so on
top of the world, that Jasmine couldn’t let it show how it made her feel deep
down. As happy as she was for Stacey, the wedding had reawakened a lost
appetite for love Jasmine had buried years ago. While a man could be flawed, a
shifter could be flawless. And now she had two of these type of men pursuing
her, and the pain of losing them hurt like no other…

Jasmine
closed her eyes. She didn’t want to cry. Now she had been honest with herself
about her feelings she could also feel the presence of evil again, the dark
secret of her past she knew she could never tell her bears about. She wanted to
forget it. She had to forget it.

But as she
looked up to her reflection in the mirror, she could hear that baby’s cry
again…

And its cry
was not human…

The bathroom
door opened.

Gabe stood
behind her, looking solemn.

“What are you
doing?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Jasmine
said, grabbing a towel to wipe her tears.

“You have to
be stronger than this,” Gabe said.

Jasmine
leaned over the sink and ran the faucet.

She splashed
her face with water. “I am stronger.”

“Pleased to
hear that,” Gabe said. “When you’re finished, come meet me out here. Hades
wants to speak with you.”

 
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

He was waiting for her in the next
room. Jasmine hadn’t expected it – she thought she’d be led somewhere else to
meet with him, but no here he was. She wondered what he wanted from her.

“I have been
speaking with our prisoners of the Uthuro tribe,” Hades said as she entered.
“They have explained to me that the bear kings have become passive. They are
entrenched in the old ways of peace and meager livings. I suspect that even if
they were keen, they might not be suited to the Destair after all.”

Jasmine’s
fingers interlocked. She felt so out of place.

“Then perhaps
I am of no use to you?” she said hopefully.

“Perhaps
not,” Hades said. “A woman is not so valuable that we can’t walk to any random
street and pluck one for our doing.”

Jasmine
swallowed.

“However,
Gabe here has taken quite the shine to you. As have many of my men.”

“I’m not
really suited to this type of life,” Jasmine said. “I won’t be happy. I won’t
be able to make … my bear happy.”

Hades stroked
his chin. “What do you think, Gabe? Are you sure she isn’t defective?”

Gabe stared
at her intently. “It wouldn’t be fun if there wasn’t a little resistance.”

“Indeed. Take
her to the diamond box. I will gather the other troops.”

“What?” Gabe
cried. “You are going to make me –”

“It wouldn’t
be fun without a little resistance,” Hades muttered, tongue-in-cheek. He looked
Jasmine up and down before leaving. “I hope you’re ready for this.”

Jasmine
turned to Gabe. “Ready for what?”

He put his
hand through his hair. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

It had taken them all of an hour,
even with Dennis’s reckless driving speeds, but here they were, outside the
compound Jasmine was being held. Thunder and Spike exited the vehicle first,
with Dennis and Dara deep in conversation now they had been left alone.

“What happens
now?” Brad asked, eyeing the electronic gate barring their access.

“There are
three ways to approach this,” Spike replied. “By force, by stealth, or by
diplomacy.”

“Or a
combination of all three,” Brad suggested.

“Yeah,” Spike
said, dragging his bare foot across the road. “I’m worried that if we go in on
the offense, and we’re caught, something terrible could happen to Jasmine.
Perhaps Hades can be reasoned with.”

“I don’t
know,” Brad said quietly. “He will want us to join his tribe.”

“There are
other ways of settling it.”

“Such as?”

Spike shook
his head. “Look. I trust your judgment, Thunder. So you make the call.”

“We’re in
this together. We should decide together.”

“Well… If it
were up to me, I think we should just go in and surrender.”

Brad nodded.
“Surrender?”

“Whatever you
want to do. I don’t care.”

Brad looked
back to the car with Dennis and Dara. “You stay here with them. I’m going to
get her out myself.”

He then
turned back to the compound and launched into a full fledged run at it.

“Thunder!”
Spike cried after him.

Brad ignored
it. He shifted into his bear and bounded over the side of the wall. Once he hit
the ground on the other side he shifted back to his human form and hid round
the corner of the nearest building. A group of black bears were moving out from
the underground car park.

“So did you
hear what’s happening?” one of them said.

“Hades wants
us to go to the ring?” another replied.

“Yeah, but do
you know what for?”

“No.”

“While none
of us were watching, Gabe grabbed the Uthuro Kings’s mate and is now
challenging anyone who wants her to fight him.”

“What’s so
special about her?”

“Apparently
if you see her, you just know you have to have her. She’s a full figured
woman…”

Their voices
drifted out of range.

Brad slumped
a little against the wall. “Jasmine…” he whispered.

At least she
was still alive.

He peeled
around the corner and saw where the group was headed. They were going towards
the warehouse adjacent to the main building. Brad could see all sorts of
colorful lights and commotion coming from within.

He took in a
deep breath.

“Here goes
nothing…”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

A glass diamond case hung from the
ceiling in the centre of the ring, with Jasmine trapped inside of it.
Thankfully there was a level for sitting at the back of it, so there she was in
a literal front row seat for the spectacle that was about to unfold.

Below her,
Gabe stood to one side of the ring. His shirt and shoes were off and he was stretching
his muscles in anticipation of his first challenger. Gathered around the ring,
on all sides were various leveled seating filled with members of the Destair
tribe. Hades was at the upper back wall, sitting in a giant chair with a
microphone in his hand. He addressed his tribe.

“Thank you,
thank you all,” Hades said. “We have done well to rid the pathetic Uthuro tribe
from this state, and they certainly won’t be the last bear tribe we take our
fill of. Every day our army expands. Every day the strength of this tribe
grows. But it couldn’t be done if it weren’t for all of you. You work hard for
the spoils. So now I present the greatest spoil of all. Jasmine Whiley – mate
of the Uthuro Bear Kings!”

As he
announced this he broke into an uproarious cackle.

The black
bears cheered on and clapped their hands for Jasmine. She went red with
embarrassment.

“She can be
yours. Anyone of you,” Hades declared. “All you have to do is defeat Gabe in
the ring, and then any challenger who stands up to you afterward. Only one rule
– no shifting – this is strictly a man to man match. So on that note – take it
away, Gabe.”

Gabe held his
arms up in the air. “Who shall be first? Who wants to take me for this
beautiful woman here?”

Jasmine’s
eyes searched over the crowd. She spotted the bear who had challenged Gabe
earlier. He was nursing his leg still. For a second she thought he was going to
say something, but someone else had stood up from behind him.

“I’ll
challenge you,” came the first call.

Gabe spotted
the challenger. “That you, Denny?”

An equally
sized man climbed over the edge of the ring and pulled his shirt off. “Come
on,” Denny said. “I’ll have a go.”

Gabe gave a
short laugh and then charged at him.

Denny stepped
back, caught in surprise, and almost fell off his feet.

Gabe king-hit
him four, five, six times, before he dropped completely. He then belted him in
the stomach with his foot, kicking him out of the ring.

“Come on!”
Gabe shouted, as the cheering rose again. “Are there any real challengers?”

From the
opposite corner an enormous, bald man jumped into the centre of the ring. Gabe
was given such a start he barely had time to look before the giant was swinging
his fists at him. He managed to latch onto Gabe and then hurled him across to
the other side of the ring.

The crowd
gave an exclamation of surprise.

Gabe got to
his feet a moment later. He wasn’t done yet.

“I forget
what your name is,” he muttered under his breath. “You’re that unimportant.”

The man moved
in again and slammed his fists into Gabe’s side. Gabe dropped to his knees and
the man stooped over to get Gabe in a headlock.

Gabe slammed
his fists into the man’s stomach, but they didn’t faze him. He picked Gabe up
off the ground and slammed headfirst into ground.

When he came
to, there was blood everywhere. Gabe winced in pain.

“Give up?”
the man asked.

Gabe’s foot
shot up, striking him in the crotch. The man fell to his knees and Gabe
launched himself at him. He proceeded to headbutt the man, again and again and
again.

More blood.

More agonized
squeals.

Eventually
Gabe stood up victorious, his opponent slumped on the floor and not moving.

There was a
moment of silence before a great roar of cheer for Gabe again.

“No one
breaks my skull,” Gabe declared. “It’s stronger than a helmet.”

His eyes
searched the crowd. “Anyone else?”

A dagger of
surprise befell Jasmine. A new bear had just entered the ring, stepping over
the bald man’s corpse.

A bear she
knew.

“I challenge
you,” Thunder Brad said.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Their eyes met, for the briefest of
seconds. So much had changed since she’d first seen him. Lives had been lost.
Tragedy had befallen them. But love had been shared. It was love that brought
him to her here. Love that gave him the courage to fight for her.

“What the
hell are you doing here?” Gabe demanded. “Guards – seize this intruder at
once!”

The crowd
seemed displeased with Gabe’s approach.

“I CHALLENGE
YOU,” Thunder Brad boomed again in a deeper voice.

“You heard
him Gabe,” Hades called from the back. “Get to it.”

Gabe’s face
became wrought with anger, and then he charged at Brad for the onslaught.

Brad dodged
his first swing and tripped him up with his leg. Gabe hit the floor and quickly
got back up.

The crowd was
booing him.

“Shut up,”
Gabe scolded. “I’ve got this.”

He came at
Brad again, even more furious this time. But Brad was ready.

He clocked
Gabe squarely in the jaw, and landed two more punches to his chest. The bears
then became entangled in arms to arms, and Gabe started headbutting Brad. Brad
was knocked backwards. He stumbled out of the armlock and fell to his knees.

Gabe ran at
him and drove his foot towards Brad’s neck. Brad caught the foot and twisted
it, breaking Gabe’s ankle. He screamed out in agony and hit the floor.

Brad stood
up. He put both hands proudly up in the air.

There was no
cheering. Only silence.

“Fair and
square,” Brad said. “I’m taking her with me. And then we are done.” He turned
his head to the back. “Right, Hades?”

Hades rose
from his chair. “If there are no other challengers, then you make walk free
with her here. Of course, I would encourage you to stay for a bit. Be my guest
for a while.”

“Thanks, but
no thanks,” Brad muttered.

“Are there
any more challengers?” Hades asked.

Still
silence.

Jasmine’s
eyes surveyed the room. No one was standing up. No one was calling out.

Could Brad
have really won?

And then she
saw it. Behind him, Gabe was –

“Brad – look
out!” Jasmine screamed.

Brad whirled
round just to see Gabe coming at him in his black bear form. He jumped
backward, dodging the bear’s swipes, nearly tripping over himself.

Gabe hissed
and growled at him, his eyes cruel and menacing.

He lunged one
more time.

Brad dodged
his advance again and jumped up on Gabe’s back. He pounded his fists into the
bears head and Gabe cried out again.

Jasmine was
terrified but couldn’t look away. Brad wouldn’t stop.

He was
punching him – over and over and over.

The black
bear descended to the ground and Brad kept on belting him until it appeared he
was dead.

Then Brad
stood up, a look of sad disgust on his face.

Hades, who
was still risen from his seat, put his hands together for Brad. Soon everyone
in the entire room was clapping and cheering for him.

Jasmine, who
was out of breath from the suspense of what had happened, barely had enough
will to put her hands together with them.

But she did.