Black Bears of Independence: Corbin: Black Bears of Independence, #1

Chapter One

Corbin Hurst looked to the horizon and breathed in the cool spring air. The morning was perfect for getting a final survey of the property he and his friends would soon build on. 

As he looked through the Theodolite’s eyepiece, it seemed to change into a movie camera, revealing memories he’s thought buried long ago. He wanted to look away, but the visions and pain held him captive.

His mother, Charlotte, was leading them home after a fun day of playing and fishing in their bear forms. Benjamin was the youngest and most apt to be the one to get into trouble. This time the trouble was more than they expected. 

The Arapaho had met an Apache war party of around fifty that had entered Beaver Meadows, and he and his family had stumbled directly into it. At seven years old, Corbin hadn’t a clue what to do other than to hide. 

During the chaos of fighting Arapaho and Apache and flying arrows, Benjamin had been injured. As his mother rushed to his little brother’s side, an arrow to the heart killed her instantly. Shifters have incredible healing powers, but not even they can survive a wound to the heart. Connie, his older sister, and Corbin ran to their mother and brother. 

Patrick, their father, and alpha, along with his enforcers, found them after they failed to return for dinner.

Thank the goddess for Benjamin’s healing abilities as they kept him alive. Being able to shift allowed Benjamin to heal more quickly. Unfortunately, the broken leg he sustained did not heal properly. He was left with a slight limp for the rest of his life. 

Corbin jerked back from the Theodolite and sat hard on the packed earth at his feet. On the tails of that memory came another painful one he was unable to stop.

A lifetime later, Connie married her mate Richard and had a wonderful set of twins, Thomas and Ruby. Unfortunately, fate wouldn’t allow her to see them grow up. Two years later, tragedy struck when Connie was found murdered. She had been leaving work when someone slit her throat from behind and stole her car. Her killer was never caught.

The interviews were hard to deal with.

I will always remember Connie as a great sister, someone I could chat with and share things with. She was a really talented girl and just a great mother. Corbin’s throat tightened up as if he’d just spoken those words for the first time. 

We are all members of a family, and no matter how a person dies, it affects everybody the same way—just tragic—it's very sad losing a loved one, Patrick added.

It's been well known how good a girl Connie was; she was just so good to everyone. She was a bubbly, happy person; she was a great mother and just a natural homemaker, added Connie’s husband, Richard, to the reporter. 

Richard moved Thomas and Ruby back to the Hurst clan lands in Estes Park. They had been living fifteen miles away in Allenspark. It was important now more than ever to be closer to the family. The children needed the love of extended family, and he needed help. Raising toddlers by himself would have been difficult.

When a mate passes, a shifter loses their other half literally. Corbin’s father was able to survive Charlotte’s death because his children were young, and he had duties as the alpha. It was difficult for the boys to watch their father be so alone and depressed over losing his wife as they grew up. Patrick never remarried or loved another.

When it was time for Corbin to take over as alpha, things didn’t go as everyone thought they would. He hadn’t agreed with the direction his father wanted to take the clan. Corbin wanted to bring technology to the clan for safety and growth. His father wanted to stay in the past. He gave up his right as alpha to the Hurst clan, passing it to his younger brother, Benjamin. Corbin, his friends, and some clan members who agreed with his vision moved to Independence, Colorado. 

The day Benjamin took over as alpha of the Hurst clan, their father went back to his bedroom, laid on the bed, passed away in his sleep, and finally joined his wife. Patrick had waited a long time to join his beloved mate Charlotte in the afterlife. After Patrick’s funeral, Corbin, Cade, and Jase left to finish the work on the Independence Dude Ranch.

Hi, I’m Eloise; I’m twenty-eight and five-foot-eight-inches tall, Eloise Freimont said, introducing herself. I am great at organizing and keeping everything precisely arranged. I will admit to being a little OCD. I have a bubbly personality and a witty sense of humor. Oh boy, this speed dating just doesn’t seem to be my thing, she thought as his eyes glazed over. They had prohibited cell phone usage during the speed dating event, so at least he wasn’t texting someone else. Hey, she could launch into courageous endeavors, but only after checking all the facts at least once. Okay, maybe twice…oh, all right, three times. Hmm, perhaps I’m a lot OCD.

Looking at her watch, she realized there were three minutes left till he got up, and the speed dating event would be over. She couldn’t wait to get home. She was currently living with her friend Gracie Jefferies—the reason she was there in the first place. 

The last bell rang. Relief flooded Eloise as she put on her coat. The speed dating event was finally over. She would never do this again; she thought as she fled the restaurant.

Gracie, I’m home! she shouted as she entered the house. Gracie came running in from the kitchen. That girl was always cooking something. Sniffing the air, she could tell that tonight she was baking snickerdoodles.

So tell me all about it, and don’t leave any details out! Gracie blurted.

It was a total and complete failure, complained Eloise. Maybe it’s time to move away from Aspen. I’m going to my room.

Gracie followed her and plopped on her bed as Eloise changed out of her dress and into her Mickey Mouse pajamas. Your OCD is alive and well, isn’t it? Your bedroom closet is still separated between work and non-work clothes and arranged by color. Do you still eat M&Ms one color at a time until they are gone?

Of course, and don’t even get me started on everything having to be done in even numbers instead of odd. She strongly believed in the old saying—'A place for everything and everything in its place.’

As for moving away, you can’t just move away every time something doesn’t go right, complained Gracie. You have a wonderful job in the accounting office at the Aspen Ski Lodge. You have lots of friends here that would miss you terribly, especially me.

I know, I know, sighed Eloise. Things just haven’t been the same since I broke up with Julius. Just then, the timer went off in the kitchen, so the girls went to have cookies and milk before bed.

Staring out the window from her dull gray cubicle at work, she tried to figure out what she was going to do with her life. She was more focused on work than her coworkers at the ski lodge. Aside from their typical office gossiping, a lot of the girls liked to flirt with male guests. After Julius, she had become analytical, observant, and cautious. 

Ever since her breakup with Julius, Eloise’s coworkers tended to gossip about her more than expected. The laughter wasn't the sound of friends but of emotional hyenas. Their voices came to her without end, playing like a track, looping back to the start with seamless ease. She closed her eyes only to see theirs, full of judgment, full of delight, with no trace of caring. How her cheeks had burned hot, how the sight had egged them on—her embarrassment, their tonic.

You want to know about Eloise? Well, I would describe her as charming, sincere, and generous, said a coworker.

Since her breakup with her boyfriend, she has become a little more of a workaholic, informed another coworker. 

She never goes out with us anymore, complained yet another coworker.

She is a hopeless romantic, spending her evenings and most weekends watching romance movies. When not watching a romance movie, she’s reading a romance novel. She often brings them to work to read during her break. Her favorite novels are paranormal romance, of the shape-shifter variety, confided yet another coworker. 

Eloise just did not understand why women couldn’t find men like the heroes in her movies and books. Those men were honest, never cheated, and they treated women with respect. They were the ultimate fantasy—an irresistibly attractive embodiment of heroic qualities and a celebration of positive male strength! There have to be men out there like that somewhere, right?

Memories of Julius and her humiliation crowded out her coworkers’ words. She remembered it had been Valentine’s Day, and she thought he was going to propose. They had been dating for three years, and last summer had moved in together. It was the logical next step in their relationship.

She had gotten off work early and had been excited to get home to prepare a special candlelight dinner for Julius. She had butterflies in her stomach, just thinking about it. She had been reading a book called Spending a Romantic Evening at Home. It suggested a quiet evening at home might be just the ticket to a romantic interlude. She could keep it simple and would cook Julius’ favorite meal. It also said, ‘Setting the mood is equally important as what meal you prepare, so plan on some candlelight and soft, romantic music.’ 

The weekend before, she had bought assorted candles to light around the dining room and the bedroom. She also found a CD called 50 Best Romantic Classics, and it had her two favorite songs by Barry White: You're the First, the Last, My Everything and Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe. Eloise had been so focused on planning her romantic evening in her mind she had not noticed a strange car parked in front of their apartment. Upon entering the apartment, she heard strange noises coming from their master bedroom. It was odd because Julius didn’t get off work for at least another two hours.

Eloise had crept down the hallway to their bedroom, dread filling her. The door was ajar, allowing her to peek inside. She debated for a moment whether or not she should, but she had to confirm her suspicions. There on her bed was Julius pounding into a blond woman. Standing there gaping, her mind finally registered what she was seeing. Feeling sick and light-headed, she had backed down the hallway and turned to run out the front door. Not knowing what to do or where to go, she sat in her car. How could Julius do this to her again? What was wrong with her that he had to find women to satisfy his needs continually? Three years wasted on this man! Realizing it was not something she did or didn’t do that made Julius fuck other women, she started to get angry. It was all on Julius.

Eloise was snapped back to reality when a shadow of a giant crazy person began banging on her driver’s window. Startled, she screamed. The outrage on Julius’s face had been scary. At least he took the time to throw some clothes on. It’s not what you think! She means nothing to me! I can explain! Julius yelled through the closed window.

Oh really, it didn’t look like you were having sex with a blonde in our bed? Eloise retorted, rolling down the window. You both looked like you were enjoying each other! We’re done! I’m not going to take this anymore. I thought you had changed; that’s why I agreed to move in with you. She didn’t want to hear any more of his excuses. She started her car, threw it into reverse, and almost ran over his feet as she left. She went to the only place she could think of—Gracie’s.

This actually had not been the first time he was caught with another woman. She had always forgiven him, always believed him when he said it would never happen again, but it kept happening. They would go months being happy, and then slowly, she would start to see evidence of him sleeping with other women. She had foolishly thought by moving in together, Julius would finally stop sleeping around.

Eloise had no idea why she allowed Julius to do it to