Bearly Hanging On (Miracle Book 3) Read online

  Table of Contents

  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

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  EPILOGUE

  Bearly Hanging On

  Miracle Book 3

  By

  Shea Balik

  BLURB

  In a world where everyone was against them, they needed a Miracle. What no one had expected was to find their salvation in an abandoned town that was ready to collapse. Yet, that is exactly what happened when they moved to the town of Miracle, Oregon.

  Kirill had been moving from town to town most of his life, staying one step ahead of those bent on destroying his kind. Along the way, he’s somehow managed to become Alpha to a group of shifters also on the run. But he was tired of always having to pick up and move when all he wanted was a place to call home.

  Harper had never known a moment of peace. Even as a child his father had pitted his own brother, Abdiel, against him for his own amusement. When his father died, Harper had hoped things would change. He should have known better than to believe that change would be for the better.

  The two men embark on a journey of discovery about themselves and the love they potentially share for each other. Can they get beyond their pasts, or will they be doomed to be separated for all eternity?

  Copyright ©2017 by Shea Balik

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2017

  Cover by: Harris Channing

  Edited by: Avril Stepowski

  www.aveseditservice.com

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  TABLE of CONTENTS

  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

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER 1

  Air exploded from Crash’s lungs in a whoosh from the impact of his body slamming into the ground after Kirill Hunt threw him in training. Kirill winced. They may be shifters but that had to have hurt. If he’d had any doubt about it, Crash’s body literally bouncing twice after slamming into the hard-packed dirt was enough to let Kirill know he’d let his emotions get the better of him.

  He just wished he knew what had him so on edge that he’d forgotten his own strength while training with his men. It was unlike him.

  “Not that he probably doesn’t deserve it, but do you mind telling me why you felt it necessary to toss Crash around like a ragdoll?” Mannix asked drolly as he stared at Crash with pity. Mannix was Kirill’s second, although, now that they had moved to Miracle, their positions had changed.

  Kirill was no longer Alpha, Edrick was, and Lucca was the second. It had been easier to get used to than Kirill had thought but that was mostly because he had hated being Alpha. He’d done it because it was expected of him, not because he’d wanted the job. Handing over the reins had lifted a great weight off his shoulders that Kirill hoped he never had to feel again.

  Yet, instead of being relaxed now that everyone’s well-being wasn’t on his shoulders, Kirill was tenser than ever. He just had no idea why. “I’m on edge.” That was putting it mildly.

  His polar bear was growling in his head, urging him to move, to fight, to search. None of which made any sense to him. Move where? Fight what? Search for what?

  He had no answers, which only drove him crazier.

  “Yeah, we all got that.” Mannix pointed to the ten men Kirill had fought, all of who were battered and bruised to the point that even their shifter healing wasn’t enough to make them better yet. “Maybe it’s time to figure out what’s going on before you challenge anyone else. Well…” Mannix shrugged as he glared at Chadwick, who was busy building one of the new houses they were erecting for everyone who was now living in Miracle. “Unless you want to challenge Chadwick. Then I say go for it. That man could use a lesson or two in humility.”

  Kirill grunted. It was the best he could manage as he just wasn’t in the mood to laugh, even if Mannix had a point. Chadwick was an ass who had no off button. “I’m not about to piss off our new Alpha by crushing one of his best friends in the ring.”

  “By all means, if you think you can take him, don’t let me stop you.”

  Kirill’s stomach dropped as he turned to find Edrick standing there with a smirk on his face that said he didn’t think Kirill stood a chance against Chadwick. “Don’t let Chadwick fool you with his jokes. He’s as deadly as they come.”

  Kirill doubted that. Chadwick didn’t have a serious bone in his body. That Edrick thought Kirill not capable of taking on Chadwick irked him, tempting Kirill into doing something stupid, like actually challenging Chadwick.

  “Alpha Edrick, may I speak with you for a moment?” A mouse shifter, Iniko, asked as he approached them.

  Alpha Edrick had just led them into battle against Iniko’s colony to free Jari, a mouse shifter who had been kidnapped by the crazed Mouse Alpha, Abdiel. Jari was Lucca’s mate and Edrick would have done anything for his best friend and second, including attacking a colony with thousands of members with only their limited numbers.

  Thankfully they had won and retrieved Jari, although not before the sweet, mouse shifter had been tortured by his former alpha. During the battle, a few innocent mouse shifters had been hurt. Iniko had been one of those men and begged to be freed from his colony.

  Abdiel had been a harsh alpha who didn’t care about his people, only what they could do to make him more powerful. Why no one had tried to ov
erthrow him, was anyone’s guess. Even after his death, several of the mouse shifters had asked to be taken from the colony. Most of those people had left Miracle the following day, choosing to find a home of their own, but a few stayed.

  “Sure, Iniko. What can I do for you?” Edrick said as he gave the mouse shifter his attention.

  Kirill wanted to groan when Iniko glared at him. He and Mannix had been the ones to save Iniko from death during the fighting. After the battle, the little guy had begged them to go into the town and save one of his friends. That hadn’t been their orders and Kirill wasn’t about to risk Edrick and Lucca rescuing Jari by altering the plans.

  “I respectfully request you to go back to Mauston and rescue my friend, Harper,” Iniko said, his glare never leaving Kirill. “Which I wouldn’t have had to ask if someone hadn’t been too much of a chicken shit to do it when I asked the first time.”

  Kirill growled at Iniko but otherwise, he didn’t bother to respond to the man’s barb about his manhood. He was a gay man in a world that believed that was a sin punishable by death. Kirill was used to having his manhood brought into question by those too ignorant to know better.

  Edrick’s eyebrow had gone up but he didn’t comment on the obvious exchange of hostility. “I appreciate that you want us to help your friend but we can’t attack the colony without provocation.”

  Iniko’s hands flew up in the air as if he were exasperated. “But you already did once. Why can’t you again?”

  “Abdiel kidnapped Jari,” Edrick tried to explain, but Iniko just rolled his eyes.

  “Oh, please. Everyone knows Jari was more than willing for Abdiel to fuck him. Kidnapping him wasn’t exactly necessary.” Clearly, Iniko had a death wish. Jari might be Lucca’s mate, but Edrick defended his friends with a passion Kirill admired.

  Ice formed in Edrick’s blue eyes. “Talk about Jari like that again and I will banish you from Miracle.”

  Without another word, Edrick turned on his heel and stormed away. His long ground-eating strides quickly took him back to the house he and his friends had claimed as theirs when they had bought the small abandoned town.

  Stunned, Kirill watched Iniko chase after the alpha. Either Iniko had a death wish, or he was as dumb as a rock. Considering what Kirill had witnessed in the short time he’d known Iniko, he was betting on the later.

  Afraid Edrick would kill the small mouse shifter, Kirill followed. If nothing else, he could help Edrick hide the body because he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be very effective in stopping Iniko from saying or doing something stupid.

  It was the reason he gave for following the pair, but in reality, that nagging sensation deep inside of him that had him on edge since the battle with the mouse colony was what was driving him to follow Iniko. Maybe he really was losing his mind, nothing else made any sense.

  “So, you’re just going to let him die?” Iniko screamed as he ran to catch up with Edrick.

  Edrick came to a hard stop near the back of the house. “What the hell are you talking about?” The look of disbelief on Edrick’s face said he felt the same as Kirill, that Iniko was touched in the head. “We killed Abdiel and most of his guards. Your friend will be fine.”

  Iniko stepped right up to Edrick and shoved his finger against Edrick’s chest. “Harper is Abdiel’s brother. For that fact alone, they will kill him.”

  Inexplicably Kirill’s chest tightened.

  Edrick shrugged. “Not my problem.”

  Kirill had the urge to rip Edrick apart and force him to go after Harper. It was as if Kirill had entered some sort of alternate universe.

  Iniko gasped and took a step back. “Then you’re just as much a monster as Abdiel was. Harper is nothing like his brother and doesn’t deserve what happened to him.” Iniko yelled at Edrick.

  The next thing Kirill knew, Lucca had tossed Iniko over his shoulder and carried him off as Iniko yelled at Lucca to be put down while kicking and hitting the second. None of that seemed to make any difference to Lucca for he just kept walking away from the house until they were across the street where Kirill and his men had set up their tents.

  Stunned by Lucca’s abrupt move, both Kirill and Edrick hadn’t followed immediately. It wasn’t until Lucca had put Iniko down and the man started yelling at Lucca that they both came out of their shock enough to rush over.

  “Not that I don’t appreciate you shutting Iniko up, but, even for you, that was kind of drastic, don’t you think?” Edrick asked his friend.

  Before Lucca could explain, Iniko held his hand up and said, “It’s okay. I was yelling too loud and Lucca was afraid I would wake up Jari.”

  Kirill wasn’t sure who was more surprised, him or Edrick. Both of their jaws had dropped at the man’s conciliatory tone. “Did you just apologize?” Kirill asked Iniko at the same time Edrick asked Lucca, “How did you get him not to yell?”

  Iniko huffed at them, his arms crossing over his chest. “I don’t only yell, and of course I apologized. I didn’t mean to disturb Jari.” Not missing a beat, Iniko then turned to Lucca. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you didn’t answer my question.”

  Lucca ignored Iniko’s statement. “Mind telling what was so important that you felt the need to scream it so everyone within a five-mile radius could hear you?”

  Pink infused Iniko’s cheeks as the man curled his fingers into fists. “These two...” Iniko seemed to be struggling to come up with an appropriate description. A spark entered his eyes as he said, “Knuckle dragging cretins feel it’s okay to leave a man - who has done nothing more than unfortunately being Abdiel’s brother - behind in that hellhole to continue being used and abused by Abdiel’s men.”

  Lucca turned to Edrick. “What?”

  “Are all of you this stupid?” Iniko asked sarcastically. “Tell me, was it the vocabulary or the context of the words that has you confused?”

  Sick and tired of Iniko thinking it was okay to treat anyone with this much disrespect, Kirill growled and placed his face within inches of Iniko. As much as it only irritated him further, Kirill had to admire Iniko’s spunk when he held his ground, not that it would stop him from telling Iniko off. “Shut it, pipsqueak, or I’ll drive you out into that big forest and drop you in the middle of nowhere.”

  Those fists Iniko had made went on his hips as he glared at Kirill. “You and what army, Neanderthal?”

  Kirill flashed his canines before chomping down as if he were about to take a bite out of Iniko.

  Once more, Iniko didn’t back down. If anything, he seemed to grow bolder. “You know I can shift into a mouse in the middle of the night and bite your balls off before you know I’m even there, right?”

  Ready to kick Iniko’s ass if he tried something like that, Kirill glared at Lucca when the man started laughing. “Not funny,” he bit out, but Lucca was laughing so hard he didn’t even hear Kirill.

  When Lucca finally stopped, Iniko was looking pleased to have gotten the best of Kirill, which only pissed him off more.

  “Okay, both of you, back the fuck off and tell me who it is you want us to go rescue and why we should risk our lives to do it,” Lucca said.

  Horrified by everything Iniko told them about what this Harper person had been put through, Kirill was ready to tear apart every inch of Mauston to rescue the guy. It didn’t help that his polar bear was clawing to get Harper to safety. Kirill didn’t understand what was going on with his animal, nor did it matter. He was saving Harper, even if he had to kill every mouse shifter in Mauston to do it.

  CHAPTER 2

  When Harper heard that Abdiel had been killed, his first thought had been, “Thank Gods.” But now? Now he just wanted to die. Who would have thought things could actually get worse with his brother gone?

  Since they were kids and their father pitted them against each other, ensuring the brothers never had a good relationship, they were taught to be enemies from a young age. Even with time, that was something that had never changed, not even when their father
was killed by his fourth wife.

  Harper had hoped Abdiel would realize what their father had done to them and want to start over after the man’s death, but that hadn’t happened. If anything, things had gotten worse.

  “Get up, whore,” Roscoe jeered with a slap to Harper’s head.

  The harsh sting barely registered. Harper was used to being hit, had been since the age of five when his father forced Abdiel, who had been eight, to punch Harper whenever he entered a room Harper was in. It was less than a year later that Harper had gotten his first broken nose.

  When Harper didn’t move fast enough for Roscoe, he was grabbed by the hair and yanked from the floor where he was forced to sleep. At least he was given a blanket in the cooler night air.

  “I’ve got visitors.” The smile that curved Roscoe’s cruel lips sent a shiver of fear through Harper.

  It had taken less than twelve hours after Abdiel’s death for Harper to understand what hell really was. And Roscoe was the sick, perverted ruler.

  With his brother, pain and humiliation were a part of daily life. Being the whore Roscoe called him hadn’t been anything new, but at least, for whatever twisted reason Abdiel had, his brother didn’t allow anyone else to hit him and only one of the guards to use him for sex at a time. That wasn’t true with Roscoe.

  The moment Roscoe had entered the cell Abdiel had kept Harper locked in, any hope he’d had of finally being free was crushed, just like his hand had been under Roscoe’s size fourteen steel-toed boot. The agony of his bones being smashed between that boot and the cement had black spots forming to block out his vision as he passed out.

  The next thing Harper knew, he was chained to a hook bolted to the floor in Abdiel’s room. Roscoe had officially taken control of the colony. In celebration, Roscoe had given the remaining guards permission to fuck Harper as often as they wanted in any way they chose. He’d also lifted the ban on anyone hitting Harper.