For Shift's Sake: Paranormal shapeshifter alpha werebear soldier BBW romance (8 page)

“Sure?” Danny didn’t sound convinced, the big brother protective act in full swing. She was sure, if he had the opportunity, he’d make sure she was wrapped up in cotton wool for the rest of her life. “No trouble recently?”

“Hmm, nope. Nothing doing. Really boring.” She gave him her best innocent act, injecting a note of boredom in her voice, suggesting he was being overprotective.

“Good. So, did Reese turn up?”

She froze at the question, mug from the cupboard in her hand. Danny knew Reese?

“Reese?” The words left her mouth on autopilot.

“Yeah. Reese Connor. Tall, British dude… Used to be one of my team before he retired a couple weeks ago. I asked him to look in on you, make sure things are okay there.”

She blinked as Danny’s words sunk in. Reese hadn’t stopped out of the goodness of his heart. He’d been sent here. By her brother. What the fuck? Had he seen her as some kind of easy lay? His best mate’s fluffy chick sister… Just right for the plucking and desperate for any man that came along.

“Did you really?” Anger swirled up from the center of her being. “Why? You think I can’t run this place now? If that’s what you think, then perhaps you should get your ass back here, instead of sending a bodyguard!”

Pulling the phone from her ear, she ended the call with a savage jab of her thumb. Not as satisfying as slamming the phone down, but it would have to do for now.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Reese’s sleep roughened voice sounded behind her. She spun to pin him with a hard gaze.

“Yeah, I’m just fine and freaking dandy.”

His eyes narrowed at her tone and he straightened a little in the doorway. Wary. Watching her.
Ha!
As well he should. Fucking men and their lies. Clad in just his boxers, everything female in her wanted to pay attention to the big, hard body, but she ignored it. That was how assholes like this got around women like her. By flashing their muscles.

“When were you going to tell me? Huh?” She would not cry. Hot tears prickled her eyes, but she held them back. No way. No how. In front of an asshole like this.

“Tell you what, sweetheart? Who was on the phone?”

That did it, her temper boiled over. “Don’t you fucking sweetheart me, and you know full well who that was. Danny. My brother. The one who sent you here.”

His eyes widened a little, but she didn’t miss the guilt that flitted across his features before disappearing. “Ah.”

“Yeah. ‘Ah.’ So what was it? An easy booty call?” She demanded and slammed the mug down on the counter. It was that, or pitch it at his head. Since it was her favorite mug, she slid out of harm’s way.

“No! What kind of man do you think I am?” His voice rang with anger, and he took a step forward. She stopped him with a raised hand.

“I don’t know. That’s just my point. I’ve talked about my brother, about Danny, and you didn’t mention jack shit. So what else you hiding from me? What else didn’t you think to mention?”

He opened his mouth; she could practically see the cogs working behind his eyes. She huffed. “You know what, fucking forget it… This was a mistake. I’m taking a shower, then going to the wholesalers. Be gone when I get back, okay?”

And with that, she swept past him and stomped to the bathroom.

***

Shit. He really fucked up things with Bobbi. Reese watched as she stormed out of the house after her shower, still without talking to him. He growled and went to slam his fist into the wall before he remembered he was in Bobbi’s house and plaster didn’t stand up well to ursanthrope strength.

“
FUCK!”
he yelled instead, turning in a circle before rubbing both hands over his close cropped scalp and closing his eyes. He was an idiot. Why the fuck hadn’t he told her that he was Danny’s friend? What harm would it have done?

Her scent surrounded him, teasing the man and making his bear growl in frustration. Erotic memories replayed through his mind on continuous repeat. Last night had been the best night of his life. He’d never known sex could be like that. So…earth shattering. Every touch, every stroke. He’d never felt so connected to a woman. Ever. Never felt that soul-deep connection with anyone, anything, other than his bear. To have that with someone else.

He sighed and opened his eyes. Now he understood why male bears would do anything for their mates. Anything. She was the only thing that mattered. His life had gone from concern for international safety, down to the wellbeing of one small, curvy woman. And he’d move heaven and hell to make sure she was happy.

Later. Because right now she was pissed as hell at him. He had to make it up to her. Turning, he walked toward the door and opened it to leave before he realized there were no keys.

“What the hell?” he looked at both sides of the door before realizing Bobbi must have taken them. Leaving him without a way to lock up. “Well, shit.”

He wasn’t going anywhere. Not yet. Crime rates in Banford weren’t at inner city levels but he still wasn’t comfortable leaving Bobbi’s home unsecured. Turning, he walked across the small space and flicked the kettle on.

A couple of minutes later, coffee mug in hand, he strolled into the main room. Last night had been a bit of a blur, so he hadn’t taken in any details. Now he paid attention, looking for clues into his little mate’s character.

The room was light and airy, despite its smaller size, and decorated in welcoming earthy tones. Warm creams and beiges, plus all the different textures, pleased his bear. It seemed den-like, the perfect place to snuggle down with his mate for the evening.

There. Were. Bears. Everywhere.

Standing in the middle of the room, Reese did a slow three-sixty, his eyes widening as he did so. Then he grinned. Bobbi Bradbury had a serious thing for teddy bears. There were bear ornaments, bear vases, bear Santas, Pooh Bear, bear stockings, stuffed bears in every shade of brown--one purple, bear light switch, bear bookends, bear lamps…even bears on the cushions.

Framed photos on the opposite wall caught his eye and he walked across the carpet. His heart, the little left of it, melted. Two baby bears cuddled each other in one picture, and played happily in the other. They were real bears, not shapeshifters, but he couldn’t help feeling a kinship with them. He looked at the certificate in the middle. Bobbi had adopted Arthur and Merlin, two bears at the Wild Pines Bear Sanctuary. More than that, there was a personal note attached to the bottom of the frame…

Thank you so much for your continued support. Your donation has allowed us to purchase most of the veterinary supplies we need for the winter. We truly couldn’t do this without you. Trudy xoxo

Reese folded his arms. She loved bears. Was it possible…could she accept that part of his nature? Then he remembered the way she’d reacted to him not telling her about Danny and his hopes crumbled. If she reacted that badly, then there was no way she’d take something as big as him being a totally different species in stride. Dismay filled him. They were doomed before they began.

Crap crap crap
. Unable to do anything about the situation, Reese defaulted to standard operating procedure. Draining his mug of coffee, he headed to take a shower and dress. He’d just pulled his T-shirt over his head when his cell rang.

“Hey, Danny, what’s up?” he answered as he walked into the main room, looking out the window into the parking lot. Bobbi still wasn’t back.

“Has she calmed down yet?”

There was no need to ask who Danny was talking about. Reese sighed heavily. “No idea, bro. She was pretty pissed when she stormed out of here a while back.”

“How long ago?”

Reese checked the time. “Has to be just over an hour now. Why?”

“Hmmm. And she’s not back yet? That’s not like her.” Danny sounded worried. “What did you say to her?”

He replayed the conversation in his mind. “Not much, just tried to apologize for not telling her about us.”

It was testament to how worried Danny was about his sister when he didn’t make a crack about the ‘us’ part. “That shouldn’t have had her in more than half an hour snit. There has to be something else.”

Reese’s stomach sank. Time to come clean.

“Well, she also accused me of seeing her as an easy lay. That might not have helped.”

Silence filled the line, but Reese braced himself for the storm. Sure enough, half a second later Danny’s intake of breath warned him. He held the phone at arm’s length as Danny shouted.

“What the fuck! Easy lay?! Connor, if you’ve touched my baby sister, I’ll cut off your fucking balls and feed the—”

“Danny. She’s my mate.”

The shouting stopped like a recording had been put on pause.

“What? Say again?” Like most soldiers when stressed, Danny fell back into military parlance.

“Your sister is my mate.”

“She can’t be. She’s human.” Danny laughed, but there was a little note in his voice that said he wasn’t sure.

“She is,” Reese agreed. There was no arguing about that. “But she’s still my mate. My bear…it knew right away something was different about her. Dumb fuck I am, it took me a little while longer to figure it out.”

Danny grumbled, the sound close to a warning growl. “If you hurt her…”

“You can carve my heart out with a blunt spoon, but that’s not going to happen. You know that.”

And they did. If his bear had chosen Bobbi as his mate, then he would never intentionally hurt her. He’d love, honor, and protect her as long as he drew breath. Of course, that day could come a lot quicker if Danny took exception to their mating. Because there was no way he would hurt his mate’s brother, even if the guy tried to kill him. And if Danny wanted him dead, he might as well dig his own grave. The guy was a trained sniper, so he’d never see the bullet coming.

Silence stretched out for long moments before Danny spoke again.

“Okay,” he said grudgingly. “You can
date
, but keep it in your pants until you’re ready to put your mark on her. Or else.”

“You got it.” Reese let out a silent sigh of relief, and didn’t mention how they’d spent last night. It was need to know, and Danny didn’t need to know. Besides, the next time Reese got his little mate into bed, he was claiming her, come hell or high water.

“Let me know when she gets home. And get her to call me. She’s not answering her cell…must’ve left it in her car again.”

“No problem—” movement outside caught Reese’s eye. He frowned as a biker screamed into the parking lot, skidding to a stop and yanking the helmet off. Dyed black hair fell about her face. Recognition shot through him. It was goth-girl, Louise, and she looked as worried as hell. “Listen, bro. Something’s going on, let me call you back.”

Without waiting for Danny’s answer, Reese cut the call and strode outside. All other considerations fell away as he studied the expression on Louise’s face. Something was wrong, very, very wrong. “What happened?”

“Reese!” Her gaze latched onto him and relief flooded her features. “Jackson’s men took Bobbi. Grabbed her from outside the wholesalers.”

His bear snarled and stomped but Reese frowned. Something didn’t add up. He folded his arms. “You saw it? Why didn’t you follow them?”

“Didn’t see it. Marie, one of my friends was on the checkout, saw it all on the security cameras. Before she could stop them, they’d gone.”

Something flittered across the back of her eyes that made everything in him sit up and take notice. With a growl, he surged forward, grabbed her by the upper arms and all but hauled her off the bike. He ran his nose along her throat, and took a deep breath, drawing her scent into his lungs. Then froze in surprise at what he smelled.

He pulled back to look down at her. “You’re a bear.”

“Way to go, Captain Oblivious,” she growled back, her voice way lower than any human female could ever have managed. “Now, do you want to compare claws and fur, or can we rescue my friend?”

He didn’t let go. “Unless you have some idea of where they’re taking her, it’s a wild stab in the dark. We need more info.”

She smiled, revealing teeth that were a little too sharp. “Oh, I know exactly where they’ve taken her. Trouble is, they’re armed, so we’d need a small army to get in there.”

It was Reese’s turn to smile. “Darling, I
am
an army.”

Chapter Seven

“You stupid motherfuckers! I said grab her, not knock her fucking brains out!”

Bobbi didn’t react as Conrad’s furious voice ripped through the air. A hood over her head, she couldn’t see a thing, but the sound had come from behind her. She sat on a hard chair, hands tied behind her and her ankles lashed to the legs. Staying slumped over as though unconscious, she tested the bonds gently, only to find them tight. No movement whatsoever. Shit.

She blinked under the hood, wincing at the little bit of light that filtered through the rough fabric. Consciousness had returned a couple of minutes ago. Just. She still felt sick and her head throbbed at the back. Concentrating, she probed at her memory.

She’d been at the wholesalers, taking out her anger on the sacks of potatoes as she loaded them into the back of her truck when someone had jumped her from behind. Full sack over the head job.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, she’d struggled like a wildcat as they’d thrown her in the back of what she assumed to be a van. Her head had hit something hard and it had been lights out until a few minutes ago.

Tied to a chair in…she sniffed quietly…yeah, smelled like the old sawmill behind the Travis farm. Shit. She’d seen this movie and it didn’t end well.

“You’d better hope she’s at least breathing,” Conrad warned, his footsteps grew louder as he walked toward her. “If she’s dead, you’ll be joining her in a shallow grave.”

His words didn’t offer any comfort for her continued wellbeing. The hood was whipped from her head and she managed not to flinch, blinking as she looked up. Conrad stood over her, his face twisted by a sneer of sheer cruelty. How had she ever thought him handsome?

“Ahhh, there she is,” he carolled, as though speaking to a child. “How are you feeling, Princess?”

“Screw. You.” She wasn’t in the mood to play games or be nice. The fact she was tied up spoke volumes about how he expected this meeting to go. “How the fuck do you think I feel?”