Furocious: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (2 page)

Someone was banging at the door. I glanced at my alarm clock—6 am on a Saturday? It was probably my landlord checking on something. Geez! What did a girl have to do to sleep in?

Monty was curled up next to me, snoring softly. I gently moved his arm to the side and got out of the bed. I was totally naked. I pulled on a pajama tank and bottoms, slid into my slippers, and padded to the door. There had better be a good reason for waking me up—I was not an early riser.

I flung open the door. I couldn’t believe it! Kyle was standing in front of me; his eyes bleary. Instead of his typically tousled beach bum hair, his strands were a disheveled mess.

“Kyle, wha…what the hell are you doing here?”

He forced a grin. “I ah…missed you last night. I thought I’d see if you wanted to get breakfast.”

I eyed him with disbelief. “At 6am in the morning? Come on Kyle, you know I don’t get out of bed before 9am and that’s on a good day.” Fortunately with my job working for Alicia Morgan at her auction reseller shop, Morgan’s Treasures, my hours were flexible and I usually didn’t start work till 10am; sometimes later.

“What’s this really about, Kyle?” I asked, pursing my lips.

“Ok, ok. After you left with Mr. Scraggly, it umm…well, I didn’t feel good. When work ended I went home to bed but I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned all night.”

“Okayyyyy…and?”

“And I realized that I don’t want you with anyone else but me. And I don’t want anyone but you.”

“That seems very odd, Kyle Collins, considering you sleep around like you do.”

“Look Angie, when you left with that…that guy, I felt sick. Sometimes you just need a slap in the face to realize you got something good right in front of you.”

“I’ll give you a slap in the face,” a harsh, grainy voice said.

“Monty!” I turned around. Monty was standing behind me, glaring at Kyle. His cocoa eyes had narrowed into darkened slits with glints of anger. “You had your opportunity and you blew it, buddy boy. Now get moving and leave the little lady where she belongs…with me.”

Wow, at any time in life I would have relished being called a little lady and being wanted by not one, but two hot bear shifters. But right now, in these circumstances, I just wanted this whole mess to disappear.  Monty was shooting daggers at Kyle and I could see from his stance that Kyle was ready to explode with rage.

“Why you…” before finishing his sentence, Kyle transitioned into his bear, his sexy man replaced with a huge, furry creature ready for a fight.

Monty was quick to follow, shifting into his bear, angry and rough. As Kyle lumbered towards him, Monty met his approach.

This was just plain crazy. Under normal circumstances these two could be gentle giants; two cuddly teddy bears. But now they were massive, frightening creatures ready for bloodshed.

Kyle took a swipe with his meaty paw at Monty and Monty swiped back. As he leaned towards Kyle, he stumbled forward, falling on top of him. The two tumbled down the steps and onto the side walk. Roaring, they started battling it out.

“Stop it! Stop it!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Shifters got a bad rap sometimes but these two were living examples of how wrong things could go if they got truly angry and out of control. A few cars honked their horns as they drove by, observing the fracas. My neighbors didn’t seem to be around and for that I was thankful. I was lucky to find a landlord who took a chance on me as a wolf shifter. If this was reported I could lose my apartment.

The two continued battling—clawing, poking, slugging… As much as I hated to do it, I would have to call the police. Calling the cops would surely mean jail time for them. Shifters were dealt with harshly in this town and a lock up in the detention center was common, but it was better than them injuring one another. Decision made, I ran inside to get my phone.

I grabbed my cell and ran back outside in time to see Monty cuffing Kyle’s ear and Kyle sinking his enormous teeth in Monty’s arm. Both of their furry coats were matted with bits of gravel from the sidewalk and blood.

I glanced down at my phone, ready to call 911. But before I pressed it, a part of a text from Missy flashed across the screen. As soon as I saw the words ‘Granny hurt,’ I could feel myself panicking.

My beloved Granny…what was wrong?  I felt sick to my stomach. This was the woman who had cared for me and loved me for so many years.  I couldn’t imagine anything happening to her. I realized my sister had left several phone and text messages. As I listened to her message, I learned that Granny had tripped while setting up her baked goods stall at a craft show early that morning and was in the hospital.

This was unbelievable; two shifters fighting over me in front of my apartment while my dear Granny was ailing. I had more important things to do than make a 911 call over two werebears who couldn’t behave themselves. I quickly dressed, grabbed a change of clothes and my car keys, then I gathered up Monty’s things. He could walk back to the Bite Me Bar and pick up his car which was nearby.

I locked the door to the apartment and dumped Monty’s clothes and wallet on the ground where the two were still fighting. “My grandmother is in the hospital and I need to go see her now!” I screamed. At first the two seemed to ignore me, but when Monty saw his clothes being dumped he batted Kyle to the side and finally listened to me.

“My grandmother is in the hospital. I have to leave now,” I sobbed.

Monty gently put a furry paw on my arm, but I pushed him away. “You two kill each other or whatever. I need to go now.”

As I rushed to my car, Monty transitioned back to his man. “I’m going with you,” he panted. He picked up his clothes from the ground and hustled to my side.

“I’m coming too.” I turned to see Kyle, was also in his man again, carrying his clothes.

“Why would I want either of you fools to come?” I groaned, blinking back tears. The truth was, I was so upset about not knowing what to expect with Granny that I wasn’t sure I could make the hour’s drive without breaking down.

“Give me the keys,” Kyle said hoarsely. He was breathing heavily from fighting.

I tossed him the keys. The two men quickly dressed and we climbed in my car. My stomach churning, we began the trip to Pennsylvania. I prayed from the depths of my soul that my Granny would be alright.

Granny was lying in a hospital bed looking very frail and tired, her right arm elevated in a cast. I could see her fingers were swollen, but from the first words out of her mouth I knew she was going to be ok. The woman was as feisty as they come!

“Damn it. I need out of this thing, Angel,” she motioned angrily at the cast with her good arm. “I have orders that have to get done. I need to be baking right now, not lying here in bed like a bump on a log.”

“Granny, you relax now,” I admonished her. “You won’t be getting any baking done with that cast on or off for that matter. You have a broken arm!”

“Girl, I can see I have a broken arm. You’re not telling me anything new! But I don’t have time to have a broken arm.”

I shook my head. “It’s not like you have a choice right now, Gran. Stop upsetting yourself. It’ll make your blood pressure go up. Then they won’t let you out of here.”

I had been so relieved to find out she was going to be ok. At first they thought she may have sustained other injuries, but after careful observation they had given her a clean bill of health. She was going to be released in a few hours.

“This could not have come at a worse time,” Granny moaned. “I have a lot of orders I need to get ready over the next couple weeks. And what about my bus trip to the outlets? I already paid for my ticket. I was looking forward to shopping.”

I shook my head. If there were two things my Granny loved they were baking and shopping. Baking she did daily as her job and shopping she did as often as possible.

“We can cancel those orders Granny. They’ll understand. You do have a broken arm after all. And you can probably still go shopping—even with a broken arm,” I grinned at her. “You’ll just have to work a little harder to get to all the bargains.”

Granny shook her head. “Well, maybe I can still go shopping—thank God. But like hell I’ll cancel my orders. Some of them ordered over a year ago from me. They don’t want just any bakery. They want Grandma Harper’s Sweet Taste Bakery goods.” Granny smiled, pride etched across her face. “No one can bake like I can. I can’t disappoint them.”

“I know Gran. Now you just relax.”

“I’ll guess I’ll have to figure out how to do my baking with the cast on.”

“Sssh. Don’t get yourself worked up. We’ll figure something out.”

“I suppose,” she said grumpily.

“Let me introduce you to two friends of mine.” I stepped over to the room door and looked out. Kyle and Monty were standing against the wall in the hallway practically hissing at one another. After giving them a ‘be on your best behavior—or else look,’ I motioned the men into her room.

The pair entered the room and stood at the end of Granny’s bed. “Granny, this is Kyle, and this is Monty.”

“Oh my,” Granny said, smiling. She patted her silver hair in place with her left hand, her grumpy mood forgotten. “You are both so handsome—very handsome.”

“Granny pretty much raised me. She is the world’s best granny and an amazing baker. She makes cakes, cookies, cupcakes and other goodies for weddings and corporate events. And she sells at craft fairs too.”

“Oh, Angel Sue…”

“Now Granny, don’t be modest. You know your baked goods are the best in town.”

“In town…you mean in the world,” Grandma gave a belly laugh. “Yes, well baking is one thing I can do. But let’s not talk about my cupcakes when we can talk about these two handsome men in front of me. You’re both pretty big. Are you shifters?”

Kyle nodded.

“Bear shifters,” Monty said.

She gave the men a sassy grin, a twinkle in her eyes. “I understand some shifters have a share-were pact. Do you two?”

Talk about blunt. My eyes widened. “Ok, Granny, I can see you are feeling much, much better. You must be to ask about that!”

A share-were pact was where two male shifters shared a woman, physically and emotionally. A pact was not uncommon among male shifters, especially those that were very close—something Kyle and Monty were definitely not.

“Well, just asking,” Gran said. “I mean, why not? It seems to be working quite nicely for Emma Morgan’s granddaughter, Alicia.”

Emma Morgan was a resident of Werewolf Haven. She was my boss, Alicia’s, grandmother and a friend of my Gran’s. Gran had met Emma when Alicia invited me to bring a guest to a big party to celebrate her togetherness with Franco and Marco, her two sexy wolf shifters. I brought Gran. Alicia’s grandmother was at the party and the two elderly women had hit it off. Now they chatted often and visited one another on occasion.

“You’re a pretty woman. And you’re certainly sassy enough for two men,” Gran said firmly.

“You’re such a sweetheart, Gran.” Granny always told me how beautiful I was. She had always been my biggest cheerleader.

“
And
you got the curvy, sexy body the men like,” Granny cupped her breast with her hand.

“Granny!” I could feel a little blush flaming up my neck. I rolled my eyes and avoided looking at Kyle and Monty. It wasn’t like they hadn’t already seen and even sampled the goods, but still. It was a little embarrassing having one’s grandmother point them out.

“You two men look very nice and you are both certainly very good looking,” Granny continued. “If it was me, I wouldn’t know which of you to pick.” She looked at Monty, “tall, dark and handsome or…” She looked at Kyle, “blonde, built and cute as a button. So I hope you have a share-we…”

“Ok Granny,” I interrupted. “I think they get the idea.”

“Thanks,” Monty said, taking Grandma’s free hand and giving it a light kiss. “It’s a pleasure meeting you.”

“Yes, thank you ma’am,” Kyle chimed in, flashing Granny a toothy grin.

Granny’s face lit up, a bright smile crossing her wrinkled complexion.

It’s a pleasure meeting you and thank you ma’am? Sassy grins and hand kisses? Where the heck did all this pleasantness come from? Hard to believe just a short two hours ago these two had been rolling in the streets slapping each other upside the head.

“Well, Gran, I’m sorry you’re in this pickle,” I said, changing the topic. “So you were setting up your booth at the craft show and then you tripped?”

“Not exactly,” Granny said, frowning.

“Okay, tell us, what exactly happened?”

“Well, I was setting up my bake table at the craft fair.”

“Uh huh.”

“And I had outdone myself this time. I had decided to just do a cupcake table—no pies, cakes, fudge, brownies—nothing but cupcakes. And oh, I had some yummy cupcakes.”

“What kind did you have Gran?” I loved hearing about her tasty treats.

“The question isn’t what I had. It’s what kind didn’t I have?” Granny said smugly.

“Yum…” I licked my lips, thinking of Granny’s cupcake confections. They were always delicious, with heavenly batters and melt in your mouth icing that had you salivating for more.

“Well, since you asked, I had butter rum, red velvet, peanut butter truffle, rainbow sprinkle, double chocolate, carrot cake, lemon drop, pumpkin spice, banana walnut…”

“Stop, Gran, you’re driving me crazy wanting a cupcake!”

Granny grinned. She knew I loved her treats. “I had them all set up on the folding table but one tray. I went to the truck to get the last batch. It was my new special strawberry with cream cupcake.”

Granny licked her lips, “they were perfect; vanilla cake with luscious strawberries mixed in and freshly made whipped cream on top, capped with a rich, ripe berry. I was admiring how pretty they looked as I walked the tray with them over to my stand…”

“And then you tripped,” I said sadly.

Granny’s brow wrinkled, her face grimacing in disgust. “Hell no I didn’t trip. I was pushed!”