Red And The Bear (Grimm Bears 1) (2 page)

She was heading back to the
kitchen when the bell tinkled and their first customer pushed into
the restaurant. Surprised, Rose spun round, but almost immediately,
her smile wavered.

The man standing at the door
wasn't anyone she knew, and she knew all their customers. He was a
stranger, and she scented something else about him right away.

Rose couldn't always tell if
someone was a shifter, but she could always tell if someone was a
wolf shifter. She could literally sniff out the presence of the wolf
inside the person.

Nan had told her that there
was no need to avoid all wolf shifters and she had nothing to be
afraid of, but Rose remained wary. She knew what happened to her
mother. She knew how dangerous, cold and cunning a wolf could be.

Rose forced herself to step
forward with what she hoped was a welcoming smile. “Table for
one?” she asked pleasantly.

The stranger nodded. He took
a sniff and she knew that he had caught her underlying scent. His
nostrils flared and he ran his eyes up and down her body as he
followed her to the table.

Rose showed him to a table
right in the middle of the restaurant and handed him the menu. “I'll
be right back to take your order,” she said hurriedly.

Rose retreated behind the
counter and took a big swig of iced water. She could hear Nan
humming a cheerful tune in the kitchen as she cooked.

Rose pretended to busy
herself with some paperwork. She shuffled some papers, rearranged
the pens and finally chanced a glance up. She met the customer's
glowing yellow eyes and she instinctively reached for the shotgun
hidden under the counter.

She had gotten the shotgun a
few years back. It was up to her to protect herself and Nan from the
wild animals that sometimes wandered into the town from the forest
and from dangerous, unsavory characters that passed through the town
from time to time.

They had been robbed once,
but at that time, Rose was only nine and too young and scrawny to
defend her Nan. Nan had emptied out the cash register and handed
over all her hard-earned money to the bandits. When Rose asked Nan
later why she gave those thieving brutes the money, Nan had stroked
her hair and said, “I just wanted them gone. The money isn't
important. But you are, Rose.”

Rose understood that Nan
didn't want the robbers to hurt her. She had given them all her cash
to protect Rose. From then on, Rose swore that she would protect
Nan, and she would never allow anyone to rob them again.

Realizing that her palms had
turned clammy, Rose wiped them on her red apron before balling her
fists and standing up. “May I take your order now, sir?”
she said, striding purposefully towards the man.

The man smiled, showing just
a hint of teeth. He was in a flannel shift and he was stocky and
muscular. His eyes were a dirty yellow and there was a scar snaking
from his left temple to his jaw.

Rose stood beside the table
and pulled out her pen to jot down his order. Her eyes darted to the
door and she wished someone would walk into the restaurant. Even
though the man was a customer, she just didn't want to be alone in
the restaurant with him.

The man canted his head at
Rose and smirked. “I know what you are,” he drawled and
took another whiff. “I can smell your wolf, little lady. And
I can smell that you will be going into your first heat...soon.”

CHAPTER
FOUR

Jack stabbed at the radio and
cut off the music. He sighed and listened to the quiet in the car.
He glanced at the backseat and forced a shuddering breath into his
lungs as his heart ached.

There was no child seat in
the back. No toys, books and sippy cup. He would always have these
in the car if he was taking Alex somewhere. And the car would be
filled with shrieks and giggles as Jack sang Alex's favorite nursery
rhymes enthusiastically but tunelessly during the entire drive.

Jack thought of his precious
little son, and gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles
gleamed. His boy was gone. Forever.

Alex was only two. He should
have experienced so much more. Jack would never see his little boy
start his first day at school. He would never see Alex go to the
prom, graduate, start a family and have his own beautiful kids. The
boy's life had been cut short by a reckless driver, a youth who was
talking on the phone and going too fast down a quiet street just as
Alex pulled free from his nanny's grip and ran after a butterfly.

It wasn't the nanny's fault.
Mrs Lee had been devastated by the accident. Jack didn't blame her,
but she blamed herself. She had fallen into a deep depression and
she couldn't even bring herself to attend Alex's funeral.

Jack took a deep breath and
shook away the last thoughts of his little boy. It had been six
months now since Alex died. At first, Jack had just buried himself
in his work and stayed in the office from dawn till midnight. He
thought he could numb his pain and block out his anger by just
drowning himself in work.

But he wasn't helping anyone
by not taking the time to mourn and deal with his pain and sorrow.
His pent-up grief festered into anger, and Jack became moody and
bad-tempered. He became impatient and irritable and he flew off the
handle too easily.

Jack began to doubt
everything, including his business decisions, and he found he
couldn't really trust himself or his judgment anymore.

He hardly went out and he
hated going anywhere. He even began to hate going to his office, but
he hated his home more. He just couldn't stand going home to his
large, empty house.

Stepping into the house and
listening to the echo of his own footsteps through the spacious hall
was unbearable. The lonely, hollow echoes made him all too aware of
his terrible loss. He had lost the most precious thing in his life.

Alex's mother had been one of
his ex-girlfriends. He hadn't even known she was pregnant when they
broke up. He'd found out that she had been two-timing him. Nine
months later, she'd turned up at his doorstep with a tiny bundle.
“This is your son,” she told him as she unloaded the baby
into his arms. “I don't want anything to do with him. I'm
getting married and my guy doesn't want the kid.” It turned
out that she was marrying an older, richer dude who already had a few
grown children from his previous marriages. “Get rid of the
baby or the wedding is off,” he'd told her. So she got rid of
the baby.

Jack never doubted for an
instant that the baby was his. The boy had the same stunning green
eyes and golden blond hair as Jack and his brothers.

Just one whiff and Jack knew
that Alex was his cub. The boy was a bear shifter just like him.

Jack took his foot off the
pedal and slowed down. There was a small town coming up. He had
been driving for hours, and he should stop to refuel and eat. Then
he'd be on his way again.

He had no specific
destination in mind. It was just a journey he had to take. He owed
it to himself, to Alex and to everyone who cared about him. He knew
Hans and Derek loved their nephew very dearly. His two brothers had
been doting, adoring uncles to Alex. He knew that Hans and Derek was
hurting as well, but right now, Jack simply had to focus on coming to
terms with his own loss and grief. He had to heal his own heart,
otherwise he was just no good to anyone. In fact, he knew that he
was a disaster just waiting to happen. He had to get away and save
everyone from himself.

He turned into the small town
and found the nearest gas station. Redcape Grove was a quaint,
almost old-fashioned little town. Some of the buildings and houses
looked like they were in need of some repairs and a nice new coat of
paint.

“Would you be so kind
as to recommend me a good restaurant around here, M'am?” Jack
asked the lady at the cashier as he paid for the gas.

“Mmm.” The woman
looked him up and down appreciatively and leaned forward, giving him
a generous view of her heaving bosom. “The Cottage In the
Woods serves the best pies, in my opinion. It's located right at the
end of Grove Street, near the edge of town,” she said, winking
seductively at him. “You know,” she purred, running a
red fingernail down his arm. “I make a mean Shepherd's pie
myself.” The woman licked her lips slowly, letting him read
her intentions. She would readily welcome him into her kitchen and
her bed.

Jack smiled politely at her.
“Thank you, M'am. You're most kind.”

Jack went back to his car and
turned towards The Cottage In the Woods. For some reason, he liked
the name of the restaurant. It was simple yet a little quirky.

Jack smirked when he heard
his stomach growl. His appetite was back, it seemed.

CHAPTER
FIVE

Rose stifled a scream when
the man reached out to grab her wrist. Forcefully, she wrenched her
hand away and took a step back. She had dealt with unruly,
unreasonable customers before. “Sir,” she said firmly.
“I won't tolerate...”

“You little minx,”
the wolf shifter growled. “You're going into heat soon, so why
don't I do you a favor and...”

“Please leave,”
Rose said, pointing to the door.

Rose backed towards the
counter, ready to grab the shotgun. There weren't any silver bullets
in the gun, just ordinary ones. But she didn't really want to commit
murder. She just wanted this obnoxious, creepy wolf gone.

The man raised a bushy brow
at her and put his feet up on the table. “I'm a customer. I
have a right to eat here.”

“And I have the right
not to serve you,” Rose answered firmly. “Please leave
now, sir.”

The man laughed, his yellow
eyes glinting dangerously. “Sir! I like that. I want to hear
you call me “Sir” when I'm feeding my cock into your
little virgin cunt.”

Rose made a strangled sound
at the back of her throat as she clenched her fists. Her breathing
sounded too fast and loud to her ears, and she was all too aware that
she was alone in the restaurant with a wolf. Nan was in the back and
she knew that Nan would be out front in a heartbeat if she heard
Rose's screams. She didn't want to expose Nan to danger, and
frighten her great-grandmother. Nan had a stout heart, but still,
she was getting on in years. Rose would handle the wolf herself.

“I'll ask nicely one
more time,” Rose gritted out. “Leave right now.”

“Or what?” the
man taunted.

Rose whipped the shotgun out
and took aim at the man. “Or I'll shoot.”

Something ugly rippled across
the man's face before he twisted his features into a parody of a
smile. “You can't kill me with that,” he said, standing
up. “I'm sure you know that. I'm a wolf, a real, virile,
red-blooded wolf.” He prowled slowly towards her and chuckled.
“I do enjoy a feisty female. It's more exciting when they put
up a fight.”

“I said, leave! Don't
take a step closer,” Rose warned, her finger on the trigger.

The man's eyes turned
completely wolf and Rose took an involuntary step back. His feral,
predatory gaze locked on her and he let out a low snarl.

The man froze suddenly,
stopping just a few inches from the barrel of her gun. He tilted his
head sharply as if he'd heard a sound at the door.

One second later, the door
opened and a tall, blond man stepped into the restaurant.

The man stared at Rose and
the gun in her hand. The wolf shifter stepped away from Rose, and
his eyes returned to human in a flash.

The new customer said
nothing, but strolled to a corner table and sat down. Rose lowered
her gun shakily and watched the two men in her restaurant. The blond
man was a full head taller than the wolf shifter, and his plain white
t-shirt was stretched across his broad frame.

Rose had never seen him
before, so he wasn't local.

Great, now there were two
out-of-town strangers in her restaurant.

One bad wolf.

And one tall, handsome
stranger who seemed completely unfazed at the scene he had just
witnessed.

The wolf shifter glanced at
the newcomer and sniffed twice. Scowling, he glared at Rose and the
blond man in turn, before heading to the door.

Once the door slammed shut
behind him, Rose slumped against the counter. She stuffed the gun
back under the counter and took a few deep, steadying breaths.

“You okay, Miss?”

Rose gasped and jerked her
head up.

The blond stranger was still
seated at the corner table, but he was watching her carefully. His
piercing green eyes were sharp and assessing, but they were kindly
and intelligent. His nonchalant, indifferent manner had been an act,
Rose realized. This man was smart and sharp, and he obviously missed
nothing. Rose knew at once that the man had sauntered in and parked
himself at the table on purpose.

He hadn't turned on his heel
and hightailed it out of the restaurant as soon as he saw the wolf
and the crazy woman with the shotgun. He had stayed—to help
her.