The Bear's Reluctant Wolf (2 page)

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“Girl, you need to get out of this damn
house and let loose.”

Candace pushed her reading glasses up
her nose and glared at Melissa. Even though she had known the other wolf
shifter for years, Melissa’s outgoing and smart-mouthed personality was still
not something she was totally used to.

“And where exactly am I supposed to go?”
She took her glasses off and set them on the table. Maybe Candace shouldn’t
have said anything, but knowing Melissa she had an array of activities that
Candace would have never thought of doing on her own. She held up her hand just
as Melissa parted her lips. Her friend looked like some kind of gypsy, what
with her wildly curly dark hair, beaded tank top and matching maxi skirt, and how
could she forget the twenty or thirty bangle bracelets lined nearly all the way
up her forearm? The damn things clanked every time Melissa moved.
“And before you say it, no, no, and hell no.”

Melissa crossed her arms under her
breasts and narrowed her eyes down at Candace. “
No
what? You didn’t even let me say anything.”

“You’re right, but I know you well
enough that you are either going to say strip club, skinny dipping down at the
lake with all the college kids, or going to the bar and picking up a random guy
to sleep with.
Hence why I said, no, no, and hell no.”
Melissa grinned broadly.

“All right, you do know me pretty damn
well, but I wasn’t going to suggest any of those, not really anyways.” Yeah,
Candace didn’t believe that for one moment.

“I don’t want to go out and take a guy
home after only knowing him for a few hours.” Melissa sat in the seat across
from her and lifted a perfectly plucked dark eyebrow. “Okay, so I may have done
that with Chad, but I didn’t sleep with him. We hung out at the Sugar Shack
diner all night just talking.”

Melissa made a scoffing noise. “That was
your first clue he was a douche. I don’t ever trust a coyote shifter.” Candace
snorted. “Okay, I don’t trust jackals either, but rightly so. Those two breeds
are pricks with a capital fucker thrown in.” Melissa tossed her hair over one
shoulder, and her damn bracelets jangled like they were alive. “Can you say
that my instincts are wrong about them?” There was a challenging expression on
Melissa’s face.

“No. You were right, on both accounts.”
Their friend Ary was now mated to a bear, and had a family. Before that, five
years ago, Melissa had taken them both to a bar to celebrate
Ary’s
thirtieth birthday and to forget about her scumbag
ex-boyfriend, who happened to be a jackal shifter. One thing had led to another
with Ary leaving with Charlie, her now mate, and Melissa leaving with some
random guy. Candace had met Chad at the bar, and the coyote shifter had been
sweet and nice. The attraction had been instant, although not consuming. She
felt safe with Chad, but as their relationship grew and time went on, Candace
realized they just weren’t a good fit. Not only that, Chad had started to pull
away because she wasn’t giving him enough sex. Even now she snorted at that
thought. Apparently if she wasn’t sitting on the couch butt-naked with her legs
spread for him every night, he wasn’t getting enough sex. Then, just before she
was about to break it off with him, knowing that staying together was just
wasting both of their lives, she had caught him sleeping with not one, but two
females, and in the bed they shared no less.

That had been last year, and Candace now
had her own place and had moved on. She hadn’t bothered with any men, human or
shifters, and was happy in her perfectly placed little world. She didn’t even
think about Chad or how the time she caught him probably wasn’t a one-time
thing.
 
Men were assholes, well, all the
ones who got thrown her way. Before Chad there had been a few other guys, ones
not even worth mentioning because they had been so bad. So here she was, thirty-five,
single, and without a family of her own. She had also gained more weight than
she had liked since breaking it off with Chad, and it seemed no amount of
working out made her roundness go away. If this was what happened when a female
hit her “prime” she wanted to give the finger to getting old.

“I’d say you need to let go and get
wild, but it would fall on deaf ears.” Candace didn’t bother responding,
because where Melissa was the life of a party, she was a Debbie Downer. She
just kept to herself, stayed at home on the weekends more times than not, and
felt safe living that way. “I was going to invite you to come with me to Dakota
Dark’s, that new bar and grille. I heard the food is good and the eye candy top-notch
… like lots of leather, tats, and even a few piercings thrown in.” Before
Candace could say anything Melissa kept right on going. “Don’t worry. I won’t throw
you to the wolves.” She threw her head back and started laughing at her very
lame attempt to make a joke.

“Funny,” Candace deadpanned. She waited
until Melissa had herself composed before continuing. “Just admit that you’re
going there to pick up a guy, and that it has nothing to do with the food and
the ‘nice’ atmosphere.”

“Well…” Candace lifted a brow, and
Melissa laughed again. “It’s all muscles and testosterone, with a little
aggression and big bulges thrown in. I mean, how can you say no to tats,
bikers, leather and growling?”

“Growling?” Now it was Candace’s turn to
laugh. “And when did you go out there?”

“When you and Ary bailed on me and I was
forced to take Manny.” Manny, the geeky
meerkat
,
was even more introverted than Candace. He had been in
love with Melissa since the ninth grade, but he was barely as tall as Melissa,
and stick-thin. He was also not Melissa’s type. They were all friends, but
Manny didn’t bother trying to hide his clear infatuation for her best friend.
It was cute, endearing, but also annoying as hell and even a bit creepy at
times.

“Are you serious?” Candace already knew
the answer, so the question was moot. “I’ll only go if you promise you won’t
try and push me to go hit on some lonely looking guy sitting alone at the bar.”

It took Melissa a little too long to
answer.
“Deal.”
Melissa grinned. “You think Ary can
sneak away?” Melissa was already grabbing her phone out of her oversized bag.

“I talked to her earlier. Cole’s sick.”

“Poor baby.”
Melissa pouted. “I’ll give her a call on the way home, and check up on him.
Me
and you are going to have so much fun tonight.” She
clapped her hands together.

“You have to also promise you won’t bail
on me if you see some hot piece of ass.”

“You know I wouldn’t do that.” Candace
stared at her because they both knew that was a damn lie. “I did that once, and
that was only because Ary had gone home with Charlie, and you were all hot and
heavy with Chad. I thought for sure you’d be hitting that later in the
evening.” Candace curled her lip in disgust. “Besides, that was like how long
ago?”

“Just promise. I don’t want to look like
a desperate idiot just sitting there alone.” Melissa reached out and grabbed
her hand, and the sympathetic look was totally plastered on a bit too heavy.
“Do you have to do that?”

Melissa looked confused. “Do what,
sweetheart?” She batted her eyelashes and gave her a saccharine smile.

“Be a bitch?”

Melissa started laughing, and Candace
smiled.

“You love that I’m a bitch and can make
you smile.” This was true, of course. “I’m not going to leave my girl hanging.
I just need to slut it up, so I can catch some hot shifter’s eyes.” She wagged
her eyebrows. “Have your ass ready by eight. We’ll have hot wings and
margaritas.”

“Sounds lovely.”
Candace said without any emotion, which only had Melissa grinning.

“Toddles, babes.”
Melissa turned and made her way to the front door, her heels clicking on the
tile. The sound of the front door opening and closing preceded Melissa’s
departure.

Chapter Two

When they pulled into the parking lot of
Dakota Dark’s the streetlights were showcasing the line of motorcycles off to
the side of the building and the ones parked in front of the bar. There were a
lot of men and women leaning against the bikes, and Candace would be lying if
she didn’t admit the sight of all that leather was a bit intimidating.

“This place looks like it’s going to eat
us alive.”

Melissa laughed and patted Candace on
the thigh. “Girl, that’s what I’m hoping.” She looked at her friend, and saw
her straight white teeth flashing in the darkened interior of the car. “Come on
before all the
hotties
leave.” Candace rolled her
eyes, but grabbed her purse and climbed out of Melissa’s Honda. Candace pulled at
the hem of her skirt, the one Melissa had insisted she wear, but she was now
regretting it. She had shoved the damn thing far back in her drawer, had even
forgotten about it until Melissa had sniffed out the tiny scrap of flimsy black
material and shoved it in her face. What was worse was Melissa had brought one
of her own tops for Candace to wear, one that was cut so low her cleavage was
on full display. She had never been this exposed out in public, and it was a
bit unnerving.

Candace was used to her jeans and
cardigan sets, but there was no dissuading Melissa, or talking her out of
anything. They were both wolf shifters, but Melissa was far tougher than she
was. Melissa didn’t back down, and didn’t take shit from anyone. And that was
one of the reasons Candace loved her like a sister.

They made their way toward the front,
and there was no mistaking the looks some of the scary looking bikers gave
them. Melissa was wearing some scandalizing short dress, one that showed off
her killer curves. Candace just felt like a frumpy potato.

“Damn, ladies, looking fucking fine.”

Without missing a stride Melissa lifted
her hand and flipped the guy off. Candace grinned just as they pushed the door
open and stepped inside. If Candace was by herself she felt more reserved, but
Melissa brought out a different side of her, and Candace loved it and felt
free. The sound of heavy rock music slammed into Candace’s ears, and it took
her a moment for her vision to adjust to the dimly lit interior. Once she did
she suddenly felt
very
overdressed.

She lowered her voice and leaned in
close to Melissa’s ear. “Melissa, we should have just worn jeans and holey
t-shirts. These outfits make us look way out of place.”

“You can’t catch dick wearing jeans and
holey shirts.” Melissa smoothed her hands down her dress, right over her
breasts, and puffed her chest out. Candace just shook her head, because she
honestly had no clue how to even respond to that. “Oh God, look at that guy
over there, the bartender with the huge muscled arms covered in tattoo
sleeves.”

Candace looked over at the bar, but what
she saw was a massive back seeing as the bartender was busy pouring drinks. He
had to be easily six and a half feet tall, with massive biceps that were
covered in colorful ink. He turned around and gave a guy sitting at the bar his
bear. His short black hair was almost military style, and the scowl on his face
made him look like he’d break someone’s arm off if they glanced at him the
wrong way.

“I bet he’d eat you alive.” Candace was
teasing, but then again she wasn’t. The guy was a freaking machine.

“I know, isn’t it great?” There was
almost a wistful note on Melissa’s voice. Melissa led the way to the bar, and
once they were both seated on the barstools Candace looked over her shoulder
and people-watched. The pool tables off to the side were surrounded by guys in
jeans and dirty t-shirts. Maybe they did construction? Although the majority of
the patrons were of the biker variety, there were ones who didn’t look like
they could beat some ass with just a look.

“What can I get for you ladies?” The
dark voice that addressed them had Candace turning back around and staring into
turbulent dark eyes. She sensed his disinterest in everything around him, but
even if she hadn’t been a shifter, any person would have been able to tell that
this was not a lion shifter to be messed with.

“Two margaritas, please.
Oh, and some hot wings.”
He smirked, but it wasn’t one
of amusement. That seemed to annoy Melissa. “
What,
never made margaritas before?” She was teasing, but there was also a sultry hint
in her voice. Leave it to her friend to try to flirt with a guy that she
clearly should have been staying away from.

“Actually, no.
People that come here at night don’t tend to want anything other than shots or
beer.” His voice held no emotion as he eyed them apathetically.

“Well, sugar, looks like I’ll pop your
margarita cherry tonight.” He didn’t crack a smile, just grunted and turned
around so his back was facing them again. Melissa looked over at Candace and puckered
out her lips. “Doesn’t his attitude just make you tingle down there?” Candace
shook her head but didn’t bother responding. Melissa hadn’t exactly said that
statement quietly, and by the way the lion looked over his shoulder at them
with a cocked eyebrow, it was clear he had heard.