To Love a Bear

This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons--living or dead--is entirely coincidental.

To Love a Bear copyright @ 2014 by Kay Perry. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

TO LOVE A BEAR

Chapter 1

I
threw the car in park, staring skeptically at the retirement development laid out in the middle of the Montana wilderness.

“Isn’t it great, Lily?”

I rolled my eyes at my dad’s excitement. All I saw was a lodge surrounded by a bunch of run-down log cabins. If I remember from the brochure, each cabin had a bed, bathroom, and small kitchenette. However, sitting before them now, they didn’t look like they would hold much more than a bed.

“It’s pretty… rustic,” I replied.

My dad smiled. “I know. And we’re surrounded by forest for miles!”

“Hmmm.”

His smile fell. “What?”

“I just don’t understand why you want to move all the way out here to live in a run-down shack for the rest of your life.”

“Our facilities are very well maintained and we offer a large variety of services for our tenants.”

I jumped when I heard the deep voice speak behind me and turned around to see a rugged looking man with his arm extended out to shake my dad’s hand. “Mister Parks, my name is Andrew. I’m the caretaker of Wild Oaks. I’ll show you to your cabin.”

We followed behind Andrew to a grouping of cabins nestled in the hillside behind the lodge. Curious, I took a delicate sniff to see what kind of shifter Andrew was and instinctively snarled when Andrew spun and growled at me. “It’s rude to sniff people, little wolf.”

“Just because you’re a bear shifter doesn’t mean you need to act like one fresh out of hibernation,” I retaliated.

Andrew stopped suddenly in front of a door and shoved a key into my dad’s hand. “Here is your cabin, Mister Parks.” Shooting me a glare he finished with, “Let me know if you need anything” He then stormed off into the woods.

My dad cleared his throat. “Well that was a little rude.”

I gestured helplessly after the retreating form. “I know, right? To think that guy works in customer service.”

“I was talking about you, Lily.”

“
Me
? He started it.”

“He wasn’t the one insulting another person’s workplace. I’m sure he’s put in a lot of time an effort into maintaining these grounds.”

I snorted and gave the area around me a disdainful look.

“Lily…” He chided.

I sighed. “You’re right, Daddy. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” he said as he unlocked the door and entered the cabin.

I glanced back at the woods before following him inside. “I don’t think he wants to hear my apology right now.”

“I won’t argue with you on that one.”

Chapter 2

“Gah!” I exclaimed at I shot up in bed, sheets tangled around my legs. I sat in the dark as I waited for my breathing to calm.

Once my heart rate returned to normal, I leant over to turn on the bedside lamp and got out of bed. It was the third time this week I’d dreamed about Andrew. I couldn’t understand why a man who aggravated me so much had the ability to make me so aroused that I climaxed every time I dreamed about him. Or would have, if I didn’t wake up every time I was about to go over the edge.

I ran my hands through my hair. I could not deal with this today. Today was moving day and I needed all my wits about me if I had to deal with the grumpy bear shifter again. I still needed to apologize to him, but otherwise I intended to keep as far away from him as possible.

A quick glance at my alarm clock convinced me to start my day early. I decided to go for a run to work off my excess energy. Stepping out of my hotel room into the brisk morning, I spared no time in shifting into my animal form. I sprung forward, darting through trees and leaping over fallen logs.

I came to a skidding halt when I stumbled upon Andrew fishing in the river. I experienced a brief flare of anger and irritation.
It’s like he was following me.
I quietly backtracked, but stopped when he looked over his shoulder, directly into my eyes.

“Trying to skulk away, little wolf?”

I drew myself up proudly and sat regally, giving him my most haughty look in wolf form. He snorted inelegantly and turned back to his line. I wavered between backing away quietly and taking this opportunity to get it over with and apologize. I took a hesitant step forward, drawing his attention again.

I paused, realizing that if I shifted and talked to him, I would be bare assed naked. I did
not
want to apologize naked. Catching sight of his gear bag, I nuzzled through it in the hopes of finding something to cover me. I grabbed the fleece blanket folded inside and took it behind a tree before shifting into my human form. Wrapping the blanket around my chest, I was glad it was large enough to cover my body so no skin was showing. I walked out from behind the tree, catching him watching me.

“I…”

“Who gave you the right to go through my things?” he interrupted.

I reeled back like I had just been slapped. The blanket slipped slightly when I stepped on the back hem and Andrew’s eyes followed the motion.

I readjusted the blanket and growled menacingly at him, which he replied with a growl of his own.

“I don’t know what crawled up your ass and died, but I suggest you get it removed. Promptly.”

“You’re very rude, Miss Parks.”

“You have no right to snap at me like that.”

“You’re the one who wrecked my morning and went through my things!”

“Oh I
wrecked
your morning now?”

“Look...” he started.

“Shut up!” I snapped, surprised when he actually complied. Running a hand through my hair, I blew out a breath. This morning run to blow off some steam seemed to be having the opposite effect. “God! I was all prepared to apologize but I’ve realized it’s a waste of my time with a beast like you.” I stomped away, shifting mid stride. I had a moment of perverse satisfaction when Andrew jumped at the speed of my shift.

Chapter 3

I was tired, sweaty and dirty. Needless to say, I was not having fun, so when the wind shifted and I caught a whiff of a certain bear shifter, I had no desire to exchange pleasantries.

“Instead of creeping in the shadows, you could help us move.”

“I have other things to do, Miss Parks.” Andrew stepped out from behind the oak he was leaning against.

I snorted. “Doesn’t look like it.”

Andrew’s nostrils flared angrily. “Fine.” He strode forward with long, ground-eating strides and picked up the two-seater with one hand and carried it into the deceptively spacious cabin.

I was jolted by an unwanted surge of arousal, my mind immediately shifting to ideas of what that type of strength and power could do in the bedroom. I swiftly veered away from the cabin and the group of shifters in an effort to hide the smell of my arousal from their hypersensitive noses, but was clearly unsuccessful based on Andrew’s inhale and the snickers of the others.

Andrew dropped the couch with a loud bang in the cabin before walking away into the woods without saying a word. The snickers turned into chuckles and I spun on my heel, silencing them with a lethal glare. “Shut. It,” I growled. As I walked back to the moving van, laughter followed me.

Chapter 4

I bit into my juicy burger and sighed happily as I was assailed by the delicious meaty flavors. As a “thank you” for helping him move, my father was holding a barbecue for all the volunteers in the shared picnic area behind the main lodge and I was happily indulging in his generosity.

I saw my dad wave Andrew over as he exited the lodge and hid my grimace by taking another bite of my burger.

“Andrew, come join us.”

Even from this distance, I could see his shudder as he took in the large group of people milling about in the clearing.

“No, thank you.”

“It’s really no problem. There’s plenty of food.”

Andrew was almost starting to look panicked as he backed away towards the woods. Before he could reach his target, my cousin stepped up and shoved a plate full of food into his stomach and dragged him over to the tables with the help of my other cousins.

“We appreciate you helping us with the heavy lifting.” My cousins bodily pushed him onto the bench next to me. “I know Lily
really
appreciated it.” They smirked and walked away, ignoring my warning growl.

Andrew sat stiff as a rod next to me. I could see the wheels turning as he planned his escape from the pack gathered around us. Then his stomach rumbled loudly, making me snort a laugh as I took another bite.

“Eat. It’s pretty good fare.”

He looked skeptically down at the food in front of him before looking longingly at the forest in the distance.

“You’ll never make it,” I teased.

“What?”

“If my dad wants to thank you for helping, the pack will make sure you are thanked properly.”

“Why?” he asked with apparent disgust.

“He was the CEO of our pack’s company before he retired and moved here.”

“Your dad is the alpha?”

“You don’t get out much, do you?” I gave him a sideways glance.

Andrew pushed his food away and stood up, pinning me with a fierce glower. “I’m done.”

“You haven’t eaten anything.”

“I’m not going to stick around so that you can call me stupid.”

“I’m not calling you stupid!” I slammed my hands on the table, turning every head in our direction. With an embarrassed blush, I gripped his arm and pulled him away from the party and into the trees. “I’m asking you if you ever leave this forest and see how other packs live.”

“Great, so now I’m some backcountry hick.”

“Can the hostility, will you?” I shoved at his chest, not even moving him an inch “If you actually
cared
about things outside of this retirement facility, you would know that the pack’s alpha is in charge of the protection and the well-being of the pack. He has no time for other things like running a business and earning money for the pack. That’s why he assigns people like my father to run successful businesses for the pack so that they have adequate financial support. That’s how packs work—we support each other.”

“Well if you
cared
about your inner animal and learning about other species, you would know that bears don’t have packs. The only time I ever spend time with other bears is when I’m mating with them or fighting them for territory.  The only person I ever have to depend on is myself.”

“Must be a pretty fucking lonely life.”

I almost missed the flash of vulnerability in his eyes before they hardened and he roared, “Go to hell.” Without missing a beat, he immediately shifted, leaving his clothes in tatters on the ground.

Watching him go, I swore loudly, realizing I had messed up again. Turning and walking through the clearing I ignored the silent stares, shrugging away from my father as he tried to capture my arm, and headed into the lodge. Sniffing out his room, I picked the lock and collected the closes set of clothing I could find, careful to touch as little as possible when I recalled how possessive he was of his things.

Exiting the lodge again, I shook off my father’s hold with an “I’ll fix it.” With that, I strode off into the woods.