Geek Bearing Gifts (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance): A BBW in search of love + A sexy shifter who secretly loved her = Smokin' Roaring Romance (Paranormal Dating Agency Book 2) (12 page)

Ky
waited for the other bear to reach him, he knew that scent. It was a neighbor from two clans down the mountain. He’d been in talks with them for use of the river once in a while, but nothing definite had been decided. It seemed they’d taken it upon themselves to go fishing at his river anyway.

The bear swung, digging his claws into
Ky’s fur. Ky’s bear roared with rage. He bit and shoved at the other animal, doing some serious damage with his own claws. Black bears were the most dangerous out there. They shoved back and forth, Ky biting on the side of the brown bear’s muzzle.

Roars and growls sounded all around. His attention was focused on the brown trying to best him. The brown huffed, tackling
Ky and trying to take him down. Unfortunately for him, Ky wasn’t Chief of his clan just for show. He tackled with his guards all the time for fighting practice. Ky slammed a giant claw on the brown’s neck. The brown pulled back, almost falling on his back but he regained his balance. A loud pain-filled roar sounded from the brown. Ky bit down on his neck. The brown pushed away at the same moment Ky knocked him on the side with his claw.

The brown bled from the neck wound. The bastard didn’t give in though.

“Get off of my land.”
Ky growled through their animal link. He slammed into the side of the brown and took him down.

The brown shoved back, finally knocking
Ky on his ass.

They were both on their
feet in seconds, Ky shoving and biting at the other bear’s muzzle once again.

The brown tried using his claws to inflict pain in
Ky’s side, but the anger over the trespass and even worse, his frustration over his missing mate, kept him from dwelling on the pain.

Ky
hit the bear on the shoulder where he’d bitten, to add to the pain he knew the intruder felt. The brown bit into Ky’s arm. Fiery throbbing took hold of his limb. Ky didn’t stop, he used the moment to his advantage and once again burrowed his canines into the brown. The metallic taste of the enemy’s blood hit his tongue. It pushed the bear even more into a feral state of mind.

He shoved at the brown, knocking him down and pinning him to the ground. The enemy huffed, kicked at
Ky’s stomach and tried to get him off. Ky jabbed his claws into the bear’s arms and pushed him further on his back. He bit the side of the brown’s head, tearing at one of the bear’s ears.

The brown shook, trying to get out of his hold but only managed to get a massive gash
on the side of his face. Loud roaring sounded from all over.

“We’ll go!”
the brown finally whimpered.

“If you come back, I won’t let you walk out of here alive,”
Ky promised, still holding the brown down.
“Do you understand?”

“Yes,”
the other man mumbled between whimpers of pain.

Ky
stood and roared loud. A warning to those standing there fighting his men. If they returned, there would be no getting out alive.

The group left. One limped away, the other helped carry the bear
Ky had almost killed.

He, David and Liam stood there, watching the
intruders go for a few minutes before finally shifting back into their human bodies. They had some gashes, and in Liam’s case, a pretty ugly wound on his side, but overall they were fine.

They dove into the chilly river water to bathe the blood off their bodies.

Back at Ky’s cabin, David asked the question Ky had been dreading. “So when is Nita coming back?”

Those words did what no amount of fighting had done. They opened up gashes in his heart. He couldn’t
get in touch with Nita. He didn’t know what was wrong. All he knew was the she’d left and hadn’t even said goodbye.

They sat in his backyard, drinking beer from a
cooler. Liam had the grill going and on any other day Ky would’ve thought it was one of the best ways to spend some time relaxing. Not so that day.

“She’s not,” he replied.

“What?” Liam asked, stopping the beer midway to his mouth. He closed the grill top and marched for the picnic table. “Why not?”

“She’s not answering my calls. I don’t know what the hell is wrong,” he growled.

Liam frowned, chugging down on his beer. “She didn’t seem upset at all when we left.”

“That’s what’s killing me,”
Ky said, rubbing a hand over the back of his wet neck. “The worst part is I don’t have her address.” He raised a hand when David opened his mouth. “She’s unlisted, I checked everywhere. Why do you think it’s been hard to find her all these years? It’s not like I didn’t try.”

David slammed his bottle on the table. “I got it!” He smiled. “What? I do have a brain. I’m more than just good looks and charm, you know.”

Liam laughed and returned to the grill. “What is it you think you got?”

David smiled at Ky. “How did you find her again?”

“I didn’t. My sister called the Paranormal Dating Agency and somehow got her to come.”

David raised his bottle as if he’d just cured all the world’s problems. “I rest my case.”

“You still haven’t made any sense, cousin it.” Liam took burgers off the grill and brought them to the picnic table.

“The dating people. They have her address.”

The misery consuming Ky suddenly dissipated. “You’re right!” He stood and turned to his house.

“Where
are you going?” Liam asked. “Did I just cook all this food for you to leave it?”

“You sound like a wife
,” Ky joked, no longer so distressed. “David and his beard will help you get rid of it.”

“Ha
ha, real funny,” David said, holding his beard out of the way to take a bite of his food.

“You’re right,” Liam agreed. “I’ll make sure he eats more than the beard.”

“Don’t you have a woman to go get,” David argued. “Quit it with my beard. The woman who falls for me will love it.”

“You and I have to talk,” Liam said
, turning back to David. “That beard, bro. It’s gotta go.”

Ky
headed for his cabin to dress and get in touch with the woman who ran the PDA. He knew that was the fastest way he could get Nita’s address. But he also knew he’d have to plead his case in person. He doubted anyone would just hand off client information because he was in love. He would lay on the charm when it came to the owner of the service. One thing was for sure: he wasn’t leaving her office without Nita’s address.

No way in hell.

* * *

Ky knocked on the door to Mrs. Wilder’s apartment and tried not to stress. Jess had told him Mrs. Wilder was sort of brusque, but very good at her job. She then proceeded to hug him and wish him luck. When he’d called Mrs. Wilder from the road, she’d refused to speak to him over the phone and said he needed to come to her house if he wanted anything discussed.

The scent of fresh baked honey buns filled his nose. His stomach growled. So did the bear inside him. Shit. He’d forgotten to eat.

Mrs. Wilder’s door swung open to a petite older woman with raised brows giving him the once over.

“My
my my. You are every bit a bear, aren’t you?” She whistled. “Check out those big arms. Just enough hair to make a woman want to rake her nails over them.”

He wasn’t sure what to do.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t been hit on by older women before, but this was uncomfortable. And a little scary.

“Thank you,” he said
, shifting from foot to foot like a schoolboy.

Mrs. Wilder continued eyeing his arms with renewed
interest. “Well come inside. I don’t have all day.”

He snapped out of the weird younger man being eyed by a cougar moment and
followed her inside the apartment.

“Go on and sit in the living room. I’ll bring you a snack
,” she called out from the kitchen. “I know you big guys like to eat.”

Did
he ever. He sat down on one of the large sofas, taking up every bit of space and feeling like a giant. She finally showed up with a tray piled with honey buns. The twiddling of his thumbs stopped.

“Go on and grab one. They’re not
gonna bite you.” She smiled. “But I just might.”

He needed to get the information on Nita’s address fast. Mrs. Wilder had that predatory smile that he knew all too well. He took a honey bun, placed it on a small plate and took a bite without making a mess. At least he hoped he hadn’t made a mess of it all over his face.

“So, now that you’re sitting and that bear of yours stopped growling for food, what can I do for you?” She filled a cup with tea and honey and placed it next to his plate.

“Nita. I want her address.”

She didn’t stop pouring her own tea. Instead she nodded and added sugar in complete silence. “And why should I break my client’s trust and give you that information? If she wanted you to have it, she’d have given it to you herself.”

He picked up a napkin and wiped his fingers. “
She could be in trouble. Something had to have happened. When she left she said she’d be back and she’s not answering her calls. She hasn’t returned.”

Mrs. Wilder frowned and picked up her cell phone. She pressed some buttons and then waited for a moment. It buzz
ed. She stared at the screen and put it down. “Nope. She’s fine.”

Fuck! That meant it was him. He’d ha
d to have said or done something to upset her. Maybe she wanted him to outright tell her to stay versus sending her a text.

“Did you and Nita talk while she was there?” Mrs. Wilder asked,
tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Yes. Of course we talked. We did a lot of talking.”

She leaned on one of the arms of her seat. “Did you at any point tell her who you were?”

Oh. Shit.

“No. I thought about it at first, but I liked that she didn’t have the image of my scrawny insecure self from high school in mind.”

She snorted and picked up her cup. “You silly boy. If she cared about you at all back then, don’t you think she’d be happy to know you’re the person she’s been matched with?”

He didn’t think of that. All he thought of was her seeing him again as the boy who stuttered and couldn’t tell her how he felt.

“Has she changed from how she was back then?”

“Yes. She’s different. More self-assured. Sexy. Still just as beautiful,” he replied.

Mrs. Wilder
pursed her lips. “And the time she spent with you, did you keep seeing her as the little girl you fell in love with or as the woman she is today?”

“No. She’s still just as sweet as she was back then, but all grown up. The time we spent together only showed me new facets to the girl I knew. It reinforced what I concluded when I was fourteen. That she’s the one for me.”

It hit him then. He’d fucked up. Big time. Instead of being honest with Nita from the beginning, telling her who he was and how he’d felt back in high school, he’d withheld the information and she’d found out about it.

Mrs. Wilder watched him like a hawk. “You know, I don’t follow society’s rules. I match people based on my gut and a little extra. I’ll tell you this. I kn
ow you two are a good pair.” She picked up a folded piece of paper from the coffee table. “Here. And for Christ’s sakes, tell the woman how you feel.”

He nodded and took the paper like
she’d given him a sacred document. “I will.”

“Word of advice: cut it with the lies
even by omission. Women hate that.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, staring at Nita’s address as if he would magically transport there.

Mrs. Wilder cleared her throat. “So what are you waiting for? Go get your girl!”

He jumped to his feet
. Excitement bounced in his chest. “Thank you. Really.”

She smiled
and waved at him dismissively. “You can pay me back by sending more clients my way.”

He laughed and marched for the door. “I will. I have two in mind that can use your help.”

“Wonderful,” she said as he ran down the hallway. “Good luck!”

Half an hour later h
e’d pounded on Nita’s door multiple times. No one answered. He wouldn’t leave until he spoke to her. His phone rang just as he vowed to sit by the door to Nita’s apartment to wait for her.

“Hello?”

“Change of plans bear.” It was Mrs. Wilder. “Your girl is headed to your house. I just heard Tally mention it to her mates. Get your ass in your car and catch up to her. She was very angry when she left,” Mrs. Wilder said. “Try not to make her wait. Might add to her already agitated state and get you into even more trouble.”

“
I am on my way now.” He moved toward the building entrance with the phone by his ear. “Do you know why she decided to go to my house?”

“Apparently Tally convinced her to talk to you and hear your side of the story. This is the one for you, bear. We both know it. Fix things with her and you’ll be a happy man.”