Her Reluctant Bear: A Hot Paranormal Fantasy Saga with Witches, Werewolves, and Werebears (Weres and Witches of Silver Lake Book 5) (5 page)

“You can’t stay holed up in the apartment every night. You have to get out and meet people.”

It’s all he’d ever known. Moving here had been a huge enough step for him. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m good.”

“No you aren’t. You’re a recluse. One of my best friends, Teagan Pompley, has a brother, Sam, who is leaving the service. She and her fiancée are throwing a party for him. I want you to meet my friends. You are an important part of my life, and I want you in it more often.”

He was an important part of her life?
It was what he’d yearned for—to belong. “Can I get back to you?”

“Sure, but make sure you say yes.”

He chuckled. “You sure are bossy.”

“Someone has to look out for you.”

She knew how to push his buttons. “I’ll give it some thought.”

“You better.”

As soon as he disconnected, he headed home. Brian had the next two days off, giving him confidence he could finish the cradle in time for the birth of his nephew.

After throwing a frozen dinner into the microwave and then scarfing it down, he plugged in his sander and went to work on polishing the sides he’d cut yesterday. Tomorrow, he’d cut and polish the bottom and then assemble it. The day after that, he’d paint it, and put on a coat of varnish.

After four hours of work, he was covered in sawdust, and even though he’d hung plastic to keep the dust from going everywhere, a thin film seemed to be on the walls and floor. He so needed a workshop. Despite wearing a mask, his lungs were coated in the stuff. It was time to call it quits before he made a stupid mistake.

Brian spent another hour cleaning up then stacked the materials under the living room window, ready for the next stage tomorrow.

He showered and then turned on the television to take his mind off his work. Close to midnight, after having dozed once or twice, he shut off the set and hit the hay. He must have been more tired than he thought because he didn’t wake up until a little after ten. Having a lot more to do on the cradle, he rose. After scrambling some eggs and brewing a pot of coffee, he went to work again. He only had to cut two more pieces and sand them before assembling it.

The pounding on his door didn’t register until it was followed by a few shouts. Thinking Elana needed to go to the hospital, he shut off his saw and rushed to the door, not giving any thought to his attire.

He threw open the door to find Anna, his sister’s assistant standing there, a scowl on her face. “Is Elana having her baby?” he asked, wiping his dirty palms on his jeans. Instead of being anxious, a wave of elation slammed into him.

“No. Elana asked me to let you know that we can barely hear what our customers are saying. Your power tools are making too much noise.” Anna planted a hand on her hip. Between her tattoos and piercings, she looked mighty fierce. “You can’t be doing that in here anyway.”

“I’m really sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I’ll work after the shop closes.”

“Elana will be happy to hear that, but if Mr. Berta finds out that you’re spewing sawdust everywhere, he’ll probably evict you.”

His heart dropped to his stomach. “I thoroughly clean up every day.”

She shrugged. “Just saying.” She peaked around him. “What are you making anyway?”

He saw no harm in telling her. “I’m making a cradle for her baby, but don’t tell my sister.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? She’ll love that.”

“I hope so.”

Anna tilted her head. “For all the trouble you’ve caused, you can make it up to her by going to Teagan’s party this weekend.”

A trickle of relief rushed through him. While his actions probably hadn’t lost business for his sister, she decided to use that as leverage to get him to attend the gathering—or maybe it was Anna’s doing. For his sister’s sake, he’d go, but he wouldn’t stay long. This time, he’d keep some meds with him in case things became too intense for him.

“Leave the address with me, and I’ll try to make it.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

He wasn’t sure what he’d gotten himself into, but if it would make Elana happy, he’d go.

*

Jillian was anxious
to meet Kalan’s mate. Hell, she was anxious just to get out of her brother’s house. He’d woken her up at six in the morning and then apologized for having to go into work. Before he left, he gave her a bunch of instructions about making sure the doors were locked, and why she shouldn’t go out. Jillian swore she was more anxious after his little talk than before she’d left California.

Then, at eleven, Dalton had called to say that Elana had a free hour to meet for lunch. Somehow his rule of not stepping foot out of the house seemed to have evaporated. He did tell her that as soon as he got off work this evening, they needed to return her rental car to Knoxville. As much as she wanted her independence, she understood that having that particular car was a liability. Tracing her whereabouts would be too easy for the son of a bitch who killed Dalia.

At a quarter to twelve, Jillian left the house, but not before scoping out the area. Not detecting any shifters, she hopped in her car and followed her brother’s directions to McKinnon’s Pub and Pool. With a few minutes to spare, she parked as close to the entrance as possible.

From the outside, it looked to be in good shape and was actually better than she’d expected. Apparently, the name McKinnon was well-known in the shifter community, since Rye McKinnon was the Alpha. His father before him had been one too.

A twinge of jealousy surfaced. Because there were so few white tigers in the world, she’d never even met her Alpha—assuming there was one for her Clan. Being surrounded by those like her would have been so comforting.

Move on. You can’t change your identity
, her tiger said with a lot of distain.

Sheesh. Can’t a girl feel sorry for herself?
she retorted.

No.

It was times like these that she wondered if the cons outweighed the pros of being a shifter, especially with an animal who was so opinionated. Not wanting to be late for her lunch date, she dashed inside. It was rather dark and took a moment for her eyes to adjust, despite her shifter ability. A long bar with a huge mirror above it sat opposite the entrance, and peanut shells littered the floor. She spotted another room straight off to the left that held pool tables. Nice. She might have to come here to practice.

A flash of Kelly green caught her attention, and Jillian twisted to her right. A rather short pregnant woman eased out of a booth at the far end of the bar and stood. Given she had long dark hair, Jillian bet that was Elana.

Smiling, Jillian headed toward her. The pregnant woman’s shifter signature was apparent, as were many others in the building. Hell, the whole place seemed to be swarming with them, and Jillian’s blood pressure immediately dropped. She’d never been surrounded by so many before, and it gave her a sense of family.

She might not have been this comfortable had Dalton not mentioned that except for one group of mutated shifters called Changelings, the
Weres
in Silver Lake were awesome.

When she reached the back booth, she held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Jillian.”

The young woman smiled and shook hers. “I’m Elana, Kalan’s…ah mate.” She whispered the last two words. There were some non-shifters in the bar, so she was smart to keep her voice low.

They both sat down. Seconds later, a waitress came over with a menu and handed it to Jillian. Not wanting to be rude, she offered hers to Elana. “You want to look first?”

Elana chuckled. “That’s not necessary. I always have the same thing.”

Normally, Jillian wasn’t picky about what she ate, but today she had been craving meat. “I’ll have a classic burger, medium rare, and an unsweetened iced tea.”

“You got it,” her server responded.

Elana readjusted herself in the seat. “Kalan told me what happened to your friend. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.” She visibly shook.

“Thank you. I still can’t believe it. Dalia and I roomed together in college. When I spoke with her parents, their grief made the horror all too real again.”

Her brows furrowed, and Elana seemed to think about Jillian’s situation. “Kalan mentioned you might know who did this and that he might come after you.” Jillian appreciated her concern. Kalan must have mentioned his offer for her to stay with Elana and why Dalton thought it was a bad idea.

“Yes, and I don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s not like I can rush back to California. I’d be looking over my shoulder twenty-four seven.”

“So what will you do?”

“I’ll hang around here for a while. Having my brother and your mate close by brings me a sense of security I’d never have in California.”

She nodded. “Can you get a job here?”

“I’ll have to check if Tennessee honors my license, but even if they do, I want to return to California eventually. I have some savings, but I fear if I withdraw anything from my bank in California that cop will find me.”

Elana hissed. “I know what it’s like to have a target on your back.” She explained about her parents being killed over a piece of stone. “When the Changelings thought I had what they wanted—which I did—they came after me. I was never so scared in my life. Fortunately, Kalan was assigned to protect me.” Her face glowed when she said his name.

“At least something good came of the tragedy.”

Elana smiled. “Totally true. I was this innocent human girl before I met Kalan, despite having had this mad crush on him for years. I sure did learn a lot in a short period of time.”

“Did it come as a shock to learn about our kind?”

She shook her head. “My best friend, Izzy, who’s mated to our Alpha, was a Wendayan. She told me all about shifters, but never let on that Kalan was one.”

Hearing the name
Wendayan
bolstered her spirits. “My mom is Wendayan, which in turn, makes me one too.”

“Really?” Elana looked like a kid in a candy store. “What can you do?”

She saw no reason to hide her talent from her. “I can move fast, whether I’m in my shifted or human form.”

“Fast, as in fast like an Olympic runner?”

Jillian leaned forward. “More like a speeding bullet fast.”

Her mouth dropped open. “That’s really cool. Even Izzy can’t do that, but she can control fire, wind, water, and earth. That’s even after her powers were cut in half when she mated with Rye.”

Jillian had never been around anyone that powerful before. “I’d love to meet her.”

“You can. Tomorrow, another Wendayan friend of mine Teagan Pompley is throwing a welcome home party for her brother who just retired from the military. You should come and meet her and the other Wendayans. The shifters are pretty cool too.”

Jillian was tempted. “I don’t want to party crash.”

Elana waved a hand. “Nonsense. Teagan would love to meet another one of her kind.”

“Is Dalton going?” She should know as he was her brother, but he hadn’t mentioned anything to her.

Her new friend looked off to the side. “I don’t think so. He’s not exactly open about being a shifter.”

That was sad to hear. Ten bucks it was because he still thought of himself as an outsider. “I’ll have to work on him.”

“Please do. Kalan has always known your brother was a shifter, but your brother has always avoided talking about what he was. It wasn’t until a newcomer—Ainsley Chancellor, who is part Wendayan and part wolf—told Kalan that Dalton was a white tiger shifter.”

So the secret was out. She wondered if her brother knew. “Does that bother anyone?”

Elana’s brows pinched. “Why would it?”

“Because we’re different?”

She reached out and clasped Jillian’s hand. “Absolutely not. I think the more diversity we have in Silver Lake the better.”

“That’s good to hear.” Maybe coming to Silver Lake had been a good thing for more than one reason.

‡

J
illian tried on,
and then discarded, almost every outfit she’d brought with her. Why she’d packed such dressy attire, she didn’t know. This was rural Tennessee, not the elite Los Angeles crowd she was used to. Elana said the party was casual, yet for some reason, Jillian wanted to impress those who were there.