Loving The Bear: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Gray Bears Book 2) (2 page)

Her wish had gone horribly,
terribly wrong. There was not going to be a happily-ever-after.
With a knife at her throat, there was no way this was going to end
happily for her. Painfully, bloodily and messily, yes. But happily?
No way in hell.

In her blind terror, her
survival instincts kicked into gear. She acted on pure impulse and
reflex.

Widening her jaws, Elle sunk
her teeth into Skinner's palm. She bit down. Hard.

Skinner bellowed a curse and
staggered back.

She scrambled away from him
and lurched towards the door.

Skinner roared and lashed out
savagely with his knife. The blade whistled past her ear as she
lunged forward and yanked the door open.

In a heartbeat, she was out
of her shop and tearing down the street. The street was empty and
the other shops were all in darkness.

Elle sobbed and continued
running. She didn't dare look back or slow down even when she lost a
shoe.

She was running for her life!
She just needed to get away, and get help. If only there was
someone around…

She stumbled on, running past
the empty park and pressing her hand to her mouth to muffle her sobs.
She wanted to scream for help but she couldn't let Skinner hear her.

“Oh, thank God!
Thank...” Elle cried.

A sheriff cruiser was just
turning into the street.

Waving her arms madly, she
shrieked as she ran towards the car, “Help! Please, stop!
Help me!”

CHAPTER
THREE

Aidan Gray turned his sheriff
cruiser down Grove Lane and scanned the quiet street. He blew out a
breath. He still wasn't used to the sleepy pace back here in Shadow
Point. He and his brother, Mason, had left Shadow Point to
experience life in the big city. They had been working in one of the
largest security firms in the city, the Black Bears Group, and they
had been on death-defying, time-sensitive missions with the Black
Bears. He loved the adrenalin rush, the urgent, pulsing pace, and
when he and Mason returned to their hometown, Aidan had hoped to find
the same thrill and excitement in the Sheriff's department.

He had been made a deputy
Sheriff, and his first week on the job had been rather mundane and
uneventful. Helping little old ladies across the street and
retrieving lost pets didn't make for the most exciting police work.

But this was his community.
And Aidan was glad to serve and protect. He had grumbled a little
when his Gramma summoned Mason and him home, but honestly, he was
glad to be home. He missed his brothers, his Gramma and Ne-ma.
Neveah Wright was Gramma's best friend. She had helped Gramma raised
Aidan and his brothers after their parents passed away. Aidan and
his brothers were bear shifters, but not everyone in their family was
a bear. Grandma Neveah as Ne-ma as they now called her, was a witch
like Gramma. And their eldest brother Tristan had recently gotten
married to a wonderful human woman, Alisa.

People tended to stay home
once it got dark in Shadow Point. This was a small, homely town, and
the crime rate was relatively low. But low crime didn't mean no
crime.

And it seemed that a crime
had just been committed.

The hysterical, tearful woman
waving down his cruiser and careening towards him looked like she had
just witnessed something truly unspeakable and horrific.

Aidan pulled his cruiser to a
stop and jumped out of the car. “M'am, what...”

The distraught woman threw
herself at him and cried, “He's in my shop! He's going to kill
me!” She pointed towards the other end of the street. “He's
in there...he has a knife!”

“You were
attacked...where is your attacker, M'am?”

“In my bakery! Baker's
Hut.”

Aidan nodded. He knew where
Baker's Hut was. The small bakery had recently been sold. He
glanced down at the frantic redhead beside him. This was probably
the new owner of Baker's Hut.

“Stay here, M'am.”
Aidan pulled out his weapon immediately and ran towards the bakery,
but the woman followed him.

“I'm coming with you,”
she stammered. “D-don't leave me out here alone, please...”

Aidan nodded and stormed into
the bakery, his gun drawn.

But the bakery was empty.
There was no one inside at all.

Aidan swept through the whole
place. He searched everywhere, checked under the counter and tables,
looked behind the doors and ran back out into the street, but there
was no sign of the intruder.

The woman was weeping
silently, hugging herself and swiping at her tears which wouldn't
stop falling from her eyes.

Aidan took her arm and sat
her down on a chair in her shop. “What's your name, M'am?”

“Elle...Redfern,”
she sniffed.

“I'm Aidan Gray. I'm
the deputy sheriff. Can you tell me what happened, Miss Redfern?”

Her eyes darted around her
bakery and she took a shuddering breath. Her tears were still
streaming down her cheeks, and Aidan saw a long scar down her right
cheek. She looked like she had been sliced with a knife, and the
wound was long, deep and vicious.

Aidan balled his fists to
stop himself for reaching out to touch her face. Despite her scar,
the woman was very pretty. Her auburn curls had come loose from her
ponytail and was bouncing all over her face, and her hazel eyes were
deep and soulful, but he hated the fear and pain in them. Someone
had hurt and frightened her badly.

Elle looked up and met his
intense gaze. Her hand jerked up and she touched her scar with
trembling fingers.

“Oh! I...”

She bent her head quickly, as
though in shame and muttered some words. Aidan recognized it as an
incantation for a spell. His Gramma and Ne-ma were witches, and he
had grown up listening to their madcap incantations. Gramma and
Ne-ma had the best intentions, but not all their spells had the best
results. Aidan had gone to his high school prom with a bulbous
pimple the size of a tennis ball. They had wanted to help him get
rid of the pimple. Instead they had made it ten times its original
size. But they managed to shield the pimple with a glamor spell so
that no one except himself could see that balloon on his nose. He
had even scored a kiss from his date at the end of the night.

“You are a witch,”
Aidan said.

Elle jerked her head up and
sputtered. Aidan saw a shimmer rippling across her cheek before
dissipating. For an instant, her scar faded. The shimmer lifted and
the scar stood out starkly against her pale skin.

Elle winced and looked down
quickly. She had been trying to cast a glamor spell to hide her scar
from him.

“Miss
Redfern...Elle...” Aidan knelt in front of her. “You
don't have to hide your scar. You don't have to hide anything from
me,” he said softly. “Ever.”

Elle put her hand to her
cheek. “I...I'm hideous. I'm damaged, and broken, and...I
made a terrible mistake.” She broke into sobs. “I've
made a big mistake coming here. I have to leave...”

“No.” Aidan took
her hand. “You don't have to go anywhere. Tell me what
happened, Elle. Don't be afraid. I will protect you. I swear I'll
keep you safe, Elle.”

She stared at him with
red-rimmed eyes.

“It's...my job.”

Aidan inhaled a sharp breath.
It was the truth, but it wasn't the entire truth.

It was his job as a deputy
sheriff to protect the town, but he wanted to protect
her
.

Elle.

There was just something
about her that tugged at him, not just his heart but his bear as
well. He moved closer to her, nudged by his bear, and took her other
hand. Her hands felt so small and delicate, and so right in his. He
wanted to keep touching her, holding her.

Mine
, his bear
growled.

Aidan shook his head but his
beast wouldn't back down. His bear wanted Elle, wanted his female.

Her soft skin seemed to burn
his fingertips and palms, setting his whole body aflame with desire.

Elle looked into his eyes and
gasped. She began to tremble, and he scented both her arousal and
fear.

Her hazel eyes swirled with
desire, confusion and fear. The heat and attraction between them was
undeniable. Aidan could see that she felt the same scorching want
and hunger and it frightened her.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Elle stared into Aidan's
glowing green eyes, and bit down a whimper. There was a fierce,
feral heat in his eyes, a raw hunger she had never seen before.

Aidan Gray was a very
handsome man. His floppy blond hair gave him a boyish look, but
there was nothing boyish about his build. He was all man, all hard,
honed muscle and power. The way he looked at her and touched her
ignited something in her, something hot and delicious and wet.

There was an inexplicable,
almost irresistible urge to touch him, and Elle had to force herself
to remain still. Why was she so drawn to this man? He was the
deputy sheriff and she felt safe with him, but it was more than that.
She wanted him, and her heart and body ached to be near him.

She knew immediately that he
was a shifter, and she began to shiver. Was he a wolf? Or a half
wolf—like Skinner?

The thought jolted her out of
her libido-driven haze and the sudden spark of fear made her jerk
away.

“P-please...don't touch
me...” she whispered.

“Elle...”

“A-are you a wolf?”

Aidan frowned.

Her voice rose sharply. “Are
you a wolf?”

“No. I'm a bear
shifter,” Aidan answered. His eyes flashed briefly. He knew
immediately that a wolf had hurt her. He had caught the faint scent
of a wolf in her bakery earlier, but the scent was very weak. He
suspected that her attacker was half wolf, half human. All scum.

“Elle, can you tell me
what happened? Tell me who hurt you.” He practically snarled
the last sentence.

Elle swallowed and began, “My
ex-husband, Skinner. He just got out of jail, and he found me. I
thought I'd be safe here in Shadow Point, but it seems I'll never be
safe. I guess...I can only stop running when I'm dead.”

“Did your ex-husband do
this?” Aidan touched the scar on her cheek very gently with
his thumb.

Closing her eyes, she have a
shaky nod.

Aidan stood up and pulled her
to her feet.

“I'll write up the
report and have you sign the statement tomorrow morning. Give us a
description of Skinner. I promise you, he won't escape. But
tonight, you are coming home with me.”

She gasped when he pulled her
to her feet.

“What? Home?”

“Yes. You live alone,
Elle?”

She blinked at him. “Y-yes.”

Aidan growled. “It's
not safe for you to be alone tonight.”

Elle gulped and peered at
him. “Do
you
live alone, Mr...deputy sheriff?”
The thought of being alone with him the whole night quickened her
pulse and breathing.

“No. I live with my
two younger brothers, Mason and Jackson. Tristan, our eldest
brother, used to live with us as well. But he's married now, and his
house is just down the road from us.” He spoke calmly,
casually, as if to assure her that he was just a normal guy, a good
guy and not an ax murderer.

Elle bit her lip. He was
right. It wasn't safe for her to be alone in her dingy apartment
tonight. Skinner was on the prowl. He had found her shop and she
was sure he knew where she lived as well.

She shouldn't be alone but
she had nowhere else to go. Aidan offered the only safe harbor from
the storm right now. But...should she be spending the night in a
house full of big, growly bear shifters?

“I'll call my Gramma
and Ne-ma to come over,” Aidan said, as if sensing her worry.
“They're the owners of Broomstick Inn, and they're at the inn
day and night, but they'll pop over to meet you for a while.”

“I don't want to
bother...” she began, but Aidan was already on the phone.

“Hi, Ne-ma, can you and
Gramma come over to the house for a few minutes tonight? There's
someone I'd like you to meet,” Aidan was saying into the phone.
“Yeah, it's a she. Yes, Ne-ma, she...” Aidan glanced
at her and lowered his voice to a growl. “She's real pretty.”

He murmured and snapped
monosyllabic answers into his phone before clicking off.

Aidan turned back to her.
“My Gramma and Ne-ma are on their way.”

“Oh, I...” Elle
stuttered, flustered and nervous. “I shouldn't keep them
waiting. I'll lock up the place...” She fumbled for her bag
and keys. “I'm so sorry to bother you and your family, Mr...”

“It's no bother. And
it's Aidan. That's what my friends and family call me.”

“Okay.” She
managed a smile. “Okay, Aidan.” She guessed that meant
they were friends now.