ROMANCE: Awakened by the Alpha Bear (Werebear Fantasy Billionaire Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Alpha Male Bear Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance Short Stories)) (26 page)

“Oh my
God, Dylan. You’re not kidding…” Selena couldn’t believe what she was seeing,
but every fiber in her being is telling her to agree and be with this guy. She
couldn’t explain it, but their connection was so strong that even if they’ve
known each other for only four months, it felt like a whole lifetime. “Yes!”
she finally blurted out. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Dylan!”

Dylan
placed the ring on her finger and scooped her up easily, twirling her as she
reveled in her joy. They had to go back to the house and make necessary
arrangements. Selena had to call Charlotte and tell her the big news.

Chapter 5

That
night, after talking with Charlotte and had her fill of shrieks and a barrage
of suggestions from her best friend from her dress to the flowers, Selena
decided to go to bed. She wondered where Dylan was. After they had their lovely
dinner, he said he had to take care of needed arrangements of his own and left
her to chat with Charlotte. He hasn’t been back since then, and he wasn’t in
his room either when she went in to say goodnight. She decided that he must be
caught in something important and went to her own bedroom.

She
woke up with a start after a few hours, and when she checked her watch, it was
only 2 am. She had that dream with the wolf again. She got up and went to the
kitchen to have a sip of water when she heard a rustling outside. She stepped
out of the foyer and looked out to the open field. There were lights all around
the property, but they were dim, especially towards the woods. She went down
the steps and looked out. She heard a sudden growl behind her, and when she
turned around, she saw a big wolf on the steps of the house. She couldn’t go
back in because he was blocking it. She was in her nightgown and was barefoot,
but she scrambled forward and ran towards the woods.

“Ahhhh!”
She screamed before running, but she was sure no one could hear her there. Her
nightgown got caught in some of tree branches she passed, but she didn’t care.
She kept running away from the wolf. She reached a clearing and the full moon
was shining down on her, lighting her path. She stumbled into the waist-deep
pond, but she continued on. The wolf was right behind her, but it wasn’t
howling or making any growling sounds.

Selena
stopped midway into the water and looked behind her. The wolf was looking at
her, and in an instant, it kind of stood up and transformed into Dylan. She
gasped and put her palm on her mouth to stifle a scream.

“Dylan!
W-what did you d-do? W-what a-are you?” she was so confused with what she saw
that she tried shaking herself, thinking she was still dreaming. “Get away from
me!” she said realizing that she was awake.

“Selena…”
Dylan, now fully naked, advanced towards her, but she was moving back, “Please,
hear me out. I didn’t want you to see me this way. I’m a werewolf, Selena. My
family was cursed with this sickness since the ancient times. We’ve been living
with this curse ever since.” Dylan went into the water with her, his hands
stretched out trying to reach her. “Please Selena, I won’t hurt you. I could
never hurt you. I love you Selena, and I want us to spend the rest of our lives
together.”

Selena
kept backing away until she reached the end of the pond and was backed up into
a tree. “D-Dylan, how can you be so sure you won’t hurt me? This is all too
unreal. I don’t know if I can deal with this” Selena was shaking her head from
side to side, not believing what she was seeing.

“I know
this is a lot to take in Selena, but I swear to you, I’ve never eaten nor hurt
any human. I’ve lived off of animals. That is why I live out here. I made a vow
that I will never take a human life and control my cravings. I’ve managed to
live peacefully, and I want to share my life with you, if you will accept me?”
he held her hands and wrapped his arms around her. She was freezing from the
cold water, but he was warm as the sun. It felt good on Selena’s skin. She
closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy his warmth.

As his
arms enveloped her, she remembered that he was a werewolf and tried to pull
away from him. “No, Dylan. This is just too bizarre. How could you not tell me
before you proposed? Before you took me earlier?”

Dylan
looked down on her with a pained expression on his face. “I didn’t want to
scare you off. What would you have done if I told you I was a werewolf as we
were sipping wine? Wouldn’t you just laugh at such an incredulous thing? And I
couldn’t help myself. I had to have you, or else, I would have gone crazy with
longing…” he looked so pained that Selena wanted to take him back into her
arms. She looked at him and saw that all he was telling her was true. She did
admit to herself that she wouldn’t have believed him even if he said he was a
werewolf. She would have thought it was another funny joke.

“Dylan,
I…” she started. “I don’t know if I would be able to live with you knowing that
you are something else.”

“I am
the same person Selena, only with a cursed body. I can change my shape whenever
I want to, and I can go back to being human if I chose to as well.” Dylan
explained further what the curse did to their family. It meant that they could
live for centuries for as long as they continue changing into wolves. If they
chose not to, they will die eventually as well. And he will choose to stop
changing too, someday, just like what his mother did. She died ten years ago at
150 years old but looking not a day older than forty.

“Selena,
I love you. I would do everything I can to keep you with me, but I won’t force
you into anything you don’t want to do. So, if you decide to leave, I would be
devastated, but I won’t stop you or hurt you. I promise you that.” Dylan
started to back away and was about to go back into the woods.

Selena
watched him go and suddenly stopped him.

“Dylan,
wait…” she went to him slowly, looking into his eyes and seeing those dark
pools look back at her full of longing. “I don’t know if I’m making the right
decision, but I feel that it is what I want. I love you too. I never realized
it until we saw each other. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I
know that this is where I belong. I’ve never felt this kind of longing for anyone
in my life. Whatever you have become and wherever life may take us, I want you
to know that I want to be a part of your existence.” Selena embraced him and
took his head and placed it on her shoulders. She knew she could never resist
him for very long. She has found her home in him and she will accept him for
who and what he is because he did the same for her.

THE END

Claimed
by the Dragon Master

Chapter One

Why did
the boss summon her to head office? She’d done nothing wrong. If anything, she
had done everything right. After all, she was the employee of the month. Silene
Belmonte closed her eleventh sale for the month; a record for anyone from
Summit Real Estate Development. From what she’d heard, he only ever called for
you if you were in the red.

Furiously,
she pushed her laptop into the its bag and added a few folders she needed. She
had to cancel her morning appointment because of Bronte Petrakis, her boss. She
was upset because this would have been a done deal for her. It would have made
her not only a huge commission, but also one of the best agents in Washington
DC.

Quickly,
she pulled back her dark hair and secured it with a bear claw clip at the nape
of her neck, then brushed some lip gloss across her lips.  Briefly, she thought
of adding some eye liner, but changed her mind. Squinting her green eyes and
wrinkling her nose at her reflection, she decided against any makeup.

It was
the middle of summer, 2014, with a high of eighty nine degrees outside. The air
conditioning in her car was working well, and she turned it on medium. She was
well on her way in her newly bought, used Chevrolet when the car jolted and she
heard a scraping on the pavement.

“No,
no, no!” She cried as the vehicle came to a halt.

With
another frustrated cry, Silene stepped out of the car and took a look at the
culprit, which was a blown tire. The thing had completely torn, and the rim had
started to scratch the pavement. Luckily, she had a spare.

With
some effort, ignoring all the honking and whistles of passing vehicles, she
pulled the spare from the trunk along with her tools. She thanked her lucky
stars that her father had allowed her to watch him when he worked on his truck
in the garage when she was little. By the time she was fifteen, she was very
capable of changing the tires on her father’s beaten up old Ford. Now at
twenty-seven, doing such a task was a piece of cake for her.

After
some time and a lot of elbow grease, she was on her way. She knew she was late
and failed to check her appearance before heading off. As lady luck would have
it, she arrived at the main office fifteen minutes behind schedule. Thinking
that the worst was behind her, she parked and hurried through the many cars in
the lot, only to find that her heel had snapped, making her walk with a limp.

“Holy
crap, this is not a good day!” She cried, pulling off her shoes and going the
rest of the way bare feet.

She
pushed the double glass doors and entered the air-conditioned reception area.
The girl behind the desk gave her a contemptuous stare as she approached the
desk.

“Can I
help you?” The woman looked her up and down coldly.

“Silene
Belmonte, I have an appointment with Mr. Petrakis,” she replied.

The
woman continued to stare at her disbelievingly, but after a couple of minutes,
sent her through. She rushed to the elevator and pressed the button to the
eleventh floor where the boss’ office was, hoping she hadn’t made matters worse
by being late. She had been sure he was going to reprimand her, but now she was
sure she was getting fired, no doubt. He had a reputation of being punctual and
hated people who were late. She was never late for anything, but today was not
a good day.

Reaching
the eleventh floor, Silene rushed from the elevator and bumped into a desk. She
had no idea that the elevator opened up directly into the office. The place
seemed empty and she breathed a sigh. Maybe the boss had gone out because she
was late. She was about to turn back when a voice broke through her thoughts.

“You’re
late!”

She
spun around to where the voice came from and saw a man in his mid-thirties, or
so it seemed, standing in the doorway of an office to the far left.

“What
the hell happened to you?” The man stepped towards her with furrows in his
brow.

“What
do you mean?” She asked, confused.

“What’s
this?” He reached a hand and touched her cheek. Silene flinched and stepped
back. Was this her boss? “Grease?”

“Oh,
I’m sorry. I had a flat tire,” she replied nervously.
What an impression to
make,
she thought.
First, I’m late, and now, looking like a mechanic.
Way to go Silene!

“You
changed a tire all by yourself? Impressive. I’ve never met a woman who did
that,” he smiled.

It was
a nice smile that showed his perfectly aligned teeth. She could tell he took
great care of himself. With his hair neatly pulled back into a pony tail, she
concluded that he hated barbers. He wasn’t wearing a jacket and his shirt was
rolled up at the sleeves to mid forearm. They were powerful forearms. The top
buttons on his crisp baby blue shirt were opened and she could see dark hairs
peeping out from what she gathered must be an equally powerful chest.

Silene
averted her eyes. Now that she’d sized up her boss, she wanted to know why he
summoned her. Wasn’t she doing her job well?

“Come,”
he called, requesting her to follow him inside the large office that looked
more like a library.

The
wall overlooking the street below was one large glass panel, and the two
adjoining walls bore floor to ceiling book shelves. His desk was perched in the
center facing the shelf to the left which gave him an easy view of the street
below. His desk chair was high back leather, and he indicated she sit directly
in front of him in one the chairs in front of the desk.

“Thank
you,” she said with a hesitant smile.

“Coffee?”
He asked, but before she could reply, he added, “I think you need it.”

He
moved towards a door off to his left, which she hadn’t noticed, because it was
surrounded by the books on both sides and above the lintel. She’d never seen
any office like that. He came back in less than a minute with two mugs of
steaming coffee, which smelled great. Her stomach gave a growl and she
remembered she had missed lunch.

He
handed her the coffee and sat behind his desk, “Thank you.”

She
took a quick glance at her watch and noticed it was past three before taking a well
needed gulp of the dark liquid. The coffee warmed her stomach and settled
whatever conflict was going on down there. He was watching her. She could feel
it, but she’d managed to avoid eye contact.

“You
must be wondering why you’re here, Miss Belmonte,” he stated and she
automatically looked up, making contact with electric blue eyes.

Bronte
looked at her intently. His eyes resting briefly on her bosom which pushed
against the fabric of her light brown cotton blouse beneath her chocolate
colored blazer. With easy effort, he raised his eyes and made contact with
hers.

Her
bright green eyes widened as they connected with his, and he held her gaze.
What he saw in those eyes was the question about why she was there. He knew he
had a reputation, and perhaps, she felt she’d be chided.

“More
coffee?” He asked, noting that she’d finished and placed the cup on the desk.

“No,
thank you,” she replied, a bit of impatience registering in her voice. “Mr.
Petrakis, I cancelled one of the most important appointments to be here. That
sale would have been the biggest of my career.”

“I’m
sorry. I know how busy you are,” Bronte apologized. “And I appreciate how
talented you are. It’s people like you who make this business worthwhile. How
would you like to work with me, directly, from this office?”

“What?”
Silene asked, not believing she heard correctly.

“I’m
asking you to be my assistant. Your salary will be three times the amount of
your best month in commission.”

“This
past month was my best. I closed eleven properties,” she explained.

“I
know, and that’s why I want you to work directly with me. You’re an asset, and
I need someone with your expertise close beside me.”

“Are
you serious Mr. Petrakis?” She asked, bewildered.

“Yes.
Why did you think I called you here?”

“I don’t
know…,” she began.

Bronte
smiled in a way that made his eyes crease. Silene had to admit that it was a
beautiful smile, but it did nothing to put her at ease. Nevertheless, she liked
the way he looked directly at her when he spoke, though it seemed he had a hard
time keeping his eyes away from her breasts.

“I know
the rumors. I can’t say they aren’t true, but I’m trying to remedy that. This
might be the first time I’ve summoned someone from one of the branches to
congratulate and promote them.”

“Thank
you, sir. What will my duties be?”

“Is
that a yes?” He asked.

She was
surprised. Was he giving her a choice? Anyways, she had nothing to lose by
taking this. She loved her job and perhaps this was just an extension of what
she was already doing. Moreover, it’s not every day a girl like her got to work
closely with one of the wealthiest men in the world. But this was not what she
wanted.

Her
boss, sitting across from her and looking at her intently, was making her very
nervous. His presence was as powerful as she’d heard. The man was of Greek
descent, and he was every bit the godlike creature she’d heard about. When he
stood, his presence filled the room, and even sitting, he seemed to swallow up
the chair.

“I’m
not sure,” her voice shook a little as she replied to him.

She was
relieved that this was not a reprimand, but still, she was just finding her
footing in the industry. Her clients knew her well, and most of her deals were
done through recommendations from past clients. For her to just leave that
behind was very hard for her to do.

“You
already know what I do. You’ll be working with me on every project. I’ll expect
you to learn fast so that you can stand on your own when I’m not around,” he
told her.

Yes,
she knew what he did. He built apartments, shopping malls, mansions, schools,
churches, you name it. But, why her? The question popped out of her mouth with
her even knowing it.

“Why
me?”

Bronte
got up from his desk and moved towards the glass panel overlooking the street
below. “Because you are the only one in my company that seems to be genuinely
in love with real estate.”

“I love
what I do,” she admitted, but she wasn’t convinced.

“I need
someone like that around me. Someone who won’t quit when the going gets tough,”
he told her. “Take for instance, you could have called in to postpone our
appointment. I would have understood that you had a flat. But you didn’t, you
toughed it out. That’s what I’m looking for.”

She
looked at him. His powerful arms flexed as he fingered his chin thoughtfully.
He was scary looking, even if he was one of the most handsome men she’d ever
seen. He had that look that said ‘danger’, and Silene knew very well that when
a sign reads
danger
, you should not enter therein.

“So,
what will it be?” He asked her again.

“Can I
think about it, Mr. Petrakis?” She asked, with a quiver in the pit of her
stomach.

“I’ll
give you twenty-four hours,” he told her.

She had
no idea what would happen after the twenty-four hours. Would he decide to let
her go? Was this really a free choice where she could just hop on back to her
old office after turning down his offer?

Their
meeting ended, and she had the feeling that she was expected to say
‘yes’
by the next day. It was not an easy decision. Her entire future as a real
estate agent depended on her answer to Bronte Petrakis. The man scared her, but
it would be scarier if she should anger him by turning down his offer.

Silene
left the office feeling quite disturbed. She had no desire to work closely with
her intimidating boss. She had to admit that some of the rumors were false.
Apparently, many of the employees have never seen him. The rumors were that he
was an ugly middle aged man much like the other famous real estate developer
with the bad hair.

She
went to bed that night with a heavy feeling in her chest. She knew there was
only one possible answer she could give, but she wanted to take full advantage
of the time given her to decide. At this time, she knew she had to get used to
the changes that would take place in her life. With these thoughts running
through her mind, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.