by Jade Alters
Without another word, Zain turned and marched toward the lodge.
“He can’t keep me away from Ellie,” muttered Drew.
“Dude, take a number.”
“Behind you?”
“Damn straight.”
“Stay away from her.”
I scoffed. Spotting the wrapped sandwich, I retrieved it.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” I said.
“Where are you going?”
“Why do you care? You have an office to open.”
Drew gave me a sour expression. “You’re not—”
“Bye, Drew. Have a great day. And you might want to get the sand out of your hair.
I walked past him with a smile as he ran his hands through his hair, dislodging sand while scoffing. But I tossed him the sandwich, and he caught it in one swoop of his hands.
“Here’s your breakfast. Best be going. Zain is not in good mood, and you do have to work with him all day.”
“Captain Obvious, aren’t you?”
“Nope. Just your friendly conservation officer.”
“Bye, Stumpy.” I nearly wanted to take Drew out for his snide tone, and I should. But if we had another scuffle, I’d have to change my uniform, and I might not be caught up on my laundry.
We were too old to act like teenagers, and I didn’t know what was wrong with us. It’s not like we haven’t tried to edge each other out competing for female attention before Ellie. But this seems more serious.
I was scratching my head while I headed to the kitchen and picked up my lunch. Damn it, Cole does so much for us, like making our lunches, that I feel like an idiot for treating him like crap.
Scrambled eggs, bacon and toast sit in casserole dishes on the counter, and I put together my own bacon and egg sandwich. Neither Cole or Zain looked at me, which I suppose I deserve. It’s frostier in that kitchen than the ancient freezer walk-in grandpa installed in the kitchen decades ago. Filling my thermos with coffee, I grabbed my lunch bag and headed out the door.
Walking to my truck, my eyes travel to Ellie’s cabin, and I thought she might be frightened out of her wits. If Zain wouldn’t talk to her, I guess I will.
I knocked and waited.
And waited.
Another knock failed to bring her to the door.
“Ellie, it’s Marcus. Let me in.”
Slowly the door opened a crack and her brown eyes as soft as a does’ peered at me.
“I’m busy, Marcus.”
“I just wanted to apologize for this morning.”
“Good. You apologized. Now leave.”
“Please don’t be like that.”
“Like what? Wondering what the hell I got myself in to?”
Oh hell. Did that mean she’s considering leaving us. No. She can’t.
“We’re not like this at all.”
“Fine. Really. I have to go.”
“Please don’t leave.”
She laughed harshly.
“I wish I could. But I spent all but my last couple hundred dollars getting here.”
I held in my sigh of relief.
“So, I have to finish at least one book before I can leave. Excuse me, I have to get back to work.”
Ellie slammed the door hard enough I jumped back. Damn, that woman was angry. And I didn’t blame her. I was going to have to do something to get into her good graces.
It seems my feet, or rather my bear, had a plan to do this right now because of instead of climbing into my truck to start my day, I’m still standing on Ellie’s porch, knocking on her door. I should not do this, but I am, and I seem unable to turn away.
“Who is it?”
“Marcus.”
“I told you to go away.”
“Ellie, please open the door.”
“No.”
“Please, I want to apologize. Properly.”
The door cracked open again.
“What can you possibly say?”
I sucked in my breath. “That you are a breath of fresh air around here.”
“Dude, have you not noticed that you live in the backwoods? All you have is fresh air.”
“I meant.” I stop speaking because gazing at her tongue-ties me and my thoughts go zero to sixty about kissing those sexy lips of hers. And I know I’m not doing myself any favors by not keeping my mouth shut.
“Yes,” she said in challenge. “You meant what?”
“I meant that…I’m apologize for my cousins’ and my behavior. We all like you.”
“That’s obvious.”
“And we sincerely didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“You’re speaking for the group now?”
“They’d all say the same thing. We grew up together in the same house after our parents died.”
Her eye went wide with surprise.
“All your parents?”
“Yes. It was a tragic accident. Reverend Clancey took us in. So, you see, we’re more like brothers than cousins, and the sibling rivalry runs a little deep.”
“You are not making me feel any better.”
“Look, you have every right to be upset with us, but I’d like to make it up to you if I can.”
“I don’t know. Like I said, I have a lot of work to do.”
“That’s okay. You’ll have to put your keyboard away sometime, and when you do, I’ll be around. I live here, you know.”
“Yeah. I kind of noticed.”
“So, I’m going to go to work now. But I’d like to do one thing if you’ll just let me in a minute.”
“What? Will you inspect the window locks?”
“What?”
“That’s what Drew did last night.”
My bear growled thinking about Drew being that close to her but I’m just inches from getting her to open the door, so bear power is not what I need right now.
“Then I’m sure he did an excellent job. But I would like to do a critter check.”
“A critter check?” she said skeptically.
“Yes,” I said with a smile. “Varmints show up all the time.”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m beginning to see that.”
Slowly she opened the door, and I stepped inside.
“Yep,” I said. “I sense one varmint right now.”
“You do now?”
“Yes,” I said shutting the door partway. “And I’m afraid it’s me.”
With that I leaned in and kissed her sweet lips, and my bear wanted more than that, but it wasn’t in the cards. I scented that bastard Drew approaching the cabin, and I had to get out of here now just so I didn’t tick Zain off by pounding Drew into the ground.
Drew
It was difficult leaving Ellie behind to go to work. Just knowing there is a dangerous criminal hanging around our property makes me want to stay and see to her safety. Now that I’ve recognized her as my mate, there is nothing that I will not do to protect her.
The mate thing is a little tricky for bear shifters. A normal bear doesn’t hang around to protect females or help raise cubs. Females often have to protect their offspring from aggressive males. But we are a mix of both bear and human; somewhere in that quixotic mingling comes a bear shifter’s propensity to recognize our life mates. It was mysterious, and not all shifters found theirs, but I know in the deepest part of me that Ellie is mine.
So, as I walked the path to Ellie’s cabin and smelled that bastard Marcus. He couldn’t be closer than a brother but I’m ready to tear him apart for sniffing around my mate.
He bounces down the stairs with a big smile on his face that I want to wipe off with a swipe of my bear paw, but I couldn’t shift so close to Ellie’s cabin. She didn’t know what we were, and THAT would be another tempest when I tell her.
“Drew? I thought you were heading to the office.”
“And you on patrol.”
“I wanted to make sure no critters were bothering, Ellie.”
“Seems they are, aren’t they?”
“Depends
on what you call a critter or a varmint.”
“Did you see any varmints?”
Before I could answer, a scream, Ellie’s, ripped through the woods behind the cabin. We glanced at each other and then took off running.
I reached Ellie first, sitting in the leaves and rubbing her ankle.
“What happened?” I said.
“What the fuck,” sputtered Ellie. Her face was red, and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. “Go to the Northwoods, I told myself. It’s quiet there. No one will bother you there. Boy, was I wrong!”
Marcus skidded to a stop beside me.
“Are you okay?” he said with genuine concern.
“I thought I saw something, like the glint of a mirror. I came out to look and I heard someone talking. So, I went closer. I couldn’t see him because he was behind a tree, but he saw me. He called my name, and I started running.”
“Ellie,” I said. “You should have called us. We would have taken care of this.”
“You two were too busy measuring yourselves,” she said derisively.
Dear Lord, she was right. Instead of looking out for her, we were battling each other. It was stupid.
“Did you hurt your ankle?” I said. “Do you think you can stand?”
She shook her head fiercely. “I twisted it good when I fell.”
I examined her ankle which was swelling. It didn’t seem broken but that didn’t rule out hairline fractures.
“Let’s take her to the lodge,” said Marcus.
I don’t like this, because Cole is there, but someone needs to keep an eye on her. Both Marcus and I had to get to work.
“Fireman’s carry,” I said, and Marcus nodded his head. She’s tiny, can’t weigh more a hundred or so, but I can see we’d stand here arguing over who would carry her, so I opt for diplomacy.
Ellie winced as we helped her stand on her good foot, and she swung an arm around each of our necks. In three minutes, we had her at the lodge. Cole ran to make an ice pack, and Zain started grilling her on what she saw. Marcus went to find pillows to put under her foot while I examined it. After asking her to move her toes, I determined she didn’t need a hospital visit for them to diagnose what I did—a wrenched ankle.
“Take care of her. We’ll go check out the intruder,” said Zain to Cole. Our Alpha waved me and Marcus out on the porch. “Show me where you found her and see what we can find. If it’s that same guy at the cabin, then we definitely have to find him and bring him in.”
“And if it isn’t?” I said. I did not like the idea of leaving Ellie here with Cole if there was a criminal running loose on our lands. Not that Cole couldn’t protect her, but I am the one who should.
“Then we’ll take turns patrolling through the day. You are due a personal day.”
It made me feel a little better that Zain considered letting me do the day patrol. Marcus gave me a sideways glance, but I ignored him.
“Let’s go. Show me,” said Zain all business.
We reached where Ellie fell quickly, and Zain sniffed the area thoroughly.
He turned to us and shook his head.
“I don’t get a scent like that one at the cabin,” said Zain. Frustration edged his voice.
“So,” said Marcus, master of the obvious, “there is more than one intruder on our land.”
“We can’t be sure,” said Zain. He rubbed the back of his neck and paced the area again.
“Maybe you should shift,” I said, “and make use of that bearish nose of yours.”
Zain scowled, and I knew the feeling. Our bears aren’t much larger than our humans selves, but the proportions are different, and he’d have to strip. We aren’t shy having seen it all before and with Ellie laid up in the lodge, no one would see the transformation. But no one wants to stand in the all-together in the woods on a frosty May morning. Plus, the process can be painful though that has eased up as we grew older.
“If not for Ellie,” he grumbled. Zain pulled at his belt buckle and toed off his shoes, the pulled off his uniform and underwear. We turned out heads out of habit. We’ve done this hundreds of times and don’t need to watch as a two-legged man becomes a four-legged bear. Zain always starts with his face, the nose and jaw becoming his muzzle, as his hair thickens, hands and feet becomes paws, the shoulders narrow, and the waist thickens. Zain was the first of us to master this, and he did it with bear emerging from man in a smooth progression from head to toe.
Our Alpha grunted, and we turned to watch him examine the area, nose to ground, and a certain tree trunk. He sprinted north toward the logging road.
With presence of mind, I picked up his clothes, handed Marcus Zain’s boots, and balled the rest under my arm. We ran after Zain, though we lagged, our heavy boots the only thing giving us traction through the humus and leaves. I lost track of him but following a straight line, we emerged on the logging road where he stood there pacing, tossing his head, grunting and thoroughly annoyed. He shook his head and shifted.
“It’s not the same man,” he announced as I handed him his clothes. “And he didn’t meet with the other one on this road.
Marcus handed him his boots. “I’ll check on the access gate. If there were two people up here, someone must have cut the chain.”
“You do that,” said Zain.
“That’s not going to stop people from walking around the gate,” I pointed out.
“No, but it makes is more difficult to get up on this road without hoofing it a long while,” said Marcus.
“We’ve talked about this,” said Zain. “And taken every precaution, from painting everything we could purple, to hanging signs and securing the gate. But an area this size you can’t stop people from trespassing.”
We all know this and usually are very tolerant. While we don’t put up with people camping without paying, we don’t mind the occasional stroll in the woods. We have a thousand acres, most of it rough terrain, so patrolling it on regular basis is not feasible with only four of us. If our clan was larger, like in the old days, because with more of us there was more to hide, we’d have regular patrols of the land.
“What worries me,” continued Zain, “is the last intrusion most definitely centered on Ellie. And we didn’t have this number of problems until she got here.”
“You can’t think she’s involved with these men?” I said. My bear highly protested that Ellie would not be involved with anything criminal.
“Maybe there is more to her than we know. We need to check her out.”
“By ‘we’ you mean you,” I said.
“Yes. A criminal element may be following her, and where criminals run, law enforcement follows. We do not need the potential exposure of our secret an investigator can bring. So, Marcus, you get to work and do a good surveille of the area, Drew, you patrol our land, and I’ll get into the office and see what I can find on Ellie Harper.
Cole
Ellie sat on the couch in the large lodge common room pecking at her laptop which I had retrieved for her. Her foot was propped on pillows and wrapped in towels and ice. She looked helpless, and this alone roused my bear and his protective instincts. And every two minutes I’m peering into common room to check on her.
Our kisses have inflamed my desire for her to an outrageous level. I had to relieve my lust twice with my hand before I could sleep. Being in the same building with her sent me up the wall. I need her, but we aren’t there yet. If things continue like they were, it just might scare Ellie off, and I cannot allow that to happen.
Because I am preoccupied, I forget that we have a new guest checking in at 11:00 AM, and I need to prepare his cabin.
“Ellie,” I said. “I have to fix up a cabin for a guest. I’m going to lock the doors. If someone knocks, don’t worry about it. I’ll see them from where I am and come answer it. Do you need anything before I leave?”
“No. I’ve got my water, snacks, phone, computer and these lovely crutches you hunted up. I’m good. A little quiet will help me concentrate.”
“I haven’t disturbed you, have I?”
She bit her lip, which did drive me insane, because it was as sexy as hell, but she shook her head.
“A girl can’t complain about a man waiting on her hand and foot, but I do need some quiet time to make some word count.”
“Your wish, mi’lady, is my command. Quiet time coming right up. But if you need anything, install the Clarkstown App on your phone, and enter your cabin number. There is a call button there, so use it if you need me.”
Even with these precautions, I make up the cabin quickly, because I am uneasy about leaving Ellie alone. And I changed the cabin too from being next to Ellie’s to the second one over. It was an impulsive move, rationalized by the idea that it was a nicer cabin, and there was no reason not to give the man an upgrade, but the truth of it was, I didn’t like the idea of any male closer to Ellie than necessary. I had no idea if Mr. Ortez was young, old, buff or wore a beer gut, but it made no difference. My bear staked a claim on Ellie, which will cause problems with Zain because he wanted us to leave her alone.
I was not a believer of the whole “true mate” thing, but then again, being the youngest of the four of us, I didn’t notice my parents or any of the others in their mate bonds. Sure, Mom and Dad loved each other, but I was too young to understand the depths of that. Maybe I still am.
Except when I see Ellie, my breath catches in my throat, and my heart beats faster, and my dick stirs, and I want her. And not just for a night, or for now, but for always.
And that’s a thought that shatters my brain. The guys give me grief for the women I’ve hooked up with, but the truth is as a bear shifter it seemed I live the promiscuous propensity of my bestial nature more than the others. The ladies didn’t mind. Most of them were looking for a little fun, and that’s what we had. But no one declared their love for me, and why would they? From the outside, I was a perfectly content hotel manager without any prospects for more than that. We weren’t particularly rich, and the Maine winters are legend in their brutality. I was not a catch and didn’t mind that I wasn’t.
Until now.
I spot from the bedroom window of cabin number three a non-descript older model car pulling into the parking area. This must be the new guest taking an early vacation. At least that is what Mr. Cortez told me. But he didn’t seem like the typical oldster looking to get in some spring fishing. And he only pulled from his vehicle a single bag and no fishing gear. He was maybe in his late twenties, five foot eleven, lean, wiry so about one eighty-five? Zain and Drew were better at gauging height and weight, as that was part of their jobs.
