Grizzly Promise

by Becca Jameson

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  Published by The Hartwood Publishing Group, LLC,

  Hartwood Publishing, Phoenix, Arizona

  www.hartwoodpublishing.com

  Grizzly Promise

  Copyright © 2017 by Becca Jameson

  Digital Release: September 2017

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Grizzly Promise by Becca Jameson

  When grizzly shifter Wyatt Arthur arrives in Calgary, Alberta, for a business trip, he finds himself blindsided by the shy, skittish woman he is certain will be his mate. In a peculiar turn of events, she already has a boyfriend—a man Wyatt is confident is not interested in women. With no other options, he returns home, hoping his mate will eventually come to her senses and give him a chance.

  After suffering a traumatizing experience as a teenager, Paige Osborn doesn’t date. Ever. In fact, she keeps men at bay by pretending to be in a committed relationship with her human best friend, Gavin Wright. There’s just one problem. Gavin is gay.

  Gavin has never been comfortable keeping Paige’s secret from her family, but they have an arrangement. She keeps his sexual preferences confidential, and he keeps her sexual assault from the world.

  What Paige doesn’t factor into her life is the possibility that someone might one day cross her path who causes her to waver on her conviction never to bind to anyone, human or shifter.

  In a twist of Fate—or perhaps Fate knows exactly what She’s doing—Paige finds herself moving to Wyatt’s hometown of Silvertip, Alberta, to do research for the summer.

  Silvertip is not big enough to hide from anyone, and Paige will be forced to face her past and her future. Now she just needs to figure out how to reconcile the two and find the strength to let Wyatt into her heart.

  Dedication

  To all my shifter fans: I hope you are loving my bears as much as you enjoyed my wolves! Thanks for all your kind words of support. This new world is so much fun to write in!

  Prologue

  Gavin was late. It wasn’t like him. He was never late. He was early. Even at fourteen years old, he knew he was more mature than his peers and had high standards for himself. He shared those values and several others with his best friend, Paige, which was why he was pissed with himself for being late to meet her.

  He was out of breath as he ran between the trees toward their meeting spot—a tree house of sorts they’d built when they were ten with the help of their fathers. It could only marginally be considered a tree house since it was only a few feet off the ground, and though it did include a large tree trunk, the majority of it was on stilts. It was nestled in the thick grove of trees behind the houses on their quiet street along the Bow River just west of Calgary, Alberta.

  It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was theirs, and theirs alone.

  Voices ahead of him caused him to stop short and lift his gaze. He was still twenty yards from the tree house, evergreens blocking his direct view, but he sucked in a breath when a man jumped to the ground and spun around to shout at the entrance. “You’re nothing but a tease, you little cunt. You hear me?”

  Gavin’s knees nearly buckled, and he couldn’t get his legs to move forward. Scared out of his mind, he crouched behind a thick bush so the guy wouldn’t see him.

  From behind, all he saw was thick brown hair on the largest human he’d ever seen. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall and built. He lifted an arm, pointed a finger at the entrance, and shouted again. “You tell anyone about this, and I’ll kill both your parents. You wanted to be grown up. We’ll see how well you do on your own.”

  Gavin couldn’t breathe. He needed to run forward. Do something. Anything. Go for help?

  No, he couldn’t leave Paige, and he knew she was inside the tree house. No way in hell would he leave her there alone.

  A loud roar focused his attention again on the man as the unimaginable happened right before his eyes. The behemoth tipped his head back, shouted unintelligibly at the sky, and then fell forward onto all fours in slow motion. As his body angled toward the ground, he freaking transformed into an enormous bear.

  Gavin fell backward onto his ass, his eyes wide, his skin clammy, sweat beading on his forehead even though it was cold outside. He had to be mistaken.

  Where once a tall man had stood, there was now an equally gigantic bear. A bear who spun back to the tree house and approached on all fours. He lifted both front paws and roared again, leaning toward the entrance. And then, just as fast, he dropped to the ground and spun around. Gavin could swear he looked right at him before he loped off into the trees.

  Gavin blinked several times. He had to have imagined the entire thing. There were no bears in this part of the province. And there certainly weren’t humans who could become bears.

  Jerking himself back to reality, he scrambled to right himself and push to standing. And then he ran full-out the rest of the way to the tree house, chest pounding, his entire body on high alert.

  Leaping onto the platform that served as a porch, he nearly tripped and fell into the single room that made up their hideaway.

  What met his eyes made him freeze in the doorway.

  Paige—his best friend in the world and the only person who would ever truly know him and understand him—was pressed into the corner of the room. She screamed when he came into view, and then her voice lowered to a whimper when she focused on him. She was in a tight ball, holding her favorite blue cardigan around her shaking body. Her face was covered with tears, and her hair was a mess of long blonde locks hanging limply along her cheeks.

  She dragged her knees up closer to her chest as Gavin dropped to his knees several feet from her. His heart beat rapidly, but he couldn’t seem to speak. I was late. I was late. I was late.

  He inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself so he could help her, but all that did was drag the scent of sweat and alcohol and…sex into his lungs. He might not have been able to identify the smell of sex before now, but there was no mistaking it.

  When Paige lowered her face to set her forehead on her knees, she started to cry. She gulped, sobbing hysterically.

  He inched forward on his hands and knees. “Paige?”

  She cringed, pulling tighter into the corner, but didn’t acknowledge him otherwise. Her knees were scraped and bleeding. Her fingers, wrapped tightly around her legs, were white from the effort, the nail beds dark. From what? Blood? Dirt?

  Oh God. Where were her pants? Gavin jerked his gaze to find her pants, torn and dirty, tossed in another corner. He cringed when he noticed her underwear lying ripped next to them.

  Fury he’d never felt in his life filled him. He wanted to scream. He wanted to jump to his feet, run from the tree house, and find that man. Man? Someone had hurt Paige.

  Instead, he found an inner strength he didn’t know he had and hadn’t ever needed to tap into in his fourteen years and pulled himself together. “Paige, we need to get help
. You need a doctor.”

  She jerked her face up to meet his gaze, shaking her head. “No.” One word. Sharp. Definite.

  “Paige…” She was bleeding. Hurt.

  Raped.

  He swallowed. His head was swimming with so many confusing thoughts. There was a man. He raped Paige. There was a bear…

  She shook her head again more violently. “You can’t tell anyone. Ever.”

  “Paige…”

  She uncurled from her ball and leaned forward, placing her hand on top of his where he remained on all fours facing her. “Never. Promise me, Gavin. Never. You can never tell anyone about this.” Her voice cracked from screaming. From crying. From lost innocence.

  He blinked at her. Why wouldn’t she want to tell anyone?

  Her eyes were wide and wild as she searched his gaze. “Promise me, Gavin.”

  “Why?”

  “Because. Because. Just because. Promise me,” she yelled. New tears fell. Her face was red. Her eyes were swollen. How long had she been here with that madman, tortured by him while…? I was late.

  “Paige,” he pleaded. He hated this plan. She was his best friend. Hurting. Physically and emotionally. She needed help from an adult. She couldn’t expect him to keep this secret.

  She stopped crying abruptly, stiffening. Her entire demeanor changed in an instant, and she crawled across the room to grab her panties.

  Gavin glanced away when she stood on wobbly legs to put them on. Bile rose in his throat as he caught her shrugging into her pants in his peripheral vision.

  Her hands were shaking, but her tears were dry now. She came back to him as he sat back on his ass and wrapped his hands around his knees, rocking back and forth. For a moment he felt every ounce of pain she should be feeling even though she’d snapped out of her horror to replace it with something unrecognizable.

  Cold seeped into his skin. Not from the temperature but from her behavior. He opened his mouth, but she stopped him with an outstretched hand as she lowered to sit facing him and pulled on her shoes. Even her knuckles were bleeding.

  She started to ramble. “I fell from a tree. We climbed out too far on the branch behind the tree house, and I fell.”

  He stared at her.

  She didn’t meet his gaze as she tied her sneakers. And then she lifted her head again. “Gavin, I fell from a tree.”

  He nodded, unable to think clearly.

  For a long time, they sat there in the cold. Finally, he found words. “Paige, there was a bear… That man… He…”

  She turned whiter if that were possible. And then she shook her head. “Forget you saw that.”

  He nodded again if only to keep her from slipping into a deeper level of despair.

  She rambled on. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

  “Sure.” He didn’t even know what he saw. Surely his mind was playing tricks on him. But her words confirmed the deceitful images. A bear? She wanted him to forget that he saw a bear?

  She seemed on the edge of hysteria.

  He needed to steer the conversation back to her. “Paige, why can’t we tell anyone?”

  “I don’t want anyone to know. Ever.”

  “But this is a horrible thing to keep to yourself. It will eat you up inside. You need professional help. Your parents—”

  She cut him off with a sharp chortle. “Who are you to decide what secrets should be kept? Huh?”

  He swallowed hard.

  She leaned toward him. “I keep your secret. It’s a horrible thing to keep to yourself. It’s eating you up inside. You need professional help too. Your parents should know.” As she reiterated his own words back to him, he nearly died inside.

  She was right.

  She was also so very wrong.

  “Promise me, Gavin.”

  “Okay, I promise.”

  Chapter One

  Ten years later…

  Wyatt Arthur was on a business trip to Calgary when it happened—he stepped right into the path of Fate as if he’d slammed into a brick wall.

  He’d stopped by the house his sister, Joselyn, and her new mate, Alton, were renting, oblivious to the fact that his life would alter irrevocably before the night was over.

  He’d only been there a half an hour and hadn’t finished his first beer.

  But Fate chose that moment to make Her appearance.

  It started with the sound of a car door shutting outside. He would never forget that distinct sound for some odd reason. It was just a car door. Why would it leave such a lasting impression?

  Wyatt inhaled deeply at the same time Joselyn and Alton did the same. It was a typical response for grizzly shifters—the quickest way to assess who was approaching and if they were human or shifter.

  Wyatt wasn’t familiar with the person approaching the house, but he knew three things—it was a woman, she was a shifter, and she was his.

  Perhaps that was insane. Even though grizzlies did on occasion know their mate by their scent quickly—and it had been happening more lately than ever before—most people didn’t buy into the concept. It seemed far-fetched even to him, but his entire body went on alert as he braced himself for the inevitable.

  He wiped his suddenly sweaty hands on his thighs and glanced at Joselyn with a raised eyebrow.

  “Paige,” she said in response to his unasked question.

  He searched through his mind, trying to remember why he knew that name. Then he remembered. She was the youngest daughter of the couple who had rented this house out to Joselyn and Alton.

  Joselyn clarified for him anyway. “The one who’s my age. She has her own apartment. She still has some stuff here. Probably forgot something.”

  “Why isn’t she living in her parents’ home while they’re away?”

  “She already had a lease when her parents found out their sabbatical was approved. She’s working on her masters at U of C. She wanted her independence, so she decided not to break her lease. Lucky for us.” Joselyn beamed, oblivious to Wyatt’s plight.

  He was sweating bullets as Paige got closer to the front door.

  Alton opened it before she could knock.

  She was breathless as she stepped inside, speaking rapidly. “Sorry to bother you guys. I can’t find a book I need anywhere in my apartment. I’m hoping I left it here. I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t mean to interrupt your evening.” She stepped fully into the house, still speaking. “I don’t want you guys to think I’m always going to be over here bugging you or anything.” Her gaze landed on Wyatt. “Oh, hello.”

  Wyatt couldn’t respond. He didn’t blink as he took in the younger woman who would bring him to his knees for the rest of his life. She was a gorgeous blonde with huge blue eyes and full lips that made his cock hard as she licked them. Her skin was pale, but her cheeks turned a lovely shade of red as he stared at her.

  He permitted himself only a cursory glance down the rest of her body before returning his gaze to hers. It was enough to know she had the body of a model to go with her looks. Narrow hips, full breasts, delicate hands. She was almost short for a shifter. Perfect for a human model. He wondered if she was a model before he remembered she was a student. Besides, she tipped her head in a shy manner that made him realize she had no idea how fucking beautiful she was.

  It was difficult to convince his body to move, or his lips for that matter. Finally, Wyatt pushed to standing and stepped around the coffee table. He hoped he wasn’t shaking when he reached out his hand to shake hers. “I don’t believe we’ve met. Wyatt Arthur. Joselyn is my sister.”

  Paige’s voice was low and calm and slow when she responded. “Paige Osborn. My parents own this house.” She kept her head down and flinched when Wyatt touched her.

  Wyatt forced himself to ignore the spark that raced up his arm at this small contact, but Lord it was powerful. He cleared his throat. “I’ve met them a few times, and your older brother Nolan.”

  Paige pulled her hand back.

  Wyatt needed to say somethin
g to keep the conversation going. “Please sit. Join us. I just got here myself. I have a meeting tomorrow in Calgary, so I came this evening to visit my sister and see this fabulous place she and Alton have been talking about renting.”

  Paige backed into the door, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open. She never lifted her gaze as she spoke. “Sorry. I just realized where that book is.” She slapped her forehead. “It’s in my trunk. I’ve got a lot of work to do tonight. Sorry to bother you guys.” A second later, she was out the door and rushing toward her car. She didn’t even realize she’d left it standing open. Wyatt inched closer to the door to watch her flee. Dammit.

  “Was it something I said?” Wyatt asked, trying to make light of the situation. The last thing he wanted to do was address this issue with his sister.

  Joselyn joined the men at the door, leaning around her mate as Paige pulled away. “I don’t know what that was all about, but I’ve never seen Paige act so strangely.”

  Wyatt wandered back to the couch. He needed to sit. He didn’t speak as he picked up his beer and chugged the rest of it.

  And that was the day the world turned on its axis.

  »»•««

  Paige wasn’t even all the way inside the back door of Cuppa Joe the next morning before Myla started talking. “Girl, you’ve been holding out on me. I want the full story. And I want it now before the morning rush comes in to caffeinate themselves for the day.”

  Paige lifted her gaze to find her co-worker leaning inside the back room, her hands clutching the doorframe, her eyes twinkling.

  “What are you talking about?” Paige asked as she tugged her coat off and hooked it on the wall. She set her hand on one of the perfectly stacked boxes of supplies under the coat rack and spun around in the cramped space.

  Myla’s enormous brown eyes widened, and she stepped the rest of the way into the back room, shutting the door behind her. She lowered her voice slightly. “There’s a man out there who clearly has the hots for you, and he did not look too pleased when you got off Gavin’s bike a minute ago.”