Chloe turned off the light and lay back down.
It had all been a dream. No one was there; she was safe.
She may have run from her hometown, but she felt safe in Lone Reach. And now she had the thinking that if she went any further, she was never going to feel safe again. How was she ever going to keep traveling and expect to find a warmer welcome?
She pulled the covers back around her and settled down, lying so she could face Harper and watch her breathe gently.
They had been through so much, and Chloe had never seen her happier than she had been earlier, building the snowman with the other kids in town. Maybe she should just make the decision and enroll her in the school there. Then, if she got a job, they were halfway to being settled. She could find herself an apartment or cabin once they had saved up some money, and they wouldn’t even need to rush to get the car fixed…
It was a big decision to make but she knew they couldn’t run forever. It wasn’t fair to Harper, and she was already enjoying it so much there. She had even already asked Chloe if they could stay. Why uproot her and take her somewhere there was a possibility she may hate?
It had been a strange way for them to find their new home, and maybe it wasn’t as far as she had hoped to be from Bridge Hollow, but the fact still remained, it was a new town, and it was a fresh start.
Her ex was long gone, and only fear was making her take these drastic measures. She was just being extra safe.
She reached out and touched Harper’s arm lightly and gave it a reassuring rub. She loved her daughter so much, and all she wanted was for her to be happy and healthy. And she could tell Harper liked it there.
“Okay, Chlo,” she whispered to herself as she rolled onto her other side and closed her eyes. “You’re going to stay…”
But as she began to fall back to sleep, she made a pact with herself that she wouldn’t be so foolish as to get involved with another guy. No matter how much she may be attracted to him or feel as if they may have a connection. She had just escaped from a terrible relationship, and she had to look after herself. She may have been drawn to Mason, he may make her feel alive again, but she just couldn’t do it.
She had to focus on herself, on Harper, and on making their new life in Lone Reach as settled and successful as possible.
As she fell to sleep, she was smiling.
For the first time in a long time, it felt good to know she had found somewhere worth fighting for.
7.
As the sun went down on another day in Lone Reach, Mason stood outside of The Bear Brewhouse and looked down Main Street, surveying the place he called home.
In the past seventy-two hours, he had done a lot of soul searching. He had almost fled, leaving his pack; he had rescued a mother and her daughter from an avalanche; and he had thought long and hard about his position in this little part of the world and whether he could still see himself in it.
He gripped the neck of a bottle of beer and drew it to his lips. He was tired but he needed to unwind and be around people rather than retreating to his cabin in the woods in isolation. Since he had woken up in town after his failed flee attempt, he had done good on his promise to himself and had cleaned and tidied up his home. The dust no longer swung from the lights and beams on the ceiling, and his dishes had been left sparkling clean. He had even taken some tips from some of the girls who came into the Brewhouse and bought cleaning products that smelled of things like zesty lemon and calming lavender, and he had splashed them around the surfaces until the place smelled like a perfume factory.
Overall, he was starting to feel a little better.
But he still wasn’t sure…
His pack were still acting wild, the bikers were still crawling all over town, and the brewery was almost ready to open, but all he could think about was how he had failed.
The Forsaken Riders were a good bunch deep down, but he had a bad feeling and wished he knew why. The bikers came to their town a couple of years before and started doing some low level dealings with the shifters of the town, but now, things had stepped up a notch and the Bears had taken a significant investment from them to open the brewery. It meant they had the cash injection they needed to get everything up and running, and it also meant they had The Forsaken Riders’ experience when it came to running such a massive operation.
It was a huge and important time for Lone Reach. But Mason was very aware that he had done dealings with outlaws, and he was worried about the consequences.
Even on a quiet night like this, there were still motorcycles parked along Main Street, and he knew that some of the bikers would be hanging out and sinking beer and whiskey in either The Bear Brewhouse or The Dragon Pit, the club at the other end of town.
He supped his beer again and when he had drained it, he wiped his mouth and headed back inside. He needed another. There was no way he was calling it a night early, no matter how tired he felt.
The Bear Brewhouse was a business he and another member of his pack, Hudson, had taken over from their fathers years earlier. It was the best bar in town, open from 10am, but still full of late-night revelers, killer pool tables, tasty food, banging music and great drinks. When Mason set foot in the place, he felt more at home than he did in his cabin, and he enjoyed spending time at the bar, watching whatever game was on the big screen, sipping beer and eating the best barbeque ribs he had ever tasted. And it seemed that most of the people of Lone Reach felt the same way. The bar was always busy, even on week nights, and it gave him, Hudson and the rest of the bears a steady income and had helped set them all on their way to opening The Brewery and crafting their own ales to sell nationwide.
At least that was the plan.
Now, they were so close to opening and he was trying to rationalize with himself if he was just wanting to run because it was all feeling like too much.
Had he overcommitted?
Or was there another reason he had suddenly lost his nerve?
He pulled out a high barstool and sat, motioning to Emma, one of the regular girls who tended bar.
“Hey, Mason,” she smiled as she strutted across to see him. “Same again?”
“Please,” he smiled as he tapped the corner of the menu and opened it wide, even though he knew everything listed by heart.
“Which chef is working tonight?” he asked Emma as she slid him another bottle of beer.
“Cameron,” she smiled. “So, I take it you’ll be wanting… a big, bloody cheeseburger?” She wiggled her eyebrows.
Mason stroked the stubble on his chin and laughed. He had been wanting the ribs, but the rare burgers Cameron served were his specialty, and it would be a shame to miss out.
“Go on then,” he grinned. “Extra onions.”
Emma gave him a curt little nod and then she headed back toward the kitchen and disappeared.
He sipped his drink and closed the menu, noticing the leather on the edges was frayed. He made a mental note to order new holders and to print new copies to keep the place looking fresh. Now that he was on a roll, there was no point in stopping.
He heard the door open behind him and when he looked over his shoulder, a couple of The Forsaken Riders were wandering in. He recognized them straight away, not just because they were all clad in leather and chains but because he knew them from meetings they had held about the investment for The Brewery.
Ax, Bull, and King…
They were the good guys; he had never had a reason to doubt them, but he had met others in their charter he hadn’t been overly sure about.
“Hey.” He nodded toward them, and the three bikers nodded back, raising a hand to wave.
Mason turned back to the bar and drank his beer. He could feel the excitement in the air tonight and the bear inside of him was feeling frisky and ready to play. He had spent so many days feeling sorry for himself that now that he was out in the world again, sitting up at his bar, he was finally starting to feel more like this old self.
Emma came wandering back behi
nd the counter after placing his order, and he noticed that she was the only waitress and bartender working.
“No other girls tonight?” he asked.
“We actually have a new one starting,” she said with a smirk. “A new girl in town in fact.”
Mason felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.
“A new girl in town?” he asked with intrigue.
“Uh huh,” Emma nodded. “In fact, she should be here any minute.”
She had only just said the words when, suddenly, he heard the door opening behind him again and his heart instantly responded.
His bear stirred.
He could smell her before she had even crossed the threshold. The same scent he had found that night out on the snow-covered road.
It was Chloe.
He felt himself still, and even though he didn’t fully realize he was doing it, he began smiling.
“Hey, Emma.” Chloe’s voice cut through the surrounding noise of the bar, of the chinking of glasses and the rock music playing from the juke box, right through the crack of the pool balls hitting off each other as they flew around the felt.
“Evening, Chloe!” Emma beamed. “I was just talking about you.”
Her scent was getting stronger and it was making his inner beast awaken. She smelled so good; it was something he knew he was going to find hard to resist.
He had met plenty of attractive women before, and his bear had barely even noticed they were near him. But every time he was close to Chloe, it was as if he were about to lose his mind. He took another sip of his beer and then turned to face her, and he saw the glint in her eyes when she realized it was him.
“Oh!” she said happily. “Hi, Mason!”
He smiled and turned his body toward hers.
“Still stuck in town then?” he asked mischievously.
Chloe shrugged.
“I guess so,” she laughed.
“And you’re the new girl we’ve got starting?” he asked with a raised brow. “I thought you had places to be…?”
She looked so goddam cute when she was embarrassed. She looked at the floor, and he thought he could see a hint of pink flushing across her cheeks. He swallowed his beer again and grinned.
“Harper likes it here,” she said. “My car’s wrecked, and I need to earn some money to get it fixed…”
He smiled and leaned in closer.
“I’m just playing,” he said with a wink. “It’s good to have you here. Is Mary still taking care of you both?”
Chloe nodded.
“Actually, she was the one who suggested I get a job here,” she said. “Harper is with her now at the hotel. And she’s already making friends left, right and center… I think I’m going to have a tough time getting her to leave.”
Mason shrugged one shoulder and then looked across the bar to the television, trying to pretend his interest in the conversation had ended.
Fuck… she’s going to be staying… his inner voice was screaming as he watched the game, his eyes following the ball even though he had no clue what was happening, never mind who was actually winning.
Since the second he had laid eyes on Chloe, he had felt something that had shook him to his core. Never, in the whole time he had been alive, had anyone sparked that kind of reaction. He had looked at her and seen something in of her, some kind of light… as if he were being pulled to her, and he found it hard to look away.
It had scared him.
He had been so drawn to her, it made him panic, and he had done his best to avoid her ever since, even if he had been the one to rescue her and been the only one in town she had known in those first few hours.
He had dropped them with Joe and Mary because he knew they would take good care of them… and he had hoped he would be able to avoid her for the remainder of her time in town. But fate seemed to keep pulling them together, and every time he saw her, he was becoming increasingly addicted.
It was like her scent had been made just for him, and it made his bear crave her like a drug. The way she moved around the bar and her dainty wrists flexed as she reached up and pulled down glasses made a lump form in his throat and his heart pound.
He watched as Emma settled her in behind the bar and gave her a dishcloth, and a small apron to go around her waist. Just watching her tie it at the base of her spine sent his head and heart into overdrive, and all he could focus on was what it would feel like to be the one undoing the ribbon and slowly peeling off her clothes.
He slammed the bottle on the top of the bar and rubbed a hand down his face, trying to snap himself out of it.
The last thing he needed was another complication. He already had far too much going on with The Brewery, his pack, the goddam bikers, and the fact that he was about to ditch it all and leave town.
The only thing that had been keeping him going since he had first met Chloe that night out on the road was the fact that, soon, she would be gone, and he would be able to clear his head and figure out what the hell he was going to do…
But now, she was staying.
She had gotten a job in his bar, and she and her adorable daughter could well be staying in Lone Reach for some time.
He bit his bottom lip so hard it made him wince, and then he rose to his feet and moved toward the door.
“Catch you girls later, good luck, Chloe,” he called as he left and let the door slam behind him.
He was angry, but he couldn’t figure out whether it was because he wanted to go but didn’t want to leave her there in town… or because he had wondered if he would go too when she left…
All he knew was, while Chloe was in Lone Reach, that’s exactly where he would be too.
Something inside him wouldn’t let him leave her. He felt drawn to her, connected to her, honored to protect her…
And for the first time in a long time, he felt as if he had found some purpose.
8.
Chloe rubbed her tired eyes as Harper bounced around in the playground, chatting away to her whole host of new friends that seemed to be ever expanding by the day.
When they had lived in their old town, they had barely mingled with anyone. Chloe had been forced into isolation by her ex, and she had become so insular.
Here in Lone Reach, it was completely different.
Her confidence was returning, and she had a new job in The Bear Brewhouse, serving beers and chatting to the locals. And Harper was in her element with all the kids in town, playing outside and chatting happily about school.
She had already begged Chloe to sign her up to the school there, and Chloe knew she wasn’t going to be able to hold off for much longer.
Her car had been recovered once the mayor had plowed the roads, but it had been damaged, and the repairs were going to be expensive and extensive. It had made her think twice about leaving, especially when she had been treated so well by everyone.
She had concluded that she already had her fresh start. She and Harper were happy, and now, it was time to make it a bit more permanent.
Mary and Joe had told her that they could stay in the suite at the hotel free of charge for as long as they needed, but already, just a week in, Chloe was beginning to feel awkward. She hated not paying her own way and she wanted to do the right thing.
She had found some potential accommodation, but the problem then would arise with Harper when she needed to work nights. It was all a lot to think about.
She was just glad they had their belongings from the trunk back, that they had spare clothes and didn’t need to keep spending money she had set aside for the start of their new life.
Her dreams had begun to quieten too. She felt a lot more at peace since she had arrived in Lone Reach, and she no longer felt so haunted by him. In fact, she had started to snap herself out of any negative thoughts about her past and what had happened back in Bridge Hollow the moment they started to form and she was feeling much better for it.
The one thing that was consuming her thoughts daily now was Mason. S
he barely even knew him and yet, he was taking up so much of her headspace it was making her dizzy.
When Mary had suggested she ask for work at The Bear Brewhouse, she had no idea it had anything to do with Mason. But the moment she had turned up to work that night and saw him sitting at the bar, she instinctively knew it must have been his. She saw the way Emma was acting around him, and then he confirmed it pretty much straight away that he was indeed the owner.
And now she had one additional dilemma.
She knew there was something different about Mason when she had met him, but she had tried to push it from her mind for fear of what it may mean.
Chloe had lived in Bridge Hollow her whole life, so she knew all about the rumors and legends that swirled around there… and after the past six months, she especially knew there was a hidden side of society she hadn’t been privileged to know until the war had broken out.
She had learned all about shifters… about the bears and wolves and dragons that roamed the mountains… the beasts that were also men.
When she had met Mason that night out on the wilderness road, she had felt something different about him, but it was also something she had come in contact with before. And now that she saw the name of the bar he ran, she knew, with certainty, what that something was.
Mason was a shifter bear.
He was a man who could turn into a bear. A terrifying beast who could rip her apart… but one she knew had the most loyal and protective qualities she had ever encountered.
And now that they had met, she had felt something forge between them. When he rescued her and Harper, they had formed a bond. Something had stuck between them, pulling them together, no matter how much she tried to push it out of her mind and avoid him… she still kept working back to him in her dreams and thoughts, and she couldn’t get him out of her mind.
He intrigued her more than anyone ever had before, and that was saying a lot considering the circumstances of her past relationship… but she didn’t want to get in too deep.
She was still afraid, and she didn’t want to be involved with another man… in another relationship… what the hell was she going to do?
Bear For Her (Lone Reach Shifters Book 1) Page 5
