A Lion, A Tiger and Her Bear...Oh My!: A Howls Romance (The Mates of Bear Paw River Book 4)

by Everleigh Clark

  ~.~

  Sam

  “Hand me a lug wrench, okay?” She held out her hand and felt the cool metal placed against her palm along with the heat from Noah’s hand. She stifled the shiver but couldn’t stop the warmth spreading through her body, especially when he knelt to peer under the truck with her.

  “So, Doc, is she gonna make it?”

  “It’s too early to tell, Jim.”

  His face lit up. “Please tell me that was a Star Trek reference.”

  Sam laughed and finished loosening the bolt that held the oil pan in place then carefully removed it. “Yeah, what can I say? Closet geek.”

  “All right, Miss Geek.” His dimples deepened. “Who do you prefer, Picard or Kirk?”

  “No brainer. Kirk. Duh, you should know this since you saw my tattoo. Kirk was the original hero of a Scrub team that ended up saving the galaxy. Picard was too stuffy.”

  “Stuffy? Sir Patrick Stewart was on Broadway and won awards while working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Come on! He won the Laurence Olivier award twice and starred in X-Men. The dude can act.”

  She snorted, passed him back the wrench, and continued her job. “I didn’t say I don’t like Stewart the actor—I think he’s awesome, especially as Professor Xavier in X-Men. But when it comes down to original Star Trek versus the spin-offs, original wins. Even with Shatner’s acting.”

  He laughed. “Okay, we can agree to disagree on that one. I thought Picard brought a sense of integrity to the role, opening up the possibilities for many new shows to come afterward.”

  She sniffed and rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Dimples. But you know who also had a great set of pipes? Nichelle Nichols—Uhura from the original. Now, that chick could sing.”

  “That I’ll agree on. I just thought Kirk was a bit too one-dimensional. You know? Like how his emotions were so over the top, and then the whole sleeping with every female he came in contact with—alien or otherwise…”

  “It was the 1960s. The man was in charge of everything, and feminism was still making its move forward,” Sam said.

  “Okay, how about an easier one, since it looks like you just bled out half my baby’s insides all over the garage floor.”

  “Shit.” She backed up, grabbed the pan from him, and placed it under the thick brown liquid trickling to the floor. “I think I found your problem. You have a gap in your transmission and a leak in your oil pan.” She climbed out while the rest of the fluid drained. “Before you go any further, I have a better question for you.”

  “Hit me.” He rubbed his arm after she punched him. “Rhetorical, Sammy girl.”

  “Not in my world,” she said, grinning. “Ask my friend, Jane.”

  “Fine, fine, what’s your question?”

  “Favorite Doctor? And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, I am taking you off my list for suitable guys to hook up with.” She grinned.

  “Hate to break it to you, but we had sex multiple times already, so your logic won’t stand.”

  “That didn’t count. When I’m in my mating heat, I’ll take anyone.”

  “Ouch. Thanks.”

  “That’s why I’m still giving you a chance, Dimples. Favorite Doctor, and here’s a hint to get started, cuz you’re cute. He uses an old English police box.”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake, do we have to call it a police box? If you’re going to talk about the Tardis, at least be respectful. It’s a Type 40 time and space machine that looks like a police box because of a broken chameleon circuit. The science and magic behind his space and time travels is the kind of thing I can’t even begin to imagine. And since we’re on the subject of Doctor Who, I’m going with the tenth and thirteenth Doctors. David Tennant was cool, fresh, young, current.”

  “And voted UK’s favorite Doctor several years ago,” Sam added.

  “Yeah! But I am really looking forward to the new female lead by Jodie Whittaker. That’s going to be amazing.”

  Sam smiled. “I totally agree with that one. She’d going to rock it. But if I had to vote for favorite, I’m still going with Baker. Hands down, the best Doctor ever.”

  “He’s my second favorite. But once again, you’re talking old school. You’re a bit nostalgic, aren’t you?”

  She shrugged, pulled the pan out, and started on replacing it. “I don’t know. It just seemed like a simpler time. Less worry about offending someone, saying the wrong thing, dressing inappropriately, etc.… I don’t know. Nowadays, you have to worry about your social media following and make sure you don’t say anything that could even potentially offend someone. Hell, a discussion about favorite shows is a land mine. Heaven forbid we all just say what we really feel.”

  “I like you.” He took her hand into his, and she paused, the flush creeping up her neck.

  “Yeah, like that. How do you know I’m not going to go all fembot on you and tell you to take a hike, or toss a pan of oil at you?”

  He grinned. “I don’t. That’s what makes this time so exciting. Some of the women I’ve—dated— as open as you. They do worry about everything you just mentioned. But you’re the woman who says it like it is. I like that.”

  “How’s the truck?” The deep voice interrupted their conversation, and both turned to Traeger in the doorway.

  Noah released her and backed up a few paces.

  She grabbed another pan and placed it under the truck, just in case. “Should just be a few more hours. I’ll check out the tire alignment while I’m at it.”

  “Okay, let us know when you’re finished. Noah, step outside for a sec?”

  Noah gave Sam a quick wave before they departed.

  Shit. What was she going to do? She shouldn’t be flirting with this guy. Yeah, she was attracted to him, and whoa, momma, he was good in bed, and sweet, and they shared a strong geek side. But she was also feeling a lot of tingles in her belly whenever Trae came near her. The lion shifter just had to look in her direction, and she felt weak in the knees. The guys were like yin and yang. One soft and charismatic, the other hard and edgy. And damned if they both didn’t call to her. She couldn’t do that to either of them—or herself. It was best if she kept her distance. Otherwise, she might do something silly, like ask them both to make love to her. And hey, as openminded as she was, she didn’t know of any other bear shifters who were doing the two-guy thing. Best to back off.

  Her phone rang, and she rubbed her hands on the greasy towel before answering. “What’s up?”

  “I need you to accompany Traeger and Noah to Abingdon, Virginia.” Bo’s deep voice was kind, but, a command from her Alpha must be obeyed.

  But to go with those guys? She groaned. “When, and what do I need to do?”

  “Tomorrow. Take a package from Ida to deliver, and then check on a couple of the females. They’ve specifically asked for Aunt Ida, but she’s in the middle of something right now, and you’re next best.”

  “I’m on it. Tell Mom I’ll drop by tonight.”

  “Thanks.” He hung up.

  Great, a road trip with the two males who were going to boldly make her hormones go where no woman had gone before.

  Chapter Three

  Sam

  She was going to die here in the back seat. She knew it. The truck lurched over another pothole on the back road they’d taken as a shortcut instead of the highway.

  “I told you to take 187,” Noah said, exasperation tinging his voice.

  Trae shrugged and swerved around another huge hole. “Gertrude didn’t agree.”

  “Your cell bars have been at two for the last half hour. Gertrude can’t give you good directions if she doesn’t have satellite, dumbass.”

  Sam snickered at the scene in the front seat from her own location where —even though her ass was killing her from the big jolts of the truck—she was safe from the crossfire. “God you sound like an old married couple.”

  “We’re not married.”

  “We’re not old.” Two voices spoke over each other.

/>   “Seriously, I think you’re going to lose your exhaust pipe if we hit another hole,” she pointed out.

  “Good thing we have a mechanic with us.” Trae gave her a wink in the rearview mirror.

  “And how exactly do you want me to reattach it or patch a hole in your catalytic converter? I didn’t bring any tools with me.” These guys were getting on her nerves. Or it could be the steady grins they kept giving her. This banter seemed to be their way of relaxing, and they were making the most of it, obviously. But it annoyed her. Kind of. She was still a little too grumpy to be cracking jokes.

  “Chewing gum?” Noah suggested.

  “Nah, that’s silly. Chocolate.” Trae nodded at both, a gleam in his eyes, before turning his sights back on the road. “If there’s any acid, it will combine with the sugars to make an elemental carbon to block the hole.”

  Noah grinned. “Mythbusters!”

  “MacGyver. The king of fixing problems. We could also use egg whites,” Trae said.

  “Great., I forgot my chickens in my other pants.”

  She finally had to tune them out. It was either that or jump out of a moving truck and hike the last seventy-five miles. The truck hit another bump, and she smacked her wrist on the window. Yep, she was going to die.

  “How’s it work, the lip and belly-button rings?” Trae asked a while later, waking her from her daydreams about duct taping the guys to the seats. Totally MacGyver of her.

  Noah’s head was leaned against the passenger window, and his light snores filled the cabin.

  “What do you mean?” She flicked her tongue out to show Trae the glint of white silver.

  “How’s it work with shifting? Your snout gets bigger, and your fangs get sharper and longer. No offense, but your belly is a bit larger, too, when in bear form.”

  “No offense taken.” She sat up. “And it’s a good question. When I first got the piercings, I would yank them out if I even felt a tickle from my bear. Her name is Winnie. Don’t laugh.”

  His gaze met hers in the mirror. “I’m not laughing. I think it’s cute. So, what happens now? Can you control even a rage shift long enough to take all of them out?”

  “I don’t know of anyone who can control a rage shift, but no. Thankfully, Mad Mike had me covered.”

  “Mad Mike?”

  “Yeah,” She grinned and flicked her tongue against her bottom teeth, loving not only the way it sounded, but also the way his eyes darkened when she did it. “The dude is crazy with a huge C, but he knows his metals. I can’t explain the science behind it, but I can tell you it works. Check it out.” She beckoned Winnie forward partially and felt her teeth sharpen. Her snout lengthened, and her face rounded. She stopped the shift there. Didn’t want to go too far in the cab of their truck.

  “Holy shit.” His eyes lit up and his mouth spread so wide, she could almost see his tonsils. “I have to admit, I thought I’d be weirded out seeing a brown bear with a nose ring and…”

  She stuck her long tongue out and flicked the tongue ring over the top of her sharp bottom row of teeth.

  “Tongue…fucking…ring. Awesome!” He was like a kid with the key to the whole candy store and no adults in sight. He looked back at the road and continued driving, shaking his head .

  A moment later, she was back in full human form again. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. I usually take all the rings out, just so I don’t have to worry about them getting ripped out in a fight or something. But it’s a relief to not have to worry about accidentally shifting and having a size-small ring on a large snout.”

  “So, the Mike dude gave you special body rings?”

  “Yeah, he caters mostly to shifters. He’s out in the middle of the boonies, a pretty good trek from home, but worth it. He can do tattoos that don’t fade even if you shift within the first week.”

  “He gave you the spaceship and broken-heart ink?”

  “Yeah, he’s amazing. He can do anything, even minimize scars if one is interested.”

  “Not interested,” he said.

  Dammit. The energy in the cab went cold just like that, and Trae’s gaze went flat. She shouldn’t have said anything, but it popped out. It wasn’t like she hated the scars, but she’d mentioned it just in case he hated them.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be rude. How’d you get them, if I may ask?”

  “I’m not offended. It’s fine.” He shrugged. But the tension was still rolling off his tight shoulders and ramrod-straight spine. “I got them a long time ago because I deserved them. And I will never ask someone to take them away. These are mine. They stay.”

  “All right. I really am sorry if I upset you.”

  Trae exhaled then shook out his shoulders and looked back at her. “It’s all right. Let’s change the subject.”

  “What do you want to talk about?” She’d let him steer the rest of the conversation through safer waters. Fast cars, muscle trucks, celebrity-marriage failings. Hell, she’d even talk about hot, thin supermodels if it made him not look at her like that again. She’d really hurt his feelings, and she felt like an ass, so anything went for chitchat until they got to Abingdon.

  “All right. How many ways can you use chocolate to save the world? I’ll go first.” He grinned.

  “Did someone say chocolate?” Noah murmured sleepily and sat up.

  Perfect timing.

  ~.~

  Traeger watched as the females chatted—his female smiling broadly at a joke the older beaver shifter and the rabbit shifter made. Sam’s smile was like looking into the sun directly. You couldn’t stare too long, or you would go blind. But it was perfect. She never showed that many teeth with him—well, unless it was baring them at him. Or showing off her tongue ring. Until he acted like a pissy feline and started hissing at her on the drive.

  Though, it was a bit annoying to have her perfect body, cloying scent, and perfectly husky voice in the cab of the truck, it was also...perfect. He appreciated and hated how much his lion was drawn to her. Appreciated because she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. The most resilient, strong, formidable, brave, curvy, beautiful… He could go on, but he stopped. Then there were the things he hated about her. The fact she was too good for him. That he would scar her if he took her, That he would die a thousand deaths to protect her and lose even more if he lost her. He needed her with every breath he took, but he couldn’t have her. He wasn’t good enough, dammit. He’d break her, taint her, soil her. All of the above. And that’s what he hated. Not her. But the situation. And his damn lion wasn’t making it easy on him. What he wouldn’t give to take her away from all of this, maybe sweep her up into his arms… Oh, she’d fight like a hound of hell, scratching, biting, cursing, and then he’d lay her down on her bed, and...what? Pleasure beyond all the ecstasy in the world? Make her scream his name until she was hoarse. Sink his fangs deep into her neck and claim her forever? Shit.

  He frowned, turning to the conversation the beaver’s mate and Noah were having.

  The female beaver shifter had been brought back as one of the final prisoners from the facility in Kentucky, and her human mate was loudly proclaiming everything he would do to protect her. Trae couldn’t help but smile at the human’s bravery. The male would do anything to make her feel better and ensure her safety. Poor guy even felt responsible for her abduction a few weeks earlier. But there was only so much an unarmed human could do against a squad of men with weapons intent on taking their prey. They’d grabbed her before he’d even noticed she was gone. And that had to be eating up the poor fucker.

  Noah shook James Cleaver’s hand and turned back to Trae. “I think we’re okay here for now. It’d be helpful if we could get some sort of defense in place. I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his long, dark hair and blew out an exhale. “What about a team of shifters on the police force, something to make sure the few shifters in the area are actually safe?” Noah asked. “How many are there?”

  The human male nodded toward the small town square
behind them. “Just a handful. Maybe five or six counting Trudy’s beaver, all different animals.”

  “You can tell what they are?”

  “Hell no. They’re friends from the coffee shop. They showed their true forms to each other the week before she and the others got captured. A small town like this calls to shifters, I think. They are alone and want to disappear, but also find it safer to be in the same area as others.”

  “Can you give me a list of all the names and locations of your friends?” He took in the scowl on the man’s face. “I promise we won’t hurt them. But maybe I can talk to them. I can help them get together their own little pack for safety.”

  “I’ll think about it,” James said. “Let me talk to Trudy first.”

  “We get it.” Noah gave him a smile and handed him their card. “Call us if you need anything at all.”

  When they finished talking, they walked over to Sam and the females.

  “You ready to hit the road?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Sam gave the females a hug and strode toward them a thoughtful look on her face. “We have to figure out a way to get them all together. Or with another pack. A group of them is stronger and safer than just one family on their own.”

  “I agree,” Noah said as he held the door open for her.

  If it had been Trae, she would have scowled and told him she could get her own fucking door.

  At least she liked one of them.

  Chapter Four

  Sam

  Sam dropped her coffee cup into the trash can and walked down Abingdon’s small Main Street. Trae and Noah had gone to the west side of town to check on a few more shifters while she finished talking with Trudy and another former prisoner. Trudy was nice, calm, with the kind of look in her eyes that made you feel right at home. She had gone back into her town, took over her little coffee shop with her husband again, and continued as if nothing had ever happened. Like she hadn’t been abducted by humans and imprisoned for the past six months. Sam smiled at the way Trudy’s husband doted on her constantly. The male was human, but he stretched up tall and alert with any noise that came around. Like he was going to protect his shifter wife. They were maybe in their fifties with a smattering of gray around their temples and lines around their eyes reflecting many years of laughter and love. Sam hoped they would have many more together.