The Bear's Mate

by Vanessa Devereaux

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Vanessa Devereaux

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-837-3

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Kerry Genova

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  THE BEAR’S MATE

  Kalispell Shifters, 1

  Vanessa Devereaux

  Copyright © 2014

  Chapter One

  Aiden’s heartbeat pounded so hard that he felt each gush of blood it pushed around his body. He put his foot down harder on the accelerator. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He gripped the steering wheel tighter causing his knuckles to look like every drop of blood had been drained from them. He wiped away the perspiration with the back of his hand, willing the car in front of his to get the hell out of the way because this was clearly an emergency.

  You’ve got to come and help me because I’m in big trouble.

  That’s all he’d heard his brother shouting down the phone and then the line had gone dead.

  He’d told one of his co-workers that he needed to go and pick up some medication for the cough he couldn’t seem to shake. After that, he’d swiftly left the wildlife management office. He glanced down at the bag perched on the passenger seat. It had been packed for as long as he could remember. Pulled out in haste just ten minutes ago. Inside was a way out and a fresh start. He hoped that his brother had his one ready and also every other member of their group. Once Aiden gave the signal they’d leave, never turning back.

  Sadness swept over him. Flathead County had been their home since they’d arrived here. They’d set up roots in Western Montana and Idaho as best as they could. They’d found jobs, homes, had children in the local schools, but if it was no longer safe, then so be it.

  Aiden pulled into the parking lot of his brother’s condo building. He really wanted to collect his thoughts, take a deep breath and think about the next move, but someone, about even government officials, had discovered their secret, and his brother was in danger.

  Exiting the car, he put his nose into the air. The bear in him smelled the blood. The air was tinged with a heavy metallic odor. Someone was hurt or worse. He glanced up at the building, keying in on the exact window of his brother’s condo.

  So much for thinking they were safe because nothing significant had happened before now. However, someone had found Christopher and was probably torturing him, punishing his body until he gave in, told them the truth and the identity of every single member of the group.

  Aiden entered the building, opting not to take the elevator because most of the time it was unreliable. Once he’d even got stuck between floors in the damn thing. He ran up the stairs two, sometimes three at a time, hoping he wasn’t too late. Christopher was the only family he had left now, and he couldn’t imagine carrying on without him.

  Aiden reached the fifth floor and pushed back the stairwell door, smelling burgers cooking as well as the tell-tale coppery odor that still clung heavy in the air. It was his brother’s blood he knew it. He’d always been able to detect shifter blood better than that of a human. He ran along the hallway to apartment 511. The door was closed. He turned the handle but didn’t expect it to open because he’d always instructed his brother to lock it at all times and never let a stranger over its threshold. Not such a great idea now that the enemy was inside with him. Just how had they gotten inside? His brother wasn’t easily fooled.

  He pulled out his gun and kicked at the door with the sole of his right foot. It flung open, and Aiden rushed inside, scanning the area with his gun ready to shoot.

  “Please, don’t hurt me, I’m sorry.”

  Christopher cried out, and it sounded like he was in the bedroom. Aiden edged his way along the wall toward the room, ready for the ultimate showdown. He expected to see the people in there torturing his brother, but instead a naked woman stood by the door holding a bread knife that had blood splattered on it.

  He knew her. She was one of the members of the group. She was a wolf-shifter and was, in fact, his brother’s sometimes girlfriend. He’d warned Christopher that a wolf and bear shifter weren’t exactly a match made in heaven, but his baby brother knew best. Aiden lifted the gun higher and entered the room. She caught sight of him, suddenly pointed the knife at Aiden and partially shifted, showing him her sharp canines as she opened her mouth and growled.

  “Eliza, just put the knife down, okay,” he said stepping farther into the room.

  His brother was lying on the bed with a nasty wound to his lower belly.

  “Aiden, do something because she’s gone crazy,” he said.

  “He’s the one you should do something about,” she said taking a run toward Christopher with the knife.

  Aiden knew he needed to grab her and wasn’t sure just where on her body to do it. She was nude, and the bottom line was she was Christopher’s woman. However, by the look of things the relationship might be over. He put his arms out and grabbed her with one hand on her belly, the other across her left breast.

  “Just drop the knife,” he whispered in her ear, getting a strong odor of her wolf. She was just as scared as Christopher was; he could detect the tinge of fear in the air. She wasn’t going to let go of the knife any time soon, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

  He shook her, and the knife fell to the ground by his right foot. Aiden kicked it under the bed and out of her reach, and then let her go.

  “Your brother is a disgusting rat,” she said turning around.

  “I said I was sorry,” said Christopher.

  “Just what the hell’s been going on?” asked Aiden.

  “He’s been with another shifter,” said Eliza.

  Aiden looked at his brother and raised both his eyebrows.

  “I will never forgive you for this Christopher Renner. I’ll show myself out and let me just say you got exactly what you deserved.” She stormed out of the bedroom.

  Aiden put his gun back in its holster. “Is it true that you’ve been two timing her?”

  Christopher didn’t have a chance to answer when another girl, also naked, walked out of the en suite bathroom. He lifted his nose to catch her set. Cougar if he wasn’t mistaken. This one had to be new in town, and that worried him more than Christopher cheating on Eliza with an unknown shifter.

  “Shit, what the hell have you been up to?” asked Aiden.

  “I felt in a playful mood,” said Christopher holding his stomach and grimacing.

  “Hi, my name’s Linnie.”

  She walked over to Aiden and held out her hand. He had to admit she did have a great body, but that was beside the point. He’d panicked and broken speed limits, even traffic rules in his attempt to save Christopher, and all because of sex.

  “I think he should get that gash and bite checked out.” She slipped on the blue dress she’d picked up off the floor.

  “And I think it best that you leave ASAP,” Aiden told her.

  “Maybe I’ll see you around,” she told Christopher before she exited the room.

  Aiden walked into the bathroom, hoping he wouldn’t find any more naked girls lurking in there. He took a towel off the rack and a washcloth, ran it under the tap, and walked back into the bedroom.

  “Let me see how bad that wound is?”

 
Christopher set his head back on a pillow while Aiden wiped away the blood from the injury.

  “Ouch. Be careful,” said his brother. He pushed Aiden’s hand away, but he persisted with cleaning him up anyway. He’d always been a big baby about things like this.

  “You had me worried. Why didn’t you tell me it was Eliza you were scared of?” asked Aiden.

  “I didn’t get a chance to. She was coming at me with that knife. I know you’re finding this very amusing.”

  Aiden smiled, relieved that things weren’t as bad as he’d expected. They wouldn’t have to leave. “So you mind telling me what brought this about? I thought you and Eliza were becoming exclusive.”

  “Guess my libido’s been in overdrive lately. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you we’re heading toward bear mating season.”

  He didn’t. Aiden had felt the stirrings and urges within his own body. However, he didn’t have a mate, didn’t even have a female friend at the moment so he’d done his best to suppress them and using his daily run as a way of getting it out of his system.

  So far, so good.

  “Eliza is a nice girl, even if she is a wolf. It was stupid to tempt fate,” said Aiden.

  “She is, but I thought we could spice things up with a ménage a trios. I thought she’d like it just as much as me. I told her to come over for a surprise in the bedroom and when she got here…”

  “She found you and Linnie had already started without her.”

  He nodded, and then grimaced again as Aiden dabbed at more of the injury.

  “How did you and Linnie meet? You know I like to check people out before we let them into our inner circle.”

  “She was at a bar I went to the other night. I smelled her cougar as soon as she walked into the place. Said it was the first time she’d met another shifter and that she’d been lonely. Her group landed on the Oregon coast.”

  “Hold still will you? Eliza’s probably thinking about settling down and you had to do a thing like this.”

  “I don’t want the whole settling down thing. I want sex with two women at the same time sort of thing.”

  Aiden pushed his brother back down on the bed.

  “How’s my dick looking?”

  “Holy shit, don’t tell me she stabbed you there too…not that I could blame her,” said Aiden pushing the washcloth down hard on his brother’s injury to try and stop the blood that somehow refused to quit flowing.

  “Nope, Linnie was giving me a blowjob when Eliza arrived, shouted, startled Linnie causing her to shift and she bit me. Cougars have the sharpest teeth.”

  Aiden shook his head. A ménage a trois, a blowjob, it sounded like fun, but sometimes his brother crossed the line.

  “So how’s it looking where it counts the most?”

  “Do I really have to check out your cock?” asked Aiden.

  “Hell, when we were growing up we saw one another’s dicks hundreds of times.”

  “Yeah, but now we’re all grown up.”

  “Get over your bashfulness and just give it the once over.”

  Aiden pulled the towel away from his brother’s groin. “Just to let you know, looking is all I’m going to do, no touching, even if it is hanging off.” Aiden took a quick peek. “Flesh wound by the look of it. However, I hate to say this, but I think that knife wound is pretty deep because I can’t stop the bleeding.”

  Aiden dabbed it with the washcloth again. Even with their body’s shifter’s restorative powers, Christopher’s wound looked deep enough to warrant some sutures to help it close.

  “Linnie was right. I think we should get you checked out,” said Aiden.

  “You know I hate doctors.”

  “We all hate them, but sometimes they can help us.”

  “So, you going to the ER again?”

  The last time he’d taken one of the group there, when one of the babies had gotten too sick for even them to deal with. Things hadn’t gone too well. They’d asked too many questions and had wanted to run too many tests. He really should insist that at least one person in the group get some medical training rather than rely on their rudimentary skills. However, medical emergencies weren’t that common for them.

  “There’s the Flathead Free Clinic. I heard through the grapevine that the doctor there knows about our kind and is more than sympathetic.”

  “You sure?” asked Christopher.

  Aiden nodded. “And even though I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t give us away, I’d feel happier if we communicate silently while we’re there in his presence.”

  “I’ll try, but I think I might be a bit rusty.”

  “Just follow my lead. You ready to go?”

  “Can I ask you to do one thing? I’m in terrible pain so can you sedate me just a little bit?”

  “That’s just for the kid shifters.”

  “Aiden, I’ve been stabbed, and you’re my brother.”

  He took a deep breath. He was just a big baby really, and one of the reasons Aiden took such care of him.

  “Okay, turn around.”

  It was a trick their father had taught him when things got really bad. Bear shifter’s salvia while usually used just after mating also acted as a sedative. His brother turned his back and Aiden bit into the spot between the nape of his neck and the top of his spine.

  “Hey, that’s enough I don’t want to be asleep all the way there.”

  Aiden took his mouth away.

  “Okay, let’s get going before that kicks in. And you might want to put some clothes on before we head outside.”

  ****

  Shit, what a crappy day it had been. This morning had been downright cold, and now heavy rain mixed with sleet drummed on the metal gutter outside the window. Some began pelting inside and splashed onto the paper towels on the ledge underneath it.

  Charlotte rushed over to close the window, but in her haste, knocked over a box of cotton balls. She bent over to retrieve them, and as she stood back up, she got a whiff of the vomit that had now dried to form a heavy crust on her lab coat. The first patient of the afternoon session had been a three year old boy who’d thrown up while she’d been examining him. She thought she’d managed to clean it all off, but now realized some still remained, and it had set like cement on the white material. She took off her lab coat, threw it into the laundry bin, wondering when a better job opportunity would come along. She’d given up her job in Seattle to come home to be with her father. The only job opening in the area had been as a doctor at the free clinic. Her father’s medical bills had been mounting up so she’d jumped at the chance. However, now she seriously thought about even taking a nursing job until something else came along.

  Checking herself in the mirror by the door, Charlotte noticed there was some vomit on her skirt too. She needed to buy groceries on the way home, and doubted other shoppers would appreciate the smell. It was close to the end of clinic hours. There’d been no more patients in the waiting area when she’d headed back to the supply room, so she’d spend the last few minutes of her work day attempting to clean up her skirt.

  She unzipped it, lowered it over her hips, and placed the skirt on top of the sink and dabbed at the vomit with a damp wash cloth. Just what had that little guy been eating? Whatever he’d thrown up was bright green and almost impossible to remove from the ridges of the skirt’s material. No wonder his mom had rushed him in here so quickly.

  Charlotte sensed she was no longer alone. Someone was standing behind her watching her. Damn it, she hoped it wasn’t a patient because she was only wearing her blouse and panties.

  Someone coughed. A man had cleared his throat behind her.

  “Excuse me. I’m trying to find Dr. Thong?”

  Had he said thong? She was wearing one. Last night when she’d gotten home, she’d been so doggone tired, she’d only mustered up enough energy to wash the clothes and not dry them. This morning she’d woken up realizing every single pair of regular panties she owned was still wet. It was a thong or going au natural.
Right now she was glad she hadn’t opted for the former.

  “I’m sorry, I meant Dr. Hasberg.”

  She got up the courage to turn around while carefully placing the vomit encrusted skirt in front of her, so he didn’t see her black lace thong’s front panel which didn’t offer much more coverage than the rear one.

  Earth open up and swallow me whole because the guy’s drop dead gorgeous.

  He was in his early thirties, tall, dark wavy hair, broad shoulders, high cheekbones, to die for deep blue eyes, and he’d had the best view of her butt a guy had seen in well, yes, over a year.

  “Dr. Hasberg passed away about six weeks ago. I’m the new doctor here. Dr. Charlotte Delaney if I can help you in any way.”

  He looked around, his eyes darting from side to side. Was he thinking about turning and leaving? Not that she’d be offended. Everyone had their favorite doctor.

  “My brother needs checking out,” he finally said.

  He must have seen her glance at the clock on the wall. He turned to look at it too, causing his jacket to pull away from his body. He had a wildlife management inspector badge attached to his waistband.

  “I know clinic hours are almost over but…”

  “No problem. Take your brother into examination room one at the end of the corridor. I’ll just put my skirt on, and I’ll be right with you.”

  He probably wondered why she needed to get dressed and what she’d been doing half naked in the back storage room. Damn it, how embarrassing. From now on when she was alone in the clinic she’d lock the front door. Securing her skirt, and not sure why she was checking her appearance, Charlotte fluffed up her hair and ran her tongue over her lips hoping to freshen the lipstick she’d put on after she’d eaten lunch. She headed to examination room one.

  I wonder if he’s single.

  Why am I even thinking about that? I work all hours of the day and night. I have a father with in rehab. Even if this guy was Mr. I’m So Available, I don’t have time for a social life.