Bear Shifters: Hunt Collection #2

by Ava Hunt

  I used to live for the night, when I could disappear from my life as a human. The bear was my therapy, helping me deal with my subconscious dissatisfaction that I mistook for stress. Now, shifting is an afterthought, an activity I enjoy the way one might enjoy hiking through the woods.

  I don’t fear the forest at night, but I don’t need it anymore. I am strongest when I am with her.

  The End

  Bear My Scars

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  Mercy Bell didn't know her boyfriend Jackson Reed was a bastard. A bastard that kept a younger woman on the side and paid his workmate to keep Mercy busy.

  Deacon Morgan Rattle did agree to keep Mercy occupied, but not for the money. While his human kept running from his past, his bear wanted to grow old with Mercy.

  When Morgan makes a brash choice, will it end up costing him everything - his freedom and Mercy?

  *This is a standalone shifter novella retelling of "Father Figure under a pen name of Roma Dark" with a happily ever after ending and the recipe to the cake mentioned in the story. It is intended for mature readers and features explicit scenes and language*

  Chapter One: Jackson, Morgan, and Mercy

  Damn her for coming into work dressed like that and damn her for being so fucking tight.

  The breeze outside MakeSoft International was the only thing that was feeling good today according to Jackson Reed. He stepped out of the close-knit community of software geeks and tried to wipe the sweat from his palms. As he slid them down the front of his tan polyester pants, he tried to remain as calm as he could be considering that everything in his life could come to a crashing halt. That is if he couldn't keep up this tightrope walk a few more weeks.

  He'd been as discrete as possible when he gave in to his lust and fucked the CEO's 18 year-old daughter, Kimberly. But it wasn't my fault, really, I mean she was begging me it seemed by the way she was dressed. While he was still technically seeing his workmate Mercy, that relationship was one of convenience and not one of passion. Hell, he was not even sure if Mercy knew what passion was.

  He sighed in unison with the low-hum vibration coming from his pocket. Two rapid tingles hitting mid thigh.

  He slid the iPhone from its confines and saw two texts on screen; one from Mercy and one from Kimberly. He read Mercy's first:

  "Just a quick note to say I love you. Risotto, tonight? I'm cooking."

  And then he quickly slid the message off the screen to get to Kimberly's. There captioning an image of a perfectly placed nipple ring was:

  "It's not nibbling itself, lover."

  Sigh. Is it any wonder I'm in this mess?, he thought.

  He counted down how long he'd have to try to walk this edge of keeping everyone happy; his boss, his girlfriend, and his side girl. Hopefully tonight while meeting Morgan for drinks, he'd have some ideas on keeping everything together just a little while longer. Morgan had become friends with Jackson this past year, after transferring to MakeSoft Central from their California department. All that time, Jackson never understood why anyone would downgrade to that office. I've been trying since I got here to get away from it and he transfers to it. Crazy.

  At 30 years of age, Jackson would be one of the youngest division managers at MakeSoft. He'd prepped the entire past decade to get to this point, from majoring in areas known to be the company's favorites to brown-nosing every committee chairperson he had access to. He was considered handsome with his dark brown hair and eyes and most of the girls in the office had been known to drop their numbers when Mercy wasn't looking. He'd never taken a work colleague up on the offer, at least not women he worked in this office with, until Kimberly jiggled into a conference room right out of her high school graduation. Eighteen never looked so inviting than when she reached over the desk and flashed her perfect peach of an ass barely contained by a black lace thong.

  It had started out fine. His boss, Mr. Lewis, had finally decided to transfer him to the East Coast division. The division with the highest sales. He'd be over a team of computer programmers and be making almost double what he was making here at the Montana office. There was never bonus money paid to the Central Division, but he'd be getting fat quarterly bonus checks when he was in the East Coast Division. It was finally time to get everything he'd expected his life to have; money, decadence, and women at his feet.

  That's when things began to get a little dicey. Fresh off a break from Mercy, he decided to dip his wick in the company ink and take out Mr. Lewis's barely legal and yet still promiscuous daughter Kimberly. Now that he was back with Mercy, Kimberly kept taunting him with cell phone videos, pictures and text messages that would ruin everything if her Daddy saw them.

  If that happened he could kiss that sweet promotion goodbye, hell he could kiss his job entirely goodbye. Mercy would kick him out and he'd be without anywhere to stay. He had to keep everything status quo, if only for a little while.

  He couldn't drop Kimberly completely for fear of her blackmail, nor could he stay with her because of what Mercy and her father would do to him if they'd found out about the affair. He was truly fucked either way.

  I deserve this promotion and damnit no pussy is worth losing it over.

  If he could just keep it together for three more weeks, he'd be out of there and in his cushy New York condo. Three more weeks of living in the armpit of the United States and then I can finally reach the pinnacle of my life.

  He slid his hand down the side of his brand new cherry-red Porsche, opened it, and positioned himself behind the wheel. After a quick check in the rear view mirror to make sure he didn't look as stressed as he was, he sped away to the Morningwood Bar and Tavern.

  He arrived in record time and looked around the crowded interior to check for Morgan. It was usually simple to see him no matter how packed the location. Morgan commanded attention. Known as the 'bad boy' of MakeSoft, his features were chiseled with a 6'3 lean frame and ripped abs that made him seem fierce and dangerous. It tickled Jackson how he got more ass than Morgan.

  He must be shit in the sack, he thought. The fucking missionary man, literally.

  There at the bar, Morgan was already nursing a dark-colored beverage that Jackson knew wouldn't be alcoholic. For all Morgan's reputation, Jackson had never seen him drink, smoke, or partake in any real vice. Hell, for all Jackson knew from that far away, it could have been chocolate milk.

  "Hey Morgan, thanks for meeting me here," Jackson said as he took a well-worn seat at the bar. The leather was cracked from too many patrons and the bits stuck into his pant's thin fabric. No amount of adjustment could alter the feel, making him scowl.

  "No problem. You said on the phone you had some problem you needed help with?" Morgan leaned back and swirled the small plastic pirate's sword that speared the cherry in his Diet Coke. He had heard some rumors floating around the office and already had a feeling as to what this 'problem' may be.

  Jackson looked down with a furrowed brow before rising up to meet Morgan's eyes and said, "I may have ruined everything."

  "I'll need a little more information before I'm viable help."

  Over the next fifteen minutes, Jackson alternated between a double bourbon and telling the story of the past six months. How when him and Mercy were on one of their infamous breaks, he drunkenly dialed the boss's daughter and proceeded to nail her six ways to Sunday. How afterwards he kept meeting her, even after him and Mercy got back together.

  "And now she has all these pictures and videos and is threatening to tell her Dad if we don't stay together."

  "Yea, that's not good, man." Truth was, Morgan was a little happy that Jackson was finally in this position. He'd seen him fuck girl after girl while making excuses to Mercy. It was nice to see one of them taking a stand and laying down some screws to him.

  Mercy is a wonderful wo
man, Morgan thought, one that deserves so much more than she's getting.

  Truth be told, Morgan had a few secrets of his own. Secrets that his good buddy Jackson didn't need to know about.

  ****

  The past year at MakeSoft had been quite an adjustment to Morgan Rattle. Fleeing the bright lights and the big city, he was finding Montana to be more soothing to his inner fire than the constant stimulation of the city. He needed to slip away, to get past old demons, and to head to something calm. What better place than out in the middle of nowhere. The pay cut was worth it.

  Montana also seemed like a much better fit for his inner bear. It was quite a challenge letting it free in the city than in the wilds of Montana. Yes, perhaps this was going to be the perfect place for him to find his solace.

  Even in a big city, rumors can kill your soul. All it took was two exes showing up with unexplained bruises for Morgan to be branded the neighborhood abuser. The girls never confirmed or denied the rumors, in fact they never spoke much about it at all. When the opportunity of the job shift came up at MakeSoft, Morgan jumped at it for a chance at a fresh start. While it meant leaving behind the church he had served, it didn't take him too long to become deacon of a small fellowship full of good people that still believed in second chances.

  He'd graduated college eight years earlier in computer engineering, but mastered the fine art of hacking a decade ago. His old friends still called him 'Snake' from the way he'd slithered into high security systems and as a play on his surname. The old hacking habits seemed to die hard with Morgan, which is how he knew everything he needed to know to set his plan in action.

  I can't help it if the plan took on a life of it's own, he thought. That's not my fault.

  He knew what Jackson had been calling him for, or at least he thought he knew. It was no happy accident that now-legal Kimberly happened to wear that outfit and drop her number in to that hand. No, Morgan had known for months the revolving door of women Jackson kept. Meagan, the college freshman coffee house girl. Jessica, the blonde pet groomer that came to take care of Mercy's former dog. April, the drunk girl he nailed in the parking lot after he celebrated his first anniversary with Mercy. He even knew the ones that Jackson never told him about.

  Morgan had been hacking Jackson's email and computer for months. At first it was just a theory he had. Jackson had mostly confided in him about his conquests, thinking Morgan was in on the 'bro code'. He even thought Morgan encouraged it.

  He couldn't have been more wrong.

  Jackson always assumed Morgan was a prude from being church deacon, but he was so very far from it. If I'd been a prude, I'd never had to leave California. He just believed in treating the woman you love right. It was one of the reasons he fled the accusations to move to Montana. Jackson shouldn't have been stepping out on Mercy while telling her she was the only one. Had he been single, as Morgan was, he could nail a new girl every night. Hell, nail two a night for all he cared, but Mercy deserved better.

  It was when he saw the boss's daughter come in one day, raving about her upcoming graduation and asking Morgan where "the cute nerdy one was" he set forth a plan. He took her to lunch and told her everything Jackson liked. How he loved take charge women who teased. How he loved the flash of ass. And then Morgan waited.

  Sure enough, as soon as the ink was dry on that diploma which coincided with her turning 18, Kimberly strode in and Jackson fell for that lace-covered bait hook, line, and sinker.

  The blackmailing pictures, texts, and videos were just icing on the cake. Jackson was finally getting a bit of comeuppance for a lifetime of asshattery. And here he was, on an uncomfortable stool at a bar he hates, telling me how miserable his life is and wondering how he deserves it. Asshat.

  "Well looks like you're in a bit of a jam."

  "A bit of a jam? My whole fucking life can come crashing down and you think its 'a bit of a jam'?"

  "Well you could have kept it in your pants."

  "Me and Mercy were on a break."

  "And after that?"

  The long, audible sigh told Morgan everything. "After that.....I fucked up."

  "Precisely."

  "So what do I do about it."

  "Well, I'd say first you need to do some serious thinking on what your priorities are. I mean, is the job more important than Mercy? Is Kimberly important to you at all? Once you set your priorities, then it'll be easier to determine how to proceed. Aren't you leaving for that new office soon?"

  "Yes. If I can get there, perhaps I can break it off with Mercy easier, then this Kimberly thing can die out and I will still be able to have the job I've waited for. It could work out, right? Just time and some careful stepping between now and then."

  "So Mercy isn't a keeper to you?" Inside, a small flicker of fury raged in Morgan as he asked the question as his bear seethed. The bear in him had long since known that Mercy was the one for him.

  "I just don't see me settling for her when there are too many beautiful creatures that will be at my disposal."

  "Then it seems like the 'time and stepping' approach is your only option." Morgan said as he downed his Diet Coke, spun off the barstool, and walked out of the Morningwood Bar and Tavern.

  ****

  When she walked into MakeSoft a year and a half ago, Mercy Bell was a confident woman. Born with great hips, ample thighs, and breasts that couldn't be contained by your average bra, the curvy woman packed a serious case of personality and sass along with her impressive form.

  She arrived with years of experience and slid effortlessly into their graphics department. Whenever a new piece of software left their division, it was her logos that adorned them. She was finally making a living doing what she loved after years of full time effort for part time pay. MakeSoft had been her ticket to a better life.

  When she met Jackson, she thought she'd found the one. He was adored by everyone at the company, ambitious, and although not as skilled in the bedroom as some of her exes, he made up for it in the attention he poured on her. Day after day she saw the women of the company flirt and tease with him. Night after night, he came home to her.

  While they'd had their ups and downs, they'd hadn't split up. Even during that short break they took. He came back to her a few weeks later to tell her for the very first time that he loved her. Yes, her and Jackson were meant to be.

  Sure she'd heard the rumors going around. That he was headed to the East Coast Division and that he was sleeping with the boss's barely legal daughter. Most of the people she had heard this from were from the women he turned down, so she always believed Jackson over them. They are probably scorned from him not choosing to be with them.

  It wasn't until they had started an office pool to buy the decorations and the going away cake that she started to take part of the rumor seriously.

  "So he's leaving?" Mercy asked Rebecca, the woman who worked their mailroom and organizer of the pool.

  "Girl, we've told you that for weeks now. Surely he told you, right?" Rebecca looked at Mercy in disbelief. They'd been dating for quite a while and everyone thought that despite Jackson's slick ways, she'd end up marrying him.

  "Oh yea, right, no I was just teasing."

  Mercy walked in a haze to her cubicle and pulled out her cell phone.

  You're leaving and didn't tell me? She texted him and waited on his reply. And waited. And waited.

  Close to the end of the day, she saw him for a moment leave the boss's office and felt her side pocket vibrate where her cell phone was stored.

  Conference. We'll talk tonight, was his reply.

  You're damn straight we'll talk tonight, she thought.

  ****

  Mercy waited impatiently for Jackson to come through the door. She didn't wait a moment more once his feet crossed the threshold of their apartment. For the first time since they'd been together, dinner was not on the table waiting for him and he could tell he was in trouble from the lack of delicious aromas greeting him at the doorway.

 
"You couldn't tell me you were leaving for New York? You didn't say shit about a promotion that was taking you miles and hours a-fucking-way?"

  Jackson chose his words carefully, there were still days before he was leaving, and he needed to make sure everything was still in place. It was only her name on the lease and he really didn't need to be kicked out before his flight, especially when Kimberly still lived at home with her father and he couldn't stay there.

  "Honey I was going to tell you! It slipped my mind until this conference and then I was going to tell you straight away."

  "I don't buy that crap for a minute." She stood there, seething, tapping her foot against the cold marble tile of the kitchen floor. "Jackson Reed, you give me one good reason why I shouldn't just stop this little charade of a relationship right now."