by E A Price
The Bear and the Unicorn
(Supernatural Enforcers Agency)
E A Price
Copyright ©2016 by Elizabeth Ann Price
All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
Disclaimer and note:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of my over-active and sometimes worrying imagination or used in a completely fictitious manner to the point that they don’t resemble real life in the slightest. Any resemblance to actual persons (including all shifters, fae, goblins etc), living or dead (even zombies), or actual events is purely coincidental. A lot of details have been entirely made up – try and work out which ones!
Note on the use of the term sabre-tooth tiger – I’m pretty certain the correct way of writing it is actually sabre-toothed tiger or smilodon (which is kind of kooky) but I just write it as sabre-tooth, mostly because it reminds me of X-men and for the purposes of this book I don’t think it’s really a big deal. They’re just awesome creatures – end of. And yeah, one shows up in this book… oh come on it’s not that much of a spoiler!
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Epilogue
Prologue
Zane Matthews focused on not snapping his phone in two. “But you’re not…”
“Enough!” snapped the cold voice of his former boss, Gerry. “The director will not be interested in a case about teenagers stealing underwear from clotheslines. Report it to the LLPD and stop wasting my time.”
The snake shifter slammed the phone down, and Zane counted to ten before he slowly replaced the receiver back in its cradle. He was calm, he was relaxed, there was no reason to get angry and throw his desk chair out of the window like his bear was goading him to do. After a few minutes, Zane relaxed back into his chair and smiled. Yep, his weekend hobby was paying off. His bear snorted and turned his back on him, and Zane mentally flipped him the bird. Hey, it was the bear and his damn anger problems that got them into this mess in the first place.
Almost a year ago, he’d been a proud SEA agent. Then, because of his short fuse and a very unfortunate series of events, he was unceremoniously fired and kicked out on his butt. At first, he’d been furious, blaming everyone but him, but now he saw it was his fault. He’d behaved like a bull-headed asshole. His bear grumbled, but Zane shushed the beast. It was his fault, there was no denying it, but thanks to all the personal growth he had achieved since then, he was a whole new person. Well, he was a good person… he was somewhat improved? And it was all thanks to his hobby.
He’d tried anger management classes, therapy, group therapy and even went down the dreaded route of behavior-modifying drugs – they didn’t take at all, nothing could dent his constitution – but he found the only thing that helped him was paintball. Yep, that’s right – paintball. He spent his Saturdays chasing people through the woods with a toy gun, and he loved it. It taught him patience and discipline while allowing him to shoot people – it was great. Of course, getting his old boss to believe he’d changed enough to reinstate him was a different matter. Gerry was a good guy, but even he didn’t want to save Zane from getting fired. But, none of that mattered now. Zane could almost – almost – look back on the last eight months as being a good thing.
However, he was now itching to get his job back. He was currently working as a kind of unlicensed PI. The LLPD turned a blind eye because all his clients were shifters – and if Zane was dealing with them, it meant they weren’t bothered by them. While Zane was sympathetic to his clients, truthfully he was looking for a case to take to the SEA so that he might ingratiate his way back into a job there. So far, no such luck. His latest case, about the continued thefts of women’s panties right off of the clotheslines in backyards wasn’t ‘serious’ enough to spark any interest. Still, he was ever hopeful.
A tentative knock sounded at the door, and he yelled for them to enter. Hesitantly, a young woman entered, and he sucked in a breath. Even his bear hushed and stilled. She had an ethereal quality that took his breath away. Her skin was pale and almost shimmered in the sunlight that filtered through his window. Her long, blonde, almost white hair fell to her waist and was arranged in a loose braid that hung over one shoulder. A tentative fear marred her pretty face and made her green eyes flicker. The desire to protect her swelled deep in his chest, and his bear urged him to go to her.
Zane stood up abruptly, banging his knee on his desk and smashing his head into the ceiling fan. The office really wasn’t built for six-foot-ten bear shifters. She gasped in sympathy, and his beast snarled at him to pull himself together.
“I’m Mane Zatthews, I mean, Zane Matthews,” he gurgled. His bear practically slapped his forehead and growled D’oh.
“Sky Danvers,” she said before biting my lip. “I’m sorry just to barge in…”
“No, no, it’s fine.” He was quick to reassure her as his interest in his visitor surged.
“But I think I’m being followed. It’s crazy, I don’t have any proof, but it’s just a feeling I get and I’m scared.”
His bear howled at the thought of anyone hurting this sweet creature. In a flash he was standing in front of her, holding her hand, enjoying how nice her hand felt in his – how right. “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he promised. Her delicate grip tightened, and he almost groaned at the sensual prickles her touch afforded.
“Thank you,” she murmured as tears pooled in her eyes. Sky looked up into the handsome face of the bear and for the first time in weeks she felt content. Her inner unicorn sighed and pawed the ground. Mate.
*
Eight months ago
Zane scowled at his lawyer as his inner bear grumbled. “Is that the best you could do?”
Harry mopped his brow. “We won.”
“Hardly! I lost my fucking job. I’ve got community service, and I have to pay damages.”
“But no jail time…”
“Community. Service,” ground out the irate bear shifter. Oh, the humanity!
Harry looked flummoxed. With all due respect to Harry ‘bloodhound’ Heckler, he was hardly what anyone could call a decent litigator. Harry was an ambulance chaser. He was a good ambulance chaser – once he got the s
cent of a potential settlement, he didn’t let up - hence the nickname. But at the end of the day, he was an ambulance chaser.
The majority of his other clients were trying to sue for damages for any multitude of reasons – his last client slipped on a banana at a Speed-E-Mart. The rest filed suits for sexual harassment – one based on the telling of a joke about the female sexual organ and something to do with apple pie. The point being that Harry’s cases rarely made it to court. Most just settled out of court for a decent but generally low amount of money - because neither his clients nor the companies or individuals they were suing wanted it to get that far. But Zane’s case really had called for some bona fide arguing.
Stalking. Assault. Dangerous inability to control the inner bear.
The bear in question snarled.
None of this was Zane’s fault. Okay, some of it was his fault. Most of it. Maybe all of it.
His bear – damn perfidious beast – had no sympathy. He had been against getting involved from the start. But then, if it weren’t for the animal’s horrific temper, things might not be so bad. Zane threw that back in his hairy snout, and yeah, the bear had the grace to hide behind his paws.
Zane’s high school girlfriend called him for help. Her asshole lawyer ex was stiffing her on alimony, and she wanted Zane to do something about it. Melissa was just as pretty as the day in freshman year when she batted her eyelashes at him and got him to pull the fire alarm to get her out of detention. The first in a long list of pranks and misdemeanors she had him commit. Smoky brown eyes, red, sensual lips, and dimples. She was his kryptonite.
He’d left their small town at eighteen, joined the army, trying to make a name for himself. Plus the local judge – his own father – had kind of pushed the army on him after he stole one or two or six cars. This will straighten you out boy he boomed before banging his gavel.
Melissa in a tearful goodbye said she’d wait for Zane forever. Forever didn’t last long. A month later she sent a letter saying she’d moved to Los Lobos and was engaged to a law student called Roger – a bighorn sheep shifter of all things. That was the last he saw or heard from her until she turned up on his doorstep crying her eyes out a few months back. Asshole Roger had fooled around on her, dumped her with two kids and was refusing to pay her the money she needed to live.
Zane saw red.
He didn’t think it through. He should have gone the legal route, but he rarely thought anything through. Poor impulse control? Nah, he was just a hothead. Especially when it came to Melissa. When she told him their high school music teacher hit on her and tried to blackmail her into sex, he didn’t even stop to consider his actions. Mr. Lazlow was in traction for nine months, and Zane got kicked out of school. Strangely, he’d always thought Mr. Lazlow was gay – given that he was married to a guy and all.
As for Roger, Zane tried talking to him nicely, but no, Roger had been remorseless. Wouldn’t listen. Insisted Melissa communicated through her lawyer only. Wouldn’t even give Zane the time of day. So Zane took it upon himself to be wherever Roger the dick was – his home, his work, his dates with his new girlfriend, his parents’ home… Yeah, so maybe it was technically stalking.
Finally, Roger cracked and told Zane to leave him the fuck alone and then the rest of that incident was a little hazy after the sheep called Melissa a cold-hearted bitch.
Zane hit him. Then he shifted. His bear tried to maul him. He wasn’t proud of that… He was a little proud of it. Damn fluffy sheep didn’t even see it coming. He’d enjoyed reliving that moment over and over. What happened after, less so.
He was brought up before a tribunal at work – a panel made up of Supernatural Council members as well as his boss’ boss, Juliet – head of the branch of the Supernatural Enforcers Agency where he worked as an investigator. Not many friendly faces there. None, in fact.
On a lucky note, Roger wasn’t exactly keen to press charges. He wanted the matter to go away quietly. He was a divorce lawyer – the last thing he wanted was everyone knowing his own divorce had created such a shit storm. Might put people off using him for their divorces. He was happy to settle for money to pay his hospital bills and a restraining order for Zane.
Plus, added to Zane’s interactions with Roger, there might have been one or two or twelve complaints about his conduct and behavior during investigations. Something about being belligerent, intimidating, threatening… and so on and so forth and what have you.
The tribunal concluded that he was too dangerous to keep in their employ, and he was going to be terminated, effective immediately.
Harry was pleased with the overall result. Zane, less so.
Although Harry was just pleased to get out of a room filled with such a large bunch of terrifying and dominant supernatural creatures. They didn’t get on the Council by being kind and considerate. Harry’s voice barely reached more than a squeak in their presence.
Zane caught sight of Juliet gliding out of the meeting room.
“Hey, fangs,” he called. It wasn’t in him to be deferential to anyone. Something he and his barbaric bear agreed on.
She turned, rolling her dark eyes at him. To look at Juliet, no one would guess she was a centuries-old vampire. She looked twenty-one at the most. She was a tiny woman with long, inky black hair, and full lips painted red and smoky eyes. Perhaps the only thing that gave her away was her unusually pale skin. Although Juliet could manage brief periods in the sunlight, obviously she didn’t tan. She looked like a small, china doll – especially as she no longer felt the need to breathe.
A faint smile ghosted her full lips. “Mr. Matthews.”
“Can I appeal this decision?” he demanded.
Juliet met his angry stare, not even acknowledging the furious beast bubbling below the surface, readying to be let out. She could out dominate any alpha shifter if she wanted.
“No,” she said snippily. “There is no one to appeal to. As far as you are concerned, the Council members are gods, and there is no one higher.”
Zane ran his hands through his hair. “This is ridiculous.”
Juliet’s stance softened slightly. “In spite of what many people think, I’m not heartless.” She flashed her fangs. “My heart just doesn’t beat anymore. Try taking some anger management classes. If you can prove that you have your temper under control and that you will once again be an asset to the SEA, then I will ask for the decision to be taken to a review board. But I don’t want to see you in this building again until that day. Is that clear?”
“But…”
“Is that clear?” Her eyes flashed dangerously.
Ice-cold tingles shot down his back, reminding him that as sweet as Juliet looked, she was still a blood sucking fiend. His shoulders sagged a little, and he mumbled in agreement. Pussy rumbled his bear.
“Why don’t you find work as a security guard or something similar? Prove you can be a good employee – it will certainly help your future case.”
He grunted, and she left, gliding away with unnatural speed before he could add anything to the conversation.
Security guard – bah. Not his kind of thing. And he doubted the LLPD would take him. They took some shifters, but they were a bit choosy. Plus he might have threatened one or two or fifteen LLPD officers with bodily harm over the years. Nah, he didn’t want them breathing down his neck. He loved his job. He loved being an investigator. And if the SEA wouldn’t let him, he’d do it on his own.
Chapter One
Ursa City, a dive bar – the diviest bar imaginable
The huge male banged his fist on the bar again. He wanted another drink. The male had been drinking steadily for two hours, and the copious amount of alcohol coursing through his huge body didn’t seem to be having any effect.
Cautiously, Blake, the bartender stopped wiping the glass he’d been working on for the last twenty minutes while watching the male warily. He opened another bottle, pushing it towards the male. As a grizzly bear, the bartender was no slouch in the dominance depar
tment, but even he couldn’t stand to be caught in the male’s demonic gaze. The male wasn’t quite… right.
The male made no acknowledgment, merely grasping the bottle and drinking the liquid down in one gulp. The bartender couldn’t even get a lock on the male’s species. He was slighter shorter in height than a bear shifter but wider maybe around the shoulders and definitely some kind of feline.
The bar wasn’t exactly a nice place to be. It was close to an illegal shifter fight club, and the bar was filled with male shifters who wanted to fuck or fight or both. Human females, desperate to be with dangerous shifters came in, waiting to be picked up by one of the males. Inevitably, they would be; no female left the bar alone. But this male, in spite of all the inquisitive and appreciative glances he was garnering, didn’t seem interested. Nope, he seemed content to sit, drink and glare at anyone who came within a foot of his orbit.
The steady thrum of noise exploded as a bunch of rowdy males burst through the doors. They were already half plastered. They’d probably been to the fight club, betting on the brawlers - suits who worked in the city, wanting to take a walk on the wild side. They shoved their way to the bar, ignoring the complaints of the people they pushed out the way.
Blake rolled his eyes but started grabbing beers for them as they joked and jostled one another. The loudest stepped back against the huge male, jogging his arm and spilling his new drink.
He growled, and the loud, young male made the mistake in sneering at him and telling him to watch it.
The huge male lumbered to his feet. Noise in the bar quieted as the fury and power of the male rippled around them. “What?” he rasped.
A friend of the loud male tried to get him to see reason, to apologize and buy the huge guy a new drink. But he wasn’t drunk enough to see the danger he was in. He didn’t listen and took a clumsy swing at the huge male. His hand was easily caught in a meaty fist. The sound of the huge guy’s other fist connecting with the loud guy’s jaw silenced the bar. Loud guy was out for the count, and his friends carried him out as quickly as possible, throwing down bills as they went.
