Her Secret Protector Bear (Oak Mountain Shifters)

by Leela Ash

  “You can’t expect me to get on that thing!” Adrian exclaimed. “I couldn’t possibly—”

  “Oh, you can, and you will, and I bet you’ll even like it… even if it’s just a little bit. All you have to do is put your helmet on and hold on tight.”

  Kent strode to his bike and took the helmet out from under the seat. He tossed it to her and she caught it, glaring at him the whole time. He grinned and waited for her to put it on before finally mounting the bike.

  “Come on.”

  Adrian made a sound between a sigh and a growl that made Kent’s lips curl into a bemused smirk. That just made her even more angry, but she had no choice. She slung her leg over the bike and settled in, heat rising to her cheeks as she felt the nearness of Kent’s firm, muscular body in front of hers. She hated her own body for betraying her with its unwelcome desires, and she could only pray that Kent was too busy focusing on his own tasks to pay attention to the shift in her energy. She had a feeling he was very in tune with his body, and if he thought she might not be serious about hating him, who knew what might happen? Especially now since they were obligated to spend time together. All thanks to her overprotective stepfather.

  “You ready?” Kent asked.

  From the sound of his voice, there was no indication that he could tell how she was feeling and Adrian relaxed as much as she could.

  “Yeah,” she lied.

  “Then put your hands around my waist. I’m not going to have you falling off the back of my bike. As great of a career move as that would be for me, I’d feel bad if you got road rash.”

  Adrian gritted her teeth. She was on the bike behind him whether she liked it or not. Reluctantly, Adrian laced her hands around Kent’s torso, ignoring the small surge of heat that electrified her body. She didn’t want to have any feelings toward this man. Even her hatred was uncomfortable. But if she had to, she would reinforce it. The last thing she needed was to start losing herself in foolish desires that had no basis in reality.

  “All right, that’s better,” Kent said, his deep voice reverberating his body. “Remember, hold on tight. Here we go.”

  ***

  The ride up the mountain was surprisingly scenic, and Adrian found herself reluctantly enjoying the feeling of the breeze flowing over her body. She was even starting to like the way it felt to be sitting behind this broad, muscular man, humming quietly to himself while his radio played insert type of music here as they moved through the mountainside.

  When they made it to the town, Kent stopped his bike where he parked outside a diner. The smell of fresh cooking wafted out. It smelled earthy and made her stomach rumble. Adrian had lived in Stonybrooke, which was world renowned for having a great menu in every restaurant. Wolf-shifters were well-known for their ability to create meals that engaged all the senses. For some reason, the food had always been a little bit too rich for Adrian.

  Here though, the smells coming from the diner caught her attention. It reminded her of the way her stepfather would cook on those rare occasions during her childhood, and now seemed comforting and hearty.

  “Are you hungry?” Kent asked, as if he could read her mind.

  “Oh, maybe a little bit,” Adrian replied. “You did kind of get me up at the brink of dawn just to do something I don’t even want to do.”

  Kent smiled. “Breakfast it is.”

  Adrian followed Kent reluctantly into the diner. She didn’t want to sit down and eat with this man. She wanted to get the day over as quickly as possible. Still, her rumbling stomach and the intoxicating aroma of food drew her in.

  “Hector, how’s it going?”

  “Kent!”

  The man behind the counter was a jolly-looking fellow with ruddy red cheeks and a short beard. He looked as if he enjoyed his fair share of the food at the diner, and it made her trust the food was most certainly as good as it smelled.

  “Hey, I don’t know this girl. Are you two…”

  Hector nudged Kent with a pleasant laugh and Adrian couldn’t help but feel at ease.

  “No, not really,” Kent said quickly, shifting awkwardly. “This is Logan Mills’ daughter. He wanted me to show her around and make sure everyone knows who they’d be dealing with if they decide to mess with her.”

  Adrian couldn’t help but wonder what her father might do should he discover that Kent had ‘messed’ with her, but that was a conversation she would rather not have with him. However, the idea of costing this obnoxious man everything was tempting.

  “Oh, no way! I knew he had a kid, but I didn’t know she was human!”

  “Yeah, he treats me like his own,” Adrian said, jutting her hand out. “My name is Adrian. My stepfather is a good man. He’s always looked out for me.”

  “Right on,” Hector said, taking her hand and giving it a friendly pump. “Why don’t you two get a table and once you’re settled in I’ll be over to take your order.”

  “Sounds good,” Kent said, leading Adrian to the back corner of the diner. It was bustling with activity, and Adrian watched Hector out of the corner of her eye as he weaved in between tables, serving customers and keeping the same genuinely friendly smile on his face the whole time. It seemed exhausting to have to stay positive and charming all day, but somehow on Hector, the act was effortless. Almost as if it weren’t really an act at all. Was it possible anyone could truly enjoy serving others that much?

  “What’s on your mind?” Kent asked from behind his menu. Adrian grimaced. She had been caught in her thoughts, and now it was going to be an awkward conversation with a man she couldn’t stand.

  “Just wondering what the specials are,” she lied. What would Kent know about what it’s like to be in customer service for years and years? He looked like he’d been born in the forest and had never spent a full day indoors in his entire life.

  “We can ask Hector when he gets around to us,” Kent answered, glancing down at his menu. “In the meantime, I suggest you decide what you might want to order just in case the specials aren’t so suitable for someone of your kind.”

  Adrian prickled. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Humans. A lot of humans don’t like the shifter palate, that’s all. Our tastes are a little bit different, you know?”

  “Yeah, kind of like our conduct after sleeping together apparently,” Adrian snapped.

  Kent looked almost as if he’d been slapped. He opened his mouth to answer, but he was interrupted by Hector.

  “All right, you two! What will you be having? Can I start you off with some drinks?”

  “Drinks sound great,” Adrian said, smiling brightly. For some reason, seeing Kent’s stony face change and show a flicker of emotion had made her feel a hundred times better. Maybe he really did care about her, after all. She had no idea what bear-shifters were like when it came to mating and quite frankly, and she had never really wanted to find out. Everything that had happened with Kent had been a fluke.

  “All right. What can I start you with, Kent?”

  Hector’s pleasant face seemed to help Kent ground himself again and he pursed his lips in a tolerant smile. “Coffee for me. You know how I like it.”

  Hector nodded. “Yep. And for you, my dear?”

  Adrian sighed. “Maybe an orange juice for now. Thank you.”

  Hector nodded and moved away from the table and she was left once again with the man she least wanted to see in the world. For a moment she was afraid that he might actually pick the conversation back up where she had left it. The last thing she wanted to do was to talk about the night they had spent together. Fortunately, he busied himself by looking at the menu, although she was fairly certain he already knew exactly what he wanted.

  She decided to do the same, and by the time their drinks were served, they were both ready to order.

  “So, what will the two of you be having?” Hector asked jovially, his jolly face shining as if the thing he wanted to do most in the world was to take their order.

  “The wildflower com
bo,” both Kent and Adrian said at the same time.

  They froze, their eyes locking.

  “Ohh,” Hector said, his voice high-pitched with delight. “Do you want it all on one plate? Like one of those little milkshakes for couples?”

  “No!” they barked simultaneously. This made Hector’s good-natured grin widen and he chuckled. “Well, all right.”

  Hector left them at the table in silence, both refusing to meet the other’s eyes. It was embarrassing to be treated like a couple. Especially when it was clear that neither of them could stand each other.

  When the meal arrived, Adrian smiled graciously at Hector, hoping he could forgive her for the outburst earlier. He seemed not to have taken it personally and she admired his “water under the bridge” attitude. She wished she could be more like that with Kent, but it seemed impossible. He was just too big of an asshole to forgive.

  “You should try the slaw first,” Kent said, his voice a quiet grumble from across the table. “It brings out all the best flavors. That’s how all the bears eat it.”

  Adrian studied him for a moment, but he seemed consumed by his meal, his handsome face serious as he contemplated the food in front of him.

  Adrian didn’t answer him, but she did begrudgingly try the slaw first. When she bit into the burger, it was like an explosion of flavor in her mouth and she closed her eyes, relishing in it all. It was exactly what she had wanted. Even in the morning, a garden burger made of the freshest ingredients on the mountain, seemed to hit the spot unlike anything else ever could.

  “What do you think?” Kent asked once they were both finished with their meals.

  “It was actually really good,” Adrian said. She didn’t say it because she was willing to converse with this obnoxious man, she said it because Hector was within hearing distance and she wanted him to know just how much she loved and appreciated his effort.

  “Good,” Kent said, standing up to go pay the bill. “Maybe after this we can go meet the rest of the townies that were on my list. Your stepdad is very thorough.”

  “You can say that again. I kind of wish he would butt out of this one,” Adrian sighed.

  “He’s just trying to protect you,” Kent said, fixing a serious, almost caring look on her. Still, she wasn’t going to let herself believe that this man was capable of any genuine emotion. He wasn’t a good person. He had already proven that much.

  “I guess so.”

  Kent nodded, and they headed out of the diner. Adrian followed him down the road and they went on foot from place to place so that Kent could introduce Adrian, and she had a chance to meet everybody in town. They all seemed impressed to find out that she was Logan’s daughter. He had always been a high-ranking man among the bear shifters, and it was strange to be living on the highly-esteemed Oak Mountain. She had heard about it and visited once or twice, but it had never been anything extensive. The longest she’d been there was the week she had been working on the internship that her father had set up for her, but now that she was going to be staying a while, it made sense that she start to get to know the other shifters.

  When they were finally done with their rounds, Kent led her back to the motorcycle. They had been having a pretty good day so far, whether she wanted to admit it or not. There was a point where she truly did enjoy this annoying man’s company.

  “Do you want me to take you anywhere before I drop you off?” Kent asked, once she had mounted the bike behind him. She caught his eye in the rearview mirror and a warmth spread through her body like wildfire. She wished she could believe that he was actually a considerate and kind person. But the way he had left her in the motel like that, without a word or a second thought…

  No, he was definitely an asshole. She wouldn’t let herself start to fall for the nice guy act. Everyone on Oak Mountain might think he was a good person, but she already knew better. It would be stupid of her to go against her better judgment and allow this guy a second chance that he didn’t deserve.

  “Just take me home, please,” Adrian said quietly.

  Kent held her gaze for a moment and then nodded grimly. For some reason, the unspoken emotion on his face made her chest tighten, and they rode down the mountain together in silence.

  11.

  The next few weeks were uneventful, but Kent was ever watchful of Adrian’s every move. She had made it abundantly clear she wanted nothing to do with him, and he had to admit that some part of him was really angry about it. But why should he care? She was just a pain in the ass princess who didn’t know just how good she had it.

  He had finished showing her around Oak Mountain, but now that that part of his job was done, he had to sneak around and watch her from afar. He couldn’t let something embarrassing happen to him like the last time. He was going to have to be careful.

  That morning, he was waiting outside of Adrian’s cabin, keeping a close watch on the area. There was something off. He had been feeling it all day, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Logan and Blaine had been spending a lot of time together at Blaine’s place, and whatever it was they were talking about couldn’t be good. Whenever he saw them, they both had a similar wary look in their eyes, and concern etched deeply in their brow.

  Now, Kent could tell that something was going on. He had trained well enough to be able to sense a shift in energy, and there was definitely one happening right now. It would be difficult for him to go on pretending like something strange wasn’t happening. There was something going on. Something very, very wrong.

  It didn’t take much longer before Kent finally got a glimpse of what that something was.

  Off on the horizon, he could just barely make out what looked at first glance to be clouds. But when he looked closer, he was startled to discover that those clouds were not clouds at all, but two dragon shifters flying high above Adrian’s house, circling and getting ready to strike.

  “Shit,” Kent mumbled under his breath. This was the last thing he needed, but he supposed it was why the job had fallen on his shoulders. He had to protect Adrian at all costs. Two dragon shifters would be hard to beat, but if he thought on his feet, he could do it.

  Kent shifted quickly into his bear form, keeping his eyes locked on the enemies as they approached the house. Slowly, they both became more visible and their nostrils flared as each of them sucked in a deep breath of air. They were preparing to release some sort of magic, breath weapon, and Kent couldn’t let that happen. Not while Adrian was still inside the house.

  Without a second thought, he rushed across the stretch of land, closing the gap between himself and the dragons. He let out a ferocious roar, and one of the dragons swooped down at him. It was about to release its breath weapon upon him, but Kent gripped its throat in his teeth, aiming it up at the dragon that was still in the sky.

  It flinched away, its wing singed by a horrifying burst of flames. It landed somewhere in the forest, and Kent clenched his jaw, shaking it until he heard the bones pop. The dragon fell limply on the ground and Kent raced after the other shifter, who was badly damaged already.

  He found the dragon about a half mile away, struggling to move forward and in the midst of shape-shifting back into its human form. Normally, Kent would have allowed the man to live, but he had gone after Adrian. Adrian, who he had wanted to claim from the first moment he had laid eyes on her. Adrian, who was innocent and kind and sweet and who deserved better than to be sneak attacked over something she had no idea about; even he had no idea. All he knew was that it had something to do with her biological father.

  A deep growl rumbled in the back of Kent’s throat and he lunged at the shifter, finishing him off before he even had a chance to register what hit him.

  Whatever the dragons were planning, it had to be horrible. To put Adrian’s life at risk, there had to be some kind of explanation, and whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

  “Who’s out there?”

  Adrian’s voice rang out through the trees, and Kent froze. He wanted so badly to g
o to her, but if she knew that he was there at her house, who knew what she might think. Suddenly, he remembered the corpse of the dragon-shifter lying on the ground and he ran full speed toward it, hoping against hope that somehow she hadn’t seen it.

  “I’m serious! Show yourself!”

  Kent nearly collapsed with relief when he saw the dragon’s body had reverted back to its human form and was well-concealed by the high grass surrounding the cabin. Adrian clearly hadn’t seen anything and was still walking outside the cabin, demanding that whoever was there show themselves.

  As much as he wanted to, Kent knew that if he did it would be the last time she would ever even grant him a conversation. So instead, he lurked in the woods, trapped in his bear form until he was convinced that Adrian was left safely inside.

  Knowing the danger now was more real than it had ever been made him feel hypervigilant about being there to save her life. He hadn’t realized just how serious the situation was. Things had been quiet there over the past few weeks. Probably too quiet. Hopefully the dragon-shifters didn’t realize that Kent was there to be her body guard, but judging by the fact that the dragons hadn’t been counting on him lurking in wait, they hadn’t wised up to the fact that the bear-shifters were aware of their game.

  All he really knew for sure was that he couldn’t just leave these corpses there, littering Adrian’s yard. He had to get in touch with Logan Mills and Blaine and let them know exactly what was going on.

  Kent took off down the mountain to make the call to Mr. Mills. He stayed close enough that he could still see Adrian’s house and sense any potential danger, but he was paranoid that she might be able to hear his voice and determine that somehow, he was an even bigger piece of shit than she thought he was already. The assumption hurt him more deeply than he cared to admit. The truth was, he would have done anything to protect her and keep her safe. In fact, until they had spoken in the diner, he hadn’t even realized just how hurt she had been when he had left the motel room. It explained a lot about her behavior toward him.