Bear-ly Time

by M. L. Briers

  “That’s not it…”

  “Wow, not even an apology. Even when you want something from me your overinflated sense of worth keeps you from recognising the fact that you were wrong,” Jordan said, tossing a look back over her shoulder and regretting it the moment that she caught sight of him stalking towards her.

  Boy, did he look good? Mr Muscles on parade with a dark look about him that somehow thrilled her.

  Harvey was catching up. It wasn’t surprising considering the ground he could cover with those long, muscled legs.

  Jordan couldn’t believe that there was a part of her that wanted him to catch up. A part that felt excitement mixed with attraction for him. But that attraction would not see the light of day where he was concerned, because she was done with bad choices.

  And boy, would he be a bad choice, or what?

  “Would you please just stop for a moment?” Harvey growled.

  He was close enough to her now that if he reached out his hand, he’d be able to snag her arm and stop her in her tracks. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to do that. Hell, even his beast wanted him to do that. But he didn’t want to give her the wrong idea.

  “Oh, you threw in a please for my benefit. I’m sure that’s got to hurt.” Jordan tossed back.

  “Would you just…?” Harvey bit down on a curse.

  He made a move to get in front of her. He blocked her path with his body, and when she tried to sidestep him, he just took a step, left or right, to where he needed to be to make her stop trying to get around him.

  “Just give me…”

  “Oh, I know what I want to give you, and trust me, you won’t like it,” Jordan bit out as frustration welled inside of her.

  “Can you just wait?” Harvey had to bite down on the growl that rumbled through his chest.

  She didn’t appear to be spooked by him. There was no look in her eyes like a cornered deer. He guessed that she was just too pissed off at him for that.

  Harvey couldn’t blame her. In an attempt to make her go away he’d managed to rile her up pretty damn good. Insult her. Insult her morals. Insult her parenting. He’d been an idiot.

  Now, he had to soothe her ruffled feathers, and he had no idea where to start.

  “It doesn’t look like I have much of choice, now does it? Not with a man mountain standing in my way.”

  Jordan tossed her hands onto her hips and glared up at him with so much fire within her eyes that he couldn’t look anywhere else. She was a sight to behold, not the Mama bear that he’d witnessed earlier, but a five foot four fiery spirit that wanted to knock him down to size. Knock him on his backside and he deserved it.

  “I just need to talk to you,” Harvey said as he held his large hands up at his broad chest in mock surrender in the hope that it would placate her. But when she snorted a chuckle of disbelief Harvey knew that it hasn’t worked.

  “We did the talking thing; it didn’t work out so well, now I’m doing the leaving thing.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and it was mixed with a whole dollop of venom just for him.

  “Look, I was trying to get you to leave me alone…”

  “Well, it worked. Bye-bye.”

  Jordan went to sidestep him but he matched her move, and she pulled up short. She allowed her hands to drop down from her hips as she leaned her upper body in slightly towards him, craned her head forward on her neck, and questioned his sanity with her eyes.

  “Just give me a minute,” Harvey grumbled.

  “I gave you five back there, and you weren’t interested.”

  “Well, I’m interested now,” Harvey growled, just a little, just enough to make her narrow her eyes at him.

  “Well, now I need to go. Apparently, I’m a bad parent and I should get back to it.” She folded her arms and raised just one eyebrow, challenging him with that look, and making him feel damn stupid.

  “I never said you were a bad parent. Hell, you were about to go to war with a bear shifter and a vampire to protect Macy. That’s not bad parenting in my book.” Harvey grumbled a growl within his chest.

  “Well, when you drag your damn book out again; I’d advise reading the part that says don’t be an asshole, over and over again until it sticks in your mind.”

  “Yeah,” Harvey said wincing at her words as they hit home. “You have to admit — I do it in style.”

  “Totally committed.”

  Harvey couldn’t help the smile that started on his lips and pulled some of the tension from his face. His beast might still have been clawing within him at their discovery of finding a mate, but the fact that she no longer looked as if she wanted to skin him alive helped him feel a little lighter.

  Jordan watched that damn smile of his spread across his face. It was like watching a sunset, spectacular, and she didn’t know why, or how, but it held her transfixed with her mind and body begging for more.

  Jordan didn’t believe in love at first sight, but she did believe in lust. When the man was growly and scowling, he was a dark, handsome devil, but when he smiled, well, all damn bets were off.

  The trouble was; she’d been down that bad boy road, and for Macy’s sake, she wasn’t about to set another foot in motion on it again.

  “Let’s start again,” Harvey said.

  He watched as she unfolded her arms and the tension eased in her shoulders. She was no longer trying to kill him with just a look. Instead, she tipped her head slightly to the right just as his beast did when it was curious, and then all that progress was gone as her body snapped back to attention.

  “It would be much better if we didn’t. Let’s just call it quits and move on,” Jordan said with a small shrug.

  “Yeah, that’s not really going to work for me,” Harvey winced again.

  Mine…

  It would have been an understatement to say that his bear was not happy. He could feel the prickle of the beast’s fur just beneath his skin. It wanted out. It wanted to know her.

  “Well, now here’s the thing, it works just fine for me.”

  Jordan had a look about her that Harvey was unsure of. It was a cross between a precocious child and a damn stubborn woman. Neither one of those things he was sure about.

  He wasn’t used to dealing with females. Sure, he knew a few shifter women, a few human females in passing, but even then; this was his mate, and he’d certainly never had to deal with one of those before.

  “Not for me.”

  “Huh?” She twisted her head to the side once more, questioning him, and this time he found it adorable.

  “I have a little problem…”

  “From where I stand you have several, but none of them are my problem.”

  “Now, here’s the thing…”

  “Now you have a thing?”

  “We — have a thing.” Harvey lifted one large hand and motioned between them to the sound of a snort of a chuckle from his mate.

  “Oh, we do not have a thing.” Jordan gave a small shake of her head in order to back up her words as she questioned his sanity once again with just a look.

  “Actually we do.”

  “No, I’m pretty sure I’d know if we did, and we don’t,” Jordan tossed back with a scowl.

  “There’s no sense in arguing about this — trust me, I’m right.”

  “Believe me when I say that I mean this from the heart – I’m sure you say that to all the girls.” Jordan was certain that the man didn’t have one un-chauvinistic bone in his body.

  “Say what?” Harvey must have missed a step somewhere because he certainly didn’t tell every female that he came across that she was his mate.

  “That you’re right,” Jordan offered back with just a little smugness in her tone.

  “Well, I’m right about this.”

  “Go ahead,” she said and she tossed up a hand towards him. “Let’s hear it.”

  Mine…

  Harvey wanted to say it. His bear was desperate for him to say it. And yet, now that she’d given him permission to st
ake his claim on her he felt powerless to act.

  Jordan wasn’t a shifter, she was a human, and he couldn’t just blurt it out, could he?

  Mine…

  What if she had no understanding of mates?

  What if she did and then took off like a bat out of hell?

  Mine…

  What if she just plain laughed in his face?

  Mine…

  What if he lost her before he even had her?

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ~

  “Nothing?” Jordan asked, urging him on with a look that said she was impatient to hear what he had to say and then be on her way.

  Harvey’s mind swirled with uncertainty. That was the last thing that he could ever want. Watching her turn and walk away from him again would be bad, not only for him but for his bear.

  He just couldn’t seem to pluck out the words that he needed to say from the tsunami of thoughts that was swirling around in his mind. He opened his mouth in anticipation of finally being able to speak, but the sound of a twig snapping off to his left snatched his attention away from her, just before Owen did that damned annoying vampire thing and appeared as if by magic not ten feet away from them

  “Well, isn’t this cozy?” Owen gave a toothy grin, but luckily for him, there was no hint of the man’s fangs, or Harvey’s bear might have won the day and burst free from inside of him.

  Things were different now for Harvey. The last time that the vampire was breathing in the same air as Jordan neither of them knew that she was his mate. Now that he knew it, well, the vampire had just become a damn big threat to her safety.

  “Owen, you need to back the hell off,” Harvey growled.

  “Someone rattled your cage?” Owen chuckled, but Harvey only answered him with another deep growl.

  “And there’s my cue to leave,” Jordan said.

  “Do not move an inch,” Harvey growled.

  “That’s decidedly caveman of you,” Owen said.

  The vampire had known Harvey for a number of years, and he knew when something wasn’t right with the man, or his beast. Something definitely didn’t feel right now.

  “Excuse me?” Jordan’s tone was demanding, and her hands went back to her hips once more as she gave him a look of disbelief.

  “Now is not the time to show me how badass and independent you think you are,” Harvey growled. But the growl wasn’t for her, his beast was right up front and pushing to burst free, and Harvey was doing his damnedest to keep his bear caged.

  “Think I am?” Jordan snapped out.

  It seemed to her as if the chauvinistic, butthole, bad mood, bear shifter was back again, and she didn’t much like it. He could talk to the vampire any damn way that he pleased, and that was between them, but she had no intention of sticking around and listening to him for one moment more.

  “Somebody needs to go back to charm school.” Owen’s smug grin annoyed the hell out of Harvey, almost as much as his words, but not as much as his presence.

  “Not going to charm school is the least of his problems,” Jordan tossed out as she tried to sidestep Harvey once more.

  Harvey could hear in the tone of her voice that she was pissed off at him again, but he couldn’t concern himself with that problem when it was glaringly obvious to him that Owen being there was the root of all evils where his bear was concerned.

  “Just stay there,” Harvey growled down at her and got the stink eye back for his troubles.

  “This is getting real old, real fast. Get the hell out of my way,” Jordan demanded, and the way that she felt, she would have growled back at him if she’d been able to.

  “He makes a great brick wall, doesn’t he?” Owen said, concentrating on the female made him oblivious to Harvey’s problems.

  “It’s like hitting your damn head against one,” Jordan snapped. “Will you move?” She demanded turning her attention back toward Harvey.

  “Owen, for the love of God — will you just get the hell out of here?” Harvey growled, and he meant it. He meant the growl, and he more than meant his words, because in his mind, there was barely time before his beast would win the battle of wills between them.

  Owen’s full attention was snapped back to his friend. He could practically see the bear inside the man fighting to burst free, and he didn’t know why until he reached into Harvey’s mind and took what he needed from the swirl of confused thoughts.

  “Holy crap!” Owen tried to snap of the chuckle of disbelief, but he didn’t quite manage it. “You’re on your own with this one.” He offered to Jordan with a smirk on his lips just before he started to turn away.

  “Wait! What?” Jordan rushed out.

  While she wasn’t overly fond of the idea of being in proximity to a vampire, his cryptic words and sudden need to depart filled her with trepidation.

  “Trust me; you’ll love it,” Owen chuckled.

  “I don’t trust you, and love what?” Jordan tossed back before the vampire decided to depart and leave her on her own once more with the growling, behemoth of a man who was blocking her way.

  “Are you the type of person who doesn’t like surprise birthday parties and wants to know what’s in the present before you open it?” Owen tossed back over his shoulder as he started to stalk away.

  “Yes…” She called after him.

  “Well, tough. Get over it and enjoy the surprise.” It was the vampire’s parting shot before he disappeared from view.

  Jordan turned her attention back to Harvey. The man was still staring off into the distance where the vampire had been. His head was twisted slightly on his neck as if he was listening to something that she could not hear.

  “I need to get back to Macy,” Jordan said quietly, and her words brought Harvey’s attention slowly back around to her.

  Those soft, soulful, chocolate Brown eyes that had warmed her before were pitch black and stared into her very soul.

  Jordan shivered. It wasn’t the kind of shiver that comes from a sudden chilly breeze on a warm day, it was more the full body shiver that goes right down to your toes and makes the fine hairs all over your skin stand to attention.

  Jordan didn’t fear him. That didn’t mean that he didn’t make her nervous in other ways.

  “You are my mate,” Harvey growled.

  He hadn’t meant to growl, but there it was, his beast within, and he couldn’t have held it back if he’d wanted to.

  The bear started to settle. It pulled back from just under the surface of his skin. It was a little more contented now that the vampire had gone and Harvey had stated their claim on their mate.

  The look on Jordan’s face said it all. Surprise, confusion, disbelief, and a rush to denial.

  “I’m not. I can’t be. I’m human…”

  “Being human doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters to me.” Her eyes searched the area for understanding as her mind raced to try to catch up. “I have Macy.”

  “I get it.” Harvey got it alright. His mind had rushed to the exact same thought when he’d realized that she was his mate.

  Macy wasn’t his child. He didn’t have a problem with that, although, he’d love to get his hands on the guy who had walked away from his own child and knock some sense into him. But at the same time, he was grateful that the man had, because if his mate had been a family with someone else, it would have killed him to have to walk away.

  “No, you don’t.” Jordan bit out. “How could you get it?”

  “I’m a shifter. I have a bear inside of me. Macy is a child. She is — breakable…”

  “Breakable!” Jordan’s voice pitched higher and almost hurt his ears. The look on her face turned instantly toward disbelief and worry.

  “Maybe breakable was the wrong word,” Harvey rushed to his own defense.

  “Yeah, you think?”

  Harvey mentally kicked himself for being an idiot. He hadn’t meant to scare her. He hadn’t meant to put that image of her child and his bear together.

 
But he had. He’d done that, and he couldn’t take it back.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ~

  “You need to back off,” Jordan bit out. If she knew anything, then she knew Harvey must have been insane.

  What the hell is he talking about?

  A mate.

  I’m human.

  I have a daughter.

  How the hell could I be a mate to a bear shifter?

  A mate. That’s like a forever love. A somebody’s someone.

  I’m nothing to nobody.

  I have Macy. Breakable. Very — damn — breakable.

  How could I even consider being a mate?

  The man is insane.

  “Okay,” Harvey said as he lifted one large hand and raked it through his dark hair as he tried to focus his thoughts. “You need to see this rationally…”

  “And what if I don’t want to be rational?” Jordan shot back. She didn’t even think about her words before she’d said them

  “I guess I can’t ask a female not to be female,” Harvey offered back, somewhat confused by her question.

  “Oh my God, you are just such a male chauvinist pig…”

  “Again with the name calling? And, sweetheart, get it right, I’m all bear,” Harvey growled.

  “And I’m leaving,” Jordan announced.

  When she went to take a step to the left – he blocked her. So she tried to take a step to the right – he blocked her again.

  Harvey lifted his hand and wagged a finger and Jordan yanked her head back on her neck as if he’d reached out and poked her with that finger.

  “You can’t run from me,” Harvey growled.

  “I was planning on walking, but whatever works,” she said scowling back at him.

  “Neither works,” Harvey grumbled.

  His bear was getting antsy again. While he didn’t expect her to fully understand about mates, he did need to keep her calm, rational, and right there in front of him.

  “Well, it works for me, and what works for me — works.”

  “Well, it doesn’t work for me, and if it doesn’t work for me, then it doesn’t work for you.” Harvey couldn’t risk her walking away.