Polar Opposites

by Ariana McGregor

  Polar bear shifter, Sara Evans, has a problem. Accidentally mated as the result of an attack, she is struggling to deny her bear’s demands that she return to her mate. Her anger issues are becoming increasingly difficult to manage, and she fears what she might do next.

  Life is pretty good for lion shifter Felix McKenzie. He manages to coast along happily, rarely worried about anything. Except his hair and that is truly fabulous.

  A snarling polar bear with anger issues meets an unflappable, easy-going lion. Will he tame her temper, or will she get under his skin?

  Polar Opposites

  By Ariana McGregor

  Copyright © 2016 Adara Anderson

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. If you wish to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  All characters and events in this publication are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  About the Author

  Further Books

  Dedication

  To Sai, just for being Sai.

  Chapter 1

  This was hell. Pure unadulterated torture. What on earth could she have done in her life to deserve such punishment?

  “I think that’s the perfect dress.”

  Sara gaped at the woman. “This dress? The one I’m wearing? This one right here?” She looked down at the pink frilly monstrosity. She could feel the enormous bow on the back waggling about as she moved. Surely she’d remember being bad enough to earn punishment this awful.

  “Of course that dress. Which other one would I be talking about?” Anna Russell, her sister’s soon to be mother-in-law, nodded approvingly. “Yes, that’s the perfect bridesmaid dress.” She stepped out of the changing room to speak to the sales assistant.

  “Tara!” Sara’s voice came out in a high-pitched wail. Normally that would have embarrassed her, but it paled in significance to the dress she was wearing.

  Her sister stuck her head out of the cubicle. “I have my own problems here,” she hissed. She stopped abruptly. Stared at Sara, her eyes wide.

  “Tara?”

  Her sister merely shook her head, unable to tear her eyes away from the freakishly unattractive dress currently wrapped around Sara’s body. The dress that apparently had the power to rob people of speech. Except for Mrs Russell. Unfortunately.

  “I am not wearing this,” Sara whispered furiously, eyes darting to the door of the changing room. “You have to tell her.”

  “Me?” Tara squeaked, eyes wide with horror. “I am not telling that woman anything. Tell her yourself.”

  “She’s your mother-in-law,” Sara pointed out. “That makes it your responsibility.”

  “Have you met me?” Tara asked incredulously. “At what point have I demonstrated the ability to stand up to pushy women? And have you met her?” She sighed. “If I could say no to the woman, do you think I’d be wearing this?” She stepped out of the cubicle and Sara’s jaw dropped.

  “Oh.”

  Tara was wearing the biggest meringue of a dress Sara had ever seen. It was huge. How could someone even sit down while wearing that? The neckline was high, up to her throat and her sister was nervously pulling at it, clearly desperately in need of air. The sleeves were huge and puffy. She wouldn’t be able to fit through many doors while wearing that dress. It almost made Sara’s dress look acceptable. Almost.

  “You have to stop this,” Sara said, her tone one of desperation.

  “I tried!” Tara insisted. “The woman was supposed to leave. Alex said that if we agreed to get married, she’d go home and annoy his brother and sister. This wasn’t supposed to happen.” She flapped her arm to encompass the changing room and the entire situation. The dress rustled alarmingly.

  “So you’re going to wear that dress rather than stand up to Alex’s mother?” Sara asked incredulously.

  Tara looked at her pointedly. “Are you going to tell her that you won’t wear your dress?”

  “Shit.”

  “Exactly,” Tara said. She eyed Sara speculatively. “So, how’s your other side doing? Dealing with Anna can’t be easy on it.”

  Sara sighed. As a polar bear shifter, she was constantly battling her other side. The bear was aggressive and had a hair-trigger temper, forcing Sara to fight to control herself. It was too easy for her to get angry and do something rash, especially lately. Life was tough at the moment, her polar bear trying to force her to go back to her ‘mate’, the man she had accidentally mated by biting him when he raped her. The disagreement with her other half had her constantly on edge, and she hated being so out of sync with herself.

  She gave Tara a wry smile. “Actually, Anna seems to scare my polar bear into submission.”

  Tara’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? Even your polar bear won’t take her on?”

  Sara shook her head. “Nope. If anyone else annoyed me that much, I’d have lost it. That one small black bear inflicts all kinds of torture on me, and my polar bear is cowering in the corner of my mind and refusing to get involved.” Wimp.

  “Huh,” Tara said, tilting her head at her. “I’m not sure if that’s good or not.”

  Sara shrugged. “It’s restful.” She looked down at her dress. “Of course, a little more help would be good.”

  Anna bustled back into the room, looking Tara over. “Excellent.”

  “Is it?” Tara asked warily. “I think the sleeves are a bit much.”

  Sara stifled a giggle. There was a lot more wrong with the dress than just the sleeves.

  Anna eyed the dress critically. “No, I think the sleeves are just right. Still, there’s no need to make the decision today. We don’t want to buy dresses at the first place we look, do we? There are plenty of other shops to check out first. We can always come back.”

  Sighing with relief, Sara went back into her cubicle to change. If that woman even suggested coming back to buy this dress, Sara would make sure she got here first. So she could buy the thing and burn it. She’d be a naked bridesmaid before she wore that thing.

  Once they were back in their own clothes, Anna insisted on taking them for lunch, stopping at a little café nearby.

  “So, Sara,” Anna said, munching on a sandwich. “I hear you’re single.”

  Sara choked on her burger, tears stinging her eyes.

  “Careful there, dear,” Anna said, slapping her hard on the back. “I just wanted to let you know that my son will be in town shortly. I think the two of you would get along well.”

  Sara looked desperately at her sister, who merely shrank back in her sea
t, shaking her head. No help there.

  “I’ll make sure to introduce you,” Anna continued. “I’m sure the two of you can take it from there. With any luck, we’ll squeeze in another wedding this year, and then we can have my daughter’s wedding next year.”

  “Wedding?” Sara asked, staring at the woman.

  “Well you can’t live in sin forever,” Anna sniffed. “It tends to happen with shifters. The mating bond pushes them together and weddings take time to plan.” She shrugged. “Still, it’s best to get that ceremony happening before the babies start coming.”

  “Babies?” Sara asked. Dammit, she had to stop repeating everything the woman said, but she had long ago lost all control of this conversation.

  “Well what else do you expect to happen when you’re mating?” Anna said, looking at her. She turned to Tara. “Is your sister a bit dim? I don’t mind, of course. I’m not one to judge. We can’t all be rocket scientists.”

  Sara stared at the woman in horror. Inside her mind, her polar bear had its paws clamped over its ears. Did this woman really expect her to marry her son?

  “Um, so who is your daughter marrying?” Tara asked, attempting to change the subject.

  Anna shrugged. “No idea. I haven’t decided yet. I’ll get her sorted out once I’ve dealt with your sister and my son. One thing at a time, dear.”

  “I can’t get married,” Sara blurted. “I have a mate.” She barely resisted the urge to slap her hand over her mouth. Oh hell. This would just lead to a longer interrogation.

  Anna waved her hand. “Oh, that doesn’t count.”

  Sara gaped at her.

  “Oh, your sister explained the situation,” Anna told her, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. Tara gave her an apologetic little smile. Or it could have been a grimace. “We can get him dealt with and then you’ll be free to marry my son. It’ll all work out.”

  “Dealt with?” Sara asked. She didn’t mean… did she?

  “Oh, people have accidents all the time,” Anna said airily. “Hazards of life as a shifter. We’ll get rid of him, and then we can move forward.”

  Sara exchanged a glance with her sister. Tara shrugged. Yeah, she didn’t know what to say either.

  “Okay, now that we’ve refuelled,” Anna said, standing up. “I know of a few more local dress shops we should try.”

  She should refuse. Make an excuse. Feign illness. Or even death. Instead, Sara found herself meekly standing and following the woman from the café. Dammit.

  ***

  Life was good.

  Felix stretched lazily on the hammock in his garden. The sun gently heated his skin, soaking into his muscles and relaxing him. Eyes closed, he relied on his other senses. A bird was singing somewhere nearby, and his nose told him that someone in the street was baking bread. Yummy. It was a wonderful day. Right now, he had nowhere to be, nothing to do. Perfect.

  He sighed happily and took another sniff, picking up the scent of a rabbit somewhere in the garden. Aww, cute little bunnies.

  A brief breeze was his only warning before he found himself free falling to the ground, hitting with a thud. Peeling his eyes open, he saw his sister Katie standing over him.

  “Hey, Katie,” he said, giving her a little wave from where he was sprawled on the ground.

  “Hey, Katie?” she asked, eyebrows shooting up. “That’s all I get?”

  “How you doing?” he asked.

  Sighing, his sister sat on the ground next to him. “You are absolutely no fun to pick on,” she said. “If I tried that with anyone else, they’d be chasing me around the garden by now. You? I get ‘Hey, Katie’ and a wave.”

  Felix shrugged. “Sorry.”

  She eyed him suspiciously. “You’re not really sorry, are you?”

  “Not really, no.”

  “So, what are you doing?” she asked.

  “Just chillin’, relaxing,” he said. “Enjoying nature in all its glory.” Otherwise known as basking in a sunny spot. His inner lion sighed happily.

  She scowled at him. “I’m bored. Entertain me.”

  “Why are you bored?” he asked. Katie wasn’t the type to bore easily, she never sat still long enough. Felix was the quiet, contented one in the family. His siblings were boisterous, full of life, while he preferred to take life easy, going from one catnap to the next.

  “Dana and Tara are busy with their mates,” she said. Felix watched her, sympathy flooding him. He could see that it bothered her more than she would ever admit. “I get it. I do. It’s just that they’re not around as much.”

  “What about Fiona?” he suggested. The human female worked with Dana and Tara, and they were all close.

  “Out of town,” Katie said. “Even Sara is being dragged around dress shops by Mrs Russell.”

  “It bothers you, doesn’t it?” he asked gently. “That your friends have mates and you haven’t found yours yet.”

  “They don’t all have mates,” Katie said. “It’s not like I’m the last single person left, but…” She sighed. “Yeah, I do wonder when it’ll be my turn. If it’ll be my turn.” She fixed him with a glare. “You tell anyone I said that and I swear I’ll eat you.”

  He grinned at her. “Now we all know that if you turn cannibal, it’ll be Harley who is responsible, not me.” Harley was almost as boisterous as Katie. The two of them pranked each other constantly.

  “True.” She poked him in the chest. “What about you?”

  “I’m not planning on turning cannibal,” he said. “You never know where people have been.” He pulled a face.

  She smacked his arm. “Idiot. I was talking about finding your mate.”

  “Eh,” he said, shrugging. “It’ll happen or it won’t. No point worrying about it.” Which was pretty much his philosophy on most things. He wasn’t one for making plans and getting upset. No. He liked to just take things as they came, deal with them when he had to.

  “Sometimes I kind of hate you,” Katie said, looking at him.

  “Nah, you don’t,” he contradicted her. “I’m far too lovable. You just envy my hair.” He didn’t blame her. Everyone envied his hair. It was just that awesome.

  “Yeah, sorta.” Katie looked at her watch. “Still half an hour until Harley gets home. I plan on going over there and soaking him with a water gun. Interested?”

  “Nah, I’ll just hang out here,” he said, folding his arms under his head and gazing at the puffy white clouds in the sky. Hey, that one looked like a cute little puppy.

  “You’re not even going to get off the ground?” she asked.

  “Maybe later.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him and leaned a little closer. Reached out with one hand, hesitated for a moment, and then ruffled his hair. That was it. A lion only had so much patience. Springing to his feet with a yell, he launched himself at her, tackling her to the ground before she had a chance to run.

  “You do not mess with the hair,” he snarled.

  She snorted at him. “I knew that would do it. Works every time.”

  He growled at her. Felix had one rule in life. You could do what you liked to him, and he let it slide over him like water off a duck’s back. The one thing you never, ever, did, was mess with his beautiful mane.

  “I was just brushing grass out of it,” she said, her expression far too innocent to be genuine. “You don’t want to be walking around with grass in your perfect hair.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. She was his little sister, so it wasn’t like he could rip her limb from limb. Their parents frowned on that sort of thing.

  “Brat,” he told her, letting her up. “Go annoy someone else.”

  “Fine, fine,” she said, holding up her hands. “I should probably go get my water pistol, so I can be ready for Harley.”

  Rolling his eyes, Felix stalked off in search of a comb.

  “Hey, you wanna come out for drinks later?” Katie called after him. “There’s a bunch of people g
oing.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. Depends how long it takes to fix my hair.”

  Chapter 2

  “So how are the wedding preparations going?” Katie asked, sipping on her cocktail.

  Sara exchanged a glance with her sister and then they both looked at Alex. She seemed to spend more and more of her time trying to find diplomatic ways to say things. Even with her temper, she was not going to come right out and use words like ‘crazy’, ‘dictator’, or ‘scary ass woman’ when talking about Alex’s mother.

  “Could be better,” Tara said, taking a long drink.

  Alex sighed. “It’s my mother, isn’t it?”

  “She’s very…” Tara began, trailing off. “Well, I mean, she’s a bit…” She floundered, looking to Sara for help.

  “Enthusiastic,” Sara supplied, taking a drink of her orange juice. With her control issues, she couldn’t afford to be drinking right now.

  Alex snorted. “Yeah, that’s one word for it.” Ethan smirked at him and Alex levelled him with a glare. “I don’t know why you’re laughing, wolf boy. You’re my best man and she’s decided that we’ll be wearing kilts.”

  That wiped the smile off Ethan’s face. “No.”

  “You want to say that to my mother?” Alex queried. “Feel free. I’m not getting involved.”

  Ethan stared at him in horror.

  “I think the kilts will be nice,” Dana said, patting Ethan’s arm. “You have the legs for it.”

  Ethan glared at his mate. “Not funny.”

  “Could be worse,” Sara pointed out. “You haven’t seen the dresses.” She shuddered. Every dress shop they visited, it was the same story. Anna unwaveringly picked out the most hideous dresses in the place and insisted they were perfect. Sara wasn’t sure if the woman truly had the worst taste ever, or if she was messing with them.

  “Maybe she’ll get distracted when my brother arrives,” Alex said hopefully.