Mending the Bear

by Vanessa Devereaux

  Liam reached across and slapped her on the butt. He and Joanne used to tease and kid around with one another just like this. Shit, what was he going to do without her? How was he going to make it through each day without her being part of it?

  “I can’t tell you how many women she’s tried to pair her poor brother with. I feel real sorry for the guy,” Liam said.

  “They’ve not been all bad,” said Lucy.

  Liam burst out laughing. “Not all bad. The last one was a borderline psycho,” Liam said.

  “Sounds like the lady vet is perfectly normal. She’s from Florida, cute, and by what Hannah could figure out, newly divorced.”

  “Worst kind you could pair your brother with,” Liam said.

  “Why is that?” Lucy asked, setting the plates on the table.

  “Do I have to spell it out? People who are just getting over a bad relationship are needy. Needy is never a good thing.”

  They both looked at Ian and then looked away. He hated the fact that people would probably begin tiptoeing around him on certain issues and he wasn’t a pity case by any means.

  “You know, I’m suddenly not that hungry. I think I’ll just head home,” Ian said.

  “You will park your ass on this chair and eat with us,” Liam said. “Or I’ll set my dog on you.”

  He knew when Liam meant business, and he’d been good enough to listen to his sob story and give him someplace to lie down after he’d thrown up. Least he could do was eat with dinner with him. Ian nodded and sat as Lucy brought the grilled chicken to the table. Ian took some salad and set it on his plate.

  “How about we introduce you to this lady vet,” Liam said.

  Ian looked up mid-bite. He was joking right. “Me with a human?”

  Lucy glared at him. Liam quickly joined in with a look that said ‘I hope you didn’t mean to insult my wife’.

  “I do not want to be introduced to anyone. I don’t want to date anyone, period. And should anyone attempt to set me up with either a human or a fellow shifter, or whatever, it will be the sorriest day of their life.”

  Chapter Five

  Was she imaging things or did she see a blood stain on the floor by the dispensing area? Eve squinted. She’d gotten a great deal on this place because the previous owner had been shot and killed during a late night break in. His widow had sold it immediately after the incident, but the new owner hadn’t stayed around long. He’d put it up for sale and along Eve had come and snapped it up for a rock bottom price. Now she was wondering if he’d felt the place was cursed, haunted even, and hence his brief tenure as local vet.

  She hadn’t come out of her divorce a wealthy woman like some of her friends had, and this seemed like a way for her to get a fresh start and back on her feet.

  Yeah, she was just being paranoid about the dark stain on the floor. She took a closer look, not blood, more likely dog urine.

  She glanced at the clock on the wall. The first candidate for the job hadn’t shown up. Maybe she’d had a change of heart about the job. Perhaps she was also spooked about the building. At least Eve’s ankle was feeling a whole lot better this morning.

  The buzzer rang, signaling someone had come into the front office. Eve walked along the hallway and out to the reception area to see a young woman in her early twenties standing there with one of the application forms in her hand.

  “Hi. Can I help you?” Eve asked.

  “I’m Chloe McWilliams.”

  Eve recognized the last name immediately. “Ash’s wife.”

  Chloe nodded. “He said you were interviewing for the receptionist job this morning and to stop by around ten a.m.”

  “And you’re right on time which I love in an employee. If you want to come back to my office, we can talk.”

  “How’s your ankle?” Chloe asked as she followed Eve to the back rooms.

  “Much better thanks to your husband.”

  Eve pulled out a chair for Chloe. She sat and then handed Eve the application form. Eve sat opposite her and took a quick look over the form.

  “I don’t know if Ash told you, but I’m currently doing my undergraduate degree before I do my veterinary courses,” Chloe said

  “Yes, he did mention it.”

  “It might seem like I wouldn’t have time for a part time job, but a lot of my classes I take are online and I do my assignments in the evenings when Ash gets home to look after our daughter.”

  “Oh, so you have a family, too, and you’re volunteering at the wildlife center,” Eve said.

  “Yes, some of Ash’s friends are on the board there and Ally Herbert, well, she’s actually Ally Huxley now, is one of the directors. Her husband owned this practice.”

  “That’s right. Dr. Herbert was the vet who was killed last year. And are you interested in domestic animals or wildlife?”

  “I’m thinking of specializing in bears,” Chloe said.

  “Bears. Why bears?” Eve asked.

  “I sort of have a soft spot for them.”

  “Well, we won’t have any bear patients coming through here, well, at least I don’t think so.”

  Chloe smiled. “You never know around here.”

  “That’s true because I did hear it’s prime bear territory.” She looked at the application one more time, knowing she’d already found her new employee. “The job would be eight to five Monday, Thursday, and Friday. The former receptionist is staying on for the other two days. Would that work for you?”

  “It would be perfect because my parents just moved here and they’ll be able to babysit Sophie and drive her to her therapy class on Fridays. Sophie’s our baby girl.”

  “Sophie. That’s such a pretty name.”

  Ironic that it was one of the names she’d wanted to give to her daughter one day. Didn’t look like she’d been getting one of those now. “I’m very family orientated and like to give employees flexibility, so anytime you need to bring her to work, that’s fine with me.”

  “That’s great to hear, and I know Sophie would love seeing all the animals.”

  “The job pays fifteen dollars an hour, but unfortunately I can’t offer any benefits right now, well, other than free vet care for any pet you have.”

  “That works for me.”

  Chloe seemed eager for the job, she had some background in the topic of veterinary science, and Eve had taken an instant liking to her. She was outgoing and friendly, and in a way, she reminded her of herself when she was of college age. She wasn’t going to bother interviewing anyone else because she’d found her ideal candidate. “The job’s yours if you want it,” Eve said.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really. Can you start on Monday?”

  “I sure can,” Chloe said. “And I have to call Ash straightaway to tell him the news.”

  Eve smiled as Chloe dug out her cellphone.

  ****

  You are hereby summoned to a disciplinary hearing. What the fuck? If he didn’t already have enough shit going on in his life, now he had to go before a board of shifters today at noon.

  Ian tapped his fingers on the countertop as he looked at the text message on his phone. He was guessing that the Goodsen brothers had made a formal complaint about his bad bear behavior.

  Okay, he might have stepped a tiny bit over the line by trashing their store, but surely the board members would know that losing a mate was enough to make any bear go crazy. That was if today’s board consisted of fellow bears. Sometimes it was the luck of the draw and lately fortune had not shone upon him.

  Ian could choose to ignore the hearing, but that would land him in more trouble. Trouble wasn’t what he needed right now. One thing the shifter community hated was a bad member who drew attention to them in any way. Trashing a supermarket that was also frequented by humans had certainly done that. He’d go along, plead his case, and hopefully get off with a warning.

  He checked the rest of his e-mails and messages. No new clients. Even his business was slower than usual. Maybe he’d hav
e to look farther afield. Maybe he’d even move to another state, someplace he wouldn’t be constantly reminded of Joanne.

  He walked into his bedroom and opened up his closet door. What did one wear to this sort of thing? Certainly not a shirt and tie. Not that he had many of those. Maybe he should leave the jeans and his leather jacket at home today. He pushed the hangers along on the rack and suddenly came across one of Joanne’s dresses. She’d worn that to the last wedding they’d attended. He took it down and held it in his hand, picking up the lingering scent of her odor and the perfume she’d worn that day. He put it to his nose. And yes, the scent of their lovemaking was still evident, too. They both gotten a little drunk and couldn’t wait to get home to have sex and they’d fucked in the back of her car.

  Ian squeezed his eyes tightly shut, hoping that would stop his tears from forming. Liam had told him that’s what he’d done when he’d heard about Danny being killed that night, and losing a brother had to be a lot worse than losing a mate, but still Ian couldn’t help himself.

  He sat on the bed with the dress draped across his lap. The eyes shut tight wasn’t working for him. He’d never see her in his dress again, well, maybe he would, but she’d no longer be his. He wouldn’t kiss her again. Wouldn’t flick a stray hair away from her face. He wouldn’t be around to stop her chewing on the end of her pen. Would never hold in his arms again, never feel her arms around him as they rode along on his bike. He’d never make love to her again, never have his cock buried deep inside her, hearing her sigh and groan in way only she could do it.

  “I want a bigger wedding than that.”

  Now he remembered her going on and on about the wedding and the bride’s dress, but it hadn’t registered with him that she was hinting, prodding him to ask her to marry him. But he hadn’t been ready.

  He fingered the flower pattern on the bodice of the dress. Shit, she’d caught the bouquet when the bride had thrown it. He hadn’t even realized the significance of that until now.

  And now he recalled how she’d gone out of her way to point out who was pregnant and how cute all the babies were. He swallowed the lump in his throat. He hadn’t been ready for all this and she had. She’d no longer thought of him as her mate.

  The dress, should he return it?

  No, he couldn’t stand to see her again. That would break his heart. Well, at least for now it would. He stood and hung it back on the rail. When his heart healed, if it ever did, he’d give it to her then.

  ****

  Eve knew she’d chosen the right person for the job. She peeked out to the front desk and saw Chloe organizing the notepads and magnets with the practice’s contact information on them. Eve had given her instructions to hand every patient one when they paid for the services.

  Business was a little slow, but she had every confidence things would be picking up once word got around the practice was up and running again. All bad things were in the past, and this was a new era for vet and patients alike.

  “Hello, Glacier Pet Clinic. How can I help you?” she heard Chloe saying into the phone.

  “We do have an opening on that day. Would you prefer morning or afternoon?”

  Eve watched as Chloe’s finger tapped on the keys.

  “Would 10.30 a.m. work for you?”

  “Perfect. I have Molly scheduled for her rabies shot on Thursday the eleventh.”

  Eve walked out into the reception and smiled at Chloe. “You settling in okay?” she asked her.

  “Yes, I’m loving it already. Oh, and I’ve sent messages to all the shif—all my friends and you’ll be getting some of their pets as clients.”

  “That’s great, thank you.”

  “Sure, and I’ve already booked Barney for his rabies and distemper booster shot. You’ll love him. He belongs to one of our friends and he’s so cute.”

  “You have any pets?” Eve asked.

  “No, but we’re thinking we should now that Sophie’s isn’t a tiny baby anymore.”

  “And this is Sophie,” Eve said, picking up a photo Chloe had placed on the desk. “My cousin’s son has Down syndrome,” Eve said. She hoped that Chloe didn’t mind her mentioning it.

  “She’s doing really well and we go to a support group every Saturday so it’s nice to chat with other parents and get tips” Chloe said.

  “I hope I can meet her one day.”

  “She loves meeting new people. Maybe you’d like to come for dinner one night.”

  “I’d love that” Eve said.

  “We do have lots of single friends we could also invite along.”

  “That’s fine. I’m sort of enjoying being single again.”

  ****

  Ian sat opposite five of his fellow shifters who had been chosen randomly to sit on the hearing for today. Lucky for him two were fellow bear shifters.

  Brady Walsh looked over at Ian. “You do realize that what you did was stupid and irresponsible,” he said.

  “I do now, but Tuesday was a shitty day. You’ve probably already heard Joanne and Max Goodsen have decided to become mates.”

  Brady nodded and looked over at him one more time “I know how you feel, but we have to put the group before our own needs. You know those are our rules.”

  He did. He really did.

  “Ned said one lady was about to call the police, but he stopped her in time,” Simon said, a wolf shifter. “Luckily no one got hurt, well besides a human who slipped in the store.”

  Shit, he didn’t know about that.

  “She hurt her ankle, but luckily Hannah stepped in and got Ash to go check her out. Which brings me to your punishment,” Brady said.

  Punishment. Yeah, he hadn’t counted on that but he guessed he deserved it.

  “It’s sort of punishment and a job all rolled into one,” continued Brady.

  “First of all you need to go along to Goodsen’s and do some cleaning up as well as apologize.”

  Now he’d have to eat humble pie and it wasn’t going to taste that great.

  “Second thing is the job part and the remaining punishment. The woman who slipped has taken over the vet practice of Ally Huxley’s husband.”

  Ian knew about that. He’d been murdered, and she’d sold the place and was now married to wolf shifter Kent. In fact, they were going to have a baby. And this had to be the vet that Lucy was talking about.

  “Chloe has just accepted the job of receptionist there, Sophie, my sprit child, will be spending time there and we’re all a little worried for their safety, plus this new vet, should a similar incident happen again. And the whole area where the practice is located has had a number of thefts and break-ins for some unknown reason. Lots of shifters have stores there so it’s up to us to keep everyone safe.”

  Ian sort of knew where this was going.

  “I’d like to hire you as private security to the vet as our way of compensation for her injured ankle, and at the same time offer your services to other shifters in the immediate area.”

  “I have to babysit a vet?” Ian asked.

  “I’d like to think of it as more her bodyguard. You’ll go there today and introduce yourself. Hannah will fill you in on all the details of all the other businesses that need your attention. You have anything to say before we call this hearing over?”

  Ian stood. “Nope,” he said.

  Apart from cleaning Goodsen’s, things weren’t as bad as he’d expected.

  ****

  “Dr. Barclay, someone’s here to see you.”

  Eve looked up from the paperwork she was filling in at her desk. She wasn’t expecting anyone, but sometimes salesmen stopped by practices unannounced to try and sell this and that. Eve stood and headed out to the front desk, stopping in her tracks as she did so. He had his back toward her, but she immediately recognized the bear emblem on his leather jacket.

  It was the asshole. The guy who’d driven by on the bike that afternoon and sprayed her new hairdo and coat with mud. The guy who’d made her slip on the fish at the supe
rmarket.

  She was going to give him a piece of her mind, but then he turned around and all her anger went out of the window. Her knees went weak, her heartbeat picked up double time, and yes, she was pretty sure her pussy was doing cartwheels and her ovaries were about to burst forth with a few bars of the Hallelujah Chorus.

  “Dr. Barclay?” he asked.

  Even his voice sounded like liquid sex. Get a grip. Get your act together. Do not go all soft and gooey just because this guy’s cute. He ruined your hairdo. He has stubble, an earring, and obviously rides a motorbike. Not your type. Repeat not your type.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m Ian Mallory.” He put out his hand.

  She was reluctant to take it, not that she thought there was something wrong with him, but if she made contact with him…

  He was staring at her. A look of impatience and frustration clearly washed over him as he waited for her to take his hand.

  Eve slipped her hand into his, realizing she’d been right. The warmth and touch sent shivers up and down her spine. Good shivers and not the sort she got while watching a horror movie.

  “I’m here for two reasons,” he began.

  To torment me. To drive me crazy. To make me realize I haven’t had sex in… Oh dear Lord, it’s been so long I can’t even remember. She hadn’t let go of his hand and she wasn’t in any hurry to do so.

  “First of all I’d like to apologize,” he said. The earring swung back and forth, back and forth, as he spoke like it was hypnotizing her. “I’ve been told you hurt your ankle when you slipped on the fish I threw around in the supermarket.”

  “You also covered me in mud when you drove by on your bike. I’d just had my hair cut and highlighted.”

  Why had she mentioned that? The anger she’d felt had completely disappeared so this had come out of nowhere, and as if a guy would be the least bit interested in highlighted hair.

  “Really? I’m sure I would have remembered seeing someone as…”

  “Someone as what?” Eve asked. Yes, she’d gained some weight since she and Nick had gone their separate ways. Was he going to say someone her size?

  “As well dressed as yourself,” he finally said.