Jackson Valley Shifters Complete Series: Bear Shifter Romance

by Candace Ayers

  He sat frozen on the park bench.

  He looked up at her, wanting to catch a final glimpse of Chloe’s face till it was lost to him forever.

  “I will always love you Chloe Holt. At least know that—not perfectly, I know that. But it’s been always. It will be always.”

  Wesley watched her eyes soften for a fraction of a second, before she turned away. He watched her march against the cold in the opposite direction, her head bowed and dejected.

  He rose unsteadily to his feet. The emptiness gnawed at his insides, the emptiness of a shifter who knows his mate has finally hardened her heart against him.

  13

  Chloe crossed the campus on the way to the coffee shop. The sky was bright and cold, her reliable parka wrapped tightly around her. Everyone was expecting snow later today, and Chloe thought she could smell it in the air.

  She hardly noticed her fellow students as they scurried around her from one building to another, huddling together in packs for warmth. Chloe felt like she was on autopilot, knowing that she needed to get to her classes, to get coffee, to act like a functional human being, but she was overcome by a bone-deep numbness that seemed to put up a glass pane between her and the rest of the world.

  She tried not to think of Wesley.

  So far, she had failed. Miserably.

  To Chloe’s mind, not a lot of what Wesley had said was true. The idea that he wasn’t good for her, that he couldn’t offer her a good life, was nonsense. It just didn’t stand up to any logic. For starters, he was an NFL player—as far as Chicago was concerned, their quarterback was fast becoming some kind of demi-god. She was hurt by the fact that he thought she was so superficial she would choose things like money or living in a nice house—or whatever it was Wesley didn’t think he could provide for her—over love.

  But the thing that hurt the most, was that if he really had loved her, he hadn’t even stuck around to try to make it work. He had just given up on her.

  She couldn’t dwell on that too much.

  The very idea of Wesley loving her in itself was baffling. She wasn’t sure if she believed him. How could she? It would mean that all her childhood fantasies, all the things she’d barely dared to hope, would have at one point been an actual possibility—and Wesley had taken that away from them.

  And that thought—that thought was just too much to wrap her mind around.

  She also thought about the way she’d left it with Wesley. Saying she didn’t care anymore. It wasn’t true. Not by a long shot. Her heart had leaped the moment she’d caught sight of him in the park. His tall, muscular body made butterflies rampage inside her. His beautiful, piercing eyes were like fire to her—burning up her blood, turning her body to weak mush. Hearing his voice in the hospital, for the first time in so long, had made her heart ache.

  Chloe shook the thoughts away. She had already spent years trying to move on from Wesley. She didn’t need another set-back.

  The coffee shop was blissfully warm. She made her way to the counter, relieved that it wasn’t very full at this time of the morning.

  Eli grinned broadly as she approached.

  “How’s my favorite customer?” He asked.

  “Good,” Chloe lied easily. “How are things with you?”

  “Well, I heard a rumor that made me pretty happy.” He winked at her, then turned around to start preparing her coffee.

  “What rumor?” Chloe asked over the grinding of the coffee beans.

  “That a certain someone turned down the infamous Todd Butler…and his highness isn’t happy about it. I don’t think anyone has turned down the star quarterback before.”

  Eli grinned at her. His eyebrows raised in expectation of her reaction.

  Chloe blushed.

  “It wasn’t personal. I’m just not ready to date yet. That’s all.”

  “Focusing on your studies instead?” Eli asked.

  “Exactly. And I’m sure Todd has a million women lining up around the block to take my place,” Chloe smiled.

  Eli shrugged, looking thoughtful.

  “Not many like you though, Chloe.”

  “Well thanks,” Chloe replied awkwardly.

  “So it’s really not about Todd? It’s about not dating in general?” Eli asked, handing her the coffee.

  “It really is.”

  “In that case, how would you feel about accompanying a friend to dinner tonight? Nothing fancy, just casual—really chill. Just as friends, no strings attached.”

  Chloe hesitated. She wasn’t sure she was in the mood for going out, but she also knew that she wasn’t much in the mood for moping around her dorm either. There had been enough of that the first time around with Wesley.

  “Okay, sure. Let’s go and have fun,” Chloe agreed. “Plus, I trust your eating recommendations.”

  Eli jokingly looked up to the heavens with his hands clasped together.

  “Exactly the answer I was looking for—and dinner with a girl I know isn’t just going to order salad and then eat off my plate!”

  Chloe laughed out loud, pleased to have her decision confirmed as the right one—it would be fun going out with Eli, and maybe just what the doctor ordered.

  * * *

  “So, where are we going?” Chloe asked Eli as they left the campus, driving in Eli’s beat up Ford Fiesta.

  “Not far. It’s just off Newport Road.”

  “Cool, I didn’t think there was much around there,” Chloe replied, surprised. She’d never been to that area—it was where the freeway started, and as far as she was aware, it was made up of vacant land, woods, and residential housing.

  “It’s new, a cute place. Got the best BBQ in the area. Trust me.”

  “I do, don’t worry.”

  Eli fiddled with the dial on the radio, his hands shaking slightly. Chloe wondered if he was nervous. She hoped Eli truly wanted to just be friends. Then she smiled to herself, he was probably just hopped up on caffeine.

  “Cold tonight, right?” Eli commented.

  “Freezing, but I like it.”

  As the approached the main road, Eli sped up dramatically.

  “Whoa, you like to drive fast,” said Chloe nervously. He was winding in and out of cars quite dangerously.

  “Sorry,” Eli muttered. “It’s just that the place gets busy around dinner time, really quickly. I don’t want us to miss out on a table.”

  “Sure, but let’s not get into an accident. I think the roads are kind of slippery.”

  Chloe had felt the tires losing their grip of the pavement. Thankfully, Eli slowed down instantly, and they cruised along in silence for a while. Chloe looked over at him in the light of the streetlights. She could see faint beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, even in this intense cold.

  “Eli, are you okay?” She asked softly.

  He grinned broadly.

  “Yeah! Yeah, I’m good. Just hope you like the place, you know?”

  “I’m sure I will,” replied Chloe carefully. “But you know, I’m really here for the company, although I’m sure the food will be great. You just seem a little anxious.”

  “I get stressed driving,” Eli replied shortly.

  Chloe fell back into silence. She was really confused. Eli seemed like he’d suddenly had a lobotomy. Where was the cheerful, carefree guy that she had been getting to know? This Eli was a total stranger. She started to think that this was not a good idea. She realized that she was in a car with an almost perfect stranger heading to a section of town that she really didn’t know well. Her self-preservation kicked in, and she felt the hairs on her neck rise.

  You’re being paranoid, she told herself angrily—but that didn’t seem to register with her body, which was starting to tense up. She reached for her bag on the floor of the vehicle, pulling out her phone. She unlocked it, going straight to her text messages.

  “Who are you texting?” Eli asked quickly.

  “Mia. My friend, she’s just wondering where I am.”

  Chloe quickly
texted Mia, telling her that she was with Eli and on the way to the Newport area. She also turned on the “find Friends” app, notifying Mia. Better safe than sorry.

  She saw Eli watching her out of the corner of her eye.

  “She’s pretty protective,” Chloe said.

  Eli grunted. He was now completely ignoring her, focusing on the road.

  “Eli, I’m really sorry to do this, but do you mind if we turn back? I’m not feeling so great–”

  “We’re almost there,” he replied. He tried to smile, but it looked gruesome in the night light, and didn’t reach his eyes. He took a turn, screeching the car around a bend.

  They pulled off onto a side-road. There were a few lights ahead, but the street was deserted, with no homes, only wooded land.

  “Eli, where the hell are we?” Chloe could hear her own voice shaking, and she tried to pull herself together. This was no time to let fear overtake her. She needed to pull herself together.

  Eli cut the engine.

  “Eli, I want to go back home. Please, just take me home–”

  “I’m so sorry Chloe, I really am,” he whispered.

  He stared stonily ahead, both hands placed firmly on the wheel of the stationary car.

  “I don’t fucking believe you–” Chloe didn’t know what was going on, but she didn’t wait to find out. Grabbing her bag, she dragged it from the floor of the car and opened the door.

  She stumbled out, gasping in the frosty cold air. Adrenaline and fear were now fully pumping around her body, urging her to run. She looked around, panicked—not knowing what direction she should be heading in.

  Without thinking, she started to run toward the streetlights in the distance.

  Eli switched on the headlights.

  Chloe felt the light flood behind her, spotlighting her like a hare caught in the road.

  She ran off to the side of the road, increasing her pace, trying to get out of the light. As she ran, she fumbled inside her bag, bringing out her cell phone. Heart in her throat, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps she unlocked it. Her fingers, sweaty and trembling tried to dial nine-one-one.

  Suddenly, lights shone up ahead.

  It was another car’s headlights.

  Chloe realized she’d been wrong. There were probably was residential houses ahead, she just hadn’t been able to see them in the dark. She ignored the phone, focusing on reaching the car lights ahead.

  She raised her hand, waving widely.

  “HELP, PLEASE—STOP!”

  The car started to move, driving toward her.

  Chloe heaved a sigh of relief, praying that there was a family inside, or a mother–

  The car stopped in front of her.

  Chloe was so desperate she almost collapsed on the hood.

  She shielded her eyes from the glare of the headlights, trying to see who the driver was. She heard them fumbling with the door, and quickly turned around to see if Eli was close.

  His car was where he had left it, still with the headlights on.

  The door released and Chloe looked to see who it was.

  “Can you help me! Please –”

  She cut her pleading.

  The driver exiting the car was Todd Butler.

  14

  Chloe backed away from the car.

  She felt sick. Horrifically, desperately sick.

  It was a trap. She had been hunted down like an animal, caught between the two of them. But why? What the hell was going on?

  In her fear, she wondered if they were just trying to scare her—or if something unthinkable was going to happen. Did they truly wanted to hurt her?

  “Hey Chloe. Nice to see you again. You look adorable as always.”

  Todd slammed the car door behind him.

  Chloe reached for her phone again. She dialed the emergency number again, but in two quick strides Todd was right in front of her. He yanked the phone out of her hand and smashed it brutally on the ground, crunching it like chicken bones beneath the heel of his boot.

  “I don’t want you spoiling the moment, Chloe,” Todd said silkily. “That wouldn’t be any fun, would it?”

  Chloe turned and ran.

  She headed off the road, jumping over the small metal divider that separated it from a mass of trees and grassland. She ran blindly, terrified that she would fall over on a clump of weeds or tree stump. She had no idea what was out here—if she was heading pointlessly toward water, or just going deeper and deeper into the woods. In her hysteria, she couldn’t get her brain in gear properly—couldn’t remember how this area looked on a map.

  As she ran through undergrowth, she could hear Todd laughing. He was matching her pace easily, and Chloe knew with horrific certainty he was toying with her. He could outrun her easily.

  The only hope she had was finding somewhere to hide.

  Almost as soon as the thought came to her, Todd flicked on a flashlight, highlighting the trees and nothingness that surrounded her.

  “You can’t hide, Chloe,” he laughed. “We’re going to have fun together. You don’t get to say no to Todd Butler.”

  Chloe dashed off to the right, out of the light trail of the flashlight.

  It was no good.

  Todd’s flashlight followed her easily.

  “Don’t you want to have a good time with me, Chloe? I know you like me—you wanted to kiss me. I could tell. You should know better than to play with people’s emotions. You shouldn’t lead men on. Think you’re so much better, but you’re just a dirty tramp like the rest of them.”

  Chloe wanted to wretch at the words leaving Todd’s mouth.

  She couldn’t believe so many people had read him so wrong. How any of them could have been fooled by his good looks and false charm. They just covered up the monster beneath.

  “What the hell are you doing Todd?!” She screamed back at him. “All I did was say no to a date. There are millions of other women you can date!”

  She heard more laughter coming from Todd. It sounded bitter and harsh, like a smack in the face.

  “I prefer the ones I can chase,” he snarled. “Tiffany was too easy. You were a challenge—that wholesome Wyoming farm girl innocent act. I’m going to be the one to break that. You’ll never forget the name Todd Butler.”

  Wyoming.

  The name of her home state sent a searing pain across her chest. It made think of her family—how her dad and uncle would rip Todd’s head off in a country minute. The thought was quickly replaced by the bitter realization that up against a guy the size of Todd, she was helpless to protect herself.

  Chloe suddenly zig-zagged, speeding up as much as she could, and launched herself behind a tree.

  “Give it up,” Todd sang eerily. “You’re not going to be able to hide. For a smart girl, you’re pretty damn dumb, Chloe Holt.”

  She winced at Todd’s words. But she wasn’t totally helpless.

  Chloe reached inside her bag, digging around at the bottom—silently praying that she hadn’t removed it last time she did a purse clean-out. To her relief, her fingers closed around the cold cylinder. It was the pepper spray her dad had given her at the start of the school year. Something she had laughed at, at the time. She’d thought her dad was paranoid. She had been a fool.

  “There you are!” Todd jumped in front of her, his face split into a wide, sinister grin that made Chloe’s heart stop.

  Without hesitating, she held up the pepper spray, hitting Todd square in the face with its contents.

  He cried out, stumbling backwards with an almighty shout.

  “YOU FUCKING BITCH!”

  Chloe dashed forward, passing him quickly.

  It was the only chance she had.

  Chloe ran. She ignored the fear of tripping or stumbling. She just had to pray that a higher power would guide her true and straight till she could get to a place of safety. Her lungs were bursting, she could no longer feel the pain in her legs. She just had to keep moving them, dashing through the darkness as fast as
she could.

  Chloe let out a strangled sob.

  It was no good.

  She could hear Todd thrashing through the undergrowth after her. He was faster, stronger, driven by a hatred and cruelty that Chloe had never come across in her life before, ever.

  Terrified, Chloe kept moving. The horrible truth of what Todd was likely after was dawning on her. Her brain shut down at the thought. It was repulsive, utterly mind-numbingly repugnant. She couldn’t allow it to happen.

  “You’ve fucking asked for this!” She could hear Todd yelling obscenities, swearing and calling her crude names as he caught up with her.

  Suddenly, and without warning, Todd fell silent.

  A brutal, earth-shakingly loud roar cut through the night air. It echoed for a long time, becoming a sound that cut off any noise in the undergrowth. A noise that would have made anyone’s blood run cold in icy terror.

  But not Chloe’s.

  She knew that sound well. She totally knew it. It wasn’t the same pitch, of course, and contained a ferocity that she’d never heard before—but the creature it belonged to was unmistakable to her.

  It was a bear. A grizzly.

  Chloe gasped, letting out a body-shuddering sob of relief. There weren’t any grizzlies natural to this part of the country. It meant only one thing. A shifter.

  The roar echoed again.

  Todd appeared in front of her, his flashlight darting around the forest, seeking out the creature.

  “W-what the hell was that?” He looked absolutely petrified.

  There was a crashing to their left, and a huge, dark form appeared—raised upward on its hind legs, its six-inch claws outstretched like daggers. Todd’s hand trembled as he raised the flashlight upward. The light glinted off razor-sharp teeth.