Alpha Bears And Brides (Red Lodge Bears) The Complete Collection

by Vivian Wood

  “No, but he did text me like six times. Even if I wanted to answer, I was working the whole time,” Lucy sighed. She stripped off her scrub pants and pulled on dark jeans, doing the same careful hopping that Lexie had just done. Instead of shoving her aching feet back in her hideous but comfortable tennis shoes, though, Lucy pulled her flip flops from her locker and dropped them to the ground, slipping her feet into them with a sigh.

  “I don’t know how you wear those after standing up for twenty hours straight,” Lexie said, giving Lucy’s flip flops a disapproving glance.

  “My feet like their freedom after work. You know how I roll. We’ve only been friends for, what, ten years at this point?” Lucy pointed out.

  Lexie laughed, bobbing her perfectly blonde head. Lexie and Lucy liked to pretend they were twins, but Lexie was a tall, willowy ice queen next to Lucy’s brunette curls and pale, freckled skin. Lucy blamed her mother, since all the Summers women were practically clones of each other. Big boobs, big butts, big hips, teeeeeeeny five foot statures. Lexie, on the other hand, looked like she’d just walked off the set of some steamy hospital soap, while Lucy was frequently confused for a visiting pre-med student. It was patently unfair, since they’d both worked their asses off to finish their last year of residency together.

  “Why the long face? Do you want me to beat that guy up?” Lexie asked, quirking a blonde brow.

  Now it was Lucy’s turn to laugh.

  “No. I was just thinking that we’ve only got a handful of months left together here at Mount Mercy,” Lucy said, pulling a face.

  “That depends on you, I think. Some of us have been responsible and decided where we want to do our fellowship,” Lexie teased.

  “God, don’t remind me.”

  “You have like ten offers. Just pick something. By something, I mean pick something in Boston so you can stay near me.”

  Lucy groaned.

  “It’s seven offers, and Boston is too cold. You’re crazy to move there. Why don’t we just move to Hawaii or something?” Lucy joked.

  “If only we were gay… Our lives would be so perfect, because we already found each other,” Lexie lamented. “Men just ruin everything.”

  Lucy’s phone vibrated and beeped in her hand, making her jump.

  “Speaking of men…” Lucy huffed. “I went on four dates with this guy, and he seems to think we were engaged or something.”

  “I thought you guys didn’t even…” Lexie made a lascivious face and an obscene gesture, and they both cracked up.

  “I can’t believe you’re a doctor. Soooo immature,” Lucy said. “And we didn’t have relations of any kind. In fact, I only met him the last time to tell him in person that I didn’t want to see him anymore. He didn’t seem to be picking up on my hints over text.”

  “You’re nicer than I am, Luce. I dated Jeremy for seven months, and I still dumped him over Facebook.”

  “Which was even better because now you and I both get the cold shoulder every time we go up to radiology. Great job picking someone who’s essential to our daily jobs and then breaking him like a twig. Thanks for that.”

  Lexie blew out a breath and shrugged.

  “He sucked in bed,” was her only reply.

  “You’re so shallow. Again, I’m not sure how you’re a doctor,” Lucy teased.

  “At least I’m not a prude,” Lexie shot back.

  “Uh! Excuse me for waiting for the right person. Those meaningless college and med school flings aren’t cutting it for me anymore. And I’m under the microscope, too. You know that my clan is kind of…” Lucy pulled a face.

  “Conservative. Yeah, I get it. I’m just teasing you. Seriously though, you’re twenty seven, finished residency at the top of the dog pile, and you’re hot. You should start dating for real,” Lexie said, shooting Lucy a pointed look.

  “I did, and look what I got,” Lucy said, waving her phone at Lexie. “Kurt Hughes, age twenty eight, only child, and a lawyer to boot. I am never letting my mom set me up again.”

  Lexie cackled, closing her locker door with a slam. Both dressed, they each took a moment to put on their white coats. They were both deliriously in love with their newfound doctorhoods, if that was a thing, and took every opportunity to show off what they’d earned with so many long, difficult, draining hours of work and study.

  “Looking good, Dr. Summers,” Lexie said, giving Lucy a wink.

  “You too, Dr. Reid. I’ll see you tomorrow, right? The calendar says we’re both off, so I thought we could have a girls’ night, drink fancy drinks and do our toes or something.”

  “You know my heart,” Lexie said with a grin, giving Lucy a quick hug. “Unlike you, I actually carry my phone during my shift, so I’ll text you in a few hours when I get bored.”

  “You’re never gonna be caught up with your charts,” Lucy warned, but Lexie was already out the break room door, flapping a hand as she went.

  “Right. Well, I might not have a new boy toy every week, but my charts do look pretty good,” Lucy reassured herself with a silly smile.

  She might not be as classically beautiful or as free in love as Lexie, but Lucy’s life was shaping up pretty well. The stars had aligned just for her this weekend, and she had two whole days off both her hospital rounds and her job moonlighting at an OBGYN clinic. Add to that the fact that Lexie had one of the same days off, and Lucy’s whole week was basically as good as things got for baby-faced, no-sex-getting, twenty seven year old obstetricians-to-be.

  As she headed out the door, her phone chimed yet again.

  I know you see my messages. You’d better answer me, Lucy.

  Lucy paused, a chill skating down her spine. She really thought she’d made her feelings clear to the guy. He’d stuck a hand up her skirt about three minutes into their third date, giving her an awkwardly deep French kiss, and she’d known then and there that she and Kurt Hughes were not meant to be. He was cute and all, a scruffy guy with light brown hair and a full beard, nice eyes too… But his personality was aggressive, something that probably made him a great lawyer.

  “We just lack chemistry,” Lucy had explained. He’d nodded, seeming to accept her words… Yet now he was texting her all day, every day since. Maybe she’d been too nice, given him the wrong idea. She just thought he was a decent guy and hadn’t wanted to make things weird, especially since he was the son of one of her mom’s good friends.

  Sliding her phone into her pocket, Lucy grabbed the stack of books she needed for the hopefully very small amount research she planned to do over the weekend, reading about a rare genetic disease that she’d come across in a patient history earlier in the week. Then she headed out to the main exit, giving the security guard a brief wave.

  “Night, Paul,” she called.

  “Night, Dr. Summers,” he said with a friendly grin. She sometimes brought him bags of Jelly Bellies, and he let her know when the vending machines on a certain floor got restocked with something good. They were fast friends, bonded over jelly beans and Fritos.

  She juggled the heavy texts in her arms as she cut through the first few rows of cars in the parking lot, making a beeline for her beat up old Volvo, a gift from one of her doting uncles. Shifting the books to one arm, she tried unsuccessfully to get her keys out of her pocket as she went. Blowing out a breath, she was steps from her car door when she saw a dark shape move in her peripheral vision.

  Something shifted in Lucy’s chest. She let the books go, digging into her pocket and getting hold of her keys half a second before she was crushed up against the side of her car by a heavy weight. Her lungs emptied in a painful gush, every nerve lighting up as five-alarm bells started going off in her head.

  “Hey!” she shouted, jerking back against the weight of the large man behind her.

  Strong fingers dug into her scalp, yanking her hair by the ponytail, instantly bringing tears to her eyes. Then she felt something cold bite into the skin of her neck, just below her jaw, and her knees went weak.

&nbs
p; “Don’t fucking move,” the guy muttered. “I will kill you, bitch.”

  “You don’t have to do that. Take my wallet, take whatever you want,” Lucy stammered, heart racing and stomach churning with fear and repulsion. She gave a strangled cry when her attacker growled and pressed the knife harder against her flesh. Her skin warmed and pulsed, and she was pretty sure he’d actually nicked her.

  “Shut the fuck up, uppity bitch.” The man released her hair, running his hand down her side before lifting her shirt. His words gave her pause, made her wonder why he would say something like that unless he knew her.

  “I’m somebody’s sister, somebody’s daughter,” Lucy whispered, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. She realized that she was crying now, fat tears running down her face.

  The man paused, his fingers on her bra strap, inches from her breast. The hand holding the knife sagged for a moment, but far enough. Lucy was moving before she even realized it, the years of self defense classes kicking in finally. Her hand came up to grip his wrist, giving it a sharp, forceful twist that made him cry out and drop it. Lucy pushed against the car, flinging her attacker back a couple of feet. She expected him to come at her again right away, but when she spun she nearly pissed her pants.

  Her assailant, or the man she thought was her assailant because he wore a black ski mask, was kneeling on the ground. Towering over the man was a massive stranger, his arm muscles bulging as he stared down at the trespasser with such vicious, hateful expression that Lucy stumbled back a couple of steps. The newcomer looked up at her as if noticing her for the first time, pinning her with a gaze of pure blue ice.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice a throaty growl.

  “Y-yes… I think so,” Lucy whispered, her lower lip trembling. Her whole body trembled, actually, hands shaking so hard she couldn’t do anything but wrap her arms around her torso and shiver.

  The brawny stranger looked back down at Lucy’s foe, lifting his lip to show his canines. The would-be villain actually whimpered, and Lucy couldn’t blame him one bit. The big man raised his arm and put the attacker out with a single punch, the sickening crunch of bone making Lucy jump.

  “I- I should… we should get the security guard,” Lucy said, wiping at her face. “Call the cops, too.”

  The man looked up at her, and she realized that he was shaking, too. His dark hair was wildly askew, his stubbled jaw clenched, his gorgeous blue eyes burning with some frightening kind of inner fire.

  “He’s human. Our people should deal with this,” he replied.

  “Our… our…” Lucy repeated, light dawning on her. “You’re a Berserker?”

  The man gave her an odd look.

  “Of course I am.” He looked down at the man at his feet. “I think you should sit down. Just sit on the hood of your car for a second, please.”

  Lucy stepped back, complying with his request without question. Something about the way he looked at her made her sure he was no threat; his confident tone made her submit without a second thought. It was easier, just now, to let someone else take charge.

  She watched as he produced a cell phone from his jeans pocket, turning and pacing away for a second as he waited, then whirling back to face her again. As if he couldn’t let her out of his sight, it seemed. Lucy’s stomach flipped over, but she pushed the thought aside. She was in shock, that was all. Sometimes people had strange reactions to trauma, more than just shaking hands and tears.

  That was probably why Lucy was scoping out her rescuer now, admiring the way his red plaid shirt clung to his arms and chest, the way his jeans rode low on his hips. She estimated that he must be well over six feet, maybe even six and a half. He was freaking gorgeous, now that she was really looking. Like Beckham in those Armani underwear ads gorgeous.

  …and about a thousand points out of Lucy’s league. This guy was probably on his way to party with some Victoria’s Secret angels somewhere and had just stumbled into the hospital parking lot, maybe looking for directions to a hot nightclub that Lucy hadn’t even heard of yet.

  She giggled at her absurd train of thought, earning herself another sharply suspicious glance from the stranger. He disconnected the call, then walked over to Lucy, keeping his body angled so he could watch Lucy’s assailant as he spoke to her. Leaning down, he pulled off the guy’s ski mask.

  “Do you know him?” he asked.

  Lucy licked her lips, shaking her head.

  “No. No, I thought…” she hesitated.

  “Thought what?” her rescuer prompted. “You can tell me.”

  “He… he called me an uppity bitch. I just thought, I don’t know. I thought it sounded personal, if that makes sense. Not that I’m a bitch, but that uppity part… A stranger doesn’t say that, right?” Lucy sniffed and used the sleeve of her coat to wipe at her throat. It came away with a bright red splotch of her blood, making her gasp.

  The man nodded, considering her words for a moment before moving on.

  “I have someone coming to deal with him,” he said, nodding at the body on the ground.

  “He’s not… should I check him over? I’m a doctor,” Lucy blurted out. Guilt welled up in her chest. Where had her Hippocratic oath been a couple of minutes ago? She should have at least checked for a pulse, called for a gurney…

  “He’s fine,” the man said, gaze narrowing. “I’m more worried about you, Lucy.”

  Lucy’s eyes widened.

  “How do you know my name?” she asked, suddenly terrified again.

  The man shifted in place and cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable for the first time since Lucy had laid eyes on him.

  “Consider me… I don’t know, a guardian of sorts. You’re in danger, and I’m here to protect you until it passes.”

  Lucy’s mouth opened, but no words formed. Her guardian? Perhaps he was every bit the avenging angel she’d first imagined him to be.

  “I don’t think you should drive right now. Would you let me give you a ride home, Lucy?”

  Lucy looked at him, feeling hysteria rising. It was all too much. She’d barely slept in a full day, then she’d been attacked by an unknown assailant who seemed to know her, and now this Greek god was staring her down, asking her to let him take care of her…

  “I… I’m going to take a cab,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

  Her rescuer rubbed the back of his neck, then slowly shook his head.

  “I don’t think so. I’ve got my bike right here. You could be home in no time,” he said, pointing to his motorcycle. His voice was soft now, not quite pleading, but deeply concerned. Lucy stared at him for a full minute, unable to process everything.

  “What’s your name?” she asked at last, shoulders sagging.

  The way he hesitated before speaking nearly killed her confidence in him, but when he answered, his gaze was steady on hers.

  “Wyatt,” he said.

  “That’s a nice name,” Lucy said, the words out of her mouth before she could stop herself. She raised a hand and rubbed her bleary eyes, then looked up again. “I think I might need to accept that ride home, Wyatt.”

  In no time flat, Lucy was clinging to Wyatt’s back, sucking in big gulps of his masculine scent from the helmet he’d forced onto her head, flying down the darkened streets of Seattle. Wyatt had taken her keys, put her textbooks in her car, and locked everything up. Then he’d climbed on his bike and beckoned her until she climbed on behind him.

  Hold on, he’d said. Lucy’s arms were wrapped around his muscular waist now, embarrassingly tight because she’d never been on a motorcycle before. For just a second, she closed her eyes and leaned her helmeted head against his back. For just a second, and only because she’d had a really, truly rough night, Lucy let herself imagine that this was her life. That she wasn’t just a doctor, she was also a girlfriend. Or maybe even a mate, to a real man, someone sexy and smart and fit, just as appealing as the man she now clutched for dear life.

  She chuckled to
herself, shaking her head. She was many things, but Lucy wasn’t a dreamer. Nor was she a lovestruck, horny teenager. She’d just tuck the memory of Wyatt away in her pocket, keep it for a rainy day when she wasn’t too exhausted to pull out her ill-used vibrator…

  As soon as the ride began, it seemed it was already over. Wyatt pulled up outside Lucy’s little one bedroom house, killing the engine and waiting. Lucy waited for a second, then realized that she had to get off first. She clambered off the bike, pulling the helmet from her head.

  Wyatt took the helmet from her hands, giving her a look up and down, as if reassuring himself that she was all in one piece.

  “I’m going to wait for you to go inside and check all the rooms. Give me a wave, then lock yourself up tight, okay?” Wyatt asked.

  “O-oh,” Lucy said, unsure how to handle things now. “Um… thank you, I guess. I mean, I don’t guess, I—”

  “Give me your cell phone,” Wyatt said, appearing to lose patience. Lucy grabbed her phone from her pocket, unlocking it and handing it over. As she watched, Wyatt deftly programmed his number into her phone and then sent himself a text. “Alright. Go on inside. You’ve been through a lot. You need to rest.”

  “Okay,” Lucy said. “Okay.”

  She pulled out her keys, fingertips still trembling, and headed up to the porch. She unlocked the door and got herself inside, flipping on every light and checking the place out. Luckily she had all of five whole rooms in her little shotgun bungalow, so it only took a minute or two. When she was sure that no one was inside and that all the locks worked properly, she stepped back out onto the porch.

  “I’m good, I think,” she said.

  Wyatt gave her a long look.

  “Lucy… I’m sorry to tell you, but this isn’t over. Someone is gunning for you.”

  Lucy reared back, startled.

  “You sound awfully certain. You don’t even know me!” she protested.

  “I can’t really explain how I know, but… I know. You’re in very serious danger.”