Scottish Werebear: A Painful Dilemma: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Scottish Werebears Book 5)

by Lorelei Moone

  Scottish Werebear: A Painful Dilemma

  Book 5 in the Scottish Werebears Series by Lorelei Moone. Find Books 1-3 here and Book 4 here.

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  Henry Weston can’t take it anymore. Lately, his job with the Alliance seems to be less about protecting shifters from their enemies, and more about surveilling his own people and making sure they don’t break any Alliance rules. This is not what he signed up for, so it’s time for him to make a change. There’s only one problem: his mate and colleague Margaret isn’t on board at all, in fact they can’t seem to agree on anything lately.

  Meanwhile, Alliance leader Adrian Blacke’s new assistant, Gail McPherson is having similar trouble adjusting to her job. The ideals that made her join the Alliance don’t match up with her day-to-day reality and she yearns for something else.

  When the two of them meet, sparks fly, and they even start to hear each other’s thoughts, like only true mates can. But Henry already has a mate whom he wants to remain loyal to, despite their disagreements. If Henry and Gail can’t be lovers, at least they can be allies in a new cause: forming a New Alliance. What ensues is a battle between sense and emotion; loyalty and fate.

  This paranormal romance novella is the fifth in the Scottish Werebear series. For the best experience, readers are advised to read the series in order. Find Books 1-3 here and Book 4 here.

  This story is intended for adult audiences only.

  Reading order for the Scottish Werebears series: An Unexpected Affair, A Dangerous Business, A Forbidden Love, Sugar & Spice: A Scottish Werebear Xmas, A New Beginning, A Painful Dilemma and A Second Chance.

  © 2016 Lorelei Moone

  Published by eXplicitTales

  Cover Design by Jacqueline Sweet

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  Table of Contents

  Scottish Werebear: A Painful Dilemma

  Story

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Henry checked his watch and shook his head, even though there was nobody to see him do it. This was the last straw.

  Here he was, on what looked to be a perfectly pleasant winter’s day, spying on one of his own. And why? Because Adrian Blacke, self-appointed leader of the Alliance Council himself had ordered him to. Just ensure our secrets are being kept, Blacke had said. He’s never lived according to our customs, with our rules. There’s no way of knowing if we can trust him.

  Nonsense.

  Hadn’t Matthew Argyle and the human woman, Leah Hudson, been through enough already?

  After being abducted as a child and sent to live with strangers, finally, Matthew had found out the truth about himself. And clearly - if the activity going on inside was anything to go by - he’d found himself a mate as well. Good for him.

  But if Blacke had his way, Henry would march in there and arrest both of them for violating the secrecy requirement all shifters are meant to live by. Fraternizing with humans was frowned upon in the best of circumstances, but recently Blacke had reached new heights of paranoia and decided to outlaw it completely.

  What was the point of keeping their existence secret, if their main enemy, the Sons of Domnall knew all about them anyway? They were growing in numbers, organizing themselves, and turning more militant by the day. And by staying in the shadows, the shifters were playing right into their hands.

  It was much easier to convince people to fear the unknown when nobody argued for the other side.

  Henry had had these thoughts before, but the more he considered it, the more certain he’d become. Education was the way forward.

  A far away rustle brought Henry back to reality. Was someone else watching?

  He focused on pinpointing the noise, just across the other side of the backyard he’d been surveilling himself. This could not be a coincidence. Had Blacke sent out another Alliance agent?

  Henry silently made his way around the boundary fence, while listening out for more sounds. No, the other spy was human. Bears would never be this obvious.

  It didn’t take him long to scale the fence, land on the other side and follow the retreating human female who had almost reached the back door of her house. Before she had the chance to see him, Henry grabbed the woman from behind and covered her mouth with his hand. She let out a muffled squeal and tried to struggle free, but it was no use.

  “Make a move, and things will end badly for you,” he whispered in her ear.

  She soon stopped squirming.

  “Okay, just don’t hurt me,” she said as Henry removed the hand from her mouth.

  Henry kept her restrained with one arm, and with the other patted her down for weapons. She didn’t carry any, but she did have a digital camera in her pocket, which Henry retrieved and switched on to inspect its contents.

  So his instincts were right. He flipped through the pictures and found that they were shots of the exact scene he’d witnessed earlier, along with some very damning pictures of things that had happened before he’d even arrived at Leah Hudson’s house.

  This bumbling human, no doubt the collaborator one of the Sons of Domnall guys had referred to during his interrogation, had actually managed to get a picture of Matthew mid-shift. It was bad. If Blacke saw this, things would end badly for Matthew and his human mate.

  Henry stuffed the camera into one of the pockets of his tactical vest and tied the woman’s wrists up with one of the plastic restraints he always carried with him.

  “Your mates ratted you out. You’re coming with me now,” Henry said.

  The woman’s eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t say anything.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  She remained silent.

  “Very well, don’t tell me.”

  Henry covered her mouth with a piece of duct tape and dragged her to the backdoor of the house she’d tried to enter earlier. He listened out for any activity but didn’t hear any. The place was empty. On the way through the house, he picked up a few unopened envelopes from a sideboard. They were all addressed the same person: Caroline Pratt.

  The few framed pictures on display showed the same woman, posing along with other people, some of which looked familiar to Henry. Sons of Domnall members already captured by the Alliance. That’s all he needed to know.

  Henry wasted no more time, just checked that the road was empty before getting her to the van and stuffing her in the back.

  He might not have followed Blacke’s orders exactly, but at least he had something to show for his little excursion to Gartcosh this afternoon. Just as well. He’d made up his mind earlier about what was the right way forward.

  In time, if his plan worked out, perhaps this stupid war between the Sons and the shifters would pass, but for now, she was still the enemy. Henry wouldn’t feel bad about locking her up at the base and later handing her over to Blacke and his men.

  What he wouldn’t do was hand over the pictures she’d taken earlier.

  He was done spying on his own people, especially those who’d been through so much shit already, like Matthew Argyle. Henry had join
ed the Alliance because he wanted to make a difference; to make the world a safer place for shifters. Instead of simply following orders he didn’t believe in anymore, he was going to start a movement of his own.

  He locked the van and observed the outside of Leah Hudson’s house for a moment. As much as he hated to interrupt the lovebirds, he couldn’t leave without talking to at least Matthew first.

  If Henry’s new movement was to be a success, he needed to gather support. Who better to talk to than the man who inspired Henry’s decision in the first place?

  Henry picked the lock to the front door and waited inside the living room.

  It felt like hours before Henry noticed any sign of activity inside the human woman’s house. He’d always been a patient man, so the wait didn’t bother him as such. What bothered him was that he wasn’t at all sure how to broach the subject he wanted to discuss.

  And what if it wasn’t Matthew Argyle who found him waiting in here, but the woman? He didn’t want to panic anyone or create a scene. He just wanted to… What exactly did he want?

  Henry wasn’t sure, and time had run out to think about it any further, because a figure appeared in the doorway.

  “Henry.” Matt folded his arms.

  “Matt. You know why they sent me here?” Henry asked.

  “I can guess. And before you say anything else, no, you can’t take her.” Matt straightened himself further. He was on full alert, ready to defend his mate to the death if necessary.

  Of course, Henry didn’t make a move. That was not why he had come here.

  “There’s been a lot of enemy activity in the city, and everyone is on high alert,” Henry tried to explain, but it didn’t help get his point across.

  “I don’t care. I’m not going to let you take her.”

  Henry shook his head. It was only natural that Matt would be suspicious of his presence here. Even if he was planning to do nothing of the sort.

  “Relax. I’m not going to take her.” Even if Blacke would have liked nothing better. “The truth is, I’m not happy with the status-quo. What happened to you, here, it’s not right. None of this is right.”

  This was not at all easy. Henry was used to being in control of himself and of any situation he got himself in. Years of Alliance experience had taught him to always prepare for whatever came next; to never follow impulse alone. Today marked a significant departure from said training.

  “Okay… What are you trying to say exactly?” Matt still sounded suspicious - naturally. His body language was clear; as far as he knew, the threat was still very much present.

  “I have a plan to make things right, but it’s going to take time to set up.”

  “Shoot,” Matt said.

  Henry remembered his prisoner, out in the van. Perhaps if he started by explaining what had gone down earlier, he could win Matt’s trust.

  “Firstly, this is for you.” Henry handed over the SD card he had taken from Caroline Pratt earlier.

  It took a little explaining to get Matt to understand what had happened and how he’d got the SD card. Matt was obviously taken aback when he realized what Matt’s prisoner had captured on camera. Luckily, the culprit was already under arrest so she wouldn’t bother the two of them any longer.

  Then it was time for Henry to bring up the one subject he had come here to discuss. His plans.

  “I want to go public.” Henry tried to gauge Matt’s reaction. He looked surprised more than anything else.

  “Think about it. None of this would have happened if people knew about our kind,” Henry added.

  Matt had a few more questions, which Henry tried to answer to the best of his ability. Yes, it went against the secrecy rules bears and other shifters had been following for centuries. Yes, the Alliance would oppose. But in the end, Henry believed it would be worth it.

  “Okay, I’m in,” Matt said after Henry had finished.

  Finally, Henry could breathe a sigh of relief. His idea had legs, at least on the face of it.

  Although he’d assured Matt that he wouldn’t need anything other than his help when the time was right, there was no way of knowing how any of this would play out. Still, Henry’s new movement had gained its first supporter.

  Chapter One

  Henry hadn’t wanted a fight, but things had a way of escalating between him and Maggie.

  “Why don’t you trust me anymore?” Maggie folded her arms.

  “Come on; it’s not like that!” Henry argued, taking a step forward to rest his hand on Maggie’s arm.

  She pulled away just in time and shook her head. “Well, there’s no other explanation. First, you go on the surveillance mission on your own, then you don’t even involve me in the interrogation of that prisoner you took. Tell me, what am I supposed to think?”

  Henry sighed. In a way, she was right. He hadn’t wanted her to come along to Gartcosh to surveil Matt’s house the other day. It’s not that he didn’t trust her, or didn’t think she’d do a good job. Actually, he expected she’d do too good a job. She would have followed Blacke’s orders to the letter, so they would have ended up with three prisoners, not just one. Caroline Pratt was a given, she was a Son’s collaborator after all, but Maggie would have also rounded up Matt and Leah.

  He and Maggie had been an item for years; Henry knew how she functioned.

  As for the interrogation, he just couldn’t risk Caroline cracking and mentioning the pictures she’d taken. Luckily, so far she seemed to hold up quite well and not said a word.

  “Blacke gave me the order; it’s only natural that I execute it,” Henry excused his decision.

  He had to come clean to her about what had happened, but with Maggie in the mood she was in right now, it wasn’t the right time. She’d always been hot-blooded, and not particularly easy to reason with when she was ticked off.

  “Did Blacke tell you not to take your partner along on the job?” Maggie demanded.

  Henry remained quiet. Of course, he hadn’t.

  “I didn’t think so.”

  She was hurt, obviously. And Henry couldn’t blame her. But if there was one thing he had to give her credit for, she did take her work very seriously.

  “Look, I didn’t mean to step on your toes, but I can’t have you questioning my operational decisions like this. When we’re on the job, I’m in charge. That’s just the way things are.”

  “Fine!” Maggie pressed her lips together. There was nothing agreeable about her body language.

  “Now, shall we have breakfast? Wouldn’t want to be late for work.”

  Maggie shrugged and marched out of their bedroom. Although he’d pulled the seniority card on her, this argument was far from over.

  Today was going to be a long day.

  For much of the day, Maggie made it a point to steer clear of Henry, which was just as well. They weren’t hiding their relationship as such, but they made it a point to always stay professional at work.

  Henry liked to think of himself as a fair and capable leader. His agents trusted him - most of the time, in the case of Maggie - and he ensured not to give preferential treatment to his mate. Plus, bears weren’t the sharing sort. They didn’t wear their hearts on their sleeve like wolves seemed to do. In his unit, one’s private life was just that: private.

  Before lunch, Henry interrogated his latest prisoner - Caroline Pratt - some more. Nothing came out of it, just as he had come to expect from most of the Sons of Domnall members. Especially those that seemed to be authority figures of some sort were especially tight-lipped. Caroline’s demeanor, as well as her role in the attempted second kidnapping of Matthew Argyle, made Henry suspect she wasn’t just an informant, but perhaps a faction leader.

  Then again, she wasn’t in the loop on a great many Sons activities at all, or she might have already known who or what Matt was.

  Either way, it was time to close the file on her and send her and the other prisoners across to Stirling, where the Alliance Headquarters were located. Henry wrote up a
sanitized version of the events leading up to Caroline’s capture, whatever little details he gathered during the interrogation, and that was that. Case closed. He’d inform Blacke’s people shortly.

  Once that was done, he grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and started to brainstorm about something else entirely. He’d had an epiphany outside Matt’s house that day, but he hadn’t taken the time to really think about it in depth. If he was going to set up a movement to counter Blacke’s Alliance, he couldn’t just wing it.

  Who would be onboard with his idea? Anyone who - like Matt - had paired up with another species, obviously.

  How would he find these people and convince them, though? Considering how notoriously secretive bears were about their personal lives, identifying potential recruits would be very difficult indeed. Henry didn’t even know enough about his own team’s relationships to be able to make an educated guess about whom to approach with his idea.

  There had to be two recruitment phases: a slow start, relying on word of mouth, followed by a public call for support once they were ready to reveal themselves. Once his new movement was ready to go public, they might just attract complete strangers who agreed with Henry’s ideology.

  Henry sat back and looked at the sheet in front of him. Other than Matt, he hadn’t been able to add a single name to his list of potential supporters. He crushed the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash.

  What he was planning was big, too big for one person to orchestrate. He didn’t just need supporters; he needed a partner to help him organize everything.

  Henry looked up and saw her walk in. Maggie. Was she still angry at him? If he brought it up, would she be his partner in this new venture as well? There was only one way to find out.

  “You ready?” she asked.

  Henry glanced at his watch; five-thirty.

  “Yeah, why not.” He pushed the Caroline Pratt’s dossier aside and got up. “Hey, how about we go out tonight? Somewhere nice.”

  Maggie cocked her head to the side. She pursed her lips like she often did when she was mulling something over.

  Definitely still annoyed about this morning Henry thought.