Bridge Hollow Shifters: The Complete Collection

by Samantha Leal

  Back in her hometown, she rarely got to see the night sky so clearly. The smog and lights from the nearby industry almost completely blocked it out, but now she was there in Bridge Hollow, at one with nature, and fully being able to experience how truly magnificent it was.

  “Dean said that town wasn’t safe tonight…” Amanda said wistfully.

  Since she he had walked away from her back at the bar and disappeared, he had been all she had been able to think about. She reached up and touched her shoulders where he had grabbed her and pulled her out of the way, and she could still feel his handprints, his heat was still beneath her skin.

  God has it really been that long since a man touched me… she thought. I’m even imagining he’s reached into the deepest part of my soul… I can still feel him…

  She looked up at the moon, it was almost full and was casting an incredible silver glow across the tops of the forest trees. She could easily stand there and watch it all forever, but with Gwen sighing and huffing behind her, it was kind of ruining the moment.

  “Seriously Amanda,” she said playfully. “You’ve got one hell of a crush on him, just admit it.” She grinned widely and looked at her teasingly.

  “I most certainly do not,” Amanda said as she turned back towards the room and away from the beautiful moon. “I’ve told you I have no interest in meeting men or getting to know anyone. I don’t even date when we are at home, so what makes you think I would put myself out for a guy out here in this nowhere town that I wouldn’t even see again in six weeks’ time?”

  Amanda heard herself speaking and she realized instantly that she had been overly defensive. It made her smile to herself, and she had to look away from Gwen who was about to burst into fits of laughter herself.

  “Well, if you say so,” she teased as she sat down on the edge of the bed and started to root around in her make-up case. “But if you ask me, I think this could be exactly what you need. All you ever do is work and sleep, I can’t actually believe that I’ve managed to get you to come on a cross country trip with me, heading out into the unknown. Look at where we are Amanda, we are in the middle of nowhere, meeting people and getting a know a place. It’s so much fun! I’m already hooked on that Shifter’s Bliss bar! And look at all the men here, they’re nothing like the ones we end up meeting back home. These guys are rough and ready… And man, am I ready!”

  Gwen breathed out and fanned her face. Amanda laughed and sat down next to her friend.

  “I mean it would be a wasted opportunity letting him pass you by. I see the way you look at him, you can’t deny you’re feeling something.”

  Amanda thought of the way he looked at her, the way his eyes seemed so familiar and calming. She had never looked into someone’s eyes and felt that way before, it was something that had caught her completely off guard, and now she was kind of hooked. She had done nothing but think about Dean since the moment she had almost ploughed into him with her car when they had arrived in town. For her to bump into him again so soon, and for them to have another strange, intense moment, was something she was having trouble shaking. She wanted to see him again, and she would be lying to Gwen if she told her that she wasn’t interested, but at the same time, Amanda knew her own mind. And she knew that if she were to let her guard down, she would be in trouble. She shook her head and rose back to her feet.

  “No,” she said. “I think you’re wrong. I’m happy just spending time relaxing.”

  She sensed Gwen tense up, but she did her best to ignore it. She went towards the desk at the front of the room and opened up the minibar. Inside she pushed her way around a few bottles of liquor and settled on a bar of chocolate.

  “Okay,” Gwen said. She pulled her lipstick out of her purse and applied it whilst looking in her hand mirror. When she smacked them together and got to her feet, Amanda already knew what was coming next.

  “Well I can’t stay in here all night,” Gwen said. “I’m going to head out and do some more exploring.”

  Amanda nodded her head and took a bite of her chocolate.

  “That’s fine, but if anything bad happens don’t try and tell me we weren’t warned.”

  Gwen shrugged as if to say yeah, yeah, and then she slipped her feet back into her boots. She pulled them up to her knees and fastened the zip before she grabbed her coat and handbag.

  “You’re going to regret just sitting here all night,” Gwen said matter-of-factly, “I bet I head out there and have the time of my life.”

  “And I hope you do,” Amanda said genuinely. “I really do, I just know that I want to unwind and relax here. It is only our first day in town, and it’s not like we haven’t had our fair share of drama.”

  “True,” Gwen said as she reached for the handle and pulled open the door. “Catch you on the flip side!”

  She winked and let the door close lightly behind her as she disappeared into the hallway.

  Amanda smiled and laughed. She often wished that she had Gwen’s confidence, but after being burned one too many times, Amanda had begun to find comfort in familiarity. It was almost as if branching out intimidated her, and she would rather stick to the life she knew. Even if she ended up kicking herself over it.

  She looked back towards the French doors and went out onto the balcony. She chewed her chocolate and tried to remember the last time she had been so indulgent. For her, getting closer to thirty every year meant that she seemed to be on a constant diet. She shrugged and took another bite. If she was living dangerous this summer, she could at least start small and aim big. She had already been to a crazy mountain dive bar, almost been in a fight, met a handsome man, and thrown caution to the wind more times than she had in years. She may as well add breaking her diet to the mix and work her way up to full blown debauchery.

  She laughed and looked out at the view.

  She really did love it here.

  This town was the place she never knew she needed. She had been so nervous to come, but now she was here and living her life, she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted. Even if Gwen teased her for not being as adventurous as she was, Amanda was proud of herself for all she had done in the past few days. And she knew things could only get better from there.

  Out on the mountains, she saw glints of lights turning on at what must have been lodges dotted around the landscape. She wondered what it must be like to live up there, to be so out in nature and to have that much privacy. It had always been a small fantasy of hers that one day she would be able to leave her hometown and start somewhere new, but it had been a fantasy long-forgotten, much like most of her dreams and ambitions. Amanda had focused on getting settled at her job at the school and everything else had ceased to exist.

  Now she didn’t know if she would even enjoy her future there at work, and she was all kinds of lost, even if she wouldn’t fully admit it.

  She heard wolves howling out on the mountain and she felt a chill roll over her. She hadn’t really thought about the danger that could be lurking out there. It was so close by, but it also felt so removed, as if her position high up at the hotel would somehow save her.

  She thought back to what Dean had said about town not being safe tonight and it made her shiver. What could he have been talking about? Were there dangerous people there? People who were going to cause trouble for the tourists. Or was it just his way of making sure that she stayed out of his way…

  The second she had thought it, was the second she also decided it had to be true.

  “It’s clear he couldn’t be bothered talking to me,” she whispered to herself. “And then he tells me something dangerous is going down and to head back to the hotel.”

  She rolled her own eyes at how foolish she had been.

  How could she have thought for one second that there had been an attraction there….

  She was sure she had felt it. She could still feel it…

  But he had just disappeared for the second time that day. Trouble or not.

  She shook her head and
stepped back inside. The chill that was being carried on the wind down from the mountains was starting to make her shiver, and she could still hear the wolves howling and raging hell out there.

  She locked the French doors and closed the curtains, before she went back to the main door and looked through the peephole. The hallway outside was empty and quiet, and she suddenly felt very alone.

  Her mind was racing, and she had so many thoughts muddling around that it was disorientating. She pulled off her jeans and her sweater, folded them over the back of the armchair in the corner of the room, and then she pulled on her night dress.

  In the bathroom she washed her face and brushed her teeth, ran a comb through her hair and turned off the light, before she padded lightly back towards the bed and climbed in.

  She felt as if she had been awake for days and her whole body was aching. But somewhere deep inside her heart she felt more peaceful and still than she had in a long time.

  She immediately thought of Dean and the sensation when he had touched her, and she put her hands over her eyes.

  “You’re going to drive yourself mad with this,” she moaned to herself and nibbled her bottom lip.

  She knew what she had felt, but at the same time her mind was trying to convince her otherwise. Her heart felt everything, and it was strong and would not be silenced, but her head was trying to make her doubt it all.

  She rolled over onto her side and pulled the covers up around her. She breathed in and out slowly and thought of the moon up in the sky, of the twinkling stars, and of how Dean’s eyes had spoken to her soul like no one’s ever had before.

  She closed her eyes and felt completely calm and soothed.

  Within a few moments, she was fast asleep.

  6.

  Snow fell lightly around her, but the sun shone brightly from above. It was as if she were in heaven, walking along big fluffy clouds, soft feathers falling from the sky, and a pure sense of calm.

  She climbed higher and higher up the mountain, her feet taking her forward confidently and smoothly. She knew where she needed to go, she just had to keep moving.

  As she emerged near the break in a clearing, the snow began to slow and a darkness called forward. She felt a chill and the sun began to disappear. All around her, the soft, white started to vanish. The snow melted, and below it all she could see was black. The ground looked poisoned, as if the core of the earth was rotten and evil. She felt afraid, but she would not look away.

  She breathed out slowly and closed her eyes.

  She had to keep moving. If she stopped now, she would never make it.

  Somewhere ahead of her she could hear the crying of small wolves and she wanted to comfort them. She felt the need to tell them that everything would be alright.

  The trees around her started to shake and her pulse quickened, she felt the wind rage harder and the needles from the pines started to fall and one by one they disintegrated to the ground.

  She bent down and touched what was left, and all that was there were piles of ash.

  “No,” she whispered. “Please no. Not the forest.”

  From the darkness she heard the loud growls and roars of what had to be a bear, and she was no longer afraid. She wrapped her arms around herself and waited. The trees had crumbled and were long gone, and the wolves howled as if they were being hunted, but there was something calming about the roar of the bear.

  She turned around on the spot, trying to find him.

  “Where are you?” she said, but the words didn’t sound out loud. “Help me.” She said, but again, the world around her was silent.

  She looked up to the sky and the sun was covered over by a black sheen, almost like an eclipse and it made her shudder. It was otherworldly and dark, and the land around her was suffering.

  When she looked back to the forest, desolate, as if it had been burned to the ground, she saw the bodies and it made her gasp and clutch her chest.

  Piles and piles of animals.

  Deer, wolves, elk, racoons and rabbits.

  Animals of the forest that had been killed somehow, and it made her cry.

  She heard the roar of the bear again and she nodded.

  “He’s telling me it’s not safe,” she whispered to herself.

  She stepped backwards and the black of the earth seemed to follow her. It crept up to her feet like running water and she cried as she tried to outrun it.

  When her back slammed up against an old tree, one of the only ones still standing, she gripped it tightly and closed her eyes. Wishing for someone to come and save her.

  She felt the heat burst through the cold before she opened her eyes. And she knew that it was him. Those big, rough hands gripped her shoulders and squeezed them tightly. He was going to protect her, she could feel it. And when she caught the scent of him being carried on the wind, she went weak at the knees.

  She wanted this man.

  She wanted him more than anything.

  She kept her eyes closed, but his lips grazed against hers. His jaw was powerful and strong, and as he kissed her, she felt completely at his mercy. He had the power and she wanted him to use it.

  Her heart beat hard, her pussy ached, and her skin tingled.

  He was bringing her back to life. opening her up to new possibilities and changing her for all time.

  “You know you’re mine,” he whispered. “You’ve always been mine.”

  She trembled and kissed him again, running her hands through his hair and pushing her hips up to meet him. She could feel the swell of his cock pulsing through his jeans and she moaned as she grinded up against him, willing him to ravage her and take her right there and then up against the tree.

  He growled.

  A low, guttural growl…

  It was the growl of a bear.

  She felt her pussy throb again and she traced her fingers down his big, muscular arms.

  “I am yours,” she whispered.

  “Fated,” he said.

  She opened her eyes and stared into the intense darkness. They swallowed her whole, and she knew she was at home there.

  “I never want to leave,” she said.

  He smiled and traced a finger down her jawline, gripping her between his strong hand and kissing her again.

  “It’s dangerous,” he told her.

  She really heard him this time. She saw the forest, she saw the bodies of the animals, and she heard the screaming of the wolves. She knew there was a bear out there, waiting in the darkness… and she could feel that there was something else as well.

  Something bigger than them all.

  He looked into her eyes and held her there, his big, protective arms keeping her safe against the last standing tree and she knew then that she would never be able to leave his side.

  It was as if a chord was joining their hearts, and nothing would be able to break it.

  “You need to wake up now,” Dean said before he kissed her again. “It’s not safe here…”

  Amanda smiled and kissed him back, before she realized what he had said…

  “What?” she mouthed, but again her words were drowned out by the heightening wind.

  She reached out for him, but he was moving away, growing fainter and fainter. The wind kept raging, the black ash tornadoed around her, and the sky turned darker and darker until she couldn’t see anything at all.

  The scene in front of her had vanished.

  She was alone.

  Wake up.

  Her heart raced and her skin was slick with sweat as she sat upright and gasped for air.

  She looked around the room, at the darkness around her, the light underneath the doorway shining in from the hallway beyond and the empty space in the bed beside her.

  She panted and gasped as she clutched her heart.

  She wasn’t at home, she was at the hotel in Bridge Hollow.

  “It was a dream,” she said as she remembered the ash and the destruction of the forest. Of the dead animals and the bad feeling.
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br />   And then she remembered Dean…

  He had been in the dream too. He had come for her and told her she was his.

  Her pussy was hot and still aching, the dream sending her into a frenzy that was now going to torture her for hours to come. She slammed back down into the mattress and clamped her eyes shut.

  When she looked at the clock it was only midnight, and she checked her cellphone for a message from Gwen before she settled back down to sleep.

  “Gwen will be home soon,” she told herself after her inbox was empty. “There’s no way she would call it a night this early.”

  As she fell back to sleep, all she could think of was the dream. Of how strong and protective Dean had been, and of how he had tasted of danger when they had kissed.

  She had always stayed away from trouble before, but after that dream, she didn’t know how long she was going to be able to keep it up.

  You’re mine…

  The words replayed over and over.

  She would be his.

  She could feel it.

  She woke softly as the light began to pour into the hotel room after dawn. She stretched her arms up high above her head and felt her bones give a satisfying click, snapping her right back into reality.

  She smiled and rolled over before she slowly opened her eyes. She had slept well all night and expected to see Gwen beside her, hungover and still wearing last night’s make-up, but when she looked, the space beside her was still empty.

  Gwen hadn’t come home.

  She sat upright and let her legs dangle off the side of the bed before she stood and wandered over to the curtains covering the French doors. She opened them wide and let the sunlight stream in, expecting to see Gwen’s shoes by the door, or her purse, or maybe even some evidence that she had at least called back for five minutes on her way to a party god knows where.

  But the room was exactly as Amanda had left it the night before.

  Nothing had changed, and there was no Gwen in sight.

  She felt a knot of dread in the pit of her stomach and she reached up and rubbed her temples. She could feel the headache thumping already and she bit her lip nervously as turned on the bathroom light to make one last check that Gwen hadn’t fallen asleep in the bath instead.