Bridge Hollow Shifters: The Complete Collection

by Samantha Leal

  “I knew when I saw you…,” he said quietly. “I knew that you were the one I had been waiting for…”

  Her heart swelled and her limbs felt like jelly. She had spent so much time avoiding men and love, this had taken her totally by surprise, but she would be lying if she didn’t admit that she knew what he meant. When their eyes had met for the first time in the lobby of The Hollow Hotel, something had been awakened in her that she didn’t know how to handle. And now she was there with him, in a quiet back room of his bar, and he was telling her some of the most insane things she had ever heard in her entire life, and yet, she knew they were completely true. She felt his honesty, and she knew she could trust him. He was being open with her, and things were beginning to make sense, however out of this world and crazy it all sounded.

  “Ryder…,” she whispered as his hand squeezed hers, and her heart beat harder and harder.

  “Each one of us has one true mate,” he said. “When I saw you, I knew I had found mine.”

  She reached up with her free hand and cupped his cheek. The heat beneath his skin was raw and fierce, and she could see the animal in his eyes coming to the fore. His instincts were primal and savage, and she could sense that he could easily tear her apart, and he was doing everything in his power not to take her right there and then.

  She moved a little closer and he took hold of her wrists and pinned them lightly behind her back as their bodies pulled closer together and their lips were almost touching. She could barely breathe, and every inch of her was turned on and open to him. When he kissed her, the whole world seemed to spin, and she was lost in his arms. He pulled her closer, still holding on to her wrists and gripping her at the base of her spine. She could feel his power, and she knew she was completely at his mercy, but she had never wanted anything more.

  When they broke apart and looked into each other’s eyes, she knew that something big had just happened. The touch to her chest had changed her body’s chemistry and bound her to him, but the kiss had sealed them in an even deeper way.

  She felt now that she was truly his. And no one would ever be able to tear them apart.

  “This is so dangerous,” he told her, his breath hot and heavy on her face. “If the pack finds out…”

  She swallowed and looked into his eyes. Her nerves rising by the minute.

  “They wanted me to get rid of you today when we were up on the mountain, but I knew I would never do it… it’s one of the reasons I volunteered to be the one to go with Dean.”

  “So, it wasn’t a coincidence you turned up today?”

  He shook his head.

  “I wasn’t about to let any of the other members of the pack take you onto the mountain. I know what they’re capable of when they don’t trust someone.”

  Her blood began to run cold.

  “I’m going to keep you safe,” he told her as he cupped her face and stared sternly into her eyes. “But I need your help too.”

  She nodded.

  “You have to find out what Sean is up to,” he said. “If he isn’t government, then who the hell is he? And what is he looking for here?”

  She nodded nervously and leaned into his touch.

  “I’m scared,” she whispered.

  “You don’t need to be,” he reassured her. “I’ve got you now. You’re completely safe, no one can harm you now that you’re joined to me.”

  She nodded, and even though this concept was completely new to her, she felt it deep in her bones. She felt the connection they shared now, and she knew that if she were in danger, then somehow, he would know and come running.

  “I’m going to help you get back to the hotel,” he said. “And then I’m going to speak to the pack and tell them you’ve got nothing to do with it and that you’re with us now. Okay?”

  She nodded.

  “I still think I can help,” she said. “With my knowledge of the environment, I think I can find out what is happening here in town and what is causing all these strange phenomena…”

  Ryder nodded.

  “None of us know for sure, but some of us already have an idea of what may be happening,” he said ominously. “But we need to be sure.”

  “And what is that?” she asked, her heart racing.

  He reached up and traced a finger down her jawline.

  “Take in what I’ve already told you, for now… it’s a lot… while I’m here, your mind is open to the impossible and everything will make sense. Once you’re alone, it’s going to take a little more to process.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t want to argue with him. She knew he was right. He had just dropped ten bombshells and she was still absorbing it all, but her mind was calm. Everything Ryder had told her seemed to make complete sense.

  “I feel duped,” she said sadly as she looked down at the floor. “By Sean… and by myself. I’m embarrassed; I thought that I’d landed some big government job, when really I was being used…”

  She felt tears welling up behind her eyes, and Ryder took hold of her hand and held it to his lips.

  “You must not feel like that,” he said sternly. “You’re clearly incredibly intelligent, they want you for your mind. They know you can help them, but what we are all worried about is what they are going to dig up here and expose. People nosing around, scientists and supposed government types, none of that is good for people like me. My kind and I are in danger as long as they are here in town.”

  She nodded, and she completely understood. She could only imagine what type of man Sean would turn into if he found out the truth about Bridge Hollow and the shifter packs that lived there. It would blow his mind and then all he would see was dollar signs.

  It made her shudder.

  The thought of a man like Ryder being exploited and harmed for financial gain was too much to bear.

  “I need time with the pack,” he said softly. “Until I know I can trust them not to harm you, we can’t be seen together.”

  The nerves crept up the back of her neck and her palms began to sweat.

  “They wanted you gone; I have to take certain steps to let them know that they can trust you. It’s not just as simple as me walking in and declaring everything is okay and that now, I’ve imprinted on you…”

  Imprinted…

  She had never heard the word before, but she reached up and touched the place on her chest where he had laid his palm on her earlier that day in the woods. She felt it pulse and she could feel his energy within it.

  Suddenly, the word made sense.

  He had touched her and made her his.

  She smiled at him and then looked away shyly. She didn’t know what to make of it all, only that she had gotten herself into one hell of a mess… but she was starting to be glad of it, nonetheless.

  Ryder was already completely worth it.

  He gripped her hand and pulled her toward the doorway. As he undid it slowly, he peered out into the hall and then looked back at Pamela.

  “Typical,” he whispered. “I’m clearly paying him for nothing.”

  Pamela peered around the door and saw Jerry sleeping soundly against the crate, his mouth hanging open and snores coming out lightly from between his lips. Ryder looked at her and they both smiled, and she was glad of the light relief. The entire day had been so completely draining and now she was on the run from a pack of angry bears.

  “Come on,” Ryder whispered as he pulled her lightly out of the door of the office and across the hall to another door. He pushed it open and they stepped silently inside before he closed it and another hallway spread out in front of them with a fire escape at the end.

  “This place is like a maze,” she whispered, trying to be as quiet as she could.

  “It is,” he said. “And it sure as hell comes in handy.”

  They raced down the hall to the end, and when Ryder opened the fire escape, the cool, mountain night air hit them and seemed to bring them back to the real world.

  She stopped for a moment and looked at him, and
he looked back at her and smiled.

  “Thank you,” she said. “For having faith in me.”

  He nodded slowly and then pulled her back for a kiss. Their lips met and he pushed her back against the wall, his tongue sliding in against hers and exploring her mouth so deeply that he took her breath away.

  She wanted him so badly, and there they were, in the dead of night, among all the magic and danger of Bridge Hollow, but they were the only two people in the world.

  She knew there and then she had found something special in Ryder. She just hoped that the rest of the town wouldn’t be determined to tear them apart.

  8.

  She woke with a start in the pitch black and sat up straight. She was panting and her skin was glistening with sweat. Her heart was beating so fast she could barely catch her breath, and she reached up and touched her forehead to find it cool and wet.

  She reached toward the nightstand and grasped at the bottle of spring water she had taken from the mini bar before bed and twisted off the cap before she took a big, deep sip.

  She had been dreaming of being chased through the woods of the mountain by a pack of bears, and as her mind started to awaken and she remembered the events of the previous day, she leaned into the pillow and closed her eyes.

  She was in trouble.

  Big, big trouble.

  She took another sip of her water and then placed the bottle back down before she drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She felt safer cocooned slightly, as if folding her body into a small ball would somehow protect her from the outside world, like a porcupine with its spines standing on end to spear any predator that came close.

  She could only think about Ryder and the conversation they had had back at the bar. She saw the intensity in his eyes all over again, she felt the animalistic heat coming out of his skin, and she felt his power and the way he wanted her.

  Within seconds, she was hot under the collar and her pussy was aching, but she was also afraid. He had told her so many things, and he was right when he said that once she was alone it would be hard for her to process it all.

  She was falling for someone who was dangerous.

  He was part wild animal, one that was part of a pack that wanted to harm her.

  She shivered.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  She thought back to the way she had lived her life. How she had always put her career first and had sworn off men since she had seen how her father had left her mother in a state of despair. Her mother had always told her not to trust men, and she never had… So, why did it feel so different with Ryder?

  She rubbed her temples, a headache brewing deep behind her eyes. She balled herself up even tighter and willed for some internal peace.

  After her and Ryder had run through the shadows of Bridge Hollow, to get her safely back to the hotel, he had kissed her at the door of her room and made sure she was inside and settled. She had longed for him after he had closed the door and said goodbye, and she had found it almost impossible to sleep. When she had finally drifted off, it had been close to 1am, and now, when she checked the clock on her cellphone, she could see that it wasn’t even 3:30am.

  She had barely slept, and she felt exhausted.

  Her phone was still silent and there had been no missed calls or messages from Sean. She wondered if he knew that she had connected with Ryder and if he was on to her. What if she was putting herself in an even more vulnerable position by forming an alliance with Ryder and the shifter bears? What if Sean was now out for her blood?

  The fact that she didn’t know who he was or what she had gotten herself mixed up in was the most worrying. She felt as if Ryder had been straight up with her and had told her everything there was to know from his side, but with Sean, she didn’t have a clue what he wanted or what his motives were.

  For the bears not to trust him in the town, then he must have been up to no good.

  And then, there was the question of what else were the bears and the town of Bridge Hollow hiding?

  Ryder had told her that some of them had an idea of what may be happening, and yet, when she asked him, he had told her that she had already taken in too much information to process.

  Her head was spinning, and she was starting to feel like a fish out of water. She had taken this job thinking it was going to be a defining moment in her career, and now, she was caught up in a war between magical creatures and a potentially deadly secret agency.

  She had to laugh as the words flicked through her mind.

  This is totally insane! You must be losing it, Pam!

  She threw her cellphone across the room and it landed on the carpet close to the door of the bathroom. She had never wanted to be at home more in her life, and she wished that she could wake up from this and it be a crazy dream…

  But if she did that… Ryder would cease to exist.

  A little smile flickered across her lips. When she thought of him, she knew how she felt. He excited her and grounded her at the same time, and she loved the thought of seeing him again.

  When they had kissed and touched, it had been more than fireworks. It had been a life changing energy exchange and now, she felt bonded to him deeply.

  She heard a little beep and a light shone out from under her cellphone. Her heart pounded and nerves began to rise. She had been feeling so worked up and distressed, and out of nowhere, her phone had gone off, and she knew before she even got out of bed and crossed the room to pick it up that it was him.

  R: Are you okay?

  She smiled.

  Ryder somehow knew she was upset, and he had immediately gotten in touch with her. She held the phone up to her lips and smiled. How could she ever doubt him? Everything he had told her was clearly true.

  She looked at the message again and couldn’t believe the connection they had. She started to type her reply.

  P: How did you know I was up?

  She pressed send, and within an instant, he had written back.

  R: I told you I would know… I can feel you all the time…

  P: I like that, it makes me feel safe.

  R: Good, because you are safe. I don’t want you to worry about everything we talked about earlier.

  P: Did you speak to the pack?

  R: Yes. They’re going to need a little more convincing, but I know I can get them on our side.

  Our…

  She smiled at that too, and the way he said he could feel her all the time. She was losing her mind over this guy… She was going to have to seriously check herself.

  R: We shouldn’t talk about this any further on the phone…

  P: Where are you?

  R: I’m at the bar, I decided to stay here tonight, so I can be close by…

  Pamela grinned. The thought of him only being a block away was the most comforting. If anything happened to her, he could be there within minutes.

  P: Well, I hope you sleep…

  R: You too…

  She placed the phone down on the bed next to her and sank back down into the softness of the pillows. It was reassuring that he had gotten in touch with her again, but she still didn’t know what the hell she was supposed to do about all of this. Now that she was alone, everything seemed to be stacked against her.

  She knew she was going to have to question Sean, or at least try to find out who she was even working for, now that Ryder had told her that it was in no way the government. And she also needed to solve the mystery of the die-offs, of the strange weather, and of the disappearance of the two hunters.

  She rolled over and pulled the cover around her, so she was tucked in tight. She really was in a big old mess. And now, she had to wake up the next day and potentially act as if nothing had happened, have breakfast with Sean and then continue working. She just hoped that Ryder would get in touch with her again before then and offer some guidance.

  She closed her eyes and prayed for a restful night. Her body and mind were exhausted, and she knew that if sh
e didn’t sleep, she may as well get the first train home the second the sun rose… but she also knew that she was in too deep to walk away.

  Something strange was happening, and she was determined to find out what exactly was the truth.

  9.

  The following morning, she was up and down for breakfast as soon as the hotel restaurant opened. She had showered and gotten fully ready, tied her hair into a neat little high ponytail and was ready to head out in search of answers.

  She still hadn’t heard from Sean, and for all she knew, he may not even still be in town.

  She sipped her coffee and nibbled on fresh melon and pastries while the buzz of the hotel got louder around her. Since she had arrived and it was getting closer to the weekend, she could already see that it was busier in town than it had been on the day she arrived. She saw more people carrying skis and more visiting the tiny old museum on Main Street, which was clearly filled with plenty of information on the legends of Bridge Hollow to get all the tourists talking and excited.

  Her mind wandered to Ryder and what he had told her the night before. The place on her chest still pulsated with heat and she knew that even though his claims were outlandish and completely crazy, they were also completely true.

  She had been touched by magic, and now she was a different person.

  She had been claimed, and even though the thought still frightened her, it was also very exciting.

  She finished her coffee and rose to her feet before she slipped out of the restaurant and out the main door of the hotel. She scanned the parking lot for signs of Sean’s rental car, and then around the side of the hotel, but she couldn’t see it anywhere.

  She had been in a daze when she had returned to the hotel with Ryder the previous evening, but she was sure that she didn’t see it there. It was as if Sean had just vanished off the face of the earth.