Ryder gazed down at her and she saw the gold return to his eyes. She smiled at him and cupped his rough, stubbly cheek in her hand and kissed him longingly on the lips.
“Thank you for choosing me,” she whispered.
“No,” he said. “Thank you for choosing me.”
They slinked out of the bar together and headed to The Hollow Hotel.
Pamela had come to town for work, she had begun her career in an explosive way, but she had made friends and found family for life. She had stepped into Bridge Hollow after hearing of the legends, but she was now a resident there with a deep knowledge of the magic and mysteries that bound it all together. And for them all, this was only just the beginning.
She and Ryder had found each other, and they had found love. They weren’t supposed to be together, forbidden by Ryder’s pack and by Pamela’s career-focused ways… but they had both broken down their barriers and learned that their love was stronger than everything around them. And it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
As they walked the cold, icy streets of Bridge Hollow, neither of them knew what was coming to them or the town, but they knew that, as long as they were together, they could face it and take on the world.
For them, love was conquering all. And they had finally found their happily ever after.
The End
Alpha Protector Wolf
Bridge Hollow Shifters 3
Samantha Leal
Copyright ©2019 by Samantha Leal All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1.
The summer months were beginning to end, and the chill in the air of Bridge Hollow was rolling in faster than any of the residents had ever known.
Dash stood on the edge of Main Street, smoking a cigarette and watching the world flash by. His dark eyes scanned the crowds from under his hooded brow. The tourists were still lingering, and the skiers were still making their way up the mountain, but he now saw a different turn in the energy of the town.
This place was getting darker and more menacing by the minute.
So much had happened since the beginning of the year. It was hard to believe that fall was already here. Especially considering all the strange happenings that had plagued them for months on end.
He took a drag on his smoke, exhaled, and then dropped it onto the ground before he crunched it out with the tip of his boot. He ran a hand through his jet-black hair and a small growl escaped his lip. He didn’t know if he was tired or frustrated. He had been wanting to go home early and not get sucked into another late night, but as the sun was beginning to fall, it felt as if there were so many empty hours stretching out ahead of him that home was the last place he wanted to be.
He took one last look up and down Main Street. The streetlamps were coming on slowly, and he could smell the freshly lit fires from the bars and restaurants wafting around town. The bars and taverns were starting to sound lively, and he craved a beer and a whiskey more than he had in weeks.
He reached up and rubbed his hand across his jaw. Even though the injuries were long healed, he could still feel the ache deep within his bones. He had been the unlucky one of his wolf pack when it had come to a recent fight with a rival gang of shifter bears, but luckily for him, they had buried the hatchet. They had bigger things to worry about in Bridge Hollow than wolves and bears at each other’s throats. Now that the weather was changing, plants and trees were diseased and mass populations of animals were dying, it was clear to them all that they had a greater threat on the horizon.
Dash clicked his jaw and the ache began to subside. He had nothing to fear from the bears any longer, and he and his kind were more than welcome in their businesses and homes.
He turned and began to walk down Main Street toward a familiar warm glow coming from inside a wooden building. He could hear the music and smell the smoke and booze from a block away, and it made him smile. For all the trouble that seemed to happen here, he sure as hell loved his town, and he was determined to do whatever he could to save it.
He reached the entrance of the bar and looked up to the sign above the doorway.
SHIFTER’S BLISS
It was one of the most popular spots in town, but if the tourists and many of the residents truly knew what went down there, he wasn’t sure if it would make them want to go more or drive them away for good.
He pushed open the door and stepped inside. It was a typical Bridge Hollow night, and many familiar faces were already inside after a hard day at work. He nodded to a few of the bear clan that were gathered around a corner booth, and he smiled as he approached the bar and saw the owner, Ryder, waiting on customers.
“Evening, Dash,” Ryder said with a friendly smile as Dash pulled out a high bar stool and sat down.
“Evening,” Dash returned.
He eased himself out of his heavy leather jacket and slung it across the backrest, before he leaned onto the wooden bar top with his thick, muscular arms and reached into his pocket for another smoke.
“What can I get you?” Ryder asked as he stopped in front of him and began to clear away the empty glasses on the countertop.
“I’ll take a beer,” Dash said as he clamped the cigarette between his teeth and lifted the lighter up to let the flame catch the end.
Ryder had been one of the bears he had fought with only weeks before. But now that they had eased tension between their packs, they had become fast friends.
He set the beer down on the bar in front of Dash, and Dash smiled and thanked him. He picked up the bottle and took a long, satisfying swig, before he exhaled and turned around to survey the rest of the bar. It was a bit quieter than normal, even with all the familiar faces, and Dash was sure some of his own pack would arrive soon to sink a few after work beers. He took another drag of his smoke and tapped his foot against the bar to the beat of the rock music blaring out of the jukebox as he looked toward the other side of the room.
It seemed darker over to the right, as if some of the lights weren’t working the way they should have been. The booths that lined the edges of the room all had at least one bulb above them and some along the walls, but there was one in the far corner that was completely dark, as if all the lights around it hadn’t been turned on.
He squinted as he kept looking and he felt a dip in his stomach as he realized a man was there, slumped over the table in the center of the booth and completely out for the count.
“Oh Christ,” Dash laughed as he took another swig of his beer. “What the hell happened to him?”
Ryder followed his line of sight and stilled for a moment. The pair of them looked over to the sleeping man, at how drunk and buckled he looked, and Ryder smiled and shook his head before they both suddenly sensed at the same time that something wasn’t right.
Dash looked at Ryder, and then he sniffed the air.
The wolf inside of him growled and he felt the rush of energy and adrenaline that came with fear and excitement. The wolf wanted to spring free and come out to play, but not for a carefree reason. He wanted to come out to protect.
Dash quickly got to his feet and subdued the growls escaping from his lips. At the same time, Ryder’s eyes flashed with something gold, and the sound of chairs scraping back against the wooden floor echoed around the room. The rest of the bears had sensed it too, and they were stomping across the floor toward Ryder and Dash at the bar.
The group of shifters, all bears and one wolf, stood and looked at the drunk in the corner. He easily could have been asleep. He was hunched over the table, his arms hanging limp and loose down by his side. His face was turned toward the wall and his drink was still sitting next to him as if he just hadn’t been able to finish it. But with their heightened senses, once they had all locked in on him, the shifters of Bridge Hollow knew thi
s man wasn’t asleep at all.
Because they could smell death.
Dash felt the prickle of dread creep up the back of his neck and the wolf inside of him worked its way forward again. His eyes flashed green and he felt the animal wanting to emerge. It was on high alert and ready for battle. He let his wolf come to the surface and his glinting green eyes stared back at Ryder and the other bears. They all looked as concerned as he was, and with each step he took forward, the stench got stronger.
He stopped in front of the booth and could see the shards of broken glass on the floor under the table. His eyes looked up to the light fixture above it and he could see that the bulb had completely burst. The one on the wall had too. S0, it wasn’t just simply the case that Ryder had forgot to turn them on.
His blood started to burn red hot and he was on high alert. A growl escaped his lips as he sniffed the air and then looked back down to the dead man sprawled across the table.
He reached out and felt the side of his neck, checking for a pulse. But as he already knew, there wasn’t anything he could find. His skin was already cold. Unnaturally so. And he knew then that this was not just a freak accident. The man hadn’t died of natural causes. Something terrible had happened. And what was worse… no one in the room had noticed.
Ryder came to stand by Dash’s side, and they exchanged a glance before Dash moved the man’s head slightly to expose the other side of his neck. When they both saw what was there, Dash instinctively growled and bared his teeth, even though he was still in his human form.
Ryder’s bear was clearly fighting inside of him too, and they both growled and howled, as their eyes came alive with the animals within them.
On the other side of the dead man’s neck were two perfect puncture wounds, lightly dripping blood.
Someone had done this to him.
He had been murdered.
“What could have done this?” Dash whispered as he ran a shaking hand down his face.
Ryder didn’t reply, but that didn’t change anything. They all knew what was going on…
The threat that had been coming to Bridge Hollow was getting stronger… and by the looks of it, something darker was now finally here.
2.
Jannie bumped along the uneven mountain road, swerving her truck from left to right as she tried to steady the map against the steering wheel. She had been lost on these roads for what felt like forever now, having had left town without asking for help.
She sighed and pulled over to the side of the road, under a patch of pine trees, and gritted her teeth as she rested the map on the wheel properly and gripped it with both her hands.
The lines all seemed to blur into one. Red, blue, green… who the hell knew what she was looking at, but she knew she couldn’t be far. The app she had booked the cabin with had the directions stored, but she didn’t have any signal to access it, and she was growing more and more irritated by the second. She furrowed her brow and looked closer, managing to figure out which road she was on, and that she was heading East.
“Right,” she sighed again as she threw the map onto the seat beside her and rolled out her shoulders. “It should just be up here on the left…” She sounded apprehensive as she said it, but she didn’t have any choice but to keep going and trying to find her new home for the next six weeks.
She slammed the truck into drive, checked her mirrors and pulled back out onto the winding country roads. She kept her eye on her driving, but also couldn’t help but gasp as she took in the views all around her. The mountain, and the range around it, were absolutely stunning; she had never seen anything so enchanting in her entire life. The size of the trees that rose out of the ground were awe inspiring, and they darkened the roads as she drove by. The lakes that popped out of the green landscape were all crystal blue, and the mountains that skimmed the clouds were snowcapped and fantastical in their own way.
When she finally began to approach a turn off, she breathed a sigh of relief and sat forward as she gripped the wheel and began to turn. The road dipped and began to wind down a slope, and she navigated the truck slowly to ensure she didn’t find herself going off road and landing in a ditch. As the road got lower and lower, the trees began to open out and she smiled as she saw the amazing vista spreading out ahead of her.
This was what she had come for.
This was the cabin she had found and fallen in love with.
“Yes,” she grinned to herself as she pulled up outside and turned off the engine.
She opened the driver’s door and stepped out into the crisp mountain air. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled as she spun around on the spot and took it all in.
The cabin had been on a rental app, and she had been overjoyed when she had found it. She had been studying and wanting to come to Bridge Hollow for so long, and once she saw that they had started leasing private properties on both long and short-term lets, she had finally plucked up the courage to get herself out there for real.
Jannie had been longing for an adventure for so long, and after a recent break up with yet another bullish guy, she now had her chance to take time for herself and find her true inspiration.
She looked up at the cabin. It was everything she had hoped for. Small and charming, rustic and authentic. But it was also newly renovated and looked like a little dream spot from the pictures she had found online. It was only one bedroom, separate bathroom, and also an adjoining shower room to the bedroom, but it also had a larger, open-plan kitchen and living space with a vaulted mezzanine floor above the living area which looked out over the lake and the mountains beyond. On the pictures, it had been filled with big, bouncy floor cushions and a bookshelf with lots of old books, and so, Jannie had already decided that was where she was going to set up her workstation and spend her days writing.
She smiled as she took it all in. The cabin was secluded and idyllic, the lake behind it was as blue and clear as the sky, and she could see other little homes dotted around it in the distance. This was a beautiful part of the world, and she felt truly blessed that she was finally here.
She grabbed her bags out of the trunk, slung them over her shoulder and headed toward the front door.
When she turned the key and stepped inside, she certainly wasn’t disappointed. She saw the wonderful little cabin which she had adored in the photographs, and she was so pleased the owner had stayed true and not tried to pass it off as something better than it was.
She let her bags fall to the floor as she walked through the hallway to the back of the house. where the kitchen and living area opened out and the huge windows and doors along the back of the building let in light and stunning views of the lake.
“Perfect,” she grinned with delight as she clasped her hands together.
She turned and looked at the kitchen counter and could see a welcome note and a bottle of wine. She smiled as she walked over, picked up the note and began to read…
Welcome to your little slice of Bridge Hollow heaven!
We hope you’ll be very happy here. Please enjoy this
wine on us. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to give us a
shout!
“That’s so cute,” she smiled to herself as she set the note back down on the counter and reached for the wine. It was a dark bottle and must have been a red, and she noticed that the label had a picture of a bear and wolf chasing each other.
“How apt,” she laughed with an eye roll. She was more than familiar with the legends of this town, and it was precisely the reason she had been so eager to come.
She headed back out to the car and pulled out a cardboard box in which she had stored her groceries. She hitched it high on her hip, and locked the truck, and when she went back into the cabin, she closed and locked the front door.
“Welcome home, Jannie,” she smiled. “To this next little chapter.”
She walked back through to the kitchen and set the box down, and then she faltered for a moment before she suddenly felt the overwhelm
ing feeling of being alone.
She swallowed and made sure that she wouldn’t cry.
She had come on this adventure alone on purpose, and she wasn’t about to chicken out now.
She glanced over at the wine and swiped the bottle toward her before she opened the drawers and cupboards to find a corkscrew and glass. As she poured one for herself, she made herself a promise that this would be the only time she doubted her decision; from now on, she was going to be the strong, independent woman she knew she could be.
She didn’t need Dylan. He had been bad for her from the start; he had been a bully and a liar. She had done the right thing by leaving him and their toxic relationship behind. She didn’t need a man to depend on; she wanted to look after herself. Dylan had always made her feel as if she wasn’t good enough, and he regularly tried to destroy her confidence. But not now. She had dumped his ass, regrouped, found her fire and decided to take this trip to re-spark her imagination and explore something that had long intrigued her.
Now that she was here, there was no way she was backing out.
She took a sip of the wine and smiled. It was warm and instantly settled her nerves. She cradled the glass in her palm and with her free hand, she scooped up one of her bags and walked toward her new bedroom. It was time for her to unpack and make herself at home.
3.
Once she had put her clothes in the closet, unpacked the food into the cupboards and the refrigerator, and had rested with another glass of wine for ten minutes, Jannie decided it was finally time to explore the mezzanine.
She had been saving the best for last, and she couldn’t wait to get up there and immerse herself in setting up her office. For the next six weeks, she had the cabin on lease, and she was hopeful that, within that time, she would be able to explore the town of Bridge Hollow, meet some interesting people, and get a good foundation for the book she had wanted to write for as long as she could remember.
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