Bluff Bears: The Complete 4 Book Collection (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance)

by Amelia Jade

  "Relax people, she's with me. She fought alongside us and saved my life. I vouch for her."

  Beside him he could feel Alyssa shying away from the crowd, trying to avoid the unwanted attention.

  "Maybe she's in cahoots with them wolves, making it an inside job!" The accusation came from Tim Forranger, one of the elderly humans who still called Bear Bluffs home, tilling his land just north of the city year after year.

  "Shut your trap Tim, I said I vouch for her." Although Tim was sitting on some crates on the edge of the town square where they had all gathered, Tanner's voice carried just fine, including the growl behind it as his word was challenged.

  To a shifter, vouching for someone meant that they were claiming the person under their protection, and ensuring everyone that the person would do no wrong. To his side, Alyssa hissed at him, upset at his words, but he ignored her, focusing instead on Tim. His anger flared, and part of him hoped Tim would say something more.

  But he didn't, waving his hand in acquiescence, which seemed to diffuse the situation. Several others in the crowd had been making their way to stand between them, including the Sherriff.

  "Everything okay here Tanner?"

  "Yeah, everything is fine, Duncan." Duncan Pullman was the town sheriff, and one of the most reputable men in Bear Bluffs. He had been a deputy since he was a teenager, only recently assuming the post of sheriff when his predecessor had passed due to natural causes. They were the same age, and other than his coworkers, Duncan was one of his best friends.

  "Okay. Well, let me know if there's anything you come across, okay?"

  "Will do Sherriff," he said with a wry smile, giving his friend a mock salute before turning back to Alyssa. Without thinking he reached out to take her arm and guide her back in the direction of the truck. She jerked away at his touch. Both of them looked shocked at what had just happened.

  In an effort to direct attention elsewhere, he pointed back in the direction they had come from. "Let's get out of here, shall we? We'll go over to Andy's and you can get stuff out of your car."

  "Yeah, a change of clothes would be great." He grimaced, for she was wearing Kailee's clothing, and it was just too small. Alyssa was a big bear shifter, and she needed larger clothing than most other women.

  "You got it. We'll see what he has to say about the car as well." They headed off to the truck.

  The car was a write-off, which came as no real surprise to either of them. Alyssa did manage to save most of her belongings, stuffing them into the back of his truck. That included her finally getting some proper fitting clothing back. He hadn't objected when she put on a low-cut t-shirt and some nicely fitting jeans. It just drove his bear wilder, showing off her curves in a way that had him doing his best to keep his cock under control.

  Now they were halfway to King City. He was taking Alyssa there mostly to help, so that she could look for a new car. He also wanted to do some surreptitious snooping about the wolf shifters. If they had come through anywhere on their way to Bear Bluffs, it would have been King City. It was the nearest population center in any direction, and the one straight down the main road from the Bluffs.

  One of his main contacts with the city's power company was notorious for knowing the scoop when it came to strange goings-on or sightings. He hoped that once again John would come through for him. In the morning, as he had planned out the day, Tanner had figured that leaving Alyssa on her own for an hour or so wouldn't be an issue, since she craved privacy. Now, however, he had to wonder if he wanted to leave her alone, and if she would be okay with it.

  The two of them hadn't exactly been chatting up a storm during the drive, but she had definitely been willing to converse with him from time to time. They had seen a humungous condor circling in the sky, and she had told him a tale once about seeing one close up, and how massive their wingspan truly was. He had a hard time believing that their wings stretched out over four feet on either side of their bodies. It was a truly majestic animal, he had commented, which drew a soft-spoken agreement from Alyssa.

  At one point, he had asked her about her past. She had looked out the window for a long time before she spoke again.

  "I'd much prefer to hear about your past, Tanner. Mine...mine is difficult to speak of," she had said, a cold, distant look in her eyes. Desperate to bring some warmth back to her beautiful hazel orbs, he had answered, despite it not being an enjoyable subject to him.

  "I lived in a city. One very similar to King City, actually. I had a mother, and a father." His voice had become monotone, devoid of all emotion. He could see the small light of jealousy in her eyes, but didn't feel guilty about extinguishing it as he continued.

  "The household was not good. I got out of there as soon as I was eighteen and could move across the country. Lived here and there for a few years, was in King City for a bit, and been in Bear Bluffs ever since."

  Alyssa had sprung tears in her eyes by that point, although they did not fall down her cheek. He felt bad for dashing her dreams that the idea of a perfect family did exist, but his own experiences spoke otherwise.

  "Why did you leave King City?" she asked in a whisper, almost as if she was afraid to hear the answer.

  "Well, I thought I had found the one. You know, my mate."

  Alyssa nodded in understanding.

  "Things were going well, until one night my temper got the better of me, and I got into an argument with a guy who had flirted with her at a bar we were at. We decided to leave, and I thought everything was okay." He had stopped talking, the emotions overwhelming him at that point. Remembering Trisha was always painful, the old wounds never having fully healed.

  "But?"

  "I was wrong. I realized that when the asshole's truck slammed into me from behind, sending us out of control until we spun and hit a telephone pole. She…she was killed on impact. I don't remember much else, except that I got out and lost control to my bear."

  With the discovery of shifters and their unique characteristics, new laws had been put in place to govern them. A fight between two shifters was governed by their peers, not respective law enforcement agencies. So when he had charged the other man, a wolf shifter, he hadn't been bound by society's rules. Alyssa knew what he meant when he said he had lost control.

  Tanner had killed him.

  "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she said, her hand flying up to her mouth in shock.

  He didn't respond, caught up in his own thoughts. Trish had been the last person he had loved, and until the night before, he had thought she would be the only one. Talking about her and the way things had ended hurt, especially because he hadn't been able to say goodbye. That had hurt the most.

  Although the talk had been painful, he also felt better having spoken about it for the first time in a long time. Even without meaning to, this woman was good for him, and they had managed to carry on a conversation for much of the rest of the trip.So now, as they pulled up in front of the dealership, he hoped she would be okay with him taking off for a bit while she test drove a few vehicles.

  "I'll probably be a few hours here. Why don't you go run any errands you have to do and I'll give you a call if something comes up?"

  He stared at her for a moment, wondering if she could read minds. Her cheeks didn't blush as a particularly dirty thought ran through his brain, so either she wasn't fazed by his thoughts, or she couldn't actually read his mind. Still, she must have known he wanted some time to himself, for the opening was just too easy.

  "All right," he said, giving his number as she punched it into her phone. He didn't put up a fight, just waited to make sure it was open before he drove off. The last he saw of her was a salesman coming out to greet her.

  Now he was off on his mission to discover more about the wolves. After placing a quick call to John, he headed over to King City Power Company's head office. His friend was waiting out front, so he slowed just long enough to grab him and then headed for a nearby deli for lunch.

  "Going drag this weekend?" John
commented jokingly, looking at the various women's clothing and accessories strewn across the back of the cab.

  "Long story," he said dryly.

  "I have an hour, regale me," his old friend said. So Tanner told him, leaving out the part where he believed that Alyssa was to be his mate. That wasn't something he wanted getting out just yet, not until he was sure she felt the same. The last thing he needed was for her to hear from someone else that he was smitten.

  "Shit, I'm glad the boys are okay."

  "Yeah, they're healing up just fine. Alyssa and I are going to go over to the hospital and check in on them before we head back. I had to talk to you first though, to find out if you know anything about a rogue wolfpack running loose."

  "Hmm," John said, sitting back as he thought. The man's ability to catalog a million different occurrences and then sift through them always boggled Tanner's mind, but he had an uncanny ability to get good tidbits from all sorts of various places.

  "I can tell you right away that there are no reports of wolves in the area. Even the Padfoots up north have been good lately."

  "Damn." Tanner had really been hoping that John would come through for him. He needed to find out if his city was in danger or not.

  "But I do recall hearing about a tour bus that came into town the other day."

  "Tourists in King City?" he said wryly, understanding why his friend was bringing it up.

  "Yeah, not likely, right? Well, it seems that people thought it was a military exercise or something, because everyone who came off the bus was young and in shape."

  That wasn't all that unusual in and of itself, because the military did conduct drills up in the mountains a couple of times a year. The odd part, however, was that they arrived on a tour bus. The military always either flew in, or used troop transports to move their men.

  "What hotel?"

  "The Grand over on Fourth Street. Ask for Jeff, he's a valet there. He was the one who told me about it."

  "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

  "Not a problem. Now take me back to work so I can pretend like I'm doing something for awhile longer."

  "Yes sir!" Tanner said, chuckling as they climbed back into the truck. Finally, he had a lead! Now if only this Jeff could provide some more information, perhaps he might learn about his attackers.

  With a wave and a promise to keep in touch, John departed and headed back in to his work. Pulling out his phone, Tanner looked up the number for The Grand Hotel and punched it in. As the ringer buzzed in his ear, he contemplated just how much of a misnomer the name was.

  There was nothing "Grand" about the hotel. It was three stories high, with maybe thirty rooms in total. Tourism in King City was not a booming business, nor had it ever been. He was surprised, in fact, to hear that it had valet service. Perhaps things had picked up a bit since the last time he was in town.

  "The Grand, this is Jeff."

  So much for things having changed. If Jeff was answering the phones, it was unlikely he was a valet, but more of a general-purpose employee.

  "Hi Jeff, my name is Tanner..."

  The talk went smoothly and even revealed a key detail that linked the two together. There were no identifying markings on the so-called tourists, but Jeff did distinctly remember that they had arrived wearing all white. That seemed to match up with the wolves, who had all been stark white.

  It still left him at a dead end, however, so he decided that it was time to go pick up Alyssa and see his friends in the hospital.

  He would get to the bottom of this, eventually.

  Chapter Six

  Alyssa

  "You know, I could just go stay back in the city," she said, tossing the suggestion out there, to see if that would help calm Tanner down. He was pacing back and forth in the kitchen.

  "What?"

  "I said, if my being here upsets you so much, I could just go stay in a hotel until the car is ready."

  She had bought a car the other day, but things such as insurance, plates, registration and everything were going to take a few days. Until then she was stuck without a ride, at the mercy of Tanner for getting around. It seemed to be wearing on him at this point, because in the middle of dinner he stood up abruptly and began to pace like a caged cat eying its prey.

  "Huh? No. That's nonsense, you'll stay with me. You aren't bugging me."

  She sighed, knowing he wasn't telling the truth, but not having any leverage to convince him otherwise. Settling back in her chair, she concentrated instead on finishing the delicious pasta dish he had made for dinner. Who knew a hydro worker bear could cook like a fiend?

  "Is that scar on your back from the accident?" She didn't want to ask, but she had seen it the first night, when he had taken off his wet shirt.

  "No." His voice was suddenly deep and full of anger, making the room feel small and enclosed as his presence loomed large above her. Her own bear recognized the threat and lunged to protect her, but she held it in check, sensing that he wasn't directing the anger at her.

  Still, she had stopped eating and was now holding her knife and fork in an attack position, perched on the edge of her chair and ready to explode if he did something unexpected. Alyssa knew he had a short temper, but she hadn't expected him to lose it on her.

  The light went on in his eyes as he realized what he was doing though, and immediately the tension in the room dropped.

  "Shit, sorry. It's not you," he mumbled, turning to fumble with something on the counter that she couldn't see.

  She sat back, waiting for him to continue.

  "It's from my father," he said after a moment, still facing away from her.

  Alyssa's mind raced, trying to decide what to do. If she said nothing, it seemed likely he was going to tell her more about his past. While her curiosity would be sated, she knew that two things would come of it. First, he would expect her to reciprocate, and that couldn't be allowed to happen. If he knew her past, he would hate her forever.

  In the past that might have been an acceptable outcome. It had, in fact, been the norm for the past decade and more of her life. It was easier if people disliked or outright hated her, because then she never felt any ties with them and it didn't hurt when she had to move on, as she always did.

  With Tanner, however, he had slipped right through the cracks in her walls, until he was firmly rooted within her. She hadn't intended to care about his feelings, but it was too late for that now. It wasn't love, she told herself, but there was something different about him, something that spoke to her on a deeper level.

  Second, she knew if he continued talking, that their relationship would go to a new level. He would be placing a lot of trust in her, and that trust would form a bond between them. If she broke it, she knew it would break him even more than he already was.

  For such a big, bad bear, Tanner Bryant was hurting inside. He was shattered and incomplete, and it scared her beyond reckoning that he saw her as the King's Men to his Humpty Dumpty. If anyone could make him whole, he believed it was her. Alyssa didn't know how to tell him just how wrong he was, that she couldn't be his rock, that she wasn't strong enough.

  As it turned out, her mental dithering sealed her fate, the silence prompting Tanner to continue.

  "My father liked his drink. Every night, he came home and if she didn't have one ready and waiting, he would fly into a rage."

  "Not that it really mattered," he continued, turning around to face her, "since each evening he would drink too much. Then he would get angry. When I was younger, he would hit her. Then, one day, when I was older, I tried to stand between them. So he hit me instead."

  Alyssa's heart ached for him. She wanted to reach out, to hold him and comfort him. Nobody deserved that sort of pain, nor to have to carry that burden around with them. She wondered if he knew he had a temper of his own. Tanner didn't seem the sort to lose his cool on someone close to him, but that wasn't always easy to tell.

  "Anyway, he hit me harder the older I got. On my eighteenth birthd
ay I was feeling very adult and masculine. So, I hit him back. I was so shocked about what I had done, I turned to run away. That's when his broken beer bottle hit me in the back. The bastard nearly killed me with it. I spent weeks in the hospital and ended up with that thing on my back. So, as soon as I was healed, I got the hell out of there."

  "Where did you go?"

  "I joined the Army, did a tour there. Shifters had just been outed at that point, and we were in very high demand for Special Forces outfits. When I got out, I moved to King City after a few years of being in random towns. The rest you know."

  "What about your company?" She wanted to know more about that. Her interest there wasn't entirely to deflect away from his early life, but because she was genuinely curious. He seemed to be quite invested in it, and had done well with it for such a short period of time.

  "Bluff Power? Not much to tell there. I worked for the sole power company in King City doing the same thing, and when I left town, there was nobody here doing it. They had to call up and wait for someone from the city to come out and fix stuff. I decided I wanted to make life better up here, so I started doing it myself. As it turns out, there is a lot of work. It's kept me employed steadily and I've even been able to hire the two boys."

  "I'm sure they'd love to know you consider them 'boys,'" she laughed, a genuine, honest laugh. It felt good. "So, back to the original topic mister. What's got you so mad?"

  "Nothing."

  "Oh really?" She laughed sarcastically, calling him out.

  "Really, gorgeous. I'm not angry, but there's just something bugging me. It's on the tip of my tongue. My brain is trying to tell me something, but I can't piece it together. I know what those wolves were after, but I can't put the pieces together to identify it."

  Alyssa wasn't listening though, still in shock over what he had called her.

  He had said she was gorgeous. Although he had said it off-the-cuff, his tone of voice clearly indicated he believed the words. No one had ever called her that before or thought of her in that light. To most of the world, she was a giant, taller than most men, and therefore unappealing. Her extra curves hid a muscular body that didn't encourage much in the way of compliments either.