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The Alpha Bear’s Magician
A Paranormal Romance
By Jasmine Wylder
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
About Jasmine Wylder
Jasmine’s Other Books
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Chapter One
Mandy
Mandy leaned out of the back of the jeep, eagerly taking in the sight of the bear clan's town. It looked like any other settlement she'd been to, only the inhabitants were about twice as big as what you'd find in the average human town.
Shifters, in general, were bigger than humans, and bears were among the largest. The smallest person she saw was a kid whose pimpled face and lanky limbs indicated him to be around sixteen. He was already half a foot taller than Mandy was. Not that her five-foot frame was anything to write home about, but it made her feel even shorter than normal.
She sat back down in her seat and turned to her partner, Martin. "Isn't this exciting? I've never interacted with bear shifters before."
Martin stretched his long legs and flexed his impressive muscles. "Yup. Bears. I wonder if they'll be able to smell the dragon in me."
"Maybe." Mandy nodded, though she doubted it. Martin's distant dragon heritage meant that he was tall and looked like he lived in a gym no matter what he did all day, but he hadn't inherited the ability to shift forms, something that always caused him grief. "I heard that bears take more human mates than any other shifter type, except wolves."
Martin sat a little straighter. A glint lit his eye as he bent the light around him to give himself a pink, glittery appearance. "Oh, so that's it, is it? Hoping to bag the alpha while we're here? I'm surprised, Mandy. You're usually so professional and reserved."
A red heart popped in the air beside his heart. Mandy had to roll her eyes. Light-wizards. Martin was better than many of them, able to actually create light and even electricity, and he never resisted the chance to show off.
"I'm here to bless their crops, not waste my time on romance," she said shortly. "Especially after what happened with Zack."
Her partner's smile faded a bit, but he shrugged. "I'll just take him for myself, then. How do you think I'd look as an alpha's mate, huh? And these guys are pretty well off, I bet he'd buy me roses and chocolate on our weekly anniversary."
"You're allergic to roses," Mandy retorted.
Martin sighed and shook his head. "That's not the point. It's the thought that counts."
Mandy smiled as she got out of the jeep. She and Martin had been paired together for these field-blessings for almost two years now. They had started right after they graduated from the coven's mage program. It was hard not to like him and his charm, although he could be somewhat immature at times.
"So, where's this alpha?" she wondered aloud as she came around the jeep.
"I think that's him," Martin said, gesturing with a jerk of his chin.
Mandy glanced in the direction he indicated and instantly felt her fair-toned cheeks going red. The person that came towards them was possibly the most intimidating man she had ever seen. He was easily seven feet tall, towering over Mandy. She found herself wishing that she had worn heels, but spikes plus fresh-tilled earth never equaled sexiness. She smoothed her bright pink shirt over her stomach, wishing she had worn the Spanx her mother had offered her that morning. While the outfit she wore was flattering, all of her rolls and lumps showed no matter what she wore, unless she squeezed them out.
"Are you the wizards the coven sent for the fertility rites?" the bear grunted when he got closer. He was dark-haired, blue-eyed, with weathered skin that indicated spending plenty of time outside.
"Yes," she said, flushing when his eyes turned to her. "We're here for fertility. No, I mean—"
"This way," he interrupted.
He stalked off without another word. Martin and Mandy glanced at each other in surprise but trailed after him. His long strides were hard to keep up with, and Mandy was puffing by the time they reached the fields. A few other bears had joined them by that time, but it wasn't the ceremonious parade that Mandy was used to during fertility rituals. The bears chatted to each other, and a few of the girls flirted with Martin (he gently turning their attentions away), but there wasn't anything… special about it. Just another normal day.
The first field they came to was huge, stretching as far as the eye could see to the north and west, although the south was bordered by giant trees. The alpha, who hadn't bothered to tell them his name, gestured to it with a grunt.
Mandy bit back a comment about his rudeness. He might be extremely handsome, but his manners certainly left a lot to be desired. She knelt at the edge of the field and plunged both hands into the dark brown earth. Closing her eyes, she inhaled the scent of it. It was rich with dormant life, and she followed the strings of existence connecting her with the ends of the fields. It was far bigger than she expected, miles and miles of planted earth. She could see the whole thing in her mind's eye and coaxed the dormancy to full bloom.
"May the harvest be bountiful," she whispered for the benefit of the viewers and pulled back her magic. She stood, wiping her hands, and turned to the alpha. "That's all there is to it. Your crops will grow quickly. The women in the town should avoid interacting with the dirt for four or five days, though, otherwise you'll end up with a lot of triplets and quadruplets in nine months."
He nodded. "So that's it, then?"
"Not quite," Mandy gestured to Martin. "My partner still has some things to do."
"But is your part over?"
"Yes."
A bear standing behind the alpha, whose similar large eyes and strong chin indicated that he was related in some way to the alpha, tapped his shoulder. "Daniel, remember we were going to ask them to stay for the planting celebration?"
The alpha gave him an irritated glance. "I was getting to that, brother."
He cleared his throat and gazed into Mandy's eyes. Despite his grumpy attitude, she felt her heart skip a beat. She fought not to show how he affected her, though a flush was already starting to rise in her cheeks again. Martin stood beside her, scowling fiercely at the alpha. Daniel ignored him.
"My clan and I would be most grateful if you would consent to stay and celebrate the first planting of the year with us. It's a feast and then a dance afterward."
"We'd love to," Mandy blurted without even looking at Martin. Her face went red as Daniel's eyes widened. She tugged at her red hair an
d turned to her partner. "Right?"
The light-wizard didn't look happy, but he nodded.
One of the women that had come out to the fields with them hooked her arm around Mandy's. "Let's get you into something more appropriate to dance in, then," she said and pulled her away.
In the end, a dozen women all came to 'help' Mandy dress. All the clothes they tried on her were either too long or too tight, but in the end, one of them pulled out a long organza and satin skirt that fit snug just under Mandy's armpits like a strapless dress and could be cinched at her waist with a beaded leather belt. It fell just above her knee, and Mandy had to admit that it looked better for partying than the clothes she had worn for the blessing. Next, the women started painting her face with makeup.
"So, your alpha, Daniel," she started, feeling awkward about how her thoughts kept circling back to him. "Is he single?"
Her question elicited an eruption of giggles all around her. Mandy raised a brow, confused at their reaction. He was a very attractive man. Could it be that the grunts and rude behavior they'd witnessed was just the tip of the iceberg?
"Why's that funny?" she demanded.
"It just is," one of them said as she began to braid Mandy's hair. "Daniel Andrews having a mate is something that will never happen."
For some reason, Mandy felt her indignation rising. It wasn't like she had been insulted. Or maybe it was. Asking if Daniel was single was a clear indication that she was interested in him, and yet these girls treated it like a joke. There wasn't any reason why she shouldn’t find him attractive, was there? So he was a little grumpy with them. This time of year was always stressful for farmers, and he had a whole clan to look after.
"He's a very handsome man," Mandy said. "And he looks like he works hard."
The girl painting her lips snickered. "Yes. He's handsome. He's hard-working. He's also stubborn, expects everybody else to be as much of a workaholic as he is, and has a temper like a nest of wasps. He's been that way ever since he was a boy."
A temper? Mandy's passion cooled a little.
"You know, we saw each other briefly, and let me tell you. It was awful. He broke our dates constantly to go work. Never apologized for it. I had more romance alone, if you know what I mean."
Mandy was silent as the girls started laughing and swapping stories about Daniel. Part of her felt bad for him, the way they were talking, but another part of her was glad they were there to warn her off. Her past proved that she wasn't exactly the best judge when it came to men, and even now she couldn’t get his smoldering eyes from her mind. Best to just keep a cap on that kettle of fish.
She kept silent as the conversation turned to the party tonight. It was apparently a yearly thing, and they had had a granite boulder brought in from the Rockies–whatever that meant. Normally Mandy would be eager to learn about their celebrations and culture, but today she was too tied up in the fact that she had already started falling for another man who was apparently an asshole. She was already regretting staying for the celebration.
Soon she was hustled outside by the other women. As they headed back towards the field, Mandy found out what the big deal about the boulder was. A huge rock the size of a car sat just outside a large parking lot that had been set up for a dance. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the boulder and turned to the women around her.
"What is that for?"
"Our ancestors were driven here by humans," one of them said. "When we finally decided to settle here, the land was rocky and hilly, and our people worked for days to carry the rocks off the field and level the hills. The alpha at the time worked tirelessly for forty days and nights until there was only one boulder left."
Martin stood on the opposite side of the field, beside the alpha's brother. Mandy waved at him. "So what happened to that final boulder?"
"Well, he tackled the rock and broke it down until his paws were bloody and the claws were ripped from his body. But he defeated the rock and now every year at planting, our alpha does the same. This is the first year Daniel is leading the ceremony."
One of the others giggled. "He's gone overboard, hasn't he? Trying to prove himself an alpha."
Mandy frowned. If he had gotten one that was too small, they'd be saying he was weak and not fully invested in his leadership. Or maybe not–maybe he really was as bad as they said he was. She repressed a sigh, well aware that her opinion of him kept jumping around. She tried to force it from her head entirely, but that was hard to do when he came into sight.
He stalked through the crowd shirtless. Muscles bulged, shoulders thrown back, eyes narrowed as he inspected the boulder. Mandy forgot about why she shouldn't be attracted to him, lost in the mesmerizing gleam reflected off his body by the setting sun. He pressed a hand to the boulder for an instant before he backed up and charged. As he did so, brown fur sprouted from his skin and his form shifted seamlessly to that of a huge bear.
Mandy gasped when he rammed the boulder, lifting it a couple inches from the ground. A snarl rose from his lips as he slashed at it with his claws. The crowd was at first silent, but when he tore the first chunk of rock from it, a roar of approval rose from them, even the women who had been criticizing him earlier.
Bits of pieces of rock flew every which way, but Daniel showed no signs of slowing. Within a few minutes, he had ripped away half the boulder. Streaks of red were being left behind as he clawed at it now and she clenched her hands.
"He's hurting himself," she cried.
"Alphas can't be afraid to experience pain for the sake of the clan."
He kept tearing at it, but Mandy found herself too upset to keep watching. She walked away, fighting not to be sick over her borrowed dress/skirt. The bears seemed to like watching Daniel get his claws ripped off. She flinched as she thought about it. What was wrong with them?
She was almost back to the car when a hand suddenly closed on her arm. With a cry she turned–and her heart stopped. Her eyes widened as she saw her ex-boyfriend, Zack, standing there, his hand clasped over her elbow.
"Mandy," he said, golden eyes locked on her. "Hi."
She stumbled back from him. "What are you doing here?"
"I needed to see you."
She turned and strode quickly back to the party. "No."
Zack followed. "Mandy just let me talk to you."
"No." She instantly felt bad about snapping and sighed. "I'm here for a party, and I'm not going to go anywhere alone with you. Understood?"
He put his hand in hers. She wanted to pull away but didn't. "Yeah, I understand. Thanks."
Mandy nodded stiffly. This wasn't going to be a fun party after all.
Chapter Two
Daniel
Overall, Daniel was pleased with how the day had gone.
His hands, shoulders, and back ached from ripping the granite boulder apart. A few of his fingernails had been ripped off in the process but had stopped oozing blood. Still, he felt proud of his accomplishments. He had destroyed the boulder that was chosen for him and had done it quickly. Afterward, several people told him his work was impressive. Probably the first compliments he'd gotten since becoming alpha.
Now everybody was dancing and drinking, and couples were slowly disappearing into the houses or forest around the party zone. The planting ceremony was the most popular time of years for mates to form, and this year would prove no different.
He drank a little beer, wincing as his fingers spiked with pain. He'd heal in a few days from this, but in the meantime, his nail-less fingers would be a reminder to everybody what he had done. He couldn’t remember his father ever bleeding after the planting ceremony. But then, his father never had to deal with such a large boulder.
"Look at those nailbeds," Adam, his brother, said, slapping him on the back as he brought over a group of his friends, including the light wizard that had been part of the fertility rites. "Bet you didn't even feel pain while you were tearing that thing apart."
Daniel shrugged. "I was lost in the moment."
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Adam turned to the light wizard. "What did I tell you? My brother is a true-blue alpha."
"I see that." The tall, muscular man smiled flirtatiously at Adam. "Something his brother also shares."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Just take him to your own house this time."
He moved away from the group, drinking his beer. Although a few of the men had come to slap him on the back and tell him what a great job he did, the women continued to ignore him. It was expected, though. He'd already resigned himself to being alone for the rest of his life.
Across the dance floor, the earth-witch Mandy met his eye and smiled hesitantly. He was so unused to seeing a woman smile at him that all he did was stare back. Even when she looked away, he couldn't stop himself. She was so beautiful, with her fire-red hair, blue eyes, and freckles spread like the night sky over her face. It surprised him how short she was, minuscule compared to the bears that danced around her. Even the light wizard currently flirting with his brother looked like he physically fit in.
The man talking to Mandy suddenly seized her around the waist and swung her onto the dancefloor. She didn't look too happy but didn't cause a fuss. Daniel narrowed his eyes, not recognizing the man. He wasn't a bear. He moved with a grace and speed that spoke of a cat. Judging by his golden eyes and shaggy hair, he was a lion.
Daniel growled slightly, hating the way the lion clutched Mandy around the waist. He almost moved forward, but it wasn't uncommon for other shifters to join them in the ceremony, and Mandy was relaxing into the lion's arms. She laughed at something he said, and the alpha bear turned away. The celebration was suddenly too loud and bright for him.
"Where are you going?" Adam asked.
"The fields. Need to check something."
More like get away from the noise and crowd.
People were confusing for him. He never knew quite how to handle himself. He was the alpha and they did as he said, mostly at least, but he didn't know how to be just a regular person. The burden on his shoulders was too heavy.
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