Damaged Billionaire Daddy Bear: A Paranormal Romance (Exotic Pack Shifters Book 1)

by Leela Ash

  Damage Billionaire Daddy Bear

  Exotic Pack Shifter 1

  By Leela Ash and Pamela Avery

  Damaged Billionaire Daddy Bear

  Copyright ©2020 by Leela Ash and Pamela Avery.

  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. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  “Boys, the shit’s about to hit the fan!” Connor Phillips announced in his deep gravelly voice that made him sound a lot older than he really was. No one in the room was surprised at how rough and coarse his voice was; he claimed that constantly shooting fire from his mouth in his dragon-shifter form had ruined his voice box beyond repair. No one bothered to let him know that he actually yelled plenty enough in his human form to explain away that particular affliction.

  “Connor—” Theodore Cooper began calmly, his green eyes resigned.

  But Connor shook his head, not letting Theodore get a word in. “Listen, Teddy, I’m right, and you know it. Exotic Rescue is the only home we’ve all known for years. It’s the one place we come to and are safe; and now, you wanna open it up to a bunch of scientists we don’t know? Are you kidding? What if they find out our secret? I mean, they’re scientists! Isn’t that what they do … poke and prod and pry?”

  Michael Bennet looked up, his strange-colored, pure gold eyes gleaming as he muttered, “He’s got a point. When were you going to tell us about this, Teddy?”

  Theodore Cooper looked up at the five men he trusted with his own life. Like him, they were all shifters and they had been his best friends, for as long as he could remember. Heck, they were more than best friends; they were bound by a sacred and ancient bond, and now, they were brothers. He was a bear, Connor was the dragon, Michael a wolf, Jonathan a black puma, Darryl a tiger, and Justin a lion shifter. All six of them formed the Exotic Pack, a group bound by loyalty, love and years of being hunted down for what they were – or seeing others of their kind have nowhere to turn. Every last one of them would lay down their lives in a heartbeat for the other, he knew, but they also tended to fight a whole lot more among themselves these days, he thought with an inward sigh.

  They all probably just needed to … No, he thought, cutting off that perhaps inappropriate train of thought.

  “Why so quiet, man? Tell us what you’re thinking,” Connor growled.

  Darryl chuckled, mischief glinting in his eyes as he easily picked up the train of thought Theodore had discarded with his mind reading abilities. “He’s thinking we probably all just need to get laid. I, for one, like the way you think, Teddy.”

  Theodore glared at Darryl before responding to Michael’s question. “The rest of the world thinks Exotic Rescue is only an animal sanctuary. But everyone in this room knows the truth: it’s really a place for our kind to come and heal,” he reminded them. “We care about animals, sure, but they are really just a front.”

  Justin Turner shrugged, “You’re stating the obvious, Teddy, which is why we are concerned that you cannot see the danger in creating an exchange program and inviting outsiders into our home. We can’t afford the scrutiny, especially not up close and personal. It would only take a careless slip up and we could be found out.”

  Theodore’s green eyes gleamed as he steeped his fingers beneath his chin, authority radiating from every line of his slim frame. “I can still hear the screams as they burned 113 shifters to death and called it justice. I buried every last one of them with my bare hands. I can still see my mother and my sisters; lifeless, forever, and unable to say a word. I can still smell their blood. Believe me when I tell you, I haven’t forgotten,” he finished frostily.

  “Ted—” Connor began in a raw voice.

  “But maybe you have,” Theodore cut in savagely. “Maybe you have forgotten that, all those years ago, so many of our kind were wiped out because people grew suspicious of us. Maybe you have forgotten that a rogue vampire clan killed a lot of humans all over Florida and blamed it on shifters. Maybe you have forgotten how humans react when they are scared.”

  Connor’s breathing was coming harsh and shallow as he surged to his feet. Angry red darkened his cheeks as he glared at his friend from across the table.

  “How dare you say that to me?” Connor grated. “You think you need to remind me of the past? My past?”

  Theodore climbed smoothly to his own feet, too , as unperturbed as though he were merely discussing a business deal. It was in moments like this that his Bear shown through, even into his human form. It was not only in the way he moved, but in the authority his soft but firm voice carried. “You’re right. I don’t need to remind you, Connor. You punish yourself enough every day as it is for not saving Laura and your folks,” Theodore stated, pointing out something they were all aware of to one degree or another. Connor sometimes brooded to the point that they worried he was harming himself.

  Connor grabbed Theodore’s shirtfront and hauled him across the table until their faces were mere inches apart. “Say her name again and I’ll flay you with dragon fire.”

  Theodore calmly wrapped his hands around the other man’s wrists and unclenched the hands tightened at his shirtfront.

  “You wouldn’t dare, Connor. Besides, I am a part of you, and you’re a part of me. You wouldn’t hurt me. And even if you tried, have you forgotten, I’m immune to your fire? We all are,” Theodore finished.

  The reminder spread a warm glow across the room. After that massacre, twenty years ago, they had been the only survivors ─ mere kids of eight, nine and ten years old. They had vowed to never hurt each other, and their vow had been so earnest that it had become tangible, as they grew, that even when any of them used his abilities, the rest were immune to its harmful effects.

  Unfortunately, they weren’t immune to pranks, and their individual abilities had served to play several pranks over the years.

  “The Tailan Mineral is here,” Jonathan Hale, the most reserved member of their group, stated in his usual quiet manner.

  Silence fell. No one could forget the Tailan Mineral. It was the greatest discovery ever to happen to shifter kind. Good thing it was on the same land owned by Exotic Rescue because Theodore had discovered it in time and bought up every single bit of land in its vicinity immediately.

  Tailan was a pure liquid, gold-colored mineral that gushed from a secluded spot on the grounds of Exotic Rescue. It was a harsh substance; strong and corro
sive enough to peel human skin. But whenever it hit the skin of shifters, it healed every injury on their bodies in nanoseconds, without them having to use their abilities. The mineral gave shifters extra abilities and helped children shifters have less pain when transitioning initially. Plus, recent research had indicated that used in the proper targeted way, it could point to a potential cure for cancer in humans even at terminal stages. They were still studying it, but it looked very promising. They sensed they were really only just beginning to understand it’s true nature and what it could do.

  “Yes, Tailan is here,” Theodore agreed. “And Roy and his henchmen have done everything possible to get their hands on it. They have resorted to getting the whole of Angel Springs convinced that something shady and underhanded is going on in Exotic Rescue, which is why I decided to host the exchange program,” he explained.

  Silence fell and he plunged on, “Now, more than ever, we need to legitimize Exotic Rescue. We need to fit in with the humans. You know, like ‘Hey, nothing to see here, we’re just your regular ole’ animal sanctuary’ – at least as regular as that can be. Think about it. We allow some outsiders to come and mix among us, participate in the normal niceties expected of an animal sanctuary like ours, but we keep them away from our secrets. Let ‘em study a few tigers or whatever they get out of these exchanges. Their presence will help convince the townsfolk that we have nothing to hide. We have to blend in.”

  They all nodded as they considered his words. There was a reason he was their leader – beyond the fact that he had founded the place.

  “That’s not a completely bad idea, I suppose,” Justin mused aloud.

  “Yes, as long as one of your researchers doesn’t ferret out the truth about us while they’re poking and prodding around,” Connor grumbled.

  Theodore sighed, looking at the man who was the oldest of them and, by far, the grumpiest. “What would you rather have us do then?”

  “Lay low? Wait for this to blow over? Move around town like always and mix with the folks?” Connor suggested hopefully.

  Theodore chuckled outright at that one, “First of all, Connor, you don’t mix well with the townsfolk, or with anyone, for that matter. Besides, we have refused too many invitations from other rescues for work exchanges already. If we don’t open up a bit, suspicion will only grow.”

  Connor scowled as he protested, “Fine, you’ve made your point.” Then, after a brief pause and apparent mental change of gears, he quickly continued, ”And I do mix well with the five of you…” As his voice trailed off with uncharacteristic uncertainty, he looked around at all their faces and added, “Don’t I?”

  The guarded question carried a faint thread of vulnerability beneath it, and Theodore paused. Connor had always been the ex-military sort and had always had a gruff personality and hard exterior. But, beneath it all, Theodore had continually thought he hid a very wounded heart and a seriously bruised soul. Sometimes, he wondered if things would have been different if none of them were shifters; if none of them had to hide whom they were; if none of them had ever had to watch their loved ones die.

  But all of that would have meant no Exotic Rescue, and probably, for him, no Carla. Thinking of his ten-year-old daughter made the tightening sensation in his chest ease. Carla was his reason for living. She was life itself, as far as he was concerned. Her mother, Mahira, had cut his heart into tiny bits when she up and left them both. She had been the only woman he had opened his heart to. But he had been naïve, blinded by her charms and beauty. It had taken a little while for him to wake up, but ultimately, he realized she just took and took, and gave nothing to him in return. The only good thing he had gotten from her was his precious child. He had his ex on a pedestal all right, especially after their daughter arrived. The arrival of the gift of Carla made his world complete. But, in the end, nothing had been enough for her; not his love, not his money, and certainly not their kid. Mahira had taken a knife to what was left of his heart and ripped it out when she left, and the life he had crumbled like the house of cards it had been.

  He had grown to cherish just three things; his daughter, Exotic Rescue and the Pack. They were his only reason for living and they made him want to get up in the morning. A slight smile canted one side of his lip as he thought about how wrong the media got it when they painted him so one-dimensionally as the reclusive billionaire who cared only about his properties, jets and wealth. He would trade all that in a heartbeat to protect his daughter and his pack.

  His gaze cut to Connor’s. “We’ve always got your back. Nevertheless, you should realize that laying low, indefinitely, isn’t gonna cut it. The exchange program is going to take place, and that’s final. Besides, Carla loves meeting new people. It would be good for her, and the rest of the kids, to get new playmates, and it would certainly be good for the town to get new visitors.”

  “Fine, since you’re so set on it, have it your way. I just hope you don’t regret it, Teddy Bear,” Connor grumbled as he strode from the room and out the door.

  ‘Teddy Bear’ was the nickname his friends sometimes used to tease him, and it never failed to rile him. Jonathan had come up with the name when they were kids and they had turned into their shifter forms for the first time. He’d looked at Theodore in his shifter bear form and whistled, “Guess you’re Teddy the Bear, now, huh?”

  And the name had stuck; all five of them called him Teddy Bear when they wanted to jerk his chain, but only when they were alone.

  Connor’s departure sent some sort of signal and the rest of the pack began to depart until there was only Theodore left in his large office overlooking the sprawling grounds of Exotic Rescue.

  Theodore sighed as Connor’s parting words echoed in his subconscious. He sincerely hoped he didn’t regret it too. Privately, he acknowledged that any number of things could go wrong. He would just have to personally keep an eye on all the exchange staff, to make sure none of them put one toe out of line or went so far as to stumble across the secret of Exotic Rescue or the mineral deposit, despite how guarded it was. He hadn’t spent so many years and all that money creating the animal sanctuary as a front and building a life for himself and other shifters to allow some potential Sherlock-wannabe to come along and blow their cover wide open. Chances were they would have no idea that half or more of the animals were actually shifters. Why would they? But they had to be careful.

  He would keep a very close eye, indeed, on all of them, and if anyone gave the slightest inkling of being more trouble than they were worth, he would toss them out on their rear.

  Chapter 2

  Jessica Harris bit her tongue so hard, she had to stop and collect herself as she fought back a torrent of angry swear words that were just itching to burst past her parched lips. It wouldn’t do for her impressionable children to hear Mommy use the F-word, the A-word, or any other swear word in-between, she told herself for the umpteenth time.

  Jessica shot a harried glance at where her daughter, Arizona Harris, was making car driving noises with her brother, Kal, in the backseat of their rundown car. At nine years old, Kal was deep into cars and his six-year-old sister, Arizona, was going to at least make an attempt at being into whatever Kal was into. So they played with their toy cars, oblivious to the fact that they were in a broken-down vehicle in the middle of nowhere.

  Arizona’s car overtook Kal’s on the back seat and he gave her blonde ponytail a small yank in protest, making her yowl.

  “Kal, don’t pull your sister’s hair, or you’re gonna be in time-out for a week!” Jessica grated, frustration giving her voice a hard edge.

  Her tone induced a stunned silence, and her kids jerked their gazes toward her. They knew to pay attention when her voice hit that tone. She sighed when she saw the uh-oh look creep into their eyes. Yes, she was in a foul mood, but it bothered her that her kids were coming to recognize that mood, more and more, and getting wary of it, and of her. She was tired, sweaty, and dusty, and she was solely responsible for herself and two tiny hu
mans. And she was worried. But she wasn’t going to let herself become her ex-husband and make her own children afraid of her.

  Thinking of the sorry bastard tripled her frustration, and Jessica ground her teeth. If she continued like this, she would probably send her blood pressure through the roof, and in this heat, odds were, she would keel over right there by the side of the road. Then what would become of Kal and Arizona?

  “I don’t even know this area. I probably should have stopped at that last service station. I knew the engine didn’t sound right,” she mumbled, flinging her phone onto the driver’s seat of her car with a worried sigh.

  “Mom, what’s wrong with the car?” Kal asked.

  “I’m not sure, sweetie. It just stopped,” she told him.

  The kids stared at her with wide eyes filled with childish innocence.

  “Are we gonna be okay?” Arizona piped up in that uncanny way children had of voicing one’s secret deepest fears.

  Jessica’s heart twisted afresh in her chest. They were stuck on a lonely patch of road, with no houses in sight for miles and nightfall was only about four hours away.

  Swallowing, she nodded and thrust up her chin, as she assured her daughter with a calm she was far from feeling, “Yes, we’re gonna be okay, sweets. I promise.”

  Just then, a large truck rumbled up toward them, and she hurriedly dashed into the center of the road, waving her hands frantically above her head.

  The truck came to a shuddering stop, its driver scowling from behind the wheel, his bushy, graying eyebrows pulled together in a frown over his long beak-nose and jowly chin. He climbed out of the truck, his cowboy hat shoved back off his forehead. His face was flushed a deep red, indicative of his temper, and his bloated mid-section jiggled as he marched toward her. The sun was definitely still hot but it really seemed to be taking it out of him, she thought.