Baby Protector Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 4) (10 page)

His bear grumbled but seemed to relax, the sensation of excitement he was giving off making Joel want to jump up and down, like a madman.

Now who needs to dial it back a bit?
his bear said.

Joel ignored that, instead turning his attention to their clothes. He picked up Chrissie’s bra, which he didn’t even remember removing, and handed it to her. “Need a hand with it?” he asked as she covered her breasts up, much to his disappointment.

“No. I can manage, thanks.” She smiled at him shyly, and reached for her shirt, and then pulled on her jeans.

He tried not to watch her, feeling like a man obsessed when he found he had to fight to point his attention in another direction. He had hoped this would ease the tension between them, but it had ratcheted it up instead. That might well change when he did his big reveal. And he had to do his big reveal; there was no getting away from it.

“OK, shall we go back down to the house?” she asked. “I’ve had a very enjoyable walk through the trees, and now we need to get back to real life, and sort this mess out. When did Landy say he would phone?”

“He just said tonight, that’s if Beau got the message right, he said it was cryptic.” Joel automatically took his cell out of his pocket and checked for a signal. “We should go, the reception here isn’t great.”

“I’m ready,” she said, and reached out for his hand.

He didn’t take it. “There’s that thing I have to show you first.”

“I’m intrigued.”

“Intrigued is good. Frightened is not.” He held his hands out to her, and said. “Please don’t run off. Or scream. Just accept what you see, and know I will never hurt you, and this side of me is why I will never leave you. We are mates.”

“Is this some secret weird handshake that those of you in the mates’ club have?” she asked, looking amused; at least she didn’t think he was going to bury her in a shallow grave any more, although that might change when she saw him shift into his bear.

“Not a handshake, but weird, yes. Stay right there and don’t move. Although you can stroke me. My bear would like it if you stroked me.”

“This is sounding weirder all the time.” Her gaze looked troubled now, and he didn’t make her wait any longer.

Taking ten paces away, he stopped and turned to face her. “Remember, no panicking, this is completely natural. And… Well, you’ll see. No running.”

“Or screaming, I get it.” She frowned. “Although, I really don’t get it, at all.”

“You will.” At least I hope you will.

As he let his thoughts clear, his bear came forward, and for an instant the human Joel shimmered out of existence, to be replaced by a giant grizzly bear.

“What the hell!” Chrissie cursed under her breath, her hands and back pressed up against the tree that only minutes before he had been fucking her against. “How did you do that?”

His bear grinned. A curious mind, better than a scared one any day. Confident, he walked forward, slowly covering the ground between them, stopping every two steps to check she was OK. When he was three feet away, he stopped and stuck his snout out, closing his eyes, waiting for her touch.

When her fingertips touched him timidly, he shuddered in appreciation. She was their mate, theirs to protect, theirs to cherish, and her name would be cleared so they could live a long live together.

“Oh. Wow. You are real. I half expected to touch you and you would be a hologram or something.” Digging her fingers into his thick fur, she stroked him, caressing him, burying her face in his soft pelt, and then pulling away.

“Can we walk back down to the house together?” she asked. “We need to get back, but I want you to stay like this for a little longer.”

He nodded his bear head and they took the trail back down the mountain, with Chrissie hanging onto him when they got to some of the steeper parts where the rocks underfoot were loose and fell away to clatter to the ground below.

Safe
. He had to keep her safe.

When the house came into view, he changed back to his human from under the shade of a tree, watched by a fascinated Chrissie.

“So what do you think?” he asked.

“Amazing. Scary. Unreal.”

“I’m very real.” He pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her neck. “Very, very real.”

“How?” she asked. “Sorry, my brain is just overwhelmed.”

“It just is. For me, at least. I’ve heard that some shifters can be made by being bitten, but here, everyone I know was born like it.”

“So if you were one of those shifters, you could transform me?” she asked.

“Maybe, but I’ve never met one who can do that.”

“And you were born that way?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“And our children will be born that way. Able to change?”

He nodded. “Yes. Are you OK with that?” Did she realize what she was stating, that she was willing to be his mate? That she was already thinking of children and a life together.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.” He shook his head. “We are mates.”

“We are mates,” she repeated, and his heart swelled with love and relief.

What was she saying? That just because he could change into a bear, she was willing to give up her career and live happily ever after with him? She had always sworn never to have children of her own, not when there were so many who didn’t have parents, family, someone to love them.

But this was different: everything about Joel was different and he made her feel different, special. Invincible.

They just needed to get to the bottom of this whole mess first. Which meant going back to the house and getting their heads together and doing as much digging as they could. Hopefully, Landy would also be able to help, or at least tell them what was going on back home.

Home. That reminded her she needed to check in with her parents, to check if they were OK. Her sister was close by, so she didn’t really need to worry, and if there was a problem, they had her cell number. She took her phone out of her pocket.

“You know what is strange?” she asked.

“Apart from me being a bear?”

“Apart from you being a bear—it’s a good job I’m used to meeting people who are strange to our society. But you are the first… what are you called?”

“A shifter. We shift from one thing to another.”

“The first shifter… I have ever met.”

“Not quite true,” he said.

She looked down at the house below them. “Beau. Of course, that was why you were happy to leave Sam there. Elise too. Or is it only boys?”

“Elise, yes. Girls are shifters. Strong, agile.”

“I’m jealous. I hope you don’t mind me not being a shifter.” Although she wished she could be. Really wished she could be. Having those kind of powers would make her much better able to protect herself, and her family, and anyone else in need.

“Hey, you are perfect the way you are. We’re mates, perfectly compatible.” He dragged her into his arms and kissed her fiercely, and she could feel the strength of his bear simmering underneath his skin.

“I believe you,” she said breathlessly when he finally released her.

“I wanted to make sure you understood.”

She laughed. “Message received.”

They walked up to the house, hand in hand, and knocked on the door lightly, before walking in to find Elise in the sitting room, with the three children, Sam looking happy as he watched Conner walking around, with a doll in his arms.

“He wanted his own baby when Tamsin was born,” Elise explained. “Do you want coffee?”

“Can I make it?” Chrissie asked. “You deserve a rest after looking after three children.”

“Oh, I love it, I love watching them play.” She looked up at Chrissie. “How did the walk go?”

“Brilliant.”

“I can tell; you have a healthy glow in your cheeks.”

Chrissie blushed furiously, and put her hands on her face. “Bears, they know how to treat their mates. Right?” she ventured.

Elise broke into a wide smile. “He told you. That is a relief. Beau was worried Joel might find control a challenge around you until he, well … consummated the bond. By the way, you have twigs in your hair.”

“Oh,” Chrissie cried, but Elise only laughed.

“Not really.” She got up and hugged Chrissie. “Welcome to the family.”

“I didn’t know shifters…” The word still felt foreign on her tongue. “That they existed.”

“It must be strange.”

“And your children too.”

“They both are, but Connor is my sister’s child. She died.”

“Oh, I didn’t know. Joel said Beau had experienced loss…”

“He lost his sister too, we’re united in that way. Sad, but there we are; life goes on when you have children to care for. We have each other and a family, and he likes to help people, keeps him busy.” She smiled sadly. “Which brings us around to your problem.”

“My big problem.”

“Listen, you can always leave Sam here while you sort things out.”

“Thanks. Oh, I remembered I was going to tell Joel something. Will you excuse me?”

“Sure.”

Chrissie went out of the sitting room and into the kitchen, which was empty, although fresh coffee was on. Turning to head back out of the door, she stood and listened, hearing Joel and Beau talking in another room. That was where she headed.

“Are you sure you want to get involved? I hate to ask it of you,” Joel was saying.

“I have a friend who has a tenuous lead on your Krieg. I would like to rule him out.”

“I think we probably can,” Chrissie said. She took her phone out and held it up. “Don’t you think it’s strange that no one has tried to call me? I mean, I have my phone, but Mr. Anderson has not called to ask if we are OK.”

“And they have your number?” Beau asked.

“Sure, it’s down as my prime contact number.”

“Have you tried ringing your boss?” Beau asked.

“We were afraid it would be tracked.”

“Do it now, keep it simple, keep it brief.”

She looked at Joel nervously. “Let me know if I talk too long.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine,” he assured her.

She scrolled through until she found his personal cell number. He gave it out to everyone who worked under him, in case they were ever in trouble while he was away from his desk. Squeezing her eyes closed, she tried to get rid of the feeling she was being disloyal to this man; he had been a good boss, he had been good at his job all these years. How could he possibly be behind all this?

The phone rang. And rang. Then went to voicemail. She hung up.

“Not there.” Relief swept over her. She didn’t feel ready to face him. Or was it because she didn’t want to know the truth, it was easier to live in a world where he was still a good man. Even if he called her princess. Closing her eyes, she pictured him saying it. There was an edge to his words, not the same as when he affectionately called her Jenny Hen.

“Hey, you OK?” Joel said, coming to her and giving her a big bear hug.

“Yeah. It’s just the guy was my hero. I always thought I might one day take over from him, and run the department just like he did. Always there when you needed to talk.”

“Except now.”

“Yes. Except now. I can hear his voice. He changed. Something happened and he changed.”

“I might have an idea what that was,” Beau said.

“You do?” she asked, wiping a stray tear away. “Damn, I need to pull myself together.”

“Crying is not a sign of weakness, Chrissie. You’ve been through a lot.”

“I know, but I need to function at my best to see this through. Not let emotion get in my way.” She took a deep breath. “What did you find out, Beau?”

“Budget cuts.”

“Budget cuts?” Joel asked. “That is what drove a highly respected man to murder?”

“Maybe the murder was not what he had planned, we don’t know. But like I said, money is a motivator, and your Mr. Anderson is going to lose his job, and a nice chunk of his pension.”

He turned his monitor towards them, and Chrissie skimmed the minutes from a council meeting from sixth months ago. The council was planning on making sweeping changes within the department, and part of that was streamlining her department. It was then going to be merged with another department, making Mr. Anderson’s job obsolete: it meant he would not get his full pension.

“You think it pushed him over the edge. But why? What did he have to gain from killing Angela and taking the baby?” Chrissie asked, confused.

“You tell me. Did this Krieg offer a reward, the kind of money that would top up his shrinking pension pot?” Beau asked.

Chrissie felt sick. This was worse than she thought. There was no way her boss would sell out. He would not hurt another human being for money.

Chrissie shook her head. “You would have to be expecting a large amount of money to do this, surely. I think Krieg was more into extortion and small-time drug runs, nothing big.”

“Nothing Angela said to you? No life insurance?”

“No, nothing. I have no idea about life insurance.”

“When Landy rings, I’ll get him to check that out.”

“Is there anything else?” Beau asked. “Because if not, I’m going to follow a lead I have on Krieg. It’s cold, but I’m good at following a trail others can’t.”

“Wait, Beau, no. I don’t want you getting involved in this,” Chrissie insisted.

“Chrissie is right; you have a family. Don’t get dragged into this.”

“I already am. And don’t think you two have the monopoly on helping people. It’s why I became a PI. Now, I’m leaving. I have my cell; here’s the number. When Landy calls, or you think of anything, let me know. Between us we will get this cleared up.”

Chrissie only hoped he was right. She wanted to stop her world from disintegrating around her, and that would not happen until she cleared her name.

“What if he doesn’t call?” Chrissie asked, checking the time one more time.

They were sitting side by side on the sofa, with Sam on the floor in front of them, amusing himself by turning from his front to his back. Elise was bathing her two children, and Beau had gone to find Krieg, making Chrissie feel guilty, but Elise was cool with it.
It’s what he does, she had told Chrissie. “And I would hate for him to ever change.”