Brave Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 2) (3 page)

Serena yanked the door open
and bundled Ashley and herself into the car. “Thank you!
Thank you so much!” She turned to look out the back window and
a strangled sound escaped. A few police cars were turning into the
street.

“Please...drive,”
Serena whispered. “Please...please hurry!”

CHAPTER
SIX

Jax Carlan saw the desperate
pleading in the woman's eyes and nodded curtly. “Okay, fasten
your seat belts,” he deadpanned before stepping on the gas.

Two police cars drove past,
and Jax saw the woman tense in his rear-view mirror. Her large hazel
eyes stared unblinking at the police cars until they were out of
sight, and she was clutching her little girl tightly to her.

Jax drove carefully, cutting
his eyes from the road to the rear-view mirror frequently. The woman
was very pretty with a sweet, heart-shaped face and full, plump lips.
Her blond hair was unevenly cut into a simple bob. Jax suspected
that she cut her own hair, and his admiration for her went up several
notches. He honestly didn't know of any female who had the guts to
take a pair of scissors to her hair and just hack it off. Most of
the women folk in Shadow Point spent hours at the hairdresser's,
perming, straightening, coloring and highlighting their crowning
glory. But of course the main reason they congregated at Hair Razers
was to catch up on the latest local gossip.

The woman dragged her eyes
from the window and realized that he was watching her in the rear
view mirror. She gave a small smile and said, “I...I should
introduce myself. I'm Serena Locke and this is my daughter, Ashley.”

“Hi Serena, hi Ashley.”
Jax turned to smile at them over his shoulder. “I'm Jax
Carlan.”

She leaned forward and Jax
let out a growl when he saw the ugly bruise on her forehead. Was she
a domestic abuse victim?

“Serena, did someone
hit you?” Jax said through clenched teeth. “I know it's
none of my business, but maybe you should go to the police...”

“No! No...” She
touched her forehead and grimaced. Her eyes widened when she
realized what it looked like to him. “It's not what you think.
I'm a single mom. There's no...violence at home.
It's...complicated.”

Jax exhaled a long breath and
asked, “Okay. It's clear you don't want to talk about it. I
won't ask anymore. Just tell me where you're going. I'll drive you
there...”

“I...I don't know,”
Serena replied in a trembling voice. “Where are you going,
Jax? You said you're driving out of the city...”

“I am.” He fixed
his eyes on the road as he turned out into the long highway. “I'm
going back to Shadow Point.”

“Shadow Point. I've
heard of it. It's a small town, and the majority of the residents
there are paranormals.”

“It's true most of the
townsfolk are paranormals, but there are quite a few human families
in Shadow Point as well,” Jax said.

Serena swallowed and gave a
firm nod. She seemed to have come to a decision. “Then please
take me to Shadow Point with you. If it's convenient for you,”
she added quickly.

“It's no trouble at
all. In fact, I'm on my way home.”

Jax wanted to ask her a
couple more questions but Serena seemed overwrought. Her nerves were
clearly frayed and it was by sheer effort of will that she was
holding herself together.

Serena gulped audibly and
made an awkward attempt at small talk. “You...um, you're in
the city for pleasure or...”

“I'm here for
business,” Jax answered. “My big brother, Marcus, owns a
renovation and remodeling company in Shadow Point. But he's
branching out into the construction business, so he sent me to the
city to talk to some suppliers.”

“A construction
company,” Serena said, smiling at last. “It's nice to
have a family business.”

“Yeah. Marcus built
Beck's Builders up from scratch,” Jax told her.

They were now cruising
leisurely along the long, deserted highway, but Serena kept glancing
behind her to see if they were being followed.

Jax cleared his throat and
ventured, “Serena, why are you running? You seem to
be...avoiding the police. Who is after you and your little girl?
Why do you want to get out of the city so desperately?”

“Ah...” Serena
took several deep breaths.

“I'm on your side,
Serena,” Jax said quietly. “I'm not turning you in to
the Sheriff or anything. But I'd like to know...”

“Of course, of course.
You took a big risk, letting us into your car. We could be
fugitives, or escapees from an asylum. I...I'm sorry. I should have
told you right away,” Serena stammered.

“I just want to know
what you're up against so I can help you.”

There was a long pause.
“You're a good man, Jax,” Serena whispered at last. “I
knew it the moment you spoke to me through your car window. I just
knew I'd be safe with you. I wouldn't have...”

“You wouldn't have
risked your daughter's safety if you had the slightest doubt,”
Jax finished for her.

Jax glanced over his shoulder
and met the little girl's piercing black eyes. She blinked at him
and stuttered, “Y-you're a bear. I can see your bear.”

CHAPTER
SEVEN

“Ashley...”
Serena began, trying to shush her daughter. But Ashley shook her
head and continued, “You're a shifter. You have...a bear
inside of you.”

“How do you know?”
Jax asked casually.

“I can see your animal
inside you.”

Jax grinned. “Yes. I
am a bear shifter.”

Serena and Ashley didn't seem
surprised or frightened by his admission. Jax inhaled a sharp breath
to test their scent again. Serena was definitely human. Her scent
was sweet, lush and delicious, just like her. Scenting her had made
his bear rise to the surface of his skin.

Jax glanced at the kid again.
Ashley could
see
his bear, not scent it. The girl wasn't a
shifter. He was sure of that. There was no animal in her, so how
did she detect his bear?

The little girl wasn't
entirely human. She was half human, half...something else. Not
shifter, not vampire either. Jax could identify a vampire with just
one whiff.

He raised an eyebrow in
question and he saw Serena shake her head at him in the mirror.

Jax frowned. He was burning
with curiosity but he would stay silent for now. As he drove on, he
couldn't help but wonder: Why did Serena not want to talk about her
daughter's nature? Did she not know, or did she not want Ashley to
know what she was?

He turned around to glance at
them again. Ashley was yawning and her eyelids were beginning to
droop. Her head lolled on her mother's shoulder and before long, Jax
could hear her snoring softly.

When Serena was sure that her
daughter was fast asleep, she said softly, “I'll tell you what
happened to us tonight, Jax. You deserve to know.”

Jax gave a subtle nod.
Haltingly, Serena told him everything. She told him what happened to
Ashley at kindergarten, how the other kids didn't want to play with
her all of a sudden, and she told him how she had almost been robbed
and raped.

Jax let out a low growl.
“They were about to hurt you real bad,” Jax snarled.
“Ashley saved you.”

“Yes. She did.
But...I'm scared that she will be taken away from me. Because
of...what she did and what she can do,” Serena said, swallowing
hard. “I can't lose my little girl...she's all I have...”

“Who is her father?”

Serena shook her head. “The
truth is, I don't know. It was a one-night stand, and I never even
got his full name. Ash, was the only name I got. I never saw him
again. If I hadn't gotten pregnant, I might have thought that it was
all just a dream. He just disappeared completely.”

“Do you know...what he
is?” Jax asked slowly.

“I...I'm not sure.”
This time Jax felt that she wasn't telling the truth. She had an
idea but she didn't want to tell him.

Ashley whimpered in her sleep
and they stopped talking at once. Serena murmured soothingly to her
and patted her, coaxing her back to sleep.

After a while, Jax asked, “Do
you have some place to stay in Shadow Point?” He knew the
answer was no, but he was slyly building up to his offer.

“No, but I can find an
inn or something,” Serena muttered. “I hope it's not too
expensive. I don't have much money.”

“You can stay with me,”
Jax said. “I stay with Marcus and my twin brother, Joshua.
Marcus has just gotten married, but he and Staci have decided to stay
in the house with us. So, don't worry, there will be another female
in the house and Staci is wonderful!”

“Oh. That's very kind,
but I don't want to impose...”

“It's settled then.
You're coming home with me,” Jax said smugly. His bear
rumbled, clearly pleased.

“Th-thank you, very
much,” Serena stuttered.

Jax drove on, and Serena
finally fell asleep with her arms around her daughter. Jax glanced
at the two frightened, vulnerable females in his backseat.

Serena hadn't described her
phantom lover, and he wasn't sure he wanted her to. His bear was
already deeply unhappy hearing about her one night of passion with
another man. Jax wasn't bothered about Serena's past. Everyone had
a past, and everyone made mistakes. But Ashley was not a mistake.
The young girl had saved her mother's life. She was brave, tough,
loyal and loving. She was only five, but she was a hero.

Jax had seen the fear and
shame in the little girl's eyes when she looked at him. She could
see his bear, but she was frightened and confused by her ability.
She thought she had done a bad thing, setting those two men on fire.

She didn't know what she was,
and she had never met another kid like herself. The other kids had
even grown afraid of her. She had power in her blood, but it wasn't
magic.

There were many witches in
Shadow Point, and he had even dated a witch once so he knew if
someone had magic in their blood. Ashley's power didn't come from
magic.

Ashley was half paranormal.
Jax was certain of it. But he detected no shifter, vampire, fae or
witch blood in her. She was...something else.

The girl's scent was unique,
and even his bear couldn't identify her species.

But his bear didn't seem to
mind that Ashley was an unidentifiable half-paranormal. His bear
just wanted to keep those two females close and protect them.

Mine
, his bear
growled.
My mate, my cub
.

Jax's eyes widened. Were
these two precious females...really his?

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Serena opened her eyes with a
start and jerked up. For an instant, she forgot where she was. She
stared round and saw Jax in the driver's seat.

She relaxed immediately. She
was in Jax's car and she was safe. The sight of the handsome,
dark-haired stranger made her feel safer right away. Jax was a
stranger no doubt. She had only gotten to know him tonight, yet he
didn't feel like a stranger at all. Oddly, he felt like family.

She had almost forgotten how
it felt to have someone care and worry for her, and to have a sense
of belonging and security.

Jax drove slowly up a
driveway and cut the engine. “We're here,” he announced
cheerfully.

He pointed towards a homely,
double-story house. “I texted my brothers to let them know we
were coming. Ah, that's them, at the front door. And that's my
sister-in-law, Staci.”

Serena gasped as she saw the
front door of the house burst open just as Jax got out of the car. A
lovely, curvy brunette was hurrying towards them leaving two big,
broad men scrambling in her wake.

Serena stared at Jax's twin
brother, Joshua and his elder brother Marcus. Jax's twin looked
exactly like him, with dark hair and eyes, while Marcus had sandy
hair and blazing blue eyes. Staci and Marcus were wearing identical
striped pajamas. Serena thought they made a really cute couple.

Staci opened the car door
for her and beamed. “Hello, hello, you must be Serena!”
she said. “And this must be Ashley!”

Serena smiled. “Hello,
I...”

“Where are we, Mummy?”
Ashley jerked awake suddenly and blinked up at her. She sounded
lost and scared. “Who...”

“We're in Shadow Point,
sweetheart. It's Uncle Jax's hometown.”

“Uncle Jax...”
For a moment, Ashley looked bewildered. Then she smiled. “Oh,
the nice man who gave us a ride.”

“Yes. This is his
house, and this is his family,” Serena said, taking her
daughter's hand to help her out of the car.

“Hello Ashley,”
Staci smiled. “I'm Staci and this is Marcus and Joshua, Uncle
Jax's brothers.”

Ashley stared at the three
adults and giggled. “They look alike,” she said,
pointing at Jax and Joshua. “Even their bears look alike!”