Authors: Vanessa Devereaux
Mending the Bear
Evernight Publishing ®
Copyright©
2016 Vanessa
Devereaux
ISBN: 978-1-77233-796-9
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry
Designs
Editor: Audrey
Bobak
ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction.
All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual
events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.
DEDICATION
For all the Kalispell Shifters readers.
MENDING THE BEAR
Kalispell Shifters, 13
Vanessa
Devereaux
Copyright © 2016
Chapter One
Ian
slipped the key into the lock as quietly as he could. He gently opened the door
and tiptoed into the hallway. He sat the bouquet of flowers down on the table
by the coatrack and decided to strip off before he got to the bedroom. That
would make the whole thing more exciting for his mate. He knew exactly where
she’d be at this time of the day. At home and tucked up in bed after her night
duties at the shifter hospital. He’d been planning this for weeks, and at one
point had almost let it slip what he’d been planning to do for her big day. It
wasn’t every day that his mate turned thirty. He’d not only bought flowers, but
honey-flavored chocolates, too. The icing on the cake would be a special birthday
fuck that she’d still remember when she turned eighty.
His
cock was already hard and ready just thinking about the afternoon ahead. He
wasn’t the most romantic of bears, but this was a milestone for her and he was
going to be Mr. Soft and Gooey just this once. Ian crept along the hallway,
along to her room where he heard her groaning and moaning.
Guess
he couldn’t blame her for doing a little self-pleasuring. After all, it was her
special day and she could do what she damn well pleased. Despite them having
frequent sex, even he found the need to jerk off now and then.
She
groaned again.
Maybe
she was tense about growing older and thought she’d find some release by
climaxing.
“Fuck
me like there’s no tomorrow.”
It
was Joanne’s voice. He put his nose into the air. She wasn’t alone. Not only
could he smell her and the fact that she was very highly aroused, but whoever
was in there with her was even more excited.
He’d
fucking kill whoever it was. Ian opted not to open the door; that would be too
subtle. Instead he decided to kick it in. It now stood suspended by just one of
its hinges and lay on its side in her room. There on the bed was Joanne riding
Max. She was cheating not with another bear, but a dirty cougar shifter.
They
both turned to look at him.
“Oh
my God, Ian … this wasn’t…” she shouted. She lifted herself off Max and walked
toward him, her thighs glistening with her juices. Ian was sure he was going to
throw up at the sight of her and how she’d found such pleasure with someone besides
him.
“This
wasn’t what?” asked Ian, throwing down the chocolates and flowers and realizing
he was naked and standing there looking like the biggest fool of all.
Max
got off the bed and threw the bedsheet around his private parts.
“It
wasn’t how you were supposed to find out,” Joanne said.
“You
mean find out that you’re a cheater and a slut,” shouted Ian.
“Hey,
watch your mouth, that’s my woman you’re talking about,” Max said.
The
smell of their union filled the air making Ian almost want to run and vomit.
His woman.
How dare he? She was Ian’s
and always would be.
“You’re
woman. She’s my mate,” Ian said, taking two strides over to him. He threw a
punch at him. Max fell back on the bed and then got back up and hit Ian,
knocking him to the floor. He got up and wiped his mouth with the back of his
hand.
“I’ll
fucking kill you,” said Ian, getting to his feet again.
“Stop
it, stop it, both of you,” Joanne shouted.
“You’re
my mate and don’t you forget it,” Ian said, wiping his mouth and seeing blood
smeared on the back of his hand.
“Ian,
I can’t be your mate anymore. I’ve waited so long for you to ask me to marry
you. Turning thirty has made me realize what I really want from life and it’s
not you. I want Max and I want to have Max’s children.”
“You’d
sink so low as to have babies with a cougar?” Ian asked.
“Lots
of the shifters marry outside their species, you know that. Look how many are even
marrying humans now,” Joanne said.
“You
know how I feel about that,” said Ian. A sure sign of a traitor.
She
tried to put her hand on his arm, but he snatched it away. “I’d like us to stay
the best of friends,” she said.
“Friends
with you. A woman who sleeps around behind my back. You’ve broken my heart.”
“Ian,
please, don’t be like this. Be happy for me that I’ve found someone special.”
He
glanced down at her belly and spotted her mating ring which wrapped all the way
around her navel with not one tiny opening to be seen on her skin. These two
weren’t just fucking this afternoon, they were trying to make a baby.
How
could she do this to him? Because they’d been together since they were five.
She was his mate, and he was hers. He picked up the closest thing to his hand
which was Joanne’s favorite vase, and threw it through the window and then
growled. Next he got hold of the bedside table and threw it on the floor.
“I
will have the last laugh, Joanne. I truly will.” He turned and ran out of the
room and down the hallway.
“Ian,
please, let’s talk,” Joanne said, catching up with him in the hallway.
“Nothing
more to talk about,” he said, quickly putting his clothes back on. Tears were
forming in his eyes. He’d never thought a heart could be broken, but he was
pretty sure that’s what was happening to his right this second. Crumbling like
an old brick wall that had seen better days.
He
put on his leather jacket, went out the door, not bothering to close it, and
headed to his bike. It’s all he had to love now.
To
hell with the helmet, a head injury was the least of his worries. He started up
the bike and pushed on the throttle.
Joanne
ran to the door. “Ian, don’t go off like this. Don’t do anything stupid.”
Stupid.
The only stupid thing he’d ever done was love and trust her.
He
stuck up his middle finger to her. “Bitch.”
He
pushed his foot on the accelerator. He was going to ride and ride, maybe not even
stop for red lights, not worry about the hairpin bends, like the one Danny
Ahern had taken before the drunk driver had ended his life.
Yeah,
maybe he’d meet a similar fate.
Tears
stung his eyes as he picked up speed. Right now he envied Danny. Dying was much
better than living with the pain of what Joanne had done to him.
Chapter Two
“So
what do you think?”
The
hairdresser held the mirror up to the back of her head and spun the chair
around slightly so Eve could see how the new hairstyle looked on her.
She
hadn’t chopped off more than a couple of inches of her hair since she’d been in
high school, but today, she’d taken the plunge and the hairdresser had even
talked her into adding some highlights around her face. She was hesitant at
first, but finally gave in. After all, she was new in town, taking on a new
venture, and as she’d told herself when she’d left Florida, this was her
me
time. No husband, no commitments, no
worries, just doing whatever she damn well pleased for once in her life.
“I didn’t take off too much, did I?” the
hairdresser asked.
Eve
realized she’d been lost in thought. “No, it’s great, perfect in fact.”
“Good
to hear and I have to say, it suits you. Frames your face well and the
highlights really add some pop to those beautiful eyes of yours.” She snapped
open the robe, removed it from her body, and then brushed the stray hairs off
of Eve’s shoulders.
The
whole process had taken a couple of hours, but she guessed it had been worth
it.
“I’ll
give you my card. You’ll probably need it trimmed about every six weeks, and
the highlights about every eight, but let’s get a schedule together so you only
need one booking.”
Pampering
herself wasn’t something that Eve was used to doing, so this was going to be a
real treat every other month or so. She followed the hairdresser down to the
front of the salon to the reception desk.
“Do
you need any styling products or shampoo?”
“No,
I have plenty of those,” Eve said.
“Then
your total for today is $145.”
Eve
had never paid that much to get her hair done, ever, but this was a special
treat and she was heading to the North Kalispell and Glacier Chamber of
Commerce meeting and wanted to make a good first impression on the other
members. She handed over her credit card, glancing one more time in the mirror.
She really did like her new look.
“There’s
your receipt and my card.”
“I’ll
definitely be back because it feels so good already.”
“Have
a good rest of the day. Glad to see the rain finally stopped.”
Eve
grabbed her raincoat, put it on, and headed out to her car. The lot had been
full when she’d arrived for her appointment and the only spot she’d found was
by the edge of the road. Now the whole place had emptied out and hers was the
lone car. She ran her hands over her hair and shook her head. The shorter
length would probably take some getting used to.
She
approached her vehicle and heard the sound of a motorbike heading her way. She
turned around just as a guy riding the bike, hit a puddle, shooting water and
mud directly up into the air and landing on her like a shower. Mud rained down
from her hair onto her cheeks. She even had some in her mouth which she spat
out.
“Why
you, bastard,” she shouted after him.
He
was going so fast all she could see was the back of his leather jacket with the
emblem of a grizzly bear on the center of it. How dare he ruin her hair after
she’d spend all morning getting
pampered.
She wiped
her fingers over her face, seeing the tacky mud clinging to them. She got into
her car and glanced in the rearview mirror.
She
looked like she’d been mud wrestling and her once lovely new hairdo was now
ruined. Even her highlights were dulled with caked mud. She leaned over and put
her forehead on the steering wheel and began to sob. When would her run of bad
luck finally stop? She slapped the top of the wheel with her hand, accidently
blasting her horn. She raised her head and glanced in the mirror one more time.
That
guy had ruined her day. If she ever saw him again, she was pretty sure she’d
kill him.