A Mate For The Bear: BBW Paranormal Alpha Shifter Romance (Bear Brides Book 4) (3 page)

They were already enjoying
themselves way too much in his car. And they hadn't even had a
single drop to drink. Those boys were planning to paint the town red
tonight.

Dalton's eyes narrowed as he
spotted the flamboyant, neon sign. He turned into the parking lot
opposite Candybar and glanced at the queue in front of the strip
club.

His bear was uneasy and
agitated, and a low growl rumbled from his throat in warning as he
cut the engine.

His clan members got out of
the car and waited. They'd heard their Beta's growl and were all
tense and alert.

“Beta?” Connor
asked quietly.

Dalton shook his head. “No
danger. It's business as usual for the wolves. Let's go, boys.
We're here to have fun,” he said firmly, trying his best to
convince himself and his bear.

The elevator door opened and
Joyce tried to keep her face impassive as she stepped out into
Randell Wyle's office. She wouldn't appear weak and scared in front
of a wolf.

The two bouncers walked back
to the elevator, leaving her alone with Randell. With a deep,
steadying breath, Joyce took a step forward and stood in front of
Randell's large desk.

The Beta of the Crimson
Wolves leaned back in his high-back leather chair and languidly
swirled the amber liquid in his whiskey glass. His eyes were the
same color as his drink, and there were streaks of white running
through his coppery hair. He was in a three-piece suit as always,
dressing the part of a refined businessman. But he was a wolf
through and through. Joyce had never met the Alpha of the Crimson
Wolves. She had only dealt with Randell, the Beta. But she had
heard rumors about the Crimson Alpha, and she knew that if ever she
was called to meet with the Alpha, she wouldn't be leaving the
meeting alive.

“Take a seat, Joyce.”
Randell waved a manicured hand and smiled.

Joyce pulled out a chair and
sat stiffly, folding her hands across her lap. She shook her head
politely when Randell offered her a cigarette.

“How long have you been
working here, Joyce?” Randell began casually, fixing his
glowing eyes on her.

“Eight months.”

“And how much of your
debt have you paid off?”

“It's not my debt,”
she said through clenched teeth.

Randell shrugged and
rephrased the question, his eyes narrowing. “How much of your
ex-husband's debt have you paid off?”

“Not much.”

“Hmm.” Randell
nodded and put his glass down. “Being a nice, helpful
gentleman, I did the math for you.” He started pressing the
buttons on his large calculator. “At this rate, you'll finish
paying the debt in...let's see, twenty years. Twenty fucking years,
Joyce. I don't have twenty years. I'm already graying at the
roots.”

Joyce swallowed but returned
his stare steadily. The last sentence was meant as a joke, and a
threat. If she was causing him to have a few more gray hairs, she
was a problem. And a problem had to be solved, usually violently and
viciously.

“Randell...”

He put up a hand to stop her.
He wasn't interested in hearing what she had to say at all. He
hadn't called her up to his office for a discussion. They had
nothing to discuss.

Randell threw his calculator
across the room, shattering a crystal vase. Joyce jumped, and forced
herself to remain in her seat. She clenched her teeth, fixing her
eyes on a spot above Randell's head.

The wolf peered at her out of
his human face. Randell bared his teeth in a parody of a smile and
steepled his fingers. “You need to step up your game, Joyce.”

“I...”

“Prancing around the
stage isn't bringing in the money.”

“I don't do lap
dances.”

Randell smirked. “Lap
dances won't cover your debt either. Felix owes us a debt the size
of a country.”

Joyce bit her lip hard.

Killing me won't pay off
the debt either.

So what was he asking her to
do?

“There are customers
who will pay big money, to have you in their private rooms,”
Randell said, smiling benignly at her. “In fact, I have two
tycoons in the club tonight. You will service them after your
dance.”

Joyce blinked before the full
import of his words hit her. “No!” she gasped. “I
only agreed to dance in your club. I never agreed to...”

But Randell wasn't listening.
He had said what he wanted to say.

The meeting was over.

Joyce felt hands close around
her elbows and haul her to her feet. The two bouncers were back and
were leading her towards the elevator. She protested but Randell
didn't even bother looking at her as the elevator door closed. He
was fixing himself another drink at the lavish bar in the corner of
the room.

“I won't do it. I
won't do it,” Joyce whispered numbly as she staggered back to
the dressing room. “They can't make me.”

“Jade! Your turn!”

Disconcerted and dazed, she
managed to stumble onto the stage just as the music began.

“Dance!” Karen
hissed at her.

Joyce blinked rapidly but
remained frozen. Karen swung herself from the pole and nudged her
lightly. Karen was valiantly trying to distract the audience's
attention from Joyce by throwing glitter dust all around and making
her movements bigger and bolder.

“Hey, wake up!”
Karen nudged her again. Joyce started and managed to give Karen a
small, grateful smile.

She began to dance, going
through the motions but not seeing anything beyond the smoke and
lights. She usually couldn't wait for her routine to end, but now
she didn't want to get off the stage. The irony wasn't lost on her.
The stage had become her refuge. Up here, where everyone could see
her, she was safe, way safer.

At least up here, she was in
control of her body. She danced, she stripped, but she was
untouched.

She half turned to the
deejay, imploring him with her eyes to keep playing the music. Don't
let the music stop. Please!

Joyce forced herself to
continue dancing. Moving mechanically, she removed and waved bits
and pieces of her costume on cue. The sequin mask might cover half
her face, but she knew it couldn't hide the terror and despair in her
eyes.

Her eyes flew frantically
across the sea of faces in front of her, and focused on a pair of
intense, brown eyes. Her breath caught at the sight of his grim,
handsome face, a face she found strangely and achingly familiar and
comforting.

Joyce took another shuddering
breath and turned sharply away. She had to try to find a way out of
this.

But she had no one to help
her. Her only friend, DJ, wasn't here. If he was, she had no doubt
at all that he would come to her aid. But it was better that he stay
away from her and stay alive.

She could feel her panic
rising as the music wound down. She would have to step off the stage
soon. But there was nowhere and no way to run.

Dalton hardly touched his
drink. He kept his eye on one particular dancer on the stage. He'd
heard her stage name clearly. Jade.

He watched her swirl her
sheer cloak around, giving everyone a tantalizing view of her
delectable, bountiful curves. She was wearing the tiniest black
thong he had ever seen and a stingy bikini top that could barely
contain her generous breasts. A shiny, sequin mask covered half her
face, but it couldn't hide her eyes. Those wide, startling green
eyes. He'd recognize her eyes anywhere.

She was JD. He had found
her.

She danced gracefully but the
fear and tension radiated off her hot, curvy body in waves. Her
little fists remained tightly clenched as she danced. When she
removed her cloak, the audience went wild, hooting and clapping.
Dalton had to keep his bear in check. The beast was about to burst
out of his skin and claw out the eyes of every male in the room.

Dalton kept still as a
statue, ignoring the catcalls and wolf whistles around him. As Jade
tottered off the stage, two burly bouncers went up and took her by
the arm. She struggled as they steered her towards a room at the
back of the club.

His shifter senses were
heightened as his bear rose and rammed against his skin. Dalton's
claws sliced out as he lowered his mental shields, preparing to let
his bear out. He was in agreement with his bear. He had to get to
her.

Dalton stood silently and
followed JD's scent. He stopped in front of a door with thick
frosted glass and tensed. He could smell shifters in the room, and
he could scent JD's fear. The door was locked. Dalton placed his
palm against the frosted glass for a moment, letting the shifters in
the room see and scent his presence. He was giving them a chance to
open the door. He could play nice, for a while. A very short while.

Dalton heard a muffled cry
and he saw two hulking silhouettes converging on JD's hunched shape
in the room. In the next heartbeat, Dalton's fist was through the
frosted glass. He roared and reduced the door to splinters in a
matter of seconds.

There were shouts and out of
the corner of his eye, he saw bouncers coming at him from all angles.
But Bruno, Jason and the twins got his back. At his roar, his clan
members had leaped up from their table and bounded after their Beta.
They were already in position behind him.

The four Nightfire werebears
formed a solid, growling wall behind their Beta and faced off with
the bouncers.

Dalton snarled at the two men
in designer suits in the room. One of them was breaking out in
spots. Dalton could scent their animal distinctly now. They were
leopard shifters, which would explain the spots on the younger man.

“Dalton, what a
surprise.”

Dalton turned, recognizing
Randell Wyle's voice.

“Randell.” Dalton
greeted the Beta of the Crimson Wolves with a curt nod.

“Oh, Mr Will, Mr
Xavier.” Randell gave the two wereleopards his most charming
smile. “I do apologize for this little...misunderstanding.”

Mr Will, the younger
wereleopard, grabbed Randell's collar and snapped, “What's the
meaning of this? We paid for the girl!”

“Yes, yes, you did,”
Randell said, straightening his jacket. “It's just...”

“You said you had a
beautiful, curvy girl who would be happy to do a threesome. Well,
she's certainly beautiful and curvy,” Mr Xavier, the older
wereleopard said calmly, throwing JD a glance. “But she's not
happy. She wasn't willing to do this.”

Randell's eyes glowed but he
managed to keep the rage out of his voice. “Jade is willing,
Mr Xavier. She is perfectly willing.” He turned and bared his
teeth in an ugly smile. “Aren't you, Jade?”

JD stood up shakily, her eyes
darting from Randell to the two leopard shifters and finally to
Dalton. Dalton saw her eyes widen when she saw him, and he thought
he heard her whisper, “DJ.” But she shook her head
quickly and looked away, her features hardening as she tilted her
head towards Randell.

“I'm a dancer,”
she said, firmly and carefully. She was in the middle of a circle of
deadly shifters, and she was skating on thin ice. One wrong word,
one wrong move, and she could be dead. “I will dance to pay my
debt.”

She still had her sequin mask
on, but it sat askew over her eyes. Her red hair was mussed up and
there were scratches on her arms. Nevertheless, she held her head
high as she addressed Randell. She had done nothing wrong and she
hadn't allowed her body to be sold. If nothing else, her pride and
dignity remained intact.

Randell's eyes flashed
dangerously. “You...”

“I will pay her debt.”

All heads turned to Dalton.
He sensed his clan members fidgeting behind him and he heard Jason's
incredulous whisper, “What? There's nothing wrong with my
ears, right?”

“There's plenty wrong
with what's between your ears,” Bruno hissed. “Just shut
up and keep your eyes on the wolves.”

Randell regarded Dalton with
a sly smile. “She owes the Crimson Wolves a lot of money.”

“I will assume full
responsibility for her debt,” Dalton repeated.

There was a gleam in
Randell's eye as he jerked his head at one of the bouncers. “Get
the paperwork from my office.”

Randell was all smiles as he
turned to the two leopard shifters. “Mr Will, Mr Xavier, I
will refund your payment since the services—have not been
performed. Everything is on the house tonight. My manager will show
you to another room.”

Randell snapped his fingers
and the club manager stepped forward and escorted the two
wereleopards out of the room.

One of the wolves arrived at
the door with a file in his hand. Randell took the file and smiled
at Dalton. “Let's get our signatures on the page, shall we? I
will transfer her debt to you, and you will pay her debt in full in
three days' time. Deal?”