Diesel (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (The Grizzly Brothers Book 1)

“
O
nly me
,” Sadie muttered as she looked around the vast area.

Snow… that was all she could see for miles and miles. Well, and ice… snow and ice.

Sadie sighed audibly, then kicked the tire of her car, as if it were the car’s fault, and not hers, that it had run out of gas.

“Stupid Sadie,” she said, muttering again, even though at this point she could scream it as loud as possible, and no one would have heard her.

She’d noticed that she only had half a tank when she’d left town, but being a city girl, Sadie had been sure she’d have no problem locating a gas station along the way.

Yes
, it was her first time in Alaska, and she was learning the hard way that there was a
huge
difference between living in rural Chicago and traveling in Alaska.

Pulling her fur-lined hood over her head and tugging the strings tightly to cocoon her face, Sadie was grateful that her sister, Reagan, had insisted she wear the well-lined coat. It was the only advice she’d taken from her practical sister, who’d been living in Alaska for the last five years.

Reagan, the sister she hadn’t seen, was the reason she was here, in fact. She was on a long overdue trip to visit since Reagan had left their home in Chicago. She’d gotten an offer to work with Outdoor Bound, a large company that was based out of Alaska. Reagan was a photographer for their catalog and loved her new life in what Sadie had just dubbed “the coldest and loneliest place on earth.”

If only Reagan had been able to pick me up at the airport as planned,
she thought, but her sister had been given a last minute job and needed the money. She’d promised Sadie that her house would be stocked and ready for Sadie’s arrival, and that she’d return home the following day; unfortunately, she hadn’t accounted for her younger sister’s often flightiness.

Now, Sadie wondered how long she’d survive out here in the wild. Would anyone drive out this way, or was Reagan going to find her frozen body on the side of the road in a couple days?

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself and move,” Sadie said, her voice a little louder. Knowing that she needed to do something, other than just stand around and mope, she popped the trunk of her rental car and looked inside.

Orange cones, a spare tire, a flare gun, and a horn.

She could work with this…

Sadie posted the cones around the car, shot a flare into the sky, then began walking down the road in the direction she’d been driving. North, toward the small village Reagan had told her she lived in with six scattered neighbors.

As she walked, Sadie blew the horn in hopes that someone would hear the faint strains over the desolate expanse of snow.

She wiggled her fingers in her gloves, trying to keep the blood flowing as the cold seeped into her bones.

A sound had her spinning to the right, hope filling her at the possibility of finding someone to come to her rescue.

Instead of a person, dogsled, or
god-willing
, a car, what Sadie saw stopped her in her tracks, and had the horn falling from her hand, as it flew to her mouth to hold back her scream.

About a mile a way, a grizzly bear ambled toward her. Either sensing, or smelling, something in its presence, it stopped and stood on two legs. Close to seven feet tall, and over four hundred pounds of muscle, flesh and fur, the grizzly looked her dead in the eye.

Sadie was too scared to find the way the bear seemed to survey her and her situation strange; all thought had fled her, as she stood frozen to the spot. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Instead, she heard a whooshing sound inside her heart, right before her eyes rolled back in her head and everything turned black.

She passed out before she hit the ground, or the sound of the grizzly charging in her direction probably would have scared the life out of her.

Instead, she was unaware of the large beast’s paws crunching in the snow around her, and his snout sniffing her as he rounded her prone body.

Her body was lifted, but Sadie didn’t come to as she was carried away from the scene. Instinctively, she burrowed into the warmth of the fur that surrounded her, but her mind wasn’t ready to bring her consciousness back to the surface.

Sadie stayed passed out as they ambled across the miles of snow, before coming up on a secluded cabin nestled in the woods of the makeshift village. She didn’t wake when she was placed on the porch, nor when the sounds of bones shifting turned the bear into the large, silent man who carried her into his home and placed her on his king-sized bed, covering her reverently as he warred against the confusing emotions her presence filled him with.

Feeling safe, warm, and subconsciously relieved, Sadie snuggled into the comfy pillow and let the comforter envelope her, as she drifted deeper into sleep.

A few hours later, Sadie blinked rapidly as she tried to pull herself out of the haze of sleep and into her strange surroundings. It took her a moment to realize that she was in a bed in a strange room, and not still out on the road she’d been traveling.

Sitting up cautiously, Sadie looked around the room, hoping for some indication as to where she was. The room was sparse, with only a dresser, nightstand, and the bed. No decoration adorned the walls or filled the space. There were three closed doors, which Sadie assumed led to a closet, maybe a bathroom, and to the outside of the room.

She threw the covers off of her body, and braced against the cold of the room, as she noted that she was still dressed as she’d been on the road, complete with boots and over-sized coat.

That’s a good sign
, she thought,
at least I wasn’t picked up by someone with ill intentions
.

Feeling a little more comfortable with the assumption that if whoever had rescued her wanted to harm her, they would have done so when she was incapacitated, Sadie got out of bed with the intention of finding her way out of the bedroom.

Before she could get two steps in, the door closest to her swung open, filled with the largest, most intimidating, yet
sexiest
man Sadie had ever seen in her life.

H
e couldn’t speak
. Didn’t know what to say to the petite, blonde woman with curves that were obviously generous, even in the large fur-lined coat she wore. So, Diesel grunted.

“Um, hello,” the beauty before him began. “I’m Sadie. Did you bring me here?”

Diesel nodded, suddenly feeling too large for his own bedroom. He’d never seen anyone so delicate, and when he’d lifted her, it had been as easy as lifting salmon from the stream.

“Thank you,” the blonde said, taking one step toward him, before thinking better of it and stopping in her tracks. “Ah, what’s your name?”

“Diesel,” he said, his voice gravely from underuse. He cleared his throat, then stood there like an idiot, just staring at her, unsure what to do with his hands.

“Thanks, Diesel,” Sadie said again, her head turning from side to side as she looked around the room. “Um, do you have a restroom?”

It took Diesel a moment to get what she meant, then he remembered a human his brother, Hunter, had dated, and some of her odd sayings came back to him. He lifted his hand and gestured to the door on his right, then spun on his heel and left the room, figuring she’d need some privacy.

Once in the kitchen, Diesel started the coffee. He might have been what his brothers called a hermit, but he knew enough about entertaining others to know that coffee was often a desired beverage, especially during Alaskan winters.

He knew when she was finished in the bathroom and had begun to quietly make her way through his cabin toward his kitchen. Still, he waited until she cleared her throat daintily before turning.

“Coffee,” Diesel said, thrusting a steaming mug at her.

Sadie blinked prettily, then took the offered cup and sat at his makeshift dining room table. It was actually a large cut of wood from a Sitka Spruce he’d taken down on his land. He’d sanded and stained it, then slapped it on a couple large logs and called it good.

He’d never had a woman in his home, let alone sleeping in his bed and sitting at his table.

Diesel found he liked it very much. Especially this woman, with her sweet smile and light brown eyes that reminded him of his favorite stream.

Sadie watched him as he leaned against his kitchen counter, his own cup secured in his large hands. She was nervous, if the rapid beating of her heart was any indication, but she gave no sign of nerves in her expression or mannerisms.

“Diesel,” Sadie began, her tone hesitant before rapidly firing off questions. “How did you find me? How far are we from my car? Did you see that bear? How did you get me here?”

Diesel let her questions sift through his brain, then tried to find the words to answer.

His brothers always told him he spent too much time in his true form. He was always awkward as a man, especially around strangers.

“I… saw your flare… then came to you and carried you back here. We are… ten miles from your car.”

“Ten miles?” Sadie asked, her lips parting prettily in shock. “You
carried me
ten miles?”

“You’re very light,” he said, stating what he thought was obvious.

Sadie’s eyes took in his large form, her gaze wandering over every inch of his body. Her top to toe perusal left him feeling strangely heavy and light at the same time. Diesel liked the way she looked at him, like he was strong and capable.

The strange feelings she brought forth in him made him curious. He’d never felt so protective, or attracted, to anyone before. Human or bear.

Diesel watched as she sipped her coffee, her face reflective. His eyes wandered over her delicate features. Sweet, full lips, rounded, rosy cheeks, and those eyes… all surrounded by hair that looked soft as a cloud, and had his large hands itching to touch.

“I…” Sadie began, then stopped with a blush when her stomach growled loudly. “Oh, my gosh, excuse me. I haven’t eaten since I left Chicago.”

“You’re hungry,” he stated, immediately turning to open his refrigerator.

Salmon, vegetables, and leftover rice were the first things he saw, so Diesel pulled them out and set the flame on his stove before beginning to chop up the vegetables.

“You don’t have to go to any trouble…” Sadie assured him.

Diesel put some butter in the pan and said, “No trouble.”

Ten minutes later, he set a plate filled with rice, salmon, and sautéed vegetables in front of Sadie, who looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Um, thanks, but I don’t know if I can eat all this,” she said, her voice low, but kind.

Diesel looked at the overflowing plate, thinking it looked like the perfect amount, then realized her smaller frame might not need as much sustenance as his. He grabbed another plate, scooped half of Sadie’s food on to it, then set her plate back in front of her.

“Thank you,” she said, her smile so shockingly beautiful that he was momentarily stunned. “It looks delicious.”

Shaking his head to try and clear it, Diesel grunted in response, then sat across from her and began shoveling his food into his mouth. After a few moments, Diesel noticed her small, graceful bites, and forced himself to slow down.

His brother, Blaze, always complained that he ate like an animal. Maybe he was right…

They ate in silence, and when they were both done, Diesel watched as Sadie rose from her seat. He moved to get up as well, to get their dirty plates to the sink before she could, but Sadie reached him first and put her hand on his forearm to stop him.

That was all it took.

One touch. Skin on skin. To explain the strange feelings he’d felt since first coming upon Sadie in the road.

She was his intended. His mate. The other half of his soul.