For Bear Or For Worse (Pure Blood 1)

For Bear or for Worse

A Billionaire Shifter Romance

Meredith Clarke

COPYRIGHT

©2015 Meredith Clarke

For Bear Or For Worse

All Rights Reserved worldwide.

No part of this book may be reproduced, uploaded to the Internet, or copied without permission from the author. The author respectfully asks that you please support artistic expression and help promote anti-piracy efforts by purchasing a copy of this book at the authorized online outlets.

This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences only. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Some may be used for parody purposes. Any resemblance to events, locales, business establishments, or actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.

Chapter One

Avery

My heart pounded as I went up the steps of the huge skyscraper building that was the home of my new job.  I told myself to calm down as I self-consciously ran my fingers through my long blonde hair.  Should I have styled it differently?  Should I have worn my other dress? 
Stop it Avery
, I thought. As I reached the elevator doors I was able to take another quick look at myself through their steely reflection.  My black pencil skirt and button-up blouse fit my curves perfectly.  I wasn’t skinny by any means, but this skirt did wonders for my hips. I looked over my shoulder quickly to make sure no one was watching me check myself out. That would be great on the first day, “Yep, hi, I’m the girl who was checking to make sure granola wasn’t stuck in her teeth when the elevator doors opened.” I checked my hair again and smiled as I finally realized I looked good.

I was so lucky to be have been given this job offer. I was a recent graduate and had thought I would be pounding the pavement for months looking for a job. After only a few weeks of searching, a Seattle corporation called me in for an interview and the next thing I knew I was one of their newest business analysts. It was really a dream come true. I couldn't ask for much more than that. The corporation had a sterling reputation, so I knew that if nothing else it would look amazing on my resume. Getting ahead was definitely my goal, and this job was the way to get there.

When I arrived the secretary greeted me and led me to my desk. It was in one of those open-concept rooms that had a lot of cubicle-like desks. It wasn't the most inspiring office I had been in, but it was a start.  The lack of privacy and the constant general buzz and overlapping conversations would take some getting used to, but I was more than willing to pay my dues to get to where I wanted to be. When I sat down at my desk, I was surprised to see the piles of papers already there.  Did they expect me to just jump in and get started?  I glanced at my desk for any other instructions, but the only other thing there besides the piles was my computer desktop.  I flipped on my computer and hoped that there was something else there.

A login screen popped up.

Shit.  What was I supposed to use as my login?

I looked up from my computer and nervously searched for someone I could ask for help.

There was a woman sitting at the desk beside me and she smiled when I looked over. Hopefully everyone in the office was as friendly as she was.

She had long, dark, wavy brown hair and a beautiful smile.

“Need some help?” she asked.

“Is it that obvious?” I nervously responded.

She chuckled as she walked over to my desk.

“I'm Zoey, by the way.”

“Oh yes...sorry, I'm Avery. It's nice to meet you.”

After showing me the ropes, I dug right into the files that I had received and hoped that the rest of the day would go smoothly.

There was almost an hour left to the workday and I was exhausted. I leaned back in my chair and stretched out my shoulder muscles. Every part of my body hurt. My shoulders were sore from leaning over and I knew I would have to invest in a better chair at some point. These basic office ones were just brutal. For every file that I had put into the outbox three more arrived, and that didn't include what came through emails. It just seemed endless, and I wondered how they managed to have so many clients. It was probably why they were so successful. But wow, it was a lot of work.

“Tough first day?” Zoey inquired, popping her head over my desk.

“Yeah, seriously. Corporate work is certainly different from what I'm used to. I just graduated, maybe I shouldn't have shot for the stars quite yet.” I rolled my eyes.

She laughed, “Well, it's a great place to work, and although it can be intense it pays well and the people are cool.”

“That's good to know.”

“The days aren't always stressful, you just have to get used to things and get a feel for how things work around here.”

“I hope not,” I said, feeling overwhelmed. “But thank you.”

Zoey’s phone buzzed and she quickly glanced down at it.  “Hey, some of us are heading out for a few drinks for happy hour once we are done here. Why don't you come with us? You can meet everyone.”

“Wow, thank you. That would be wonderful. That's so nice of you.”

She smiled and nodded. “No problem, I know what it's like being the new kid. I think you will fit in great, don’t worry.”              

We headed out at exactly 4:57; who said happy hour had to start right at five? Zoey seemed to want to get out of work just as desperately as I did. It turned out that there was a bar right in the building that many of the employees went to after work. There were about five of us ladies at the table and Zoey introduced me to the rest of the girls. They all seemed friendly enough and welcomed me to the company. It didn't take me long to forget their names, but as long as I stuck with Zoey I figured I would be okay.               “It's Avery's first day and it wasn't a good one.”

A petite blonde-haired girl nodded, “Yeah, my first day was a disaster, I almost quit. It was so stressful, but really you do adapt. The money helps, there are lots of jobs out there that pay their business analysts crap and you just end up hating your job. But the CEO here really takes care of his people. We work hard but with the benefits and the pay, you can't go wrong.”

Zoey jumped in, “Yeah, if this is your career, there is no better place to work than here.”

I smiled, “Good to know. Thanks.”

We ordered a round of appetizers and a few drinks. I was so happy that Zoey had invited me to join them, I felt the stress of the day melting away. It was nice to just sit and chat with some new people and de-stress after a hard day at work. I hoped the next day wouldn't be so jam-packed, but I should definitely start looking on the bright side of things: payday was really going to be a good one. I was grateful for the work and I was looking forward to getting to know more people at the company. It was, after all, my home away from home.

Zoey’s phone started buzzing and she checked the message. “Oh my God, I just got the most amazing text, ladies.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“There is a super-secret party happening right now downtown.”

“Oh my God, you are so lucky, I never get those invites. Are you allowed to bring guests?”

“Just one,” she muttered, barely looking at them.

All the girls looked at her with puppy dog eyes and I laughed. I sipped my drink and couldn't have been more surprised when Zoey looked at me and said, “Do you want to go with me?”

“Seriously? Are you sure? I don't know if I should. I don't think I'm secret club material.”

“Of course you are,” she looked at the other girls, “Sorry ladies, next time. I think I need to show Avery a good time.”

“Maybe you should bring one of the other girls, they really seem to want to go.”

“Come on Avery, I think it would be fun for you. I'm with these girls all the time. It's you that needs to get out there and meet some new people.”

I shrugged, “Okay, maybe you're right. I will go then, thank you for the invite.”

“That's my girl.”

“Where are we going anyways?”

She grinned, “It's a place called Hibernation.”

My eyebrows raised and I wondered if I really knew what I was getting into.

Chapter Two

Cole

I stretched out my shoulders over my head while I sat at my desk. My day had been full with meetings and I was glad to see it over with. Playing was far more fun than working.  My days often started early and ended late. Being a CEO of a major real estate company meant that I needed to bust my ass to keep it successful.  I had built the empire that I stood on from the ground up. “Work hard, play hard” was my motto in life.  And now it was time to start playing.

Being an important man certainly had its advantages: women, wealth and power. Not only was I the CEO of the company but I was also the Alpha for the Washington State sleuth. We were a pack of black bears that had the ability to shift into human form at our own will. We were tough and feared by many.  But recently several of our members started to have trouble shifting.  When the numbers reached up to half our sleuth, our elders decided to hold an emergency meeting.  After deliberation they blamed the shifting problem to our members mingling with humans. They determined that all of our interactions with them were causing our human sides to become more prevalent.  Of course the entire sleuth panicked.  Several called for us to move back into the woods, and stay out of society, while others, like myself, did not want to give up our current lifestyles. 

With the current turmoil, the elders started to pressure me into finding a mate.  They claimed by mating, I would help strengthen our sleuth because the alpha bloodline would be solidified.  The problem was, I wasn’t exactly ready to settle down.             

Just as I was about to pack up and go, my secretary, Vicki, sauntered into my office.  She was wearing a tight yet professional dress that fit her curves very nicely.  Too bad she was just a human.  Otherwise, I might have some fun with her. 

“Need anything else before I head out?” she asked, with a hint of seduction in her voice.

“No, I think I am good for this evening.”  I smirked and grabbed my things and left the office. I could see her pout as I walked out my door.  I know I could have Vicki any way I wanted, but with our abilities weakening I didn’t want to risk it.

Even though I was actively looking for a mate, I still liked to dip into the local shifters and play around. I wasn't the settling-down type, and the idea of having one mate wasn't very appealing to me. She would have to be someone special indeed to make me want to take her as my mate for life. I had yet to find her, and although I wasn't in a hurry, time to do that was also running out. The elders were on my back daily about whether or not I had found one.

With all of the pressure from the elders I needed to release some pent-up stress and I knew just the place to do that. There was a private club that went by Nocturn that was a shifter bar. It was the perfect place to find some action and get my mind off of finding a mate.

Chapter Three

Avery

Walking up to the club doors the place was intimidating; I almost stopped and stared at the entrance. I had never heard or seen a place like that before. It was evident that it was a member’s only club and I wondered about its secrecy. Who were the people behind a club that went by Hibernation? Zoey avoided the line and went right up to the front where the bouncer was manning the door. I followed right behind, keeping my eyes on my shoes. I had never been to a place like this before.

He took one look at me and shook his head. “She's not getting in.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest and eyeballed me. Well, he knew how to make a girl feel good.

Surprised, I looked down at myself wondering what it was about me that turned him off. I had changed out of my work clothes and squeezed myself into a black club dress that Zoey had been nice enough to loan me. I thought I looked decent, surely good enough to get into the club, and yet the bouncer snubbed me on sight. He didn't even suggest that I get in line, he just denied me altogether. Did he really find me that hideous?

Zoey got right up in the bouncer’s face, which shocked me in place. What is she doing? She pushed herself between the bouncer and I, and stared him down.  I let out a nervous laugh.

“Zoey, come on.  It’s not that big of a deal.  You go in and I can just head home.”

“No, he will let you in,” she said without breaking her intense gaze.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to watch the strange staring contest her and the bouncer were having.  She wasn't a big girl at all, in fact she was kind of petite, she didn't stand a chance against him if he got rough. I ran my eyes over his tall muscular frame.  He would crush her in a second if he wanted to. But his size didn't seem to faze her at all as confidence radiated off her body. I admired her courage because I would have skittered off into the night. What would it take for me to have the kind of confidence she had? To walk right up to a bouncer and demand to be let in. I couldn't even imagine what it would take. It just wouldn't happen. That level of confidence just didn't exist for me. I knew that I was a pretty girl, but I couldn't walk into a room and command it in the manner that Zoey seemed to do just naturally.

As I watched them I realized it was the most awkward stare down I had seen in my life. Not that I was privy to many...or any at all, but it was so intense that it started to make me uncomfortable. Zoey was acting so weird, like who did stuff like that? If my friends and I couldn't get into a club we just walked away and maybe flipped the bouncer off as we retreated, but we would never go toe to toe with anyone. There were plenty of clubs to go to, but I guess Zoey was determined to go to that one. I had never seen anything like what was happening before me. Zoey was not behaving as I would have expected, and the bouncer was acting even weirder. I had fully expected him to tell her to beat it or to even push her away from him, but that was not the response he gave at all. In fact, it was almost as if she were mentally breaking him. No...that couldn't be right, but watching the situation, that was what I saw before my eyes.

The longer that Zoey stared at the bouncer the less he was able to meet her eyes. It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen. Why wasn't she backing off and why wasn't he acting like all the other bouncers in the city? I looked closely and was amazed to see that the bouncer suddenly couldn't even look Zoey in the eyes. He couldn't possibly be scared of her? No. Could he? I felt like I had just walked into the twilight zone. He could have virtually picked Zoey up and carried her away from the club and yet there he was unable to look her in the eyes.

Not only was he unable to look Zoey in the eyes, but also he almost seemed to shrink back away from her as if he was scared of what she would do to him. Yes...he was actually backing away from her. Zoey seemed to have some kind of control or power over him that caused him to do whatever she wanted. Maybe she was the owner of the club. Did she fail to tell me that much? Though was that really how you handled employees? Still, if she was the owner, I doubted he would have given me trouble from the get-go. No, what happened in front of me was more like a power struggle, and yet that didn't make any sense either. There should have been no power struggle, and yet if I had to call a winner it would surely be Zoey.

To my utter disbelief the bouncer straightened up and motioned for us to go ahead into the club. Zoey smiled and motioned for me to follow her.

I turned to Zoey, “What exactly happened out there?”

She smiled, “Oh, the bouncer was just being a jerk. I straightened him out, though.”

I laughed, “Uh, yeah, I see that, but how the hell did you do that? I can't even understand what happened out there. Do you know him or something?”

“Don’t worry about it. He just needed to be reminded of where his place is. We are in and I need a drink. Let’s go.”

And just like that I was following her to the bar, more confused than when I entered. She was so nonchalant about the encounter that it left me speechless. Was this normal behavior for her? Maybe the bouncer and her were an item at some point? But would that really explain the behavior? I didn't think so. She just went around and got whatever she wanted, how did she do that? Maybe she could teach me a thing or two. I got the feeling that Zoey got her own way a lot.

Zoey ordered us both a round of whiskey and I decided to let the encounter go. Zoey clearly didn't want to talk about it, and I just wanted to have a good time. She had been kind enough to let me join in on her adventure when she could have invited anyone else. I didn't want to ruin it, and maybe I was overreacting anyways. The more I thought about it the less it seemed like a big deal. Maybe I didn't really see what I thought I saw.

As I took an appreciative sip of my whiskey I looked around the room. My brow furrowed as I took in my surroundings and the people that were in the room. I was amazed to see how beautiful everyone at the club looked. They all seemed so youthful and energized, they all had a glow, almost a fire inside them. I had never seen anything like it. Every single person in that room looked like they could take on the world with confidence and beauty. Who were these people? An exclusive club was clearly the place to be.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the next.  Damn, these heels were killing me.  Zoey noticed my fidgeting and laughed.

“Want to go walk around?  We might be able to find a table to sit at,[[-=”  Zoey asked.  I smiled and nodded.

We grabbed our glasses and went about the room to find a table.  As we walked through the club I kept hearing tidbits of conversations about a new pack leader. Pack leader....what did they mean? It didn't even sound like a normal sentence. A pack was a term used most often in regards to animals. Like a pack of wolves. That was where I would have heard something like that before. But why were they talking about this pack leader as if he was a man?  Maybe I’ve had a bit too much to drink already.

“Zoey, you’ve been here before, right?”

“Of course!  It’s the hottest place to be these days.”

I nodded and took another sip of my drink.  I must have heard the other people wrong.  What else could this place be besides a nightclub?  Zoey noticed I had gone silent and she stopped walking to face me.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I guess I just feel a bit out of place here.”

Zoey smiled reassuringly “Quit feeling that way.  You belong here because I brought you in.  So let’s go have some fun!”  I laughed nervously as I watched her turn and shimmy her way into the crowd of people. 

As much as I tried, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I didn’t belong here.  Something in my gut was telling me to leave, however, Zoey’s enthusiasm was making me want to stay and try and fit in.

Zoey pulled me back up to the bar and ordered us another round. Maybe I just needed to relax and get a little drunk. I could just be imagining the whole ambiance of the room. Suddenly the hairs stood up at the back of my neck and I had the strange feeling that I was being watched. I turned suddenly to see who it was and there was no one. I searched the room, looking for the person who had been boring into my back. I couldn't see anyone and yet the feeling had been so strong. Maybe I was losing my mind. The whole evening had been strange, and I feared that I was just letting all of my nerves get to me.

I took another hesitant sip of my drink and felt the eyes on me again.  I shivered a bit and felt as though I had an imaginary target on my back. I spun around again and all I saw was the packed dance floor.

What the hell was going on?