Scottish Werebear: A Second Chance: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Scottish Werebears Book 6) (9 page)

There was no sign of James yet, so she waited. It was a clear winter's day, but the sun didn't do much to warm her. It had to be below freezing, and the coat that had kept her comfortable at the cafe had lost its efficacy. She hadn't even thought to keep a pair of gloves out.

"Charlie," a voice made her jump.

She turned, and there he was. James.

"Hi," she mumbled while rubbing her hands together and blowing into them in an attempt to warm up.

From one day to the next, his whole demeanor had changed. He'd gone from hot to icy cold.

"Tell me about your work at the Edinburgh Herald," he began.

Her heart sank, and her lower lip started to shake. So that's what this was. Just when she'd planned to tell him everything, he'd found out first. No wonder he was angry.

"That's exactly what I had wanted to talk to you about," she whispered.

His dark expression barely changed, and why would it? If she were in his position, any explanation she could offer now wouldn't convince her either.

"I should have told you yesterday," Charlie said while keeping her eyes fixed on the ground between them.

"I just need to know one thing," James began.

Charlie looked up but immediately averted her gaze again after making eye contact. As cold and angry as he sounded, he didn't look it. His eyes were filled with emotion, but there was no anger in them. He looked hurt more than anything else.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Did you submit anything yet?"

"What?" Charlie blurted out. "I would never! Sure, I used certain perks of the job to get out of the office and come here to see you. But I haven't reported back. In fact, after sabotaging my colleague's chances at a story by guiding you out the side entrance yesterday, I'm not even sure I still
have
a job."

Tears filled her eyes. How she regretted not telling him sooner. The more time she spent in his presence, or even thinking about him, the more she had started to wonder if perhaps they
could
give things a go again. It didn't make any sense, but now that everything hung in the balance, she knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted him back.

James sighed and looked around. "Walk with me," he said.

Charlie nodded and followed his lead. They walked across the small green patch around the Marble Arch in silence, crossed the road and entered Hyde Park.

"We have a proposal for you," James finally said.

We?
So this was all business now? "Yeah?"

"You saw that protest on TV yesterday. We need to improve our image, so those
people
don't get the upper hand, you understand?"

Charlie didn't answer. This was exactly what she would have suggested, if only she'd had the chance to come clean about her work first.

"There was another protest yesterday outside Westminster," James added. "Knowing how they operate, they will escalate as soon as they've got the numbers they need. We'll all be targeted. We've been fighting these people for years, so we know they're capable of violence."

Charlie balled her fists in her pockets. This was bad. When Charlie had seen their leader's speech, she'd compared them to nationalists. And although nationalists did at times inspire hate crimes, they mainly sought a political solution to their problems: stricter immigration laws; closing the borders.

But this wasn't an immigration issue. Shifters already lived among them, and they seemed to be native to this place. How do you resolve a conflict with a native minority? The only examples history could offer painted a bleak picture.

"You think they want to instigate a genocide? Why would people even go along with that?" Charlie stammered. The thought seemed so preposterous when spoken out loud; she wasn't sure she wanted to believe it. And yet...

"You tell me. What's the logical next step?" James asked.

If people were scared enough... Anything was possible.

Charlie felt her chest tighten, which made her lose her balance slightly. She grabbed for James' arm to steady herself. "Oh my God," she whispered.

The second she touched him, she felt it again. The jolt of energy. The butterflies. The overwhelming urge to forget herself and get him back. This wasn't helpful.
Focus, woman!

She let go and made a beeline for the nearest bench, where she sat down and rested her head in her hands. This was too much.

Tears were once again flowing freely.

This was ridiculous. She hadn't cried in years and now, in the span of three days, this was the third time!

James sat down beside her. She hadn't looked up and thus she hadn't seen him, but somehow she felt his presence right next to her. It made her cry even harder. She should have told him from the start. Instead, she ruined their second chance from the start.

It's okay... Please don't cry!

Charlie looked up and found James looking at her. His eyes seemed more intense than usual, as though they were glowing slightly. Had he just said that out loud? Had she just imagined it?

Please. I can't stand to see you cry.

There it was again! It wasn't like her to have such an active imagination.

How come I can hear you?
Charlie thought.

The voice didn't respond. Instead, James took her hand in both of his. He was so warm; his touch sent shivers down her spine.

"I didn't mean to lie to you," Charlie said while looking down at her hand in between his. They were huge. Strong, and yet infinitely gentle.

How small she felt next to him. This was quite a feat; ever since she'd started to fill out a bit in college, she'd never had much cause to feel small or even vulnerable.

"I know," James said. "I know that you wanted to tell me."

How did he know?

I can feel it,
the voice in her head said.

This whole thing, it was so unreal. Was she actually out here with him? Or would she wake up any moment now and find that it was all just a dream?

How is this possible?

Charlie looked up at him. His eyes had changed again. Gone was the pain she'd seen before. It had been replaced with the same tenderness and hope she'd seen yesterday.

This man was going to drive her crazy with his mood swings.

"We may have shown ourselves to the world now, but there's still a lot you need to know about our kind," he said.

"I've got time," Charlie whispered.

Neither of them broke eye contact. The air between them seemed to be heavy with tension.

"Well," James started. "When a man meets a woman... and they really like each other." He winked at her.

"Don't tell me you're going to talk about birds and bees next," Charlie remarked.

"There she is, my old friend Charlie McAllister. She's back!" James joked.

Charlie scoffed but couldn't suppress a smile.

"So I was saying. When a couple
really
like each other, they connect on a deeper level."

James' tone was serious again. No matter how strange it sounded, he was no longer joking.

"And then they hear voices?" Charlie asked.

"They can communicate by thought, yes."

Charlie shook her head. If she hadn't just experienced it, she would have never believed it.

"You're a weird lot; you know that?" she said.

James shrugged. "There are a lot of upsides. If you can deal with crazy paranoid humans hunting you."

"Such as?"

"Well, couples have no secrets. They're faithful for life. When a shifter finds their true mate, they become whole together."

"But I'm not a shifter," Charlie remarked.

"I know. And that's why I left back then. Under the old rules, we were only supposed to pair up within our species. But I've since learned that it works the same even if one partner is human."

"Wait, are you trying to tell me that simply because I kissed a shifter when I was seventeen, I basically ruined any hope of ever having a relationship with anyone else? And if we hadn't run into one another now, I would have remained single forever?" Charlie asked.

"Uhh..." James looked away sheepishly. "If it helps, there's been no one else in my life either."

Charlie sat back on the bench and looked across the open views of the park ahead of them. "That's so weird."

James put his arm around her, causing her to close her eyes involuntarily. Who could have guessed that today would turn out this way? Sure, she'd hoped it would, but when he confronted her about her work, she had lost all hope.

"James Finch?" a voice interrupted them. A man approached. His hair was cropped short, and he was wearing a black leather biker jacket, jeans, and heavy black boots.

Charlie could feel James tense up beside her. Although there was nothing obviously wrong yet, she sensed the danger his instincts had alerted him to. This telepathic communication thing really did work.

"Who wants to know?" James asked.

"Victor Domnall sends his regards," the man said.

Knife!
Within a split second, James pushed her down the bench and flung himself at the stranger in a blur of claws and fur. That's when the darkness claimed Charlie.

By the time James got Charlie back to Eric's place, everyone was on high alert. She was still out, so he laid her down on his bed before joining the rest of the crew in the living area.

Everyone sat around, lost in thought, but Henry was furious.

"How could this happen?" he demanded. "Were you followed?"

James thought back to earlier that day. He'd been upset after finding out about Charlie's job. Had he let his guard down? It was possible.

"I'm not sure. I sure as hell didn't see anyone," James said. Then again, he had been so focused on Charlie, he hadn't even seen the guy videoing the whole thing on his phone.

"And did you
have
to charge at him the way you did? It's all over Facebook now!" Henry paced back and forth.

"He tried to attack my mate with a knife. What would you have done?" James felt himself get angry all over again. Of all people, Henry should understand. He would stop at nothing to defend Gail.

"Oh. She's your
mate
now, is she?" Henry barked.

James stood tall and faced his leader, staring him down with only inches between them. "Yes, she is. What are you going to do about it?"

"Now, now. Let's all relax," Gail spoke up from the sofa. "We can't change what happened. And if Charlotte is James' mate, so be it. The freedom to pair up with whoever you like is one of the fundamental reasons the New Alliance came into existence."

Henry backed down and joined Gail, though his expression still betrayed his displeasure. James retreated as well. Henry was right, though. This was bad. The Sons could spin this any way they wanted.

"We need to do some damage control before this hits the evening news," Gail said. "Sure, the police arrested the attacker and let James go, so that's a good sign. But that in itself might not be convincing enough."

James nodded, as did Henry and Eric, who had so far stayed out of the whole conversation.

"Once she wakes up... And if she indeed is your mate," Henry's skeptical tone grated at James, but he decided to let it go for now. "Perhaps she can help us."

James shook his head. "No way. They've seen her face now and already tried to attack her once. I'm not going to let you make a bigger target out of her."

Henry glared at James. "What choice do we have? We need friends in the media now more than ever. We already agreed on that."

"Yeah, we agreed. But things have changed," James growled.

"Bull-" Henry started, but then glanced over at Gail and stopped talking.

"Guys, if you'll allow me to say something," Gail took over. "She works for a morning newspaper, yes? We need to fix this now, today. If she knows someone else who can help..."

"Wait, you said it's all over Facebook. Can't Kyle help somehow? Hack in and remove the video?" James suggested.

"I'll ask... But we still have to manage the fallout; we need a plan," Henry said.

James nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, Henry was right.

"He knew my name. How did he know my name?" James wondered aloud.

Gail shrugged. "Maybe they have their own computer guy. Your face has been all over the news since we came out. With the right know-how, I'm sure it's not that hard to find out someone's identity. Kyle probably could have done it."

She made sense, but James still felt there was something more to it. In his years working for Blacke, his intuition hadn't failed him even once. He hardly dared to consider the consequences if somehow the Sons had gained support within law enforcement. If that were the case, then everyone in this room would have to look over their shoulders from now on.

"Talk to her," Henry repeated himself. "We need to sort this out as soon as possible."

James wanted to argue for Charlie's safety again but didn't get the chance.

"No need," a female voice interrupted their conversation.

James closed his eyes as she approached. Her presence overwhelmed him now, so strong was their connection; their attraction. No matter what happened, what she'd kept from him before, it was impossible to ignore or fight her pull. They belonged together, for better or for worse.