Tempting The Bear: Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Gray Bears Book 4) (2 page)

“
I'm going to be the
future Alpha of the Hamilton pride. This child cannot exist, Harper.
Get rid of it!,” Douglas had snarled.

Harper finally understood who
and what Douglas was. Douglas was a lion shifter, and he had set his
sights on Lucy Hamilton, the only daughter of Warren Hamilton. Warren
Hamilton was the Alpha of the Hamilton pride of lion shifters and the
Chairman of Hamilton Inc. If Douglas married Lucy, he would inherit
the Alpha position and all the wealth and prestige that came with it.
There was too much at stake for him.

If Warren Hamilton found out
that Douglas had a child with another woman, he would never allow
Douglas to marry his precious, virgin daughter. Douglas was a
Vice-President at Hamilton Inc, and had systematically and schemingly
worked his way into Warren's favor over the years.

Douglas was a lion shifter,
but Harper finally saw that he was really a cold-hearted,
manipulative snake. He had unfeelingly used Harper to satisfy his
own lust and pleasure. Warren Hamilton guarded his daughter's virtue
fiercely. If Douglas slept with Lucy before marriage, Warren would
kill him. So Harper was a free and easy outlet for him.

Harper felt so ashamed and
angry and...dirty. She felt used and cheapened. How could she have
allowed a man like Douglas to touch her?

When Douglas continued
threatening and intimidating her, Harper decided that the only way to
be free of him was to run. Run far away and stay hidden until her
child was born.

When she reached Shadow Point,
she thought that this small town would be a good place to raise her
child. There was a large paranormal community in Shadow Point.
There was shifters, vampires, witches, fae folk and humans all living
in the town. Her child would feel right at home here. She didn't
want him to feel like he didn't belong. There were many half-shifter
kids in the community, and he could make many friends who were just
like him. And many more friends who were not at all like him.

Harper smiled at the thought
of her son playing in the school yard with all the other cubs and
pups. There was so much hope and promise in that beautiful image,
and she imagined a little boy with brown hair and hazel eyes like her
running and laughing with all the other kids.

With a quiet sigh, Harper
jolted herself out of her reverie. She remembered that she was out
of a job and fast running out of cash. Tonight's incident had been
the only unpleasant thing that had happened to her since she came to
Shadow Point. But unpleasant things happened everywhere. In big
cities and small towns. All she had to do was look for another job.

She would be fine. Her baby
would be fine. They had each other, and that was all that mattered.
They were a family, small but whole.

As long as she had her
precious baby, there was nothing that she couldn't endure and
overcome.

Harper gazed up at the stars
as she walked. Her dad had passed away a few years back and her
mother had left them a long time ago. She couldn't even remember
what her mom looked like. Her mother had remarried and she didn't
want anything to do with Harper.

After her dad died, Harper had
no family and she yearned for one. She had been so grateful when
Douglas showered her with small gifts and flattering words. She
thought that she'd found someone in the world who cared for her.

But Douglas cared only for
himself. She learned that too late.

Harper passed a small house
and saw a family having supper together round a table. “Happy
family,” she muttered with a wistful smile.

She wished she had a happy
family. She wished she could meet someone who truly loved her and
her child. If only there was a happily-ever-after for her and her
baby...

Harper shook her head and
laughed at her silly, romantic notions. Her wish wouldn't come true.

It didn't matter. She had her
baby, and her baby was her family.

“
I love you,” she
whispered to her baby.

Her eyes widened as she gave a
gasp of pain. The sudden, violent pain was almost unbearable.

Clutching her tummy, Harper
made a silent plea and sank to the ground.

CHAPTER
THREE

Jackson Gray frowned as he
screwed in the new light bulb over the entrance of Broomstick Inn.
He didn't mind doing repair jobs for his Gramma and Ne-ma. In fact,
he enjoyed helping out at their inn. What he didn't like was the
attention he got while he was doing those said repair jobs.

Being ogled by female
passers-by while he was perched on the top rung of a ladder was a tad
uncomfortable. It wasn't his fault that his t-shirt rode up a few
inches while he stretched up to replace the faulty light bulb. It
gave everyone a tantalizing view of his ripped, tanned torso and some
women giggled and winked at him as he scrambled down the ladder.

Jackson folded the ladder up
and ducked into the inn. He found Gramma and Ne-ma in the dining
hall, laying out delicate porcelain cups and saucers on a table.
There was a freshly baked pie on the table, surrounded by plates of
pretty cupcakes and cookies.

“
Let me guess,”
Jackson said, reaching for a cookie. “You got these from
Baker's Hut.”

“
Where else?”
Ne-ma beamed and promptly slapped his hand away.

Jackson grinned. He managed
to snag a big cookie once Ne-ma's back was turned. His
sister-in-law, Elle, owned Baker's Hut and the family had an endless
supply of baked treats all year round. Elle was his second brother
Aidan's mate, and she was half witch, half human. She was the best
baker in Shadow Point as far as Jackson was concerned.

“
Alisa baked the pie for
us before she left,” Gramma said, straightening a fork on the
table. “Smells heavenly, doesn't it?” Alisa was the
chef at the inn, as well as his big brother, Tristan's mate. All his
elder brothers were happily mated now. Even Mason. Mason and
Suzanne had just moved into their own little house last month, so it
was just Jackson, Aidan and Elle living in the big double-story
house.

Jackson took a whiff of the
pie and decided it wouldn't hurt to ask. “Can I have a slice?”

“
No!” Gramma and
Ne-ma said in unison.

“
But you can't finish
all this food by yourselves,” he protested.

“
Yes we can,”
Gramma said firmly. “Some old friends are coming over. This
will be our first book club meeting!” She rubbed her hands in
glee.

“
Book club? This looks
like a food club,” Jackson mumbled.

Jackson went into the kitchen
to check on the tap. He had just fixed the leaky tap in the kitchen
and repaired the dishwasher. His Gramma and Ne-ma were witches, but
they were wary of using their magic on electronic gadgets.
“Electrical energy has a way of warping magical energy,”
they told him. “We fried the toaster and melted the washing
machine some time back. We're not going to risk another blackout in
the inn! That will freak out the guests!”

Gramma and Ne-ma had been
running Broomstick Inn for years. Neveah Wright was Gramma's best
friend and she helped Gramma raise Jackson and his brothers after
their parents passed away. She was Grandmother Neveah, or Ne-ma to
them. Gramma and Ne-ma showered the Gray boys with love, and they
wanted only the best for their four grandsons. They wanted their
boys to find love and happiness, and they had not-so-secretly cast a
happily-ever-spell for the Gray brothers.

The happily-ever-after spell
was a dormant, benign spell, according to Gramma and Ne-ma anyway. A
wish was all it took to trigger the spell.

Not all of Gramma and Ne-ma's
spells had the desired result. Some were downright disastrous, but
this happily-ever-after spell seemed to have worked all right. For
his three elder brothers.

Jackson went back out to the
dining hall and was about to ask Gramma and Ne-ma if they needed
anything else done around the inn when the door chime sounded. The
front door opened and a group of chattering ladies swooped into the
inn and descended on Gramma and Ne-ma.

“
Neveah, Glynda!”

“
Hello, Rosalina! Hi,
Gennifer!”

“
Shanti, Meiling, come
in!”

Hugs and kisses were exchanged
and Gramma and Ne-ma hurried to settle their friends comfortably
around the food-laden table.

Jackson greeted the elderly
ladies politely as they smiled and cooed at him. He knew all of
them. Rosalina was a Master Vampire of the Rose Coven of vampires.
Gennifer was the Alpha of the Greenshorn pack of werecoyotes. And
Shanti and Meiling were the human owners of a quaint, little
boutique. They were also the members of a knitting group that Gramma
and Ne-ma had just joined.

Ne-ma came to kiss Jackson on
the cheek. “Thank you for helping us today, Jackson. But it's
Saturday night. You should be out having fun, not hanging around a
bunch of old ladies. Go!”

Gramma came to help Ne-ma
shove him out the door. “Go on. Our book club meeting has
started. Bye bye now! We love you!”

Jackson laughed and went to
his car. He wasn't sure if those ladies would be talking about books
or people the entire evening. Gramma and Ne-ma made it their
business to know about everything that happened in their small town.

Jackson got in the car and
started the engine. He usually chilled out at his favorite pub, The
Thirsty Toadstool, with his workmates but the guys usually spent
Saturday nights with their families or significant others. The
construction crew of Gray's Domain was a fun, rowdy bunch and he
liked working and hanging out with them. Jackson and Mason helped
their big brother, Tristan in his construction business, while Aidan
preferred a career in law enforcement. Aidan was the deputy sheriff
and Mason was a member of the small volunteer firefighting force in
Shadow Point. Those two thrived on action and adventure, whereas
Jackson was content with a simple, homely life.

But at this moment, home felt
a little too empty. Elle and Aidan were out on a movie date tonight.
No one was home.

Jackson made a face as he
adjusted his rear view mirror. For some inexplicable reason, he just
didn't want to go home to an empty house tonight.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Jackson drove past a nice,
upscale restaurant and shrugged. The food was probably fantastic but
overpriced, and the portions would be unbelievably tiny. He would
finish whatever was on the plate in two bites and still be starving.

Nah, he was better off heading
down to the diner down the road. Bear-sized burgers with fries that
were thicker than his fingers. That was real food. Food fit for a
bear.

His stomach, or was it his
bear?—growled suddenly. Jackson frowned. His bear didn't
surface often. His bear was a lot like him, laid back and
easy-going. Some shifters had to let their animals out often or
their beast could claw them to shreds from the inside. But his bear
was happy to let the human side of him dominate, most of the time.

But at this very moment, his
bear wasn't happy.

His bear was growly and
angsty, pushing hard against his skin. His bear wanted out, and his
bear demanded that he stop the damn car right now!

What the hell for?
Jackson wanted to know.

Jackson pulled the car to a
screeching halt at the side of the road and glared at the dim, empty
road ahead. What was his bear up to? This road didn't even lead to
the woods that surrounded the small town. There was nothing that
could interest his bear here. The few small shops lining the road
were closed, and his bear wasn't a shopaholic. His bear should be
urging him on to the burger joint, and not insisting that he stop his
car in the middle of a quiet road.

Jackson blew out a breath and
scowled. His bear rammed against him, forcing him out of the car.
Jackson scrambled out of the car before his cranky beast burst out of
his skin and broke all the car windows.

“
What the hell…?”
He slammed the car door and looked around.

That was when he heard it.

A small sound, like a whimper
or a sob.

Jackson sniffed the air, and
his eyes widened at the scent. The scent was exquisite, unmistakable
and strong.

She was female, human and...in
terrible pain.

Jackson took another whiff and
started to run. He followed the scent into a small side lane and
found her.

The woman was sliding down a
wall, clutching her belly and whimpering softly.

“
M'am, are you okay?”
Jackson rushed to help her. “Let me help you. What happened?
Were you robbed, attacked…?”

“
N-no,” the woman
panted, gripping his hand so hard she almost crushed all his bones.
“I...I think...I'm in labor...”

“
What?”

“
I'm going to give
birth!” she wheezed, staring at him with wide, panicked eyes.
“My baby...please...”

“
I'll get you to the
hospital right away.” Jackson bent down and gathered her in
his arms. She was so small and soft in his arms and her belly didn't
look very swollen. In fact, he couldn't even tell that she was
pregnant under all her baggy clothes.