Wilde Bear (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Blue Bear Rescue) (7 page)

X
avier stroked
the last signature with a whoosh and then let the pen fall with a clatter against his desk. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his eyes, gritty from a sleepless night. Damn, he hadn’t pulled an all-nighter since last ski season. He was rusty.

Last night had been harder than any other rescue. Not just because he’d had to yank four poachers off the mountain, all armed and looking for a polar bear head to take home for their walls, but because it wasn’t just him anymore. Or him and his guys. He was now protecting a mate. Yeah, he’d finally come around to the truth when his animal had almost lost it to realize the paperwork couldn’t wait.

Gerald had been nice enough when he’d told Xavier and the guys about the formal complaints, but it didn’t change the cold truth. Someone was after the Blue Bear Search and Rescue. Someone wanted him gone from this job. Maybe from town or even life, who even fucking knew right now. Gerald had his suspicions, but Xavier was at a loss. He’d kept his head down all these years, too scared of a repeat performance after losing his dad to do anything wild or crazy. And now here was some asshole trying to rip away everything he’d worked for.

It wasn’t fucking happening.

So he’d kissed Laurel goodbye and put her in the truck with Jake and sent her home. All he wanted was to go home and crawl into bed next to her. Make up for all the dumbass comments he’d made trying to push her away, because he knew what he wanted now, and after tonight, he wasn’t going to run from it anymore.

But he wasn’t done yet. There was one more item left to do before he could call it a night.

He stood up, making his way into the kitchen and pouring the last dregs of the coffee he’d made earlier. Then he dialed Jake.

“Boss,” Jake said sleepily on the fourth ring.

“Crew meeting in an hour,” Xavier said.

“Boss—” Jake protested. Xavier knew they were all exhausted. So was he, dammit. But he couldn’t wait any longer for this. They’d waited long enough.

Xavier used his alpha voice, so Jake knew he meant business. “Get them here, Jake. We need to talk.”

Xavier hung up and went back to his office to drink the worst cup of coffee ever. An hour later, on the dot, the crew stumbled in. Jake’s hair was rumpled and his shirt untucked. Behind him, the men’s boots all clunked against the hard floor, and Xavier shook his head at what sounded like a stampede. One by one, they filed into the lounge where a sagging couch lined one wall. A couple of recycled chairs completed the set-up. Not fancy, but big enough for all of them to discuss.

Harley was the last one in and Xavier nodded at him to shut the door, but then another figure darted inside, smiling at him.

“Laurel,” Xavier said, surprised. He shot a glance at Jake, who shrugged.

“She’s Mrs. Alpha. What did you expect?” Jake asked.

He looked from face to face, but none of his crew argued. Not even Harley.

Laurel hugged him and nuzzled her cheek against his. “I can wait outside if you need,” she said.

“No.” He shook his head and laced his fingers through hers. “Stay. You’re one of us now.” He kissed her full on the mouth, just in case there was any doubt among them. When he pulled back, Laurel beamed up at him, and the rest of the crew whistled and cheered.

“Can we just get on with this?” Harley grumbled.

“Yeah, Harley needs his beauty sleep,” Jake said.

Nash snickered.

Lucas leaned his back on the couch and closed his eyes, but Xavier knew he heard every word.

“Here’s the deal. We’ve talked about it for a while now, and everyone’s made their opinions clear,” Xavier began. “But the fact of the matter is that we need to hire a sixth. And we need to do it before the season opens, so we have time to train properly.”

“We don’t disagree, boss,” Jake said, and Xavier shot him a glare.

“I’ve looked over the applicants and fact is, no one’s more qualified than this Kyra. I want to bring her in, and before I do, I need to hear from all of you that you’ll bite your tongue against any… opinions you might have about her joining us.”

Harley shoved off the wall, arms crossed, glaring. “So we don’t get to say what we think? I thought this was a democracy.”

Nash sat up straighter in the chair by the window. “I can agree to that,” he said.

Jake nodded. “Me too, boss.”

Lucas slowly opened his eyes, also nodding. “I think we need to meet her.”

Xavier was stunned. Laurel squeezed his hand, spurring him to search for words. “I thought all of you were determined to keep a woman out of the crew.”

One by one, they all shifted their gaze to Laurel. “We had a chat about that on the way home from the call earlier,” Jake said. “Laurel shifting to protect you showed us we were being idiots.”

Harley muttered something, but Nash cut him off. “Laurel’s as strong and fierce as any one of us. If this Kyra’s anything like Laurel, we’d be lucky to have her.”

Jake murmured an agreement.

“Lucas?”

“I agree with Nash,” Lucas said. “Woman or not, Laurel just proved how much stronger we are with six.”

“Come to think of it, boss, why can’t Laurel be our sixth?” Jake asked. His eyes lit up, but Laurel shook her head, answering for herself.

“I’ve already told Gerald I want to keep my position at DOT,” she said. “I think I can be of more help there with everything going on.”

“The complaints,” Harley said, his eyes narrowing.

Laurel nodded. “I’m going to try and find out who it is. And make sure they don’t get any farther with the filings.”

Harley lifted his chin, the closest to a nod Xavier had ever seen. “Damn right,” Harley said—the equivalent of his blessing. Xavier smirked.

“All right, it’s settled then,” Xavier said. “I’ll call her in for an interview later this week.”

“Now can we go sleep?” Harley asked.

Xavier squeezed Laurel’s hand. “Now, we can go sleep,” Xavier said.

Everyone filed back out and headed for the truck. Laurel waited with Xavier while he locked up. Just before they reached the truck, she tugged him back, winding her arms around his neck.

She reached on her tip toes, straining to be tall enough to hold on. He smiled and bent at the knees, so they were eye to eye. “Yes, Mrs. Alpha?” he asked.

“I wanted to suggest you nap in the truck. Get some rest while you can,” she said slyly.

“And why is that?” he asked.

“Because you and I won’t be doing much sleeping when we get home.” She grinned, kissed him on the nose, and pranced to the truck.

Xavier’s bear sighed at the way she’d called it home—not just his, but hers now too—and then he picked up his pace in anticipation. He needed to feel her. Inside and out. And he needed to have her pressed against him. Reassuring, yes, after the scare she’d given him, but mostly to cherish her. To show her that he could put her first, today and always. That he could love a mate, even with this job. And he could protect everyone he cared about while doing it.

He watched her ass shake as she walked away from him and climbed inside the extended cab of the truck. She was beautiful and sexy and bossy. She belonged to him now, this fox. They’d fight, yes, but he looked forward to that. In fact, his pants tightened just thinking about arguing with her and then making up again. He grinned at the thought. His foxy Mrs. Alpha.

B
lood is thicker
...

P
olar Bear Shifter Jake
has always wanted a real family. People to love and care about him, nothing like his foster father who saw him as nothing more than a punching bag. He testified against the monster and put him away for good, or so he thought.

D
elilah is an orphan
, she knows the struggle of being alone all too well, but when she meets Jake suddenly she has everything she ever wanted. Until someone threatens to take it all away.

J
ake has
to defend his mate against his one true enemy. His own family. But will he be able to keep her safe, when he has to defeat his own demons as well?

I
love
to write about all things billionaire and shifter. My books allow my imagination to run free and explore every possible idea I have. That makes writing less like a job and more like a fantasy come to life.

H
olly Eastman is
a bestselling paranormal author who loves writing hot shifter stories filled with angsty sexual tension and lots of make-up sex. A real-life cougar, she has a weakness for “the younger man meets older hottie.” She is devoted to writing about alpha males and sassy heroines as they navigate love.

S
he lives
in a small town in Florida with her husband and six motorcycles. When she’s not traveling or adventuring, she’s probably drinking Blue Moon beer and binging on tortilla chips.

S
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