Boarlander Bash Bear

by T. S. Joyce

  “Yes. I almost forgot to tell you. There is a mouse in ten-ten.” Bash settled her on her feet on the white gravel road. “You aren’t afraid of them, are you? I mean you said you were scared of animals bigger than Chihuahuas, and Nards is definitely smaller, so you’re good, right?”

  A mouse? “I’m a little scared of them.” Try, a lot scared of them.

  “Audrey says he’s real polite, and he never gets up on the counters or the furniture so long as she puts food somewhere on the floor for him. He likes grapes best. The green kind, not the purple. He’s tame as a pet store mouse.”

  “And his name is Nards?” That sounded less scary than Rabid Monster Field Mouse, which is what she would’ve named it.

  Bash pulled the strap of her duffle bag across his chest and draped an arm around her shoulders. “I promise you’ll be okay. All the girls in the Ashe Crew and Gray Back Crew have lived in ten-ten, and no one had a single horror story about Nards. He’s a lucky mouse.”

  “Maybe if I see him and it’s not a surprise encounter, I’ll feel better,” she said doubtfully.

  Bash kissed the side of her head and sounded proud when he declared, “Brave mate.”

  “Mate?” The butterflies in her stomach had turned to falcons.

  “Yes. But slow, I forgot. Girl…friend. That doesn’t sound like enough.”

  “No, no, you can call me ‘mate.’ Is that the terminology for shifters when you pair up?”

  “Yes. I was always scared my bear wouldn’t pick. I mean, I knew he was ready because I’ve been fighting these instincts to go meet women, but it’s the animal’s choice first.”

  “And your bear picked me?”

  “We both did. You are the easiest choice I ever made. Harrison said it would be like that, but you just don’t know for sure until it happens to you. I felt sick at the Meet-A-Mate Bash. All I wanted to do was be with you, and when we had our fight, I just wanted to go home. I watched you leave, and you were crying. It felt like my guts were getting cut out of my body and then set on fire and then peed on and then put back in my body. And then it felt like someone ran over me with a tractor.”

  “I’m really glad that didn’t actually happen to you,” Emerson said, feeling a little queasy at the mental image.

  “My chest used to be all tight,” he said, turning to walk backward in front of her. “Now it don’t hurt at all.”

  “Because of me?” she asked, touched at how honest and sweet he always was to her.

  “Yeah.” He inhaled deeply. “You make me breathe easy.”

  “Will I ever get to see your bear?” she asked. “Or is that against the shifter laws?”

  “Do you want to see him?” Bash asked, his face going solemn as he stepped into line beside her again.

  “Yeah.”

  “You’ll be scared. He’s…different than me.”

  “Is he mean?”

  “No, just dominant, and he don’t mind fighting. You’ll make him more protective.”

  “Will he hurt me?”

  “Never. You’re mine to protect. I’ll always keep you safe, no matter what.”

  And she believed him. Bash was optimistic, fun-loving, and open, but he was also as tall as a redwood and built like a Mack truck. If he thought his bear was beastly, then he was, simple as that. Bash didn’t sugarcoat things. He just said it like it was and moved on.

  What would she do if anyone tried to hurt Bash? Red-hot boiling anger flooded her veins at the thought. He was good, kind, and wouldn’t hurt anyone unprovoked. That stupid article she’d edited for Bartleby flashed across her mind, and she got even angrier. Bartleby didn’t know anything, and he was definitely going to be pissed when he saw what she’d done to his article. She was probably going to get fired as an editor, but suddenly, she didn’t care so much about that. Spending time with Bash had shaped her dream job into something new. She didn’t want to edit anti-shifter articles anymore. She wanted to write for the newspaper and show Saratoga the other side to shifters that Bartleby had failed to see.

  The thought of submitting articles of her own had been on her mind for a while now, but this right here was the exact moment she decided to go to battle for the shifters of Damon’s mountains. It was the moment she decided to protect Bash the only way she knew how—by publically opposing the anti-shifter murmurings that had sprouted up in Saratoga when humans had learned that dragon shifters existed.

  Hugging Bash’s arm and resting her cheek against him, she promised, “I’ll keep you safe, too.”

  Chapter Ten

  Gooseflesh rippled across Emerson’s arms as she stepped through the front door of 1010. Maybe it was just because Bash had been so adamant about there being magic here. The old singlewide looked clean, from the sagging white ceiling to the white walls to the dark, cheap laminate wood floors. It was swept and smelled of kitchen cleaner. The furniture was sparse but went well. There was a green couch to match a green loveseat. A tiny eat-in area with a dark table and two chairs sat adjacent to the white cabinet kitchen with faux wood countertops. So what if there were stains on the ceiling where leaks had been patched, and the floors were a little rotted and squishy as she made her way through the kitchen to the bedroom? This place was downright homey.

  “I can ask Willa to paint a picture of us,” Bash said. “She’s real good. Audrey had her picture with Harrison hung right there.” He pointed to the long wall on the back of the trailer. “That way it’ll break up all that white paint. Or I can ask Riley to make you something to hang on a nail there. She and those Ashe Crew girls are real creative. Shabby chic stuff, or so they call it. The ladies at the flea market go mad for it.” Bash shrugged and dropped his gaze. “Or something.”

  “I like that you went to so much effort to make this place good for me.”

  “Well, someday I want you to stay. Here. With me. I know you have your own place in Saratoga, and your work is there, too, but I like the idea of getting to sleep next to you, wake up with you, and kiss your forehead before I go to work in the mornings.”

  He’d painted such a beautiful picture that she hugged his waist as a thank you. Every man she’d ever met had been aloof and had kept her at arm’s length, but Bash had no qualms with saying exactly how he felt.

  “Knock, knock.” A brunette with glossed lips, a high ponytail, and dancing brown eyes came in the front door. She clasped her hands in front of her pink T-shirt that read Moosey’s Bait and Barbecue, and then rushed forward and held out her hand for a shake. “I’m Audrey, proud mate to Harrison Lang, Second in the Boarlanders, tiger shifter, and I’m really, really glad you’re here.”

  Emerson grinned and shook her hand. “I’m Emerson Elliot. Uuuh, human, really glad to be here and…” She looked shyly at Bash and shrugged her shoulders as she murmured, “Proud mate to Sebastian Kane.”

  “Oh my stars, are you serious?” Audrey’s voice had pitched to a decibel that was just under a dog whistle and Bash covered his ears. “Bash!” She shook his shoulders. “You picked!”

  Bash chuckled and pulled both Emerson and Audrey in for a bear hug. “I picked a while ago, but I had to wait for her to catch up.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Audrey said, going soft beside Emerson. “Bash, we have to be careful. She just had her procedure today.”

  Oh yeah. Bash was throwing her a Happy Baby Making Day party, and he wasn’t a subtle man, so probably all the Boarlanders knew about her doctor appointment this morning. Heat flashed up her neck and into her cheeks.

  “Right,” Bash said, loosening his death-grip and letting them out of the hug.

  Emerson thought he would tell Audrey about them trying for a cub because he looked all bright-eyed and feverish with excitement, but he gave her a wink and zipped his lips instead. Relief slid over Emerson’s shoulders. She wanted to clutch onto their little secret for a while longer to keep the pressure off in case she didn’t get pregnant right away.

  “I’m really excited to have another girl in the trailer park,�
� Audrey said. “I love the boys, but it’ll be nice having a conversation that doesn’t involve sex or toots.”

  Emerson giggled and said, “Too bad for you that’s all I talk about.”

  “Perfect,” Audrey teased. “I have to show you something I found this morning when I moved the rest of my stuff out.” She pulled Emerson by the hand through the large bedroom on the other side of the kitchen to a bathroom at the end of the trailer.

  “I hope you didn’t move out because of me,” Emerson said, suddenly worried that she’d caused much more chaos here than she’d realized.

  “No, you just gave me the push. I’ve been sleeping over at Harrison’s for a while now. I was ready to make the move official.” Audrey flashed her a friendly smile and squatted down in front of a pair of white-washed cabinets under the bathroom sink. She pulled the door open and gestured to something inside. “Look.”

  Emerson knelt beside her and peered inside, then froze. Against the back left corner was a nest of grass, shredded paper plates, and pillow stuffing, and inside it, there was a gray mouse with three little, hairless, pink, wriggling babies suckling on her. Emerson’s fear of mice was currently warring with her awe at the new lives she was seeing.

  “I assumed Nards was a boy,” Emerson whispered so as not to disturb the little family.

  “This isn’t Nards,” Audrey said, matching her quiet tone. “This is his lady-mouse, Nipples.”

  Bash knelt down behind them and leaned over Emerson’s shoulder. “Nards had babies?”

  “Yeah, look.” Audrey pointed to the other side of the cupboard where a hole had been chewed in the side, and sure enough, a mouse with giant testicles was dragging a potato chip toward the nest.

  “What a good daddy,” Emerson crooned softly as she watched the sweet little family. Nipples and Nards were taking good care of their tiny wiggly peanuts.

  Bash would be a good father like Nards someday.

  As if he could read her mushy thoughts, Bash leaned in and kissed the side of her hair. “Now do you believe me?”

  “About what?”

  He locked his gaze on her and smiled. “About ten-ten being magic.”

  Wide-eyed and heart thumping against her chest, Emerson dragged her attention back to the little family. Any other day of her life, she would’ve been terrified of these field mice, but today was different. Maybe it was because the mice barely paid attention to the three of them, or maybe it was because Emerson was flanked by a freaking bear shifter and a tiger shifter, and a mouse was the least terrifying animal in the room.

  Or maybe, just maybe, Bash was right because this place certainly felt important.

  Emerson cradled her stomach and smiled emotionally.

  Maybe 1010 really was magic.

  Chapter Eleven

  Audrey was one of the nicest people Emerson had ever met. She’d given her a tour of the trailer, told her all the tricks to get it working in top shape, and had filled the pantry and glossy, new-looking fridge with food. She’d even told her which snacks Nards liked best, which was why Emerson was placing a jalapeño-flavored potato chip on the kitchen floor right now.

  She would’ve just given it directly to Nipples, but she had the distinct feeling that Nards liked to actively take care of his family. Respect.

  Next time she was at the store in Saratoga, though, she was going to get some seeds and mouse food from the pet store to make sure Nipples and Nards had a balanced diet.

  “You hear that?” Bash asked from the kitchen table.

  “No.”

  “Oh, I forgot you have dull human senses. The boys are off-shift and coming down from the mountains.”

  “I do not have dull senses. They are just not as heightened as yours.” She stuck her tongue out and re-tied her loose bikini top behind her neck.

  “Come here, pitiful human,” he said through a baiting grin.

  Bash pulled her up against his chest and hugged her gently. Too gently. He was barely touching her, which made her giggle. Bash wasn’t naturally a careful man. He was a stomping, clumsy beefcake who sloshed drinks and broke stuff regularly, but with her, he moved in slow motion, like she was a butterfly protectively cupped in his hands.

  That’s how she could tell Bash loved her.

  Emerson laid tiny, pecking kisses all across his chest until she could feel the vibration of his deep chuckle against her lips. She adored the sound of his happiness.

  “Come on,” he murmured, massaging the back of her neck gently. “I can’t wait to show you off to my crew.”

  “I like Audrey,” she said as she followed him out of 1010.

  “She likes you, too, I can tell. Audrey had it real lonely growing up. She didn’t know any shifters, and she had to hide what she was. She’s been sore for a girl in the park.”

  “That sounds terrible, having to hide all the time.” She knew about heart-deep loneliness from the last couple of years in Saratoga, but having to endure it for most of a lifetime? That could turn a happy person dark, but Audrey was sweet as pie. Emerson respected her even more now.

  Out on the porch, she grinned again at how pretty Bash’s landscaping and yard were. She couldn’t get over how he’d planted roses that reminded him of her and fixed this place up to prepare for a mate and family. Sure, this trailer park had a lot of work to go, but it was exciting to see it at the beginning stages of change. Someday, she had a feeling this place was going to be amazing, and she was going to have the privilege of seeing that transition.

  And as she waved to Audrey who was coming out of the first trailer that she shared with Harrison wearing a big greeting grin and a giant tote bag, it struck Emerson that fate had lent a hand in her being here today.

  Everything had fallen into place and just in time for her to balk against the artificial insemination that would’ve taken her life in a completely different direction. Now she was trying for a baby with a man she loved more and more with every minute she spent with him, and she was building a friendship with Audrey. Not a pretend one like with Dana at the diner, but an actual camaraderie where she and Audrey could bond because they were going through this adventure with the Boarlanders together.

  Bash, Audrey, the trailer park, 1010, Nards, and Nipples, all of it—her life was richer now than it had ever been. It had all happened so quickly Emerson was dizzy with the hard right turn her life had taken. All she could do now was hang on tight and enjoy the ride.

  A tall man with chin-length chestnut hair and dark eyes came out of the trailer next door, pulling a shirt over a set of washboard abs. Geez, everyone here had beast-mode bodies. Emerson self-consciously pulled at the hem of her tank top, but Audrey sauntered their way in nothing but a pair of cut-off shorts that looked a lot like Emerson’s and a triangle bikini top on display. Audrey had curves, too, but she strutted up to them like her self-esteem was doing just fine. Right on. Emerson stood straighter and stopped fidgeting with her shirt. It was really hard to have low self-esteem when Bash was pulling her back against his chest and poking her in the crack with his boner. Between him and Audrey, Emerson was going to come out of this trailer park about as big-headed as they came.

  “What are you giggling at?” Bash asked.

  “I just like it here is all.”

  “Good.” He sounded pleased as punch. “Emerson, this is my second best friend, Kirk.” He gestured to the man approaching them.

  “You’re the gorilla shifter,” Emerson blurted out accidentally.

  Kirk gave her an easy smile and shook her hand. “I am. Nice to meet you, Emerson. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “You have?”

  “Oh yeah, your man won’t shut up about you,” Kirk said with a wink at Bash.

  “Wait, I thought you were on shift today,” Bash said, a frown in his voice.

  Kirk cast a glance at the back of the trailer park to a little road that sliced between 1010 and another trailer. “Harrison sent me home.”

  “Why the fuck did he do that? We haven’t be
en hitting our numbers. He was already short with me going to Saratoga today.”

  “Clinton and I got into it.” Kirk turned and lifted his shirt up to show four healing red slashes across his back. “Harrison wanted to send Clinton’s dumb ass home, but I was so pissed I couldn’t Change back. And as you can imagine, my gorilla wouldn’t be safe with a chainsaw, so Harrison waved me off.”

  Bash snorted. “You should get Willa to paint you a picture of your gorilla holding a chainsaw under a rainbow. That shit would be funny.”

  Emerson pursed her lips against a smile because Kirk had been hurt by one of his own crew, and not all was puppies and glitter in the Boarland Mobile Park. The fact that the boys were joking about this so easily meant fighting wasn’t a rare occurrence. And she was human, in a crew of beasts.

  “Don’t worry,” Audrey said, settling in beside her. “We won’t let anything happen to you, so you can stop your scared smell. Bash is a brawler, and so is Kirk.”

  “And Audrey will straight-up maim his ass if he gets out of line,” Bash muttered. “She didn’t get Second by a vote. She earned it with her claws.”

  Emerson tossed Audrey a shocked look. Okay, knowing that Audrey was a tiger shifter and actually thinking about this woman carving out a place with these rough-and-tumble Boarlanders was unsettling. She was so nice, but maybe her beast wasn’t as sweet, and that was intimidating as hell.

  “Your face looks so freaked out right now,” Audrey said through an amused smile. “Hey, look, I wore green to match.”

  She popped the string of her white and green polka dot bikini, and just like that, Emerson relaxed. Audrey might be a shifter, but she’d never given her a reason to be scared.

  A bright red, jacked-up pickup truck with black rims and fat tires bumped and bounced past the trees and through the back entrance of Boarland Mobile Park.

  “There’s my man,” Audrey said, waving.

  Harrison gave her a two-fingered wave from where his hand rested on the steering wheel. He pulled on through and came to a stop in front of them, parking right in the grass, just barely missing the new sod of Bash’s yard.