Reforming the Bear

by Vanessa Devereaux

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2015 Vanessa Devereaux

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-308-4

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: JC Chute

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For Nan Kate

  REFORMING THE BEAR

  Kalispell Shifters,8

  Vanessa Devereaux

  Copyright © 2015

  Chapter One

  Lucy hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep at the wheel until her car came to an abrupt stop, causing her to hit her nose and forehead on the top of the steering wheel. She looked up through the windshield, quickly noting in her tired state that she’d wandered off the road as her car’s two right tires were way off on the shoulder. She rubbed her eyes, confused as to why the car had stopped so suddenly, but at the same time glad it had. A set of bends in the road and some ravines were ahead –– who knew what could have happened. She blinked rapidly a few times and yawned while giving herself a pep talk: if she put her mind to it, she could drive another thirty minutes or so and easily reach the town she’d circled on the map.

  She turned the key in the ignition. Not a sound, not even a cough or groan. Damn. Nightfall was closing in rapidly––and she was out in the middle of nowhere.

  However, nowhere was exactly where she wanted to be. She glanced around for any sign of another person, a light or the slightest movement outside the car. Nowhere was suddenly a scary place to be.

  Lucy rested her forehead on the steering wheel, willing herself not to cry. It wasn’t working, though … all she felt like doing was having a good sob.

  Come on. You have to go through with it. You volunteered to do this.

  She lifted her head and tried the ignition one more time, hoping that like her, the car just needed a few minutes’ rest.

  Still nothing.

  Mike had told her to get rid of her cell phone, which she’d done before she’d headed west. He’d given her one off the shelf with no contract, meaning it couldn’t be traced. It now sat at the bottom of her bag. Her brother had told her not to use it, promising he’d call her when things were safe again. Would it be okay if she used it to call someone so they could check out the car for her?

  No, she had to do as he’d instructed.

  Maybe she’d get out and stretch her legs for a bit. Clear her mind, and shake off the tiredness. She opened the door and stepped onto the road, lifting her arms up in the air and giving her body a good stretch. She guessed it would be too far to walk to get help. The last town she’d driven through had been about an hour ago––somewhere named Missoula. She’d thought about stopping for the night, resting up and getting an early start but the urgent need to get to the middle of nowhere had driven her on. She’d driven through Polson about twenty minutes ago, and then as she’d planned, had gone off the main highway and opted instead for the back roads. Somewhere along the way she’d hoped to find a motel to hide out in for however long the mess with Mike took to sort out.

  Lucy reached inside the car and pulled out her map. She’d hazard a guess her planned destination was still three or four miles away. Maybe if she got her stuff out of the car, locked it up, she could walk the rest of the way. Stars began twinkling overhead and it seemed like day had turned to night while she’d been standing there thinking about her next move. Walking alone in the dark, in the middle of nowhere, would be taking a huge risk. Wasn’t this bear country? Did bears come out hunting at night? Wolf land, too. Not to mention cougars. She was pretty sure they hunted at night. A shiver went up her spine thinking any one of those could be lurking around watching her at this very second.

  Lucy quickly sat back in the car and locked the doors. She had some blankets in the trunk. She’d sleep on the back seat. She’d wait ‘til it got light and then walk to the nearest town.

  Lucy reached across for the coffee she’d picked up in Missoula. She knew it would be cold by now, but she suddenly felt thirsty. Probably because she’d never been so scared in all her life. She now had a car that wouldn’t start, and was stuck in the middle of nowhere with wild animals lurking close by. Lucy took a sip of the drink and pulled a face. It was not only cold, but bitter now, too. She squinted and raised her hand up to shield her eyes as bright headlights hurdled toward her. With such powerful lights, it had to be a big truck. Maybe she could flag it down, and hopefully the driver would know how to fix the car.

  Without hesitation, Lucy stepped out and began waving and jumping up and down, hoping the driver would see her and not run her down. Luck must have been on her side because the truck began slowing up, and eventually stopped about ten feet away. A guy with a beard jumped down from his rig and walked toward her.

  “You need some help here?” he asked her.

  “Yes, thanks … my car just died on me and I’ve no idea what’s wrong. Any chance you could take a look at it?”

  He pushed his cap back and Lucy guessed from his features he was in his mid-fifties.

  “Can’t say I’m much of an expert, but I can take a peek if you want to pop the hood.”

  Lucy snapped the catch and soon the guy had the hood lifted up and was checking things out.

  “Can’t see anything wrong, but like I said I’m not much of an expert. Always have buddies fix any issues I have with my truck.”

  He slammed the hood shut again. Disappointment washed over her. She just wanted to get to a motel and sleep for twenty-four hours.

  “This is no place for a nice-looking girl like yourself to be at night. Hop in my truck and I’ll give you a ride to town, and then you can get someone to come look at the car in the morning.”

  It sounded perfect, seemed the right thing to do, but for some reason a voice in her head told her not to take a ride from a complete stranger and the nice-looking girl bit set off warning bells in her head. She didn’t like the idea of sleeping in her car, but now that seemed like the safer option. She’d take her chances with the bears, wolves and cougars over this guy.

  “Thanks for the offer, but no, I’ll be fine in my car.”

  “Come on now, pretty lady. You flag me down. I stop my truck and get out to help you and you turn me down. I’ve been looking for someone just like you to have a little fun with and warm my bed after a long day’s trucking.”

  She knew it.

  He took a step toward her.

  “No. I am not going with you anywhere, so just get on your way.”

  Before she could get back in her car and lock the doors he’d grabbed her, and proceeded to run his hand down the side of her face. She brought her heel down hard on his foot and was able to get free of him but just for a second. He grabbed her hair and pulled her back toward him with his erection now pushing into her butt.

  He put his hand over her right breast and bile rose in her throat.

  Please, please let someone else drive by and see that this man to going to rape me.

  “Let go of me.”

  “I don’t think you really want me to do that.”

  He ripped the front of her t-shirt, exposing her bra. His calloused hand went inside it, rubbing against her nipple. She was sure she was going to throw up.

  “I have found myself one with big boobs and tits.” He pulled on her nipp
le and she flinched as his other hand pulled her hair, forcing her head back as his other hand gripped her breast. “I bet you like to be fucked rough and hard, don’t you?”

  He tried to kiss her. Lucy knew she had to get away from him. Once again she brought her foot down onto his toe, and as he let go of her she turned and brought her knee up, getting him square in the balls.

  He doubled over, which gave her a chance to run. She headed down the road as fast as she could, almost tripping over her own feet. She wanted to look over her shoulder to see if he was pursuing her but knew that would slow her down. The only things lighting the road were the stars, so she had no way of knowing where she was heading. If he got back into his truck, she knew she couldn’t outrun him, and he’d find and rape her, maybe even kill her after he was done.

  Running off road would be a better option. She began to run to the left, but suddenly lost her footing and fell down with gravel cutting into her skin. And then, snap, her ankle gave way as she rolled down the side of the road.

  Chapter Two

  Liam pushed down on the clutch and eased the car into fourth. This one had been a total bitch to fix, but it was finally slipping into top gear without any hassle. He accelerated just a little more. He loved this particular stretch of road––even more so at this time of night. Traffic was very light, cops weren’t ever around, and he could safely use it to test the cars he’d fixed without worry of getting a speeding ticket or other cars getting in his way.

  The old Mustang now galloped along like a new one. He’d picked it up dirt-cheap, online, and had put a lot of time and effort into making her shine again. The engine purred as he headed deeper into the middle of nowhere. He was almost tempted to keep this one––but he had too many already filling up the garage. Next week he’d put the Mustang up for sale, and the profits would go toward expanding the business.

  Liam reached for the button on the radio and cranked up the music. He looked ahead to the stars twinkling and thought of his old home that had been up there somewhere. He still missed it and always would. He tapped his fingers on the wheel, wondering how much he should ask for the car. A big rig roared out of nowhere and began hogging most of the highway. It passed Liam so fast it sent up dust and forced him to take the Mustang’s right wheels over onto the shoulder.

  “What’s your hurry, asshole?” said Liam, knowing the driver couldn’t hear him. Still, it felt good to get his frustration out.

  Liam righted the car and made his way up the hill before heading to the stretch of road that led into the valley. The stars sure were beautiful tonight, which reminded him he was taking his nephew to their family group’s stargazing gathering soon. Sam was going to love seeing where his ancestors came from.

  He momentarily took his eyes off the road to switch radio stations but when he looked back he noticed something by the shoulder. At first, Liam thought maybe the rig had just hit a deer. However, before long he saw it was a human and by the long hair, he guessed it was a woman. Liam swerved so he didn’t run over her arms where she was now crawling into the road. The car jumped around and the wheels skidded in the gravel.

  “Shit, shit,” said Liam. It spun around and Liam found himself facing the other direction before it came to a stop. He glanced out, thinking maybe his eyes had deceived him … but sure enough, it was a woman crawling alongside the road.

  He got out of the car and began to run toward her. By the slowness of her movement he’d guess she was injured. Maybe the asshole trucker had hit her.

  “Help, help me, please someone help me,” he heard her cry out.

  He picked up his pace when he saw her go still.

  Liam went to his knees just in front of her head as she lay on the ground. For one awful moment, he thought maybe she was dead––but then she looked up at him. The stars’ brightness offered enough light to see that she had a cut on her left cheek, and her forehead looked pretty scraped up too. As she tried to sit up, he also saw the front of her t-shirt was ripped, exposing her bra and part of her breast.

  “Please, help me … dear God, please get me out of here,” she said, putting her hand out to him. Its knuckles were scraped and bloodied.

  He took off his jacket and quickly wrapped it around her shoulders. Her body felt cold and she was shaking like she had hyperthermia, even though it was summer.

  “It’s okay. I promise I’m going to help you.”

  He eased her up to a sitting position, hoping he was doing the right thing. She screamed out as he did so.

  “Did someone run you over?” he asked.

  She shook her head and got hold of his hand, squeezing it like she was scared he was going to leave her.

  “My car broke down and a trucker stopped, I thought, to help me. Not so much, as it turns out. I was running away.”

  “Yeah, I think he passed me about ten minutes ago.”

  “He was going to rape me.”

  Shit, if Liam had known that he would have chased after him and shown that dirty human what bear shifters did to pieces of scum that forced themselves on women.

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “Just got a little rough with me … but I managed to get away. I tripped and fell down a ravine and then crawled back, but I think I’ve broken my leg.”

  Liam bit his lip. He wasn’t much good at first aid or anything like that, but he’d find someone who could take care of her.

  “Here, let me take a look,” he said.

  She cried out as she spun around so he checked out her leg. He could smell blood and as he touched her skin she screamed. “Sorry. I’m really sorry,” said Liam.

  “It feels like it’s on fire … I think I’m going to be sick now.”

  Just as she said that she leaned over and vomited. Liam held her hair away from her mouth as she threw up for the second time.

  “You’re going to be okay now. I’m here and I’ll see you get some help.”

  She now lay across his lap. He lifted his hand not sure what to do but instinct said to put his hand on her back and rub it. He could hear her heart beating and the blood rushing around her body. She was nervous and in shock so he had to get her help … and soon.

  “My car’s just down the road a bit. I’ll carry you to it and then I’ll drive you to the nearest ER,” said Liam.

  “No, no, you can’t. I don’t have any health problems, so no ER.”

  There was panic in her voice. He could understand reluctance to see a doctor. The shifters often faced the same dilemma. The fear of being discovered, their secret exposed. Well, that was until the shifter hospital had opened its doors. He’d take her there. He knew it wasn’t for humans and taking one there was risky, but this was a one-time thing. This young woman needed help ASAP.

  “That’s no problem, because I know a private clinic. My nephew’s soon to be stepdad works as a doctor there. In fact, I can call him and have him meet us there.”

  “And no one will find out about me going there … I mean, no paperwork trails?”

  “I promise you it’s the most discreet of hospitals, and no paperwork. They won’t even ask your name if you don’t want to give it to them.”

  “Okay, but there’s a bag I have to take with me.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Down the road about half a mile. It’s in my car.”

  “I can go get it while you wait here,” said Liam.

  “No, please don’t leave me … I don’t want to be alone here again.”

  Liam could understand that. Even under the best of circumstances, being out here at night wasn’t the greatest idea.

  “Then I’ll walk you to my car. We can drive to yours, you can pick up the bag and then I’ll take you to the clinic. Here … let me help you stand up.”

  Liam wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders and gently eased her up. He heard her draw in breath and groan as she tried to put her foot to the ground.

  “Let me carry you.”

  “You can’t. I’m not the lightest of wom
en.”

  “Don’t you worry … I’m big and strong.”

  Liam wasn’t bragging––he worked out with weights, and was one big tough grizzly. He lifted her into his arms. She was shaking and he smelled fear. Humans weren’t very good at camouflaging their fear … it was no wonder so many of them ran into problems with wild animals. It wasn’t that they were necessarily aggressive, but the smell of fear made animals uneasy.

  He took another sniff at her and as well as blood he detected a light floral scent that he actually liked. Most human women used too much perfume and it often gave him a headache but hers was subtle and kind to his sensitive bear nose.

  “Guess I should introduce myself,” he said as he walked along the road toward his car. “I’m Liam Ahern.”

  “And I’m Lucy Hunt,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. Her nose pressed against his skin and her hair tickled his chin. They arrived at his car and he carefully put her down on the ground as he opened the passenger side door. “Okay, I’ll hold you … just slowly put your butt down on the seat.” She turned around so her backside faced the seat and grimaced as she sat. Liam, as carefully as he could, raised her legs up and swung her around until she was safely in the car.

  “It hurts so bad,” she said.

  “The doctor will get you fixed in no time.”

  Liam got in the car, started the ignition and hoped that the Mustang would continue to behave. He put it into gear and headed down the road.

  Lucy rested her head on the seat, her hands with their scraped knuckles, gripping the sides of the leather edging like her life depended on it. She began crying. Liam didn’t handle sobbing female shifters very well, so humans? Well, he’d never had to actually deal with a crying human before. He wasn’t sure exactly how they dealt with this sort of emotion, but instinct told him she needed comforting. He reached over and touched her hand before thinking that maybe after being almost raped, she didn’t want to be touched like that. Piece of shit human who’d done this to her. He’d like five minutes alone with him.