It was her turn to grill him, and he couldn’t say he was surprised. She was an intelligent girl, and he wasn’t going to be able to hide from her; he could sense it already. The thing that surprised him the most about it was that he didn’t want to hide. He wanted to tell her everything.
“If I’m one-hundred-percent honest,” he started, “I was actually about to skip town.”
It was the first time he had admitted it aloud. He knew some of his packmates, especially Hudson, had suspected he was about to ditch them and make a run for it before The Brewery opened, but he had never told anyone in.
“Skip town?” she asked.
Mason nodded.
“Saying it like that makes me hate myself,” he said as he shook his head and took a sip from the glass of water on the table in front of him. “I’m a piece of shit.”
“No, you’re not,” she said as she reached out and let her hand rest on his.
The feeling of her lovely skin against his made the bear inside him want to claw to the surface. He was fighting everything to not ravish her; he was so into her… He wanted to let loose and take her right there on the table.
Control yourself, he scolded the bear. She’s more special than that. You have to wait.
“I ran away from home…,” she said. “And I understand that people have their reasons, everything is complicated, and nothing is straightforward. You can’t blame yourself for the actions you sometimes take.”
“I was being selfish,” he said with a sigh. “I can see that now. I felt as if I had failed and rather than facing up to the problem, I was just going to walk away from it.”
He had done a lot of soul searching, and he knew he had to be honest with himself. Telling Chloe was helping him work through it and become a better man and alpha. He had a duty to his pack, and the feeling he got when he looked at Chloe and wanted to protect her and Harper, filtered to the other bears he stood alongside.
He had to be there for all of them.
“I know it was the wrong thing to do, Chloe, and I’m ashamed. All I can say is, thank you for being there at that exact moment… Thank you for coming into my life and making me feel differently.”
She squeezed his hand, and he smiled at her.
“You’re like no one I’ve ever met before,” he said. “I’m feeling things I didn’t know existed.”
“Me too,” she smirked. “It’s so weird, but one of the reasons I stayed in Lone Reach was because of you. I just… wanted to get to know you.”
They smiled at each other, and Mason couldn’t believe how everything had lined up in such an incredible way. They clearly had a connection that was written in the stars.
“And Harper, she’s just… Well, she’s amazing,” he said. “A total credit to you.”
Chloe nodded.
“She’s a superstar, all right. I don’t know what I would do without her.”
She checked the time on her cellphone, and seemed to be thinking.
“Must be hard leaving her with someone else,” Mason said.
“It’s torture,” Chloe admitted. “But I can’t hold her back forever. Part of the reason I wanted us to start again, somewhere new, is so I can loosen up a bit and let her live. She’s a smart kid and she needs to have friends and a social life. She loves being around people.”
He felt the urge to ask her again what they were running from but stopped himself before he blurted out the questions.
He knew he had to take baby steps with her. She wasn’t ready to tell him everything.
They ate their dinner and chatted all night, not once breaking conversation. Their bond was growing by the second, and every time he looked at her, he felt himself opening up more to the possibility of love.
He had spent so much of the past few years ignoring and avoiding women that he had almost been foolish enough to walk away from this before it even got started. He had been so skeptical and full of rage still, his heart hardened by past failures and disappointments. But when he saw Chloe, it was like he could already see the future with her, and there was no hurt wrapped up in it. She was going to be the best side of him… And he wanted to be with her always.
When they left the restaurant and he drove her back to the hotel, it took all the will in the world not to kiss her. He sat and looked into her beautiful eyes and held her hand and kissed it gently on the top by her knuckle.
“I’ve had a great night,” he said. “Thanks for letting me take you out.”
She seemed to blush, and she rolled her head onto her shoulder and looked up at him adoringly.
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.” She smiled. “You have no idea how much I needed this normality.”
He kissed her hand again and shut the engine off before he opened the door and went around to her side to open hers for her.
She stepped out and when he stood in front of her and looked at her, she leaned up on her tiptoes and planted a sweet, solitary kiss on his cheek.
“Goodnight, Mason.” She smiled as she began to walk to the door of the hotel.
“Goodnight, Chloe,” he echoed.
He waited until she was inside and walking safely through the lobby and then he grinned and climbed back into the driver’s seat.
“What a night.” He exhaled as he slammed the door behind him and started the engine.
He pulled his cellphone out of its holder and tapped it to life and opened a webpage before he searched for Bridge Hollow.
He had heard so much about it, and now, he just wanted to be sure there wasn’t anything he had missed.
His eyes scanned the results and he was shocked to see that a lot of them had disappeared. What he was looking for, specific and startling events from the past six months, were nowhere to be seen.
He put the phone down and scratched the back of his neck.
Someone was trying to cover it all up. And he couldn’t say he was surprised. It had been one hell of a shit storm, from what he had heard through the bear pack grapevine…
He put the truck in drive and made his way back onto Main Street and toward his little part of the forest where his cabin lay. It had been one of the best evenings out he had had in a long time. And now that he knew Chloe was from Bridge Hollow, he was even more determined to help her get settled in Lone Reach.
“She’s someone special,” he said to himself.
And he thanked his lucky stars for bringing her to him.
11.
It was strange an unnerving to come back to the hotel room and find it empty. Chloe instinctively looked to the spot on the bed where Harper should have been sleeping and she wrapped her arms around herself. She still had the tingling sensation on the top of her hand where Mason had kissed her goodnight, and she could still feel the heat on her lips where they had planted on his cheek.
She had had the best night and was feeling things she had long thought to be legend.
Mason was someone important to her.
Her mother and grandmother had told her stories when she was growing up of how they had met their husbands, and they had always said that, when the right person came along, you just knew.
Chloe just knew with Mason, and it was the most exciting feeling in the world.
She may still be healing from her past, but she knew she would be a fool to run away from something so incredibly unique and special. And now, she had all the confirmation she needed without actually coming out and asking him the exact words.
Mason was, without a doubt, a shifter. A bear.
She could see it inside him, and it turned her on.
He was the perfect man for her, in so many ways, and she longed to be able to ask him all about his secret, but she didn’t want to scare him away.
It was almost reassuring to her to know they were both hiding something. She was hiding a terrible secret about her past, something she was running from… And Mason was hiding the fact that he could turn into an animal.
What an incredible gift to have.
/> She lay on top of the covers on the bed, still fully clothed, and sighed as she stared at the ceiling.
“What are the chances…,” she whispered. “You leave Bridge Hollow, a town full of shifters and paranormal happenings, and you find a place that has similar people and phenomena… It’s like it’s your calling.”
She rubbed her eyes and yawned. She was exhausted. The shifts at the Brewhouse had been keeping her up late, and she was still trying to be one-hundred-percent up and bright when Harper woke, early in the morning. She reached for her cellphone and looked at the messages. She had called a couple more times throughout the evening to see how the girls were getting along, and Jamie’s mom had told her they were all fine. Harper had come to the phone and told her, excitedly, how she had met a real-life princess and now, they were in their PJ’s and ready to watch Cinderella and eat smores. It sounded like an absolute dream, and Chloe knew how lucky they both were to stumble across a place so welcoming and suited to them.
Harper had sent her a couple of messages too before she had gone to bed, and first thing in the morning Chloe would be going to pick her up, and then they had one last day of chilling together before Chloe was going to enroll her in school on Monday and their real lives in Lone Reach could begin.
She opened a web page and began searching for jobs. She was happy at The Bear Brewhouse, and glad she had done it, but now, she couldn’t help but feel she needed to be working regular hours. She wanted to make sure she still spent as much time with Harper as possible, and that she was also there to do homework with her in the evenings and tuck her into bed.
Most of the work that was cropping up appeared to be for The Brewery, and she smiled as she remembered how enthusiastic and excited Mason had been about it. He really did love this town; it seemed almost impossible to consider that he had thought about leaving it.
“Must have been bad,” she said to herself.
But then, she could understand that. She knew what it was like to need to run.
She undressed for bed, cleansed her face and brushed her teeth, and climbed into the big super-king all by herself and hoped Harper was having the best time with her little friends.
She only had a few hours and then they would be reunited, and when they were, Chloe couldn’t wait to hear all about her first real slumber party and take her for pancakes and syrup in one of the little coffee houses on Main Street.
She turned off the light and closed her eyes.
It had been a pretty amazing day, and she was optimistic for the ones to come. Mason had brought her to Lone Reach, and now, he was making her stay there one she would never be able to forget. Chloe had never much believed in fate, but the fact that the forces that be had pulled them together in such a way, made it impossible not to believe. She had found someone who she could see her life unfolding with, and she could see that Harper had taken to him too after she had initially been scared and tired.
She wondered if Mason was lying in his bed thinking of her too, and if he felt the same.
The pull between them was strong and the forces were real. Chloe had been brought to Lone Reach for a reason, and she was starting to see that the reason was him… she just hoped he wouldn’t run once she told him her truth.
She drifted to sleep, dreaming of a world where she, Harper and Mason all lived happily together, and she knew it was possible; she felt it in her blood.
“Mommy!” Harper called as Chloe stepped through the doorway of Jamie’s house.
They were all eating their breakfast and chatting away about the night before and the princess that had come to play with them. Chloe had never seen her look so happy, and to see her making real friends was absolutely amazing.
“Thank you so much,” she said to Jamie’s mom as they were leaving. “She’s had the best time.”
As they held hands and walked toward Main Street, Harper filled her in on all the exciting things that happened and told her mom all about how she wanted exactly the same kind of party when it was her birthday.
They had only been walking for around two minutes when a horn honked from behind them, and when Chloe looked over her shoulder, she saw it was Mason.
Her heart did a little jig, and she stopped and whispered to Harper.
“Hey, look who it is…”
She watched as Harper’s gaze focused on the truck, and how her eyes became brighter when she realized who was behind the wheel.
“It’s Mason!” she said as she looked at her mom and grinned.
“It sure is.” Chloe bit her bottom lip to try to hide how happy she was.
He pulled the truck up beside them and put down the window. When she locked eyes with his, she remembered all she had felt the night before when he had kissed her tenderly on the hand and the way he had taken her to the top of the mountain to see the amazing view.
It had been the most romantic night, and he hadn’t pushed her in any way. They had just been happy in each other’s company and loved spending time together, and now… He had found her again.
“Good morning.” He smiled, and his eyes glinted.
“Morning, Mason!” Harper beamed. “Guess what happened yesterday… I met a real princess! It was amazing!”
He looked at the dress she was still wearing with a pair of walking boots and smiled warmly.
“And you look like one yourself, little lady,” he said as he mock tipped an invisible hat.
“This is the dress I got in the store,” she said as she held out the hem and twirled on the spot as if he wouldn’t remember. “It’s special.”
Chloe and Mason both laughed. Harper had certainly taken to him.
“Well, I’m glad you had a fun slumber party, it sounds like a blast. I was going to see if you and your mom fancied grabbing some breakfast. I know a great place that has lots of games for kids.”
“I’ve eaten already,” Harper said before Chloe had a chance to speak.
“But I haven’t,” she finally managed to add. “Why don’t we check it out and if there’re games, you can play while we eat? Plus, I’m sure you could manage an extra pancake.”
Mason nodded and winked at Harper, and Harper jumped up and down and started to shout yay.
They all laughed, and Chloe opened the back door and helped Harper in the truck. It had been a lovely surprise to bump into Mason again, and it was so natural, it really was as if they were being pulled together by some magical force.
She climbed in the front seat after she had buckled Harper in, and Mason looked at her and smiled before he put the truck in drive and headed toward Main Street.
“This place is another new addition to town in preparation of us becoming a top tourist destination,” he said with a grin. “It’s the only one like it for miles around and the kids are already loving it. Imagine amazing breakfasts, the best cheese pizza and ice cream, slushies and video games… That pretty much sums it up.”
“Oh yes, that does sound like every kid’s dream,” she laughed.
“They also do parties and have bowling; it’s got something for everyone really, but the owner decided to make it twenty-four hours and the kids love it first thing in the morning and in the afternoons. A bit later on, well, it can get a bit wild.”
“A twenty-four-hour venue in a small town like this? That’s insane, but I love it.”
“We have a nightclub too,” Mason said with a raised brow. “But I tend to stay away from that one.”
“How come?” she asked as they drove past The Bear Brewhouse, heading to the other side of town.
“Oh, it’s a long story.” He smiled. “I’ll fill you in at some point.”
She shrugged and looked over her shoulder to see Harper sitting there with a big grin on her face, kicking her feet lightly and humming a song she must have learned the day before because Chloe didn’t recognize it.
“Here we go,” Mason said as he pulled off Main Street and into a parking lot.
Chloe looked up at the building and it didn’t look like
much from the outside, but it did have a big brightly-colored sign that read, LONE REACH ARCADE.
He turned off the engine and helped them out the truck and when they walked inside, Chloe saw instantly how wide Harper’s eyes went as she ran off into the noise and lights of the games and started to check each one, pushing buttons and laughing before moving on to the next.
“I think she’s going to like it here,” Chloe laughed.
“I had a feeling she might,” Mason winked as he took her hand and they wandered toward a table.
After they sat and ordered some breakfast, Chloe found herself looking at him again and daydreaming. She couldn’t believe her luck. She had always seemed to attract such losers, but Mason was all man, and completely worth breaking her vow of never getting in another relationship.
“So, this is a pleasant surprise,” she said.
Mason gave her hand a little squeeze.
“I came out hoping to bump into you both,” he admitted. “I’ve done nothing but think about you since I dropped you at the hotel last night.”
Chloe’s heart thumped harder and as she looked into his eyes, she saw so much… she saw her future, she saw his promise and his love for her, even though it was in its infancy.
“I’m the same,” she said. “I was so close to texting you to ask you to come back,” she said with a half-laugh.
Mason grinned and cocked his head to the side.
“Harper is incredible, you know,” he said. “I see her, and I see everything I hoped for, for this town. The future generations are so important, and I never thought I would meet someone who had a kid already, but since you two burst into my life, it’s all I can think about. I want to be with you, Chloe… I know that may sound crazy since we’ve only known each other a short time, but there’s something about you that draws me in and keeps me there. And I don’t ever want to be away from it.”
She smiled and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. It was insane that he felt exactly the same way she did; it was as if they had been made the same, that their bodies and souls had been waiting to find each other, and now that they had, there was no escape.
Bear For Her (Lone Reach Shifters Book 1) Page 8