by Hazel Gower
Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2013 Hazel Gower
ISBN: 978-1-77130-596-9
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Karyn White
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
This book is for all my readers who begged for Sammy’s book. Thank you for being patient. I would like to give a massive thank you to my editor, Karyn White, who makes my stories shine. Thank you for all your help and input. Lastly, thank you to my family for supporting me in everything I do. I love you, and I’m the luckiest woman in the world.
HERS
The Bears, 3
Hazel Gower
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Sammy sat in the taxi out the front of her friend’s house debating if she loved Susie enough to endure the next couple of hours. The cab driver sat happily as the meter ticked on with more money. Glancing at the taxi’s dashboard clock as it hit the seven, Sammy told herself she was already half an hour late. She gave a long drawn out sigh, when a voice that unfortunately had become very familiar to her through the window and as someone tapped on it.
“You can’t hide out here all night. Also it’s costing you a fortune just sitting in the taxi.”
Mumbling to herself about overbearing, annoying men, she turned to see one of the hottest men in the world, Slater. Sammy knew that was a big statement, but one she knew was one hundred percent true. Susie’s and Sandy’s men were hot, but nothing like the two irresistible men who wouldn’t leave her alone. She burned with a need for them, so much so that every time she saw them, it got harder and harder to fight.
She gazed at Slater. He had curly dirty blond hair, deep sea green eyes, a strong square jaw line, and a dark olive tan. The thing that made her shrink back in her seat though, was his six feet something height, and his massive bear-like bulk.
Sammy giggled at comparing him to a bear, because he was a bear. There were supposed to be a decent number of shifters. Sammy had been told wolves, tigers, lions, and so on existed. All the predators.
The predator part was one of the reasons she was hesitant to be with them, or close to them. She was slowly accepting that shifters were real. She was even becoming friends with Brock’s sister, Gwen. But, thanks to Greg, she still couldn’t be close to any man. And with both Brock and Slater towering over her and built like brick walls, it made it even harder for her to be around all the new men in her friends’ lives and hers.
“Ma’am, are you going to get out?”
Sammy turned to the cab driver and reached down to get her bag. She opened it and paid the taxi, giving him a couple of extra dollars so he would let her stay longer.
Sammy closed her eyes and moaned as one of the men in her life knocked on her car window again. She opened her eyes and honed in on his perfect, solid chest, which at the moment was straining to stay in his black t-shirt. “Go away, Slater. I will get out when I’m ready.”
He raised an eyebrow at her.
Grabbing her gift bag and gripping it tight in one of her hands, she threw her hand bag over her shoulder and opened her door trying not to cringe when Slater moved to the side and not away from her. Shit. “Fine. I am, or was, getting out.”
Taking a deep breath, she stood and focused on the front door of her friend Susie’s house, trying to forget about the large gorgeous male next to her, because Sammy was done with tall, big, muscular men, or men in general. Well, at least she hoped she was.
Looking up at the starlit night, Sammy prayed that she would stop being attracted to the man casually strolling beside her. She had even wished she could find women attractive, but it didn’t work. And before she reached the door, Brock, her other problem, and the only other guy who could hold a candle to Slater, who was now behind her, stood in front of her.
“Are you trying to avoid us, angel?”
Snorting, Sammy glared at Brock. “Really. What would give you that idea? Oh I know. How about never calling you back? Telling you to go away, or maybe how about the fact if I know you two are going to be somewhere I avoid the place like it’s the plague?”
Brock shrugged his massive shoulders and ran his finger through his jet black locks. His full lips lifted at the side, and his sky blue eyes flashed over her. Sammy felt the heat of his stare all the way to her core. Crap! She hated what these men did to her and that she had to hold herself back from jumping up and ravishing them.
“Why, we just thought you were playing hard to get,” Slater said from behind her.
Groaning, she straightened her shoulders and stood to her full height of five- four and turned so that she faced both men. “I will not be dating either of you.” Slater opened his mouth to comment, and she raised her hand in a stop sign. “I’m not dating any men period, ever again. I’m going to be that lady who owns all the cats because she lives alone. I want to be that woman, so leave me alone.” Taking a deep breath and letting it out, she turned back to the door, opened it, and walked through.
On the other side a massive open plan dinning, kitchen, lounge, and hang out area greeted her. At the moment it was covered in pink and blue balloons and baby decorative stuff. People Sammy didn’t know were everywhere, male and female. Spotting the woman of the night, Susie, surrounded by the only people she did know, her two other best friends, Jane and Sandy, Sammy hurried over to the group almost shoving the gift in Susie’s face only to have it snatched by masculine hands behind her.
Slater whispered, “We will add this to our present. Just so you know we also bought her two baby swings.”
She bit her cheek to keep the groan in, as she knew they hadn’t taken any notice of what she had just said to them. It’d been like this the last couple of months.
Almost three months ago, she’d moved into Susie’s old place all by herself. It would have been sooner if not for the shifter killer. On the night the killer died, she had heard Susie and her husbands talking about who the killer was, and how they would need to keep a closer eye on Samantha as the killer had been Greg’s cop partner, Michael. Greg denied any involvement in the killings, and as he was still in jail for assault, there was nothing the authorities could do to prove he’d had any involvement.
Slowly feeling safe again, what with Greg in jail, Sammy had asked Susie if she could rent her old house. Susie had agreed that as soon as Sandy and her men moved out, she could move in. Before Sammy moved in, a state of the art security system had been put in, and if anything went wrong not only did it alert the police, but also Slater and her friends’ husbands. Sammy thought it was a bit overkill, but with what she’d gone through and the killer turning out to be Greg’s partner she hadn’t said anything.
Sammy knew her friends were worried about her, and she loved them for looking after and loving her, but she needed to be by herself and learn to be her old self again.
The anniversary of her mother’s death was coming up, two years, and it was still hard on her. Sammy was glad she had her best friends. She’d known Sandy and Susie since primary school. They had become instant friends when their names all began with an S and they all only had one parent. It had been the three of them for a long time until Susie met Jane. She fit in perfectly and didn’t mind that they all had S names and had known each other for years.
“How are you doing in the hou
se by yourself? Is everything working? Remember you’re welcome to paint or put hooks on the walls for photos. I’m sure Brock or Slater would be willing to help you with anything.”
Sammy glared at Susie. She’d been on her case lately to give Slater and Brock a chance. Sandy had been asking questions, too, as to what her plans were with the men. Sammy was unsure herself. One week she thought she was ready to have a dinner date in a public place with them and go very slow. Another week, like this week, she was sick of men and didn’t want to date or have anything to do with the opposite sex.
Her psychiatrist and therapy group all encouraged her to get out and give another man a chance. “Don’t let Greg win,” they’d said. Some told her about the great relationships they were in now or ones they had been in before and so on.
“Thanks, Susie. I know, but I don’t want to bother them, or lead them on. I need to learn to do things for myself. I might paint my room a color just for me like purple, or pink, if that’s okay?”
Susie smiled and nodded. “Of course it’s okay.” She pouted. “I would come over and help paint, but…” She patted her huge baby belly.
“Me, too,” Sandy piped in. She had a decent size belly on her also. She wasn’t too far behind Susie, a month or so, maybe less.
Sammy hadn’t really been a good friend these last several months. Now she thought about it, she hadn’t really seen much of her friends since she’d gotten out of the hospital. Sure she’d seen Susie when she lived with her and her men, but she’d stayed in her room when they were around. She had only ventured out when they were at work or out.
Sandy had called. They’d gone out for a coffee, and Sammy had visited Sandy when she was in the hospital because of when Michael, Greg’s work partner, tried to kill her mates. Sammy winced at that thought and felt a tear roll down her cheek. Oh God, I almost got my best friend killed. If only I wasn’t such a gullible fool. Why didn’t I leave Greg? How could I have not noticed he was taking over my life? My friends wouldn’t have gotten hurt if I’d left him after one of the many times he beat me. Why did I stay with him? Why did I let him destroy my life and hurt my friends?
“I need air. Excuse me for a moment.” Sammy didn’t want them to see her cry. She was sick of being the victim, the cry-baby. Tonight was a happy event, and she wasn’t about to bring it down. Over and over, she repeated what her psychiatrist said to her. It is not your fault. You didn’t cause Michael to go on a killing spree. You did nothing wrong. He would have fixated on someone else, and he would have still killed who he did. You being with Greg didn’t cause these killings.
Stepping out on the veranda she took deep gulps of air, fighting to calm herself down and not break down in front of everyone or run away back to the safety of her house. Shit! She was pathetic. She used to be the strong, tough one in the group. Then her mum had died, and she’d become a wreck. It was around then she’d met Greg. He’d pulled her over for a breath test and seen she’d been crying. He’d talked to her, and their relationship had started from there.
Greg had been controlling from the start. Sammy should have seen his controlling ways, but at first he looked after her as she got her mother’s house packed up and on the market. Sammy had inherited the house and it was debt-free, but she just couldn’t live in the house without her mother.
Sammy had only known Greg for a month before she sold her mother’s place and moved in with him. It didn’t happen right away, but slowly he would put her down because of her weight, or make a comment about how he didn’t like how she acted around her friends. Greg would always organize things for when she had a girls’ night or when she would be going to see her friends. He would make her feel so guilty she would cancel and go to his event, or just to keep him quiet and happy, stay at home with him.
Now that she thought about it, she really should never have moved in with him. Sandy had even made a joke to her that he must be hot in bed if she was moving in so fast. Sammy remembered not answering and telling herself that sex didn’t matter, that Greg might be a dud in bed, but he’d said he loved her and he wanted her. What did Sammy really know anyway? Greg had been the first. She’d made the pact with Sandy and Susie when they were teenagers to only lose their virginity to a man they loved and would marry. Sammy felt guilty knowing she hadn’t kept her promise.
Sammy leaned on the rail and looked out at the pitch black forest. Thanks to Sandy, Susie, and Jane, Sammy knew that sex, making love, could be mind-blowing. Sammy wanted that. She knew Susie and Sandy didn’t care she’d broken the promise. They just wanted her happy. Sammy wanted to have sex and have an orgasm while a man was making love to her. She sighed. Or men.
She hated to admit it, but now she thought about it she was really impressed with Slater and Brock. From what she’d learned about shifters and mates from Gwen, whom she’d been spending a decent amount of time with lately, she knew that shifters found it extremely hard to not be close to or have contact with their mate. Supposedly, they went crazy without their mate’s touch and love. Shifters were usually very bossy with their mates, especially alpha males like Slater and Brock. The two of them never gave up, but when she’d asked for time, they’d given it, and if she asked them to leave they left. They’d never pushed her to do something she hadn’t wanted to. They hadn’t even whined that she wouldn’t let them claim her.
Sure, they joked and vied for her attention, and no matter how many times she said she wasn’t interested they came back to try again. They never got angry, and they had been there when she had broken down outside the hospital when Sandy got hurt because she’d learnt who the shifter killer was. Sammy felt it was her fault. Sammy remembered Brock was furious, but he never let her see it. It was only when she snuck looks that she saw the pure rage and anger at her situation. Brock was gentle with her and told her pretty much the same as what her psychiatrist told her.
Sammy remembered Slater and Brock let her be for a while after the shifter killer mess. Slater had come around only twice to check on her, and Brock had checked on her once. They didn’t come together. It was good. She had almost two months of time to get herself together until they slowly started coming around again and calling her. She should give them a chance. Sammy was extremely attracted to them. They made her laugh, and she always felt good around them. Not to mention her body came alive without even touching them. They always told her how beautiful she looked even when she knew she looked like shit.
Arms came around her waist, and warmth settled through her. Honey and chocolate wafted through her senses, and she felt safe.
Brock leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Quick, let me hold you and talk to you. Please, protect me. My mother is on her way with one of the Brown girls. I’ve told her I don’t need setting up, that I have you, but she doesn’t believe me.”
Sammy felt a sting of jealousy course through her at the fact Brock’s mother didn’t believe she was his mate and was trying to set him up with someone else. Brock nipped her neck sending delicious shivers down her back. He then soothed her with kisses.
“Don’t worry, angel. I’m all yours. No need to get jealous.”
Stupid shifter senses. Her feelings weren’t even private. Brock dodged her elbow and pulled her tighter against his chest as the woman she’d met briefly at the bridal shop the other day came over to them with a tall, stunning, brunette.
“Brock, darling, come and meet the lovely Stella.” Brock’s mother Adele totally ignored Sammy.
“I told you, Mother. I already have a mate.”
Sammy watched as Adele raised her eyebrow in the most regal way. “I do not see this mate you have been talking about, and if you’d mated her she should be here. She hasn’t come and introduced herself, and you don’t smell mated. So frankly I think you’re just being stubborn and making excuses to get out of things. I think your mate is make-believe.”
Sammy told herself to stay quiet, to stay invisible and not say anything, but she was sick of shrinking into the background. Befo
re Greg, she would never have put up with someone treating her like this woman was now. She wasn’t make-believe. She was Brock’s mate whether she claimed him or not.
Taking a deep breath she told herself that Adele couldn’t do anything to her with Brock so close, and behind them there was a room full of shifters and humans. “Hi, Mrs. Bear. I’m Samantha. We met at the bridal shop the other day. I’m one of Sandy’s bridesmaids.”
The penetrating stare Adele had been giving Brock moved down to her. “I remember you hiding in the corner. Is my son bothering you? Has he put you up to pretending you're his mate so he can get out of events and things I’ve organized? You can say no, and I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you again.”
Sammy stared dumbfounded at the woman. This was the woman Susie loved? Sandy had told her to watch herself with her. That this woman was amazing the way she worked. On the one hand Adele had given her an out, but on the other, Sammy knew she’d just been snubbed. Adele didn’t think she was Brock’s mate.
Sammy felt Slater come up beside her, and he reached for her hand.
“Adele. I see you’ve met our pretty little mate.” Slater held the hand she wasn’t holding out to Adele. “Stella, it’s nice to see you again.”
Sammy put her hand down and watched as Adele turned red, and her back went rigid as she plastered a fake smile on her face. “Slater, it’s nice of you to lend my son your mate to play this game. And I’m glad you’ve met Stella before. You can tell Brock what a wonderful woman she is.”
“No. Brock is mine. Slater and Brock are both mine.” Sammy didn’t know what came over her. All she knew was Slater and Brock were hers. She wasn’t letting anyone have them, bar her.
“I beg your pardon. You have to be wrong, young lady. If you were their mate you would be claimed by now. My son and Slater have known you for months.”