Bear Guards
J. S. Striker
Table of Contents
Evan
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Garrett
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Adam
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Nikolai
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Preview of Erik
Erik – Band of Bears
Author Bio
Bear Guards © 2018 J. S. Striker
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Bear Guards
Welcome to Orville. You won’t find it on a map and it is full of secrets…
Evan
Deana Thomason has had enough of heartbreak, and moving away from the city and into her grandmother’s town seems like the perfect way to recuperate. The people are friendly, sometimes nosy, and everything has its charm…except maybe the cops.
Okay, one cop.
Evan Malone is the kind of confident man who gets on her nerves and her walls at the same time. He’s charming. He’s watchful.
He’s dangerous.
But as it turns out, there are more dangerous things than a cop here, and Deana is in for a rude awakening as she finds Evan’s protection drawing her closer to the town’s secrets. In the end, she’s left with two choices: run far away, or run into the arms of a man who stirs her soul—and who has more secrets than she could ever possibly imagine…
Garrett
As the peacekeeper of the vampires in a town where they aren’t exactly adored, Angel Hayley is used to obstacles every single day—and it’s not made easier when three strange vampires come in and wreak havoc.
Now she has to work with a cop: Garrett Limewell, who’s about as righteous as anyone can get and is out to prove that she doesn’t belong here. Well, two can play that game. In a battle of wits and survival, they come together: in heated words, burning touches and everything in between.
And Angel must resist it every step of the way, because there’s an enemy hunting her—and it might be him…
Adam
Being the witch doctor of a town filled with supernatural beings isn’t exactly easy, but it’s a job Hazel Woodson is used to. They trust her, and she trusts them. She also lends a certain protection, one that keeps the town somewhat safe.
Except that protection is broken when a stranger comes into her house, bloodied and asking for help.
His name is Adam Ushmeg, and he’s the most fascinating man she’s ever met. He’s ancient, and he’s powerful—and he has enemies, creatures that will stop at nothing to get to him.
Now Hazel has to decide: keep Adam here and work with him, and try not to get too distracted by the heat burning between them.
Or she could drive him away and keep the town—and herself—safe for good…
Nikolai
Life as an outcast isn’t as bad as everyone claims it to be, especially for a powerful witch like Irene Stanford. Sure, it gets lonely. But she gets more free time to experiment with her magic, and she’s often out of trouble.
Which is why it comes as a rude surprise when Nikolai Bastet marches into her life and demands for assistance. He’s the town’s hotshot Sheriff, and she’s always disliked their kind. But the man leaves her with no choice, and soon Irene finds herself involved in a tangle of fights, power struggles and a darkness that’s far more dangerous than she’s ever faced.
But there’s one thing more dangerous: Nikolai himself, and how she’s drawn to him when she can’t be—not when it can mean his instant death…
Evan
Chapter 1
“Good morning. Welcome to Orville.”
The cheerful, feminine voice had Deana Thomason looking up, her arms pausing from carrying a crate of flowers to the building behind her. They were the most gorgeous flowers she’d carried so far—a mix of hydrangeas and hyacinths that were deep purple and just so pleasant to the eyes. Deana’s gaze went to the woman greeting her, trying to take the sight in.
Well. It looked like the flowers weren’t the only ones who were gorgeous.
The woman was a knockout, for lack of a better word. She was wearing a red dress that showed off her curves, and red lipstick that showed off her dark features, her hair and eyes being the most notable ones. It was pretty dressy for a time so early in the day, and in comparison, Deana felt seriously underdressed in her ripped jeans and plain white shirt. Sadly, it was no longer plain, because all that unloading of flowers from her rented truck had decorated it with soil and greenery.
Still, a smile was the best weapon. Deana used that now, smiling brightly at the woman and nodding in response to her greeting.
“Good morning, to you too. And thank you, I do feel welcome here.”
That was the truth, considering this woman’s greeting was perhaps the nth one today. Being smack dab in the middle of nowhere, she initially thought this town would be void of any signs of friendliness, as the small population guaranteed the people were close-knit and not really welcoming to outsiders—at least, that was the impression her grandmother gave her, as the old woman discouraged visiting whenever Deana brought it up.
The town doesn’t really accept outsiders.
I’d rather visit you and see the city.
Orville is too small and close-knit for the likes of you. They might find you odd or vice versa.
There was nothing odd about the welcome she was getting so far, but it was slightly jarring after all the discouragements—case in point, the woman in front of her who
was smiling so beautifully.
“My name’s Joan Jones, and I’m very pleased to meet you. Is it true that you’re Dana’s granddaughter?”
Deana smiled when she heard the affectionate tone upon mention of the old woman. “Yes. She’s my grandmother. I’m Deana. I’m glad to meet you, too.”
The woman named Joan tilted her head. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
It had been months ago, and the ache Deana felt before had eased enough to allow her to keep smiling. “Thank you.”
“She was well-loved in this town,” Joan said sincerely. “I actually never expected that someone would take over her flower shop. Is this a last-minute decision or have you been thinking about it for a while?”
“Last-minute decision,” Deana replied automatically.
“May I ask why?”
Because I found the guy I’d been dating sleeping with another woman.
Because the woman was my roommate.
The words were almost at the tip of her tongue, but Joan’s eager, very curious expression told her it would be all over Orville if she breathed so much as a word about it. She just wanted to forget it, so Deana clamped her mouth shut and tried to come up with something else.
“It felt like a good change,” she said, which was partially true. “I always wanted to start up a business, and I guess this was the perfect opportunity.” There was no need to mention that while her grandmother’s inheritance money covered all the financial needs in the shop renovation and flower orders, it looked like she might need to shell out some more to renovate her grandmother’s cabin in the shop’s backyard, considering how old it was. Realizing this was the perfect opportunity to advertise, Deana upped the ante of her smile. “I hope you can come visit the shop when it opens.”
Joan grinned, blinding Deana for a bit. “Of course. I love roses in my foyer, so you’ll be having a frequent customer.” The woman winked, then waved before turning around and walking away. Deana watched her sashay her hips in a rather enticing manner, oozing sensual appeal in every step. If Deana dressed like that and acted like that, then maybe her ex wouldn’t have…
Almost immediately, she slammed the thought down, irritated that it even came through. No need to go back to that moment.
Instead, she focused on carrying the flower load she had in her arms, entering the building she just recently renovated. The smell of flowers instantly bombarded her, and she inhaled it deeply, feeling her mood lift up. In her months discovering things about her very private grandmother, she’d never thought flowers would play a very important part in the old woman’s life. At first, she couldn’t figure it out, but she was starting to see the appeal now—though, to be honest, she still had a long way to go before she truly fell in love with the whole business.
She always enjoyed arranging flowers and seemed to have a natural talent for it. She liked receiving flowers and looking at them but taking care of them was still something she needed to learn. Not to mention the business side of things.
“Okay, so you’re going inside the freezer,” she muttered to her crate. She’d been in town for a week now, had been greeted and invited to events that would surely get her acquainted with the townspeople and may even help her to make friends. But she’d declined all those invitations for now in favor of staying up late at night to read up everything she could about flowers and her grandmother’s methods of taking care of them—which, oddly enough, involved talking to them as if they were alive.
“There now.” she said soothingly, once she had set them down right beside a crate of white roses. She eyed the batch admiringly, a surge of excitement entering her at the thought that this shop was about to come to life tomorrow. But mixed with the excitement were nerves.
Would she do as well as her grandmother did?
Would she actually make it a month here?
Was this last-minute decision really the best for her?
“It’s okay. I can do this. And, so can you. You’ll be arranged in pretty bouquets, and customers will love you,” she said. No response came, and Deana shook her head, feeling just a little bit crazy. That was her last delivery of flowers for this week, and she was off to the next part before opening: cleaning up the shop, arranging everything and doing inventory later to make sure she was ready for tomorrow.
Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t had lunch yet. Deana sighed and left the freezer, then closed up her shop and stood outside the door. She scanned around the town center, eyeing the assortment of stores that ranged from an antique shop to an ice cream shop. There was also a diner that boasted amazing breakfast food, and she supposed that breakfast food was as good as any to have on a rather hot day.
Sweat slid down from her forehead to her cheek as she walked the soiled road, and she wiped it off and tried not to regret the fact that she didn’t bring an umbrella. She didn’t really need it in Los Angeles, where the weather was steadily pleasant. But here it rained one day, then was so hot the next that you just wanted to find a lake to cool down in.
Or maybe she could just stay in the freezer for a while.
For something that was right in the middle of Texas, this town surely didn’t follow the weather pattern much. Deana looked at the clouds, eyeing the gray wisps down the horizon and wondering if that meant it would rain like crazy again tonight. The sun dried up whatever rain there had been last night, and there was not even a sign of mud where she trod. She shook her head—
And felt pain sear her shoulder when something crashed into her.
Hard.
It was so sudden and so shocking that she didn’t get to brace herself in time. Instead, Deana found herself plopping on her butt down on the dry soil, feeling the dust whirl in the air when her palms followed. She coughed, then sputtered when something heavy settled on her lap and—
Started licking?
Horror settled in before she realized exactly what was on her lap. Before she could react, she was suddenly smothered by so much golden-brown hair that she coughed again and frantically tried to move away. But the huge dog was still licking her and obviously having such a good time that it didn’t look like it would be moving anytime soon.
She grimaced, torn between giggling and getting annoyed. The latter won out when the dog started sniffing her neck and pawing at her clothes.
“Oh, my God. Stop.”
“Bingo, stop. Get out of that lady’s lap.”
The deep, male voice was so unexpected that she felt her protest die in her mouth. Immediately, the huge monster of a dog was removed from her until she could breathe again. Deana looked up.
She stared at the man who looked like he just stepped out of some magazine.
Are all people in this town gorgeous? was the first thought that slid through her mind. The second was a scrutiny of what she was seeing: tall, toned muscles, a very appealing tan, and a jawline that could cut with how smooth and angular it was. Then there were those lips that looked perfect and totally kissable.
Then those eyes, as golden as the dog.
The third thought that came was how he obviously didn’t look pleased.
And his next words confirmed that.
“You really should watch where you’re going, lady.”
The last thought?
That he was wearing a cop’s uniform.
Chapter 2
The fact that he wasn’t in a good mood to begin with guaranteed Evan Malone was going to blow up soon—something he tried to avoid when after his coffee, he had had his first row with his boss and now had to round up a couple of vampires who were apparently making trouble on the borders of Orville.
It didn’t help that his golden retriever, Bingo, was acting like a brat who wanted to go play in the park than get some work done, even when the dog was repeatedly told that they had a job to do today—and no, being a dog was no excuse, because Evan knew perfectly well Bingo understood his instructions. Even though Bingo was just a dog they had a special ability to communicate with each other
, something Evan couldn’t explain.
It also didn’t help that there was a stranger in town who was too busy staring at the weather and would get herself in trouble if she kept it up.
He stared at that stranger now, eyeing her quietly. Oh, he knew right away who she was— everyone did, considering she was the buzz of the town the moment she moved in about a week ago. But she didn’t mingle much and wasn’t as friendly as her grandmother, something that some of the townspeople grumbled about. After all, how were they supposed to buy flowers from someone who didn’t reach out?
He recalled that those townspeople also reluctantly admitted that she wasn’t bad once you greeted her, even smiled a little bit when you did. But he couldn’t recall anyone telling him that she was quite the looker.
Dana had been quite plain, almost homely. This woman, however, had silky blonde hair, clear, fresh-looking skin, rosy cheeks and what seemed to be a very fit body underneath her ordinary clothes. He finished his perusal by looking at her face, where he found jade green eyes staring at him.
His stomach jumped at the eye contact, and he frowned.
“You really should watch where you’re going, lady.”
Those innocent-looking, staring eyes changed immediately, widening before darkening. Her mouth slid down into a disapproving frown as she refused the hand he held out, standing up on her own and lifting her chin at him. He realized that she wasn’t as docile as she looked, and that was further proved when she spoke.
“You really should watch where your dog is going,” she said, voice a mix of melodious and frosty. It fascinated him, and Evan ended up staring at her more than necessary—which, obviously, was a very bad idea as the woman noticed and frowned even deeper.
Evan looked away, unable to help the small sigh escaping his lips. He really didn’t need this kind of altercation so early in the day. “Bingo is a very eager dog.”
“I can see that.”
“He is especially eager when he thinks someone is a suspect—you know, being a police companion and all.”
That had her narrowing her eyes at him, which had his lips twitching in return. She didn’t appreciate that.
Realizing he was crossing the line, Evan sighed again. “Look, I’m sorry. Bingo is actually very nice. I’m Evan Malone. You are?”
Bear Guards: A Paranormal Romance Page 1