“Why? You think I’m competition, Colton?” Brad smirked at him.
Colton didn’t deign to reply. He threw a pen onto the table, watching as it rolled toward Brad.
“Sign.”
Brad sighed, and reluctantly picked up the pen. As soon as the ink touched the paper, Colton called Tucker in, asking him to withdraw funds from his personal account. Tucker asked no questions.
Once the papers were signed, Colton rose from the table.
“Stay here and you’ll get your money, a coffee, and a goddamn plane ticket.”
Brad nodded. He knew he was getting a generous deal. After what he’d told Colton and the others, he would be a wanted man in Port Ursa, better he walk out of here under the protection of the clan than take his chances with the pack. Under Jackson’s rule, betrayal meant death.
17
Hannah returned to the cabin exhausted. She’d been for a long run, much further than she’d gone yesterday, and this time without an iPod and with a gun holstered at her waist. She felt pleased with herself. The lessons in Colton’s wilderness 101 were paying off.
She took her time walking to the cabin door, stretching out her cramping legs with each step. Getting closer, she noticed a paper-wrapped parcel leaning against the door frame, with nothing but her name scrawled across the front.
Opening it, it took a few moments for her to register the contents. Her divorce papers, each page signed and initialed by Brad Crawford. A scrap of lined office paper fell to the floor as she thumbed through.
She recognized the penmanship before she read it:
I’m sorry for everything. I hope you make more of a success of your life than I have with mine. Brad.
She smiled at the words. There was the guy she’d known in high school. He might have been wild and impulsive, even stupid sometimes, but the boy back then had always had a good heart deep down. She felt sorry for Brad. It couldn’t have been easy growing up, being what he was. Colton had obviously embraced his nature and grown up all the stronger for it, and had his brothers to help with that, but Brad would have most likely have dealt with it all alone.
She also knew that Colton was behind all this. Hannah felt profoundly grateful, so moved that he would go to this much trouble for a one-night stand. Clearly, by dropping them off undetected, he hadn’t even expected a thank you. There weren’t many men left like that in the world, she acknowledged. She had completely fallen for him, and the next few months would need to be dedicated to getting Colton out of her mind, but she would never regret meeting him. He was one in a million.
Hannah ran the shower, unsure what she would do for the rest of the day until her flight departed.
She had expected this moment, when she finally had the papers in her possession, to feel vastly different. She had everything that she wanted now. All the foundations were in place to start a new life and open up her own practice.
So why did she feel so hollow?
“Are you alright?”
Tucker and Colton stood at the water’s edge, looking out over the navy blue of the Alaskan ridge. The wind had picked up following the balm of the morning, and they both had their coat collars up.
“Not really.”
“You really believe she was your mate?” Tucker asked.
“I know she was. Is. It doesn’t matter now.”
“Come on Colton, we do business in Chicago, you’ll see her again.”
“Yeah. I know.”
They turned and made their way up the coast, circling back to the warehouse. Colton jammed his hands in his pockets, flicking his car keys in agitation. Colton Sterling was rarely at a loss. Whatever problem he’d ever faced, small or large, he’d always found some way to apply an action–to negate the issue, work his way around it, come up with various strategies. It’s what made him such a successful businessman. But, in this case, there was nothing he could do. He’d done everything in his power to ensure that Hannah could fulfill her dreams. It was the right thing to do, and what he found that he wanted to do. But helping her leave, because it was what she wanted, didn’t take the pain out of losing her.
When they reached the warehouse, it was a hub of activity. A new shipment of supply goods had just come in. The spring and summer imports were always greater, to account for the tourist season. Almost the entire clan was working today in some capacity.
The old man that worked the reception at Burke’s cabin was standing at the entrance, flipping through papers on a clipboard.
“Hannah left already?” Colton asked him, ready to lose his temper with the man if she hadn’t. Jackson was still out there, and he didn’t want to take any risks when they were almost home and dry.
“Nope. She’s extended the cabin for a week. But I got my boy filling in for me. He’ll look out for her.”
“What?”
The old man looked surprised, and he repeated the information for Colton again, slowly.
“Where is she now?”
“Said she was looking for a realtor. I sent her to Sally.”
“Hannah was looking for a realtor?”
The old man just looked at Colton like he’d lost his senses.
“That’s what I said, yeah.”
Colton nodded his thanks, hit his brother on the back in jubilation, and then tore off across the warehouse lot to his car.
It took an overly long conversation with Sally’s assistant for her to divulge the information of Hannah’s current location. Colton had never come so close to losing his patience. He eventually stormed out with a vague notion of their whereabouts, and hurried back to his car.
Colton felt like he’d been given a reprieve. He didn’t want her leaving the island without Hannah knowing how he felt. He hoped that her looking in the area for real estate meant that she was considering some kind of summer home. If that was the case, then it was worth him saying something. Even if she didn’t feel that same way about him, then at least he would know that he’d done everything he could to keep his mate in his life.
He slammed on the breaks of his truck. He could see Sally’s distinct Ursa Real Estate branded car heading toward him. He jumped out and flagged her down.
She looked surprised to see him.
“You okay Colton?” She asked, winding down the window.
“Where’s Hannah? I thought she was with you.”
“She was, I left her at the Bayview Drive property to have a think.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Sally waved at him uncertainly as he dashed back to his truck. She’d never seen a Sterling behave so oddly and impassioned. They might all be as good looking as the devil, but they were reputed to be a bit of a controlled bunch. Sally shrugged and continued her drive back to the office, hoping that Colton didn’t hassle her prospective buyer.
18
It was perfect. A thirty-four-acre lot, with a garage, greenhouse and studio attached. More than enough room to meet her needs. It was charming. The traditional wooden frame would need a good lick of paint, but the overall construction was sturdy. As a nice addition, the views were epic. Bayview drive was situated on a much higher level than the port. From the front of the house, she could see the winding roads all the way down to the water, and from the back porch, an endless vista of forest and mountain.
She was gazing at the front of the house, mentally designing the footpath, signage and imagining the whitewashed walls when she heard a truck pull up behind her.
“Hannah?”
She turned. Colton was exiting the truck. She smiled. She knew she’d be seeing him again soon enough, but having him arrive now, unexpectedly, took her breath away.
“Hey.”
“What are you doing here?” Colton asked.
“Well…can I just caveat one thing, before I continue?”
“You can.”
“Please don’t think this is me, like, staying around, hoping for something more.”
“Okay.” Colton crossed his arms, waiting for her to continue. He didn’t look particular
ly pleased by her words. His displeasure made Hannah hesitate before continuing.
“I was thinking, after I got the papers, which, thank you, by the way. Sorry I should have said that first. I’m so grateful, really.”
“It’s okay. Go on.”
“Well, I was thinking about the time we met, the kid in the store. How he couldn’t go to the doctors because the road was closed. And it got me thinking that, actually, for a town this size, there should really be a general practitioner…and maybe, better to go where I’m actually needed, than to a city where everyone is already well provided for.”
“And I didn’t come into the decision making process at all?”
“No!”
Hannah paused. It was a big fat lie. He was a large part of the decision, but she didn’t want to put him under pressure. She was hoping if she moved here they could start dating, but she didn’t want it to seem like she expected anything. On the other hand, it wouldn’t do much good to be dishonest about it.
“Really?”
Hannah sighed at him. She kicked a pebble on the ground with her shoe, trying to find the words that could convey her interest in Colton without revealing the weighty truth of her feelings, the crazy, head-over-heels, impulsive feelings she had for him that even she didn’t understand.
“Okay,” he continued when Hannah didn’t reply, “Let me tell you this. In the legends of our clan, going back over centuries, each shifter has one true mate. One person out there in the world somewhere that is perfectly matched for them.” He rolled his eyes at her. “I thought it was a load of crap, to tell you truth. Until I met you. What I said earlier, about your smell, it’s more than that. It’s everything about you. Around you, always, my bear wants to break free. You call to it in a way that I don’t understand. You call to me, in a way I don’t understand. My entire life I have never been content. Happy, yes, but content, never. Like I was constantly searching for something that would temper the restlessness in me, and it’s you. I don’t think I can find peace without you Hannah. I’m in love with you. I will be in love with you always, no matter what you feel about me.”
Hannah stood still, aware of the breeze making her hair dance around her face, the smell of the salt water being carried up from the coast. Knowing that for the rest of her life, she would remember this moment.
“I love you too, Colton. It hit me this morning, the realization that if I left, I would spend the rest of my life trying to get back here—to you.”
Colton strode over and took her in his arms. He wound her hair up in his fist, holding her face up to his as he kissed her hello.
THE END
NEXT BOOK IN THIS SERIES
A rare polar bear shifter in a clan of grizzly’s, Wyatt is poised to assume the role of Alpha to the Sterling Shifter Clan. There’s only one problem. All Alpha’s must be mated and all Wyatt can seem to find is a string of bad dates.
With tensions running high between the warring Wolf Packs, the Sterling Clan needs Wyatt to step into his fated position as Alpha.
Always the innovative businessman, his brother Colton devises a plan:
Hire a mate!
Get Bear’s Flamingo Bride HERE
(Get the entire Kodiak Island Shifters Series HERE.)
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* * *
BEARS OF BURDEN
In the southwestern town of Burden, Texas, good ol’ bears Hawthorne, Wyatt, Hutch, Sterling, and Sam, and Matt are livin’ easy. Beer flows freely, and pretty women are abundant. The last thing the shifters of Burden are thinking about is finding a mate or settling down. But, fate has its own plan…
Thorn
Wyatt
Hutch
Sterling
Sam
Matt
BEARS OF BURDEN on Audiobook
Thorn
Wyatt
Hutch
* * *
P.O.L.A.R.
(Private Ops: League Arctic Rescue) is a specialized, private operations task force—a maritime unit of polar bear shifters. Part of a world-wide, clandestine army comprised of the best of the best shifters, P.O.L.A.R.’s home base is Siberia…until the team pisses somebody off and gets re-assigned to Sunkissed Key, Florida and these arctic shifters suddenly find themselves surrounded by sun, sand, flip-flops and palm trees.
Rescue Bear
Hero Bear
Covert Bear
Tactical Bear
Royal Bear
* * *
CYBERMATES
As bunny shifter, Parker Pettit, struggles to get her new online shifter dating site, Cybermates, off the ground, she’s matching up shifters and their mates left and right. (This series is a spin-off of the P.O.L.A.R. series.)
Cherished Mate
Charmed Mate
Chased Mate
Changed Mate
Chosen Mate
* * *
SHIFTERS OF HELL’S CORNER
In the late 1800’s, on a homestead in New Mexico, a female shifter named Helen Cartwright, widowed under mysterious circumstances, knew there was power in the feminine bonds of sisterhood. She provided an oasis for those like herself, women who had been dealt the short end of the stick. Like magic, women have flocked to the tiny town of Helen’s Corner ever since. Although, nowadays, some call the town by another name, Hell’s Crazy Corner. (This series is a spin-off of the Bears of Burden series.)
Wolf Boss
Wolf Detective
Wolf Soldier
Bear Outlaw
Wolf Purebred
* * *
DRAGONS OF THE BAYOU
Something’s lurking in the swamplands of the Deep South. Massive creatures exiled from their home. For each, his only salvation is to find his one true mate.
Fire Breathing Beast
Fire Breathing Cezar
Fire Breathing Blaise
Fire Breathing Remy
Fire Breathing Armand
Fire Breathing Ovide
* * *
RANCHER BEARS
When the patriarch of the Long family dies, he leaves a will that has each of his five son’s scrambling to find a mate. Underneath it all, they find that family is what matters most.
Rancher Bear’s Baby
Rancher Bear’s Mail Order Mate
Rancher Bear’s Surprise Package
Rancher Bear’s Secret
Rancher Bear’s Desire
Rancher Bears’ Merry Christmas
Rancher Bears Complete Box Set
* * *
KODIAK ISLAND SHIFTERS
On Port Ursa in Kodiak Island Alaska, the Sterling brothers are kind of a big deal.
They own a nationwide chain of outfitter retail stores that they grew from their father’s little backwoods camping supply shop.
The only thing missing from the hot bear shifters’ lives are mates! But, not for long…
Billionaire Bear’s Bride (COLTON)
The Bear’s Flamingo Bride (WYATT)
Military Bear’s Mate (TUCKER)
Kodiak Island Shifters Complete Box Set
* * *
SHIFTERS OF DENVER
Nathan: Billionaire Bear- A matchmaker meets her match.
Byron: Heartbreaker Bear- A sexy heartbreaker with eyes for just one woman.
Xavier: Bad Bear - She’s a good girl. He’s a bad bear.
Nathan: Billionaire Bear
Byron: Heartbreaker Bear
Xavier: Bad Bear
Shifters of Denver Compl
ete Box Set
Shifter Starter Set Page 77