by Bear Naked
“Girl, you picked a crazy night to come in.” Melissa sat down on the stool at the bar and leaned her forearms on the smooth surface. Bobbie was a newer bartender at Dakota Dark’s, but over the last couple of months the two females had gotten along really well. But aside from the talks they had with each other at Dakota Dark’s, the two had never gone out. Bobbie was a human, but she was as tough as any shifter and had a mouth that rivaled Melissa’s, which was saying a lot since she knew she talked like a sailor most of the time, and had a sassy ass attitude.
“Well, a little excitement is what I need. Besides, I think a little crazy is what this wolf needs.” She grinned at Bobbie.
“The usual?” Bobbie asked. The human had a pixie style haircut, and the black locks were usually tipped pink, green, or blue, depending on her mood. Her shirt was nothing more than a few strategically placed strips of leather, and her cut-off jean shorts showed off a helluva a lot of ass cheek. But Bobbie had a small, petite figure and could pull that off. Melissa wouldn’t call herself petite in any sense. She was just short, what with only being five foot three, but what she lacked in height she made up for in weight. Not overly huge, but still having hips that were wide, thighs that were a little thick, a belly that was rounded and sometimes annoyed her, and breasts that were overabundant, there were times that Melissa had wanted to be smaller. But then she realized that it didn’t matter what a person looked like on the outside. They were either genuine or total bitches, no matter their appearance.
“Eh, just give me a beer. A bottle of whatever since I think they all taste the same,” said Melissa, and Bobbie chuckled. “I think a Long Island is a bit much tonight, especially since I’m alone and driving.”
Bobbie nodded. “Not drowning your sorrows tonight?” Bobbie teased her as she grabbed a Sam Adams from the cooler and popped the cap. She slid the bottle to Melissa.
“Hey, I don’t drown my sorrows. I like to add a little alcohol to the already block party going on inside of me.” Melissa grinned, and Bobbie shook her head and chuckled.
“If you need anything else let me know.” She tapped the counter and turned to help a few younger human females that were giggling at the end of the bar. One of them wore a sash that read “Bachelorette”. That had a little bit of longing springing up in Melissa, but she pushed those nasty thoughts away. She was never one to hang on to what she didn’t have, and always tried to look on the brighter side. She was happy—for the most part—was healthy, had friends that were like family to her, and was successful enough in her life that she could live comfortably. There were times she had asked herself if she slept with men to somehow fill the void she felt inside, or if she was truly just living by her motto to live every day like it was her last. Sighing out, she hated when she got in these moods, hated that she questioned what she felt or what she had done. That wasn’t what life was about. Everything happened for a reason, even if she didn’t know exactly what that reason was, and she would just focus on one day at a time.
She turned around on the stool, held her beer in one hand, and had her other resting on her purse that was across her lap. She took a sip of the beer, pulled it back and looked at the label, and realized she really wasn’t a fan of beer in general. Maybe you should have just gotten one of those big ass margaritas that you got with Candace that one time? She took one more sip of the beer and set it aside. As if Bobbie read her mind she set a glass of water in front of her, and Melissa lifted it in thanks. There was no lying in saying that she felt somewhat of a loser going out by herself, felt like she was being watched and judged for it, but then again her “I don’t really give a fuck” voice was louder.
She people-watched for a few minutes, saw the way two of the females in on the dance floor practically had sex with each other, and it didn’t go unnoticed how more than one of the male patrons gawked at them like they’d never seen such a thing. But there also was this strange feeling that she had, as if she were the one being scrutinized. She shook it off. Surely she wasn’t the only one people watching. Pushing that feeling away, she continued scoping out the place, and was disappointed to find that Bobbie was the only employee that she knew well enough to bullshit with tonight. But she couldn’t shake the feeling inside of her, and it grew until it was a tingling on the back of her neck. Someone was staring at her quite intently for her to feel this way. The hairs on her arms stood on end, and her wolf rose up. It was strange to feel her wolf take so much interest in what was going on, because normally the human side of her was the one in control. But this time it paced within her, growing even more agitated for whatever reason. She inhaled deeply, but all she could pick up on was booze, sweat, arousal, and the lingering smell of cigarette smoke wafting in from the front door opening and closing.
She felt her purse start to vibrate, but she pushed her uneasiness away. She didn’t feel threatened, more like she was under a microscope. Is this how others felt when she blatantly stared at them? She looked down at her purse and dug in for her cell. When she glanced at the screen and saw it was Manny calling, she contemplated ignoring it. She felt bad for even thinking that, but for nice and timid as Manny the meerkat shifter was, he was also annoying and leaning more towards the creepy side. She slid her hand across the screen to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, I thought you might not answer.” Manny’s soft voice came through the receiver. It was hard enough to hear him when she wasn’t in a crowded room, but his low voice was even more difficult to make out.
“Hey, I can’t really hear you right now. Maybe we can talk another time?” She had known Manny since the ninth grade, and ever since he had first run into her, successfully knocking all of her books out of her hand and onto the floor, he had been infatuated with her. During high school it had been this cute little crush, something that she could overlook those four years. She could even overlook the way he followed her around on occasion after that and into their adult lives. It might have been on the weird side, and Ary and Candace had even given her shit about it, but Manny was the type of male that had never been popular in school, didn’t really have any friends or girlfriends, and just wanted someone to notice him. How could Melissa ignore him when all he wanted was to not be invisible?
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were busy. It’s late, and I thought you’d be home.”
She took another sip of her water and scanned the bar once more. “Yeah, I’m about to head home, actually.”
Manny started rambling off something about his work, and she could tell he was nervous because when he was he normally started talking about shit that she couldn’t even understand. He might have been the least masculine male she had ever met, but he was a genius.
“Okay, well maybe we can get together another day? Maybe dinner?”
She set the glass on the counter and turned back to face the bar. “As friends, right?” Asking him that question was necessary, because even after all of this time Manny still had these delusions that something could happen between them. This was not an unusual situation she was in with Manny. Ary had told her she should cut ties with him, and although there were weeks when they wouldn’t talk, she had known him as long as she had known Candace and Ary. He might be what some would consider weird, but he was one of the more genuine people she knew. He was just a little persistent, well, okay, a lot persistent, but she couldn’t fault a guy for trying. But they were too old for this shit. She didn’t see him that way, never would, but for as smart as Manny was, he didn’t understand when she told him that. She had spent time away from him, mainly because she had been too busy, but even though he tried to act like friends she sensed his need to be with her.
“Just as friends, Melissa. I know you don’t see me in that way,” he said, but his actions spoke differently.
“Can we talk about this tomorrow,? I can barely hear myself think, let alone hear what you are saying.” She stood, let her eyes scan over the several pool tables that were to her right, but didn’t notice anyone that
had her instincts flaring to life. She hung up and slipped her phone back in her bag.
“Hey, are you doing okay?” Bobbie spoke from behind her, and Melissa forced herself to nod.
“Yeah, just feeling a bit off.” She continued to look around the bar with only her eyes, and glanced over each table that was situated to her left. There were a few couples seated at some, a couple of lonely looking men, and even some bikers at others, but none of them were looking at her, and none of them had her instincts going on high alert. The only empty table was off to the corner, and there was a bottle of beer sitting on the scarred wood. Despite not seeing anyone watching her, that didn’t make her wolf ease in the slightest. She got some money out, gave it to Bobbie, and decided just going home was probably the smart and safe thing to do. Melissa made her way out of the bar and regretted parking away from the streetlamps, but at the time that had been the only spot available. She headed straight for her Honda, and the prickling on the back of her neck intensified. She reached into her purse, tightened her hold on her keys, and silently dared an asshole to try any shit with her. Melissa’s wolf may like to stay buried deep, and was more laid back, but when the bitch rose up she was a force to be reckoned with.
There was a sensation of a presence right behind her, and she spun around with her hand raised, the keys pressed tightly between her fingers, and her wolf right below the surface of her skin, just waiting to emerge and take a fucker down. But everything inside of her stilled when she looked at the male standing a few feet from her. He was big, probably one of the biggest shifters she had ever been around, and that was saying something since her best friends were mated to some huge males. The shadows partially obscured him, but she could see his hair was short and dark, and his face a hard mask of apathy. He didn’t show any emotions. His shoulders were broad, the muscles pronounced. The t-shirt he wore, although dark, was stretched across his wide chest. He was big, at least a foot taller than she was, if not more, but it was hard to be exact from her distance. Inhaling deeply, she picked up on the grizzly he housed inside of his body, and sensed that the animal was more prominent than his human counterpart. This wasn’t just a male, or a shifter. This male was her mate.
****
Declan wouldn’t lie and say that watching her in the bar and then following her outside wasn’t a bit on the creepy side, but to be honest he hadn’t made an immediate move inside because he was just so damn shocked. After that initial surprise had worn off, he watched her movements, learned every inch of her body with his eyes, and calculated a plan on how he was going to handle just finding his mate. Then she had left, and he knew it was because she sensed him. He had reacted, just followed her outside intent on telling her exactly how things were going to go. But as he stood a few feet from her, looking at the keys she had in her hand as if she planned on gouging his eyes out, Declan felt his lips twitch with suppressed amusement. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt any kind of humor, but just looking at this female, the one that was solely his, and sensing her fierce need to stay in control, had Declan feeling a lot of things he had never experienced before.
“Just put the keys down, female, before you hurt yourself.” Her eyes widened a second before they narrowed. She pursed her lips together, and the sound of her grinding her teeth came at him loud and clear. So, he had pissed his mate off. That had the corner of his mouth twitching once more.
“The only person who is going to get hurt is you,” she said, but did lower the keys. Still holding them between her fingers, she glared at him pretty fucking hard.
“I think you should come with me, seeing as you’re mine and we have a lot of fucking shit to talk about.” She cocked out her hip, and Declan couldn’t help but let his eyes travel down the curvy length of where her waist flared out. “In fact, just get in my SUV, let me take you somewhere quiet, and we can get this whole claiming out of the way and move forward.” Declan was a forward male by nature, but he had never just ordered a female to come with him so that they could fuck. But then this wasn’t really just about fucking her, but about claiming his mate.
“Excuse me?” There was an almost shocked and anger-filled tone in her voice. “I know I asked for a mate, but damn, I did not expect to get one that ordered me to spread my legs within five minutes of meeting me.” She chuckled, but it was far from humorous. “In fact, I don’t give a shit who you are, what your background is, or if you were the last male on Earth. Your little ‘love speech’ is not really how to get a female to come with you, mate or not.” She shook her head, and he could hear the exasperation in her voice.
“Female, I have no patience for others, but seeing as you are my mate, I seem to have found a lot of things out about myself that I’m not used to. I’m not asking you to strip and spread for me, but hell, you and I both know that what will happen between us is inevitable.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and breathed out. His impatience was growing. Never had he had to work so damn hard just to talk to a female.
“You asked for this, Melissa.”
Her name was Melissa, and it sound really damn good rolling around in his head. She spoke to herself and looked down at the ground. She smiled, but it was almost sarcastic in nature. Here she was, talking to herself, and all Declan could do was try to get a grip on what was happening inside of him. He wanted her, there was no fucking doubt about that. Never had he needed to be inside of a female like he did this wolf shifter. She was his mate, the female that “fate” had declared was his. He certainly didn’t deserve a mate, but he wasn’t about to walk away from one either, even if he should. He was dominant by nature, and it was clear Melissa was no submissive, at least not the part she was showing him. He never went after females that were not the opposite of him. He needed them to submit, needed to stay in control in every aspect of his life, sexually as well. Being a grizzly shifter already made him more temperamental. Add to the fact that he was hardened, bred to be a warrior, a machine without remorse, and had little human emotion and feeling left inside of him, and it was a recipe for total dominance. But all it had taken to wake something up inside of him, something he hadn’t even known existed, was the smell and then sight of this lone female. “You’ve got one hell of a mouth on you, mate.” She lifted her head and narrowed her eyes on him once more. “Females are supposed to obey their mates.” A strangled sound left her.
“First thing, my name is not mate. Secondly, you didn’t deserve my respect, not when you basically barked at me to get in your car and go get this ‘claiming’ out of the way.” She placed her hands on her hips, and Declan was struck by how adorable she looked. Yeah, that was another word he had never used in his vocabulary, but looking at her “adorable” seemed like it fit perfectly. “I’m sure you’ve learned by now that I am far from the submissive type, well, not unless I chose to be.” That last part had him standing up straighter, had his grizzly bristling right under his skin, and had a growl leaving him. She certainly wasn’t a girl, and he would be an idiot to think she was a virgin, but that sure as fuck didn’t mean he wanted to hear her talk about submitting to other males, which was what she was implying.
They stood in the middle of the parking lot, the streetlights barely penetrating the darkness that surrounded them. “Female, all I am saying is that it would make things a hell of a lot smoother if you just came with me. We wouldn’t have to do this cat and mouse game, because you and I know that when this is all said and done you’ll still be mine.” He swore he heard her growl, and he would have laughed outright if not for the fact he sensed her anger and irritation growing.
“When I longed for a mate, it sure wasn’t in the form of some alpha asshole with a controlling attitude.” For a moment she just stared at him, and then she turned on her heel and stalked toward a Honda that was parked a few feet away. He waited until she was right by her car before he spoke.
“You do realize that you can run, but I’ll just keep coming after you.” He saw the way her shoulders straightened and could hear
her cursing him. She looked over her shoulder, and the fire that snapped behind her dark eyes didn’t mask the arousal that she tried so hard to hide. Questioning what was going on inside of him would be pointless, especially when the pull of his grizzly to this wolf was not something he could fight. Maybe he should have tried to ease her into what he wanted, but he had always been a take charge kind of male. She was a strong female with a stubborn streak, and for the first time in his empty life he was looking forward to chasing his mate. The hunt was nearly as good as the actual claiming, and Declan knew once he did have his female beneath him, there would be no turning back.
Chapter Three
Melissa was fuming as she drove home. She certainly wasn’t a stranger to alpha males and their dominant natures, but shit, Melissa had always been a third party watching from the outside. Charlie and Trace were as badass as they came. In fact, all of the males her friends were mated to struggled with being overly possessive and territorial. Compared to Ary and Candace, who had their moments of strength when they butted heads with their mates, she was a freaking bitch. Melissa tended not to take crap from anyone, but when she had longed to find her mate and start a family, she sure as hell hadn’t expected that big-ass grizzly to start demanding she get in his car so they could “talk” and get their claiming out of the way. Maybe she didn’t have to be so determined to be just as dominant as he was, but his attitude had taken her completely off guard. She certainly knew what her ocelot and wolf shifting friends had gone through when they went against their mates.
“Argh.” She slammed her hand on the steering wheel. Her mind and body were at war. Her wolf was pissed that the bear had been so inconsiderate of what she wanted. He didn’t even ask her name, didn’t ask anything about her actually, and the fact he clearly was used to getting what he wanted was written like a flashing neon sign above his head. She had never seen him before, assumed him to be new to Sweet Water or passing through, but she knew enough about mated couples to know that he wouldn’t just turn his back and walk away from whatever in the hell was happening between them. What Melissa wanted to do was talk to Ary or Candace, ask them their opinion on the whole thing, but it was too late to be calling their houses. She shifted on the seat, felt her pussy swell with arousal, and tightened her hands on the steering wheel. He hadn’t even touched her, yet she was wet for him, uncomfortably so even. Even though Melissa only submitted in the bedroom, she couldn’t help the fact she had melted internally at the gruff, very rough sound of his voice. He’d find her, no doubt about that. Sweet Water wasn’t that big of a town, and if he went around asking about her by physical description alone at Dakota Dark’s, someone was bound to bring up her name. She turned onto her street and pulled into her driveway. Once she shut the engine off she sat there for a moment listening to the engine cooling, and trying to wrap her head around the fact she had just met her mate. Even thinking it seemed a little surreal. At her age she had all but given up on finding the male that was destined to be hers. She didn’t travel, and knew nearly everyone in town, but clearly she had overlooked that behemoth of a male that was all but screaming “Mine” at her. This is what she wanted, right?