by M. L. Briers
“Can I bring these in or are you going to rip off my head?” Justin asked, juggling two large boxes of plants in his arms, and he noted the hearty, warning growl that his friend offered him. “I’ll take that as a stay right there, vampire, and do not dare to enter my shop.”
“Put the damn boxes down and walk away,” Curtis growled.
“He wasn’t this mean to me at your car. In fact, we had a nice heart to heart about such things as pooping in the woods, and wood of another nature.”
Justin eyes locked with the shifter, and he was sure that if the bear had possessed magic, then he would have been dead on the spot.
“You poop in the woods?” June shot an amused look at Curtis, and the man shuffled from one foot to the other.
“Not… my bear might – this is not a conversation that…” Curtis started to mutter to himself again.
“He’s shy,” Justin mouthed the last word, and June pressed her lips together so that a chuckle didn’t escape.
“I’m not shy,” Curtis bit out with a death glare for the vampire.
“No?” Justin cocked his head and smirked.
“No,” Curtis bit out.
“Then why don’t you tell her all about you – and – stuff?” Justin grinned from ear to ear with a devilish smile.
Curtis knew what he was getting at. Mates. Wooing. He’d tell her alright, but not with the damn vampire in earshot.
“Bite me,” Curtis growled.
The sound of his mate succumbing to her amusement made him snap his eyes back towards her. He felt a real jolt go through him when her smiling eyes shone back at him.
Mine…
“Nobody’s biting me.” Her mood changed, and she frowned as he gave her a hungry look.
“Never say never,” Justin offered before he placed the boxes down on the floor and backed away to the sound of another hearty growl.
“You’re not helping,” Curtis aimed a death glare at the vampire.
“Helping?” the vampire took a moment to consider it. “Do you need my help?”
“I need you to leave,” Curtis pressed the man.
“Sorry, way too much fun,” Justin chuckled, but he did take a sideways step away from the doorway and back to where he’d been before at the window looking in.
“He’s a little…” June turned back to look at Curtis. The man snapped to attention the moment that her gaze found his.
“Strange. Weird. Overbearing…” Curtis aimed that remark right at the man.
“But what would do without me?” Justin called. “I make your life bear-able.” He lifted his hands into pretend claws and growled.
Curtis muttered some more. He rolled his head on his neck, and then his shoulders, hoping to roll out some of the tension that held the muscles rock hard.
“Oh, you two are…?” June said, and Curtis frowned.
“Are what?”
“Are – together,” June offered softly. She didn’t want to step on any toes. She didn’t know if it was a secret.
“We are…” Curtis mused, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what the woman was getting at.
“That’s nice,” June offered back.
“We are…?” Curtis was still picking her original question apart.
“Very much in love,” Justin said, and it was as if the vampire was standing right beside him slapping him hard around the back of the head.
“Are you insane?” Curtis growled out, and June jumped.
“Excuse me?”
“Not you, well, you as well, thinking that I would be with…” he growled. “And you…” he lifted a large hand and pointed an accusing finger at the vampire. “Egging her on.”
“I did nothing,” Justin shrugged. “I love you like a brother.”
“Bite me!” Curtis growled.
“You say that a lot,” June said.
“He does, doesn’t he? Maybe, he’s harboring a secret, long held feelings for me.” Justin stirred the pot.
“Huh?” Curtis gave a small, fast shake of his head.
“It’s ok if you are,” June said. “You should always go with your heart.”
“My, what now?” Curtis growled.
“He has a very big heart,” Justin said, and then pointed and mocked the bear while her back was turned.
“I should rip off your damn head and…” Curtis suddenly stopped his ranting when Justin pointed to his mate. He took a long moment to compose himself before he turned his gaze towards her.
“O – k,” she raised her eyebrows and looked anywhere but at him.
CHAPTER SIX
~
Curtis could have walked over and headbutted the nearest wall. He’d let the vampire stir the pot again, and it certainly didn’t need stirring.
What he needed to do was chill the hell out and let her get to know the real him, even if the real him could be a bear with a sore head, and a low threshold for the vampire’s particular brand of humor. Still, if she thought that he went around with a desperate need to kill or maim people all day long then what chance would he have to woo her?
And woo her he would.
He had to – she was his life mate.
“Let’s talk payment,” she said, fishing in the back pocket of her jeans for her little wallet of cards and cash.
“I have your address, I’ll bill you,” he lied. He wasn’t going to charge his mate.
“My address,” she scowled. “How?”
“The return shipping label,” he said, and saw a look of relief sweep over her face.
“Then we’re done,” she said brightly, following it up within her mind with – finally – but, it didn’t feel that way to her.
Admittedly, she’d more than second thought her decision to use the man’s services, she’d third, fourth and fifth thought it as well. When she’d first walked in, and all hell had broken loose – she’d wanted to walk straight back out again.
He wasn’t exactly excelling at the customer service side of things. But, between him and that sarcastic vampire who seemed to get a kick out of verbally torturing his friend – time had flown by in a swirl of activity and some amusement, along with a lot of misunderstanding.
If she was totally honest with herself, the man wasn’t bad to look at either. All of those muscles moving beneath his snug shirt had made her heart flutter more than once, and he had the most soulful eyes that she had ever seen on a person.
If he’d just stop with the bad mood bear routine. Then maybe?
Maybe not.
June knew a little about shifters, but she didn’t really know about shifters. She wasn’t a groupie as some humans were, and so she’d never really taken the time to find out about them on a more personal level.
Maybe, I should look a few things up when I get home – I mean, there is one living right in my town – we’re practically neighbors – it would be rude not to.
“Not done,” Curtis finally answered her as she daydreamed and debated with herself about the merits in leaving – or not – especially with those sinful eyes on her once more.
“Huh?”
“I need…” Curtis started, but he was quick to remember her words. She didn’t want to know – not yet – but, oh how he longed to say the word.
Mine… His beast growled.
Tell me about it… He grumbled back.
Mine… His beast was more forceful that time.
Not literally tell me about it, you… He grunted at the beast.
“Waiting in suspense,” June announced with a beaming smile that lit her eyes.
“It’s fine. Another time,” Curtis bit down on the growl that rumbled through him. His beast was more than agitated, and when she left – hell, he might just punch the vampire in the face, repeatedly, and enjoy every last second of it. “Thanks for – your custom.”
“It’s been – an eye opener,” She offered back with the exact same attitude that he’d given her.
Then she turned on her heels and made fast work of gett
ing out of the door before anything else could go horribly wrong.
Curtis followed hard on her heels. The need that he had not to let her out of his damn sight until they were bonded clawed within him.
He had her address. She lived just on the edge of town. He knew that area well. Her house backed onto the woods, and he was grateful for it because he’d have somewhere to blend in while he kept her safe.
A rush of fear swept through him the instant that she turned a sharp right to follow the pavement back towards her car, and practically collided with Goran who was coming around the corner.
His bear roared.
His protection gene kicked in.
He wanted nothing more than to rip the man limb from limb.
~
~
~
Goran’s hands came out in front of him thanks to his razor sharp reactions. He bit down on his need to toss the woman backward away from him out of sheer annoyance. Humans were the bane of his existence.
The sound of her startled squeal did little to placate his bear, in fact, it only served to rile the beast more. Her scent in the air told him that she wasn’t his mate, and was, therefore surplus to requirements and not worth his time.
Goran rumbled a growl deep within his broad chest, and his top lip twitched with anger. With his fingers tightly wrapped around her puny biceps, he kept June from crashing into him.
“Watch where you’re going,” he growled down at her as she turned her face up towards him, exposing her long neck like an offering for him to do his very worst.
That thought was more than tempting.
“Get your damn hands off her,” Curtis was already stalking out of his shop and towards them.
Goran took the bear shifter in.
The man looked like war. His chin was angled down towards his chest, and he was glaring out of jet black eyes with the kind of death glare that made Goran’s bear more than interested.
Curtis’ shoulders were locked in tension and expectation, and his large hands were fisted at his sides. He walked like a man that was looking for the fight of his life – and Goran’s bear rose to the challenge.
“Not a good idea,” The vampire warned from behind Goran.
Although, he hadn’t seen the vampire move from where he’d been standing at the shop window. His attention had been solely on Curtis and the way the man scented of his fur as the bear within pushed forward.
Missing the vampire as he made his move only riled Goran’s beast more. He hated vampires almost as much as he loathed humans.
“I…” June wanted to apologize and reprimand the man at the same time.
While it was true that she’d had a hand in their – almost – collision, having been a little too intent on replaying a lot of her conversation and encounter with Curtis, she’d also prickled at the man’s attitude and his lack of responsibility for his part in their near miss.
“Problem, bear?” Goran growled, and the tone of his voice and the sound of that deep rumble made June think twice about challenging the man’s stance.
“You have no idea,” Justin warned him on a muttered whisper from behind.
Goran knew one thing; he was outnumbered. Two to one wasn’t the best odds that he could have hoped for. Especially not when one of them was a damn vampire.
His beast was feral when it came to fighting. The red mist could come down at times, but he’d rather not take on a vampire and a bear shifter together.
He’d rather pick them off when they were alone.
His beast rumbled another growl within him. The bear clawed at his very soul to able to break out and start swinging his razor sharp claws.
He wondered just how much damage he could do.
The human female would be the first to die – collateral damage that he wouldn’t lose a moments sleep over – and Curtis seemed protective of her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
~
“Get your damn stinking hands off of her – now!” Curtis made no bones about the kind of growl that he unleashed from his bear.
The wildness inside of him was just about being contained by the fact that June was standing there. But his beast wanted out. The bear inside was baying for blood.
Goran instinctively knew.
His beast knew.
This woman was a mate.
There was little that could make a bear react in the way that Curtis was doing, but a mate could. When he was protecting what was his – his territory – his woman – his mate – his cubs.
She was no damn cub. No. She was his mate.
“It seems I have something that you want,” Goran growled.
His mind was already working on a plan, working on a way to turn the man’s weakness to his advantage. He’d waited a long time to have something on that damn bear, and now he did.
But, he didn’t need to push too hard just yet.
Goran set the woman aside, released his hands, and watched as the big bear wrapped an arm around her waist and hoisted her behind his back before she could even blink.
“Hello!” June was momentarily stunned by her new surroundings.
A moment earlier and she’d been looking at the face of true anger – true, barely contained fury, and that had scared the hell out of her somewhere deep within her very soul. Curtis had nothing on this new bad mood bear.
Then, she was staring at the broad back and shoulders of a behemoth that seemed to be protecting her.
“Today has been – strange,” she muttered to herself, but all three of the males caught her words.
Justin chuckled inwardly. He liked the human female already – mate or not – she was full of fire and true grit, and he respected that in a human.
“You’d do well to walk away, Goran,” Justin warned the man, even though he sensed that the beast within him had a different agenda.
“Walk away before you can’t,” Curtis warned on a deep, warning growl that told Goran everything he needed to know.
“For now,” Goran said, giving a slow nod of his head.
“What the hell does that mean?” June piped up from behind her protector’s back.
She leaned sideways, trying to peer around Curtis’s body, but the man was way ahead of her, sensing her every move, and he sidestepped just enough to block her view.
“We’ll meet again,” Goran said, and he was already doing some sidestepping of his own.
He couldn’t back up because of the vampire – and he wasn’t about to get in Curtis’ mate’s personal space again, just yet.
“That had better not happen,” Curtis warned him, with a sneer that exposed his blunt teeth, but how he wanted to let his fangs elongate and take the man down.
Curtis was more than aware of his mate’s presence, and putting her in danger wasn’t on his to-do list for the day. He didn’t want to scare the hell out of her either. Not when he needed to woo her.
No, he’d let Goran go, for now. But, if that bear put a foot anywhere near his mate again – he would not be so generous.
~
~
~
“Someone wanna tell me what the holy hell of all mothers that was all about?” June bit out, and her words rang more than a few bells within Curtis’ mind.
He made a slow turn towards her. Still, with one eye on the bear shifter that was stalking away from them.
“Potty mouth,” Justin got there before Curtis could.
“Ha!” she snapped out at the vampire. Then she raised a hand and pointed a finger at the man. “Don’t deflect my question. I want answers,” she demanded. “Who was that?”
“He is a little…” Curtis started and stopped again, trying to think how best to describe the man that had just rattled everyone’s cage.
“Prick of the thorn bush,” Justin offered, and June couldn’t help but grin. Curtis, on the other hand, took to rolling his eyes in his head.
“Something like that,” the shifter grumbled.
“I meant you,” Justin said.
The woman planted her feet and assumed the position with her hands going to her curvy hips. Curtis grumbled inwardly – he did not appreciate the way that his mate was facing him down and demanding answers to questions that she’d asked him not to tell her about.
He was caught between a rock and a hard place, and he didn’t like it one little bit.
Mine… His bear, on the other hand, was more than ready to spill its guts to their mate.
“Tempting,” Justin sang out in that melodic tone that made her ears prick up and held her attention for a long moment.
“She said not to,” Curtis grumbled.
Mine… His beast pressed the point.
“But, that was before,” Justin offered back.
“Said not what?” June demanded, looking from one man to the other as if they were playing a tennis match right in front of her.
Mine…
“But, she’s not ready,” Curtis argued.
“Not ready for what?” June demanded, getting slightly flustered that she appeared to be the only one who didn’t get it. She wanted to get it – she hated to be the last to know.
“Tell her,” Justin pressed.
Mine…
“Tell me w…?” June demanded, and Curtis released a growl that silenced her.
“That you’re my mate, damn it. There.” He growled down at her. “Happy now?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
~
“What are you, freaking nuts?” June bit out. It had been the first thing that came to mind, and it had shot out of her mouth a second later, but the sheer look of disbelief on his face said she might have phrased that better.
“I’m wondering the very same thing myself right now,” Curtis growled back.
“Damn, I want popcorn,” Justin grumbled.
“Well, newsflash, tell yourself you're crazy and end the conversation that’s going on in that pee sized brain of yours,” June scowled up at him.
A mate! She snorted to herself at the idea of it.
A mate to a growly bear shifter!
A mate to a growly bear shifter with the biggest attitude problem in the history of bloody attitude problems.