The Bear's Virgin Bride (Honeypot Darlings Book 3)

by Sophie Stern

  “Please don’t hurt me,” he whines, and I smack him on the side of the head with my paw hard enough that he’s knocked unconscious.

  Then I stand up, climb out of the huge hole I just knocked in Bev’s motel, and go back into the room where Alex is carefully untying Evelyn.

  She’s shaking, and she turns and looks at me. She stills. This is the first time she’s seen me in my bear form. I only hope it’s not bad enough that it scares her off. I hope she can handle it. I want Evelyn more than anything, but I want her to know me: the real me.

  No secrets.

  No tricks.

  I’m a shifter, and I want to marry this girl. If she can handle that, if she can handle this truth about me, then we’re going to be okay. We’re going to be fine. We’re going to be able to be together.

  She doesn’t look scared as she watches me.

  “Micah?” She whispers, and I nod, but I don’t shift back. Not just yet. Alex finishes untying her and gets up.

  “I’ll be outside,” he says. “Nice job, buddy.” He pats my big bear shoulder and heads out the door, where I can hear Wyatt on the phone with someone. He’s probably calling Edwards to let him know he needs to come pick up the perp.

  Part of me wanted to kill Dustin. Forget that: all of me wanted to kill Dustin. It wasn’t the right thing, though. It wasn’t what needed to be done. Evelyn needs to know that justice really can prevail. She needs to know that sometimes, wrongs can be righted.

  She needs to know that I’m going to protect her.

  Once Alex is gone, she gets slowly off the bed. Her clothes are fixed, and she no longer smells like horror or fear. Now she smells like curiosity. Now she smells like wonder.

  “It’s really you, isn’t it?” She asks.

  All I can do is nod. I don’t make a sound as she climbs off the bed and walks toward me. I’m too scared I’m going to ruin the moment somehow. I want to growl or fucking purr like a damn cat when she gets close to me.

  She’s not even scared.

  Evelyn didn’t know I was a shifter, but she’s not even scared.

  How perfect is she?

  Carter is married to a shifter. I love Savannah, but she never had a reason to be scared of him because they’d been shifting together forever. Wyatt and Hope’s relationship is a little different. She’s human, too, so I feel like she better understands what it’s like. I think she knows what it’s like to fall for someone who is different than you. I think she knows what it’s like to have to decide you’re okay with loving a bear.

  Everyone has an animal inside of them. With shifters, that animal is literal. It’s a living, tangible thing. We need to change, to shift. We need to run and hunt. We need to be able to be ourselves without fearing for our lives.

  We need to be able to be in nature.

  Evelyn stands in front of me. I wish with all my heart I could read her mind and know what she’s thinking right now. She looks at my eyes and watches me. I stare back at her, still pissed he fucked up her face. She’s still beautiful to me. Nothing will change that. The black eye, the tear-stained face, the bruises? I don’t care about any of that.

  I only care about her, and holding her, and making her feel like she’s the only girl in the world because to me, she is.

  “Can I touch you, Micah?” Her words are so soft that even with my super-sensitive shifter ears, I can barely hear her. I nod, quickly, and a smile lights up her face. “Really?”

  Yes, I want to say, and the urge to shift back, just so I can talk to her, overwhelms me. I try to have some self-control this time, though. I try to keep it together for her. At this point, though, I don’t know why I’m even trying. I’ve been a hot mess all night. She’s literally seeing me at my worst, at my craziest, but there’s something important she’s learning from all this.

  She’s discovering that I’d fucking do anything for her.

  Tear down any wall.

  Conquer any monster.

  Chase away any demon.

  I’d do anything for Evelyn.

  She reaches her hands out and I close my eyes. Part of me wants to watch her, but mostly, I just want to feel. I just want to feel her hands on me, want to feel her touching my fur. I haven’t been pet, played with, explored in years.

  Maybe ever.

  I don’t think anyone has ever explored me in my bear form.

  Not like this.

  Then again, I’ve never dated a human before. I’m not sure what to expect. When I’ve been with shifters, they had no reason to explore me in animal form because they, too, were shifters. They knew what was there. They knew what fur felt like beneath their hands.

  Evelyn isn’t like that.

  There’s a small part of me that wonders if she’s ever seen a shifter up close before, if I should feel jealous, but the rest of me knows. I know I’m the first. I have to be. I don’t think she’d be touching me like this if I wasn’t. I don’t think she’d be this genuinely curious, this perfectly innocent in the way she runs her palms flat down my chest.

  “You’re so soft,” she murmurs. Inwardly, I chuckle. Not exactly the words a guy wants to hear from the woman he’s in love with, but when it comes to Evelyn, I’ll take whatever I can get.

  She moves her hands up, to my shoulders. She can barely reach them, but when she stands on her tip-toes she can just about touch them. She smiles when she reaches, then lets her hands fall down my arms. She stops at my left paw and traces her finger on the pad. She strokes it for a few seconds, and it feels nice.

  Everything about this just feels nice.

  Perfect.

  I want to see what she’ll do next, wonder what part of me she’ll touch or explore, but suddenly, there’s a knock at the door and we both turn.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Edwards says with a shit-eating grin on his face that says he’s definitely not sorry. “But I heard you had a bad-guy for me to drag away.”

  Still caught in the moment, still in shock, perhaps, Evelyn silently points at the gaping hole in the wall that leads to the bathroom.

  “Seriously, man?” Jason turns to me and frowns. “Bev is going to be pissed.”

  I just shrug, and Evelyn bursts into laughter. The sweet, high-pitched sound fills the room and it’s all I can to do keep from slinging her over my shoulder and running off to hide in some cave with her. Yeah, she makes me feel like the animal I hide inside, or don’t hide, as it were.

  I’d do anything for her.

  Anything.

  Chapter 12

  Evelyn

  I have to talk to the police, and then I can go home with Micah.

  Home.

  I can go home with him.

  Somehow, the idea that being with Micah is home feels right to me. I’ve never felt that way before. I certainly never did with Dustin. With him, I felt like I was going through the motions.

  Step one: find a man.

  Step two: get married.

  Step three: have babies.

  Step four: there’s more? Really?

  With Dustin, everything was about marking off some imaginary checklist I was supposed to care about.

  With Micah, I just feel peaceful.

  A woman comes to the hotel and wraps a blanket around me, then leads me to one of the other motel rooms to give her my statement.

  “Sorry it’s nothing fancy,” she says with a shrug. “It’s this or the station, though, and I figured you wouldn’t want to be under the same roof as jackass.”

  “Thanks,” I tell her. “I appreciate it.”

  It’s important to make a statement right after the event happens: the sooner, the better. This is because as time goes on, your memory of the event begins to fade. I understand that, and I try to be as thorough as possible in all of my answers.

  This isn’t over for me, not yet. In fact, I’ll be dealing with the aftermath of my choices for a long time. Dustin may be going away to prison, but I might still have to testify against him. I might still have to see him again in court.


  And I’m definitely going to be dealing with the aftermath of my relationship’s impact on my friends and family members. Will anyone even still want to talk to me after I ignored them for so long? Will they be understanding? Will they forgive me?

  It’s all so much to think about, and tonight, I don’t know if I can.

  The night’s over, though. The sun is steadily rising and I can practically hear the roosters crowing. In fact, I think I do hear one literal rooster crowing. Seriously? Roosters really do crow with the dawn? Huh. I guess you learn something new every day.

  When I’m done giving my statement, the police officer puts away her notes and her recording device.

  “You might just want to go home,” she says, “but I need to let you know there is a social worker who is available to talk with you if you want some support. Honeypot also has a counselor who is familiar with,” she rolls her eyes as she says it, “shifter issues.”

  “I think I’m okay for now,” I tell her. “I might want to talk with someone, but not tonight. Honestly, I just want to go to sleep.”

  “Of course,” she says. “Here are their cards if you decide to reach out.” She hands me two business cards. One is for Arielle Greg, social worker extraordinaire. The other is for Richard Kaiser, PhD.

  “Thanks,” I take the cards and put them in my pocket.

  “And this is me,” she says, writing down her number on a piece of paper. She tears it from the pad and hands it to me. “I’m Polly.”

  I’m overcome by the fact that Polly just gave me her own, personal phone number. She didn’t have to do that. She didn’t have to go above and beyond for a stranger. Touched, I throw my arms around her and hug her. She’s caught off balance and we both fall to the floor with a crash. I land right on top of her, straddling her hips.

  Of course, the noise brings a bunch of people running into the room.

  “Damn,” I hear Alex’s voice. Another person lets out a low whistle.

  “Sweetie,” Micah says, walking in the room and picking me up off Polly. He sets me on my feet, then helps her up. “If you’re into girls, that’s fine, but remember,” he winks. “Share.”

  “What?” I squeak. I look at Polly, then back to Micah, then at the crowd of bystanders, then back to Micah. “No!” I say. “I’m not…I mean, we weren’t…I mean…” I’m blushing furiously, and the fact that everyone but me thinks this is hilarious doesn’t make it any easier.

  “It’s okay,” Polly says, patting my shoulder. “Everyone will forget this happened because they’re gentlemen. Right guys?”

  There’s a chorus of groans followed by affirmations, and the crowd disperses.

  “Sorry,” I say again to Polly.

  “It’s fine,” she laughs and leaves the room.

  Suddenly, I’m alone with Micah, and my world slows.

  “How did it go?” He asks.

  “Fine. Nothing too crazy. I just had to tell them about tonight. Well, and about yesterday.” I reach up and touch my eye, which still stings a little. “They wanted to know what led to my running away.”

  “Do you want me to call Arielle or Richard?” He asks gently.

  “Not today,” I whisper. “I just want to go home.”

  He raises an eyebrow, as if he’s waiting for me to confirm what he thinks I just said, as if he’s waiting to see if what I said is what he heard.

  “Micah,” I say. “Take me home. I want to go home with you.”

  Micah leans down and kisses me. He plans a soft, almost chaste kiss on my mouth. There’s no tongue. This is just a sweet, simple kiss. It’s just a perfect, innocent kiss, but with it come so many promises.

  Maybe it’s a shifter thing or maybe it’s just him, but I can feel so much wrapped up in this kiss.

  He’s going to be here for me.

  He’s going to take care of me.

  He’s going to protect me.

  I don’t know a lot about shifters. I definitely don’t know as much as I should. Yeah, I know they exist and all that, because hey, who doesn’t? I didn’t know Micah was a bear, though. I didn’t know he was a huge, giant creature who could literally protect me from anything.

  Anything.

  When he charged into the room, when he was in his bear form, I didn’t have to see him shift to know. I just knew. I knew those perfect brown eyes. I knew.

  I’m not sure how. It just made sense to me in that moment. I hoped Micah would come save me, and he did. I hoped he would rescue me from Dustin, and he did. I hoped he would find out where I was, and he did.

  He just did.

  Polly said something about me and Micah being mates. I don’t really know what she meant, or if it’s true, or if it applies to people who only recently met, but I do know one thing: Micah is different from anyone I’ve ever known. He’s different, he’s brave, he’s perfect.

  I don’t plan on ever letting him go.

  Then he ends the kiss, sweeps me into his arms, and carries me out to the car.

  “Where you guys headed?” Jason asks, striding over. Behind him, I can see a woman screeching about the cost of repairs. I assume she’s Bev, the elusive motel owner. She’s got her hair in hot rollers and she’s wearing a pink fuzzy bathrobe. I feel terrible about what happened and I want to apologize, but Jason catches my eye and shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, doll. It’s all taken care of.”

  “Just like you,” Micah whispers, and brushes his lips to my forehead. Then he turns back to Jason. “We’re going home, Edwards. We’re going home.”

  Chapter 13

  Micah

  We return to the ranch. Hope, Savannah, and my parents come running out of the main house when they hear the car. They crowd around, waiting for us to get out.

  “Hang tight,” I tell Evelyn. I climb out of the driver’s seat and walk over to talk to my family before I open her door.

  “Is she okay?” Savannah asks.

  “What happened?” Hope wonders.

  “Is she your mate, son?” My dad asks.

  “Okay, you guys,” I know I’ve never brought a woman home before, but sheesh. Talk about an overreaction. “I need everyone to calm down. This is Evelyn. She’s fine. We got the guy, but she’s a little shaken up, okay? I’m going to take her in and put her to bed.”

  “She can have my bed!” My nephew, Colby, starts jumping up and down. “She can have my blanket, and my animals, and my best pillows!”

  Savannah snickers.

  “That’s really nice of you, champ, but I think I’m going to take her to my cabin, okay? That way it’ll be nice and quiet.”

  “Not if you do your job right,” Hope mumbles, and I shoot her a glare that says I’m not in the mood, but my sister-in-law just sticks her tongue out at me.

  I go to the passenger side of the car and open the door. Evelyn climbs out and turns to look at everyone.

  “Hi Evelyn!” They all shout, and she manages a weak smile.

  “Oh, hey, what a warm welcome. Hi everyone.” She gives a little wave, but my parents are having none of that. They hurry over, push me out of the way, and envelop Evelyn in a big, warm group hug.

  “If you need anything at all, sweetie, you just let us know,” my mother says.

  “Welcome to the family, kiddo,” my dad presses a kiss to her forehead.

  “Okay, okay,” I pull her from their clutches and amidst the laughter and murmurs, we walk over to my cabin. I can hear everyone whispering and giggling as we leave, and I realize this is probably the most fun they’ve had in awhile.

  “I’m guessing you don’t bring a lot of girls home,” Evelyn says.

  “Never.”

  “Especially not human ones.”

  “Trust me, pumpkin. They already love you.”

  “They don’t think it’s weird?”

  “Do you think it’s weird?”

  “You’re talking to a girl whose ex-boyfriend just tried to rape her. Trust me: nothing about this relationship feels weird.”
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  “So we’re in a relationship now?” I tease, and she looks up at me.

  “I like you, Micah,” she whispers. She squeezes my hand.

  “I like you, too, Evelyn. A lot. More than a lot.”

  We keep walking. She’s quiet until we reach the door, then she asks if my family is still watching.

  I glance over my shoulder, already knowing the answer. Half a dozen sets of eyes are on us.

  “Yep,” I say. “They’re definitely still out there.”

  “Then let’s give them something to watch,” she says, and to my complete surprise, Evelyn pushes me against the side of the cabin and gives me a huge fucking kiss. I’m talking tongue, I’m talking everything.

  Then the little minx looks over her shoulder to my family members, who are now hooting and hollering, and gives them a wink. The two of us hurry into the cabin, laughing, and I close the door.

  Once we’re alone, Evelyn starts giggling.

  “That was amazing!” She says. “Did you see their faces?”

  “Yes,” I say. “I definitely saw their faces.”

  She gives me a hug, wrapping her tiny arms around me, and I’m instantly aroused. I shouldn’t be. I have no expectations about what’s going to happen today. Evelyn’s been through hell and back again in the last 24 hours. The last thing she needs from me is to feel pressure.

  “You’re really wonderful,” she murmurs. “You know that?”

  “I feel the same way about you, sweetie.” I run my fingers through her frizzy red hair, loving the way it feels against my skin, loving the way it smells, loving everything about it. Fuck, I just love everything about her. This girl is going to make me go crazy or break my heart, and I’m not sure which it is yet.

  She snuggles against me, resting her head against my chest, and finally, Evelyn lets out a long, loud yawn.

  “Sleepy?”

  “No.”

  She yawns again.

  “Okay, okay. Bedtime,” I say.

  “I don’t have my pajamas.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” I tell her. Evelyn looks up at me, and I reach for her face, gently stroking her cheek. She doesn’t flinch. She’s been hurt, but that wasn’t by me. It wasn’t me.