by Bianca D’Arc
Thea called her parents and invited them up to visit right after the meeting. By the afternoon of the following day, her mom and dad were driving through town on their way to the hotel. Ezra had reserved a room for them—at the other end of the sprawling building from his and Thea’s room, at her request—and insisted on paying for it.
She realized Ezra was a little nervous about seeing her parents again and was trying hard to make a good impression. The last time he’d seen them was when they’d come to collect her from Lake Tahoe after he’d rescued her from Bolivar’s basement torture chamber. She’d been very weak, but she remembered the way he’d held her and stayed with her, almost seeming like he hadn’t wanted to give her up, even to her family.
He had, in the end, but she knew his concern for her welfare had made a big impression on her mother. Her father was quieter about it, but she sensed from his occasional comments that her dad had been very impressed by Ezra’s strength and character. She’d told them about their mating by phone, of course, and both her father and mother had spent some time speaking with Ezra, but seeing them in person was different.
She hoped they would all get along and that their inner bears didn’t make things difficult. Ezra was such a strong Alpha presence—as were most of the other bears Thea had met since arriving in town—that she was a little afraid of her parents’ reactions. Bears weren’t like some other shifters. They usually preferred to gather only in small family units. The young struck out on their own early and usually only went back for the occasional visit.
Thea’s situation was a little different since her abduction and rescue. She’d left her parents’ home as a rather meek woman, for a bear shifter. She’d been more docile than most bears, and that was probably why she’d fallen prey to the human trafficking ring. She’d been naïve and easily duped, and she’d paid for that in Bolivar’s basement of horrors over and over.
The end result of her survival was that she was a very different woman now. And a very different bear. She wasn’t sure her old self would have been able to handle a mate like Ezra, but this newer, stronger version was a perfect match—as he was for her. Perhaps, had they met before her ordeal, they would have been merely two ships passing in the night, neither one really noticing the other. She would never be sure, but it didn’t really matter. She was who she was now, shaped by her experiences, as Ezra had been shaped by a lifetime of his own choices and circumstances. They were perfect for each other now, and that’s what really counted.
She hoped her parents would see that and accept him—and her—the way they were now. She could never go back to being that meek little bear she’d been when she’d left home. Her parents knew that—had known that—from the moment she’d started to recover, in the safety of her childhood home.
While she couldn’t wait to see them and give them big hugs and kisses, she was also apprehensive. She had grown in ways she wasn’t sure her parents would ever be ready to understand.
As it turned out, all her worries were for naught. When her folks pulled up in front of the hotel, Thea and Ezra were there to guide them in. While her father parked the car, Thea’s mother hopped out of the passenger seat, and she and her mom rushed toward each other, meeting in a big hug laced with happy tears.
She was peripherally aware of Ezra greeting her dad sometime later, but her mother’s arms felt too good around her to leave easily. She shouldn’t have worried. No matter what changes she or her bear had been through, her mother was still her mom. That would never change.
And when her dad came closer and wrapped his arms around her from behind, enveloping her in parental love, Thea’s strong, independent Alpha bear basked in her parents’ love. Thea might be Alpha now where everyone and everything else was concerned, but she would always be her parents’ little girl.
Happy tears filled her eyes as she looked up to see Ezra watching them with a suspicious brightness in his own eyes. The big softy. He might be her mighty Alpha mate, but he clearly understood what was going on before his eyes. Thea mouthed the words that filled her heart, sending them to Ezra and her family at the same time…
“I love you.”
EPILOGUE
Thea’s parents stayed in Grizzly Cove for a few weeks. During their stay, they threw the party to end all parties to celebrate their daughter’s mating to a bear they were proud to induct into the family. Ezra’s folks were long gone, but the guys he’d served with who now lived in Grizzly Cove stood up for him as his family during the brief mating ceremony presided over by the town’s shaman, Gus, in a sacred circle of stones out on one of the points of the cove.
The mer put on a display of synchronized leaps from the water under a strict veil of secrecy, and the Cajun gourmet put together a feast fit for a king…or at the very least, a bunch of strong bear shifters. At the dinner that followed the ceremony, an official invitation was issued to not only Ezra and Thea, but to her parents, as well, to settle in Grizzly Cove, if they wished.
By that time, Thea had spent many hours mulling over the pros and cons of moving to the small town by the sea. She’d also had time to encounter both Urse and her sister, Mellie, several times and get to know them a little better. She’d been surprised to find that, while Urse was still a little scary, Mellie was a total goof in the best possible way. They’d hit it off, and Thea realized with some astonishment that she was well on her way to being BFF to a very powerful witch.
Would wonders never cease?
When Ezra broached the topic of building a home in the area while they were in bed later that night, after a glorious session of lovemaking, she already knew what her answer would be. Her mom and dad had already hinted to her that they were going to look around at nearby real estate with an eye toward setting up a summer cottage by the shore, if such a thing was possible. So, when Ezra asked if she would be comfortable setting up their permanent base in the town, she felt her heart lift.
“I feel more at home here than I thought I would,” she told him honestly. “And I can see that you’re in your element with men you respect and whom respect you in turn.” She drew little circles on his shoulder, loving the way he made her feel, just by being him. “If they’re serious about letting us move here—and I think they are—then, I think we’d be fools not to do so. This place is…really, really special.”
Ezra kissed her, joy and a feeling of coming home filling her. Then, he lay back, snuggling her close and proceeded to discuss the kind of house they would build. Together.
Long after home design had been exhausted as a subject and they’d fallen asleep, nestled together, they woke again to make love and renew the passion that would last them a lifetime. A lifetime that would be filled with joy…and maybe some danger…and definitely an infinite amount of love.
*
Later that day, on the road heading out of Sturgis, three bear shifter brothers rode their bikes into the sunset. When they got to the crossroads, each turned in a different direction. It was time.
They’d helped Ezra and seen the magic that only a true mate could bring. They’d all been waiting to find the loves of their lives. Perhaps it was about time they set out in search of their mates. They’d talked about it in the days since Ezra and his mate had taken off for Grizzly Cove, and they’d come up with this plan.
One was going north. One was going east. And the other was going south. They would meet up again after they’d done their best to fulfill their quests, in that little bear shifter town by the sea on the West Coast. They knew now that they had an open invitation to visit Grizzly Cove, but they’d decided not to go until they’d at least tried to find mates on their own.
They said farewell and hit the gas on their beloved bikes. The brothers were about to find out what Fate had in store for them…
*
Thank you for reading Bounty Hunter Bear. If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review.
A complete list of all of my books, separated by series, follows. You can also check out m
y website at WWW.BIANCADARC.COM. Or you can sign up for my new release list to be alerted when new books are released.
Below is a short excerpt from Phoenix Rising, which is the first in a trilogy of stories called Lick of Fire. They are related to Grizzly Cove and all of my other paranormals, but feature an all-new type of shifter.
EXCERPT FROM PHOENIX RISING
©2018 Bianca D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.
Tina couldn’t believe her luck—all of it bad, lately. She’d been enduring one minor calamity after another for a while now. The latest was being broken down on the side of a lonely stretch of highway in the middle of the desert. Great. Just great.
She got out and opened the hood of the car, wondering if there was some sort of magic that might help her get the mechanical beast going again. She was staring at the metallic innards of the engine when it roared.
Okay, it wasn’t her engine that roared, but she definitely heard an engine roaring. She looked up to find a motorcycle headed her way. She wondered if the driver would stop. Then, she wondered if she wanted him to stop. She was way out here all alone, after all. Taking help from a stranger—one who drove a motorcycle that roared like the devil—might not be the wisest move.
Regardless of her feelings, the bike started slowing, coming to an eventual stop behind her recalcitrant vehicle. Something about the rider’s aura seemed familiar, but that was ridiculous. He was still a good ten yards away when she thought she recognized his walk. She remembered that walk…
Holy crap. It was him. Lance Fiori. Her high school crush. And, damn, he’d filled out really well over the intervening years. Tall, with golden blonde hair and a smile that could set girls’ hearts aflutter, he was even more handsome now, if that were possible. Now, if he smiled, she figured she might just melt into a little puddle at his feet.
The chiseled jaw was the same. The determined set of his shoulders as she remembered. The magic she had always sensed in him was a little closer to the surface now. She wondered how that had played out for him. She hoped he’d come to terms with the wild energy inside him and was stronger for it. He’d always seemed a little lost to her in high school, though they’d never really interacted. The large size of their graduating class had made it easy enough to avoid him, and he’d never sought her out—much to her secret disappointment.
But, now, here he was, her knight in shining armor, as it were. He even had the trusty steed, albeit a mechanical one. She wondered if he’d recognize her.
Tina took off her sunglasses and tried not to squint as he drew closer. She got her answer when his step faltered a bit. He had recognized her! His next words proved it.
“Tina Bradbury?” He made it sound like a question, but she knew he was just as certain as she was.
He came right up to the side of the car, looking at her as she faced the engine, and met her gaze. He lowered his sunglasses as well, giving her a peek at those startling blue eyes that had always reminded her of the sky at its brightest. Energy crackled in his irises. Magic and power. Little lightning bolts that only she could see.
“Lance,” she acknowledged him, her voice was a little breathless, but she was powerless to do anything about it. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Stranger things have happened,” he agreed easily. “I’m just not sure where or when.” He sent her the rare dimpled smile she’d only seen a couple of times before.
She was glad her hands were still gripping the edge of the car because that sinful smile made her knees go weak. Wow. The boy had been the stuff of teenage fantasies, but the man he’d grown into was another beast altogether. His aura was potent. Secure. More intense than it had been at eighteen. Way more intense.
“So, I guess you’re stuck. Mind if I take a look?” Lance asked politely.
Tina moved aside as he walked around the the car so that he faced the engine head on. He touched a few things and checked a dipstick or two, keeping his own counsel except for asking her a few pointed questions about what had happened just prior to her breakdown. He scowled a few times, and his overall expression was a frown when he stood back from the engine.
“What’s the verdict?” she asked nervously.
“Well, this car isn’t going anywhere until it gets a few new parts and some fluids.” He launched into a technical explanation that she just about followed.
Apparently, she’d let one of the necessary fluids for the engine get too low—or maybe it boiled off somehow—which caused some small, but essential, parts to break. In short, the engine needed major repairs to get going again, which left her effectively stranded in the middle of the desert.
“Where were you headed?” he asked, looking from her to his parked motorcycle and back, speculatively. “I could maybe give you a lift.”
She had to swallow hard before she could answer. The thought of riding on the back of his motorcycle brought that weakness back to her knees.
To read more, get your copy of Phoenix Rising by Bianca D’Arc.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bianca D’Arc has run a laboratory, climbed the corporate ladder in the shark-infested streets of lower Manhattan, studied and taught martial arts, and earned the right to put a whole bunch of letters after her name, but she’s always enjoyed writing more than any of her other pursuits. She grew up and still lives on Long Island, where she keeps busy with an extensive garden, several aquariums full of very demanding fish, and writing her favorite genres of paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi romance.
Bianca loves to hear from readers and can be reached through Twitter (@BiancaDArc), Facebook (BiancaDArcAuthor) or through the various links on her website.
OTHER BOOKS BY BIANCA D’ARC
Paranormal Romance
Brotherhood of Blood
One & Only
Rare Vintage
Phantom Desires
Sweeter Than Wine
Forever Valentine
Wolf Hills*
Wolf Quest
Tales of the Were
Lords of the Were
Inferno
Tales of the Were ~ The Others
Rocky
Slade
Tales of the Were ~ String of Fate
Cat’s Cradle
King’s Throne
Jacob’s Ladder
Her Warriors
Tales of the Were ~ Redstone Clan
The Purrfect Stranger
Grif
Red
Magnus
Bobcat
Matt
Tales of the Were ~ Grizzly Cove
All About the Bear
Mating Dance
Night Shift
Alpha Bear
Saving Grace
Bearliest Catch
The Bear’s Healing Touch
The Luck of the Shifters
Badass Bear
Loaded for Bear
Crossroads: Bounty Hunter Bear
Tales of the Were ~ Were-Fey
Lone Wolf
Snow Magic
Midnight Kiss
Tales of the Were ~ Howls Romance
The Jaguar Tycoon
The Jaguar Bodyguard
Tales of the Were ~ Lick of Fire
Phoenix Rising
Guardians of the Dark
Half Past Dead
Once Bitten, Twice Dead
A Darker Shade of Dead
The Beast Within
Dead Alert
Gifts of the Ancients: Warrior’s Heart
Epic Fantasy Erotic Romance
Dragon Knights ~ Daughters of the Dragon
Maiden Flight*
Border Lair
The Ice Dragon**
Prince of Spies***
Dragon Knights ~ The Novellas
The Dragon Healer
Master at Arms
Wings of Change
Dragon Knights ~ Sons of Draconia
FireDrake
Dragon Storm
Keeper of the Flame
Hidden Dragons
>
Dragon Knights ~ The Sea Captain’s Daughter Trilogy
Book 1: Sea Dragon
Book 2: Dragon Fire
Book 3: Dragon Mates
Science Fiction Romance
StarLords
Hidden Talent
Talent For Trouble
Shy Talent
Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Arcana
King of Swords
King of Cups
King of Clubs
King of Stars
End of the Line
Diva
Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Sons of Amber
Angel in the Badlands
Master of Her Heart
Futuristic Erotic Romance
Resonance Mates
Hara’s Legacy**
Davin’s Quest
Jaci’s Experiment
Grady’s Awakening
Harry’s Sacrifice
* RT Book Reviews Awards Nominee
** EPPIE Award Winner
*** CAPA Award Winner