Fire Bear Shifters: The Complete Series

by Sloane Meyers

  Luke helped Clara set the tree up in the middle of the hangar, and then Clara started putting on the lights and ornaments. It took several hours, but the finished product brightened up the room considerably. The festive colors and glittering lights made it feel like Christmas was actually coming. Clara had just gone to set the reindeer up in front of the hangar when she saw Carter’s truck coming down the road. It took a few seconds for her mind to register the fact that the guy she had kissed the night before was now driving toward her, but when it did register, she panicked. She ran back into the hangar, and up the stairs on the side of the building that led to a small second story. Ian’s office was up there, but, thankfully, he was gone right now. Clara didn’t want to have to explain to the clan’s alpha why she was hiding out.

  And why was she hiding out? Was she really that nervous about how Carter would act around her, or what he would say? Clara frowned. It wasn’t that she was scared, exactly. It’s just that she hadn’t thought about the possibility of his showing up here today. She wasn’t prepared to talk to him about what happened. And how could they see each other without talking about it? Clara could hear voices entering the hangar, and she realized it was Luke and Carter. She breathed as quietly as she could, straining her ears to hear what they were saying.

  “Wow,” Carter said. “This looks really festive.”

  “Yeah, it’s really nice. Clara set it all up,” Luke said. “None of us have had time to slow down and appreciate the holidays yet, so I’m really glad she took the initiative. And she did a great job, too. Look how perfectly decorated that tree is. It looks like something you would see in a fancy department store.”

  Carter chuckled, and there was a pause. Clara guessed they must be admiring her handiwork. Eventually, Carter broke the silence.

  “So, are any of you guys going anywhere for Christmas? Or is everyone staying here to celebrate together?”

  “We’ll all be here,” Luke said. “Even Zach and Mindy are holding off on a honeymoon until after the holidays. What about you? Going anywhere to see family or something?”

  “Naw, I’m just staying around here,” Carter said. Clara thought his voice sounded sad, but Luke didn’t seem to notice.

  “That sounds great. It’s always nice to avoid the crazy holiday travel,” Luke said.

  Clara heard the front door to the hangar open, followed moments later by Riley’s voice.

  “Oh, hey, Carter,” Riley said. “I didn’t know you were still working out here.”

  “I’m actually done. I just forgot some tools here so I came by to pick them up. And I’m glad I did, because I was treated to this magnificent view. This tree is something else.”

  “I didn’t even know we were getting a tree,” Riley said.

  “Clara went and got it,” Luke said. “And I have to say that she did a pretty awesome job.”

  “That’s no surprise,” Riley said. “That girl has some talents. Where is she now?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in a few hours,” Luke said.

  “Hmm, okay. Well, I’ll see you boys later. I need to go drop something off in Ian’s office for him and then go find Clara.”

  Clara froze and stopped breathing. Shit. If Riley saw her up here and said something, Carter and Luke were going to hear it. As Riley came up the stairs and around the corner to where Clara was sitting with her back against the wall, Clara wildly shook her head no and put her fingers over her lips, hoping Riley wouldn’t say anything too loudly.

  “What the heck?” Riley asked.

  “Shhh,” Clara said, lowering her voice to a whisper. “I don’t want him to know I’m here.”

  “Who?” Riley asked, still talking loudly.

  Clara rolled her eyes heavenward before whispering. “Carter. And can you keep it down. I’m trying to hide out.”

  Riley gave Clara a look that said Clara was crazy. Then she walked past Clara and into Ian’s office, where she left an envelope on his desk. When she came back out, she peeked around the corner and looked down the stairs, then looked back at Clara.

  “They’re gone,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” Clara asked.

  “Yes, positive. Now, do you want to tell me why you’re hiding from Carter?”

  “Because I kissed him at the wedding.”

  “You what?”

  Clara sighed. “I kissed him at the wedding. We slow danced, and then we did the photo booth, and he kissed me under the mistletoe arch. So I even have photographic proof that the kiss happened and wasn’t just a product of my wine-buzzed imagination.”

  Riley’s eyes were wide. “You have to catch me up here. I thought you said he wasn’t interested in you at all. And why are you hiding from him just because you kissed him?”

  “Because I panicked. I don’t know if a long term relationship with him would really work. He seems like a tough guy who wouldn’t be able to handle having a bear for a partner.”

  Riley sighed and sat down against the wall next to Clara. “Just because a guy is macho doesn’t mean he won’t be able to handle a bear. Maybe he’s so confident in his own strength that he won’t feel threatened by you. I mean, look at Carter. Even though he’s not a shifter, he’s practically a bear. Those muscles of his are intense.”

  “I know. It’s silly to worry about. I just got caught off guard because I thought he had barely noticed that I existed, and then all of a sudden last night he was kissing me. I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

  “But you do like him?”

  “Well, yeah. I don’t know him that well, but he seems like a pretty cool guy. And, hello, that body? How could I resist?”

  Riley laughed. “Well, if you hide like this every time he comes around, you’re not going to get anywhere with him.”

  “I know,” Clara said. “It just caught me by surprise that he was here today and I hadn’t thought through what I want to say to him next time I see him. I’ll be more prepared next time. By the way, did I hear you say you were looking for me? Did you need something?”

  “Oh, yeah. I wanted to tell you that there are more flowers at the shop for you. Another delivery today. I didn’t open the card, but I’m assuming it’s a sugary sweet romantic sentiment, as usual. Dang, Clara, look at you. Kissing Carter and then being stalked by a secret admirer. You’re a popular girl,” Riley said.

  Clara blushed and looked down at her feet. “Well, I’d be a whole lot happier if all of this attention translated into finding an actual lifemate. It’s nice to feel wanted, but it’s even better to feel loved.”

  “True. Give it time, though. You never know what’s going to come of either of these situations,” Riley said, and then suddenly sat straight up. “Oh my gosh, you don’t think Carter is your secret admirer, do you?”

  Clara laughed and shook her head no. “I’d be shocked. He doesn’t seem like the romantic type, you know? Besides, don’t you think that if he was he would have come clean last night? It would have been weird to slow dance with me and kiss me and not mention that, oh, by the way, I’m the guy that’s been sending you exorbitant amounts of flowers.”

  “I guess,” Riley said. “But maybe he wants to keep up the intrigue a bit longer?”

  “I guess anything’s possible, but I’d be shocked,” Clara said, then stood up. “I should finish up the Christmas decorations before it gets dark. Wanna help?”

  Riley stood as well. “Sure, I’ve got a little bit of time. But I’m warning you I might be grilling you with more questions about Carter.”

  “Whatever, there’s not much to tell,” Clara said, ignoring Riley’s laughter as she made her way to the stairs. She peeked carefully around the corner before heading down, just to make sure that Carter was nowhere to be seen.

  * * *

  Carter swore under his breath as he turned his truck toward town. He was developing quite a sailor mouth these days, but it couldn’t be helped. Not when he was faced with constant reminders that Christmas was coming, and he was
still alone. He was running out of time to do something about it, and he was beginning to think that relying on the secret bouquets alone was a risky idea. What if that wasn’t enough for her? He should give himself plenty of time to convince her that he was more than just pretty flowers and romantic notes. He had a lot to offer a woman. He was strong, and decent-looking. He had a house, and owned his own successful business.

  He was a catch, wasn’t he? So why hadn’t he been caught?

  As Carter drove, he realized that, deep down, he knew the answer to that. He hadn’t wanted anyone to catch him. It was time to admit the truth. He’d spent so long pushing everyone away, both friends and potential love interests, because he was afraid of being hurt again. But the fear of loneliness was becoming stronger than the fear of having his heart broken. And Clara was the one who had broken through that invisible barrier. She just didn’t know it yet.

  He had hoped to see Clara when he swung by the smokejumpers’ base today. It was true that he had left a tool there, but it wasn’t a very important tool. He had just wanted an excuse to potentially run into her. He told himself that if he did see her, he was going to ask for her phone number, and ask her to dinner. Then, at dinner, he would reveal that he was behind the flowers. Hopefully, she would be impressed. He had thought about telling her while they were dancing at the wedding, but he chickened out. The moment had been too perfect, and he hadn’t wanted to ruin it by throwing such a surprising revelation into the mix.

  But Clara hadn’t been around at all when Carter got to the base. The first person he’d run into had been Luke, who helped him find his lost tool and showed him the Christmas decorations in the hangar. The tree Clara had put up made Carter’s heart ache. It was a perfect tree, tall and full, and adorned with glittering red and gold ornaments. He could tell she had put hours of work into the project. The sight of it filled him with an even greater longing to have her by his side this Christmas. He could almost imagine them sitting there together next to the tree, snuggled up close and sipping hot chocolate as Christmas carols played in the background.

  Carter had stalled Luke as long as he could, asking questions about things like how he had liked Zach and Mindy’s wedding, or how Luke’s woodworking business was going. Asking about the woodworking business had been a mistake, though. Luke perked up and offered to show Carter his latest project—a large table he was crafting for the dining hall in the bunkhouse. Carter had no choice but to follow Luke away from the hangar and to the loft above the bunkhouse where Luke had set up his workshop. Carter knew the odds of running into Clara up there were next to nothing. He did have to admit, though, that Luke’s table was pretty impressive. The man had some serious woodworking talent.

  After a thorough explanation of how the table was being designed, Carter had decided it was time to leave. He didn’t even know if Clara was around, and he was wasting time that he should be spending getting started on his latest job. He had just taken on a project fixing up an old log cabin in the woods. The cabin hadn’t been used in years, and had fallen into a horrible state of disrepair. The owner wanted it fixed up so he could let his daughter and son-in-law use it for weekend getaways. It needed quite a bit of work, but the owner was willing to pay whatever Carter requested, so his time would be well-compensated. The place was located about an hour’s drive from Carter’s house, and, although long commutes annoyed Carter, the job paid too well to pass up.

  It was too late and too dark to go start on the cabin today, but Carter needed to buy some supplies and get his tools organized. He would do that now, and then be ready to hit the ground running in the morning.

  A few hours later, satisfied that everything was ready for him to leave bright and early the next morning, Carter went to his freezer to grab yet another frozen dinner. He really needed to find something better to eat, but it was just too easy to heat something up and leave it at that when you were living by yourself.

  As the microwave hummed, Carter went over his to-do list, and realized he had forgotten one thing. He grabbed his pen, and wrote “Order flowers for Clara” at the bottom of the list. He smiled as he wrote the words, thinking about how he had less than a week left of flower deliveries before Christmas Eve. He could hardly wait to see the look on Clara’s face when she realized it had been him sending the flowers all this time. Hopefully it would be similar to the look she had given him right before he kissed her at the wedding a few days ago.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next day passed in a blur for Clara. She spent the whole day at the shop, baking pies for Christmas orders. The shop didn’t have any more weddings scheduled until after Christmas, but the phone had been ringing off the hook all day with nonstop requests for pies. Everyone wanted a Sweet Crust pie to add to their holiday dinner plans, and Riley wanted the shop to do its best to meet as many requests as possible.

  Riley baked alongside Clara for most of the day, while Sara and Cathy manned the front counter. Clara actually enjoyed the frenetic pace of the day. The nonstop schedule kept her from looking at the clock even once, and before she knew it, Riley was grabbing her keys to lock up the front door.

  “You should head home, Clara. You’ve been baking since five a.m. and it’s seven p.m. now,” Riley said.

  Clara frowned. “You’ve been doing the same.”

  “I know, but I’m the owner. I’m expected to never get a chance to catch my breath. You should at least go grab some dinner.”

  “Tell you what,” Clara said, wiping her hands on her apron. “I’ll agree to go grab dinner for both of us, if you’ll agree to at least take a fifteen minute break and eat with me when I get back.”

  Riley smiled. “Deal,” she said. “What about that Thai place we love? I wouldn’t mind some coconut curry chicken.”

  “Done,” Clara said, already hanging her apron up and grabbing her purse.

  Thirty minutes later, she and Riley were sitting in the back of the pie shop, scarfing down their noodles and rice while aromas of apple, cinnamon, and sugar surrounded them. They made small talk about the weather—it was pouring rain again today—and discussed the upcoming Christmas dinner the clan would be having. The dinner would be the biggest celebration the clan had put on all year, and Clara couldn’t wait for the festivities.

  “Hey,” Riley said. “We’ve been so busy I hadn’t thought much about it until now, but you never got flowers today, did you?”

  Clara froze as she realized that no delivery had arrived that day. Her heart started sinking with a foreboding feeling. “Oh my god, you’re right,” she said. “That’s so weird.”

  “Huh,” Riley said, then shrugged. “I guess whoever the guy is got tired of his little game?”

  “I don’t think so,” Clara said slowly. Her whole body was inexplicably filling with dread, and she could feel her bear stirring within her. Something was bothering her bear, and she suddenly had the awful thought that her lifemate was in danger.

  “Are you okay?” Riley asked. “You look a little pale. Don’t worry about not getting flowers. I’m sure the guy had something come up today. I doubt he all of a sudden decided he didn’t like you anymore after over twenty bouquets and notes.”

  Clara frowned and shook her head. “It’s not the flowers themselves I’m worried about. I think he’s in danger.”

  “Just because he didn’t send flowers? Don’t worry, Clara. It’s a busy time of year. I’m sure something out of his control just came up.”

  But Clara couldn’t keep herself from worrying. Not when her bear’s warning growls became more insistent with each passing moment. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, as a primal protective instinct overtook her body. The pieces all clicked into place at once. Whoever the bouquet sender was, he was her lifemate. And he was in danger right now. She had to help him.

  “Do you think you can manage by yourself for the rest of the night?” Clara asked, already reaching for her purse and sweater. “I have to go find him.”

  Riley had a perplexed
expression on her face, but she just nodded. “Of course. You’ve done an amazing amount of work already. But how are you going to find him?”

  “I don’t know,” Clara admitted. “But I will.”

  Then she was gone, rushing out the door and to her car, spurred on by a sense of urgency like she had never felt before.

  Hands shaking, she put the keys in the ignition and decided the only clue she really had was the name of the flower shop. Surely, they must know who he was. In fact, they must know him very well by now, since he had given them business every single day this month. Clara looked up the address in her phone and followed the GPS to the shop. It was about a ten minute drive, and it started pouring rain again while Clara was driving over. She cursed and tried to go as fast as she could without risking spinning off the slippery road.

  It was after eight p.m. when she arrived at the shop, and the hours on the door said they closed at eight p.m. But through the glass of the storefront window, Clara could still see an employee inside, tidying up. She started pounding on the front door to get the employee’s attention.

  “Please, let me in!” Clara shouted. “It’s an emergency. I need help finding someone.”

  Startled, the employee looked up, then shook his head with an apologetic smile and pointed to the sign on the window that listed the store’s hours. Clara wasn’t sure if he could even hear what she was saying through the thick glass, but she kept pounding and yelling. The employee’s expression changed from a smile to an annoyed frown, and after another minute of Clara continuing to bang despite the employee’s numerous gestures toward the closed sign, the man came to open the door.

  He unlocked the door and barely opened it a crack. Just enough so that he could speak to Clara.