by Meg Ripley
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Nanny For The Soldier Bear
Werebears Of The Everglades
Meg Ripley
Copyright © 2018 by Meg Ripley
www.redlilypublishing.com
All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be used or reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quoted passages left in an online review. This book is a fictional story. All characters, names, and situations are of the author’s creation. Any resemblances to actual situations or to persons who are alive or dead are purely coincidental.
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only; this copy is not available for resale or to give to another reader aside from any transaction through Amazon’s e-book lending program.
Disclaimer
This book is intended for readers age 18 and over. It contains mature situations and language that may be objectionable to some readers.
Contents
Nanny For The Soldier Bear
Nanny For The Soldier Bear
1. Conner
2. Jessie
3. Jessie
4. Conner
5. Jessie
6. Conner
7. Jessie
8. Conner
9. Conner
10. Jessie
11. Conner
12. Conner
13. Jessie
14. Conner
15. Jessie
16. Conner
17. Jessie
18. Conner
19. Jessie
20. Jessie
21. Jessie
Sneak Peek of Alpha’s Second Chance
1. Owen
Sneak Peek of Ranger Knox
1. Hannah
Nanny For The Soldier Bear
Werebears Of The Everglades
Nanny For The Soldier Bear
Jessie has just earned her teaching degree and is ready to leave her small hometown behind, joining her sister in an area with a lot more jobs. But soon after she arrives, tragedy strikes and she’s asked to be the nanny to a little girl who’s just lost both of her parents. She has zero experience as a nanny, but Jessie can’t say no--especially when her new boss looks like that. She’s just not sure how long she can handle his tough exterior.
Conner’s life has been hard enough. After a deployment in Afghanistan and the PTSD that still haunts him, this bear shifter doesn’t think he’ll ever be right again. So when he learns that his brother and sister-in-law have been killed in the Everglades, leaving him as the guardian of their little girl, he’s ready to snap. Luckily, a sweet young thing named Jessie agrees to take on the challenge of watching over his niece.
Having Jessie in the house proves to not only help soothe little Peyton, but Conner’s wounded heart as well. But Conner has an unimaginable secret that might scare her away from them both for good. Will he be able to let down his walls long enough to reveal his deepest secret of all?
1
Conner
From somewhere under my warm blanket, I heard my radio crackle. My ears perked and I was sitting up before the alert tones even finished.
“Search and rescue team, respond. Recovery needed.”
I grabbed my walkie and pressed the button as I pulled on my pants with one hand. “Conner Griffin responding. En route.”
I tossed the walkie aside so I could finish dressing, but as I pulled on my shirt, I shook my head. No, this isn’t right. I should be running. My pants came back off, and I snatched my “go” bag from the floor by my bed, tossing my shirt and pants inside.
I was barely out the door before the familiar popping and snapping of my bones coursed through me. My skin broke out into thick, black fur, my nails extended to claws and my teeth sharpened to fangs. I roared and took off running in bear form with my pack of necessary items slung over my back. I was much faster on four feet than two.
My paws hit the forest floor, the grass still damp with dew, the morning just starting to lighten. The sun would be peeking over the horizon in the next hour or so, but for now, the hint of dawn made the world a dull orange.
At least a few members of my clan are likely up and about, I thought, bounding onward. Owen, our Alpha and head Park Ranger, would’ve probably known what was up if the rescue was on park grounds. That meant Ezra, who was Owen’s second in both the pack and as a Ranger, might have, too—unless he was fast asleep, which was just as likely. Mason was a Ranger Officer in the area, so the situation might have involved him as well.
I tuned my thoughts into our clan’s mental link. Checking in.
You on your way? Owen asked. I’m on site and Mason is driving in.
I’m running. What details do you have? I couldn’t hear my walkie while running since it was in my pack, but Owen would’ve heard the same call go out as I had.
Looks like a body in the swamp. Suspected murder.
Murder? Mason will love that. I chuckled. He’d been in on a big case recently, but it involved animal deaths, not people. Being new to the force, this might have been his first big shot at proving himself.
He seemed very serious.
I expected that. Mason was fun, and when we got him drunk, he was a blast. But when it came to work, he was 110% business. Important for a cop. Couldn’t say I blamed him. My clan complained that I was far too serious and needed to lighten up all the time. Whatever; some things should be taken seriously. Life couldn’t be all fun and games, no matter what Ezra said.
Exact location? I asked.
East swamp, by the northbound path. Follow my scent. Shifting back now.
Getting close. I could hear the general murmur of people moving around, talking, turning car radios on and off; life sounds.
When I got close enough to smell Owen, I stopped running and shifted back to human, then quickly dressed myself. Until I knew for sure who was around, I couldn’t make myself known as a shifter. Plenty of us who worked in emergency services in Everglades National Park were shifters, and it aided us greatly, but it was a colossal secret, a great divide of us versus them. The shifters knew who was human and who wasn’t, but we had to make sure the humans had no clue about our existence. It made things tricky at times, but was wholly critical for our survival. The world wasn’t ready to believe that fairytales were real.
When I walked up, I saw that everyone present was a shifter; that was a bad sign. When a situation that involved shifters happened, those in charge made sure only shifters were sent to respond. Owen and one of his Rangers were there, Mason was there with his partner and two more cops, along with two other members of my team, Seth and Jamari.
I nodded to the others as I approached my team.
“Full-on murder,” Seth announced.
“They suspect crocs,” Jamari said.
My eyes instantly narrowed. How long were these crocs going to cause trouble? We’d been dealing with them for years by that point. They thought they were the superior shifter group. It didn’t matter that the Everglades was home to bear shifters, panthers, wolves and tigers. No, only crocs should be allowed to live there, they believed. And they constantly tried to move into positions of power to take over. The rest of us all got along and worked together. That was how we’d kept them out so long, but it was getting to the point where we might have to ban the crocs from the ‘Glades once and for all.
“As soon as the police are done taking photos of the scene, we’re going in,” Jamari added.
I stood back with them to watch. A few other rescue workers showed up, and finally, it was our time to get
in the water and retrieve the bodies. It was easier in animal form, so we stripped down and shifted, then jumped in the water.
As soon as I was in the swamp, I started searching. Being in animal form gave us many advantages, especially in the water. We could see, hear, and smell better than humans. I picked up on the scent of blood, distinct, sharp and iron-rich; few other things smelled like that. I swam in the direction and noticed a figure at the bottom of the murky water.
I made the gesture we used to let each other know we’d found something, and my teammates swam over to me. Together, we got the body free of the tangles of the grass and I grabbed hold of the shirt. Female, I thought.
As I swam with her toward the surface, another scent hit me; this one was much more familiar, sending a panicked jolt through me. I broke the surface of the water, then coughed and almost lost her. Adjusting my grip, I dragged her body over to the side where two members of the paramedic team were waiting.
They pulled her out as I nudged her from behind, and when they had her, I emerged from the water and shifted back immediately, sputtering and choking.
“You okay, man?” Owen asked.
I couldn’t answer. I just stared at the body, inhaling her scent. Now that she was out, there was no denying it.
I had just rescued my lifeless sister-in-law.
When Owen looked at the body, he gasped and covered his mouth. Alaina and my brother hadn’t been part of our clan, but they were also shifters and had come to many of our get togethers. I stood by her side, not believing the sight before me. How could this have happened? And where was my brother? Did he have any clue?
“Alaina,” I whispered.
“You know her?” one of the paramedics asked.
I nodded stiffly. “My sister-in-law.”
I heard a commotion behind me: Seth surfaced with another body. We had only been expecting one. My lip trembled as I saw the last thing in the world I wanted to see.
My brother, Logan, dead; his lifeless body being pulled from the swamp.
My stomach dropped and everything around me spun. I felt my knees hit the ground. Sounds turned to echoes ringing in my ears, and I turned my head and puked in disgust. My memories were fuzzy after that, but all I remember is scrambling to my feet, shifting and taking off.
“Conner, wait!” Owen called after me.
A moment later, I felt his presence as he shifted. Oh my God, I am so sorry. I can’t even… Be safe. Check in. We’re here for you, brother; we’re on this. We’ll find the bastards who did this and fucking end them.
Then he was gone and it was just me. Running. From something. To something. To what, I didn’t know; I just ran.
2
Jessie
I glanced at my phone again. Where was it saying to turn? I sighed in frustration, felt the anxiety increase in my chest, and made a turn. My phone’s screen said, “Rerouting.”
“Ahhh!” I growled and banged the steering wheel.
Though my sister, Nikki, assured me that Homestead was a far cry from a massive city like Miami, the area was still much bigger than our tiny little home town, which was all I knew. Of course, that was also the very reason I was moving.
Living in a town with just one elementary school and one high school, there were no nearby teaching jobs available out of college. After being turned down for the only two available job positions in the area, I ended up waiting tables at the local diner, paying huge school loans on skimpy tips. Not exactly what I had pictured for my future.
Nikki, on the other hand, had been ready to get out from the start. She went to school in Miami and moved to Homestead—right near Everglades National Park—after she’d graduated. Nikki had a stint as a waitress, too, though in a high-end restaurant that brought much higher tips. But shortly thereafter, she was able to land a position in her given industry—medical imaging—in a fancy hospital with a big fat paycheck. It had only taken her a month to find that job, and there were many hospitals and facilities within a half-hour range that she could transfer to if the first gig didn’t work out.
“Jess, you have got to come. There are tons of schools out here; you’ll definitely find something.”
After a particularly difficult double shift, where the customers had been extra grouchy and my tips extra light, I finally decided to give it a go. What did I have to lose?
I picked up my phone again, trying to see where the little blue line was leading me. I set my phone back down and returned my gaze to the road—just in time to see a flash of black streaking in front of me. I slammed on my brakes. A…bear? Was that a bear that just ran out in front of me?
Once my heart stopped pounding, I drove on. I finally seemed to be getting the hang of my GPS. I’d never needed to use it before; I knew all the roads back home and ten ways to get anywhere. But driving in that neck of the woods was like being in a foreign country.
I saw flashing lights ahead and slowed. When I got to the intersection, I noticed a swarm of cop cars, an ambulance and a firetruck. Someone was directing traffic, so since I couldn’t turn where I needed to, I pulled up to the officer and slid my window down.
“I need to go that way,” I said, pointing left.
“Sorry, Miss. Road’s closed.”
Taking a deep breath, I drove straight through as directed. My GPS told me to turn around and go back the way I couldn’t, and at that point, I felt like just turning around and going home. Old Miss Judy would have probably been retiring soon; I could have just gone back to the diner long enough to wait her out, or maybe sub or tutor in the meantime.
3
Jessie
By the time I pulled into Nikki’s driveway, I was completely flustered. It had taken me twice as long to get there as planned, and I’d gotten lost at least three times. Nikki came bursting out of the house before I had my seatbelt off.
“You made it!” she exclaimed as she ran to greet me.
I got out, and we wrapped each other in a tight hug.
“Let’s take your stuff in.”
Four trips later, several boxes and suitcases sat in her spare bedroom. I’d brought everything except furniture from my small room back home. I’d opened one suitcase and started to unpack my clothing when Nikki called to me, “Leave that! Come have tea!” I could unpack later.
We sat at a small, round table with mismatched chairs. Her place wasn’t big, but it was all hers. I was a little jealous, though the cost of her rent terrified me. “It’s all relative,” she’d said. “I made three times what you did waitressing alone, and my new job pays even more. You’ll see.”
I certainly hoped so, sipping at my tea as I tried to relax.
“I thought I’d show you around a bit tomorrow,” Nikki said.
“Sure. As long as you drive.”
She laughed. “Of course.” She slid a newspaper over to me. “Most places post their listings online, but I thought you’d want to check these out, too.”
I looked at the circles she’d made around several listings for teaching positions on the page of classifieds, and my hope rose a little.
“There’ll be lots more online,” she promised.
We chatted about Mom and Dad and life in general. She was loving her job and had made great friends over the last two years since she’d been in the area. As we were talking, her phone rang, and she glanced at the screen and smiled.
“It’s Alaina. You will love her.” She tapped the screen to answer. “Hey gorgeous!” But moments later, her face abruptly fell into confusion. “Oh, sorry,” she said. Then, “What! When?” She put her hand to her mouth, nodded and listened for a long while. “W-What about Peyton?” Her voice wavered when she said, “Thanks for letting me know.”
Setting the phone down, Nikki looked at me, her face pale and shocked.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my own heart racing at her expression.
“Alaina. She’s…dead.”
“Your friend?”
She nodded slowly. “And her husband, Logan.
Both dead. Murdered.”
“Murdered?” I screeched.
“They have a daughter. Peyton. She’s just six.”
“Oh my god! That’s just awful.”
She burst into tears and I did my best to comfort her, but the news was nothing short of horrific. She was mid-sob a few minutes later, and her expression suddenly changed. “Wait; you can help them.” She became determined. “You have to help them, Jessie!”
“What are you talking about?”
“The person on the phone told me Peyton’s staying with her uncle, but he needs a nanny. Desperately. He’s a single guy and needs help; I mean, his brother just died, and he has zero experience with kids. This is the perfect job for you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Nikki. That’s not really what I’m looking for.”
“Jessie! You need a job and he needs a nanny. This would be one less thing he’d have to deal with. He’ll need someone good for Peyton; someone he knows and can trust.”
“But I don’t know him.”
“Yeah, but you know me. That’s better than hiring a stranger from a service.”
I shook my head. “I have no experience as a nanny.”
“But you have experience with kids. Come on, even if it’s temporary; please, Jessie.” Her tears spilled over and whatever shock had kept her from crying before vanished. She burst into sobs. “I can’t believe this. I just saw them! I just saw them, and now…”