BONUS BOOK 2
LOVING THE BEAR
(GRAY BEARS, BOOK 2)
CHAPTER ONE
Elle Redfern went to the door of her small bakery and flipped the sign to 'Closed'. She sighed and went to the counter to tally up the accounts for the day. Business was slow, but hopefully things would pick up soon. This bakery was tiny, but it was hers. The previous owner was in a hurry to move out of town and had sold it to her at a price she could afford.
Elle had been in Shadow Point for less than a month, but she hoped that she would stay here for a long time. She didn't want to keep moving, running and hiding. Maybe, just maybe, she could finally make a new life for herself here in Shadow Point.
Shadow Point was a small town with a diverse population. There were humans, shifters, vampires, witches and other paranormals living in Shadow Point. As a half witch, Elle felt that she would be able to blend right in. She wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb and no one would pay particular attention to her. She didn't want to keep looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life. All she wanted was a peaceful, happy life.
Elle lifted her fingers to her cheek and felt the scar on her face. The glamour spell she has cast over herself during the day had worn off. Elle gulped and muttered another glamour spell under her breath.
Elle knew only the most rudimentary, simple spells. Her mother was a witch, but she had only taught Elle some basic glamour spells.
The glamour spell lasted only a few hours but it allowed her to hide the scar on her face during the day. The magic wasn't powerful enough to change her appearance. It didn't change her hair or eye color, or change the shape of her face and body. It just made her look like how she used to look before her ex-husband, Skinner, attacked her with a knife.
When Skinner was in jail, Elle had plucked up the courage to serve him the divorce papers. This was her only chance to flee. She couldn't let Skinner find her. She knew that once he got out of jail, Skinner would come after her.
She had been too young and stupid, and her marriage to Skinner had been a terrible mistake. It was only after marriage that she saw through all his lies. Skinner was a half-human, half-paranormal like her. But while Elle accepted that she would never be as powerful as a full witch, Skinner resented the fact that he could never shift into his wolf, and wasn't as fast, strong and deadly as a full wolf shifter.
Maybe it was the wolf in him that made him so violent and volatile. But Elle's neighbor, Roth, was an elderly, sweet-natured half bear shifter. Roth couldn't shift into bear form but he had the heart and courage of a bear. Skinner was twice the size of the scrawny old man, but Roth had come running at the sound of Elle's screams and held Skinner off her. If it hadn't been for Roth, Elle might have died that night instead of escaping with just a scar on her face.
It wasn't the repressed animal in Skinner that made him so cruel and brutal. There was simply no excuse for his violence. The beatings had started soon after marriage, and she had made excuses for him in the beginning. She thought he was just frustrated and angry because he couldn't find a job and wasn't accepted into a prestigious shifter pack or clan. He'd apologized at first but he wasn't really sorry. Soon the apologies stopped but the beatings didn't. He just beat her whenever he felt like it. And because he could.
Elle had used the glamour spell to hide her bruises from her neighbors and colleagues. She worked as a waitress in a cafe, but her boss sometimes let her help with the baking. Working in the kitchen, immersing herself in the wonderful smell of butter, vanilla, chocolate and sugar made her forget her troubles and unhappiness for a few blissful hours. Looking at the lovely muffins, cookies, and other lovely treats that she helped bake gave her a sense of pride and joy.
But she didn't tell anyone about her troubles at home. Skinner had warned her and threatened her. He even spied on her while she worked in the cafe. Maybe he felt insecure, inferior, indignant for whatever reason. But there was no reason to hurt her.
Her neighbor, Roth, had called the police after that last savage attack. Skinner was arrested and thrown in the slammer for a year. But he was out now. And Elle knew that he was coming after her for revenge. His jail term was fair, maybe even inadequate, but Skinner didn't see it that way.
She was a bloody bitch, a scheming, vindictive witch for sending him to jail. And he was going to make her pay.
Elle had moved so many times. She never stayed in one place long enough to make new friends and put down roots. She'd been so afraid that Skinner would find her and hurt her again. But this was not the way to live. She had to try to start living again, even if it was the hardest thing she had to do. She had almost forgotten how to live, how to laugh, how to love.
The only thing that kept her sane was her baking.
This modest little bakery was her refuge and her dream.
CHAPTER TWO
Elle wiped down the shelves and packed the rest of her unsold cookies and cakes into bags. She would take some home for supper and drop the rest off at the retirement village on her way home. The residents there loved her baked treats, and they would help her spread the word. They would tell their friends about it, and hopefully, more customers would walk into her bakery.
She switched off the lights and stood alone in her bakery for a while. She stared out the display window and saw a few couples strolling past her shop, hand in hand, whispering, laughing, just enjoying each other. Their faces looked so happy, so full of hope and love.
Unlike her.
She wasn't sad, she told herself. She was keeping busy and working hard to rebuild her life. But the stark reality was that she had never experienced true love. Her short marriage had been a sham. Nothing about it had been true. Skinner wasn't the man she thought he was. She hadn't really loved him, she realized. She had been afraid of him, even at the very beginning. His manipulation and control had been subtle initially, and after marriage, his bullying had escalated to deadly threats and beatings.
Elle sighed heavily.
She didn't want to believe that she was destined to live the rest of her life alone. Was she so unlovable, so undesirable?
Surely there was someone out there for her, someone who could truly love her for who she was, what she was, half-witch, half broken, scars and all.
It was a romantic notion, but one she refused to let go of. It gave her something to hope for, to wish for…
“I wish...” Elle whispered, gazing up at the silvery moon. “Oh, I wish I could find true love, and live happily ever after!”
Her laugh sounded sad and forlorn in her silent bakery. Happily-ever-afters didn't exist. This wasn't a fairy tale. This was real life, and real life wasn't perfect and pretty. She should know. She had the scars to prove it.
Elle looked around one last time and prepared to lock up the premises. She went to the back to check that everything was ready for tomorrow. She would come in before the first light of dawn and start baking so that she could open her shop bright and early for the breakfast crowd. The early bird catches the worm, and she needed all the worms she could catch.
Elle came back out to the front of the bakery and felt a cold draft in the shop. She stared at the door. She hadn't locked it yet but the sign indicated that the shop was closed. Did someone open the door and walk in a while ago?
Elle was about to step forward when a hand closed around her throat.
“Ah, my little wife,” a voice hissed in her ear.
A rough hand clamped over her mouth before she could scream. Her eyes widened in terror and disbelief as she stared into Skinner's remorseless, pitiless face.
He looked the same, a little thinner, but his black eyes still held the same hatred and contempt.
Elle shook her head and made a muffled sound.
“What's that?” Skinner said, cocking his head. “Ah, that's right. You're not my wife anymore. You're the vicious, vindictive ex-wife who put me in jail. Why would any wife put her own husband in jail? That was a really hurtful thing you did, Elle. You broke m
y heart.” Skinner smiled an ugly smile and spat. “Bitch! I should have killed you! I should have cut up your heart, instead of just slicing up your face. But it's not too late. I made some friends in jail and they have contacts. That's how I found you. They even gave me some good advice. They told me, don't get mad, Skinner. Get even.”
He laughed and flicked out a blade.
“Elle, my pretty little ex-wife, who isn't so pretty anymore.”
He tapped the flat of the sharp blade against her cheek. “You can fool others with your glamour now, Elle. But when I'm finished with you, the whole world will see you as you really are. An ugly woman with an ugly heart. You are a vile, hideous woman, Elle, and all the glamour spells in the world won't be able to save you!”
Elle whimpered as she watched the knife coming closer and closer to her. She struggled angrily. She was just getting her life on track. Why did Skinner have to appear? Why couldn't she have her happily-ever-after? Was that too much to wish for?
Elle gasped at the sudden realization.
A wish.
She had made a wish earlier. She wished for her true love...and in a blink, Skinner was here, in her shop!
No! No!
Skinner wasn't her true love! He never loved her. He despised her and hated her. There was no love between them at all.
Her wish had gone horribly, terribly wrong. There was not going to be a happily-ever-after. With a knife at her throat, there was no way this was going to end happily for her. Painfully, bloodily and messily, yes. But happily? No way in hell.
In her blind terror, her survival instincts kicked into gear. She acted on pure impulse and reflex.
Widening her jaws, Elle sunk her teeth into Skinner's palm. She bit down. Hard.
Skinner bellowed a curse and staggered back.
She scrambled away from him and lurched towards the door.
Skinner roared and lashed out savagely with his knife. The blade whistled past her ear as she lunged forward and yanked the door open.
In a heartbeat, she was out of her shop and tearing down the street. The street was empty and the other shops were all in darkness.
Elle sobbed and continued running. She didn't dare look back or slow down even when she lost a shoe.
She was running for her life! She just needed to get away, and get help. If only there was someone around…
She stumbled on, running past the empty park and pressing her hand to her mouth to muffle her sobs. She wanted to scream for help but she couldn't let Skinner hear her.
“Oh, thank God! Thank...” Elle cried.
A sheriff cruiser was just turning into the street.
Waving her arms madly, she shrieked as she ran towards the car, “Help! Please, stop! Help me!”
CHAPTER THREE
Aidan Gray turned his sheriff cruiser down Grove Lane and scanned the quiet street. He blew out a breath. He still wasn't used to the sleepy pace back here in Shadow Point. He and his brother, Mason, had left Shadow Point to experience life in the big city. They had been working in one of the largest security firms in the city, the Black Bears Group, and they had been on death-defying, time-sensitive missions with the Black Bears. He loved the adrenaline rush, the urgent, pulsing pace, and when he and Mason returned to their hometown, Aidan had hoped to find the same thrill and excitement in the Sheriff's department.
He had been made a deputy Sheriff, and his first week on the job had been rather mundane and uneventful. Helping little old ladies across the street and retrieving lost pets didn't make for the most exciting police work.
But this was his community. And Aidan was glad to serve and protect. He had grumbled a little when his Gramma summoned Mason and him home, but honestly, he was glad to be home. He missed his brothers, his Gramma and Ne-ma. Neveah Wright was Gramma's best friend. She had helped Gramma raised Aidan and his brothers after their parents passed away. Aidan and his brothers were bear shifters, but not everyone in their family was a bear. Grandma Neveah as Ne-ma as they now called her, was a witch like Gramma. And their eldest brother Tristan had recently gotten married to a wonderful human woman, Alisa.
People tended to stay home once it got dark in Shadow Point. This was a small, homely town, and the crime rate was relatively low. But low crime didn't mean no crime.
And it seemed that a crime had just been committed.
The hysterical, tearful woman waving down his cruiser and careening towards him looked like she had just witnessed something truly unspeakable and horrific.
Aidan pulled his cruiser to a stop and jumped out of the car. “Ma'am, what...”
The distraught woman threw herself at him and cried, “He's in my shop! He's going to kill me!” She pointed towards the other end of the street. “He's in there...he has a knife!”
“You were attacked...where is your attacker, Ma'am?”
“In my bakery! Baker's Hut.”
Aidan nodded. He knew where Baker's Hut was. The small bakery had recently been sold. He glanced down at the frantic redhead beside him. This was probably the new owner of Baker's Hut.
“Stay here, Ma'am.” Aidan pulled out his weapon immediately and ran towards the bakery, but the woman followed him.
“I'm coming with you,” she stammered. “D-don't leave me out here alone, please...”
Aidan nodded and stormed into the bakery, his gun drawn.
But the bakery was empty. There was no one inside at all.
Aidan swept through the whole place. He searched everywhere, checked under the counter and tables, looked behind the doors and ran back out into the street, but there was no sign of the intruder.
The woman was weeping silently, hugging herself and swiping at her tears which wouldn't stop falling from her eyes.
Aidan took her arm and sat her down on a chair in her shop. “What's your name, Ma'am?”
“Elle...Redfern,” she sniffed.
“I'm Aidan Gray. I'm the deputy sheriff. Can you tell me what happened, Miss Redfern?”
Her eyes darted around her bakery and she took a shuddering breath. Her tears were still streaming down her cheeks, and Aidan saw a long scar down her right cheek. She looked like she had been sliced with a knife, and the wound was long, deep and vicious.
Aidan balled his fists to stop himself for reaching out to touch her face. Despite her scar, the woman was very pretty. Her auburn curls had come loose from her ponytail and was bouncing all over her face, and her hazel eyes were deep and soulful, but he hated the fear and pain in them. Someone had hurt and frightened her badly.
Elle looked up and met his intense gaze. Her hand jerked up and she touched her scar with trembling fingers.
“Oh! I...”
She bent her head quickly, as though in shame and muttered some words. Aidan recognized it as an incantation for a spell. His Gramma and Ne-ma were witches, and he had grown up listening to their madcap incantations. Gramma and Ne-ma had the best intentions, but not all their spells had the best results. Aidan had gone to his high school prom with a bulbous pimple the size of a tennis ball. They had wanted to help him get rid of the pimple. Instead they had made it ten times its original size. But they managed to shield the pimple with a glamour spell so that no one except himself could see that balloon on his nose. He had even scored a kiss from his date at the end of the night.
“You are a witch,” Aidan said.
Elle jerked her head up and sputtered. Aidan saw a shimmer rippling across her cheek before dissipating. For an instant, her scar faded. The shimmer lifted and the scar stood out starkly against her pale skin.
Elle winced and looked down quickly. She had been trying to cast a glamour spell to hide her scar from him.
“Miss Redfern...Elle...” Aidan knelt in front of her. “You don't have to hide your scar. You don't have to hide anything from me,” he said softly. “Ever.”
Elle put her hand to her cheek. “I...I'm hideous. I'm damaged, and broken, and...I made a terrible mistake.” She broke into sobs. “I've made a big mistake com
ing here. I have to leave...”
“No.” Aidan took her hand. “You don't have to go anywhere. Tell me what happened, Elle. Don't be afraid. I will protect you. I swear I'll keep you safe, Elle.”
She stared at him with red-rimmed eyes.
“It's...my job.”
Aidan inhaled a sharp breath. It was the truth, but it wasn't the entire truth.
It was his job as a deputy sheriff to protect the town, but he wanted to protect her.
Elle.
There was just something about her that tugged at him, not just his heart but his bear as well. He moved closer to her, nudged by his bear, and took her other hand. Her hands felt so small and delicate, and so right in his. He wanted to keep touching her, holding her.
Mine, his bear growled.
Aidan shook his head but his beast wouldn't back down. His bear wanted Elle, wanted his female.
Her soft skin seemed to burn his fingertips and palms, setting his whole body aflame with desire.
Elle looked into his eyes and gasped. She began to tremble, and he scented both her arousal and fear.
Her hazel eyes swirled with desire, confusion and fear. The heat and attraction between them was undeniable. Aidan could see that she felt the same scorching want and hunger and it frightened her.
CHAPTER FOUR
Elle stared into Aidan's glowing green eyes, and bit down a whimper. There was a fierce, feral heat in his eyes, a raw hunger she had never seen before.
Aidan Gray was a very handsome man. His floppy blond hair gave him a boyish look, but there was nothing boyish about his build. He was all man, all hard, honed muscle and power. The way he looked at her and touched her ignited something in her, something hot and delicious and wet.
There was an inexplicable, almost irresistible urge to touch him, and Elle had to force herself to remain still. Why was she so drawn to this man? He was the deputy sheriff and she felt safe with him, but it was more than that. She wanted him, and her heart and body ached to be near him.
Skyfire Dragon (Dragons In Shadow Point Book 1) Page 16