by Hazel Gower
Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2013 Hazel Gower
ISBN: 978-1-77130-354-5
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Cheryl Harper
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To my amazing family, thank you for all your support. I love you all. A big thank you to my awesome editor for making this story shine, and for putting up with me throughout the whole process. Lastly to my fans for all your wonderful emails, thank you.
OURS
The Bears, 2
Hazel Gower
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
“I can’t believe you’re making us do this, Susie. Shouldn’t we wait until Sammy is out of hospital, so she can come with us?” Sandy really didn’t feel like learning self-defense. The only reason she’d agreed was because of what had happened to Sammy.
Susie turned and winked at her. “You are the smallest of all of us, Sandy. Are you even over five feet? Anyway, we could all use the exercise to lose weight, not that you’re huge or anything. I weigh more, but…”
Sandy straightened her shoulders as she and Jane followed Susie into Healthy Bodies. “I am five-two, thank you very much. I’m also quite happy with my size fourteen body.” Muttering under her breath, she added, “I wouldn’t be surprised that you weigh more. I’m not pregnant.”
Susie paused before the locker room and stared at her. “How on earth did you know? We haven’t told anyone.”
Sandy rolled her eyes. The fact that Susie thought she and Jane didn’t know she was knocked up was just hilarious. “Susie, you suck at keeping secrets.”
Jane laughed. “Not only do you spend half your morning at work in the bathroom, but you touch your tummy and always have a huge smile. Plus those men of yours won’t even let you carry your handbag.”
“The only thing I’m dying to know is who’s the baby daddy?” Sandy raised her eyebrow, eager to know the answer.
“I’m betting it’s my brother.” Sandy jumped as the deep voice sent a shiver down her body.
Susie squealed and wrapped her arms around the man. “Zack.”
Zack picked Susie up and kissed her lips. A second later, she was snatched out of his arms, and two very pissed-off men glared at Zack.
“Keep your fucking hands and especially your mouth to yourself, brother. You may be Mum’s baby, but you’re big enough to get your ass kicked.”
Zack chuckled and took a step in Sandy’s direction only to pause. He seemed to sniff the air.
Now that he was closer, Sandy gave herself a chance to check him out. She looked up, way up, to see long, shaggy midnight black hair that hung over the brightest sapphire blue eyes she had ever seen. He had strong high cheekbones that shaped into a square jaw and full puffy lips.
Oh God, he has the face of an angel. She gulped and gazed leisurely down the rest of him. Oh my, where did Susie find all these gorgeous muscle-clad gods? The thing about this particular guy was his bulging muscled and tattoo-covered arms. Sandy wanted to trace the patterns and find how many he had and how far down they went.
Curious, she asked, “Are there any more of you Bear boys around?”
Susie, Blake, and Brian chuckled, and out the corner of her eye, she saw Jane slowly moving toward Zack.
“How do I become a part of this family? You are all so yummy.” Sandy groaned as Jane’s “yummy” came out a husky purr.
Jane had her sights set on Zack, so Sandy knew he’d never notice her. Once Jane got her claws into a man, she didn’t let go until she wanted to. Not that Sandy thought she ever had a chance, not that Sandy thought she ever had a chance with the hunk of a man currently maneuvering himself closer to her and away from Jane. Sandy thought this odd because men loved Jane. She attracted them like bees to honey.
Shrugging at the weird occurrence, she eyed Susie’s men, hoping they would give her an out so she could go home, read a book, relax, and pray her brothers left her alone for one night. “I would think you two wouldn’t agree to let Susie do this self-defense class. What with her being pregnant. Isn’t it a bit too violent for her?”
Brian, who held Susie, seemed to grip her tighter and whisper in Susie’s ear. Blake, on the other hand, snarled. “She’s not doing the class. She doesn’t need to. Right, sweetheart?”
Sandy watched as Susie stomped on Brian’s foot, gave a huff, and walked through the locker room door without saying a word.
“Well, I think you were told.” Sandy giggled as she joined her friend.
****
Zack watched the little redhead follow his sister-in-law and breathed in her lingering scent. Strawberries and honey. Yum. He pictured her in his mind. A tiny fragile little thing, she looked barely five feet tall, her bright firebird-red hair in a plait that fell to just above her delectable tight bottom. She had warm chocolate brown eyes that shone in her heart-shaped face, a dainty nose covered in freckles, and a full bottom lip. He’d also never forget her full round breasts, her shapely body, or her short legs. He would bet his tattoo shop that her feet weren’t any bigger than a size six. Zack loved that she wasn’t a stick figure, and he would have something to hold onto when they made love.
A loud sigh interrupted his daydream, and he opened his eye to see the blonde in front of him. Looking around, he heard his brothers arguing to the side of the locker room door about Susie going to the classes that he was doing with their cousin Jake.
A cleared throat made him turn back to the blonde in front of him. “Ah, what can I do for you, lady?”
Zack had always enjoyed the touch of women, but as fingers trailed up his chest, he shivered in revulsion at the touch of a woman who wasn’t his mate. Catching her fingers before they went any farther, he stepped away as she said in sulky voice, “I was going to ask you what you were doing later.”
He shot a glance at the locker room door then back at blonde. “What’s the little redhead’s name?
The blonde frowned, turned to the door, shrugged, and answered, “Good luck. Don’t let Sandy hear you call her little redhead.”
Zack watched the blonde follow Sandy, his mate, into the locker room.
After looking at his brothers, who were still fighting, he went to find his best friend and cousin Jake and get ready for the class. Something that had started out as a favor had turned out to be one of the best decisions he’d ever made. With a grin on his face, he looked forward to the evening ahead.
****
Jake watched the women file in and gave an inward moan at half the bunch. Some were taking this seriously, dressing in track pants and singlet tops or workout clothes. The other half… Jake shook his head as he watched the other half, who wore jeans or corduroy pants, and a couple were in short shorts. He could tell straight away the ones who were going to take what he said in. The other half were only here to flirt with him and Zack. The Bear family men were a hot commodity.
Looking over at Zack, Jake noticed that his gaze never left a petite redhead. At first, Jake thought she was a teenager, but when he focused on her, he could see she was in her early twenties. She was a cute shapely petite thing, who at the moment was staring at him with wide eyes.
Jake froze when two women grabbed his arm to get his attention. He shot a glare at the two, only to stop when he realized what he wa
s doing. Not only that, without realizing it, he’d been walking toward the redhead. Who was this woman?
Smiling down at the two ladies, he checked his watch and noticed it was 6:35. He was five minutes late starting. Nodding to Zack, he stepped away from the girls who held onto him and yelled, “Hello, ladies, and welcome to self-defense class. Today is the only day I will start at this time. From next week on, if you’re not here by six thirty, then you will not be let in.” He watched as the women nodded and some groaned. “My name, for those who don’t know me, is Jake Bear, and the other instructor is Zack Bear. For the next eight weeks, you will learn everything you can do if you are attacked and need to defend yourself.”
****
The half-hour class was coming to an end, and Jake was going around to check on the women’s progress. At the moment, Zack was dealing with two of the short shorts women fawning all over him. He watched the groups he’d paired off practice, pausing to help position them better or show them a move up close.
Jake moved closer to his cousin’s woman, and his bear started to stir inside him, taking deep breaths in, like he smelled a pot of honey.
Jake focused to control his bear and was startled when his watch went off to tell him time was up. Heading back to the front of the room, he boomed out, “Attention. Everyone come back. Before you go, I’m going to test four of you.”
He pointed to a blonde in the front row, another blonde in the back row, and then a brunette in the middle. Jake searched around for his last victim, only to notice the little redhead sneaking to the door and slowly opening it. “The last lovely lady that will get to demonstrate what she has learned tonight is…the little redhead trying to sneak out the door.” He grinned as he watched the woman in question freeze, turn slowly around, and glare at him.
“I’m sure there are plenty of eager women in here willing to show you how well they have been taught. I’m just not one of them.” She looked around the room, coming to a stop on another redhead. “What about that pretty redhead over there with the shortest shorts I have seen, or in front, the woman with black skintight jeans?” She pointed to each of these women as she babbled on.
Jake saw Zack had moved towards her and was only a row away.
“I’m sure I will get a chance for those women to demonstrate another time, but today I have chosen you.”
He bit his tongue to stop the chuckle as she groaned, stomped her foot, and turned a death stare at Zack, who now stood next to her.
Jake smiled as she marched towards him mumbling. “Fine, I’ll show you what I learned. Then you can shove your ‘little redhead’ comment up your arse.”
Zack followed behind her and coughed to cover his laugh. Once she joined the other girls reluctantly, he started, leaving her to last.
After going through the other three women very easily, showing them better ways and answering questions, it was his little redhead’s turn. He paused at that thought, as he watched her storm up to him with a sweet grin on her face. He knew that grin from his sisters and cousins. That was the grin all men should be terrified of, but on her it just made him look forward to the lesson she was about to learn.
His bear growled, and his heart beat faster in shock when she got closer and her smell hit him. Now that she was away from all the other smells of sweat or perfume-covered females, her true fragrance was more pronounced. Honey and strawberries smothered his senses, telling him that she was special.
Her smile grew the closer she got, and he looked down into sparking eyes that seemed to hold all the secrets he searched for. A growl slipped from him when Zack come up beside him and patted him on the back.
“I’ll take this, coz.”
“No, this should be fun.” Jake forgot about everyone else in the room and focused on the woman in front of him, who he now knew was his mate. “Turn around and walk away from me.”
He watched her spin and slowly walk away. Coming up behind her, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into his body. She stomped on his foot and elbowed his stomach with surprising force.
Grunting, Jake moved back a step but still held her as he spun her around and gathered her body to his. She gave a whine of frustration, brought her knee up, and hit her target. He groaned and let her go.
She winced. “I shouldn’t have done that, but no one calls me a little redhead.”
Not caring where he was any more, he grabbed her and lost his balance. They slid to the floor in a tangle.
A frustrated squeal left her as she landed on top of him. She whacked his chest. “You idiot, I said I was sorry.”
He looked into flashing dark brown eyes and took a deep a breath in of her honey-and-strawberry scent. “No, you didn’t apologize.”
She rolled her eyes at him and huffed. “Well, I’m not going to now.”
She pushed at his chest.
“What’s your name, Little Red?”
“None of your business. Now let me go.” She wriggled around in his arms, rubbing herself against him.
“Little Red, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
She stopped her wiggling and gasped. He smiled as her eyes drew up to his when she noticed the bulge in his pants was growing bigger and bigger. “I’m going to get up. Stay where you are, please. These pants are too small for what I have now.”
She pushed at his chest. “And that’s my problem because…”
He raised his eyebrow and cleared his throat. “Really, you want me to answer that in front of everyone.”
She let out a groan and shook her head. After sitting up, he stood with his mate in his arms and looked around the almost empty room. He turned to Zack who stared at him with a glare that made him glad looks couldn’t kill.
“You can let go of my mate now, Jake. I took over while you pawed her. You’re lucky there were twenty-something women in here because if there hadn’t been, you would be dead, favorite cousin or not.”
Jake looked down at the bewildered look on Little Red’s face as he took a deep breath of her scent and listened to his bear. Mate. Take. Yummy. Eat her. Take her home. Mine. Mine. No mistaking that she was his mate. “You must be mistaken, Zack, because she is my mate.”
Zack stalked toward him and gave a bitter laugh. “This sucks. Fate is fucking with our family because I’m one hundred percent sure she’s mine.”
A small foot kicked him. “Put me down now. This is not very professional. I knew there was a good reason why I didn’t want to come here tonight, and I found out why.” He slowly slid her down his body as she continued, “Your whole family is friggin’ crazy. What the hell is all this crap about mates? I wouldn’t be mates with either one of you lugheads if you were the last males on earth, and after tonight I pity the women who end up with you. Now let go of me and pray my friends haven’t left without me.”
Jake let her go and watched her stomp out of the room. She was a feisty little thing. He was about to go after her when Zack chuckled.
“Wow, she is a feisty one, our Sandy. It explains why she needs two of us. One just isn’t enough.”
Glancing over at Zack, he nodded. “You’re right, coz, and I’m glad it’s you. I don’t think I could tolerate anyone else.”
“Right back at you, Jake. Let’s pack up, and go find our mate.”
Chapter Two
Men were idiots, Sandy thought as she rushed into the locker room and breathed a sigh of relief to see Susie arguing with Blake and Brian. Jane was in the corner chatting with some of the woman from the class.
Going straight to her locker, she grabbed everything out, not even bothering to shower. She just wanted to get away from all the mayhem. She thanked God that she had driven here then met up with the girls.
Sandy wandered over to Jane and tapped her on the shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to say I’m beat, so I’m heading home. Talk later, and say bye to Susie for me.”
God bless her friend when she only nodded and shooed her away.
Rushing out of the lo
cker room, Sandy walked quickly out of the gym and ran to her car. She sped away to get as far from the craziness as possible. She had enough of that in her life, thanks to her brothers and father. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family. They were way too overprotective and scared away any man that showed interest in her. She’d only moved out last year, and it was into a house three doors down from her father’s and next door to one of her brothers.
Thinking on the oddity of the night, she sighed to herself. It was such a pity those men were not all there in the head because the two instructors she’d had were smoking hot. Well, if she went for tall, dark, muscle-clad, handsome men. The problem was she couldn’t stop thinking about them. And when she did think of them her body came alive and wanted things Sandy knew she couldn’t have. Their images flashed before her eyes then the images of her family. Nope, wasn’t going to happen.
Sandy would never submit to going out with anyone even close to her brothers and dad. They were all well over six feet, muscular, and the bossiest, most irritating men in the world. When she thought of her family, she always wondered what it would have been like if her mother had survived the car crash. But thoughts like that just made her sad so she shrugged them off and focused on the road.
After arriving home, she opened her garage and drove in. Once out of the car, she opened her door and heard the sound of her television blasting. Sandy dumped her things on the kitchen table and went to see which brother had come over and invaded her space.
The sight that greeted her made her see red. Her two brothers sat on her lounge eating the lasagna she’d cooked last night for her dinner tonight.