Jackson Valley Shifters Complete Series: Bear Shifter Romance

by Candace Ayers

  “Do you have a girlfriend?” Ava asked.

  “No. I don’t date during the season,” Wesley replied, relieved that he had such an iron-clad excuse.

  “That’s a real shame. Not a rule breaker, then?” Ava laughed.

  Wesley shook his head, “Not me, no ma’am.”

  “Shame.”

  Wesley shifted in his seat. The conversation had become heavy-handed fast.

  “So, you know Sophia though church?” He asked, trying to steer the conversation back onto safer ground.

  “I do. We get along really well. It’s nice to get to know people in the neighborhood. Do you have a good social circle here in Chicago?”

  Wesley nodded enthusiastically, thinking of his empty apartment and take-out dinners. “I do, yeah—mostly teammates,” he lied. The team socialized together, sure, but many had families at home and all were on such strict individual diets during the season, and complex training schedules that they hardly ever saw one another except on the field and in training.

  “But I bet you could always use a few more—especially people who live close to you?” She smiled coquettishly, flicking back her hair again.

  Wesley thought he was going to murder O’Neill.

  “That might be nice, after the season,” he hedged, hoping to hell that she would forget all about him by then.

  “Maybe I can persuade you to break the rules a bit,” she insisted.

  Wesley let out a sigh of relief as he saw O’Neill and Sophia emerge from the kitchen door and out onto the patio. Sophia looked a little sheepish, but she approached the table with a beaming smile, applied for Ava’s benefit.

  “Reed, you ready to hit the road?” O’Neill barked.

  Sophia rolled her eyes behind her husband’s back, but had clearly expected Wesley to be whisked away on their return.

  “Sure am,” replied Wesley, trying not to sound too eager.

  Ava looked thoroughly annoyed and frowned at Sophia in confusion.

  “Really nice to meet you,” Wesley said, offering Ava his hand. She shook it, holding on for a few moments longer than necessary.

  “I’m holding you to plans—I’m going to take you to Dino’s,” she insisted.

  Wesley smiled blandly again, hoping she would take the hint.

  “After the season!” O’Neill roared. “Come on kid—back in the car.”

  Sophia hugged Wesley goodbye, whispering in his ear as she did so. “Wesley, honey, I am so sorry, I thought you’d want to meet a nice girl your own age, but I understand football comes first, forgive me.”

  “Nothing to forgive,” Westley whispered back, giving her a final squeeze. He knew that Sophia’s heart was in the right place. Any other man would have been immensely grateful to Sophia. Ava was an attractive woman. But there was only one woman he’d ever want to be close to.

  Football provided a convenient cover for now, but when the season was over he’d have to find a longer-term solution, or forever be set up on dates with Sophia’s church friends—a fate he was absolutely sure he could not handle.

  As the car sped through the streets of Chicago, Wesley missed Chloe with such intense longing it felt like it burned his insides. He’d need to get out of the city and shift tonight. Turning himself into a beast was the only way he could ease his very human suffering.

  7

  Chloe smiled as ‘home’ appeared on the screen of her phone.

  “Mom, Dad?”

  “Chloe!” Heather’s voice rang out from the speaker. “Tanner, she picked up!”

  Chloe laughed to herself as Heather tried to wrangle her dad around the phone speaker.

  “Honey?”

  “Hi Dad!”

  “How are you sweetheart?” Heather asked.

  “Good! It’s been an interesting week; all my classes have been great though.” Chloe kept her tone upbeat, but it was hard hearing their voices. She wanted to break down and tell them everything—how she really felt about Wesley, and how she couldn’t get him out of her head no matter how hard she tried. She knew her mom would have sensible advice, but she’d kept the secret for so long now she didn’t even know where to start.

  “What do you mean by interesting?” Heather asked, picking up on her daughter’s choice of words.

  “Well…” Chloe paused, taking a deep breath. “I saw Wesley playing football on TV. For the NFL…did you guys know he was doing that?”

  She heard Tanner take the phone from her mom.

  “Yeah, we did honey. Uncle Derek told us—but it was a shock seeing him! Sorry, I should have said something earlier. I don’t know why he didn’t tell us in person–”

  “Because he’s a selfish ass?” Chloe interrupted.

  “No, Chloe, you know he’s not,” her mom corrected her, “Wesley has his reasons. Try not to be too hard on him honey. Remember what a good friend he was to you growing up?”

  “Yeah.”

  Chloe could feel her throat tightening with unshed tears.

  Pull yourself together!

  She really didn’t want her mom or dad to know how truly upset she was. It would only upset them, and lead to more questions than Chloe was prepared to answer.

  “Your mom’s right. He’s got his reasons—not entirely sure what they are–”

  “Tanner, you’re not helping!” Heather snapped at her husband. “But Chloe, are you sure you’re okay? You don’t sound that okay. Is there anything we can do? We can come down for a visit if you need us to—anytime. You only just need to say the word, you know that, don’t you?”

  “Anytime. We mean that,” her dad echoed.

  They were really good at giving Chloe her space to be away and on her own, but the two of them would hop on a plane tomorrow if she gave the okay. Despite herself, Chloe laughed.

  “I love you guys,” Chloe sighed. She loved just hearing their voices. From what she could tell from her friends back home and the new ones she’d made at college, it was very rare to miss parents so much, or have such a bond with them—but Chloe couldn’t care less. It was just more proof of how fortunate she was. They were a good blueprint for how she wanted her life to look one day.

  “We love you too, always,” Heather replied.

  “Why don’t you visit Wesley?” her dad suggested. “He’s obviously in Chicago. Look him up—or speak to Uncle Derek, he can’t be that far away.”

  Chloe heard the phone being taken away from her father, and distorted hisses from Heather as she tried to speak and cover the mouthpiece at the same time.

  “Or maybe not,” her dad added, clearing his throat.

  “It’s okay” Chloe replied, wondering what Heather had been saying to her dad. “I imagine he’s really busy. The seasons only just started—and it’s not like he’s been in touch for the last two years. He knew where we were.”

  “What about other boys?” Her mom interjected. “Have you met anyone nice?”

  “No Mom,” Chloe smiled wryly down the phone. She knew they’d love to hear about Eli and her free coffee, but he wasn’t significant enough. One mention and Heather would bring him up in every conversation. Her mom was a true romantic—as was her dad—Chloe supposed it was hard not to be when they’d met the way they had.

  “And what about Mia and Harper, are you still having fun with them?”

  “Yes,” Chloe replied, certain for the first time in the conversation. “They’re great. We’re going out to dinner tonight, just the three of us.”

  “That’s lovely!”

  “Sounds wonderful honey,” her dad added, sounding very relieved. While her mom was excited at the prospect of Chloe meeting boys, her dad had another perspective entirely. Chloe firmly believed that he’d prefer to lock her up in a tower for life than see her go out on dates.

  “Have you still got the pepper spray I gave you?”

  “Oh, Dad,” Chloe groaned. He’d bought her pepper spray as a going away present.

  “You might be grateful for it one day,” her dad asserted.
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  “Sure Dad.”

  Once again, her mom came to the rescue by interrupting the conversation and telling Chloe about the latest visit from Uncle Derek, Aunt Audrey and their kids—Zach, and their little girl, Ruby. The four of them had flown over for a week-long visit. Chloe spent the rest of the call laughing at tales of Zach commanding Derek and her dad to bear fight, and organizing marches across the Wyoming mountains.

  When she hung up, Chloe felt a million miles better.

  She had to remind herself that Wesley had left them all, not just her. If her dad and mom weren’t bitter about it, then she had no right to be either. She had no claim over Wesley—just because she’d loved him, that didn’t mean she was owed anything. He had made no promises. No declarations of how he’d felt. And she had never told him her feelings about him either.

  She was suddenly glad she’d given the bear necklace to Mia. It really was time to move on. Wesley clearly had. He was playing for the NFL, living in Chicago, and no doubt having a wild ride—Mia was right when she said he was living every man’s dream. Chloe was wasting her precious time by moping about, dreaming of a silly schoolgirl crush that never materialized into anything.

  With a renewed frame of mind, Chloe set off across campus. Mia and Harper had organized a move night in Harper’s dorm. Only nineties rom-coms were allowed. Chloe was looking forward to it, and spending the evening with her friends.

  “Chloe! Wait up!”

  She turned at the sound of her name, to see Todd jogging across the quad toward her.

  She stopped, feeling awkward as he approached. All the students milling around had turned to watch, and Chloe felt an unwelcome blush appearing on her cheeks.

  “Hey Todd,” she said as he neared. He had obviously just come from working out carrying his duffel and wearing his Wolverines sweats.

  “Thanks for waiting up.” He grinned, exposing a set of even white teeth. Chloe noticed that in the light his eyes were a grey-blue color, perfectly contrasting with his golden skin. There was no doubt about it, Todd was good looking—the perfect all-American hunk with his perfect jaw line and pronounced cheekbones. No wonder he had all of U of M’s female population enthralled.

  “No worries,” Chloe shrugged. “How are you doing?”

  “Great. Just had practice. Coach gave us a stern lecture—no biggie. Word got out about the party, and we’re just about to start the season. He wasn’t impressed.”

  Todd didn’t seem that bothered by the coach’s reaction. He shrugged it off and grinned. Chloe got the impression that as the ‘golden boy’ on the team he could pretty much get away with anything.

  “I guess that’s the end of parties for the season, then?” She asked.

  “We’ll see about that. Depends how well we do in the season,” Todd replied casually. “But we’re off to a good start.”

  “Anyway,” Todd continued after a moment of silence, “I didn’t come to talk to you about football—I wanted to know what you were doing Friday night?”

  “Nothing at the moment,” Chloe replied, taken aback by his question.

  “Have dinner with me? There’s a new restaurant opened on Lafayette—I’ve heard it’s amazing. Can I tempt you?”

  Chloe hesitated. She had no idea if this was a date, or just a ‘get to know you’ dinner, but it sure sounded like he was asking her on a date.

  “Don’t leave me hanging,” Todd cocked an eyebrow, awaiting her response.

  “Sorry. It’s just—I don’t think Tiffany would be that pleased, us having dinner together? She didn’t seem so thrilled with me the other night.”

  That was an understatement, Chloe thought. She had the feeling that if Tiffany knew Todd had asked her to dinner, she’d happily claw her eyes out.

  “I’m not with Tiffany anymore.”

  “Oh.”

  Chloe didn’t know what to say.

  “So let me take you to dinner?” Todd persisted. “I can promise good company and delicious food…”

  Chloe wanted to say no. She wasn’t entirely sure that Todd was her type—he was handsome, for sure—but not the kind of guy that she could really picture herself with. On the other hand, perhaps that was just because he wasn’t Wesley, and hadn’t she just decided that she was going to make an effort at moving on?

  “Sure,” managed Chloe weakly. It was a decision that was probably made against her better judgement, but she should learn to take risks. It was only dinner, anyway. What harm could it do?

  “Great. You won’t regret it. I promise. Pick you up at your place at eight?”

  “How ‘bout we meet here?”

  “Sure. See ya’ then.”

  He leaned forward, and before Chloe knew what he was doing, he kissed her briefly on the cheek. She felt her blush returning.

  “Bye,” she managed as he jogged off in the opposite direction.

  Woah.

  Chloe felt like she’d almost imagined the entire exchange. It felt entirely surreal that she’d just agreed to go on a date with Todd Butler. There was also a small, but insistent voice that wondered why, out of all the females on campus—Tiffany included—he’d chosen her.

  Chloe mentally shut the voice down immediately. She wasn’t going to lose her head over Todd—no matter what everyone else thought of him. After Wesley left, her usually robust self-esteem had taken a nose-dive. It had been difficult to come out of that, but she had managed, and she had no intention of going back to the crippling discomfort of self-doubt. Todd wasn’t worth it. No man was. But she secretly doubted that anyone had the power to ever hurt her the way Wesley had.

  She hoped she wasn’t wrong.

  8

  They had beaten the Carolina Panthers with a thirty-five-point lead at Soldier Field. The stadium had been packed with over thirty-thousand spectators.

  Wesley had never played a game like it. Every play had unfolded like a dream. He and his wide receiver had been completely in tune with one another. In fact, the entire team had played at their peak—like a singular, breathing organism. The confidence of his team members had grown and grown after each successful play—till in the last half they’d become invincible. The Panthers hadn’t stood a chance. The Bear’s defense played flawlessly, but offense carried the game home, with both Donovan and Jamie Harrison doing him proud. As they’d walked off the field, the crowds were screaming “Reed Nineteen! Reed Nineteen!” over and over again, the cries increasing as he ran off the field and following him down the tunnel to the lockers.

  O’Neill had driven him back to his apartment, praising him the entire time as the man went through a blow-by-blow account of the game just played. His running commentary left Wesley feeling elated—but still buzzing with excess energy.

  He decided to go for a drive and before he knew it, his drive had turned into a road trip—to Ann Arbor. It wasn’t the first time he’d taken the exact same trip. Something about being close to Chloe but not too close, soothed his bear. Close was good—too close was torture.

  He parked and got out to go for a run. In a baseball cap and a battered pair of tennis shoes, old sweats, and a t-shirt, people never noticed him on the streets—especially not at night. It had been getting harder for Wesley to move through the city unnoticed since the start of the season. His face had been blown up on the TV screen of almost every Chicago household, and in a city of over two million, that made his odds of being recognized pretty damn high. In Michigan, a place equally football-crazy as Illinois, he had no doubt the same thing would happening.

  He pulled the cap low across his forehead till only his jaw could be seen properly and began pounding the concrete slabs in relentless rhythm. Wesley ran in no particular direction. The city was somewhat familiar to him as it wasn’t the first time he’d jogged the streets late-night when sleep was impossible. The only rule he had was avoiding the college—he kept a five-mile radius perimeter from U of M, in his mind it was like a ‘hot zone’ that he couldn’t cross. The moment he did, he knew he would instantly sm
ell Chloe—picking her out amongst the mass of all the other students.

  He had made the mistake of getting too close when she first arrived on campus. Derek had told him the week she’d be arriving, and Wesley had promptly vowed that he’d stay away, but the impulse had proven too great. He’d taken the three-hour drive over, and ventured into the surrounding area of the campus, and been assaulted by a painful, gut-wrenching ache. She was everywhere. Everywhere but where Wesley wanted her to be most—by his side.

  Wesley ran down fifth avenue, across another small residential street, then down to the stadium boulevard. From there Wesley took another small street and crossed over to Lafayette road. There, he came to an abrupt halt.

  He staggered backward, suddenly assaulted by a familiar scent—Chloe. Her scent floated over the rancid odors of city trash, and the blended fragrances of strangers, food, coffee and bars.

  He moved forward slowly. Without being in his bear form it was difficult to pinpoint where, exactly, she was—but he knew for certain that she was nearby. He looked around wildly, trying to suppress the urgent tug inside his gut to shift. His whole body wanted to go to her, to hunt her down, to be with her—but there was no way he could let that happen. The street was busy, lined with restaurants and bistros which were in full swing.

  Wesley walked past a restaurant to his left, painted black, but with multiple flower pots decorating the outside. The interior glowed out onto the darkened street, each table lit by small candle lights.

  He froze.

  Chloe was sitting at a table near the window, facing in his direction. She hadn’t seen him—too engaged with the person she was sitting opposite.

  Wesley watched as Chloe laughed at something her companion said, her eyes bright and sparkling in the candlelight. Her skin glowed, her hair was left long—a style she hadn’t often worn at home, preferring braids or a pony tail—which only highlighted to Wesley how separate from him she seemed. She’d was wearing new earrings, small gold hoops he’d never seen before, along with a new, pale blue sweater that highlighted the green-blue of her eyes.