When shifters bonded together, the whole world took notice.
They were a force of god.
He looked back over his shoulder and saw Jannie in the kitchen. She was busying herself at the island, typing away furiously at her laptop and chewing her bottom lip. Since she had moved in with him and brought the old desk back with her, she had had no end to inspiration. Being immersed in a shifter household was certainly working for her, and she had adapted well. She tapped at the keys and he could see the determination etched on her face. He had read some of her work and had loved seeing how her mind ticked. For the protagonist to be a girl from a small town, moving to the mountains and meeting a shifter wolf, he had to enjoy being the main source of her inspiration, and he looked forward to the day he would see it on the shelves and be able to hold the book in his hands. He had every faith in Jannie, and he knew her dreams would come true when it came to her career. She had a tenacity he found endearing, and he was so proud to have her there with him. He was honored that she had chosen to spend her life with him and let him be a part of all she had to offer the world.
He smiled and watched as Jet wandered slowly into the kitchen on tired legs and brushed up against her. He had always been a dog who was wary of people, but with Jannie, he had taken to her right away, and it had been one of the ways Dash had known she was the one for him. Jet and Dash’s bond was strong, and he never thought a woman could come and be accepted into it, but his faithful friend had welcomed her and loved her just as much as he had. They had instantly morphed into a settled and happy family.
Looking back now, the past month had flown by, and spending every day together had solidified their bond fast and true. He felt as if they had lived together for years, and each day brought with it new challenges and fun.
He enjoyed looking after and protecting his woman. And she enjoyed looking after him. When he got home after a hard day up the mountain, on the search for the portal with the other wolves, dragons and bears, he could always count on a big juicy steak waiting for him and a large glass of red wine. Jannie thrived from giving him the best of her, and he thrived from giving her the best of him. Never before had he felt so complemented and settled.
To find his true other half had been the most incredible ride.
Jannie reached down and stroked Jet behind the ear, and then looked up and saw him watching her from the other side of the window. There was a moment that passed between them and in it, he saw his whole future. He saw the wolf cubs they would bring into the world. He saw the wedding they were planning, and he saw their children growing up in a safe town, where they didn’t have to experience fear.
Jannie smiled and got to her feet, walking out to meet him on the veranda.
“Hey!” She smiled as he held out his arm and wrapped her under it. He pulled her close and breathed in the delicious scent of her hair.
There was literally nothing better than this. Just the two of them standing out there by the lake where they met, with all the magic and mystery of Bridge Hollow around them.
He kissed the top of her head and smiled.
Jet trotted out to them and sat next to Dash’s feet. They all looked out across the lake to the old cabin and at the new people who had come to lease it. They had helped them on their first week in town and shown them some of the good places to go… Jannie had made Dash swear he wouldn’t direct them to the dive bar on the highway, and he had agreed with a hearty laugh. That was already one of their secret jokes that they vowed never to reveal when anyone asked them about their first date. It was something just for them and their memories.
Dash knew there was a long way for them to go, and he still feared for Jannie’s safety, but now that he had claimed her, he also knew that, if she were ever in danger, he would know within a split second. Their bond was strong and unbreakable, and he could find her anywhere on Earth in the skip of a heartbeat. She was his and he was hers, and together they were a force so powerful they felt ready for whatever life had to throw their way.
Jannie looked up at him and smiled, and Dash’s eyes glinted green.
Their little part of the world was absolute perfection. And neither of them would ever want to be anywhere else.
Bridge Hollow was home, and now, it always would be.
The End
Fated Mate Daddy Bear
Bridge Hollow Shifters 4
Samantha Leal
Copyright ©2019 by Samantha Leal All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1.
The search party had been combing the mountainside since the early hours of the morning. They had witnessed the dawn fog rolling in, the chill in the air, and the sun finally rising in the distance. They had watched from their various vantage points, wondering if this would keep happening in their part of the world or they would soon be doomed to eternal darkness.
Anson raised his hands and hooked them behind his head as he looked out across the mountain at the magnificent scene ahead of him. He had spent his morning climbing with the rest of his pack, surveying the forests and woodlands, checking and prepping for the next wave of terror to head their way.
They all hoped it wouldn’t happen, but these shifter boys knew their stuff. And they could all feel it.
With the cold air of October, Bridge Hollow was also gripped with another fresh set of threats. Somewhere, a storm was brewing for them, and they had to be ready. For what could easily pose as a sleepy mountain town to the outside world, they sure had a lot going on when it came to drama. They may have had a reputation for their strange phenomena, but the tourists came in droves to feel excitement, not necessarily to find something paranormal. Since the beginning of the year, however, Bridge Hollow had been coming up trumps in that department.
The whole town was morphing before the resident’s very eyes.
Each day brought uncertainty and more fear. And now, it was up to the shifter packs of the town to make sure everyone stayed safe.
*
His fellow pack members were a few hundred meters away sniffing the air, and Anson watched them. Even in their human form the way they picked up scents was heightened, and they had used it to their advantage since they had begun their search.
“What do you think?” Ryder asked him as they looked out at the snow-capped mountain. “Are we going up, or back down?”
Anson looked over his shoulder to the rest of the pack. If he was honest, he didn’t think there was any need to go higher.
“The dragons would have found it by now,” he said as he looked to the clouds and the top of the mountain range. “They spend the majority of their time hidden away up there… Surely, they would have noticed something.”
Ryder nodded.
The two men turned and began to walk quickly down the slope toward the rest of the pack and then on to town. After all their searching and switching shifts with the wolves, still no one had found what they were looking for. And now, they were all beginning to get weary. For weeks, they had been searching for answers, for a place they were yet to understand but knew they had to find.
And it had eluded them every time.
Bridge Hollow had turned on all of them. There was danger waiting in the wings, ready to seize them. But the bears and wolves were prepared. They had to be. If they didn’t stay two steps ahead, then they were all doomed.
The pack delved into the thick woodland as they made their way down to town, and they all stopped and pricked their ears as they came to the site of where the last tragedy had happened. Anson felt the chill roll through him, right down to the very center of his bones. It still felt like only a moment had passed since the vampire had waited for them. He had been a threat so wild and frightening, none of them had seen him coming. True evil had found its way to them, and even though
they had defeated it this time, they knew more was to come.
“Come on,” Anson said as he looked away from the clearing in the trees where the showdown had taken place. Even though it had been weeks before, he could still see the charred scar on the ground where they had killed the vampire. And he didn’t want to remember it all over again.
He carried on walking with his shoulders held back and his head high. He was a strong bear, a protector of this town, and now that he had a taste of what was to come, he was certain he wasn’t going to let his life be shattered.
He had too much to lose.
As they reached the beginnings of the log cabins and the last mountain roads that gave way to the more major route into town, Anson felt a rush of warmth and relief.
This was home.
It always would be.
He smiled as he ran a big, rough hand through his shaggy, brown hair and he thought of all he had to love here. His wonderful little world at home that he would die for.
He turned back and raised his hand to wave at Ryder and the other bears and then sloped off down his street to his cabin.
It was time for him to call it a day, to leave his brotherhood behind, but return to his other family. The one that had his whole heart.
His boots scuffed the ground as he walked past his red truck, and he laughed at the crumpled pink bike with its training wheels that had been abandoned in a pile by the front door. Already from inside he could hear the laughing and girly voice of his daughter and it made his eyes water with happiness.
He reached for the handle and opened it, and as he stepped inside his home, he saw her turn and her eyes glint as she ran to him.
“Daddy!” she called as she scrambled down the hallway and jumped into his arms. He held her tight as she wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled her face in the stubbly beard on his chin.
“Hey, little darling,” he said warmly as he looked into the kitchen to see his old aunt smiling back at him.
“I missed you,” the little girl said as she hugged him tighter, and he held her there, never knowing relief like it. He was so glad to be back there with Heidi.
Every time he left the house to go on the hunt and search, he always feared he would never come home to her. And every time he did, he felt a new sense of gratitude.
He placed her down and they walked back to the kitchen, hand in hand. Heidi was excited to show him all the crafts she had made that day.
“And look at this!” she said with a beaming smile as she pulled out a paper plate with a face made of macaroni.
His old Aunt Nora laughed.
“The old ones are the best,” Aunt Nora said with glistening eyes. “I remember making those with you when you were a boy.”
Anson winked and laughed.
“You made one of these, Daddy?” Heidi asked with a grin.
“I sure did,” he said as he knelt and took the plate from her.
It was funny how some traditions stayed the same. And he was so grateful to have his aunt by his side to help him on this crazy journey as a single father. She had always been there for him, but she was getting on in her years, and he could see the glint in her eyes was fading.
“Are you all right?” he asked her as he stood and rested his hand on his shoulder.
Aunt Nora smiled and nodded.
“I’m just tired,” she said. “She takes it out of me.”
Heidi was already jumping around in the living area and dancing along to a music video on TV. Anson knew the feeling. He had never known anyone to have as much energy as Heidi, and he could see how his aunt would be worn out after a few hours with her, never mind a full day.
“Put your feet up,” he told her. “I’ll sort us all out some food and you can spend the night. No need to be driving back when we have two spare rooms going to waste.”
“Okay, son,” she smiled. “I’ll do that.”
Even though she was his mother’s older sister, she had always called him son, and Anson was just fine with that. When he had been growing up, it had always felt like he had two mothers anyway.
“But you could do with a woman around here to do the cooking, you know…” she winked and gave a little grin.
Anson rolled his eyes and laughed.
“I’m not getting into that again,” he said. “You know I’m just fine on my own.”
His aunt raised her hands in surrender and turned to look out the window, and Anson tried to push the thought out of his mind.
The thought of letting someone in after all he had been through just didn’t seem possible. He had too much to focus on with Heidi, and he would never put her happiness at risk. No one would ever be good enough. He rolled out his shoulders and slapped his palms together.
“Right then,” he said as he turned and opened the cupboards. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
He helped Heidi set the table, and then he heated soup on the stove and sliced some fresh, crusty bread. When they all sat to eat, he once again felt a rush of relief pass over him, and he was thankful for being safe with the people he loved.
He knew he had a dangerous time ahead. But he would do whatever it took to ensure his family was safe. He was a bear of Bridge Hollow, and he was more than ready for the challenge.
2.
Krystal turned the envelope over in her hands and bit her bottom lip with nervousness. Since the letter had arrived, she had known this moment was going to come, and yet, she still felt herself wracked with dread as she sat outside the border of town and thought twice about whether she should actually continue.
Bridge Hollow.
A world she had long tried to avoid but one that had come looking for her anyway. She let her eyes flit over the details on the welcome sign. At the bears and wolves, the crescent moon in the corner and the autumn leaves that had once been etched in orange but had long faded to a dull nothingness. She had always wondered if it would appear like in her vague childhood memories, and it seemed to be mostly the same so far, just a little washed out and jaded.
She sighed and looked back at the envelope. The engine was still running, and she knew she couldn’t put entering town off much longer, but she had to take a moment to revisit why she had come here in the first place.
Her long, slender fingers flipped open the back of the envelope and slowly slid out the piece of paper that had been tucked neatly inside. It was just one page, folded in half, and when she opened it and looked at the short but important message scrawled in the familiar handwriting, she couldn’t help feeling a wave of warmth roll through her. But she didn’t know if it was affection or fear.
I need you, Krystal. The store can’t be left alone, and I must travel. I will explain when you arrive…
Aunt Beau x
It was short and sweet; to the naked eye, it would probably seem completely innocent, but Krystal knew different.
She had seen the news and read the online articles and theories that had been circulating. Bridge Hollow had a well-known past, a reputation for being mystical and magic, for paranormal phenomena that no one could explain. And recently, since the beginning of the year, things had been ramped to the max.
And now she had a letter from her aunt asking her to come to town and watch over her affairs while she traveled. This could only mean one thing… Beau was worried… and she was heading out of town to look for help.
Krystal scratched the back of her neck and let her eyes scan the sweeps and curves of Beau’s ornate handwriting. It was unmistakably hers’ she had known it before she had even opened the letter when it arrived two weeks before.
Now, Krystal had to have faith. She had packed her life in the city, and headed back to the place she had once called home. But that was a time long ago, back when she still had a mother and some kind of family-life. Now, she was out in the world alone with only her eccentric aunt who still worked in the town that had almost driven her mother mad.
Krystal threw the envelope on the passenger seat beside her and took
a deep breath. She had spent so much of her life being afraid of this place. Her mother had warned her of the craziness that could happen in this part of the world. She knew about the shifter men, how they were to be avoided at all costs. Her mother had told her how brutish they could be, how they were all bad news. They were emotionally immature and physically frightening, and for that reason, Krystal had vowed never to go back to this place. She had said she didn’t want to get drawn into a society that could damage or destroy her… and yet, here she was. About to drive straight back in, after twenty years, and confront everything she had always been warned against.
She hoped her mother would understand and that she wasn’t turning in her grave.
She gripped the steering wheel and pressed her foot against the gas. As she eased off the bumpy roadside and returned to the smooth asphalt, she only had one thought running through her mind…
How was she going to feel when she finally saw this place all over again?
It had been such a long time; she had been just a child when she and her mother had left. And now, she was back… and she was about to see it as an adult for the first time.
She took a deep breath and kept moving forward.
She had come this far. There was no backing out now.
The shop door was bright purple, as was the awning covering the immediate stretch of pavement outside the store and providing shelter for the knickknacks and items for sale that were out there.
Krystal stopped the car and looked at it. A smile forced itself to her lips, and she found herself nodding and laughing. It was so typically her aunt. The paranormal store in the center of Bridge Hollow. She must make a fortune with the tourists, it looked like it had been freshly painted, and Krystal could see the place was well maintained and loved.
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