Shifter Mate Series Three Book Box Set - BBW Paranormal Romance: Includes Bear Boss's Mate, Werebear's Mate, Purrfect Mate (Shifter Series)

by Rayne Reilly

  Amara groaned. How could she have forgotten what had happened to Marcy less than six months earlier? She was right. It wasn't only feral shifters that attacked people, human men did as well.

  "I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me,” Amara offered, her words filled with embarrassment and shame. “You're right...But I haven't really got over that night and I am not sure if I can...not yet."

  Staring out the window, Amara realized that they were in town and would soon be approaching the train station. She needed some time to sort out her feelings and she couldn't do that here. She needed to get out of Pleasantville – and away from Bern and her feelings for him.

  Marcy drove, keeping her eyes on the road. Amara finally spoke as the train station came into view. "Can I ask you something?"

  "Of course," Marcy responded.

  "When you met Austin, did you know? What he was, I mean?"

  "Yes. The whole town knows the Bear Bones Construction owners. They've done a lot for the community. They're good men. Both of them," Marcy said firmly.

  "So he's never tried to hurt you?" Amara asked.

  "Good God no," Marcy flashed a quick look of surprise at Amara. She brought her gaze back to the street, "He isn't like that with me at all. He's protective of me and kind-hearted. I trust Austin with my life."

  Amara was silent as she mulled over what Marcy had said. Her hand was on the door handle as they pulled in front of the station. Both women got out and met at the passenger side of the car. Amara retrieved her suitcase and embraced Marcy in a one-armed hug.

  "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to ruin your wedding," she said.

  "And I'm sorry that you found out about Austin and Bern the way you did. I'm sorry things didn't work out here. At least you can still go back to your job," she forced a smile.

  Amara cringed inside. She had omitted that bit of information and Marcy didn't even know it.

  It's not the same thing.

  Amara turned and walked inside the station as Marcy got back into her car and drove away.

  ***

  After purchasing her ticket and finding a seat on the train, Amara felt a little sick to her stomach. Probably should have eaten something. She had rushed out of the house after very little sleep, without even a cup of coffee or a bite of breakfast. The train kicked in and started moving. About ten minutes later, Amara allowed the lull of the train chugging along on the tracks to ease her into a light sleep. The excitement of the last twenty-four hours combined with a significant lack of sleep had finally caught up with her. She slipped into a dream that had been chasing her for ten years...

  She was alone on a quiet country road. It was a familiar road she had been walking for years. The scene played out like it had always done. A low growl erupted from the bushes beside her, instantly filling her with fear.

  Suddenly, out of the darkness leapt a massive beast, knocking her to the ground and ripping at her chest with one great swipe of its terrifying claws.

  Staring directly into her soul, its golden eyes revealed its pain. Why hadn't she noticed that any other time she remembered that night?

  The wolf continued its assault, ripping her jacket and top to shreds and viciously tearing open her tender flesh.

  The pain was unbearable. The scent of her blood caused the creature to rear on its hind legs, sniffing the air. Was he about to sink those long and terrifying teeth into her and rip out great chunks of her flesh?

  Turning her head to the right, she saw two large figures running toward her and this vicious werewolf. She blinked and moaned, one hand outstretched in a pitiful plea for help.

  But oh, dear God! They were changing shape as they ran toward her. They weren't men; they were werewolves, too, and they were headed right for her.

  Too weak to move, let alone get this beast off her, she closed her eyes and waited for death. To her astonishment, mere seconds later they were pulling the werewolf off her body.

  As the three massive animals fought and struggled on the ground next to her, everything went dark...

  Startled by the memory, Amara opened her eyes and sat bolt upright. Her body trembled. Her eyes darted back and forth, reassuring her that she was awake and alive. And safe. She was still on the train. Thank goodness.

  The dream insisted on rolling over and over in her mind. Why? She thought for a moment. Wait a minute? It was humans that saved her from him, wasn't it? Not more werewolves. Two men had taken her to the hospital...but she'd just dreamed that it was a pair of werewolves that had saved her...

  Amara wiped her brow and pulled back her hair. It can't be. Surely she must be remembering it incorrectly. In her mind, it had always been human men who had saved her from the werewolf attack. Her tough facade was fading fast and she had to get a handle on this. She had built an entire set of beliefs about shifters around that attack. They were all feral, all dangerous. Unless maybe...maybe they weren't.

  Amara took her cell phone out of her purse. She pulled up her mother's number and dialed. The phone rang twice before someone answered.

  "Amara...Hi...Is everything alright?"

  "Yes, Mom. I was at Marcy's wedding, I am on my way home now. I wanted to ask you a question?"

  "Sure hon. Sounds serious?"

  "It is. I mean, I need to know something about the night I was attacked..."

  "Amara, that was ten years ago, you have to move past-"

  "Mom, please. Just listen. The night I was attacked by the werewolf..who saved me? Do you know?"

  "Oh hon. Don't you remember? They were at the hospital when I arrived. Maybe they were gone when you woke up...I'm not sure. They were nice men...police or bounty hunters, I think."

  Perhaps it was because they were on the phone but Amara's mother, didn't seem to sense the rising frustration in her daughter.

  "Mom...just tell me. Were they shifters as well?"

  "Sorry, dear. Well, now that you mention it, I think they were. It was all kept hush-hush of course. But I spoke to them and they said they had been hunting the feral shifter for a while. They even apologized that you were hurt because of him. They felt bad about it."

  "Huh? All this time, I thought they were two random men who saved me. Why didn't anyone tell me that they were werewolves?"

  "I thought you knew! I'm sorry, dear."

  Amara put her hand to her lips. Closing her eyes she was struck with the truth of what had happened that night. The real truth. So why had her mind let her believe that men had saved her?

  Shaking her head, she felt a wave of nausea.

  "Thanks, Mom. I've gotta go, I'll call you soon. Love you." She hung up before her mother had a chance to say anything further.

  Running a hand through her long black hair, she folded her arms and thought about that night again. Why had it taken so long for her to remember the other two shifters? Because you wanted to believe they were all bad. She ran her palms up and down her arms. She had been so angry at Marcy and Bern. They hadn't really done anything to her, except omit the truth. Now she understood why Marcy had done it. She had been bigoted against shifters and that was wrong. Is it any wonder Marcy didn't say anything? Look at how you've hung onto this? If it had been a human, would you hate all men?

  "Ha. Don't ask me that," she murmured to herself. Admittedly, she didn't trust most men, but she also didn't have a blatant hate for them either. "What have I done?" she asked regretfully as she stared out the window of the train.

  Chapter Twelve

  Bern drove over to Austin and Marcy's first thing in the morning. He strode up to the large wooden door and knocked instead of ringing the doorbell. He knew that with Austin's super bear hearing, even from the kitchen he would know that Bern was at the door. Marcy answered moments later.

  "Hi Bern," she said a little sadly.

  "I'd like to speak with Amara," he said.

  Marcy welcomed him inside. He put his hands in his pockets and took them out again, running them through his hair.

  "She's gone. I took
her to the train station about an hour ago. She'll be nearly halfway home by now," she said looking at her watch.

  Bern let out a sigh. "Then I'll drive to the city. She needs to know that I don't mean her any harm. Did she say anything about me to you?" he asked.

  "Not really,” Marcy answered dejectedly. “She asked me if Austin had ever tried to hurt me or if I was scared of him. I told her that neither of you two men would ever harm us."

  Marcy touched his forearm gently. Her eyes filled with compassion. "I think you should just let her go Bern. She has a life in the city. I'm not sure she's ready to get past the shifter attack or to live here. It was foolish of me to think otherwise," Marcy looked toward the floor.

  That's never going to happen, he thought to himself. He put his hands in his pockets again. Enough of the secrets, he had to tell her. "She didn't tell you did she?" He said, his lips a thin line.

  Marcy's eyes narrowed slightly and she tilted her head up toward him.

  "Tell me what?"

  "She quit her job two weeks ago. She caught her boss doing cocaine at his desk. He threatened her. Don't you understand? She doesn't have anyone but us. I need to bring her back."

  Marcy's eyes filled with tears. Her mouth formed a perfect 'O'.

  Bern put a hand on Marcy's shoulder, "Give me her address. I have to go and see her. I can get it off her resumé but it's at the office."

  Marcy nodded and moved to find a pen and paper and hastily wrote her friend's address. Passing him the paper with Amara's information on it, she grabbed his hand.

  "Are you sure, Bern? She has a lot of baggage around the shifter thing. I think I was wrong about just how much it's still an issue for her."

  Bern stepped back and looked at the piece of paper in his hand.

  "She's my mate... I have to tell her how I feel."

  Up until now, he hadn't told either of his friends that he had found his mate. Marcy pressed her lips together. Finally, she understood that this was not just a casual fling, but something infinitely more serious.

  "I understand. Good luck. I hope you can get her to come back with you," Marcy said. "She can stay with us, just like we'd originally talked about."

  Bern hurried to his car. If he drove just beyond the speed limit, he could reach her place not long after she got home.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The apartment felt empty and quiet after spending a week with her friends. It felt strange to come home and be alone again. Amara hadn't planned on it being this way and she wasn't looking forward to it. Again, her past had come back to destroy her life.

  No. You've done this to yourself.

  Sighing, she unpacked her small suitcase. Tossing her clothes onto the bed and floor, she continued to muse over how she had allowed herself to get so worked up over Lucy's antagonistic comment.

  So what if Bern and Austin were shifters? Neither of them had done anything to make her feel threatened or afraid. In fact, they had gone out of their way to be kind and helpful. Even down to offering her a job that she had been looking forward to doing.

  Smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand, she flopped down onto her bed. What am I going to do now? I've thrown away the opportunity for a great new job and I may have pushed away the only people who truly care about me.

  Her chest aching, she forced down deep and painful sobs.

  "What a mess!" she said aloud to the room.

  Standing again, she closed her suitcase and put it in the closet. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she needed to eat.

  It was now mid-day. She padded to the refrigerator and looked for something quick to eat. There wasn't much since she had expected to be away for quite a while.

  Searching the cupboard, she found a can of tomato soup. She opened it and poured it into a pot. No milk. Adding a tin of water, she turned on the stove before retrieving a bowl and placing it on the counter. Mindlessly stirring the soup, Amara gazed into the pot, lost in thought.

  "I've got to fix this. I need to apologize to Bern and Austin. How could I be so foolish?" she shook her head as if to get rid of the embarrassing memories.

  Suddenly, there was a knock at her door. She turned off the pot of soup and removed it from the heat. She was definitely not expecting any packages or visitors. Wonder who that could be? She padded over to her apartment door and peeked out the peephole to see Bern staring back at her.

  At once ashamed and relieved, she opened the door, avoiding looking directly at him.

  "Hi," she said as she stepped aside to let him in. As he walked past her, she smoothed her hair down quickly before he turned to address her. Despite her embarrassment, she felt her body respond to him as it usually did. She took a deep breath and held it a moment before releasing it.

  "I need you to just listen," he said firmly with one hand out, palm down.

  She motioned for him to take a seat on the sofa; he remained standing, making her even more nervous. Amara let out the breath she was holding and moved closer to him. Desperate to say something to make the last twenty-four hours more bearable, she racked her brain to find a few words that might help.

  Shrugging, she searched his face.

  "Listen, I-" She started to say.

  Bern put a hand up to stop her. His eyes softened and Amara could see that he was holding back a lot of emotion. She just wasn't sure if it was anger or sadness. She folded her arms in front of her and held her breath again.

  "I didn't know until last night, that you had no idea I was a shifter. I assumed Marcy had told you. I'm sorry. Our first night together-"

  "Our only night," she reminded him, exhaling audibly. She told herself that he had to have known that she had been attacked.

  He spoke again, his voice deepening. "Okay, yes. Our only night together. You mentioned the scars on your chest. I thought that maybe you'd encountered some kind of animal attack. I didn't want to bring it up at the time, because...well, I think it's obvious why not. I had planned to ask you about it the next day, but I woke up and you were gone. If I'd have thought more about it, especially knowing what you are to me, I would have-"

  Amara bristled. What does that mean?

  "Excuse me? What I am to you?"

  "You are my mate," he said sincerely, looking into her eyes. She snapped her head back. What was he talking about? Mate?

  Yes, he's the hottest man she ever bedded, but mate?

  Seriously? She shook her head, instantly aware of the fear and annoyance growing in her. "What do you mean I'm your mate?" she asked. Her throat felt dry and her words sounded more sarcastic than she had intended.

  "From the moment that I felt you walk into the bar that night, I sensed it. I sought only to make sure you got home safely that night. If I'd have had more self-control, I would have insisted on taking you home and spoken to you the next day," he said.

  She remembered how she had felt that night. It was as though her life had taken a nose dive and was all wrong. Under the guise of looking for another job, she had gone to the bar to drown her sorrows. If she was really truthful with herself, she had hoped to find some comfort in the arms of someone that night. The moment he started speaking with her, she had only wanted one thing from him. Especially once she felt the sparks between them. It was her lack of self-control – not his – that led to them sleeping together.

  "It's not your fault," she admitted. "I needed to feel wanted and I pushed myself on you."

  Bern's brow raised and he tilted his head, "I'm guessing that you wouldn't have gone with me if you'd known I was a shifter?"

  She looked at him sheepishly. "To be honest, I don't know that I would have gone to your hotel with you...no."

  His fists closed and opened again at his side. Amara walked closer to him and took his hand.

  "Please sit down. I need to explain something," she said. They both moved to the sofa and sat facing one another. Sitting up tall, she sighed, "I'm guessing that Marcy told you about the werewolf attack?"

  He nodded, "Only
after you reacted the way you did."

  She bit her lip and nodded back. "That bitch, Lucy, she's always hated me and would have said or done anything to hurt me. She knows about the attack. Pretty much the whole town does. A few months after it happened, I left for university. Marcy followed and we have been friends ever since. I've never been able to go back home since it happened. I was mauled by a werewolf and for years I thought that his kind – all shifters, really – were nothing but crazy wild animals that kill humans just for sport."

  She noticed Bern's face change ever so slightly. If she hadn't have been staring so intently at him, she might not have noticed. She reached out to touch him. He didn't move or shift his eyes from looking back at her.

  "What I only realized, today in fact – and no one bothered to mention this to me for ten years – the men that saved me were also shifters. Not many people knew that, but my mother did and maybe the police, I don't know.

  “I've been thinking about it and instead of dealing with that night, I chose to push it aside and ignore what happened. I threw myself into school, then work. I never spoke to anyone except to say I didn't like shifters. It didn't make any sense – it doesn't make any sense for me to punish all shifters because of one bad one that I encountered. I'm sorry that I reacted the way I did. I wish I could take it back."

  Reaching toward him, she rubbed the top of Bern's hand and was quiet for a moment. Suddenly she laughed out loud.

  "What?" Bern asked in surprise.

  "The policeman that took me back to Marcy's last night...I asked him if he was a shifter. He seemed confused by the question. He listened to me go on and on for ages. I sure hope he wasn't one too!"

  It was Bern's turn to smile. His eyes lit up. Amara's eyes widened and she covered her mouth.

  "No!" she gasped.

  Bern nodded. "Afraid so," he grinned at her.

  "Oh, my God...I insulted him and he still took me home?"

  Bern dismissed her words with a wave and placed his hand back down on top of Amara's. Her skin tingled under his warmth. "He's an old friend and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. And yes, he is a cougar shifter."