Fate Mountain - Complete

by Scarlett Grove

  Zach rented a sports car and drove them to their hotel in the heart of the city. The old world charm rose around him in the ancient city that was still so full of life. He gave his keys to the valet at the hotel and he and Maisie walked together into the lobby.

  Everything glittered with cool Parisian class. Zach pulled off his sunglasses as they walked through the lobby and checked into the hotel.

  The porter brought their bags to their rooms, and Zach couldn’t help but notice the look on Maisie’s face as she walked into the luxurious suite.

  She’d worn a two-piece traveling suit in a deep purple hue that set off her red hair and deep red mouth. He puckered his lips at her, taking in her beauty.

  They’d come to Paris to see the sights and drink in the culture, but Zach just wanted to look at her. She threw her arms around him, hugging him close. He kissed her, ready to show her what he had in mind for the honeymoon.

  His tongue dipped into her mouth as he rubbed her against him. She moaned into his mouth, pulling away.

  “What do you want to do first?” she asked, opening the door to the balcony that overlooked the courtyard below.

  “I have some ideas,” he said, hugging her around the waist.

  The spring flowers were blooming below them, and he took in their scent as it mixed with the enchanting smell of Maisie’s neck. The noon sun shone down from above, but they’d been in a plane for eighteen hours.

  “We should go out for lunch. I know the best place, right near here.”

  “I want to sleep. With you,” he breathed into her neck.

  She turned around and pushed him backward through the balcony door. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her curvy hips against him. Maisie ran her hands over his hard chest and sucked her lip into her mouth.

  “We can eat later,” she said as he lifted her off the floor, sliding her skirt up over her thighs.

  He laid her on the bed and slid his hands up her hips, exposing her panties.

  “You don’t need these,” he said, pulling them off.

  “Definitely not,” she breathed.

  He whetted his appetite on her little ginger pussy, dipping his tongue inside her to taste her sweet nectar over and over again. She groaned when she exploded on his tongue, her body throbbing against him.

  He turned her over on her stomach, smacking her gorgeous round ass. He unzipped his pants and slid inside her, not wanting to stop. Zach wanted this moment, pushing inside his wife’s wet core.

  She groaned for him, still clenching from her orgasm. She quivered when he sank inside her, coming again with a deep sigh.

  They made love all afternoon and fell asleep together, naked and tangled in the sheets. When they woke, it was dark outside. Zach stretched, his stomach grumbling. He kissed her forehead and she blinked open her eyes.

  “You want to go get something to eat?” he asked her.

  “Definitely.”

  Maisie and Zach got cleaned and ready to go out for their first night on the town in Paris. Zach could tell Maisie was excited as she put on her lipstick and earrings.

  “We can eat at Pierrot and go dancing at Le Tango.”

  “All I need is you, baby,” he said, kissing her exposed shoulder.

  She’d worn an off-the-shoulder black dress, and he’d worn a trendy black suit he’d bought for the trip. He had to admit he had pretty good taste as he looked at himself in the mirror.

  “You look so good, I could eat you,” Maisie said, running her manicured hands down the lapels of his jacket.

  “I’ll eat you first,” he growled, letting his polar bear show through his eyes.

  “Hmm,” she said, biting her lip.

  “I need some Paris food now. More polar bear later,” she said, giggling as she slapped his ass and made her way to the door in her red high heels.

  They took a cab to the restaurant and feasted on Parisian cuisine. Zach was feeling pretty darn good after they’d finished their meal and he’d polished off half a bottle of wine.

  On the way to the club, he meant to ask Maisie why she wasn’t drinking, but he was so excited he forgot. When they got to the club, they walked into the music-filled air and took to the dance floor.

  Zach intended to show Maisie some of his moves. They started into their tango. Maisie moved like a dream in his arms, and he was so surprised he almost missed a step.

  “I didn’t know you could dance,” he said.

  “I didn’t know you could dance,” she answered back.

  They moved across the floor in the lovers’ embrace, their bear strength and agility giving them extra fluidity to their movements. As the first song came to an end, the rest of the dancers began to move back, giving the floor to Maisie and Zach. They improvised their exquisite and lively movements on the dance floor.

  When their song came to an end, everyone applauded around them. They looked at each other, breathless and smiling. Maisie threw her arms around Zach’s neck and he held her close before twirling her around for the crowd to cheer.

  She was beautiful in every way, and he wanted the world to acknowledge her. But now he wanted to be alone with his woman. He needed to kiss her and hold her close. The rest of the world would have to wait.

  He led her out of the club and came out onto the street. The old buildings rose around them and the lights of Paris twinkled. He took her hand, wanting to walk with her in the city night.

  As they walked away from the nightclub, the sky opened and it began to rain. Maisie shrieked and put her hand over her eyes, starting to run back to the club. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, kissing her in the rain.

  She giggled and kissed him back, giving in to the love and animal desire flowing through him and into her. Their wet mouths slid against each other and heat rose between them.

  “We’ll get drenched,” she said into his ear.

  “So what?” he said, smiling.

  “So what?” she said, kissing him again.

  “I love this moment,” Zach said.

  “Zach. I’m pregnant,” Maisie said.

  He looked into her smiling eyes as the raindrops sprinkled down around them, sparkling in the street lights.

  “Now I love this moment even more.”

  He kissed her again and hailed a cab. He was ready to take care of her and give her everything she needed for the rest of her life. As the multicolored lights of the Paris night flew by outside the cab window, Zach and Maisie held each other close. Together, they made a whole. And now their life together could truly begin.

  Geek Bear

  He’s running from fate ...

  Computer whiz Corey Bright set up the human-shifter dating site that has helped all of his fellow Rescue Bears find their mates -- but his own parents’ mating was a disaster, and he has no intention of repeating their mistakes. When his crew set him up on a blind date with the woman who’s his perfect match, he’s furious.

  She’s running from danger ...

  Willow Rhine is the ghostwriter for a famous romance author. No one should know her secret … but someone does, and she’s got a stalker who keeps sending her threatening messages. She’s come to Fate Mountain ready for love in her life, but no matter how drawn she is to Corey, she doesn’t want a casual fling.

  And the clock is ticking for both of them

  While Willow works to meet her next publishing deadline, Corey tries to find her stalker … and battles his own fierce need to claim her. Convinced he’s doing the best thing for both of them, he tries to let her go -- only to learn he might be about to lose her forever. Can he and the rest of the Rescue Bears save Willow in time for Corey to admit his mistake?

  Chapter 1

  “Geek Bear to Delta Team. Confirm your location,” Corey Bright said into his walkie-talkie.

  A group of college girls had gone missing during a day hike on Fate Mountain, and the Rescue Bears were called into action to find them before time ran out. They’d already spent one night in the forest, and temperatu
res were getting hotter by the minute in the midday summer sun.

  Big Bear repeated Delta Team’s coordinates, and Corey checked the data scrolling down his computer screen. Corey usually didn’t run Alpha Station during rescue missions, but his alpha Levi was busy with his mate and their new cub.

  Corey didn’t mind taking over Alpha Station. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to lead the team like this.

  “Head west when you reach the fork in the trail,” Corey said.

  “Copy that,” Big Bear said over the walkie-talkie.

  “My analysis indicates that the missing hikers are probably somewhere along the creek that comes down that western hillside.”

  Corey continued to study his random probability generator. His software was so advanced he hadn’t even applied for a patent yet. He knew the government would swoop in the minute he tried. Corey just didn’t have time for that. All his most amazing programs he had to keep to himself.

  Aside from Levi, everyone was out in the field looking for the missing girls. Corey sat under the tent of Alpha Station and drank a sip of his ice cold tea. He took another look at the screen, anticipating a message from Delta Team any second.

  “Delta Team to Alpha Station, we have eyes on target. Initiating extraction.”

  “Copy that,” Corey said, not hiding the smile on his face.

  He picked up an orange and started to peel it, proud that his data analysis had saved the day yet again. Not that the guys in the field hadn’t done their part. They always did.

  He’d known his buddies on the Rescue Bears, the search and rescue team on Fate Mountain, since they’d all served together as Navy SEALs back in the war. After the shifter draft, all the young shifters Corey’s age had enlisted. Even geek bears like him were considered badass enough to be on active special forces teams.

  But the Navy wasn’t dumb. They’d utilized Corey’s computer skills in the field, and he’d worked with his team back then in much the same way he did now. Being with them was like being in a big, semi-functional family. They were like brothers. Their loyalty meant everything.

  That’s why Corey had settled on Fate Mountain and rented a cabin at Fate Mountain Lodge when he could have lived anywhere in the world. He had high speed cable internet and industrial grade electrical wiring he’d put in himself. He really didn’t need much of anything else.

  After he peeled his orange, he dropped the perfectly spiraled peel into the waste basket and picked up his cell phone to call the EMTs to tell them to standby. He wanted them here as soon as the guys brought the missing college girls out of the forest.

  If the crew had been human men, they might have thought it was a treat to go rescue college coeds. But the Rescue Bears only had eyes for their mates. Everyone on his crew had been matched with their fated mates on the dating app he’d invented called Mate.com.

  Unlike the rest of the guys, Corey didn’t want anything to do with mating, fated mates, or any of it. He knew it was all just a bunch of heartache and drama. Maybe the guys on his crew had found happiness, but Corey knew for a fact that it didn’t always end up that way.

  No matter how many times the guys pestered him to sign up for the site and find his own mate, Corey refused to do it. Just because they were content didn’t mean that he would be. Nothing in life was guaranteed.

  It used to be a lot harder for shifter men to date human women. After the Great Shifter Council had announced the existence of shifters twenty years ago, humans lashed out violently against them for years. Most of the people he knew had grown up with decades of violence.

  But when shifters played a critical role in ending the war, and the government passed the Shifter Equality Act, suddenly shifters were heralded as heroes all over the media. When dating a shifter had become the hottest topic on celebrity gossip media, Corey knew that starting Mate.com would be a huge hit.

  Just because human women were signing up to date shifters in droves didn’t mean Corey wanted to be part of the mating scene. The rest of the shifter community was definitely happy about it, though. Since male shifters outnumbered females five to one, most male shifters had to find their mates among human women. And there seemed to be no shortage of human women in line to date them these days.

  Corey watched Delta Team’s position on his computer screen and alerted the EMTs to come up the mountain to meet them. As soon as Angus and Shane arrived with the girls, the ambulance pulled into the parking lot next to Alpha Station.

  Drew and Zach came out of the forest a few minutes later. While the EMTs took the girls down the mountain to the hospital, the Rescue Bears started to tear down Alpha Station and load the equipment in Angus’s truck.

  With everything broken down, Corey climbed into the back of Angus’s crew cab for a ride down the mountain. Drew got in the front seat and Angus slid behind the wheel.

  “Where are we celebrating tonight?” Shane asked through the walkie-talkie.

  “I vote for the brewery. I need to get home to Quinn and Max,” Drew said into the walkie-talkie.

  Corey rolled his eyes. Ever since the guys had started mating with women, they’d all started having babies. No one wanted to properly celebrate anymore.

  Corey spent all his time alone in his cabin with his computers. He wouldn’t have wanted to work for someone else, or with other people. But still, he needed some social interaction, and he was starting to miss his friends.

  “Everyone is starting to puss out on our celebrations,” Corey said as Angus drove down the mountain.

  It was late in the evening and the summer sun was starting to set beyond the western mountains. Pink and yellow light glinted on the rocky hillsides and the bright green needles of the pine trees.

  “We have obligations,” Angus said.

  “You’re the only one who prefers to spend his time in hermit mode,” Drew said as they pulled up in front of Fate Mountain Brewery.

  They got out of the truck, and Corey shoved his hands in his pockets. His friends just didn’t get it. He liked his alone time. That’s the only way he was able to keep things in control. That’s the only way he could keep it all balanced.

  If he brought someone else into his life, it would throw it all off. He couldn’t have that. He’d carefully erected a life that kept him comfortably productive. It kept his mind alert but calm so he could do his work. The work was all that mattered.

  He couldn’t go a day without creating, programing, or dreaming of the next invention. All of that had netted him billions of dollars, and he didn’t want to mess with what worked for him. He was happy alone. He just wished his friends would believe him.

  They walked into the brewery to the sound of a classic rock song playing on the jukebox. Zach was already showing off in the middle of the dance floor.

  Drew went to the bar and got a few pitchers of beer to bring to their table. Corey slid into his chair and poured himself a beer.

  Shane was sitting across the table, sipping from his own pint glass. He had his phone plastered to his ear, having some kind of thinly disguised phone sex with his mate Lily.

  WTF, those two never quit.

  Drew sat beside Corey, flipping through baby pictures of his son Max and forcing Corey to look at them.

  “See him in this one? He’s crawling already,” Drew said, flipping to another photo that was basically the same as the last.

  “It’s a baby,” Corey said.

  “Look at him pulling up on the couch,” Drew said, pointing at the phone’s screen.

  “Really? Then what did you do?” Shane said in a raspy whisper into his phone as he stood up to walk to a secluded part of the room.

  Zach walked over and slid into a chair, taking his pint in hand with smiling eyes.

  “Any of you guys notice your mate getting super randy when she was about four or five months pregnant?” Zach asked.

  “I wouldn’t know,” Drew said darkly. “I missed that part of her pregnancy.

  Drew’s mate Quinn had run away the night h
e’d marked her as his mate. She’d completely dropped off the map. That was just one example of how ridiculous fated mates could be to each other.

  “Maybe you should ask Levi,” Corey said sarcastically.

  Levi would probably not appreciate Zach asking about his and Juliet’s love life. At least, Corey hoped he wouldn’t. This whole mate thing was getting out of hand. It was ruining their crew. Pretty soon there wouldn’t be a crew left. They would just be a bunch of gooey-eyed husbands and fathers. And Corey would be the only rational one left.

  That’s when Angus started asking him questions in that thoughtful, measured tone of his. It made it impossible for Corey to not answer him.

  “And if you were a vegetable, what kind would you be?” Angus asked.

  “Wait a minute,” Corey protested. “I know what you’re doing now.”

  “Just answer the question,” Zach said, shoving Corey’s shoulder.

  “No. I told you all. I’m not signing up for Mate.com. That’s final.”

  “What are the choices again?” Zach asked.

  “Squash, celery, cucumber, corn, sugar pea, or green bean.”

  “Let’s narrow this down,” Zach said. “I chose sugar pea.”

  “I was corn,” said Angus.

  “Cucumbers are the coolest, like me and Lily,” Shane said, hanging up his phone.

  “I was celery, and Levi was squash. Quinn told me that’s what Juliet told her, anyway,” Drew said.

  “That just leaves green bean for Corey then,” Angus said.

  “That isn’t how the algorithm works,” Corey protested.

  “Is it the right answer or not?” Zach asked.

  “You’ll never know,” Corey said stubbornly.

  “You don’t know what you’re missing out on,” Shane said, throwing on his leather jacket. His motorcycle was parked outside. “I need to go take care of my beautiful wife’s sexual needs. Toodle-oo, gentlemen.”

  Corey watched Shane walk out of the bar, then looked back at the rest of the guys. They better not be planning anything. If they did, he’d kill them. He hoped he’d been able to throw them off by not telling them the answer to the vegetable question.