Alpha Bear Princes Box Set

by Lily Cahill

  Skye and Maddy exhaled a sigh in unison, then Maddy thumped her little fist on the table. "I could have sworn he was coming to talk to you."

  Skye's heart was still pounding, but now she felt a little sick. She forced herself to shrug casually. "He was probably less interested once he saw me up close."

  "Don't say that," Maddy said fiercely, her brow furrowing. "You're gorgeous."

  Skye wanted to roll her eyes. Maddy suffered from a best friend's blindness. Skye was painfully aware of her curvy hips and soft belly, her too-big breasts that never seemed to fit in shirts. She could dress well when she put her mind to it, but more often than not she didn't bother. Her hair was a wild riot of dark brown curls, the same shade as her eyes and a few shades darker than her skin. A man like that--a tall, insanely handsome stud with a charmer's smile--would never be interested in a girl like her.

  But she didn't want to burden Maddy with her self-pity. Maddy would only try to cheer her up, and worry that it hadn't worked. Maddy, whose husband adored her, had never had to doubt her attractiveness. Whereas Skye and self-doubt were old, close friends.

  Luckily, the food arrived and distracted Maddy. Her fat burger looked greasy and delicious--much more interesting than Skye's salad. Skye was tempted to steal one of Maddy's fries, but then she remembered how the guy had turned away from her. One more rejection, she thought with a pang, in a long line of disappointments.

  Instead of snagging one the golden fried potatoes on Maddy's plate, she filled her mouth with lettuce. It was as bitter as her thoughts.

  Chapter Two

  Skye

  "Are you sure you don't want a ride?" Maddy said, yawning as she lowered herself into her car.

  "Go home. You're falling asleep already," Skye said. "The El station is just a couple of blocks away. I'll just stop at the office and grab a few things before I get the train."

  "Don't work anymore tonight," Maddy admonished. "You've put in a full day already. The Daily Gazette can afford to give you a night off. You work too hard."

  Skye shrugged. "I haven't gotten my own byline yet. I haven't gotten a feature piece. That means I'm not working hard enough."

  Maddy scoffed. "You sound old Mrs. Haggarty from the foster home. 'Your best is only the beginning,'" she said nasally before returning to her normal voice. "You need sleep, just like the rest of us. Some time away to recharge your mind. Promise you'll go home, instead of up to your desk."

  Skye squirmed. "I will. I'll head home right after I run upstairs and grab a few things."

  Maddy eyed her. "I'm going to call your home number in an hour, and if you aren't there I'm taking away your babysitting privileges."

  Skye pretended to be hurt. "You mean you won't let me take care of your kids for free every Sunday morning so you and Frank can keep reproducing like rabbits?"

  "You look forward to it as much as the kids do."

  It was true. Maddy's boisterous sons were Skye's simplest joy. Playing with the two kids was the highlight of her week. "I'll be home in an hour. Now stop hassling me."

  "Never. Love you," Maddy said, grinning as she turned on her car.

  Skye waved as she pulled away, then crossed the street away from O'Malley's Pub. It was on a trendy street just off Michigan Avenue--in other words, not the sort of neighborhood where she usually hung out. The buildings around here were all hip condos, luxury lofts, and specialty restaurants. With her meager salary, she couldn't afford more than working-class bars and cheap take-out.

  Night had fallen, but the street was well-lit and busy. Skye walked down the sidewalk, dodging other Chicagoans out for a stroll. Almost unbidden, her thoughts returned to the guy at the bar. She tried to imagine how he would look in her apartment. More precisely, in her bed.

  Their moment of eye contact hadn't lasted more than a few seconds, but she could still feel the electric thrill of his gaze. Those deep blue eyes, that thick dark hair ... not to mention the broad shoulders and solid chest she had spied under his jacket. She licked her lips, thinking about the way those ridged muscles would feel under her hands.

  In her imagination, he was a take-charge, no-holds-barred lover. He would earn her complete surrender through the skill of his mouth and the strength of his touch. Her skin tingled as she imagined that hard mouth running over her soft flesh. His eyes would be hot, utterly focused on her, as he used those long, blunt fingers to push aside her panties and part her wet folds.

  Skye shuddered, surprised by the vividness of her thoughts. Maddy was right--it had clearly been too long since she'd got laid, if she was having those kind of fantasies about a man she hadn't even met.

  And, who clearly didn't have any interest in meeting her.

  Skye shook the fantasy from her mind as she turned onto a quieter side street. Guys like that didn't go for her. He probably went for leggy model types, not curvy dark-skinned girls who were all boobs and hips.

  Thinking about it was depressing. By default, she thought about work instead. For the past six months, since she started at The Daily Gazette, Skye had been killing herself trying to prove her value. She volunteered for every grunt job and project A.J., the editor, could throw at her. But it was starting to get old. Today, for example, A.J. had sent her on a wild goose chase into western Michigan to take pictures of a lakeshore property that was up for sale. Hardly the powerful journalism she wanted to share with her city.

  But, she reminded herself, this was all part of the process. She had wanted to be a journalist her whole life, and she wasn't going to let a little hard work stop her.

  Impatient to get back to the office, she turned down an alley that was a shortcut back to her office. She hoped that, with time, A.J. would reward her with something better than pointless research. Maybe if she brought in her own story ... something juicy, something big ....

  Skye never saw him coming. One minute, she was walking down the center of the dimly-lit alley. The next, she was being hauled off her feet with a hand over her mouth and an arm banded across her body, pinning her arms to her sides before she could even strike out.

  She was dragged against a brick wall in a deep shadow behind a trash bin. More out of panic than design, she was kicking wildly at her assailant. The heel of her brown leather boot must have connected, because the mugger swore in her ear. His hand loosened for a moment. Skye tried to buck her way free of him, but his hand was back in seconds. And now, she could see he was holding a long metal bar that glinted in the dim light.

  Skye froze.

  "You see that, bitch?" the mugger hissed in her ear. "I'll beat the shit out of you and leave you to die right here."

  Skye whimpered in fear. She had taken self-defense classes, but they definitely hadn't captured the abject terror of being overpowered and threatened with death. She managed to stutter, "What ... what do you want?"

  "Give me the bag, and I'll let you go."

  The mugger loosened his hold slightly, staying behind her. She couldn't see his face, but she could still see the metal bar. Shuddering, Skye slipped her bag off her shoulder and dropped it on the ground

  Warily, the mugger shifted away from her. Then he shoved her, hard, into the edge of the trash bin.

  Skye's head collided with the cold metal, and pain exploded behind her eyes. Instinctively, she pressed her hands to her forehead, as if she could hold back the agony with her palms. The world revolved, and she felt herself tilting to one side.

  Next thing she knew, her cheek hit the asphalt. Every time she tried to open her eyes, the street and the trash bins spun sickeningly. In her reeling vision, she saw the mugger running down the alley.

  Out of nowhere, a figure hurtled out of the sky and landed on the mugger's back. Skye stifled a scream. Her mind tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Her head injury must be worse than she feared. The figure didn't look right, didn't look...human.

  Then it raised its head from the mugger's prone body. Light caught in its dark eyes and sharp teeth.

  In the middle of
Chicago, she had been saved by a bear.