by E A Price
He’d tried anger management classes, therapy, group therapy and even went down the dreaded route of behavior-modifying drugs – they didn’t take at all, nothing could dent his constitution – but he found the only thing that helped him was paintball. Yep, that’s right – paintball. He spent his Saturdays chasing people through the woods with a toy gun, and he loved it. It taught him patience and discipline while allowing him to shoot people – it was great. Of course, getting his old boss to believe he’d changed enough to reinstate him was a different matter. Gerry was a good guy, but even he didn’t want to save Zane from getting fired. But, none of that mattered now. Zane could almost – almost – look back on the last ten months as being a good thing.
However, he was now itching to get his job back. He was currently working as a kind of unlicensed PI. The LLPD turned a blind eye because all his clients were shifters – and if Zane was dealing with them, it meant they weren’t bothered by them. While Zane was sympathetic to his clients, truthfully he was looking for a case to take to the SEA so that he might ingratiate his way back into a job there. So far, no such luck. His latest case, about the continued thefts of women’s panties right off of the clotheslines in backyards wasn’t ‘serious’ enough to spark any interest. Still, he was ever hopeful.
A tentative knock sounded at the door, and he yelled for them to enter. Hesitantly, a young woman entered, and he sucked in a breath. Even his bear hushed and stilled. She had an ethereal quality that took his breath away. Her skin was pale and almost shimmered in the sunlight that filtered through his window. Her long, blonde, almost white hair fell to her waist and was arranged in a loose braid that hung over one shoulder. A tentative fear marred her pretty face and made her green eyes flicker. The desire to protect her swelled deep in his chest, and his bear urged him to go to her.
Zane stood up abruptly, banging his knee on his desk and smashing his head into the ceiling fan. The office really wasn’t built for six-foot-ten bear shifters. She gasped in sympathy, and his beast snarled at him to pull himself together.
“I’m Mane Zatthews, I mean, Zane Matthews,” he gurgled. His bear practically slapped his forehead and growled D’oh.
“Sky Danvers,” she said before biting my lip. “I’m sorry just to barge in…”
“No, no, it’s fine.” He was quick to reassure her as his interest in his visitor surged.
“But I think I’m being followed. It’s crazy, I don’t have any proof, but it’s just a feeling I get and I’m scared.”
His bear howled at the thought of anyone hurting this sweet creature. In a flash he was standing in front of her, holding her hand, enjoying how nice her hand felt in his – how right. “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he promised. Her delicate grip tightened, and he almost groaned at the sensual prickles her touch afforded.
“Thank you,” she murmured as tears pooled in her eyes. Sky looked up into the handsome face of the bear and for the first time in weeks she felt content. Her inner unicorn sighed and pawed the ground. Mate.
To be continued…
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