Bears in Blue Shifter Romance Box Set

by Mia Taylor

  “Mine,” Mal admitted. “I’m a little put off by warm climates after what happened last time.”

  She turned to smile at him but the beam faded when she saw him, naked and on one knee, holding up a velvet box for her to take.

  “I know your memory is still coming back in pieces,” he said quietly. “But before all this happened, we were heading down this road anyway. I don’t want to waste another minute when we’ve lost so many already.”

  “Oh, Mal…”

  “Brynn, will you finally marry me so I can stop asking myself what if a thousand times a day like I have been?”

  “Of course I’ll marry you, Malcolm. You and I have made it through so much…”

  She stopped speaking and Mal caught the expression of worry in her eyes.

  “What is it?” he asked, rising to slip the ring on her finger. “What’s on your mind?”

  She bit on her lower lip and studied him.

  “The vaccine has worked for months now,” she murmured. “I’m not worried about that but… what about children?”

  Mal shook his head.

  “That’s something we’ll have to figure out if we come to that,” he replied. “I definitely want children with you but if we need to adopt, so be it. There are hundreds of thousands of children who need loving parents.”

  He could plainly see the adoration filling Brynn’s eyes and she snaked her arms around his neck, raining kisses on him.

  “You are the most incredible man in the world,” she whispered, kissing him slowly along the lines of his strong, stubbled jaw. “How did I ever survive without you?”

  “That is one of life’s great mysteries,” he chuckled, meeting her lips with his.

  Their embrace was long and sweet, but when they parted, it was Malcolm who had a concerned expression on his face.

  “Why do you look perplexed now?” Brynn wanted to know.

  “I was just thinking about Stella and Paul,” he confessed. “I’m wondering when they’re going to make their move.”

  Brynn tensed slightly in his arms.

  “It has been an uncomfortable half a year of waiting for the other shoe to drop, hasn’t it,” she agreed.

  “Never mind,” Mal said quickly and scooped her up in his arms before she realized what was happening. “We’re on our pre-honeymoon. No more talk of unpleasantness.”

  Brynn threw her arms around his neck and buried her face into his neck.

  “I agree. Take me back to bed and do what you were doing to me before we were so nicely interrupted.”

  Obligingly, he lifted her svelte, nude form and sprawled her on the bed to explore.

  My life is perfect right now. Whatever happens, Brynn and I can handle… I hope.

  Last Shift

  Bears in Blue

  Book 4

  Prologue

  This has been going on for far too long. How many more years are we supposed to sit back and bide our time for revenge?

  It was a question he’d asked himself many times over the decades but rarely voiced aloud. He was supposed to have faith in the fact that his sister and Paul had a plan. It was something they had drilled into him for as long as he could remember.

  Even if it seems like they’ve lost sight of why we started this in the first place. Sometimes I feel like it’s the same as it was when Rand was around.

  It was easy to see how Stella and Paul might lose motivation. They had one another, money, a sleuth that jumped at their beck and call and enough power to forsake what Rand had done to them all those years ago.

  But Bailey hadn’t forgotten and he wouldn’t until retribution had been distributed.

  He stalked out toward the front of the mansion, determined to make his voice heard. Bailey had been silent long enough.

  “What are you doing home?” Stella asked as he made his way into the front salon. “Aren’t you supposed to be overseeing a job tonight?”

  “When are we moving in?” he demanded without preamble, ignoring her query. His sister blinked, her green eyes narrowing at his tone.

  “Moving in?” she echoed. “What are you talking about?”

  Her evasiveness didn’t fool Bailey—Stella knew him well enough to read his mind clearly and with concision. She was only buying time as she thought of an answer that might placate him.

  I know her well enough to know that, too.

  “Once upon a time, we had a plan, Stella. Now we’re sitting stagnant, waiting for Paul to clap his hands.”

  “Matters have changed somewhat,” Stella hemmed. “You know that.”

  Bailey scoffed, unimpressed by her argument.

  Excuses. Nothing but excuses.

  “It seems to me that you and Paul have forsaken the original plan,” he insisted coldly. Stella glared at him and shook her blonde mane defiantly.

  “We haven’t. You need to be patient.”

  “I’ve been nothing but patient for years!” Bailey exploded. “If you aren’t taking this seriously anymore, at least have the decency to tell me. There was supposed to be an endgame. Instead, I’ve taken over where Rand left off while you and Paul play kissy face and forget the rest of us! If you’re not going to go through with it, at least have the decency to say something so that someone else has the balls to take over!”

  Stella bristled.

  “You’re wrong,” she said flatly. “We have people on the inside now. We’ve come a long way since we came to Illinois, Bailey. What is this sudden aggravation?”

  “It’s not sudden,” he denied. “It’s been ongoing. Just because I haven’t said anything openly doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what’s going on!”

  “Okay, calm yourself,” Stella told him icily. “I’m sorry you feel matters aren’t moving along as fast as they should, but—”

  “Never mind,” Bailey interjected, loathing himself for having brought it up at all. He should have known that bringing up his concerns would only result in Stella and Paul dismissing him.

  He spun to leave but Stella reached out and grabbed his arm, her green eyes narrowing as they met his.

  “Bailey, what are you going to do?” she demanded, her voice low.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied.

  How does she know me so well?

  “I can see it in your eyes,” she insisted. “I’m imploring you to sit tight and let Paul handle this. He’s been at this plan a lot longer than you.”

  “I’ve been along for the ride the entire time!” Bailey exploded, wriggling free of her grasp. She let him go but her stare remained fixed on him.

  “Whatever you’re thinking about doing, Bailey, don’t. I shouldn’t have to tell you how angry Paul can get when plans go awry.”

  “What plans?” Bailey scoffed. “He hasn’t done anything!”

  “If Melissa hadn’t disappeared, we’d be much further along than we are,” Stella muttered. “Paul had been so sure she was our gateway inside the Chicago Police Department.”

  “Well, he was wrong,” her brother retorted. “Looks like he’s wrong about a lot.”

  “Bailey, look at me,” Stella growled and he begrudgingly met her eye. “Sit tight and don’t be stupid. If you do something to upset Paul, I’m not sure I can protect you.”

  Like she would anyway.

  “I don’t need your damned protection,” he spat back. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

  “Bailey, you’re my brother,” Stella said, her tone low and earnest. “And I love you, but you’re not renowned for your wits. Paul is the mastermind and you need to accept that.”

  He was offended by the jab to his intellect but somehow he managed to steel himself from barking back at her.

  She thinks I’m too stupid to oversee anything other than a bunch of thieves? We’ll see about that.

  “I’ll express your concerns to Paul,” Stella continued, but Bailey was barely listening to her.

  “You do that,” he muttered, again pivoting to leave her behind in the spa
cious front room. “Let me know how that works out.”

  He stormed upstairs to his suite and slammed the door, pacing around the sitting room as he began to formulate a plot of his own.

  When Rand abandoned us, we vowed to get back at him—together. Am I the only one who still cares about that?

  The rest of the sleuth seemed content with continuing the same criminal operation that Rand had started, but didn’t that defeat the purpose of what they were trying to achieve?

  We haven’t moved forward at all, no matter what Stella claims. If we keep following Paul, we’ll never get justice for what Rand did to us.

  Slowly, Bailey turned and looked at himself in the mirror, his green eyes widening as he realized he had half-shifted in his frustration.

  Running his tongue over the dampness of his snout, Bailey bared his teeth and snarled at his own reflection.

  You’re not stupid and you’re not going to let Paul sit back and do nothing. You’ve been silent long enough. It’s time to take matters into your own hands.

  His long, furry nose melded back into his face and he stared at his mortal form again, all traces of his bear body dissipating.

  I’ll show you wits, Stella, Bailey thought grimly. And I’ll finish the job you and Paul never could.

  Chapter One

  One More Week of Hell

  For a long moment, Luke stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, debating whether or not to shave the slight scruff which had accumulated over his rugged face overnight.

  I could do a beard, he thought, cocking his head to the side and eyeing his defined chin. Maybe I will do a beard. I deserve to change it up after paying my dues for all these years. New job, new life, new beard. That’s what I’m talking about.

  It just wouldn’t be today.

  With a grunt, he reached for the shaving cream and lathered his attractive face with the foam and ran the hot water as he started to shave.

  One more week. One more week and you’ll be on your way to much greener pastures.

  The understanding filled Luke with both apprehension and excitement. On one hand, it was what he’d worked toward. The night classes and lack of sleep, working shiftwork and struggling to balance school and policing.

  He’d been spat on and shot at more times than he could count, testifying against and arresting the worst that Chicago had to offer.

  But it will all be worth it. It was all a means to an end.

  In one week, he would be putting on a suit and tie and heading off to write his bar exam.

  And then I’ll be a lawyer and out of the hell that is the CPD.

  Luke hadn’t always felt that way, of course. In the beginning, he’d thought of policing as a way to gain more experience in the world of criminal justice while he did law school at night. It was a paycheck and an education which he wouldn’t get in any classroom.

  But over the past six years, Luke had come to realize just how dirty and dangerous being a beat cop could be in the corrupt city of Chicago.

  Especially in the 22. Especially now.

  It was difficult to say exactly when he’d had his change of heart, the need to get out of the police department creeping up on him slowly.

  All Luke knew for certain was that the week could not come fast enough for him to leave the CPD. He already had a job lined up with the District Attorney’s Office the minute he passed the bar.

  Of course, there was always the remote chance that he might not pass the gruelling exam, which was why Luke hadn’t bothered to tell his superior at the 22 that he was leaving yet.

  Yeah. That’s the reason, he growled to himself, staring into his own dark eyes. He didn’t want to admit that since Rand Simon had overtaken the division, splitting the bears against the mortals, there was an almost palpable apprehension hanging over the precinct.

  Nothing had happened directly, nothing that indicated that something was wrong, but everyone knew that trouble was brewing underneath, an explosion waiting to happen.

  It wasn’t that Luke was afraid per se, but he certainly didn’t want to rock the boat and he wasn’t about to call unnecessary attention to himself. He reasoned that he was a relatively small fish in a big pond anyway. No one would care that he was going.

  Except maybe Cortez.

  A smidgen of guilt touched his gut when he thought about his partner and he wondered what Jamie would say when Luke announced his departure.

  On some level, Cortez had always known that the CPD was a temporary place for Luke, but it wasn’t something they discussed with any regularity. Luke had kept his head down, always dismissing promotions that might come his way, and bided his time until he was on his way out.

  I should have given Cortez the heads-up that I was leaving, he thought, but he brushed the thought aside for what was probably the hundredth time since he’d gotten word that he was on his way out. Cortez was a big boy. He could handle the news.

  Rinsing off his face, Luke turned toward the running shower and hopped in, scrubbing himself off hastily. He was already running late, not that it motivated him to move that much faster. His heart just wasn’t into putting on the uniform anymore.

  In ten minutes, he was back in his bedroom, toweling himself off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the notifications light up on his phone and he grunted, grabbing for it to see who was bothering him.

  Ten o’clock meeting tonight

  Luke frowned. He wondered what was so urgent that there needed to be a last-minute sleuth meeting. Sometimes he wished he could ditch the bears, too. It wasn’t like he’d signed up to be a shifter, regardless of the perks.

  Nah, he thought, half-grinning for the first time since he’d woken. Immortality is priceless.

  He didn’t bother to answer the text and dressed quickly, grabbing an apple as he bounded out the door with his duffle bag in hand, and made his way down to the street where his car was parked at the curb. Before he could take a bite, he paused, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

  Someone was lounging against the Altima, smoking a cigarette. A frisson of alarm touched Luke but he bounded forward, glaring mercilessly at the man before him.

  “Can you get off my car?” Luke snapped with some irritability. The man eyed him without moving, taking a long drag off his smoke and exhaling it in Luke’s direction before speaking. Luke waved his hand over his face in anger but before he could bark at the stranger again, he spoke.

  “Luke Ressling?”

  Dismay sparked through him and Luke carefully studied the man through suspicious eyes. He was well dressed, his skin smooth and unlined, indicating to Luke that he might be a bear. His blue eyes bored into the cop with an eerie deadness, as if he were looking right through Luke.

  “Who’s asking?” he demanded, wishing he’d strapped his firearm to his waistband.

  The man leered but there was still surprisingly little expression in his eyes, like his body was a mask over nothingness.

  “Stephan would like a word with you before you start your shift,” he intoned. Luke’s jaw locked and he shook his head.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, wondering why he hadn’t clued in that it was one of his father’s goons. “I’m already late.”

  “It’s non-negotiable.”

  What a surprise. Dear old dad would resort to physically threatening me if that’s what it takes.

  “Such bullshit,” Luke muttered and followed the smoking bear guard as he walked toward the alleyway. The goon had no comment.

  “Really?” Luke scoffed when he saw his father lounging against the wall, puffing on a cigar. “You’ve come to this level now? Hanging out in the gutters?”

  Not that it doesn’t suit you, Luke added silently.

  “I need to keep a low profile,” Stephan Ressling chuckled. “I wouldn’t want one of your cop friends to see me lurking by your building. Imagine the questions that would arouse!”

  Luke didn’t manage a smile. In fact, he was overcome by malice at being near the man who had raised him.
>
  “What do you want, Dad?” he growled. “I’m going to be late.”

  Stephan ashed his cigar and waved for his goon to disappear, which the soulless bear did without incident.

  “I heard that you’re writing your bar exam next week.”

  Luke’s blood ran cold.

  How does he know that? Who told him?

  Quickly, Luke did an inventory of the people who could have known but the answer didn’t come to him easily.

  I kept this under wraps from everyone.

  Luke’s eyes narrowed as he realized how Stephan might have known.

  “Have you been hacking into my computer?” he demanded, furious that he hadn’t thought of it before. “You swore you’d stop with that shit!”

  “Luke, you’re my son. I worry about you,” Stephan boomed, a faux look of fatherly concern on his face. “Anything I do, I do for your own safety.”

  “Jesus Christ,” he grumbled. “Yes, Dad, I’m writing the bar exam next week.”

  Does he have cameras in my place, too? This is disgusting.

  “I wish you’d told me. A week to plan a party isn’t much time, but we’ll make do,” Stephan sighed. “It’s a good thing I have an assistant.”

  “I don’t want a damn party, Dad, and I have to get to work, so could you cut the BS and tell me what you want?”

  “I just wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you. Having a son working for the DA will be good for all of us!”

  Chills ran down Luke’s back and he glowered at his father, suddenly understanding what Stephan was implying.

  “Dad, this doesn’t change anything between us,” Luke hissed in a low voice. “I’m not following in your footsteps and I’m not using my job to help you or your…. enterprises. I told you that already.”

  Stephan snorted.

  “You stupid boy,” his father snickered. “You’ve already helped my business more than you know. How do you think Rand Simon will feel to know that a beat cop has been spilling classified information to his father?”

  “What information?” Luke snapped. “I haven’t told you anything and I never would!”

  “Yes, that’s right. You were just happy to use my money when it suited you,” Stephan jeered. “But the minute you needed to do something in return—”