by Moxie North
Unexpected Bride
7 Brides for 7 Bears
Moxie North
Copyright © 2018 by Moxie North
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by Jacqueline Sweet
Created with Vellum
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Connect with Moxie
Also by Moxie North
Prologue
“I don’t see why we have to go to Starbucks, couldn’t we pick somewhere else?”
“No, I want my cold caramel macchiato. They know me and they make it just like I want,” Ida said with a sniff.
“Then get it before you come meet us. I don’t like the chairs here; they hurt my ass,” Fannie griped.
“Because then I’d have to get back in my car and drive while my drink got warm.”
“Oh, let’s all bow down to the great Ida and her coffee requirements. Did you hear if Mary or Betty are going to Skype?”
“If the phone rings, it’s them. If it doesn’t ring, well, maybe they’re taking a nap. They’re getting old, you know.”
Fannie looked Ida up and down with her eyes wide. “They’re old? You sure about that?”
“Oh, shut up and eat your scone.”
The Crones of Clan Rekkr and Clan Dagaz glared at each other over their coffees. Ruth of Clan Uruz opened the door, letting a blast of air into the coffee shop. Adjusting her large floral purse on her shoulder, she looked around the room filled with tables and chairs and couches until she spied her fellow Crones. With a rather unhappy face she made her way to them, found an empty chair waiting for her and flopped herself into it.
“I was in my pajamas sitting by the fire when you called. Is someone going to tell me why the hell I needed to leave the house today?”
“You flew here yesterday. Don’t act like you weren’t visiting your grandbabies. You’re lucky to see us in person,” Ida sniffed.
Ruth waved a hand in the air as Ida’s phone rang. She propped the phone up and the faces of two older women sitting too close to the screen appeared.
“I’ve got a mahjong game in twenty minutes, let’s make this fast,” Mary said. “Anyone have anything?”
“Well, here’s the deal. Ida, you need to call King,” Fannie started.
“Oh, hell no, I won’t. He’s already pissed at me about two of his guys going moonstruck. He’s going to have to hire more bears if those boys don’t crawl off their mates and get some work done.”
“Like that’s a bad thing,” Betty cackled.
“I got a call from Saria out in New York,” Fannie said.
“Odal Clan?” Ida asked, surprised.
“Something dark is heading their way. Something that isn’t going to be easily resolved. I’ve seen crows outside my window for three days. Then Saria called and she’s seeing death. You know how she likes her tea leaves. She says that she’s certain that death is coming and whether or not it claims its soul depends on someone in the Dagaz Clan. I wasn’t sure. I kept seeing that tall girl… what’s her name… Eden? I dreamt about her, but I thought maybe it was just because I talked to her brother about his new baby. I need to see if that’s the case. It can’t be coincidence that she’s in my dreams, especially when Odal comes calling. After all these years I’m going to assume they’re connected.”
“So, I’m supposed to tell King what, exactly?” Ida asked in an annoyed tone.
“Tell him if Odal calls, Eden needs to answer that call.”
“And if she’s the one that death is coming for?” Ida asked.
Fannie looked around to the other trusted Crones. “Then it was the Great Mother’s plan,” she said with a sigh. Fannie couldn’t believe that was true, portents of death were rare. And normally they’d have to be unnatural for the Great Mother to give them the heads up.
Ida crossed her arms. “This isn’t going to be easy. If I’m calling King, I’m going to need something stronger than a coffee.”
“Before we start drinking,” Fannie interrupted. “Velma is out, so I’ll tell you. Saria said she saw a Kenaz in the future too. We should let her know.”
Ruth leaned in on the phone screen, “If anyone cares, I got nothing, can I go?”
“For Pete’s sake, Ruth. Settle in. This is going to be a long meeting,” Mary said, pulling her back. “There goes my mahjong game.”
Chapter 1
“You’re going to do this. I don’t know why you’re fighting me.”
Bliss Hartley glared at one of her managers and resisted sticking out her tongue. Her mother was insufferable when she put on her manager hat. She was just as bad with her mom hat on, but that one wasn’t as concerned about money. She was more concerned about herself and her fading looks, not that she’d ever admit that out loud to anyone, not even her daughter.
“This is tacky. You know it’s tacky. Geoff, you have to think this is a bad idea,” Bliss turned to her other manager, beseeching him to side with her.
“You need a bump. I know you don’t like it, but news about your last break-up is starting to peter out. I’m proud of how long we rode that out, but you haven’t been in the news for days.” Geoff was leaning against the arm of a chair, his arms folded over the three-thousand-dollar suit that Bliss had basically paid for.
She paid Geoff ten percent and her mother ten percent because it was what her mother had arranged when she was just starting out in commercials. Her mother ran her career, and now that Bliss was an adult, she still ran it like she was a six-year-old.
“So what? Let someone else have a little limelight. Lord knows I’ve had my fair share.” Bliss rubbed her hands over her face then remembered she still had her stage makeup on. A full set of fake eyelashes, two layers of foundation, and iridescent powder to accentuate her already creamy pale skin. Makeup that had been applied by her personal makeup artist before she’d even had her first coffee that morning. Her head itched from the glued-in hair extensions, too. All for recording in the studio. She hadn’t thought to ask why she needed makeup to record music. But wasn’t surprised when a photographer showed up to take photos of her ‘working’ on her new single.
“Because you’re on tour. You need to remind people you’re on tour. How do you think you get to extend your show dates and add-on shows if you don’t have people clamoring for your tickets?” her mother said sarcastically.
“Oh gee, here’s an idea. How about I do just the dates I’ve already booked without adding more shows onto an already packed schedule. I’m tired. I want a break!” Bliss said, throwing her arms in the air.
“You have a job to do. This is your job. How many times have I said this to you?” Her mother said as she paced the room. Her mother’s choice of outfit, skintight jeans and a barely there halter top that shifted constantly to give flashes of her breasts, made Bliss cring
e inwardly. She still wasn’t sure who her mother was dressing for, but Geoff certainly wasn’t interested.
“You’ve said this a million times, Mom. I’ve been working without a real break since I was a baby. I’ve done twelve shows this month alone. You want to add more? And you want me to record this album while I’m on the road?”
“Like it’s hard to sit on a stool and sing. There are people out there working their asses off and they don’t make what you do in an hour. You need to appreciate your lifestyle a little more, sugar pie,” her mother shot back.
What her mother really meant was: ‘don’t interfere with the lifestyle I’ve become accustomed to.’
“Eden? Can you be the voice of reason here?” Bliss asked. She turned around to find her bodyguard leaning against a wall.
Eden of Clan Dagaz stared back at Bliss with hard eyes. Eden had been with her for a few years. The starlet had hired lots of different bodyguards in the past, but Eden was the one she was most comfortable with. It also helped that out of all the huge bear shifters that KSI had sent her, Eden seemed the most dangerous.
Bliss was on the shorter side, so she had always looked up to Eden, literally. Standing at least five foot ten, Eden was one of the trimmest bear shifters Bliss had ever met. She worked out all the time and kept her long dark brown hair braided back. She wore black most of the time and never bothered with makeup or jewelry. She was all business all the time.
“Eden, this is too much, right?”
Eden tried to stay out of Bliss’s business. She liked to hang back and keep her eyes and ears open for danger. Her job as Bliss’s head of security meant that she managed all her tour security along with her personal security. King, her boss at KSI, thought she would be the best person for Bliss a number of years ago because she was the only female on the team, but it was more than that.
Bliss wasn’t some crazy celebrity; she was really a grounded young woman. Her mother and her snake of a manager were the ones that put Bliss into stupid scenarios that made Eden have to work harder to protect her.
She had bitten her tongue when Bliss’s mother had suggested she pull a sunbathing topless scam. It was stupid and degrading. Not that Amber Hartley ever thought twice about pimping out her daughter for profit. As long as there was cash involved, Bliss was a commodity to be exploited in any way possible.
Eden pushed away from the wall, squared her shoulders and stood to her full height before she spoke. She knew that Geoff was afraid of her and she liked tormenting the little tick.
“Bliss already has stalkers that we’ve deemed dangerous. What do you think they’ll do if you offer up a bare breast for them to obsess over?”
“Oh, please, it’s a boob, not the end of the world,” Amber mocked.
“No, it’s Bliss’s body that you’re so casually offering up. Not yours. She doesn’t want to do it. It’s degrading. And, as her head of security, I have to advise against it. There are too many damaged minds out there that already think that they don’t want to share Bliss with the world. This could tip them over the edge.”
“Tons of celebrities do it. Even the guys, it’s not that big a deal,” Geoff said casually.
“Pictures are forever. The internet is forever. No matter what I do in my life, those pictures will pop up every time I think they’re gone. What if I want to do something else in life?” Bliss was desperate, and Eden gritted her teeth as anger thumped with her pulse.
“Like what, honey pie? Become a lawyer? President? You’re a singer, a pop singer. That’s what you’ll do until you can’t do it anymore. As soon as your tits start to sag and you get a few wrinkles, you’ll be lucky if anyone looks twice at you. This is your chance to make as much money as possible,” her mother whined. At least that’s what it sounded like to Eden.
A pathetic whine from a woman that didn’t give two shits about her daughter. She could imagine that, at one time, Amber had resembled her daughter, fresh-faced and still un-augmented. Amber reeked of desperation, but it was hard to tell what she was really feeling through all of that Botox. She’d had her breasts done at least twice and there was enough collagen in her lips to act as a flotation device.
Unfortunately for Bliss, Amber was all she had. There were barely sixteen years between her mother and herself. There was no father in the picture, and no mention of him, just a sea of pseudo-father figures that Amber had paraded in front of her daughter over the years. Bliss was figuratively alone, if not literally. She was surrounded by people, but not one of them had her back. Except for Eden.
“Maybe I just want to hold on to one scrap of dignity?” Bliss shot back.
Her mother made a coughing noise and then laughed. “Grow up. This is happening.”
Eden wanted to punch Amber, but she couldn’t, so she started talking over her laughter. “Since no one else seems to be advocating for Bliss, I feel like I must again state how dangerous this could be. You’re offering her up on a platter to potential psychos and even bigger scandal.”
“Your job isn’t to advocate for Bliss. Your job is to guard her body. That’s it. Don’t overstep. Your kind always thinks you’re in charge,” Geoff sneered.
Eden held back a growl. “My kind?”
“Yeah. A big bad shifter who thinks humans can’t make decisions for themselves.”
“No, Geoff, I think that you think you get to make decisions for Bliss. She’s an adult. And your job is to manage her music career. Not flash her around like a piece of meat so you can make a little more money to spend on your tacky-ass pinkie ring collection,” Eden said, glancing at his hands that had two pinkie rings. Gross.
Geoff stood up and tried to square off with her, and Eden struggled not to laugh in his face. She had more than a few inches on him and she wouldn’t even need to shift to pummel the little prick. Besides his lack of style, he also had over-tanned, making his skin a crispy orange color. The signs of a budget hair transplant also showed along his hairline. The back of his head was still completely bald, probably because he didn’t want to pay for the whole head. Maybe if the plugs took he could eventually work his way into a serious comb-over.
“I’ve had enough of you. You’re interfering with our business. You’re supposed to be seen, not heard. I’m going to tell your boss that you’re insubordinate and that’s why I fired you!” Geoff screamed, spittle flicking from his lips.
Eden thought he looked like he was about to pop and it only made her want to laugh at him even more. She shrugged instead.
“You didn’t hire me, Geoff. That means you can’t fire me. Like I said, we all have jobs here, and you’re trying to take over everyone’s. I’m here to keep Bliss safe. You see, I focus on my job. Bliss has a tour to finish and an album to record. The last thing we need to do is have her hounded by hordes of paparazzi and stalkers trying to hurt her.”
“I might not have hired you, but I can still take you off this job. Then you won’t have to worry about her safety anymore.” Geoff turned to Amber. “This needs to happen, without any distractions or arguments.”
Amber looked to Bliss then back to Geoff and finally Eden. “You’re fired,” she choked out. Amber was great at bossing Bliss around, but she was pretty scared of Eden.
Eden growled, the sound coming from deep inside her and rolling through the room, catching everyone’s attention. She couldn’t hold it back. They’d made an agreement when she started that if two of the three parties wanted to end their services with King Security then it could stick.
“You’re firing KSI?” Eden asked, her voice not giving away how close her animal was.
“Nope, just you. Tell King to send someone else that can do their job without giving their opinions,” Geoff said with a gleam in his eye. He knew he’d won, but all Eden could see was that Bliss had lost.
She walked towards the door, swung it open and slammed it shut behind herself. She stood in the hallway for just a minute, trying to get control of her anger before she called King to tell him what had happened.<
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She set off down the hall at a quick pace, her phone in her hand and King’s number ready. She heard the door she’d just slammed open behind her. “Eden, wait, please.”
Bliss rushed down the hallway towards her and Eden paused.
“I’m sorry. I’ll fix this. I’ll get you back,” Bliss said breathlessly. Her eyes were red, and her face was pale under her makeup, and Eden felt her anger growing again.
“They’re using you. They’ve always used you,” she said. “But this is ridiculous. You shouldn’t be objectified like this.”
“I know, I won’t do it. I trust you to tell me what’s safe and what’s not. I’ll get you back. It might just need to die down a little first. You could take a vacation! You hate being on the road, anyway. Bad hotel rooms, questionable food. Late nights,” Bliss said with a sad smile. Eden could see under the pile of makeup a young woman that had never known what it was like to walk outside and not be noticed. She was judged from her honey-blonde hair down to the polish on her nails.
During a rebellious streak a year or so ago, she had box dyed her hair purple behind her mother’s back. Eden wasn’t surprised when one of LA’s top hairdressers was roused out of bed to correct the audacity of a woman who’d chosen her own hair color without management approval.
For her age, Bliss was still very young inside. She’d lived in such a bubble she never got a chance to see or experience the real world. She’d been pampered and molded into the star she was her whole life.
Eden didn’t want to leave her and she wanted Bliss to stand up to her mom and manager and take control of her life. Bliss had it in her. Eden knew that she could handle things herself. But taking back her own life was scary. Eden knew that, and it made her sad that Bliss was the only one that could make that change for herself.