by Lola Gabriel
She’d sat up until three a.m. researching shifters on the internet. Of course, most of the information only came from legends and stories, but from what she had gathered, Lewis had told her the truth about the immortality and the silver, although she found no mention of Ure. She learned that shifting was a choice; she could go through her whole life without ever becoming a bear and that suited her down to the ground. Those creatures were vile, evil monstrosities and she wanted no part in becoming one.
She was just going to live her life as normal and try to forget this had ever happened. And if she felt the evil side of her taking over, she would act on it then.
As she lay in bed now staring up at the ceiling, she smiled bitterly to herself. This had certainly solved one problem—finding Mr. Right. There was no way she could enter into a long-term relationship if she wasn’t going to age.
1
Present Day
Rachel smiled at the man as he gave his name.
“Take a seat Mr. Duncan. I’ll let the doctor know that you’re here,” she said.
Mr. Duncan walked away from her window and she marked his name as present on the computer screen, knowing that Dr. Gordon would see the message and call Mr. Duncan in when he was ready for him.
She glanced back up and saw Melanie, another one of Dr. Gordon’s receptionists, walking through the waiting room and she pressed the door release button. Melanie ducked inside and closed the door behind her. She pulled a face of disgust.
“Ugh,” Melanie said, a shudder going through her. “I hate having to walk through the waiting room every time I have to go and get a signature for something.”
“Why?” Rachel asked, glancing up from her computer where she had gone back to typing up letters for patients.
“The patients waiting to be seen; they’re coughing and sneezing and spreading who knows what germs,” Melanie said, shaking her head.
“I never really notice,” Rachel said.
“Yeah, because you never get sick,” Melanie said. “In the last month I’ve had two colds and a stomach bug from this place.”
Rachel made a sound she hoped sounded sympathetic. In truth, she just wanted Melanie to change the subject. Over the last eight years, she had pretty much gotten used to being a bear shifter. She had never shifted—she just didn’t let it affect her daily life—but it seemed that one of the benefits of immortality was no longer picking up any human germs. It made her uncomfortable whenever the conversation came around to anything about that sort of thing. Maybe working as a doctor’s receptionist isn’t the best idea, Rachel thought to herself, not for the first time. It was certainly somewhere where talk of germs was rife.
Rachel thought in general she managed to hide her lack of illness pretty well. She made sure she got the yearly flu shot she didn’t need to keep up appearances and twice over the four years she had worked here, she had called in sick and stayed home for a few days, just to keep suspicions low. She would have done it more often, but she felt guilty about the lies.
“Come on, Rach, what’s your secret?” Melanie asked, sitting down at the computer next to Rachel’s. “Do you take some weird concoction of herbs or something?”
“No,” Rachel laughed, hoping she didn’t sound like she was nervous. “Just a multivitamin every day. I guess I just have a good immune system.”
That was a lie on both counts. Rachel had something far superior to a good immune system and she had never taken a multivitamin in her life.
“Maybe I should start that,” Melanie said. “If it stops me getting sick all the time and makes my skin as amazing as yours, I’ll be happy.”
“Oh, I have Acure Skincare to thank for my skin,” Rachel laughed.
Another lie. Her skin had never been clearer and her hair had never been shinier since she had become a shifter, but she suspected a big part of it was because she didn’t age. She had already had to move away from her family and friends before they started to get suspicious. She now lived in Fredericksburg where she tried to keep a low profile. She was friendly with the other people who worked here, but she made a point not to get too close to people so when she inevitably had to move away again at some point down the line, it wouldn’t be quite so painful to leave everyone she knew behind.
She had lost all of her old friends when she came here. Even Beth had given up on her after a couple of years of her claiming she was too busy with work to visit home or host Beth at her place. It had hurt her to slowly lose all of her old friends, and even now, she often wished she could call Beth and just tell her everything, but she knew she could never do that, and she knew a clean break was the only way forward. It wasn’t fair to keep pushing Beth away and expect her to not ask questions.
She had bought herself a couple of extra years here. When she had arrived, she had told people she was twenty-four. She hoped that her lack of aging wouldn’t be as apparent when people believed she was younger than she actually was. In human years, she would be thirty-two now, and she figured she could get another four or five years out of her looks before her lack of aging started to draw too much attention to her and she had to move on.
The only person who she kept in touch with from her old life was her father. Her mother had died when Rachel was in her early twenties, and she had no other family. Her dad traveled a lot, and they mostly communicated through emails and phone calls, something that had used to upset Rachel but she was now grateful for. She knew she would have to see him face to face at some point and come up with some explanation for her youthful looks, but she didn’t want to dwell on that. She would deal with it if and when it happened.
The door to the doctor’s office opened and Rachel glanced up. A woman was walking toward the window. She turned back to her screen, knowing it was Melanie’s turn to deal with the window. The woman sneezed and Melanie made a scared little squeaking sound.
“Will you take her?” she asked Rachel with a pleading expression.
Rachel laughed and nodded her head. Maybe a doctor’s receptionist wasn’t the best choice of career for her with her discomfort at discussing why she never got sick, but it was an even worse choice for Melanie, a self-confessed germophobe.
“Can I help you?” Rachel smiled at the woman.
“Yes. I’m here to pick up a prescription for my dad, Terrance Brown,” the woman said.
Rachel smiled and flicked through the signed prescriptions in the box. She found the right one and had the woman confirm Terrance’s address. She smiled and held the prescription out to her.
“Here you go,” she said.
The woman thanked her and left and Rachel turned back to Melanie.
“See? She wasn’t even sick. She was just collecting a prescription for her dad,” she said.
Melanie didn’t look convinced.
“She could still have a cold or something, you know. And if she didn’t when she came in, I bet she did by the times she left,” she said.
Rachel laughed and Melanie laughed with her.
“I know I’m crazy working here when I hate germs so much, but, I mean, no one really likes germs, do they?”
“No,” Rachel agreed.
“So, any plans for tonight? A hot date I should know about?” Melanie asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Fat chance of that,” Rachel said. “I’m going to grab some takeout and go home for a night of Netflix and chilling, where that actually means vegging out and watching TV.”
“Oh, but it’s Friday night,” Melanie protested. “Why don’t you come out for some drinks with me and Jo if you don’t have anything else planned?”
Rachel told her she would think about it, but she already knew she wouldn’t be going. The last time she had gone out with Melanie and Jo, she’d had a good time, but they had spent a large portion of the night talking to guys and flirting with them. Rachel hadn’t dated since the night she was turned into a bear shifter and she liked it that way. She still hadn’t figured out a way to have any sort of relationship with a guy w
ith such a big thing hanging over her head, and she had no intention of seeking out other bears. The idea of cavorting with monsters who used women as breeding machines was too much to bear. She had had a few one-night stands, but they never really satisfied her and she had pretty much given up on those too.
By the time the office closed for the evening, Rachel was looking forward to a nice quiet few days to herself over the weekend. She figured she might go out and do a bit of shopping Saturday morning, but that was her only plan.
“So?” Melanie said as they grabbed their coats and handbags and headed out of the office. “Have you decided to come out with us tonight?”
“Maybe another time,” Rachel said.
“Boring,” Melanie said in a sing-song voice.
“Just tired,” Rachel laughed.
They locked up the office and headed for the parking lot.
“If you change your mind about tonight, just give me a call,” Melanie told her as she got into her car.
“Will do,” Rachel replied.
She got into her own car and put it into drive, pulling out of the parking lot and joining the flow of traffic. She debated where to go to eat and settled on the diner down the road from her. She could park the car at home and walk down to it and then maybe she could have a glass of wine with her food. Her mind made up, Rachel headed home. She parked and went inside, deciding that she might as well change out of her work clothes.
She went upstairs to the bathroom and brushed her teeth, and then went into her bedroom. She stripped off the black pants and white blouse and changed into a pair of denim leggings and a yellow tank top. She brushed her hair and reapplied her lipstick and then she grabbed her handbag from where she had slung it on the bed and went back out.
She arrived at the diner a couple of minutes later and ordered a cheeseburger and fries and a glass of red wine. She took a table by the window so that she could people-watch. She sat looking out into the street, watching the world go by. Her attention was caught by a door opening on one of the houses opposite the diner. A man stepped out and looked over toward the diner.
Rachel’s breath caught in her throat when she saw him. He was like perfection personified, she thought to herself. He was tall, easily six feet, and muscular, his shoulders broad and square. His dark hair was cut in a buzz cut that suited him, making his square jaw stand out. Even from across the street, Rachel could see how brilliantly green his eyes were. For a moment, it felt like he was looking right back at her, holding her gaze.
She felt her body come alive as she looked at the man, and she pressed her thighs together, feeling the delicious tingles spread through her center. Her nipples hardened beneath her top.
“Here you go, hon,” a voice said from beside her.
Rachel turned to see a waitress putting her wine and her food down on the table. She cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks turning pink at the thoughts she had been having about the man across the street. She knew it was crazy, but she somehow felt like the woman would know exactly what she was thinking.
“Thanks,” she managed.
The waitress flashed her a smile and moved away from her table. She picked a French fry up and looked back out of the window, but the man was gone. Feeling strangely empty now that he was no longer there, Rachel looked down at her plate. She looked up as the bell above the door tinkled, signaling someone was coming in. She audibly gasped when she saw the man from the street standing in the doorway to the diner.
2
Bastian Marlowe smiled at the man sitting opposite him. Brady was his go-to guy in Fredericksburg, keeping everything running smoothly for him as he was based in Houston and couldn’t get out to the smaller towns within his district as often as he would like to. As the alpha bear for District 212, it was important to him that every pack member was kept updated and in line, and thus, it was important to him to have people in each area whom he could trust. Brady had never let him down yet, and his relaxed manner now told him that wasn’t about to change.
“Would you like anything to drink or eat before we get started?” Brady asked.
“No, I’m good, thanks,” Bastian said.
He was a little bit hungry, but he was hoping to get this wrapped up quickly and be back on a plane to Houston within the next couple of hours. He would grab something at the airport.
“Okay,” Brady said. He looked down at a folder he had open in front of him on the table. “Did you get a chance to look over the financial reports I sent you?”
Every month, Bastian had his people in each area mail over a financial report for the pack members within their respective areas.
“I did. It looks like you’ve all had a good month up here,” he said.
“We have,” Brady agreed. “Simon has opened a new winery which has really boosted our earnings, and Fiona has just been promoted, so her salary has gone up too.”
“Anything going on with Lewis?” Bastian asked.
“There’s been nothing in the news to imply he’s been active. No local disappearances or anything, but then this area was never really his hunting ground,” Brady replied.
“No, he mostly concentrated his efforts in Houston, but it always pays to be alert,” Bastian said.
“Indeed,” Brady agreed.
“Is there anything else of note?” Bastian asked.
“There is one thing,” Brady said. “Malcolm has met a girl. He’s confident she’s meant to be his mate. She knows he’s a bear and she’s had a test done. She carries the Sanmere protein in her blood and Malcolm would like permission to turn her and have her join the pack.”
Bastian sat up straighter, this bit of news piquing his interest much more than the numbers had.
“Have you met her?” he asked.
“Yes, a couple of times,” Brady said. “I like her. She’s levelheaded and she seems to have put some thought into the implications of immortality. From what I’ve seen, she’s genuinely in love with Malcolm.”
“Good,” Bastian said.
He had heard stories of human women who learned of the shifter world and went out of their way to meet a shifter just to gain immortality. Those stories never seemed to have a good ending, either bringing hunters or press attention when the girls turned and then couldn’t resist bragging about it to the wrong people.
“What do we know about her?” Bastian asked.
“She’s thirty-two, but obviously if she does turn, her genetics will revert back to those of a twenty-nine-year-old. She’s a surgeon at a local hospital and she volunteers for several charities,” Brady replied.
Bastian nodded thoughtfully. She sounded like she would be a good asset to the pack.
“I’m happy to authorize the turning and the mating assuming you don’t have any objections to it,” Bastian said.
“I don’t,” Brady confirmed. “I think she’ll be a good addition to the pack both personally and financially.”
“Right. That’s settled, then,” Bastian said. “Is there anything else to report?”
Brady shook his head.
“Good,” Bastian said. “There’s been rumors of a hunter in the Dallas area. As of yet, nothing had been confirmed and no deaths have been recorded in our pack or any of the other shifter packs in the area. Oscar is ahead of the situation and is taking proactive steps to confirm whether the rumors are true or not. It’s not something I’m worried about at this point, but just a heads-up to keep your eyes open. If there is some truth to the rumor and the hunter has gotten word that we’re aware of their presence, they may move on to another part of the state.”
“Noted,” Brady said. “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open as always.”
“Perfect,” Bastian said. “Now if there’s nothing else…?”
Brady shook his head and Bastian stood up and offered Brady his hand. Brady stood up quickly and shook his hand.
“I’m sorry that this is a quick visit this time, Brady, but I would really like to get back to Houston tonight,” Bastian said
.
“No worries,” Brady replied with a smile. “I’m sure you have plenty of business to attend to.”
“As always,” Bastian smiled.
Brady began to move toward the door, but Bastian shook his head, smiling again.
“I think we’ve known each other long enough to ditch the formalities,” he said. “I can see myself out.”
“Have a safe flight,” Brady said, hanging back in the kitchen.
“Thanks. Take care, Brady, and remember, I’m only ever a phone call away if you should need anything,” Bastian replied.
The two men shook hands again and Bastian headed to the door. He checked his watch. He had an hour before he had to leave to catch his flight. He pulled the door open and closed it behind him. He glanced across the street and instantly, he felt his heart skip a beat and his cock start to twitch. His bear stirred inside of him.
In the diner across the road from Brady’s house was the most beautiful woman Bastian had ever seen. She had long, blonde hair, which she was wearing loose around her face. Her hair was straight and shiny and Bastian couldn’t help but imagine running his hands through it. She had a nice body, athletic and slim with big breasts.
Bastian’s eyes lingered on her breasts for a second and then they went back to her face. She wasn’t just pretty, she was beautiful, and Bastian knew he had to have her. For a second, as he looked at the woman, she caught his eye. Her eyes were ice blue, so intense in their color that he could make it out even from across the street. Bastian’s bear growled inside him as lust spread through his body.
The woman in the window turned away from him, breaking their eye contact, but Bastian was already hooked. He knew he wouldn’t be making that flight tonight, because all of a sudden, he was in the mood for a bite to eat in a diner.