Firefighter Bear (Silvertip Shifters Book 6)

by J. K Harper

  Nita took a bow. “Thank you,” she said in a chirpy voice, though she didn't stop looking at Slade. “It's a great point. One you should strongly consider.” Her eyes bored into Slade's.

  He glanced around the room. His crew. They all knew him well. They'd all borne the brunt of his despair, his anger, when he'd come back without Jacob. They also all apparently knew too damn well that he and Everly had been dancing around one another for years now.

  Bunch of nosy clowns.

  Slowly, he backed away from Mahon, then extended a hand to him. Mahon looked at it somewhat suspiciously, still visibly trembling. Slade heaved a breath. Time to apologize yet again. He was on a damned roll. “Fucking hell, Mahon. I'm not going to kill you. Just—shit, I'm sorry. I took that comment too personally. I was out of line.”

  After another long silence, with everyone in the room still watching with avid interest, Mahon blew out a shaky breath. He reached out and let Slade pull him off the wall. “Yeah, well, I guess I was too. But I really didn't mean that in a bad way, Slade.” He looked into Slade's eyes before quickly looking away.

  “I know. I just took it wrong.”

  Mahon shrugged weakly. “I'll never say anything about her again.” Apparently sensing Slade was definitely not going to kill him, he got a little bolder. “Except she's good people, and I do mean that.”

  “She sure is,” Nita said before Slade could even answer. She gave him a glare like she double dog dared him to disagree.

  He looked around the room, filled with his tough-as-nails hotshot crew. They were his family as much as his own literal family. They probably knew when he was covering shit up. Hell, he always knew it about them when they had crap going on in their own lives. He gave in. “She damn well is, that little fox.”

  “Well said,” Riley murmured, looking down at his paperwork with a faint smile.

  As if a collective sigh of relief was expelled, conversation picked up as everyone relaxed and went back to business as usual. Then the crew house phone rang. The room abruptly went quiet once more. Since he was standing right next to it, Slade answered. The voice on the other end made him sigh before he said a simple “Yes” into the phone.

  Hanging up, he announced, “Okay, Mahon. I might have to kill you after all. We've just been called up to the Flathead Fire in Montana. Gotta head out first thing in the morning, losers. Everyone get ready.”

  Instant pandemonium. A few crew members rounded on Mahon, who threw his hands up in defense while he cast a wary eye at Slade. Everyone else immediately began moving around with purpose, each one tending to their pre-assigned tasks to be sure the crew had everything it needed before they went north in the morning.

  Blowing out a breath, Slade watched the bustle for a moment, his thoughts churning. This was the worst possible time to head out for a fire, right after that brain-searing, body-lighting kiss last night. The bright ignition of something between him and Everly might be snuffed out yet again.

  He growled under his breath. No way. He wasn't going to lose this chance.

  Riley came up to him, giving Slade one of those wise looks he'd mastered years ago. After a beat, he quietly said, “I don't know exactly what's going on with you and Ever right now, but it sounds like it might be a good thing.” His face twitched with an approving smile. “And Nita's right. Don't keep making things worse for yourself. It's a lot better to live, Slade. Trust me on that one.”

  Slade nodded. While everyone else bustled around, he pulled out his phone and whipped out a text to her, unwilling to call her in front of the others. This definitely needed to be private.

  Hey, I'm Slade. I'm the jackass who's been a jackass to you too long now, and I need to apologize one more time. We're being called out in the morning. You working tonight? I want to take you to dinner if not. Hesitating for only a second, suddenly terrified she'd woken up this morning thinking what a drunk idiot she'd been last night and it was all a mistake, he hit send.

  The long wait for her reply left him feeling almost sick to his stomach. He finally breathed when she texted back, Got my shift covered for tonight. Better be a good dinner to make up for the tips I'll miss out on.

  Her text ended with a smile emoji. A little smile, not one of the huge grinning ones, but a smile nonetheless. Seeing it made him smile too, like damn crazy fool.

  He shot back, Meet at my cabin. 7pm. Been too long since you've been up there.

  After another long moment during which he almost passed out from holding his breath as he stared at his phone, she replied. Sounds like a good plan, big bear.

  His breath rushed out hard, then he grinned like a fool.

  Ah, hell yeah. Maybe, just maybe, he had a shot to fix things with his little fox after all.

  7

  The Silvertip Lodge grounds sprawled out around Everly as she took a deep breath filled with combined pleasure and nerves. Pleasure because she was here, one of her most favorite, good-memory filled places on earth. Nerves because even though she'd always loved the lodge, it also always made her nervous, with all the different shifter types who vacationed here. She'd had a few ugly encounters with some of them over the years. Some of them ignored her, shunned her, because of her lowly fox status.

  Frowning at the bad memories, she turned her face to the sky and closed her eyes, just breathing in the smell of the woods for a long moment.

  She used to tell Slade about her encounters with some of the nasty guests, long ago when they were in high school and he started to invite her up here. His face would get red, his eyes would go shocking bright gold with the anger of his bear, and he'd want to turn into his animal and beat up on all the clueless shitheads, as he called them. But of course he couldn't ever do that. The Silvertip Lodge was a place that welcomed outside shifters, it was the family business, and having a wayward son of the clan attacking guests wouldn't look so good in online reviews.

  “We shouldn't let fucking assholes like that even come here!” he'd privately rage to his folks, to his brothers, storming across the floor of his parents' house while Everly would try to shrink into the walls and disappear, mortified at having caused a situation. His mother, Elodie, one of the kindest shifters Everly knew, would set her troubled gaze on Everly, beckoning her over and whipping up a quick, homey meal for everyone while Slade bellowed and roared, his brothers similarly angry.

  She knew the Walkers did their best to include statements like “while all shifter types are welcome here, brawling and ugliness are not” on the lodge brochures. But they couldn't control anyone's attitude or actions, aside from being firm on the no-fighting policy at the lodge.

  Everly shook her head, opening her eyes. Bad old memories. She didn't want to think about them. Right now, she wanted to soak up this beautiful place she truly loved. She hadn't been up here for a while, unfortunately. Several months. She never wanted to run into Slade, since he'd made it so clear he didn't want to be around her anymore after Jacob died. The last time she'd been here was…hmm, in February. For a Valentine's Day dance the lodge held for guests. She'd danced with a few shifter guys who were nice enough, but she didn't return their interest. She clearly remembered Slade being there, watching her dancing with one of the visiting shifters, glaring at her with eyes black as thunder. She'd withered under his gaze and gone home right after that song ended, convinced he was pissed she was up there in his turf, somehow ruining his night with her presence.

  After their kiss last night…well, now she wasn't so sure anymore that had been the real reason. Because oh wow, that kiss. That kiss spoke a world of information about how Slade Walker might really feel about her. Smiling at the memory of it, the feel of his mouth still branded against her lips, she slowly strolled from where she'd parked down the road from Slade's cabin. It was hard to park right by his place since it really only had enough space for one vehicle, and she actually enjoyed the quarter mile walk up from the pullout just before all the small, winding roads that led to the clan member's individual cabins. The trees were b
ig and quiet, the birds still cheerfully squawked and chattered to one another in the early evening air, and the pine needles crunched under her feet.

  Everly knew her face was stretched out into an enormous grin, but she couldn't help it. This place was and always had been sheer heaven to her.

  Her pleasure was instantly diminished when she abruptly caught sight of two giant bears brawling in the woods, about fifty years from the road. Shocked, she stared. What—?

  She gasped. One was Quentin, the eldest Walker brother. The other was Slade, getting the crap ripped out of him.

  “Slade!” she cried out, but of course they couldn't hear her over the thunderous noises of their battle.

  Irrationally, she felt the chittering urge of her fox to run over there and stop it. She snorted under her breath, wide eyes still fixed on the enormous brawling creatures. As if a tiny fox shifter like herself could do that. Even so, she felt the push of her fox to change. To go over there and do something to help him, anything. The scent of her fur filled her nostrils. Jolting forward despite herself, she started to race toward them. She had to stop this.

  Someone grabbed her by the elbow. Everly yelped in shock, twisting and snapping, her fox too riled up to be reasonable. As soon as she saw who it was, she calmed—but only a bit.

  Abby, Quentin's mate, shook her head at Everly, still holding her tightly. “No. Let them finish.”

  Aghast, Everly stared wildly from Abby back to the fighting bears. “What? Why? What's going on? Why he won't defend himself?” Her fox twirled inside her, still wildly agitated. Pushing at Everly to leap out, to go bounding over there. To help Slade. “He's dripping blood. Why is he letting Quentin tear him up like that?” She ineffectively pulled against Abby's grasp. Abby was a wolf shifter. She was much bigger and stronger than Everly.

  Abby's gaze on her was soft and compassionate. “Oh, Ever. It's because of you. I don't know exactly what triggered him to come in to Draft 'N Brew the other night to tell you he was sorry about whatever he was sorry about, but something really big is going on with him.”

  Everly stared at her in panicked alarm. “Me?” Her voice was a mix between jagged human whisper and fox shriek.

  Shrugging, Abby turned her gaze back on her mate and Slade where they fiercely brawled in the trees. “Apparently he thought he needed a beat down. He couldn't travel far enough to get to a sanctioned fight tonight since the hotshot crew is leaving tomorrow, so he goaded Quentin into it. He shifted and charged him, so of course Quentin also shifted.”

  Horrified, Everly just stared at Slade getting the crap whaled out of him by his brother.

  “Quentin doesn't mind too much,” Abby said, her voice gentle, if still concerned. “He likes to keep his brothers in line. You know he won't really hurt him, Ever,” she added firmly. “He's just…I'm not sure. Giving Slade what he thinks he needs, I guess.”

  Everly's fox snarled and snapped inside her, desperate to get out. She forced herself to stay still, to watch the spectacle of the enormous silvertip grizzlies shaking the ground with the force of their charges, ripping at each other's hides, drawing blood and flinging tufts of fur everywhere. Despite herself, she shivered as an unbidden memory rose in her head. Grizzly bears taunting her in grade school, bullying her and Tobias and Jacob, mocking them for being lowly fox shifters. Then, as they got older, flat out ignoring them all. Shunning them as a lesser species compared to the might of being grizzly shifters.

  She shook her head in a sharp movement that startled Abby. No. These grizzlies weren't those jerks from her childhood. These were Silvertip clan grizzlies. They were good, and accepting of all shifters.

  Her heart abruptly ached as Slade got pummeled again by his brother's massive claws. Slade. Slade, her one-time good friend, her confidant, the one person on the planet Everly trusted above all others outside her own family.

  Slade, who for some crazy reason was hurting so much right now, because of her, that he felt he needed to take a beating, to have his blood shed.

  She wanted nothing more than to lurch forward and somehow save him.

  Unexpectedly, she got her wish. Slade caught sight of Everly and abruptly jerked to a standstill, staring at her. Quentin got in a huge blow that shocked him as much as anyone, and he stopped too. He let out a distressed bellow as Slade turned and limped off toward his cabin, leaving behind a trail of blood.

  Abby finally let go of Everly. Softly, she said, “Go to him. I think he needs you.” She gave Everly one more worried look before she shifted into her wolf form, trotting over to her mate to nuzzle him. They both turned to watch Slade as he moved off, looking as uncertain as Everly felt.

  Her fox pushed so hard Everly could feel the fur starting to sprout, could feel her own sharp teeth, started to see the colors and shapes of the world morphing into something different as her fox tried hard to take over her body. Gasping in a breath, she found her courage. I've got this, she sternly whispered to herself. To her fox. Maybe to Slade.

  Holding still until she was positive she'd keep her human form, she followed Slade to his cabin, quietly but unhesitating. She didn't take her eyes off him the entire way, skirting around the giant paw prints that sometimes were filled with blood. She walked faster as her determination grew. She would show up for him, for herself, even if there was sadness and pain.

  No matter what happened next, she was in. All the way.

  8

  Everly hadn't been inside Slade's cabin in forever. Since long before Jacob. Built by his own hands, as were all the family cabins up here, Slade's was the most compact but also the nicest. In her very humble opinion, of course. Her fox murmured quietly inside her, calmer now, as Everly approached the cabin where she'd spent a lot of time just hanging out and goofing off with Slade over the years. This place felt so familiar to her, it was almost like coming home. Built out of wood taken from these very mountains, stained a beautiful shade that was a blend of soft crimson and coral that Slade had always said was just like the color of her hair, the place had a modest second story rising above the ground floor, with a broad deck wrapping around almost the entirety of the place. She knew large windows on the back side offered spectacular views of Silvertip Ridge rising far above, while the front windows faced into the deep woods.

  As she followed him, frowning at the blood spatters he left with each step, he unexpectedly shifted back to human right before the stairs. Her jaw fell slightly as she stared. Well, hello there. Uh. She slid her eyes away for a second, then slid them right back. It wasn't like shifters didn't turn from human to animal and back again right in front of one another all the time, buuut…yeah. She had to admit that seeing Slade naked was very intriguing at the moment, despite the circumstances. She couldn't help but admire his tight body, honed with muscles everywhere. Her mouth went dry as she thought of how she'd kissed him, at the thought of the feel of those muscles under her hands. He glanced back at her as he climbed the stairs. His face still had blood running down it, even after his shift.

  “Sorry you have to see me like this,” he started to say, his voice still deep with the presence of his bear, before abruptly shutting his mouth. He must have noticed the hungry way she was looking at him. She flushed, but didn't look away. He paused and almost stumbled on the steps. They stared at each other for a long moment. Then he softly said, “I gotta jump in the shower. I made stuff for dinner earlier, we just have to let it cook. Come in. I'll be out and decent again in a few.”

  He held the door open for her, going in ahead of her and letting her catch it as he strode down his hallway on his incredible legs to shower. Hmm. Maybe he was a little discomfited by being around her naked right now too, even though they'd done so a thousand times in their lives.

  Everly found a smile tugging at her lips, despite her concern over his fight with Quentin, despite the way Slade still looked banged up, despite everything. Her fox purred.

  Humming under her breath, she finished cooking and then setting out the simple but nice dinner he'
d made for them. All the Walker boys know how to cook reasonably well, having been sternly taught by their mother when they were young and assured that basic talent would always go a long ways in impressing the ladies. Everly had spent many meals in the Walker family's home when she was in high school, sometimes watching the boys being taught how to cook by both Elodie and Oberon Walker. Good memories. She relaxed more as she fished out the silverware from the kitchen drawers, knowing exactly where to find everything.

  This felt so familiar, so comfortable, it could have hurt because of how long it had been since she'd been here. But it didn't. It just felt…right.

  When Slade came back downstairs, he was clean and dry, simply dressed in jeans and a plain black t-shirt. All the blood had been cleaned away, though he sported a long scrape on one arm. She knew it would heal quickly though, simply due to his having shifted once already since the fight.

  He eyed her legs under her lightweight, clingy pants, then wagged his eyebrows at her. Apparently he felt better already. “Nice gams you got there, Ev.”

  She caught her breath, suddenly flustered again. His tone was both light yet heavy with a ripple of appreciative desire. Swallowing hard, she nodded in thank you. Despite the grin on his face, his eyes were intent. Serious.

  Hmm. Well, two could play that game. “Nice glutes, Slade,” she tossed back, letting her tone and expression echo his.

  She was rewarded when his eyes widened and his breath shortened, the cheesy grin slipping a bit. Ooh, yeah. Zing to you, big bear.

  She'd been unsure when she came here what might happen between them. Unsure exactly what she wanted to have happen between them. But being around Slade was just…well, he was just Slade. Her best friend for nearly half her life now. The only one she'd ever felt truly safe confiding in, aside from her family.