by J. K Harper
Everly murmured back, "It's a good place for a bunch of brothers to find their mates, it seems."
She looked over at Marisa's brother, Derek, who'd shifted back to human and now sat beside Casey farther down the meadow while the cubs still playfully tussled amongst themselves. Casey's laughter floated over. Jacob and Nita, their heads close together, their conversation animated, their body language shouting loud and clear that definitely something was going to happen between those two. Tobias—well, Tobias was always really busy with The Tank. But Everly happened to know that one of their servers, Carli, a human born and raised in Deep Hollow, worked there not just because of the job. Tobias was sure to figure that out one day, once he got his head out of being so deeply in the running of the place.
She closed her eyes, basking in the delicious warmth of the day, the always sexy feel of her big mate who held her so securely, the sounds of the laughter and playful shouts and conversation of her family, her friends, her dual clans. Everything was perfect.
Slade's suddenly startled voice in her ear had her snapping her eyes open. "Hey. Who the hell is that? It looks like—oh, hell, no. No way.”
He sat up, making Everly slide down his chest. “Cortez. Riley. Quentin. Is that who I fucking think it is?" The aggrieved tone of his voice made Everly sit up straight too, turning her head to see.
A big, broad guy was walking toward them, his large strides somewhat tentative. She squinted. "Is that?" A split second later, she recognized him. "Oh, wow. Hasn't it been forever since he's been back home?"
Slade's breath was a warm huff in her ear. "Yup. Way too long. Jackass," he muttered.
Hmm. This might be an interesting homecoming, Everly thought.
Cortez said in a flat voice, "What the hell does he think he's doing, just showing up like this?"
His voice quiet but somewhat wary, Quentin reminded his brothers, "This is his home too."
Riley and Cortez snorted their disagreement at the same time. "Well, he sure doesn't act like it," Riley said, his voice snarly.
Their mates looked at them, bewildered. “What is going on? Who is that guy?” Haley demanded. “You guys are acting like you hate him.”
Shane drawled, shaking his head, “Shit. I haven't seen him since—well, I guess not since high school."
Haley, Pix, and Jessie all stared at the guy as he approached. He looked, Everly thought, exactly like what he was. A Walker, although polished up by about a thousand times. Even so, he wasn't nearly as sexy as her Slade. She moved her hand back and rubbed her fingers through the beard on her mate's face. He murmured “Mmm,” but she could tell he was still staring at the approaching shifter.
Abby, ever the lodge hostess, stood up. “Quentin, did you know he was coming?"
Quentin shook his head. "Nope. Haven't heard from him in a while."
Slade added in a still irritated tone, "None of us have."
“But who is it?” Haley peered at the guy as Cortez held her close to him, more protectively than he had to.
Everly moved her hand back down to Slade's arms, which still wrapped tightly around her. She stroked him gently, curling her hands around his. “This should be interesting,” she murmured, more to herself than him. He just hmphed into her ear.
Tobias, still more interested in the plans he and Quentin and Abby had been looking at, replied to Haley, “Oh, that's our local hometown boy who made good. None of you told your mates about him?” he added, looking at all the male bear shifters present.
Silence greeted him. Tobias exchanged looks with Everly and Jacob, then just rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the tablet.
Clearly far more interested in this new development, Pix, Haley, Marisa, and Jessie stared hard at the approaching newcomer. In the meadow, the cubs had stopped rolling around, now sitting up as they all watched him too. Derek and Casey also stared. Everyone was silent.
Nita, who along with Jacob had stopped talking when the new guy's approach was noted, was the first one who called out a greeting when he was close enough everyone could see him clearly. “Hey, Bodhi. Long time no see.” She grinned, watching the ones who clearly hadn't yet realized who he was.
Everly smothered a laugh. She hadn't seen Bodhi for years, either. Snuggling down more into Slade's arms, she watched the fun show happening right in front of her as clarity abruptly dawned.
Haley suddenly sucked in her breath, eyes about popping out of her head. "Holy freaking shit. No way. Is that—”
"Bodhi Walker?" Pix finished for her, her tone just as shocked, although Beckett, beside her, was frowning at the guy as he approached, clearly also knowing who he was. “It is!” Pix's voice squeaked upward.
Still nestled against Riley, Marisa said, "Wait, like the actor? I've seen a couple of his movies."
Jessie sat up now, staring harder. “Whaaat?” Her voice squeaked slightly too. “Bodhi Walker? He's not an actor, he's a god of the silver screen! One of the biggest movie stars there is!”
Haley and Pix nodded in fervent agreement, their eyes fixed on Bodhi Walker as he approached.
Sighing a little dreamily, Jessie added, “He’s a shifter? Oh, cool. I always had the biggest crush on him.”
“Hey, I'm sitting right here, you know,” Shane protested, his bear rumbling in his voice. Jessie placed a firm, if somewhat distracted, kiss on his cheek.
Everly couldn't stop her snort of laughter this time as Nita rolled her eyes. She and Nita had known Bodhi since high school. To them, he wasn't quite a god. Just another local guy, who happened to have made it big. Okay, really big, but whatever. He was still just Bodhi.
Slade made a disgusted sound. “Oh for hell's sake, don't say that to him. He's not a god, he's just our brother.”
Another moment of shocked silence met that statement before four voices exclaimed in unison, “Bodhi Walker is your brother?”
Marisa raised her eyebrows at Riley, who shrugged. “We had more important things going on to talk about, babe,” he said, giving her a possessive kiss.
“True,” Marisa said, the smile on her face seeming as happy as Everly felt right now.
Jessie whacked Shane on the arm, who mumbled a protest while glaring daggers at the approaching movie star. “Your cousin is a superstar? You know, if you'd told me that sooner, we might not have had that long gap in between conceiving Grant and then you finding out about him.”
“What?” Shane roared, staring at his mate as if she'd grown a third head.
Jessie collapsed in giggles. “Gotcha!”
Shane rolled his eyes, then rolled them again when Jessie added, “But you still need to introduce me to him all proper-like, because he's your blood family and he's also a freaking honest-to-goodness movie star! I've never met one of those before.”
“Help,” Shane begged, frantically looking around.
Everly, her brothers, and Nita just laughed. They had no skin in this game.
Haley's jaw had dropped as she whirled on Cortez. “What? How could you not have told me this? Oh, my gosh, I've seen every single one of his movies! They’re the best!”
“Oh, dear god,” Cortez moaned, covering his face and shaking his head.
Beckett snickered.
Pix folded her arms and dragon-stared at Beckett. “How could you not have told me about him?”
Throwing up his hands defensively, Beckett protested, “Shit, he's not my brother!”
Pix turned to look at Everly. “You knew about him! You guys all went to high school together. How come you didn't tell us about the famous family member?”
“Girlfriends are supposed to share information like that,” Haley added with a decisive nod.
Everly smiled at them all, then answered very truthfully. “Because I was way too busy thinking about Slade every second of the day to remember to tell you all about Bodhi.”
“Awww,” Jessie said.
“That's my mate,” Slade said with triumphant pride, leaning his head around so he could land a soft kiss on t
he side of Everly's mouth. “Thanks, little fox,” he added in a whisper, his facial hair scratching delightfully at her skin.
“Always, big bear.”
The others finally started to get to their feet, ready to go meet and greet Bodhi. Everly started to rise too, but Slade tugged her back. He turned her so she was facing him and his suddenly shy-seeming smile.
“Ever, before Mr. Superstar over there graces us with his super shiny presence”—Everly swallowed a chortle—“I've got something I wanted to give you. Give back to you, actually.”
Puzzled, she looked at her big, sexy mate. Reaching out a hand to curve her fingers along his cheek, she said in all seriousness, “Slade, you've already given me everything I could ever have wanted.”
“There's one more thing I think you'll really want,” he said softly, reaching down to dig around in a pocket, then pulling out a closed hand. “As it turns out, this happened to still be in the possession of a certain bigoted bear bitch. I appropriated it back from her when she was dropped off at her new home in prison.”
He reached his hand over to hers. Still utterly confused, Everly automatically opened her hand.
Into her palm dropped a shining necklace.
Her necklace. Her sparkling, fiery orange-red imperial topaz necklace.
Shocked, Everly stared at it. It was in perfect shape, looking exactly the same as it had when she'd last seen it so many years ago on the day it was stolen from her.
Wild-eyed, she looked up at Slade. Unable to control the shaking in her voice or the tears that welled up in her eyes, she whispered, “My fox fire. You remembered.”
His own eyes suspiciously bright, Slade gently took the necklace, undid the clasp, and placed it around her neck. It settled into place, the gemstone resting perfectly against her skin. Just where it belonged. Her fox hummed and purred, the thrilled sounds vibrating through Everly's chest.
“Little fox, of course I remembered. I could never forget anything about you.”
Slade pulled Everly to him, tucking her into his arms, whispering kisses onto her hair. “You've always belonged here, Everly Vos. Here in Deep Hollow, here at the Silvertip Lodge, here with all your clan and community and friends of every type. Most especially, here with me. Always, little fox,” he murmured as he nuzzled her, holding her so close she could feel their heartbeats thumping in time together. “This is your home.”
Yes. Yes, it was. She knew it with every fiber of her little foxy self.
Right here, in this place, with this man, was exactly where she belonged. Forever.
* * *
I hope you enjoyed Firefighter Bear! Slade & Everly’s story was both sweet and uplifting to write.
Want a sweet holiday tale in the Silvertip Shifters series? Grab CHRISTMAS NIGHT BEAR: WYATT. Read on for a sneak peek of it!
Be sure to read more Silvertip Shifters:
Hunter’s Moon: Quentin - Quentin & Abby
Mountain Bear’s Baby: Shane - Shane & Jessie
Taming Her Bear: Beckett - Beckett & Pix
Rescue Bear: Cortez - Cortez & Haley
Ranger Bear: Riley - Riley & Marisa
Firefighter Bear: Slade - Slade & Everly
Superstar Bear: Bodhi - Bodhi & McKenna
Christmas Night Bear: Wyatt - Wyatt & Brynna
* * *
In the mood for something that’s sweet and romantic but still scorching hot? Check out my Black Mesa Wolves series, which is connected to the Silvertip Shifters. Start with GUARDIAN WOLF!
For sizzling hot, super romantic dragon shifters, check out my Dragon Mates series. It’s the same world as Silvertip Shifters and Black Mesa Wolves, although the books are set in a big city! The first book is DAZZLED.
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Scroll to the next page for a sneak peek of CHRISTMAS NIGHT BEAR
Sneak Peek! Christmas Night Bear
Brynna Darby flung up her hands in victory and hollered out to the cold December sky, "YASS!"
Whooping with joy, she danced on the cement pathway beside the railing decorated with shiny garlands of red and green in honor of the holidays. She didn't care one little bit about looking like a total goof in front of others who also traveled the frozen Silvertip Creek walkway. She was a freaking champion runner, woot!
Just moments ago, that final daunting hill had appeared ahead of her, right at the point when her leg muscles usually started to scream in protest. But she'd gritted her teeth, dug in, and pushed her way up the short but steep hill. Passing her trainer in a burst of speed, huffing out a single shout of laughter as he muttered something about dirty pool, she'd raced up that hill on two legs that today felt as strong and solid as they'd ever been.
She was just about healed up from her injury. That meant she was thisclose to being able to escape her hometown once more. This time, she would never look back.
A quiet grumble very deep inside her floated up, but Brynna ignored it. No. Deep Hollow was her past, and she wanted no part of it anymore.
With a somewhat theatrical groan, Thor, her sister's fiancé and also Brynna's physical therapist and training partner, reached her side. "Way to hand a guy his balls," he complained cheerfully if also slightly breathlessly. "Good job, Bryn."
He smiled down at her with the genuine pride of a trainer who had done his job well, then gave her a brotherly ruffle on her head. "You owned this run. Just like you owned the last several runs. So,” he drawled out with a big grin, “I think we're gonna have to declare you officially fit and ready to go back to work, little deer."
Breath catching in her throat, Brynna ignored the irritating nickname as she stared up at him. “Shut up,” she said in a near whisper. “For real? You're going to declare me fully healed?”
Thor nodded. “You just ran like you were on fire and beat the hell out of me. For the third time this week, no less. My official word is that you're healed, sister-to-be,” he said in a gentle but firm voice. “For real.”
With another happy shriek, Brynna leaped forward to give him a quick hug before whirling away to dance an even more excited jig on the pathway, scattered snow crunching underfoot. This time she got more stares and a few giggles from passersby, but they all still seemed cheerful. This time of year did that to people.
She felt utterly giddy with happiness. She was whole, she was healed, and most importantly, now she'd be able to get the hell out of tiny shifter town Deep Hollow, Colorado, a.k.a. the bane of her existence. Just being here, trapped at her parents' house for the past six weeks while she recuperated from a bad tibial fracture caused by that distracted teenager driving his scooter like a madman through Rome, had been making her go mad.
Just holiday nerves, the little voice in her mind whispered in a comforting tone. Reindeer don't go mad. They just sometimes play their reindeer games is all.
Rolling her eyes and frowning at the same time, Brynna shoved the thoughts away. No. She didn't have holiday nerves, and she never played games. She was simply ready to once again flee her stifling hometown. Being an invalid sucked, and she’d struggled being back here where everyone had expectations of her. She was ready to leave, and that was that.
Even though, she had to grudgingly admit, Deep Hollow was pretty cute right now. Everything was decorated for Christmas and had been since the day after Thanksgiving. Everyone she saw was cheerful and laughing, beautifully decorated trees were on display in living room windows every night, and carols tinkled from speakers in every store in town. Secretly, so very secretly, she thought it all looked charming. Welcoming. Filled with a bunch of happy fa la la la la and abundant joy that actually did lift her spirits. Somewhat.
But all that didn’t matter now. She tipped up her chin in determination. She, Brynna Elyse Darby, had a nice life outside of this backwoods little town, and she was going back to it as soon as she could. Her best life was lived far away from this place and its unsettling memories.<
br />
This place is home, the whisper inside her came again. Home.
She stopped dancing, a small frown drawing down her mouth. That was what she really didn't like to think about. The part of her she wanted to leave behind, trapped back here in Deep Hollow forever. The part with demanding requirements she’d fled years ago. The part of her that had left behind a hometown that thought she should live up to a tradition she wanted nothing to do with.
The part of her that also had left behind a piece of her heart, no matter how darned much she tried to deny it.
A flash of something that felt like pain whipped through her. Sexy blue eyes and amazing lips that could kiss her senseless slipped through her thoughts, making everything inside her squeeze together and suck away her breath.
No. She was done. The other night had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she’d made the right decision when she’d left this place years before. She was leaving again, and no one could stop her.
Least of all the sexiest, most irritating, possessive, and downright heart-tugging bear shifter she knew. The panty-melting kiss she’d shared with him the other night had once again rocked her world, but no. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t, go back to this life. She sure as hell wouldn’t go back to a—a—a dominating, domineering, jealous jackass of a guy who wanted nothing more than to keep her here and never let her leave again.
Hmph.
She didn’t care that he still was the one and only guy in the world who could kiss her with an intensity that made her deeply hidden inner self kick up her heels and do a dance of joy. Brynna Darby wouldn’t let anyone tell her how to live her life anymore, and that was that.
Whipping a stiff smile back onto her face, she walked around the pathway railing to drop into some light post-run stretches. "You're awesome, Thor, thanks. You're the best physical therapist in the world, and the best guy I ever could've wanted for Alina. I'll tell her she can keep you," she added with a decisive nod of her head as she stretched her quads.