Mending the Bear Read online

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2016 Vanessa Devereaux

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-796-9

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Audrey Bobak

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  For all the Kalispell Shifters readers.

  MENDING THE BEAR

  Kalispell Shifters, 13

  Vanessa Devereaux

  Copyright © 2016

  Chapter One

  Ian slipped the key into the lock as quietly as he could. He gently opened the door and tiptoed into the hallway. He sat the bouquet of flowers down on the table by the coatrack and decided to strip off before he got to the bedroom. That would make the whole thing more exciting for his mate. He knew exactly where she’d be at this time of the day. At home and tucked up in bed after her night duties at the shifter hospital. He’d been planning this for weeks, and at one point had almost let it slip what he’d been planning to do for her big day. It wasn’t every day that his mate turned thirty. He’d not only bought flowers, but honey-flavored chocolates, too. The icing on the cake would be a special birthday fuck that she’d still remember when she turned eighty.

  His cock was already hard and ready just thinking about the afternoon ahead. He wasn’t the most romantic of bears, but this was a milestone for her and he was going to be Mr. Soft and Gooey just this once. Ian crept along the hallway, along to her room where he heard her groaning and moaning.

  Guess he couldn’t blame her for doing a little self-pleasuring. After all, it was her special day and she could do what she damn well pleased. Despite them having frequent sex, even he found the need to jerk off now and then.

  She groaned again.

  Maybe she was tense about growing older and thought she’d find some release by climaxing.

  “Fuck me like there’s no tomorrow.”

  It was Joanne’s voice. He put his nose into the air. She wasn’t alone. Not only could he smell her and the fact that she was very highly aroused, but whoever was in there with her was even more excited.

  He’d fucking kill whoever it was. Ian opted not to open the door; that would be too subtle. Instead he decided to kick it in. It now stood suspended by just one of its hinges and lay on its side in her room. There on the bed was Joanne riding Max. She was cheating not with another bear, but a dirty cougar shifter.

  They both turned to look at him.

  “Oh my God, Ian … this wasn’t…” she shouted. She lifted herself off Max and walked toward him, her thighs glistening with her juices. Ian was sure he was going to throw up at the sight of her and how she’d found such pleasure with someone besides him.

  “This wasn’t what?” asked Ian, throwing down the chocolates and flowers and realizing he was naked and standing there looking like the biggest fool of all.

  Max got off the bed and threw the bedsheet around his private parts.

  “It wasn’t how you were supposed to find out,” Joanne said.

  “You mean find out that you’re a cheater and a slut,” shouted Ian.

  “Hey, watch your mouth, that’s my woman you’re talking about,” Max said.

  The smell of their union filled the air making Ian almost want to run and vomit. His woman. How dare he? She was Ian’s and always would be.

  “You’re woman. She’s my mate,” Ian said, taking two strides over to him. He threw a punch at him. Max fell back on the bed and then got back up and hit Ian, knocking him to the floor. He got up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “I’ll fucking kill you,” said Ian, getting to his feet again.

  “Stop it, stop it, both of you,” Joanne shouted.

  “You’re my mate and don’t you forget it,” Ian said, wiping his mouth and seeing blood smeared on the back of his hand.

  “Ian, I can’t be your mate anymore. I’ve waited so long for you to ask me to marry you. Turning thirty has made me realize what I really want from life and it’s not you. I want Max and I want to have Max’s children.”

  “You’d sink so low as to have babies with a cougar?” Ian asked.

  “Lots of the shifters marry outside their species, you know that. Look how many are even marrying humans now,” Joanne said.

  “You know how I feel about that,” said Ian. A sure sign of a traitor.

  She tried to put her hand on his arm, but he snatched it away. “I’d like us to stay the best of friends,” she said.

  “Friends with you. A woman who sleeps around behind my back. You’ve broken my heart.”

  “Ian, please, don’t be like this. Be happy for me that I’ve found someone special.”

  He glanced down at her belly and spotted her mating ring which wrapped all the way around her navel with not one tiny opening to be seen on her skin. These two weren’t just fucking this afternoon, they were trying to make a baby.

  How could she do this to him? Because they’d been together since they were five. She was his mate, and he was hers. He picked up the closest thing to his hand which was Joanne’s favorite vase, and threw it through the window and then growled. Next he got hold of the bedside table and threw it on the floor.

  “I will have the last laugh, Joanne. I truly will.” He turned and ran out of the room and down the hallway.

  “Ian, please, let’s talk,” Joanne said, catching up with him in the hallway.

  “Nothing more to talk about,” he said, quickly putting his clothes back on. Tears were forming in his eyes. He’d never thought a heart could be broken, but he was pretty sure that’s what was happening to his right this second. Crumbling like an old brick wall that had seen better days.

  He put on his leather jacket, went out the door, not bothering to close it, and headed to his bike. It’s all he had to love now.

  To hell with the helmet, a head injury was the least of his worries. He started up the bike and pushed on the throttle.

  Joanne ran to the door. “Ian, don’t go off like this. Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Stupid. The only stupid thing he’d ever done was love and trust her.

  He stuck up his middle finger to her. “Bitch.”

  He pushed his foot on the accelerator. He was going to ride and ride, maybe not even stop for red lights, not worry about the hairpin bends, like the one Danny Ahern had taken before the drunk driver had ended his life.

  Yeah, maybe he’d meet a similar fate.

  Tears stung his eyes as he picked up speed. Right now he envied Danny. Dying was much better than living with the pain of what Joanne had done to him.

  Chapter Two

  “So what do you think?”

  The hairdresser held the mirror up to the back of her head and spun the chair around slightly so Eve could see how the new hairstyle looked on her.

  She hadn’t chopped off more than a couple of inches of her hair since she’d been in high school, but today, she’d taken the plunge and the hairdresser had even talked her into adding some highlights around her face. She was hesitant at first, but finally gave in. After all, she was new in town, taking on a new venture, and as she’d told herself when she’d left Florida, this was her me time. No husband, no commitments, no worries, just doing whatever she damn well pleased for once in her life.

  “I didn’t tak
e off too much, did I?” the hairdresser asked.

  Eve realized she’d been lost in thought. “No, it’s great, perfect in fact.”

  “Good to hear and I have to say, it suits you. Frames your face well and the highlights really add some pop to those beautiful eyes of yours.” She snapped open the robe, removed it from her body, and then brushed the stray hairs off of Eve’s shoulders.

  The whole process had taken a couple of hours, but she guessed it had been worth it.

  “I’ll give you my card. You’ll probably need it trimmed about every six weeks, and the highlights about every eight, but let’s get a schedule together so you only need one booking.”

  Pampering herself wasn’t something that Eve was used to doing, so this was going to be a real treat every other month or so. She followed the hairdresser down to the front of the salon to the reception desk.

  “Do you need any styling products or shampoo?”

  “No, I have plenty of those,” Eve said.

  “Then your total for today is $145.”

  Eve had never paid that much to get her hair done, ever, but this was a special treat and she was heading to the North Kalispell and Glacier Chamber of Commerce meeting and wanted to make a good first impression on the other members. She handed over her credit card, glancing one more time in the mirror. She really did like her new look.

  “There’s your receipt and my card.”

  “I’ll definitely be back because it feels so good already.”

  “Have a good rest of the day. Glad to see the rain finally stopped.”

  Eve grabbed her raincoat, put it on, and headed out to her car. The lot had been full when she’d arrived for her appointment and the only spot she’d found was by the edge of the road. Now the whole place had emptied out and hers was the lone car. She ran her hands over her hair and shook her head. The shorter length would probably take some getting used to.

  She approached her vehicle and heard the sound of a motorbike heading her way. She turned around just as a guy riding the bike, hit a puddle, shooting water and mud directly up into the air and landing on her like a shower. Mud rained down from her hair onto her cheeks. She even had some in her mouth which she spat out.

  “Why you, bastard,” she shouted after him.

  He was going so fast all she could see was the back of his leather jacket with the emblem of a grizzly bear on the center of it. How dare he ruin her hair after she’d spend all morning getting pampered. She wiped her fingers over her face, seeing the tacky mud clinging to them. She got into her car and glanced in the rearview mirror.

  She looked like she’d been mud wrestling and her once lovely new hairdo was now ruined. Even her highlights were dulled with caked mud. She leaned over and put her forehead on the steering wheel and began to sob. When would her run of bad luck finally stop? She slapped the top of the wheel with her hand, accidently blasting her horn. She raised her head and glanced in the mirror one more time.

  That guy had ruined her day. If she ever saw him again, she was pretty sure she’d kill him.

  Chapter Three

  Ian turned the bend that led into the northern most part of Kalispell where most of his fellow shifters lived and worked. Many of them owned businesses here, including Max’s family who owned Goodsen’s supermarket, where Max was the manager. Ian knew he shouldn’t direct his anger at the rest of the dirty cougar’s family, but he had to let off steam somehow or this bear would go crazy. He slowed his bike down and decided to turn into the supermarket’s parking lot. He turned off the ignition. Maybe it wasn’t the family’s fault that they’d raised a mate stealer. But then again, maybe it was. He swung his legs over his bike and marched toward the entrance before he changed his mind. The glass doors swished open and he stepped inside. Music played softly through the speakers on the ceiling as customers milled around as if this was any other day. Maybe for them, but not for him.

  The image of Joanne and Max together sprang into his mind again. He clenched both his fists. How dare he steal his mate? How dare they carry on like that behind his back?

  Ian knew he should have turned, walked out of the place, gotten back on his bike, and driven away. That’s what a sane bear would have done, but he was as pissed as hell and he was going to send Max and the rest of the Goodsens a message. Do not mess with a bear and do not steal a bear’s mate. He marched back to the fish department where he often purchased the salmon filets that were, in his opinion, the best in town. Amazing how a cougar knew a good one from a bad one. Maybe Joanne had been advising them all this time. Shit, just how long had Joanne and Max been sleeping together? Bile rose in his throat again. The image of her bouncing on his dick still burned an image in the retina of his eye.

  He strode over to the display, put his hand into the freezer, and pulled out a few packages of salmon. He ripped them open and thought about eating some of them, but in his human form, raw fish probably wasn’t going to be that great. Ian had never been a fan of sushi. Instead, he simply threw them on the ground, moving along the freezer and doing the same to the rest of the fish.

  He looked around to someplace else where he could release his anger. Of course, the baking aisle, lots of things there to cause havoc. He headed there, seeing bags of flour that he knocked to the floor and then sugar, which he simply flicked with his finger. Next he turned his attention to the bottles of oil, and one by one he batted them to the ground, a few of them splitting open and sending their contents streaming along the floor. A shopper turned into the aisle, took one look at him, and fled.

  That’s it buddy, run like hell because I’m one bad bear.

  Ian surveyed the damage. Shit, he’d created a mess. Maybe Max, when he was finishing fucking Ian’s mate, would have to clean it up.

  What would he do as his grand finale? He eyed one of the empty checkouts and knew exactly what he was going to do. He walked over to it, went behind the register, and switched the button on the microphone until it flashed red.

  “Clean up on aisle five. Maybe Max can get a mop and bucket. That is if he can get his cock out of my mate’s pussy for more than five minutes.”

  A few customers looked over at him while shaking their heads. One even put her hands over her little boy’s ears. Yeah, that should cut down on business for the Goodsen family for a while. And Ian wouldn’t step foot in this place ever again, even if he now had to forgo his generous shifter discount.

  “Ian, just what do you think you’re doing?”

  Oh shit, it was Max’s brother, Ned, running toward him.

  Ian didn’t want to get into a fight, well not in his human form. Bear versus cougar meant Ned would get his ass handed to him. Ian started backing toward the door, not wanting to pick a fight with a guy who he’d always liked despite him being a cougar.

  “You tell that brother of yours he’s a dick, an asshole, a bastard, and a mate stealer.” Ian guessed that just about covered the whole spectrum of what he thought about the guy’s baby brother.

  “Is this about him and Joanne?”

  So Ned knew. Who else knew and hadn’t told him? Guess he’d now be the laughing stock of the group.

  “And give him another message for me,” Ian said, sticking up his middle finger.

  “Real classy, Ian, real classy, but what should we expect from a dirty bear like yourself?”

  Shit. Dirty bear? He’d crossed the line. No one called a bear dirty.

  Ian turned, took a run straight at him, and landed the hardest punch on Ned’s face.

  “You’ve broken my nose, why you piece of bear shit…”

  The blood began to drip from Ned’s left nostril so Ian knew it was time he hightailed it out of the supermarket before Max’s other brothers joined in the fight. Ian ran out to the parking lot, jumped on his bike, and now deeply regretted even going into the store. Did he feel any better? No, he still felt like shit. Did any of his actions get Joanne back? No. In fact, she was probably going to hate him when she found out what he’d done. The other
shifters probably wouldn’t be happy with his behavior either. Drawing public attention was a no-no. He’d be ostracized for a while until this whole thing blew over.

  He could hide out at Cade or Doyle’s place, but both his brothers were out of town. He accelerated out of the lot and headed to the one place he knew he always be welcome.

  Chapter Four

  Eve heard the commotion at the front of the supermarket and was thinking about leaving because it sounded like things were going to get ugly, but she needed to pick up some hairspray to try and repair the damage to her new hairdo. She’d managed to comb most of the mud out of her hair, but she needed something to hold it in place. Her raincoat still looked like crap, but hopefully the dry cleaners would be able to work some magic on it. Now if she got the hairspray and hurried, she still could make it to the chamber meeting.

  She rounded the corner and next thing she knew, she was on her back and looking up at the neon lights that hung from the supermarket ceiling. She smelled fish. Eve looked around at fillets of salmon surrounding her. In fact, by the squishy feel under her butt, she’d say it was what she’d slipped on.

  “Miss, are you okay?”

  She looked up to see a man holding a blood-stained paper towel up to his nose. Eve sat up. “I think I am.”

  “Just sit and make sure nothing’s broken before you get up. I can’t apologize enough, but we had an irate customer who went a little crazy a short while ago.”

  He offered his hand to Eve and she slowly got to her feet. Her ankle felt a little sore, but she wasn’t going to say anything in case he thought she was out to sue the supermarket for their negligence in not cleaning up the mess.

  She looked down the aisle ahead of her. Looked like one big baking disaster with flour, sugar, and oil. All it needed were few eggs thrown in there and they could make a cake.