Beary Guarded (Polar Bliss Book 2) (2 page)

“I hope you’re hungry,” Jake said. “The cake is store-bought, but my mom and Chris’ wife made the snacks, and they said not to bring anything home.”

“I’m starving,” Nate laughed.

“Good,” John said. “Let’s eat.”

Chapter Two

Riley barely contained her laughter as she handed the customer his receipt, and wished him a nice day. Jane was sitting at the counter, drinking a hot chocolate, and playfully teasing Ridge. Her second oldest brother laughed loud enough to be heard over the hum of the espresso machine, and with no customers directly in front of her, Riley laughed, too. She loved the banter between the pair, and still couldn't understand why they were destined to be just friends.

Ridge and Jane got along better than any couple she knew, except—maybe—her best friend Jillian and her youngest brother Reid, which proved, at least in her mind, that a shifter’s innate ability to find the perfect mate was flawed. If Ridge and Jane weren't meant to be together, then perfect mates didn't really exist.

Not that it mattered. She didn’t want a mate anyway.

The bell on the door chimed, and the hottest guy she'd ever seen walked into the shop. He was about six-feet, two-inches tall, with blond hair and deep sapphire blue eyes. He had wide shoulders, muscular biceps, and thick, powerful thighs. His chest was covered in a fitted white t-shirt, and she desperately wanted to lift the fabric and check out his abs. When her gaze dropped lower, she flinched. The huge bulge in his jeans confirmed he was big everywhere, and fear raced down her spine, but it didn’t completely douse her lust.

What the hell?

She never lusted after men.

Ever.

In fact, until now, she’d given up on seeing any man as anything more than a friend, and even that was a stretch. The only men she really trusted were her brothers.

Mate!

What? No…he can’t be!

Underneath the surface, her bear growled, paced and tried to push her towards the man, but her human side knew better. He was a strong, powerful, drop-dead gorgeous wolf shifter, and his scent…oh god, he smelled amazing…but he was beyond pissed.

When he’d walked in the door, every woman in the place turned to look at him, but he’d ignored them all and stared directly at her. Unfortunately, the look on his face proved what she’d suspected all along…sometimes their animals made mistakes.

Seconds seemed to turn into hours as he glared at her with hate and disgust, and his disappointment was palpable as he digested the fact that he’d been saddled with a scarred, fat bear for a mate.

Regrettably, his anger didn’t curb her arousal.

Her pussy throbbed and her nipples hardened into firm, sensitive points. Luckily, full humans couldn’t smell her arousal, and the thick sweater she wore made it impossible for anyone to see how desperately she wanted him.

He took a step toward her, and she panicked.

I have to get out of here.

Didn’t he know that talking wasn’t necessary? She didn’t need his words to know he didn’t want her. In fact, no one did. His expression had made his feelings clear, and she saw no reason to stay and endure his humiliation. 

Luckily, she wasn’t the only one who’d noticed his beauty. Several women in the shop approached him at once, and he was instantly surrounded. Every woman except Jane, whether single or attached, vied for his attention, and she used the moment to escape.

“I have to go,” she whispered, pulling off her apron.

“Why? What’s wro—”

“Nothing!” she barked, interrupting her brother.

The sound had come out a little too loud, and she could feel her cheeks warming. She knew she shouldn’t be embarrassed, but she couldn’t help it. Her mate had found her lacking—something that wasn’t supposed to happen—and she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

She shouldn’t care, she didn’t want a man anyway, but she couldn’t help it. His rejection hurt much more than she wanted to admit, and he’d only seen her from the outside. What would he think if he ever saw the scar across her stomach, or found out about the dreams?

God, she was pathetic. No wonder he didn’t want her.

“It’s not nothing,” Ridge said, setting the finished drink he’d been making on the counter. “What’s going on?” He turned toward her, blocking her path.

She glanced at the wolf again, and saw him approaching the counter.

“Nothing,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

She ducked under his arm, and ran through the door leading to the kitchen.

Luckily, none of her brothers would allow a man to chase her.

“Hey, wait!”

“Sorry, man,” Ridge growled. “That door is for employees only.”

“Look, I have to talk to—”

She pushed open the door that led outside, and to the overhead apartment, and breathed a sigh of relief. A lot of tourists passed through Longmeadow, and hopefully her mate was one of them. Now that he’d found her, he could avoid her at all costs, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t.

At least not until he got the last word.

Shit!

She hadn’t thought about him returning to finish the job. She should have told Ridge to let him follow her so he could say what he had to say, move on and leave her in peace. Now, her only choice was to wait and see if he returned.

Her stomach rolled at the thought of being yelled at again by someone who hated her, and she ran up the stairs to the apartment, and hastily stuck her key in the deadbolt. Once inside, she ran passed the cans of paint piled in the middle of the main room, and made it to the bathroom just in time.

A thin layer of sweat dotted her forehead as she gathered her thick locks in her hand, and heaved the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl. Several minutes later, she rinsed her mouth in the sink, wrapped her arms around her waist, and slid down the bathroom wall to catch her breath.

When the tears started, she laid down on the cold linoleum floor, dragged her knees to her chest, and let them fall.

***

Nate had stayed in the sheriff’s office longer than he’d intended, but he enjoyed hanging out with his new team. John, Jake and Chris were honest, decent men who really cared about the town and its citizens. During their mock-party, Chris left twice to do his patrols, and Nate respected the man’s integrity. He’d been in plenty of offices where work didn’t get done if there was a celebration going on.

During the few hours they'd hung out, they did, indeed, eat all the food, which made John’s wife happy, and they’d also given him a present. The blue envelope sitting on his desk had been a gift card to an office supply store, and when he’d opened the drawers to his desk, he’d found out why. Apparently, office supplies were highly coveted by these men, and they all refused to share any of their stash with the others.

Their antics had made him laugh, and he made a mental note to double up on everything he could think of when he shopped. They had funding for supplies, of course, but the fund was small, and the ordering options were limited. He didn’t care about office supplies as much as the others, but he was the sheriff, and his desk needed to be stocked at all times.

When the party wound down, Jake followed him home, and helped him unload his truck. Together, they finished the job in less than fifteen minutes and when the man left, Nate collapsed on the mattress and box spring they’d placed on the bedroom floor. He had a simple, metal bed frame to keep it off the ground, but he’d been too tired to put it together.

He’d been too tired to do anything.

Sleep had come swift and deep, and he didn’t wake until the next morning.

After a quick shower, he grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys, and headed to
Polar Bliss
. He only had the weekend before his first shift Monday morning, and he needed to make a list of what he needed to get done, but he couldn't do anything without coffee. It was the perfect time to check out the town, starting with the quaint little coffee house.

He drove to the center of town and parked his car across the street from the shop. The window decor still made him smile, and when he walked inside, the smell of coffee nearly made him howl. A second later, another smell made him stop dead in his tracks.

Mate!

Holy hell!

Behind the counter stood a beautiful fairy goddess, with a long blue-black hair, and dark, chocolate brown eyes. She stood about seven inches shorter than him, and had curves that went on for miles.

His dick swelled to the point of pain, and though he could feel several of the patrons staring at him, he couldn’t look away from her beauty. His wolf paced and howled beneath the surface, urging him to claim her, and he barely suppressed a growl from escaping his lips when she looked directly at him.

A long scar started where her lips came together on the left side of her mouth, and seemed to disappear into her ear. It didn’t detract from her beauty, nothing could do that in his eyes, but shifters rarely scarred. They weren’t immortal, but they healed from most wounds easily when they took their animal forms. Scars only formed when something kept them from changing for over twenty-four hours.

She’d been hurt on purpose, and he wanted blood.

Sheriff or not, he would hunt down the person responsible for her pain and seek revenge.

He took a step toward her to declare his intent, and a group of women swarmed him. Word travelled fast in small towns, and judging by the multiple comments and wedding rings in his path, the badge bunnies were aware of his position.

He didn’t care about any of them.

He hastily excused himself, and pushed through the group just in time to see his mate disappear through an unmarked door.

“Hey wait!”

He moved to follow her, but another bear blocked his pursuit.

“Sorry man,” the bear growled in his face, “that door is for employees only.”

“Look,” Nate said, “I have to talk to her. She's my—”

He looked around and realized they’d gained the attention of everyone in the tiny shop. He couldn't say what he needed to say to make the man understand, so he took a deep breath and stepped back on the other side of the counter.

“Sorry,” Nate said, trying to ease the gossip. “I can talk to her later.”

The man nodded and went back to making beverages, and Nate ordered a black coffee, a
Polar Bare
, from the tall, auburn-haired human who had jumped behind the counter after his mate had run. From the way they’d been laughing and teasing when he’d walked in, he assumed the green-eyed beauty belonged to the male bear, though he hadn’t marked her yet. If he had, she would carry the bear’s scent and every shifter would know who had claimed her.

They must be still dating.

Nate shook his head and focused on his own mate. Their first encounter hadn’t gone the way he’d hoped, but though he was disappointed, he wasn’t about to give up.

He just needed to figure out a plan.

Several women tried to stop him on his way out of the shop, but he ignored them all. He usually had more tolerance for people in general, but he had a feeling tolerance went out the window when he’d walked into the coffee house and came face-to-face with his mate.

He only wanted one woman, and the sooner everyone in town figured that out, the better.

Chapter Three

Riley dipped the paint roller into the tray, gathered more paint, and rolled it on the wall. The soft, barely-there lavender color made her smile, and she was happy she decided to decorate the apartment in purples and blues.

Growing up, she could have repainted the soft white walls of the bedroom in her family home anytime, but she’d never felt the need. Probably because she loved Ryker too much, and ultimately thought of the house as his. Technically, the apartment was his, too, but it felt different…detached somehow…and she felt liberated inside of it. She liked being able to personalize the place.  

The sun had set hours ago, and after she’d cried until there were no tears left, she’d started painting. She knew her brothers had probably figured out where she’d gone, and though she felt guilty for not contacting them, and for leaving Ridge alone during a busy Saturday morning, she’d needed to be alone.

Her stomach growled again and she frowned. She’d skipped lunch and dinner, and the two bottles of water she’d survived on so far were waning. The only place she could order from this late was
The Bear’s Den
, but she didn’t want to go there, even for take-out. She didn’t want to risk running into anyone she knew, or her mate.

She’d have to go home, eat, and then come back.

She wouldn’t be able to avoid her brothers, but that was okay. She could deal with their questions and concerns, and put their minds at ease.

The moment she made up her mind to leave, she heard someone on the stairs, and a flash of panic raced through her before she realized it was Ryker coming to check on her. Sure enough, he used his keys to open the door, and her stomach growled again when she smelled the bag he’d brought with him.

It was from
The Bear’s Den
.

“Riley?” he called, carefully closing the door. One more step and he would have seen her standing in the living room, but she appreciated his attempt to give her some privacy.

“Yeah,” she answered. “I'm here.”

He walked further into the apartment and held up the bags.

“I thought you might be hungry,” he said.

The worry on his face was clear, and for a moment she felt guilty for not going out of her way to let him know she was safe. She opened her mouth to apologize, but the smells from the bag assaulted her senses, and her stomach retaliated with a loud, long growl.

“I'm starving,” she laughed.

She dropped the paint roller into the tray, and wiped her hands on the nearly threadbare t-shirt she wore.

After all the tears had dried up, she’d pulled off her oversized sweater and decided the old, plain white t-shirt she’d used as an undershirt could be sacrificed. There had been a couple of aprons in the pile of painting supplies, but the garments were stiff and hard to move in. Especially when she’d had to move up and down the ladder to tape the ceiling.

“Good,” he said, looking around the room. “You taped this yourself?”

“Yeah,” she answered.

“Very impressive,” he nodded. “It looks great.”

She’d already covered three of the walls, and had been in the middle of the fourth when he’d arrived. They both glanced around the room appreciatively, and then Ryker found a clean place to sit on the tarp and started unpacking the bags. Riley joined him, and smiled when she opened her container. Though she could shift into one of the most dangerous predators in the world, she still preferred chicken over beef; something her brother’s had never understood.

Ryker had brought her favorite, a crispy chicken breast sandwich with fries.

He let her eat in silence until only fries remained between the two of them.  

“Is he your mate?”

“Yeah,” she said, not looking up from her food. 

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice wobbly.

“Why?”

“You know why,” she said. “I don’t want a mate, and even if I did, he doesn’t want me.”

“What do you mean,
he doesn’t want you
?” Ryker asked. “Ridge said he tried to follow you, but he stopped him because you were so upset. That doesn’t sound like someone who doesn’t want you.”

“You didn’t see the way he looked at me,” she whispered.

“No, and Ridge hadn’t been paying attention, but Jane said his stare was pretty intense. She said all the women were jealous, even the married ones, because he only had eyes for you, and that he was obviously disappointed when you ran off.”

“He was only disappointed because he didn’t get the chance to tell me off,” she said.

“Tell you off?” Ryker questioned. “What are you talking about?”

She loved Ryker, but she so didn’t want to have this discussion. Her brother had been her guardian for over half of her life, and he was often more like a father than a sibling. She was grateful he didn’t see what the others saw, but she dreaded explaining it to him.

“He was angry,” she started, playing with the hem on her pant leg. “When he walked in and realized I was his mate, rage…rage rolled off him in waves. He was disgusted,” she said, her voice cracking, “and I know I should have been strong, but I couldn’t bear to hear it. Not in front of all those people. That’s why I ran. I’m sorry, I know it was irresponsible to leave Ridge alone, but I had to get out of there.”

“Don’t worry about Ridge,” Ryker said. “Jane helped with the rush, and when she had to leave, he handled things just fine. He’s not mad, and neither am I, but we’re both concerned about you. Why do you think your mate was angry?”

Damn it! 

“Look at me, Ryker,” she said, her voice rising. She looked directly at her brother, and let him take a good look. “I’m fat. I always have been, and I always will be. I’ve come to terms with it, but if that weren’t bad enough, I’m also scarred, and nothing will ever change that. No man—and definitely no shifter—will ever want me.”

“You’re wrong,” he said, in typical Ryker fashion. “You’re beautiful, and strong, and kind, and any man would be lucky to have you. I know you’re nervous, but all men aren’t like your ex. If this guy really is your mate, I think you should give him a chance.”

“I don’t want to give him a chance,” she said. “I just want him to go away.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Ryker said.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s the new sheriff.”

Well that figures!

“Great,” she said, deadpan.

She should have let him end it today.

“You know what I find funny?” Ryker smiled.

Funny?

What could he possibly find funny in this conversation?

“What?” she asked, slightly irritated.

“You said you wanted a puppy,” he laughed, “and a week later, a
dog
walks into
Polar Bliss.
What are the odds?”

“Oh, please,” she said, trying not to laugh. “The two things have nothing to do with each other.”

But she had to admit, it
was
strange.

“Right,” Ryker said, stretching out the word as if he knew some big secret. “Let’s finish that wall so we can go home.”

They put all the trash back in the bags, and while Ryker took it out to the dumpster, she finished the last portion of the wall, and then they cleaned up the paint supplies together.

Later that night, she thought about Ryker’s observation again, and smiled.

She knew it didn’t mean anything, but she couldn’t deny the fact that the wolf’s presence was an odd coincidence. She hadn’t met that many wolf shifters, but she’d heard they hated being referred to as dogs. She briefly wondered what the sheriff thought about it, before shaking her head to clear it.

It didn’t matter what he thought, and she would never get the chance to ask him anyway.

The next time she saw him, which she hoped would be soon, he would say what he had to say, and her heart would silently break, mourning the life she knew she would never have.

***

Nate hung up the phone and sighed.

“Another one?” John asked.

“Yep.”

“Lord, that’s over a dozen calls in two hours.”

“Sixteen,” Nate growled.

Fuck!
He didn’t have time for this.

“Sixteen? Damn, that’s more calls than we’ve had in the past year. I’ll take this one, and the next few,” John said. “They’ll stop once they see you’ve let the old man loose.”

Nate doubted it, but he didn’t say as much. Unfortunately, he’d been down this road before. Whenever he took a new job, fake calls from badge bunnies came in for days. When he’d found Riley—he’d learned her name from her brothers the next day—he’d hoped to stop the calls before they started by showing everyone who he belonged to. Of course, his mate had other plans, and he hadn’t seen her since.

After he left
Polar Bliss
on Saturday, he went shopping for a barbeque grill, and then groceries. With the cabinets and fridge stocked, he unpacked the few boxes he had and put everything away. Because he’d moved so many times, and spent most of his time in apartments, he’d had very few possessions to begin with, but when he’d bought the house, he’d downsized even more.

Aside from the bed, a dresser, and a small end table, he’d sold the rest of his furniture. As he ate dinner over the kitchen sink the night before, he realized getting rid of everything might not have been the best plan, but he didn’t regret it.

In fact, if his mate ever decided to talk to him, he’d be more than happy to let her pick out his new stuff, or or at the very least, help him decide what to buy. Sadly, he knew she would never come to him, and so far, he couldn’t’ seem to catch a break.

Sunday, he’d woken anxious and desperate to see the curvy beauty again, but when he arrived at the coffee shop, he was faced with her two brothers. He’d ordered a
Polar Bare
, and waited at the counter, but it had taken them an hour and a half to kindly reveal she had the whole day off. The older of the two had seemed to take pity on him, and after introducing himself, and his younger brother, he’d shared his sister’s name—Riley—and told him she’d be working today.

Nate had left the place hopeful, and went shopping for his office supplies.

Today was his first day on the job and he’d planned on visiting
Polar Bliss
during his first break, but neither him nor John had gotten a break yet today. Jake had worked the previous night, Chris had worked the mid-shift, and he and John had been answering the phone all morning.

He’d taken the first few calls so the public could get to know his face, and he could get to know the town and its residents, but that had been a mistake. It seemed the more people saw him, the more calls came in, and he was beyond annoyed.

He didn’t want to turn away anyone who really needed help, but after sixteen calls ranging from missing animals, suspicious men roaming the streets, and fake burglaries, he’d had enough. He’d been lenient so far, but if he didn’t get a break soon, the next person who called was going to get a lesson on exactly what constitutes a need to call the local police, and the penalty for wasting the sheriff’s time, money and resources.

John took the most recent call, and intercepted another on his way out the door. Surprisingly, the old man had been right. When word got out that Nate was no longer leaving the office, the calls almost immediately died. When John returned, they both breathed a sigh of relief, and an hour later, he left the office on foot and headed to
Polar Bliss
.

Walking had been another mistake.

Several residents, both men and women, stopped to chat with him along the way, and welcome him to the town, among other things. Thankfully, he’d always been good about identifying genuine, caring citizens from those who were just looking for a good time. He engaged with nearly everyone, but he quickly dismissed those looking for something he wasn’t willing to give.

When he got to the coffee shop, Riley was taking orders, and her oldest brother, Ryker, was making the drinks. Her head whipped up when he walked in the door, and a sense of satisfaction settled over him when he saw her face. She might have run two days ago, but she wasn’t completely unaffected by his presence.

There was only one person in line before him, and when the man finished, he eagerly stepped up to the counter.

“Hi Riley—”

“Let’s talk in private,” she said, rounding the counter.

“Okay,” he said.

She walked past him, and out the door, and he had no choice but to follow. Not that it mattered. He’d follow her anywhere.

She wore another oversized sweater, but her legs were encased in form-fitting denim. As he walked behind her, he noticed the heavy knit material had risen to uncover her ass, and his dick swelled.

Fuck!

For the first time in his life, he was jealous of a pair of pants.

Riley rounded
Polar Bliss
, and walked down a small sidewalk hidden between the coffee shop and the building next to it. The tiny paths were common on Main Street, and they provided street access to the apartment entrances most buildings had above their shops.