Fast and FURious Bears: BBW Bear Shifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 4) (7 page)

The cars didn’t look that different. Not to Amanda’s eye, anyhow. It was true Amanda worked at a car dealership and spent every day around expensive automobiles. But she didn’t spend much time concentrating on the cars. After all, it was the people who mattered on the dealership floor, just as they did now, behind the wheels of these race cars. And even though the vehicles looked similar, the drivers couldn’t be more different. Tom was to her right. And Greg was to her left.

She didn’t hate Tom. To be fair, she barely knew him. But if Tom was capable of the behavior she had witnessed last night, and if he had slept with her to manipulate Greg, she could only imagine what he held over him. The thought of the evening she had spent with Tom now sent a creepy shiver down her spine. It should never have happened. This race was proof of that.

Both cars were silent before her. Amanda didn’t know much about street racing, but Brandon had filled her in, and in terms of being the flag girl, there wasn’t that much to know. Brandon would indicate that they should start their engines. Then she would drop the flags. Soon after, the cars would come racing past her again. Greg would be declared the winner, Tom would get the hell out of town, and she’d celebrate Greg’s victory under the condition that he never, ever partake in something so juvenile again.

Easy peasy. Now she just needed to drop the flags.

Brandon walked up behind her and raised his arms, deliberately tapping his wrist three times. It must have been the signal to start their engines because Tom fired his car up, revving up a storm. Exhaust filled the air. Tom’s look was intense, focused. He looked as if he could kill. Greg turned his car on a moment later. He revved it, but nowhere near as hard as Tom had. Amanda looked into Greg’s eyes. He was calm, cool, and modest. Nothing like the ferocious beast she saw lurking in Tom, and she loved Greg for it. She loved his reason and balance, but it also worried her. She worried that Greg might be out of his depth.

Engines revved, the odor of exhaust pungent in the evening air. Amanda knew what she had to do. She glanced over at Brandon who gave her the nod. Then she dropped the flags in one smooth swoop.

Engines roared.

Tires squealed.

And they were off.

Chapter Seven

Greg focused on the road ahead as the flag went down. The look in Amanda’s eye had been one of steeled resolve and it gave Greg strength. His bear vowed to fight for her. He would race and win.

It wasn’t that big an ask. Greg was confident he could take Tom. Tom was good, but he wasn’t that good. Greg had beat him in the past, and he would beat him again. Tom’s problem was that he was all rock and no roll. No balance. He lacked the ability to truly focus on what mattered. The air outside was all fumes and gasoline, but inside Greg’s car, it was pure concentration. Both cars had leaped off the starting line with the same roar, but it wasn’t the car that was going to win this race, it was the man.

Tom started out strong. Greg let him. The race was about winning. Not leading. Let him wreck his car if he wanted to. Greg felt his adrenaline surge as they snaked around the bend. He followed closely behind Tom’s car, almost kissing his bumper. He knew the road better than Tom, and the next curve would offer him an opportunity to overtake him on the inside. It was a risky but calculated move. Getting ahead of Tom at that point in the race would offer him a compelling advantage. After that, he’d be able to control the pace.

The road snaked around, and Greg downshifted, seizing his advantage. There was a cliff on one side of them, and a rock wall on the other, but this was the time to be aggressive. This was his chance to make Tom flinch.

The younger man had learned something since their last encounter, though. He stuck to his guns, hammering it hard in the tight turn. Too hard and he’d go over the edge. Greg knew that. So did Tom. Greg slipped up between Tom’s car and the rock wall. There was room, but not a lot.

Go for it.

Greg sped through the gap. Almost made it, too. But Tom sandwiched him in. Metal ground as the sides of their cars briefly touched. Stupid move. If either of them wanted to win, they needed an intact car to do it. Tom forced Greg into the rock wall. Two could play at that game. Except there was a cliff on the other side of Tom’s car and Greg was no murderer. Greg tapped his brakes and lost his side mirror as Tom zoomed ahead.

It went on like that, cat and mouse, and all Greg could think about was how he had driven Tom to this point. They had been friends once. Bears in the city. But a woman had come between them. And that woman had died. Now, while no amount of racing could change what had happened, this race, this last contest between them, could influence the future. Greg had already lost one woman. There was no way he was going to lose Amanda.

Greg sped on, neck and neck with Tom until they reached the final stretch. Greg knew it would come down to their nitrous-oxide-fueled boost bottles at the end. Somebody would have to take the plunge first, but not too soon. The person who boosted last would win. Greg could see Tom in the driver’s seat as they raced down the straightaway. You needed nerves of steel for this game. Nerves of steel and the willingness to wait out your opponent.

And Tom didn’t have them. He speared his vehicle down the straightaway, hitting his boost. Tom’s car took off ahead of Greg’s, but Greg wasn’t worried. He knew Tom would run out of juice and Greg would take the lead. But as Greg looked ahead, he saw a problem. The road had been deserted for the entire race, but now he saw a semi-truck. It appeared to have stalled in the oncoming lane, right before the finish line. There would be no room to overtake Tom at the end of the race.

Greg had to do it now.

He brought it up to the redline and hit his own boost.

Greg was rocked back into the seat as his car flew ahead. Tom was already losing speed, but Greg was going on strong. He rocketed up right beside him, the two cars inches apart. Going the distance. Going for speed. But only one of them could squeeze past the semi-truck first. Only one could be the winner.

Tom stared over at Greg.

Greg glanced over at Tom.

Too bad, bear. You lose.

Greg redlined his car. He didn’t care if the engine blew. Another second and a half and he’d have it. He’d squeeze past the semi-truck before Tom. He’d win. But then he saw Amanda. She had stepped into the road, just behind the finish line, holding the flag.

What are you doing there? Move!

She needed to get out of there. They continued to grind on, two cars’ widths heading for a single lane. Greg hammered it. But so did Tom. They were going fast. Really fast. If one of them didn’t clear the semi-truck first, they would do more than wreck their cars. People could get hurt. Amanda could get hurt.

They were neck and neck, facing down the narrow squeeze, but it was too dangerous.

Somebody had to man up. Somebody had to make the call.

Greg knew he couldn’t be a part of something like this again. Something had to give and that something was him. Greg tapped the brakes. And in a split second, Tom accelerated ahead of him and entered the single lane before Greg. Greg sprinted to the finish line on Tom’s tail, but Tom crossed the line first.

**********************

By the time Greg got out of his vehicle, Tom was already surrounded by spectators. To the victor went the spoils. But Greg didn’t see Tom as the victor. Not under the circumstances. Not when people’s lives had been at risk. Tom broke free from the crowd.

“I suppose we won’t be seeing much more of you,” Tom said.

“The road was too tight. You know it as well as I do.”

“You’re just a sore loser,” Tom said.

“And you’re dangerous.”

“I still won,” Tom said.

“I suppose you did. But you and I are going to talk,” Greg said quietly through clenched teeth.

Amanda wormed her way through the crowd. “Let’s get out of here, Greg.”

“No. He said he wants to talk, we’re going to talk,” Tom said.

Greg took Tom aside to the forest beyond the road.

“You endangered Amanda,” Greg said. “She was standing down there.”

“And for the last time, you lost,” Tom said. “Time to pack your bags.”

“You could have killed her,” Greg said.

“Well, I guess I missed this time,” Tom said.

How dare he be so cavalier.

Greg felt a rage so intense take possession of him that he was powerless to stop it. He shifted. Greg didn’t care that his bear had welled to the surface with such frightening intensity that he hadn’t even consciously chosen to shift. He could not believe Tom had deliberately endangered his mate.

Greg’s bear leaped forward as Tom shifted before him. Tom’s bear retreated, backward into the forest, but Greg’s bear was on him within seconds. This was no playful skirmish of frisky cubs. This was war, and Tom was far out of his territory, not to mention a smaller bear. Greg’s bear pounced on him, swiping with his powerful claw. Tom’s bear bit at Greg’s neck, but Greg’s bear responded with another vicious swipe to the head. Tom’s bear was bleeding now. He let out a whimper, but Greg’s bear bit at his rival’s neck, going for the kill…

“…Greg.”

Greg thought he heard something in the back of his head.

Probably just that whiny Beta, Tom, begging for mercy.

“…Greg.”

Beg on, Beta. I’m not stopping now. Not after, what you’ve done.

“Greg, please let him go, this isn’t you.”

Shut your foul mouth, Beta. You’re dead to me.

“Greg. Please stop. It’s me, Amanda.”

And Greg turned, blood on his snout, to see Amanda standing there, tears in her eyes. He lifted his paw, freeing Tom’s bear. Tom’s bear ran into the forest, and in that moment, something in Greg switched over. Without even realizing it, he shifted back to his human form. And Amanda turned away, leaving him standing naked and alone in the forest.

**********************

Amanda couldn’t believe what she had seen, and she wasn’t referring to the bears. You couldn’t work at a place like Wild Alpha Auto for as long as she had without suspecting something was up. Not to mention that her best friend Jada was terrible at keeping secrets. No, Amanda had known about Greg’s bear for some time and had gotten more or less used to the idea. The fact that Tom was a bear was a surprise, but given Greg’s shifter status, it hand’t taken her long to wrap her mind around the idea.

No, it wasn’t the shifter thing, but rather Greg’s behavior that freaked Amanda out. Greg had always been firm but caring and kind, however, when she saw his bear tearing into Tom, he was none of those things. And she hadn’t liked what she had seen.

Amanda needed to talk to Greg about what she’d witnessed, but he didn’t come into work the next day. Brandon said he’d called in for another personal day. However, Tom showed up. Tom’s car had seen better days, but he was healthy as a horse, only the tiniest of scratches visible on his nose. Amanda overheard him speaking to the other detail guys in the wash shack.

“It’s not always speed,” Tom said. “It’s will. You need to have the will to do what the other guy won’t do.”

“Is that what you did?” Amanda said, entering the shack.

Tom looked up. “I won, didn’t I?”

“You crossed the finish line first, if that’s what you’re asking,” Amanda said.

“You’re just pissed your boyfriend didn’t put it down on the track,” Tom said.

“Greg’s a bigger man than you’ll ever be. And I mean that in more ways than one.”

“Ohhh… them’s fighting words.”

“Do yourself a favor, Tom. Next time you sleep around, A—tell the girl what you are, and B—” Amanda raised her thumb and forefinger measuring a three-inch distance. “Do it with somebody who won’t kiss and tell.”

Tom blushed as the two other guys in the wash shack broke into laughter and Amanda left without another word.

**********************

Amanda went to see Greg right after work. His apartment door was open, so she poked her head in.

“Greg.”

Greg looked up from an open cardboard box. Pictures had been taken down from the walls and a mattress sat on its side in the hall. Greg was packing.

“What are you doing?” Amanda asked.

“Moving.”

“Why?”

“You know the deal. Loser leaves Wild Summit. I lost.”

“But you lost on purpose. You said it was too dangerous to push through to the end.”

“A bet’s a bet, Amanda.”

Greg sealed up the box with packing tape.

“Is this because I saw your bear?” Amanda asked. “Or because Tom is a bear too? Or because you almost killed him?”

“It’s not about that,” Greg said, looking up from his packing.

“Then what’s it about? Tell me.”

“It’s about doing the right thing. For everybody involved.”

“You know what, Greg? I don’t think that’s it. I think something happened in your past. Tom knows about it and he’s holding it over your head. And don’t make this about your bear, either. I saw him and I’m fine with him. This isn’t about doing the right thing for everybody. This is about doing the easy thing for you.”

Amanda didn’t know what else she could say. So she left.

**********************

Greg finished packing. Dealing with Amanda had been hard. But it was better to sever ties now. He knew what Tom would do if he stayed. Tom would reveal what had happened in the city so many years ago, and that was something he didn’t want people in Wild Summit to know about. No, better that he leave now. Quietly. Before things got a whole lot worse.

Of course, there were loose ends. And not just Amanda. Much of Greg’s life had been lived in Wild Summit. He’d gone to school there. Worked there. And now he was going to leave there. The irony was that if he hadn’t been so attached to the place, he might have stayed. But not with what Tom held over him. He couldn’t bear the community knowing.

Greg needed air. He decided to take a walk to clear his head. The apartment was basically packed. The movers could do the rest. He knew where he was going. His father had bequeathed him a place in the city several years ago. It was sitting empty, but now that he was getting out of Wild Summit, he was happy to have it. It was a place to go to. A place to start over.