Home Or Her Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Bluff Clan Book 4)
Read Home Or Her Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Bluff Clan Book 4) Online
Authors: Harmony Raines
Tags: #General Fiction
Home Or Her Bear
Bear Bluff Clan
(Book Four)
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Note from the author:
My books are written, produced and edited in the UK where spellings and word usage can vary from U.S. English. The use of quotes in dialogue and other punctuation can also differ.
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All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.
This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.
© 2015 Harmony Raines
Silver Moon Erotica
Kindle Edition
Melanie watched the truck drive past the store window. She was altering a dress, ready for a Bear Bluff wedding on Saturday, but as usual, when she heard the big truck driving down the road, she had to try to catch a glimpse of the driver. She had no idea of his name, or anything else about him for that matter.
Except for one thing.
He was her mate
.
“Everything OK, Melanie?” Alli asked.
“Yes,” Melanie answered, feeling guilty, although of what, she wasn’t sure. “I was just checking the weather. It’s icy out there. I don’t want you slipping over. Not when the baby is so close to being born.”
Alli rubbed her swollen belly with the palm of her hand. “I wish the baby would arrive. I am fed up of this waiting.”
“Not as fed up as Kian. He’s like a bear with a sore head.” Melanie laughed at her own joke, and soon Alli joined her. “There, that might get the baby moving. A good laugh always helps.”
“Kian is as impatient as me, if not more. He is so broody.”
“Now he’s settled financially, he’s going to want a big family, you know.”
Alli went and put the kettle on to make some tea. “What about you, Melanie? It would be great if you found your mate and settled down. That way our cubs can run and play together.”
Melanie quickly went back to her work. “No chance of that.” She wistfully looked up, imagining the truck driving by and having to stop. For some reason the driver would have to come into the store and she would be there, their eyes would meet and he would realise who she was.
“Daydreaming again?” Alli asked, handing her a cup of tea. “You know if there’s anything you want to talk about. I am here for you, Melanie.”
Melanie looked up at her sister-in-law, and smiled, she couldn’t have wished for a better mate for her brother, Kian. “Thanks, Alli. But I’m content with the way things are.”
“That’s a cryptic answer,” Alli said. But didn’t pry and Melanie loved her for it.
“I am going to get this finished, and then we can go home together. The way the weather is settling in, I doubt we are going to get any more clients today.”
“Good idea. I can think of nothing better than sitting at home next to a great roaring fire.”
“Apart from a new baby.”
“Apart for a new baby,” Alli agreed, kicking her shoes off and rubbing her feet. “Thanks for picking up the slack here.” Bear Brides was Alli’s store, they catered for most of the brides in Bear Creek and Bear Bluff. However, she had taken Melanie on as a seamstress, and now had offered her the chance of being a partner in the store. It helped, of course, that Melanie’s brother turned out to be Alli’s mate.
“No problem Alli. You know how much I love Bear Brides.” She turned her attention to the dress on her lap and tried to concentrate, but she still kept imagining the dream sequence where the lorry stopped and she finally met her mate face to face.
“Maybe one day soon, I might be altering a dress for you, Melanie,” Alli said, casting a glance around all the beautiful dresses hung up in the store, waiting for a bride to choose one for her special day.
Melanie blushed, hating to keep her secret from Alli, but her brother and sister-in-law, had enough to deal with. “Maybe, but let’s get that baby of yours into this world before we think about me. Someone should tell it yesterday was supposed to be its birthday.”
“It’ll come when it’s ready,” Alli said, drinking her tea and looking thoughtfully at Melanie.
Melanie simply got on with her work, trying to get it finished so that she could get Alli home. She knew how much Kian worried, and how he hadn’t wanted Alli to come out today. But Alli wanted to make sure everything was OK at the store, and Melanie knew she also wanted to keep busy. With her maternity bags packed weeks ago, there was nothing else she could do to prepare for the birth. The house was also spotless; Alli had cleaned it from top to bottom several times, having embraced the nesting stage completely. While Kian had gone into, well, ‘den mode’, fixing things that didn’t need fixing. And generally keeping busy, whilst checking on Alli incessantly. They were driving each other crazy.
“OK,” Melanie said, packing her needle and thread away. I think I’m done. How does it look?”
“Perfect. You have the nimblest fingers Melanie.” Alli admired the finished dress while she drank the rest of her tea. Then she said, “Let’s go. You’re right; no one is going to come in today. The clouds look as though they are going to dump a few feet of snow on us. I think I would rather be home.”
Alli got to her feet, rubbing her back and then waddled to the kitchen to wash the cups up while Melanie swept the floor and tidied up. Then the two women made their way outside, where the first snowflakes were beginning to fall.
“We need to get home fast, if we’re not careful the roads will become impassable,” Alli said.
“Surely not that quick? It’s only just starting,” Melanie replied as they walked to the car. She held Alli’s arm, making sure her sister-in-law stayed on her feet.
“Yes, that quick. I bet Kian is up at the house thinking of organising a rescue party.”
“What if you go into labour tonight and we can’t get you to the hospital?” Melanie asked worriedly.
“Hot water and towels, you will be on midwife duty!”
“I couldn’t.”
“Don’t worry; your brother has delivered enough animals to know what to do.”
“He hasn’t had to deliver his own baby though, do you know how panicked he’ll be.”
They had reached the car and Melanie unlocked it and helped Alli in. “Don’t worry,” Alli said, “I think this baby likes being in the warm too much. I don’t think it’s going to come anytime soon.”
“I hope you’re right,” Melanie said, sliding into her own seat and switching the ignition on. The car turned over and then sparked into life. Melanie waited for the wipers to get rid of the slushy snow, which had already settled on the windscreen, and then pulled out on to the deserted street.
As they drove though Bear Creek, it became obvious that everyone who didn’t need to be out, were inside staying warm. She couldn’t blame them, and as the snow came in thicker flurries, she looked anxiously at Alli and hoped everything would be OK.
Reaching the edge of town, she turned onto the road, which ran along the side of the mountain. The snow was thicker here, and her car slipped on some of the bends. Melanie slowed to a crawl. Her heart rate increasing as her anxiety grew. But she didn’t want to go back to town; she wanted to get Alli home.
Then, out of nowhere, a car came towards them. It skidded in the road, and Melanie swerved to avoid them, over compensating as she hit a drift of snow.
“Melanie!” Alli cried, but it was too late, the car left the road, sliding into a ditch that took the melting water off the mountain. It was dry, but deep, and they hit the bottom with a sickening crunch.
“I will see you in the morning, Taylor.” Trent said. “I don’t think this snow will come to much, it’s more over Bear Creek than here. The mountain seems to have kept it off us, so if you go first thing, you should make the delivery to Cougar Ridge.”
“Sure. I’ll be here.” Taylor locked the cab of his truck and then threw the keys to Trent. “I’m going to go up the mountain. The snow is too inviting. I want to run off the kinks in my back from being sat in the truck all day. See you tomorrow.”
“Don’t be late,” Trent called.
With that, Taylor headed out along the road, which led up into the mountains. He had a compulsion to run until his lungs felt like they were going to burst. An excitement had grown in him all day, he wasn’t sure why. All he knew was it had something to do with Bear Creek, the town on the other side of the mountain. For the last couple of weeks, every time he drove through there, on the way home from a delivery, he had this prickling on the back of his neck.
He had never felt it before, and the idea was growing in his mind that it was his mate calling him. Yet this felt so preposterous, he had not shared it with anyone. They would all think he was mad. After all, as far as he was aware, when you met your mate, you knew it. The feeling hit you square between the eyes and made you sit up and take notice.
A tingling. That just wasn’t the same thing at all. But he was determined to go over to Bear Creek and have a sniff around to try to work out what the problem was.
Far enough from Bear Bluff that he would not be seen; he allowed his bear to take over. It didn’t take much persuading, it had been getting a little restless the last few days too. One more sign that their mate was close by. He flexed his paws as the first flakes of snow fell onto his snout. Then he took a run up the hill, picturing the route he would take, in his mind. It was a seriously arduous climb, but it was a shorter route, bringing him down on the outskirts of Bear Creek, there he would change and walk the rest of the way in his human form. Shifters were not common knowledge, even in Bear Bluff and Bear Creek.
He only hoped the snow wasn’t too bad. Or else he might be stuck there. Something he couldn’t risk, if he were late for work tomorrow, Trent would go mad. That delivery to Cougar Ridge was important; he knew they would be short of supplies if the snow came early. Looking up he tried to work out what the weather was likely to do, his bear instincts told him they were in for a few inches of snow, but that might be all, his bear told him it was worth the risk to find their mate.
So he pushed on, his short legs straining to climb up over large boulders, his muscles powering him up higher and higher. The snow became deeper, but he knew if he could carry on for a few more minutes, he would be able to climb through the steep pass and then go down the other side of the mountain.
Flicking the snow from his snout, he charged through the pass and out the other side, to run headlong down the mountain towards Bear Creek. The relations between towns used to be fairly hostile, but since the marriage of the Bear Bluff Chief’s daughter, Freyja to Will, who came from Bear Creek, things had become friendlier. Therefore, he knew he would be welcome, which was good, because he aimed on heading for the local shifter bar to try to figure out what was going on with his senses.