Obeying the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 1)

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T
his is
a work of fiction intended for mature audiences only. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Some may be used for parody purposes. Any resemblance to events, locales, business establishments, or actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

A
ll sexual activities
depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.

S
ometimes I really hated my
job. Not only did I stand on my feet all day, but each night I went home with the smell of burnt toast and fried chicken permanently etched into the fabric of my polyester uniform. Screaming children, rude customers, and a boss I’d like to bury in the woods made me cringe each morning when I drove into the parking lot of the local diner. But this is what allowed me to stay in Estes Park. And this is what I had to sacrifice for my bear.

Even as I prepared a fresh pot of coffee, the stench of my boss burned my nose. He slithered up next to me, all sweaty and greasy, completely unaware of the way he made everyone around him feel instantly ill.

“Got any plans after work?”

I spared a glance at his dark mustache and flushed, round cheeks, trying to hold back the growl. “Same as always, Joe.”

He snorted and reached, unnecessarily, across me for a mug—his forearm lightly brushing against the top of my breast. “Don’t you ever get bored going on hikes by yourself?”

Biting my lip hard enough to cause pain, I pushed the angry bear inside of me back into her cave. I’d gotten better at controlling my emotions around Joe. After all, seeing me turn into a grizzly in the middle of the diner was never an option, even if he was the first human I’d met that I truly wouldn’t feel bad about hurting. It had taken many months, and many meditation sessions, for me to be this calm.

“Nope.”

“Well, I would.”

“I’ve got customers.” I grabbed the pot of coffee a little too early and felt the burning of the hot water run down my hand. “Shit,” I said, slamming the pot down and causing too much of a scene.

“Let me see,” Joe said. He took my hand and looked at the red welt starting to form. With one finger, he gently rubbed his skin against mine, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. “Oh no, looks like you got a bit of a burn there.” He squeezed my hand tighter.

My bear roared inside, offended by the way he assumed he could touch me. I reacted with a slightly cooler head and pulled away from his grip with little effort on my part. Aside from the fact that he disgusted me, I didn’t want him seeing how quickly I would heal. “I’m fine,” I mumbled.

“No, I think you need—”

“I’m fine,” I interrupted before he could touch me again. Scooping up the mugs, I walked to the other side of the counter and poured two regulars their usual.

“He’s persistent, I’ll give him that,” Randall said with a grin. Ever since I started working here, Randall and his brother, Roger, had treated me like their own daughter. Protective and concerned. They, too, worried about me hiking alone in the mountains but hadn’t pressed the issue too much. Perhaps that was because they were more concerned with my perverted boss constantly trying to get in my pants.

“That he is,” I agreed. “You two need anything else?”

Roger shook his head. He didn’t speak much. “We’re good, Emma,” Randall replied.

I returned the coffee pot and glanced under the heat lamp only to see that my food wasn’t up yet. Ever since Joe hired the summer cook, our meals had been coming out slower and slower. I was tempted to say something, but then decided I didn’t want to have any conversation with Joe if I didn’t have to.

“Hey, Em.”

I turned to see Bridget shuffling over to me. I’d told her numerous times that I didn’t like the nickname, but every day she still said it. I blamed her age. Even though she was probably only in her mid-fifties, she had spent way too many days in the sun. And if her mind was as withered as her leather skin, I could look past the nickname. I smiled as she placed an order on the pass-through for the kitchen.

“There’s a gentleman over there that asked for you.” Her eyebrows lifted as she nudged me. “A handsome man in a suit.” She acted like she’d never seen anyone in a suit before. Then again, given our location, most of our customers came in with grimy clothes and the smell of the outdoors on them. So a suit
was
an anomaly.

“Where?” I asked, ignoring the glare Joe tossed in my direction. Had he heard what Bridget said?

“Back corner booth. Specifically requested it.”

I couldn’t see him from where we were standing, but just as I was about to walk around the counter, the prep cook rang the bell directly behind me. “Emma, you’re up.”

Rolling my eyes with impatience, and tuning out the echoing in my sensitive ears, I turned and looked at the pimply high school kid. “I’m standing right here. You didn’t need to ring the bell.”

“Joe told me to always ring the bell,” he replied.

I wanted to strangle him too, but I could tell he didn’t mean to be a smart ass. He really thought he was doing the right thing. Without looking, I knew Joe was enjoying this. “Fine,” I grumbled, grabbing the three plates and balancing them on my arms.

“Here’s your toast,” the young cook called after me.

With a slow turn on my heel, mostly to rein in any unnecessary snide comments, I walked back toward the hot lamps where Bridget grabbed the small plate and placed it in my hand. “Don’t forget your visitor,” she teased.

“I won’t,” I said with a little too much sarcasm. Bridget didn’t deserve my anger. Neither did the newbie cook. I’d just been on edge lately because my bear had been staying a little too close to the surface most days.

I didn’t know why she was so restless. I’d given us a place to live, free of the clan and free from the obligations that came along with it. She hadn’t been happy in Alaska and neither had I. We both wanted something else, something different. So one night, we packed up and left without saying a word. I knew I needed to be somewhere near the wilderness, and after traveling through Montana and Wyoming, we settled in Colorado. In the Rocky Mountains where, when the park closed, we had all of the freedom we wanted.

Yet that didn’t seem like enough for her.

Dropping off the plates of country fried steak and an extra order of hash browns, I glanced at the stranger. He sat with his back to me, but I feared I knew that red head the second I saw it. My stomach dropped at the sight of him, and when I finally took in a breath and searched the air, my suspicions were confirmed.

They’d found me.

Wiping my hands on my apron, I tried to calm my nerves. They danced in pairs all over my skin, exciting the bear and terrorizing me. I’d gone almost a year without seeing anyone from the clan, so I really thought I’d broken free.

But now Dixon Donegal sat in my diner, waiting to talk to me.

Slowly, I walked to the booth. My hands were damp with anticipation but I did my best to look calm. As I rounded the table, I saw Dixon’s nostrils flare. He turned, a bright, white smile on his face that reminded me of a shark about to feast. “Emma Davis,” he cooed. “It’s been a long time.”

“Dixon,” I said with a nod. My bear knew who was dominant and she forced me to take the submissive role.

He pointed to the empty seat across from him. “Please, sit.”

“I’m working.”

“This won’t take long.”

The command in his voice frightened me. Dixon was the second to Blaze Callaghan, the alpha of the largest grizzly clan in North America. He’d held that position since before I’d joined and subsequently left the clan, and his reputation had always been intimidating. I slid into the booth, my uniform squeaking against the plastic, and waited for him to speak.

He studied me for a long time before opening his mouth again. “You look good.”

“You sound surprised.”

With a smile, he shrugged. He still had a bright red head of hair despite his age. “I am. A lone bear doesn’t always make it on the outside.”

By the outside, he meant without a clan. Especially a female bear. But I’d survived…at least well enough. “How did you find me?”

Dixon tilted his head, eyeing me up and making me wait for a response. “Grizzly sightings in Rocky Mountain National Park.” Leaning forward, he shook his finger at me. “Someone got a little sloppy.”

I tried not to show my embarrassment. “It was one time, and no one believed them.” I’d made a mistake one evening and chose to hunt a little too close to a group of climbers. One of them saw me but before he could get a picture or call over his friends, I’d disappeared. Listening to my customers over the following days proved that all of the locals thought the kid was just drunk and had probably seen a regular black bear.

“Either way, that’s how I found you.” Dixon sipped the coffee Bridget must have brought for him.

“Why are you here, Dixon?” I didn’t mean for the words to sound so harsh, but my bear was on edge being this close to a dominant male again.

“Blaze Callaghan is dead.”

“What? How?” Shifters like us lived much longer than humans and we also tended to be immune to most things that would harm us. It was odd for an alpha as strong as Blaze to taken down prematurely.

“Poachers.” Dixon’s jaw twitched, the anger evident by the way his body stiffened.

“Oh my god,” I breathed. Blaze Callaghan. Gone. And killed in the most cowardly way. My heart broke for his family and for all that he had meant to me. “I’m so sorry.” I felt the tears brewing behind my eyes and tried my best to swallow them back down.

“The funeral is in two days.”

It took a moment for those words to sink in and when they did, my throat tightened in fear. “Why are you telling me this?”

Dixon straightened in his seat again. “Because you should be there.”

“Is that an order?”

He met my eyes, surprised at my comment. “No. I just thought you had a right to know about your alpha.”

“He’s not my alpha anymore,” I whispered. In the distance, I could see Bridget and Joe watching me closely so I tried to maintain a neutral face.

“He was always your alpha,” he snapped. “Even when you abandoned his son.”

Dixon’s words pierced my heart like a deadly claw. I knew members of the clan would be upset at my departure, but I had no idea Dixon felt so strongly. “I didn’t abandoned him.” The lie barely left my lips.

With one more sip of his coffee, Dixon stood and pulled down his jacket. “You tell yourself what you need to,” he said with a cold and frightening tone. “But you should be there.”

He turned and walked out of the diner without saying another word. Had he threatened me? No, not really. That was just Dixon’s way. That’s why he was a formidable second. But he
had
found me and he could tell Brandt where I was. I had a feeling my ex-boyfriend didn’t know I was hiding out in Colorado. But I also had a feeling that Dixon had given me a chance, something he rarely does, to make it right again.

Blaze had taken in me and my brother as cubs. He made sure we had a good home and a good life. He’d welcomed us to the clan without a second thought. And I had abandoned them all. Especially Brandt, his oldest son and next in line to succeed him.

Brandt must be dealing with so much right now. I actually worried that my presence would make things worse. I worried about his feelings, all the while knowing I was the one scared to face him at all. Scared to face everyone—all of his brothers, my friends, the rest of the clan.

Bridget was making her way toward me, pretending to check on her tables as she neared. Wiping my eyes, I cleared my throat and stood. Before she could ask me anything, I snuck past her to my own tables and completed the rest of my shift in a daze. Even Joe’s attempt at flirtation didn’t get under my skin.

No, my bear was too preoccupied with the thought of seeing everyone again. And before I left for the day, I had filled out the paperwork needed to request a few days off.