Rough (The Bear Chronicles of Willow Creek Book 1) (4 page)

The elevator dings, before she can reply.  Walking away from her as fast as I can, I make my way to my office.  I’m about to open the door, when she grabs my arm.  It takes all of my willpower not to shake the bitch off.  “What do you want now?”

“You can’t do this.  You can’t let human blood taint our community.  It’s wrong and you damn well know it.”

Shoving the door open, I walk to my desk.  “I have no choice.  We have to bring outsiders in.  If we don’t the media won’t get off our backs.”

I’m still not sure that my idea will work, but I have no other idea what to do.  I cannot let the world learn our town is full of shifters, and that is going to happen if we can’t get the damn media off our backs and out of Willow Creek.  If taking a human wife gives us even a chance of avoiding discovery, then it’s worth a try. 

She crosses her arms over her chest and glares at me.  “You cannot be stupid enough to think that will help? One human is not going to get those parasites out of our town.”

Even though I’m tired of explaining my logic, I tell her what I’ve been telling everyone else repeatedly.  “She will be the first of many.  In time, as more human spouses come here, the press will see we are allowing others into our community and move on.  If not, we will try something else, but right now this is the only option.”

“There has to be another way,” she says, tapping her foot.

It pisses me off that this woman thinks she has the right to question me.  Still, I do my best to hold my temper.  As a female bear and great-granddaughter to one of our town founders, most shifters treat her as if she is a leading female.  She’s not though.  With me taking a human wife, she never will be. 

“If you don’t stop questioning me, I’m going to forget you’re a woman and allow my bear to rip your head off.”

“I don’t understand why we don’t kill the reporter who started all of this.  If he stops writing his stories, people will quit asking questions,” she says, ignoring my warning.  Then, she walks over to me and places her hands flat against the top of my desk.  “We are hunters, let us hunt Ethan.”

“If you had been at the town council meeting you would know I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I explain, with an angry shake of my head.  “It will only lead to more questions and more press showing up in town.”

“We could make it look like an accident.  Send a snake shifter to his house have him bitten in his own yard.”

“That’s enough.” I roar, jumping from my chair.

She jumps with fright, but hold her ground.  “Is it asking too much for you explain to me why we can’t kill him? 

“If he dies, another will follow in his footsteps.” Losing my patience, I get in her face, letting her see my eyes begin to shift.  “I’m the leader of this clan, and I’ve made my decision, now fucking drop it.”

“You’re really going to do this and nothing I say is going to make a difference, is it?” she asks, taking a step back, the disapproval clear as day on her face.

I shake my head as I sit down in my chair and attempt to gain control over my enraged bear.  “Nothing is going to change my mind.”

“Fine,” she says, turning away from the desk.  “We’ll just see how well your little human likes it here.”

As much as I hate the idea of marrying this woman, I cannot allow her to be treated badly.  “You will not mistreat my wife, Marissa.  If you do, I’ll have your ass banished.”

She jerks her eyes to mine; a flash of defiance runs through them.  “You can’t do that.”

“As mayor, I can do anything I damn well please,” I growl out, as my claws dig into the wood of my desk. 

She continues to walk to the door, while looking over her shoulder and saying, “Anything you say, Ethan.”

“As your leader, I am telling you to leave my bride alone or you’ll wish all I did was banish you.  You may be one of the only female bear shifters, but that won’t protect you. I’ll take your ass out.”

Just before she reaches the door, she turns around and a calculating smile spreads across her face.  “Don’t worry, I won’t do a thing to your precious little human.”

CHAPTER SIX

Amelia

THE CLOSER
we get to our destination, the stronger my anxiety becomes.  Question after question is flooding my mind, and it’s enough to have me seriously consider jumping out of the back of the damn plane.  I already drank my two glasses of complimentary wine in order to calm my nerves, but I swear if anything I’m just getting even more stressed out.

What will he be like, this new husband of mine?  Looking over the paperwork Brides Incorporated sent me, I read his information again.  Ethan Artair, age twenty-nine, town mayor of Willow Creek.  He graduated from college at only twenty-one and took over his father’s construction company six years ago.  He has never been married and doesn’t have any children. 

Other than the standard stuff, there is nothing else.  I wasn’t given enough information to have a clear idea of what exactly I’m walking into.  I don’t even know what he looks like, yet alone what kind of man he is. All of Liza’s warnings run through my mind, causing my stomach to roll.

Liza kept pointing out that no normal man would be purchasing a bride, but I can’t help wondering what that makes me exactly.  I may not be the one doing the purchasing, but I’m the lunatic who signed up for this craziness.  That right there in my opinion speaks more for my lack of sanity than his. 

Maybe he just got tired of the dating game and decided that this was the easiest and quickest way to find a bride and settle down.  Maybe he lives in a town full of hideous, crazy women and he would rather chop off his dick than settle down with one of them.  Hell, I don’t have a clue what would push a man to make a decision like this, but as I said before, if I’m anything to go off of, maybe he was just plain old desperate and felt he had no other choice.

Grabbing the little plastic wine glass in front of me, I tip the glass back and swallow the remainder of the cheap wine I was just served. The second I place the glass back down on the tray, I glance around the cabin in search of a flight attendant to bring me a refill.

Just as I’m turning in my seat to check the back of the plane, the elderly woman sitting in the seat beside me, places her hand on my knee and gives a gentle squeeze.  Temporarily freezing my wine seeking movements, I turn and make eye contact with the woman beside me.  I’ve been so lost in my own thoughts, I haven’t even said hello to her, let alone taken a moment to get a look at her. 

The concern in her gentle blue eyes immediately causes me to feel bad for being so rude.  The tiny lines framing her wise eyes are even more noticeable with the frown marring her weathered face. 

“Forgive me for being so rude.  I’m a little wrapped up in my own head right now.  I hope I didn’t do something to bother you?” I ask, trying to make up for ignoring her.

Releasing my knee, she gently pats my hand, while shaking her head.  “Oh no sweetie, you didn’t do anything.  After watching you down that wine so darn fast, and proceed to chew your nails down to the quick in between glasses, I’m starting to get a little worried.  Are you afraid of flying or something?”

Releasing a sigh, I twist back around and attempt to relax in my seat.  “No, no I’m not afraid of flying.”  Lord where do I even begin with this crazy story?  Surely I can’t tell her the truth or she will be asking to move to the next available seat.  I don’t need to put her on edge any more than I already have.

“Well if you aren’t afraid of flying, do you mind me asking what could possibly cause you to get so worked up?  I’m Dorothy by the way.  My friends call me Dot though.”

Throwing a small smile in her direction, I nod my head and say, “It’s nice to meet you, Dot.  I’m Amelia.  I swear I’m not normally so wound up, this is just a really stressful day.  I will try to calm down so that my nerves aren’t rubbing off on you.”

“Now what on earth could have a pretty little thing such as yourself so worked up?” Dot asks, pulling a piece of gum out of her purse.  “Oh, let me guess, are you off to meet your boyfriend or husband after a long distance relationship or something like that?  The anxiety pouring off of you is so strong that it must surely be caused by a man.”

Releasing a laugh, I begin to relax for the first time since I left the house and Liza.  “I guess you could say that.  Ummm, I’m going to meet a man I met online,” I say, stumbling over the words to make this whole thing not seem quite as strange as it really is.  “We’ve never met before and are actually kinda engaged.  The whole thing has me really on edge.  Frankly, that’s putting it mildly.”

Nodding along, she gives my hand another gentle pat.  The feel of her smooth warm skin, is enough to calm my frayed nerves just the tiniest of bits.  “Ah, I see.  Yes, I would imagine that type of thing could cause a person to get a little worked up.  I imagine if you are “kinda” engaged, then you must at least know somewhat of the type of man you’re going off to meet?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I turn and glance at the clouds going past the window.  “I guess you could say that.  We really don’t know each other that well.  It’s been somewhat of a whirlwind relationship if you could even call it that.”

Frowning, she takes a second to think over her words before replying to me.  “Well if you don’t know each other that well, there must be something that pushed you to get on this plane and go to him?  You seem like a bright girl, I can’t imagine that you would just run off to marry a complete stranger.”

The fact that she unknowingly said exactly what I am doing causes me to choke on my own saliva. Grabbing my glass of water with a shaky hand, I take a few small sips to calm my choking fit. Laughing, she starts to pat me on the back attempting to help me recover.  “Well now perhaps we have just figured out the cause of your concern?”

Finally catching my breath, I turn to her with what must be a look of sheer horror across my face.  However, I don’t find the look of disgust that I expected. Instead, I actually come face to face with a woman who looks like she completely understands and sympathises with what I’m going through.

“Yes,” I whisper, “I am actually running off to marry someone I don’t really know.  That’s crazy isn’t it?  It’s definitely not something a “bright young girl” would do.”

Taking a moment to think, Dot studies my face before responding. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I too was once a not so bright young girl myself.   I knew my husband for all of five minutes before we were married.”

“Really?” I ask in shock.  “How did it happen?  Did it all work out?”

Smiling she nods before saying, “It all worked out quite well I assure you.  My Eddie was a wonderful man, and it was an honor to be married to him.  You see where we are from it’s quite common to be… I guess you could say, matched with your partner.  Many of the people around us had gone through something similar so it wasn’t so shocking that it would happen to us as well. That doesn’t mean it didn’t scare me and have me questioning what on earth was happening.  A marriage is a huge commitment.  No one walks into one without having some anxiety and nerves.”

“Yeah, but weren’t you worried about what kind of man you were marrying?  Like what if he turned out to be some monster and hurt you?” I ask.

Looking at me with kind, gentle eyes she raises one of her frail shoulders in a shrug.  “I just knew.  I don’t know how else to explain it. When I looked at my Eddie, I just knew that he was it for me.  Sometimes mother nature has bigger plans for us than the ones we’ve come to expect.  Sometimes those plans are the greatest of surprises.  Trust me sweetie, if he is the man the good Lord intended for you to be with, you’ll know.  Once you look him in the eyes there won’t be a doubt in your mind that you belong to each other.”

“Can it really be that simple?  I mean if that were the case, there wouldn’t be such a thing as divorce.  If we all just knew who we were meant to be with, we wouldn’t make the mistake of marrying the wrong person.” I respond.

“Well, yes and no,” Dot says.  “I think sometimes we find ourselves blinded by outside factors like lust, money, and status.  Those things don’t equal a happy marriage and a happy life.  When you’re more concerned about those aspects than what the soul wants, I suppose it’s quite easy to find yourself married to the wrong person.”

“Huh.  I never thought of it that way before, but you know, it makes sense.”

“Of course it makes sense honey.  I haven’t lived this long without learning a thing or two,” she says as she throws a wink at me.

Laughing, I shake my head at her.  “I can’t tell you how happy I am that of all the people on this plane, you’re the one that I happened to be seated beside.  You’ve made me feel so much better.  Thank you so much Dot, really.  I was seriously considering jumping out of the plane, so I’m glad you were able to talk some sense into this whole mess of a situation.”

“It will only become a mess if you allow it to Amelia.  Trust me when I say this.  Your heart and soul will know if he’s the right man for you.  Just listen to those two things and I’m sure you will be led in the right direction.”

Reaching over, I grab her hand and give it a gentle squeeze as I smile at her.  I honestly don’t think I have felt this much clarity since I heard back from Brides Incorporated.  I guess mother nature really does know what’s best.

“So now that we’ve gotten over the hard stuff, tell me, where does this mystery man of yours live?” Dot asks.

“He actually lives in a small town called Willow Creek.  I’ve spent some time looking over pictures of the place, and it actually looks gorgeous,” I say.

“Well now, what a small world it is after all,” Dot says with a twinkle in her eye.  “Willow Creek is where I’m from.  It’s where my Eddie and I have lived for the last 60 years.”

I can’t help the instant ease I feel at the fact I will know at least one person in this new town.  Even if it is an old lady, it’s a hell of a lot better than what I started with. 

“Oh my God really?  I can’t believe that you live there too.  Once I’m settled in, I will have to have you over for a cup of tea or something.”