Ski Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance) (Rescue Bears Book 5) (2 page)

“I guess it’s just us,” Zach said. “Are you having another beer?”

“No. I have some exciting developments happening with my programming. I need to get back to my cabin to continue my work.”

“Everyone’s leaving? Just like that? What happened to us?”

“Well, the rest of the bears have mates, and I have work to do. You are the only one who doesn’t,” Corey said, picking up his coat off the back of his chair and pulling it on over his shoulders.

“Thanks, Corey. You’re a real pal,” Zach said sarcastically.

It took a lot to upset Zach. But being ditched during a rescue celebration and told off by Corey was almost enough to make that happen.

“How are things going with your house hunt?” Corey asked.

“Nothing feels quite right. I want it to be the perfect place for me and my mate and our cubs.”

“I’m sure you’ll find it soon.”

“I want to be ready for my mate, but I haven’t found her yet either. Why isn’t your dating app working for me?” Zach asked Corey.

Corey zipped up his poncho and stared at Zach.

“It has nothing to do with my dating app. Your girl simply hasn’t signed up yet. She may never sign up. That’s something you’re just going to have to live with. Good night,” Corey said, turning away.

Zach rolled his eyes at Corey’s back. Geek Bear could really lack empathy for other people sometimes. That was something that did annoy Zach. Zach cared about everyone, and he wanted everybody to be happy.

He had grown up in Southern California after the Great Shifter Council had made the announcement to the world that shifters existed. The shifters of San Diego had not experienced a violent backlash from humans like they had in most other places.

While the rest of the shifters in the country were dealing with riots and police brutality, the shifters in San Diego were surfing and singing Kumbaya on the beach. It wasn’t that San Diego was that much different, but there were a lot of top ranking officials and business people in San Diego who were able to influence the culture enough to keep the rest of the shifters there safe.

Zach and his family had been among them. He’d spent his childhood surfing, skateboarding and taking trips to the mountains to ski in the winter time. Before the war broke out six years ago, Zach had been a professional athlete in the X-Games. He’d participated in everything from skateboarding to snowboarding, all the while being completely out as a polar bear shifter.

Unlike most of the other crew, Zach had never really experienced any kind of racism. It helped him keep the sunny outlook he had on life. When the shifter draft started six years ago, he had voluntarily joined up. Zach wasn’t the kind of guy who was naturally inclined to become a soldier, but he was excited about the opportunity to defend his country and experience whatever fun he could while being in the military.

Because Zach had such a good attitude, most of his time during the war had been unbelievably pleasant. He met the rest of his crew while he was a Navy SEAL, and loved going on missions with the rest of the men over the course of the war. Sure, there was a lot of death and brutality, but Zach had let it roll off him like water off a duck’s back. At this point, he could barely remember anything negative about the entire experience; although, he wasn’t deluding himself into believing it had been all good.

That was part of what made Zach such a happy bear. He knew how to let the bad stuff go and to not let it get him down. Unfortunately, not being able to find a mate had been one of the first things in his life that started to drag him under.

At first, he loved watching his fellow bears find their fated mates. But after everyone else, including Drew, who’d thought he would be alone for the rest of his life, had found their happily ever after, Zach was becoming a lot less happy. Every passing day made him feel like his mate would never arrive and he would always be a lone polar bear.

As carefree as Zach tended to be, he was ready to settle down with his mate and start a family. He wanted to feel the same connection and love that the rest of the bears experienced with their mates. If she didn’t show up soon, Zach was afraid that he would never be the same. Instead of being a happy bear, Zach would become a grumpy one.

2

M
aisie Green stepped out of her car in front of the building she’d rented on Main Street in Fate Mountain Village. She’d come all the way from Paris to open her own bakery. She hadn’t been back in a long time, and it was strange to be home again.

She walked across the sidewalk and put her key into the lock on the front door. Pushing the door open, she walked into the cold little storefront. Her equipment would all be arriving any minute, but Maisie had just arrived herself. She hurried through the building she’d only seen in pictures and noticed the dust covering the counters and floors.

The whole place would need a scrub down before she would be ready to start cooking in here. After six years of baking in the best bakeries in Paris, coming back to Fate Mountain Village was a little bit of a culture shock. She couldn’t even wear her usual pumps and dresses in this weather. She looked down at her feet, taking in the sight of the snow boots she’d bought on the way here. They still made her groan a little bit when she looked at them.

It couldn’t be helped now. She came home to be with her mother. Her mom, Kelly Green, had lived on Fate Mountain all her life. She’d worked out at Fate Mountain Lodge for years and continued working there for the new shifter owner. From everything her mom had told her, she absolutely adored her new boss. Ever since Maisie’s father had died a few years ago, Maisie’s mom had been pestering her to come home.

Life in Paris had suited Maisie in many ways. She really hadn’t wanted to leave. But after she won an award for excellence in baking that included a substantial monetary reward, Maisie had finally decided to come home and open her own bakery.

Even after all those years away, she would always be a Fate Mountain girl. She loved the smell of the snow and the look of the blue sky behind the white peaks of the mountain. Now that she was back, she intended to make the mountain her true home again.

Maisie closed the front door of the shop and turned on the heat. Through the back of the shop where the kitchen would be, she found some cleaning supplies and rolled up her sleeves. She looked down at her perfect French manicure and sighed. Maisie was not a stranger to hard work, but life on Fate Mountain would be a whole lot different than life in Paris. She might have to get used to things like chipped nail polish and not wearing high heels.

With soapy water and a mop in hand, Maisie started cleaning out the bakery. When she was almost done with her chores, the delivery truck with her bakery equipment stopped out in front of the shop. She clapped her hands together excitedly and hurried out to greet them.

The movers carried her ovens and mixers into the bakery and set them up for her. With everything in place, the delivery guys took off and left Maisie on her own in her bakery. She was excited to get started, but she still hadn’t stopped by to see her mother. No matter how much she wanted to start making macaroons and French bread, Maisie knew that her mom would be waiting for her at the lodge.

She had a couple of hours before the next delivery, so she could go out to see her mom and get back before it arrived. Maisie intended to open the bakery in two days and would have to get to work to have bakery goods to offer her customers.

With one last look at her new shop, Maisie went outside and got in her car. She thought she remembered how to get out to the lodge but wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Punching the name of the lodge into her GPS, she waited for directions then drove off down the road. Her mom would be ecstatic to see her. Maisie was excited to see her mother too. She’d always been a loving and caring parent, and Maisie was happy they would get to spend time together now that she was back.

Maisie had left because she wanted to see the world. She wanted to learn how to bake every kind of pastry out there. The best place to bake pastries was Paris. After culinary school, she had landed a job in the best patisserie in the city. She had learned so much, she’d become a powerhouse in her field.

She hoped that her choice to open her bakery in the little tourist town in rural Oregon would pay off. It definitely wasn’t France, but it was home.

She followed the GPS directions until she came to the front parking lot of Fate Mountain Lodge. Snow was piled high on the ground from the long winter season, but the parking lot was plowed clear, allowing her to park easily.

She got out of the car and strode down the front walk and went through the big, heavy double doors into the lobby. Inside, she saw her mother behind the front reception desk.

Kelly Green was a curvy, confident lady in her middle years who had a stylish bob with sharp bangs in her jet black hair. Maisie had inherited her red hair from her father, but she’d gotten her green eyes and her curves from her mom.

Kelly looked up as if to greet a customer, but when she saw Maisie her face went ecstatic. Kelly squealed and hurried out from behind the reception desk. She ran up to Maisie and grabbed her in her arms, pulling her close and jumping up and down.

“Maisie! You’re really here. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Mom,” Maisie said.

“You have to meet my boss, Levi,” Kelly said, pulling her down a hallway.

They stopped in front of the door, and Kelly rapped her knuckles on the wood.

“Why do I have to meet your boss?” Maisie asked.

“Because Levi is the best,” Kelly said.

A tall, good-looking man opened the door and looked from Kelly to Maisie and back again.

“What is it, Kelly?” Levi asked.

“I wanted you to meet my daughter, Maisie,” Kelly said. “She just came back to Fate Mountain from Paris. Can you believe that? My daughter’s been living in Paris for six years.”

“What were you doing there?” Levi asked politely, although Maisie could tell he had more important things to do than meet his employee’s daughter.

“I’m a pastry chef. I came back to Fate Mountain to open my own bakery.”

“Is that what the old Myers building on Main Street is going to be?” Levi asked.

Maisie was surprised he was so astute.

“That’s exactly where the bakery will be. Is actually quite perfect for a small operation.”

“When are you opening?” Levi asked.

“In a few days,” Maisie said.

“I’ll have to stop by. My wife Juliet is nine months pregnant and has an insatiable craving for sweets. Not even master chef Shane Keenan’s desserts can satisfy her.”

“Shane Keenan?” Maisie asked, shocked.

She recognized that name, like every other culinary school graduate over the last decade. Shane Keenan was one of the greatest and most notorious chefs of her generation. He had been something of a hero of hers before he had been disgraced and drafted into the war. As a chef herself, she couldn’t be too hard on a man who was a culinary genius. Plus, Maisie suspected that the accusations about Shane Keenan’s wild side were exaggerated.

“He supervises the kitchen here and owns Fate Mountain Diner in town.”

“Chef Shane Keenan runs a diner?” Maisie said, stifling a shocked giggle.

“He seems to like it. His mate Lily works there with him.”

“I’ll have to check it out.”

“Have dinner at the lodge here when he’s cooking, on me,” Levi said. “Welcome home, Maisie. I’ll see you around.”

Levi ducked back into his office, told Kelly he’d talk to her later, and closed the door. Maisie was thrilled at the prospect of having a meal prepared by Shane Keenan himself. Her stomach rumbled just at the thought of it.

“That was nice,” Maisie said.

“See? Levi is the best,” Kelly said. “I love him like a son.”

They walked back out into the lobby, and Kelly slipped back behind the reception desk. Maisie stopped for a moment to say her goodbyes and make plans to meet up later.

“Speaking of sons,” Kelly said. “When are you going to find someone and finally settle down?”

“Not this again.” Maisie groaned and rolled her eyes.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Maisie. You have so much to offer. I just don’t understand why you haven’t found someone yet.”

“I’ve been working on my career. Besides, if I met someone in Paris, I never would have come home.”

“You know, there’s a new human/shifter dating site called Mate.com. A lot of the shifters around here have signed up. Imagine it. You could find your own fated mate and live with him on Fate Mountain.”

“Mom. I don’t have time for any of that.”

“The more I think about it, the more I know it’s an excellent idea. I think that’s exactly what you need. A wolf. No, a bear. There are two bears on the rescue crew who aren’t mated yet. I would be so lucky to have a Rescue Bear as a son-in-law.”

“What is a Rescue Bear?” Maisie asked, intrigued.

“The Rescue Bears are Levi’s search and rescue team. Levi, Shane, Angus, Drew, Zach, and Corey. They were all in the Navy together. They’re like brothers, those boys. They’ve all been finding mates on Mate.com.”

“Mom, I have to go. All my flour and sugar and eggs and everything else is arriving in just a few minutes.”

The truth was, the delivery wasn’t arriving for another hour. But Maisie wasn’t going to stick around to listen to her mother trying to set her up with strangers over the internet. She hurried out the front door of the lodge, passing a group of men on the way to her car. A sharp thrill went through her body at the sight of the tall, burly blond with the ice blue eyes. She shook it off and hurried to her sedan.

If that man was what a bear shifter looked like, maybe Maisie should change her mind. She sat in her car with the motor running, gripping the steering wheel. Something about that guy had called out to her and filled her with longing. It was almost like she knew him. But she didn’t have time to think about it now. There was a whole lot to do between now and the grand opening of her bakery.

There were creams to be whipped and dough to be risen. She didn’t have a moment to dally with the idea of finding a fated mate among the shifter men on Fate Mountain.