Stranded With Her Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Bluff Clan Book 3) (9 page)

“Maybe it’s just routine,” Willow said, and he could hear the nervous edge to her voice. He wanted to tell her it was OK, that Declan was just here to shoot the breeze, or welcome her to the town. But Trent knew that wasn’t Declan’s style, not at this time of night.

The sheriff opened his car door and got out, putting his hat on his head. Official business, thought Trent, and a cold sensation gripped his heart.

“Evening, Declan,” Trent said.

“Hello there. I’m sorry to have to do this to you, Trent,” Declan said. “But I need to ask Willow to accompany me back to the station.”

“Surely if it’s bad news about her parents, you can tell us here. We can go into the house,” Trent said. By his side he felt Willow freeze, a small tremor passing through her.

“It isn’t about her parents. No news on that at the moment. This has to do with something else.”

“What?” Trent said, squaring up to the sheriff.

“Please, Trent, there is no need for that. I have been asked to come and get Willow. Stuart is waiting for us there.” Declan used his voice to calm Trent down. Damn, Declan was good at his job; he had the authority and the tact to avoid making situations worse.

“Stuart? What has the chief got to do with this?” Trent asked, his anger still obvious.

“I’ll explain when we get there. You are requested to come too, Trent.”

“Of course,” he said, taking Willow’s hand. Numbly, they got into the sheriff’s car; he was concerned that she hadn’t put up any kind of fight. In fact, there was no reaction from her at all. As they drove back into town, he had an uneasy feeling that this was going to be bad. Very bad.

“You want to keep us separate?” Trent asked.

Willow could tell he was close to losing control and she didn’t want that. He was such a good man, so much better than she deserved. “It’s OK, Trent. I don’t mind.”

“Well, I do. Declan, will you tell me what this is all about?”

“I’ve asked him not to, Trent.” A well-dressed man with an air of authority came into the station, which was only really a couple of small rooms with a corridor leading off to the cells in the back.

“Stuart. I don’t understand what is going on.” Trent spoke more politely to the older man.

“I know, Trent. I appreciate you coming down here. First, I would like to introduce myself to Willow. You and Trent are bonded. That right, Trent?” Stuart shook Willow’s hand, but his concentration was on Trent and the answer he gave.

“Yes. We met yesterday at the gas station over by Cougar Ridge. I got stuck on the way up there. So it’s been a long day and we were hoping to get some rest.”

“I understand, but Willow is new in town and there are a couple of questions I need the answers to. So if you will wait here, I will take her to the interview room.”

“There’s nothing you can’t say in front of me, Stuart.” Trent was not going to give her up without a fight. She loved him for that, but she didn’t want him to ruin his life for her by assaulting someone. Yet she lacked the willpower to open her mouth and speak; her brain was on the verge shutting down, panic mode was setting in.

“Are you sure? Willow might have a past she doesn’t want you to know about.” Stuart’s words resounded in her brain, pushing through to be processed. Did she have a past she didn’t want Trent to know about? She had told him everything.

“There’s nothing she can’t tell me,” Trent said confidently.

“Is that OK with you, Willow?” asked Stuart.

She wanted to say no, it’s not OK. None of this was OK. But she had to know and if it was something Trent couldn’t live with, then it was best he knew now rather than when she had conceived their child. But she wasn’t too worried; she had been very honest with Trent about her past. “Yes,” she answered.

“Then let’s go through. I think coffee all-round; I’ll get it, if you would get everything set up, Declan.”

“Sure, come through, Trent. Willow, take a seat. I’m sure we’ll have this all cleared up in no time.”

“Does this have anything to do with what I asked you to look for, Declan?” Trent asked.

Willow hated the concern in his eyes, hated the way he was willing to defend her against these people of his. People he had known his whole life. They were a part of who he was, his business, everything he worked for was here, wrapped up in this town. If her presence was going to ruin that for him, then she would leave.

She got up abruptly. “Would you excuse me?” She went out to find Stuart, needing to talk to him on his own. Behind her, she heard Trent’s voice and Declan telling him to stay put.

She pulled the door to, closing off the world Trent had offered her. It had been a dream after all, one she was not allowed to live in.

“Hello, Willow, good of you to join me,” Stuart said, he was seated at Declan’s desk, two coffees on the table before him.

“You knew I’d come out?”

The old man smiled. “Hoped.” He indicated the seat in front of him. “Now we need to get some things cleared up.”

She sat down opposite him, but didn’t touch the coffee; her throat was too constricted to swallow. “I’m not sure what you mean. Or am I here because I’m different to the rest of you?”

He shook his head. “No. Not at all. You are here because when Declan did a search on your name, it led him to an Oliver Creswell. I see the name means something to you.”

“Yes,” she said quietly, unable to believe that Ollie had found some way to track her, to ruin her life after all.

“Is it true?” Stuart asked, sipping his coffee, but watching her intently.

She tried so hard not to cry, but the tears came to her eyes quicker than she could blink them away. Reaching out, she took the coffee cup and sipped it just to buy herself some time and give her dry mouth enough moisture for her to be able to speak.

“Yes.”

“These are serious allegations. Does Trent know?”

“Yes.” She looked at Stuart. “Please, it all happened before we met. It has nothing to do with him.”

“It has everything to do with him. He will not rest if you go to prison.”

“Prison,” she repeated her voice a soft whisper.

“Normally crimes are dealt with internally, not that we have any trouble here in Bear Bluff, the bears all answer to me as the chief of their clan. But you are not one of us.”

“No. I understand. What do you want me to do? I certainly don’t want Trent involved.” She wiped away her tears, knowing she had to be strong, at least until she could safely leave Trent. “I still don’t understand. It was all an accident.”

“I’m afraid a judge will decide that. All I ask is that you keep the other side of yourself a secret.”

She lifted her head and looked at Stuart. “How am I supposed to keep it a secret? That is the whole point, isn’t it?”

“There is nothing in the report to say you attacked him as an animal. It was a knife.”

“A knife. I didn’t. No … I haven’t ever attacked him.”

Stuart watched her closely. “Then why don’t you tell me what did happen?”

She felt so stupid telling Stuart how she had lost control and ended up with a tail. But as she spoke, he seemed to relax a little, the tension leaving him. “And that is what you told Trent?”

“Yes. That’s what happened.” She reached in her pocket for her phone. “Here, these are the messages he keeps sending me.” She showed him the freak messages, and as he scrolled through them, he began to look different, angry.

“Thank you, Willow. For being so candid in your story. I understand it all a lot better now. These messages prove that you were also with Trent when the alleged attack happened.”

She got up. “Will you explain to Trent? I think it would be better if I just left, I’ll go and turn myself in and leave you all out of it.”

Stuart smiled at her. “That won’t be necessary. I will get this whole thing sorted out. After all my long years, I have enough connections. Trent is a good man, he deserves to be happy. You understand why I had to watch out for him. There is no telling how a bear will react to save his mate.”

“I understand. He is so lucky to have been raised here.”

“It’s a good place to bring up some bear cubs, which brings me round to my next suggestion. Get married to that mate of yours as quick as you can. If that’s what you want?” He grinned again. “What am I saying; of course it’s what you want. I have a couple of free hours on Friday; if you can arrange it, I’ll marry you then.”

“M … marry? On … Friday. That’s in two days’ time.”

“Things move fast in Bear Bluff, Willow. I just think it would be better if you had a different name. Then the chances of this Oliver guy finding you are fairly slim. And if he ever shows his face in Bear Bluff, well … let’s just say we look after our own.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he put his hand up and said, “And you are not on your own now, Willow. You are part of our community.”

“Thank you,” she said and got up from her chair.

He smiled. “Now let’s go and release that big bear of yours. Poor Declan will have had to use his best restraining techniques, I suspect.”

***

“I can’t believe I’m married,” Willow said. They were up on top of the mountain, looking down on Bear Bluff.

Trent chuckled, reaching out to take her hand. “I know, that was fast, even by Bear Bluff standards. Met and married in under a week.”

“But you’re sure?” She looked at him, her eyes holding such hope.

“Never been surer of anything. We are purrrrfect together.”

“Funny.” She laughed at his joke. His friends had given him some stick about having a “pussycat” for his mate. “I can’t believe I have to put up with your sense of humour for the rest of my life.”

“There is a lot about me that you will have to put up with. One of those things is the constant need to fuck you.”

“So romantic,” she said, but his words always made her hot, in all the right places.

“Shall we go home? I’d like to carry you over the threshold now, Mrs. Savage.”

She looked down at the diamond engagement ring he had given her, with her new wedding ring nestled next to it. Holding them up, she watched the sun sparkling on them. The snow had cleared and the weather had settled down, the days warm and the nights cold. Perfect for snuggling up with your mate.

“Yes, please. Home. Only a week ago I was running away from my home and everything in it. Now I have a new one, and a new man.”

He came to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “Aren’t you glad your new man is a freak like you?”

She leaned her head back, resting it on his shoulder, tilting it so that she could kiss him. He kissed her back, his hand going around her exposed neck and then slipping down to cup her breasts. Against her, his cock hardened. She couldn’t help pressing herself back onto him, moving her bottom to brush against his tortured member.

He groaned. “Come on, let’s go, or I will be ripping your wedding dress from your body. And fucking you right here.”

“Don’t even think about it. I am keeping this dress forever.” She stepped away from him and, glad that her clothes didn’t tear or disappear when she changed into her panther, she let the big cat take hold of her. The air shimmered all around her and then she was on all four paws. With a leap, she began hurtling down the mountain, with her big bear close behind her.

In her head, she was laughing, joy at the world she lived in. A little earlier, Stuart had taken her aside and told her the whole Ollie thing was of no concern anymore. It turned out he had been stabbed in a fight, and blamed her when the hospital called the police about it being gang related. Stuart said he had received a caution for wasting police time, since she could prove she was not with him, and he had been told quite firmly to stay away from Willow. The promise was repeated that if he ever came to Bear Bluff, he would not walk out of there in one piece.

It had made her decide to stop looking for her parents. While she was still fresh in Ollie’s mind, she would be better staying here in Bear Bluff. She felt safe here, which was why they had decided to postpone their honeymoon. They would take it in the summer months, spending their time exploring the mountains, bear and panther, living off the land for two whole weeks.

At the usual place they once more became human. Holding her dress up, they made the final descent to the town. Trent had left his car at the bottom of the trail. It now had an assortment of cans and balloons tied to it. She laughed, even though Trent scowled, especially when they drove off with a cacophony of noise behind them.

However, by the time they reached the house, he had other things on his mind. As soon as the car stopped, he climbed out and opened her door, and then he lifted her into his arms. At first, she protested, but he wanted to do this the traditional way. Only pausing to open the door, he kissed her and carried her over the threshold.

“This is it, the start of our married life.” He kissed her, and when they parted, she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I never thought I could be this happy. The support of your friends getting everything ready for today has been amazing. I love my dress, I loved the reception, and I especially love you.”

He laughed. “You know what I’d like now?”

“Tell me?” She had an idea, but wanted him to tell her. But his reply was not what she had expected.

“I want it to snow.”

“Oh, not exactly what I thought you’d say. I thought it would involve sex.”

“It does,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he walked towards the stairs. “If it snowed, I mean a real lot of snow, then you would have to spend the next week here with me.”

“That would be incredible, cut off from everyone. And let’s face it; it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been stranded with a bear.”

“Oh, honey, he would go crazy, having you here at my demand for a whole week. But I guess I’ll have to make do with our wedding night for now.” As he carried her to their bedroom, outside, the snow did begin to fall. Maybe Trent would get this wish; although he didn’t want to be greedy, one dream had already come true. And she was the one in his arms right now.