The Bear Essentials (Siren Publishing: The Stormy Glenn ManLove Collection)

The Bear Essentials

Bear shifter Rob Colton is excited about the future, and after graduating, he is ready to start the next phase of his life. He never expects that life to include a frightened young man that darts out in front of his truck. But one whiff of Casey's sweet smell and Rob knows his future is going to be brighter than ever. He has found his true mate.

Orphaned at an early age, Casey Newton has bounced from foster home to foster home, never quite finding a place to call his own. When a big, burly man decides Casey is his true mate, the cold and lonely world Casey grew up in begins to change. For once in his life, someone wants him. 

But wanting someone and keeping them safe are two very different things. When the man that has terrorized Casey for most of his life comes after him again, can Casey trust Rob to protect him or will he be tossed away like he has every other time in his life? And will the bond between mates be strong enough to withstand the threat of losing everything they hold dear?

Genre:
Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifter

Length:
32,782 words
 

Stormy Glenn

THE STORMY GLENN

MANLOVE COLLECTION

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED:
Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device.
You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book.
This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

[email protected]

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

THE BEAR ESSENTIALS

E-book ISBN:
978-1-63259-906-3

First E-book Publication: October 2015

Cover design by Jess Buffett

All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of
The Bear Essentials
by Stormy Glenn from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

This is Stormy Glenn’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Stormy Glenn’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

Dedicated to the real Rob Colton, who has brought me so much reading pleasure with his stories.

THE BEAR ESSENTIALS

STORMY GLENN

Copyright © 2015

He had done it. He had graduated from college without failing a single class. Rob Colton was so excited he almost bounced to his truck, except he didn’t bounce. Ever. It would mess with his hard-earned alphaness. Still, once he was inside his truck and long gone from the campus parking lot, he couldn’t help shouting out his excitement.

He had graduated!

Long days attending class combined with even longer nights sitting at the dining room table studying had given him a 3.0 GPA. It wasn’t spectacular and it wouldn’t get him a top-of-the-line job, but he wouldn’t be flipping burgers either.

God, he hoped he wouldn’t be flipping burgers. He’d rather eat mud. Burnt meat made his inner bear want to puke. Whoever invented flame broiled should be shot. Give him a nice juicy steak passed briefly over the top of an open flame and he was pretty damn happy. Better yet, give him some fresh salmon. Salmon burgers were good, too.

Rob grinned when he heard his best friend’s unique ringtone blare on his phone. He tapped his Bluetooth earpiece, connecting him to the call. “Yo, dude, we did it.”

“Right?” Billy Ray Jenson replied.

“I can’t believe it’s finally over.”

“Yeah, man, school sucked.”

Rob couldn’t agree more.

“We still meeting out by the river tonight?” He couldn’t wait to celebrate.

He had wanted to drop out of school when he turned eighteen and go to work full-time in his father’s construction company. His parents made him stay in school, and now he was glad they did, but the last few months had been the hardest.

Unlike the rest of the known universe, shifters had to attend an additional year of school. Most humans assumed it was some sort of advanced high school courses offered by invitation only, and maybe that was true to some extent. The courses they took taught them about their bear history. It taught them how to control their beasts when they were faced with violence or situations that forced their bear to the surface.

It taught them how to be better bears.

“You know it.”

“You and Jed grab the beer,” Rob said. “I’ll bring some steaks.”

“Cool.”

Billy Ray was a man of few words, at least few comprehensible words.

“I need to swing by the house and grab a few things. Then I’ll head out to the river.” And he wanted to talk to his parents now that he had finished school. He wanted to go to work for his father full-time. He had been dreaming of working side by side with his dad since he was seven years old and picked up his first hammer.

“See you out there.” Rob chuckled as he disconnected the call. He was still reeling from the fact that he had finally graduated. It felt like he had been attending school forever and he had finally been set free. His
bear
wanted to roar.

“Holy fucking shit!” Rob slammed on the brakes, his eyes rounding as his truck slid to a stop mere inches from the small figure racing across the road in front of him.

Wide eyes the color of the warm caramel and edged with kohl peered up at him over the hood of the truck, big fat tears dripping from them down pale white cheeks. Time seemed to stand still as Rob sank into those big liquid eyes, drowning in them.

Then the man blinked, his dark thick eyelashes sweeping over his tearstained cheeks as he huddled further into his dark-gray hoodie. He turned and started across the road again, the moment broken.

Rob stared after the lone figure, stunned by the overpowering emotions suddenly running rampant through him. He didn’t understand why his stomach clenched at the sight of those tears or why his dick became so hard he could have punched a hole through a steel plate at those big caramel eyes.

But he was going to find out.

Rob growled as he drove his truck to the side of the road and turned the engine off. He jumped out of the truck and raced after the little man, catching sight of him hurrying down a dirt path on the side of the road that led into the woods.

He quickly caught up with his prey, barely panting from exertion. He grabbed the guy’s arm, his eyebrows shooting up when the he instantly dropped to the ground and curled into himself.

“Please, don’t hurt me,” the man whimpered as he covered his head with his arms.

Rob growled, his gaze snapping back and forth as he scanned his immediate surroundings for signs of danger. Spotting nothing out of place, Rob lifted his nose and drew in a lungful of air. He smelled the forest—trees and dirt and the slightly musty smell of dead leaves.

And apples…cinnamon and apples.

Rob frowned in confusion. If he didn’t know better, he’d think someone was out in the middle of the woods baking an apple pie. God, he loved apple pie. It was without a doubt his favorite desert next to honey.

Nothing tasted better than honey.

Dismissing his wild thoughts, Rob turned his attention back to the man cowering on the ground at his feet. A deep mind-numbing rage began to take hold of him when he noticed the bruises showing up through the rips in the man’s hoodie. There was even a trickle of blood at the corner of the man’s mouth, no doubt due from the cut on his fat lip.

Someone had worked this poor guy over, and hard.

Rob squatted down next to the smaller man. Jeez, he had to outweigh him by at least a hundred pounds, if not more. The little thing was all skin and bones.

And bruises, there were a shitload of bruises.

“What happened, cub?” Rob spoke in his gentlest voice, which wasn’t easy when his usual tone was deep and rough. It matched his looks. He was big and fierce and made like a brick shit house. And for once in his life, he wished he wasn’t so intimidating.

The poor thing was going to shake apart.

“Sshhh, it’s okay.” Rob tried to sooth the man by rubbing his back. “You’re safe now. No one is going to hurt you.”

When a little of the tension eased in the man’s body, Rob lifted him up into a sitting position, surprised by how easily he could move the guy. He had lifted heavier bags of cement.

Big light brown eyes peeked up at Rob through a fall of honey-blond hair. Rob reached down and gingerly touched the man’s swollen bottom lip, grimacing at the wince of pain that crossed the guy’s face.

“What happened to you, cub?”

“They took my bike.” The words were whispered in the sweetest voice Rob had ever heard. It wrapped around him like a blanket of tranquility he hadn't felt in all his years. If he had been a cat, he would have purred.