Fast Bear: BBW Shapeshifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 2) (5 page)

Hiding was what she had been doing in Wild Summit in the first place. Until they had found her. How had they found her? She’d been vigilant. Ever since that fateful day when she had been forced to leave the city, she had been careful to the point of paranoia. From that day forward, she had lived in the shadows. Until finding Wild Summit, that was. Sure, she had kept her head down at first. But when nobody had showed up looking for her for a month, then six months, and then a year, Bailey had finally been able to breathe.

Soon more than a year had passed and Bailey had felt like she was free of them for good. She had built a life in Wild Summit. Albeit a little lonely, a little monotonous, but a life. Now, to have that life shattered by having the Petronis show up the very same day that she met Jeremy, well, it was just too much of a coincidence.

It was now clear that Jeremy could be a danger to her. And even though what had happened between them had been wonderful, Bailey had to remind herself that it was just sex and hardly worth dying for. Whatever she felt for Jeremy, and she had to admit in their brief encounter she had felt a whole lot, it would have to be forgotten. There were more things to life than love and sex. There was survival.

Bailey, of course, wished it wasn’t so. Jeremy was strong. He was handsome. He was kind. And then there were his hands, and his chest, and his… She stopped herself. There was no use getting all hot and bothered about a man she couldn’t have, a man who might well be the enemy. But was he the enemy? His timing certainly suggested it. Or was she overreacting? None of it made any sense.

Bailey knew why the Petronis wanted her dead. She had seen what they’d done and more importantly she had something that belonged to them. She had kept it as leverage in the event they ever showed up again, but it looked like her plan had backfired on her. It looked like they hadn’t given up looking for her, because of what she had. So what could she do? Make a deal with them? Give it back. No. She’d seen what they’d done to her ex. They’d gunned him down in cold blood. She wouldn’t let that happen to her. The only choice was to leave town. To run and keep running.

Bailey thought about changing her appearance as she stuffed her suitcases into the back of her dented compact car. Yes, that would be a good idea. She couldn’t do anything about her generous curves and her more-than-average height. But her dark hair could be lightened. And she could get some colored contacts for her chocolate-brown eyes. If she got out of town now, she could buy some hair dye once she was down the road. The main thing was that she put distance between her and the men in the green car. If she didn’t, it would only be a matter of time before they found her.

Bailey drove through town. She passed the deli, feeling bad for her employer. He had given her a job as soon as she had arrived in Wild Summit and had been good to her since. She didn’t like leaving him high and dry. She hadn’t even returned the keys to the shop. She didn’t like leaving her friends, either. Especially Jada. A compromise occurred to her. She couldn’t tell anybody where she was going, for their own good as well as hers. But she might be able to give Jada the keys to the deli and just say a quick goodbye. She would tell her not to worry and simply explain that it was complicated, but she had to move on. With Jada’s help to head off any efforts to find her, she might just get a head start. Yes. It was worth the risk. She would stop briefly at Wild Alpha Auto. And then she would drive. She would drive all night and into the new day.

************************

Jeremy’s bear crashed through the forest. He hadn’t shifted for days and it felt good to let his bear out, even if the reason for it didn’t feel good at all. He had argued with Brandon. Argued about the danger he had brought to Wild Summit and the danger he had brought to Bailey. Basically they had squabbled about his life choices. It was the same old disagreement they always had. Brandon always said that Jeremy would never change, and Jeremy always replied that Brandon could never understand because he hadn’t grown up the way Jeremy had.

The truth was a part of Jeremy thought Brandon was spoiled, too lucky for his own good. Their father hadn’t done much more than knock Jeremy’s mother up. Jeremy hadn’t even found out who his dad was until he was ten years old. With Brandon’s mother, however, his dad had stayed. With Brandon’s mother he had claimed his mate. Jeremy had always envied Brandon that. Envied him the stability of his home life. Whereas Jeremy had been brought up in a tiny apartment, Brandon had been raised in the lap of luxury.

Their argument had ended the same way it always did. With one of them running off, vowing not to ever see the other one again. The difference was that in the past Jeremy had always said he would change, but he hadn’t meant it. Not really. But this time he did. Because he
had
changed. Jeremy had come to Wild Summit because he’d truly put his past behind him. No more working for criminals. No more getaways. Just clean, old-fashioned mountain living. If Brandon didn’t want to believe him, so be it. It didn’t change the facts.

Jeremy had shifted and gone for a run to let his bear work off some steam. Since he hadn’t let his bear out for a while, it felt good to shift and be one with the woods. Having grown up in the inner city, fresh air and room to roam were privileges neither Jeremy nor his bear took for granted. Out there in the trees, nothing but moss and roots and rocks beneath his padded feet, it was a joy just to be.

Jeremy wasn’t sure exactly what, but something drew him to Wild Alpha Auto. Something called to his bear over the wind. Was it Bailey? No. Why would she be there? It was just his mind, constantly thinking about her. He had never felt this way about a woman before. Perhaps he should go to her? And draw out the Petronis? He didn’t know why they were interested in her, but he knew that if he wanted to keep her safe, he’d better stay away. Chemistry or not, the best thing he could do for Bailey was keep his distance.

Wild Alpha Auto he could probably visit safely enough, though. Especially since he’d left a job unfinished. There was a classic Porsche that he had been working on before he’d left for lunch. Just the thought of the car made him think of Bailey. All curvy and cute. He put the thought out of his mind. It would be close to quitting time. He needed to get to the dealership before everybody left.

Jeremy’s bear had an excellent sense of direction and he soon found himself in the trees behind the service department. The roll up door to one of the service bays was still open, but he couldn’t see any mechanics on the floor. It made sense since the shop quit work half an hour earlier than the showroom. They usually left one of the bays open to air the place out. Perfect. He’d be alone. Just him and the car. Jeremy went to shift but realized he had no clothes to change into. He had rashly left them back at his father’s home. He did, however, have his mechanic’s coveralls and a pair of work boots in his locker.

No sense wandering inside naked, though. Jeremy had learned long ago that unplanned shifts could get him into trouble. No, strange as it sounded, better to wander into the garage as a bear, just in case somebody was still around. He could shift once he was alone in the locker room. A grizzly bear wandering out of the forest was an explainable, if rare, sight. A naked man? Call the cops.

Jeremy’s bear padded into the service bay, carefully nosing about. He neither heard nor saw anything. All the activity was in the showroom, so in lieu of squeezing his sixteen-hundred-pound frame through the door, he shifted just outside the break room and went immediately to his locker. Once there, he changed into his coveralls. Being a mechanic was a skill Jeremy had picked up along the way and one that he enjoyed more and more every day. It was like being a doctor for machines. Every problem required a diagnosis, and every fix was something he could do with his own two hands. It didn’t offer the adrenaline rush of driving, but still, spinning a wrench felt good.

Jeremy raised the Porsche on the hoist. Just the sight of those curves made him think of Bailey all over again. And thinking about Bailey made his cock hard. Fortunately, he was alone, because he was pretty sure he was going to tent-pole the coveralls. Why was it that when he finally met a woman he thought he could go the distance with, things had to turn to crap? Why couldn’t he have some of that happily-ever-after that Brandon was always gloating about? Claim a mate. Settle down. Raise some cubs. Why did the past need to plague him? Why couldn’t he be free?

Jeremy stuck his head up into the engine compartment of the Porsche. He’d have to apologize to Brandon. He’d have to do better. He’d have to be better.

“Jeremy?”

He smacked his head as he heard his named called. He recognized the silky voice.

“It’s me. Bailey.”

************************

Bailey watched Jeremy duck down from under the Porsche. He looked massive next to it. But his size wasn’t the first thing on her mind. It was what she had just seen. A grizzly had transformed into a man. And not just any man. The bear had transformed into Jeremy. She wasn’t sure if she should run screaming or hide.

Bailey was only in the service area because she was looking for Jada. She had been standing in the shadows when Jeremy’s grizzly had wandered in. At first she thought she was seeing things. Wild Summit was a small town in the mountains, but it wasn’t every day you saw a grizzly bear. They were, after all, an endangered species. But here one was, big and beautiful and golden brown, and strangely, Bailey hadn’t been afraid. She was afraid of the Petronis, and she was afraid of what the future held for her outside of Wild Summit. But she hadn’t been afraid of this bear. It was too pure, too proud. Then, however, she saw it shift into a man.

Bailey hadn’t said anything at first, because she couldn’t. Her heart was in her throat. And when Jeremy had walked back out of the break room in his coveralls and boots, his blond hair slicked back, she wasn’t sure what she should do. Yes, she’d heard of shifters, but actually seeing one was different. As if she didn’t have enough on her plate being chased by criminals and then meeting the man of her dreams to find out that he might well be a criminal himself. And now finding out that he was a grizzly bear. Could her day get any more complicated?

“Bailey?” Jeremy said. “What are you doing here?”

Bailey felt a little bit of the courage she used to possess come back to her. “Watching a bear turn into you.”

Jeremy grimaced uncomfortably. “Yeah. About that.”

“You’re a shifter,” Bailey said quietly.

“You’ve heard of us?”

“Heard, not seen.”

“I don’t want you to be afraid,” Jeremy said.

“Then explain it to me.”

Jeremy approached her, a smile on his face. She felt her insides tingle in spite of the danger. Could she trust him? Why couldn’t the good things in her life just be simple?

“We’re a different species,” Jeremy said. “We live among you, but we can also transform into animals. In my case, a bear.”

“Is there more?”

“There’s a lot more. But it’s going to take a while to tell you everything.”

“Then tell me something else.”

“Anything.”

Bailey glanced around the shop to ensure that they were alone. “The Petronis. You know them. How?”

Bailey heard a sound behind her. She turned. It was Jada.

“Hey, Bailey. What are you doing here?”

Jada looked across the service bay and saw Jeremy. “Oh, all righty then,” she said with a smile on her face. Jada tossed Jeremy the keys. “Lock the bay doors when you leave. I’ll catch up with you two later.”

“Wait, Jada,” Bailey said.

“Yeah, hon?”

Bailey thought on her feet. This was not going as she had planned. Not at all. “If I don’t see you for a couple of days, don’t worry, OK? I’ll call.”

“Sure,” Jada said with a smile. “Have a fun couple of days, you two.”

Jada left the garage area, locking the door to the showroom behind her. Bailey checked her watch. Almost six o’clock. It would be dark soon enough. A perfect time to get out of town and keep driving.

“I should go, too,” Bailey said. She began walking toward the open door.

“Wait.” Jeremy walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She felt her skin thrill in spite of herself. “I thought you wanted an explanation.”

Bailey pulled away. “I want to live more.”

Jeremy looked deep into her eyes. “As long as I’m on this earth, they won’t do anything to you. I won’t allow it.”

“And how do I know
they
are the problem?”

“I’m not sure I get your meaning,” Jeremy said.

“Even if I forget about the bear thing for the moment, and let me just say, that’s pretty hard to do, I was fine here in Wild Summit. I was fine for a long time. But the minute you show up, so do the Petronis.” Bailey walked over to the roll up door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go.”

Jeremy stepped in front of her, his clear hazel eyes imploring her to stay. “Give me five minutes to explain. Just five minute of your life.”

Bailey looked at him. Her heart said to give him a chance, but her mind said to run and not look back. Logic versus the heart. The heart always won.

“OK, five minutes.”

************************

Jeremy rolled down the garage door to give them some privacy, letting the evening light filter in through the upper windows. He knew he needed to tell Bailey the truth. That he had been a wheelman for the Petronis, that he had worked for them many times, that their sudden appearance probably had nothing to do with her and everything to do with him. But he also knew that if he told her those things, it would be too much. She would leave and he wouldn’t blame her. But he couldn’t let her leave. Because she was the one. He felt in his bones that she was his mate, and if he had time, just a little time, he could set everything right and make it so the Petronis would never bother her again. But he needed that time. Only a few days. So he lied. A little white lie to make everything better.

“I don’t know the Petronis personally,” Jeremy said. “But as soon as I saw them arrive, it was pretty clear you did.”