Reforming the Bear

Evernight Publishing ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2015 Vanessa Devereaux

 
ISBN: 978-1-77233-308-4

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor: JC Chute

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
 
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All
names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

For Nan Kate

REFORMING THE BEAR

Kalispell
Shifters,8

Vanessa Devereaux

Copyright © 2015

Chapter One

Lucy
hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep at the wheel until her car came to an
abrupt stop, causing her to hit her nose and forehead on the top of the
steering wheel. She looked up through the windshield, quickly noting in her
tired state that she’d wandered off the road as her car’s two right tires were
way off on the shoulder. She rubbed her eyes, confused as to why the car had
stopped so suddenly, but at the same time glad it had. A set of bends in the
road and some ravines were ahead –– who knew
what
could have happened. She blinked rapidly a few times and
yawned while giving herself a pep talk: if she put her mind to it, she could
drive another thirty minutes or so and easily reach the town she’d circled on
the map.

She
turned the key in the ignition. Not a sound, not even a cough or groan.
Damn
. Nightfall was closing in rapidly––and
she was out in the middle of nowhere.

However,
nowhere was exactly where she wanted to be. She glanced around for any sign of
another person, a light or the slightest movement outside the car. Nowhere was
suddenly a scary place to be.

Lucy
rested her forehead on the steering wheel, willing herself not to cry. It
wasn’t working, though … all she felt like doing was having a good sob.

Come on. You
have to go through with it. You volunteered to do this.

 
She lifted her head and tried the ignition one
more time, hoping that like her, the car just needed a few minutes’ rest.

Still
nothing.

Mike
had told her to get rid of her cell phone, which she’d done before she’d headed
west. He’d given her one off the shelf with no contract, meaning it couldn’t be
traced. It now sat at the bottom of her bag. Her brother had told her not to
use it, promising he’d call her when things were safe again. Would it be okay if
she used it to call someone so they could check out the car for her?

No,
she had to do as he’d instructed.

Maybe
she’d get out and stretch her legs for a bit. Clear her mind, and shake off the
tiredness. She opened the door and stepped onto the road, lifting her arms up
in the air and giving her body a good stretch. She guessed it would be too far
to walk to get help. The last town she’d driven through had been about an hour
ago––somewhere named Missoula. She’d thought about stopping for the night,
resting up and getting an early start but the urgent need to get to the middle
of nowhere had driven her on. She’d driven through Polson about twenty minutes
ago, and then as she’d planned, had gone off the main highway and opted instead
for the back roads. Somewhere along the way she’d hoped to find a motel to hide
out in for however long the mess with Mike took to sort out.

Lucy
reached inside the car and pulled out her map. She’d hazard a guess her planned
destination was still three or four miles away. Maybe if she got her stuff out
of the car, locked it up, she could walk the rest of the way. Stars began
twinkling overhead and it seemed like day had turned to night while she’d been
standing there thinking about her next move. Walking alone in the dark, in the
middle of nowhere, would be taking a huge risk. Wasn’t this bear country? Did
bears come out hunting at night? Wolf land, too. Not to mention cougars. She
was pretty sure they hunted at night. A shiver went up her spine thinking any
one of those could be lurking around watching her at this very second.

Lucy
quickly sat back in the car and locked the doors. She had some blankets in the
trunk. She’d sleep on the back seat. She’d wait ‘til it got light and then walk
to the nearest town.

Lucy
reached across for the coffee she’d picked up in Missoula. She knew it would be
cold by now, but she suddenly felt thirsty. Probably because she’d never been
so scared in all her life. She now had a car that wouldn’t start, and was stuck
in the middle of nowhere with wild animals lurking close by. Lucy took a sip of
the drink and pulled a face. It was not only cold, but bitter now, too. She
squinted and raised her hand up to shield her eyes as bright headlights hurdled
toward her. With such powerful lights, it had to be a big truck. Maybe she
could flag it down, and hopefully the driver would know how to fix the car.

Without
hesitation, Lucy stepped out and began waving and jumping up and down, hoping
the driver would see her and not run her down. Luck must have been on her side
because the truck began slowing up, and eventually stopped about ten feet away.
A guy with a beard jumped down from his rig and walked toward her.

“You
need some help here?” he asked her.

“Yes,
thanks … my car just died on me and I’ve no idea what’s wrong. Any chance you
could take a look at it?”

He
pushed his cap back and Lucy guessed from his features he was in his
mid-fifties.

“Can’t
say I’m much of an expert, but I can take a peek if you want to pop the hood.”

Lucy
snapped the catch and soon the guy had the hood lifted up and was checking
things out.

“Can’t
see anything wrong, but like I said I’m not much of an expert. Always have
buddies fix any issues I have with my truck.”

He
slammed the hood shut again. Disappointment washed over her. She just wanted to
get to a motel and sleep for twenty-four hours.

“This
is no place for a nice-looking girl like yourself to be at night. Hop in my
truck and I’ll give you a ride to town, and then you can get someone to come
look at the car in the morning.”

It
sounded perfect, seemed the right thing to do, but for some reason a voice in
her head told her not to take a ride from a complete stranger and the
nice-looking girl
bit set off warning
bells in her head. She didn’t like the idea of sleeping in her car, but now
that seemed like the safer option. She’d take her chances with the bears,
wolves and cougars over this guy.

“Thanks
for the offer, but no, I’ll be fine in my car.”

“Come
on now, pretty lady. You flag me down. I stop my truck and get out to help you
and you turn me down. I’ve been looking for someone just like you to have a
little fun with and warm my bed after a long day’s trucking.”

She
knew it.

He
took a step toward her.

“No.
I am not going with you anywhere, so just get on your way.”

Before
she could get back in her car and lock the doors he’d grabbed her, and proceeded
to run his hand down the side of her face. She brought her heel down hard on
his foot and was able to get free of him but just for a second. He grabbed her
hair and pulled her back toward him with his erection now pushing into her
butt.

He
put his hand over her right breast and bile rose in her throat.

Please, please
let someone else drive by and see that this man to going to rape me.

“Let
go of me.”

“I
don’t think you really want me to do that.”

He
ripped the front of her t-shirt, exposing her bra. His calloused hand went
inside it, rubbing against her nipple. She was sure she was going to throw up.

“I
have found myself one with big boobs and tits.” He pulled on her nipple and she
flinched as his other hand pulled her hair, forcing her head back as his other
hand gripped her breast. “I bet you like to be fucked rough and hard, don’t
you?”

He
tried to kiss her. Lucy knew she had to get away from him.
 
Once again she brought her foot down onto his
toe, and as he let go of her she turned and brought her knee up, getting him
square in the balls.

He
doubled over, which gave her a chance to run. She headed down the road as fast
as she could, almost tripping over her own feet. She wanted to look over her
shoulder to see if he was pursuing her but knew that would slow her down. The
only things lighting the road were the stars, so she had no way of knowing
where she was heading. If he got back into his truck, she knew she couldn’t
outrun him, and he’d find and rape her, maybe even kill her after he was done.

Running
off road would be a better option. She began to run to the left, but suddenly
lost her footing and fell down with gravel cutting into her skin. And then,
snap
, her ankle gave way as she rolled
down the side of the road.