The Kodiak's Mate (Shifters-Match.com Book 2) (2 page)

“Damn,” she muttered. “Toss out the muffins for the kids. I don’t want them to be hurt in any way at all. Can I borrow someone’s phone so that I can call the teachers and let them know that they will have to stop at the store and buy muffins from a box?” She cringed at that thought, but oh well, such was life. “I guess I’m ready to go over there and get this done if you are, Sheriff.” She looked at Harley and smiled. “Thank you for saving my ass.”

“It’s a cute ass that deserved to be saved, so you’re welcome.” He handed her his phone while the sheriff got on his cell to talk with the deputy at her shop. Getting up, Harley drained his cup, then tossed it into the garbage bin at the end of the reception desk.

She looked at him and didn’t move an inch. “You think my ass is cute? Seriously?” She couldn’t have heard that correctly. No way in hell could she have heard him right. He had been acting as if he couldn’t stand her.

“Course it is,” he told her. Leaning back against the counter, he tipped his head and met her gaze. “Like the rest of you is damn hot. You’re built like a woman should be and the fact you’re happy with your body shows in everything you do. You own it.”

“What?” Her mouth was hanging open. “Me?” Oh hell, she sounded like a mouse when she said that. “I.” She shook her head. “Am I dreaming right now?”

“Sorry to interrupt this, whatever this is,” the sheriff butted in. “We should head over to your shop, Alaska. Did you make the call to the teachers or do I need to have a deputy alert them?”

“No, shoot. Sorry, I didn’t call them.” She called the school, then looked back up at Harley once more. “I guess I have to go.” She didn’t really want to leave him, which was weird for her. Alaska wasn’t a woman to cling, ever, but she wanted to with him. She wanted to reach out and touch him and ask him to touch her.

Pushing off of the counter, he walked toward her and took the phone she still had in her hand. “I’ll swing by your place later and check up on you. I have a customer coming by to pick up his truck. Otherwise I’d go with you. Be safe and watch out for large, immovable objects.”

She nodded at him just a bit dumbly. “Do you know where the shop is?” When he nodded, she smiled, giving him a wave and walking away so that she could get to her shop and figure out just how much damage was done.

Chapter Three

After checking in with the sheriff and finding out the man hadn’t actually had any reason to call him that morning besides a gut feeling, Harley got down to work. It was a relatively busy day, mostly tourists with quick fixes, but there were the usual check-ups and the like. In between all those interruptions, Harley kept working on the shop’s ongoing project, an old Barracuda a local had had in his garage. His grandson had asked them to fix it up, no particular rush, but when it was finished he planned to sell it and the majority of the funds would go to the school. Something he and the other guys could get behind. But even working on the old Cuda couldn’t keep his thoughts off Alaska.

He worried about her but knew that the sheriff would have at least one or two deputies keeping an eye on her. And later he planned to check in with her to make sure she was okay. No lasting problems from her tumble this morning. At least, that’s what he kept trying to tell himself. In reality, he wanted to see her.

There was something there, real and elusive, between them. He planned to explore it more and get to know her better. He only knew what he’d heard around town and what had come through the pack grapevines. It wasn’t much, and it definitely wasn’t complimentary. Which meant he took it with a grain of salt. Information could easily get skewed by a person’s perception on the subject. If they felt strongly about whatever it was, they were likely to put their own spin on the info passed along.

He would get it from her directly. Not that he figured it would change how he felt about her, or more importantly how his bear felt about her. He, like every other shifter around, didn’t naturally like witches but he didn’t intend to hold it against her. Like shifters, witches had been unfairly persecuted through the years. They’d really gotten the shaft not too many centuries past, while the shifters had managed to skate under the radar. His kind had learned early on to hide their true natures except around those they trusted fully. Even then sometimes it came back to bite them in the ass.

Straightening up, he checked the clock. If he left in the next ten minutes, he could meet Alaska at her shop and they could walk to her place together. With that goal in mind, he took the quickest shower on record and jogged the entire way to her place of business. He gave a nod to the deputy he found sipping coffee at a table and pointed to the back. The man tipped his head and Harley took it as the indication that she was back there, so he headed on through to the kitchen.

What he found had him coming to a halt in the doorway to stare at the vision before him. Her hair was desperately trying to escape the messy knot she’d tied up, and her hips were swaying to the soft music he heard coming through the speakers overhead. She was dancing and holy shit was it fucking sexy. So damn sexy he had to press a hand to his cock to try to keep from coming in his jeans right then and there.

She began to sing along with a song that he didn’t know, and he could tell that she didn’t know he was there, yet. She was holding the broom in her hand and singing into it. He was a little saddened, however, when she whipped around with it and stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh shit.” She was looking at him with wide eyes. “Uhm, hi?” she asked instead of said. She brushed one of her sweat-drenched curls back behind her ear so she could look up at him. “I could lie and say I don’t do this often, but I don’t lie. This is every day, twice a day. When I’m cleaning, I find it goes faster if I’m singing and dancing.”

“I like it,” he told her. Moving closer, he put a hand on the broom in her hands and cupped her cheek gently. “You’re damn sexy doing it, too. But why don’t you let me do the sweeping. If you keep it up, I’m going to make a mess in my jeans that is going to be difficult and awkward to explain to anyone that notices.”

Her gaze drifted down and to his cock that was barely being restrained by the jeans. Fucking hell, when had a woman’s look become something that would make him even harder? “Oh,” was all she said, her attention still on the front of his jeans. He watched her as she lifted her eyes quickly. Her cheeks were completely red. “Thank you?” There she was with the question again. She passed him the broom and gave him a grin once more. “So, how are you doing today?”

“It’s only been a few hours, Alaska. Not much really happened in that time.” Moving to the corner, he began to work his way methodically through the kitchen with the broom. “The better question is how are you doing since your exciting morning of nearly being kidnapped, running into me, and subsequent full shift at work?”

She shrugged. “I would be feeling much better if they had any idea who it was that tried to kidnap me. I’m just glad I had cops here all day, because I swear I felt like I’ve been watched all day long. Hate that feeling, hate it even more because someone wants me and knows what I am. I’ve kept fairly under the radar on what I am, so for someone to know kind of freaks me out. Ya know?”

“In this town, everyone knows who’s who. It’s not that hard to find out the information if you know where to go to eavesdrop on the busybodies. Any other town or city you wouldn’t have that issue, but this is Shifter Falls. The name kind of lends to the concept, though our ancestors did work on downplaying it a bit.” Looking around, he spotted the dustpan and quickly got his pile into the garbage bin. After stowing the broom where she indicated, he quickly washed his hands and rejoined her. “The sheriff will find who’s after you, Alaska. Until then, consider me your after-hours bodyguard. I am honored to offer you my services of guarding this fine body you have.”

She began to snicker, then full-out laughed. Damn, she laughed a real laugh, one that was from her gut. He fucking loved it. “Ah, so I get to have you for my own during our nights? Does that mean you are coming to my home or am I coming to yours?” Why was she going so easily with this? He wondered briefly. From all he had heard, she hated bears, deeply.

“Well, I was thinking yours. You’d be more comfortable in familiar surroundings, but then I considered that if the guy that tried to grab you knew who and what you were he might know where you live. Which then led me to think you should stay at my place. The only problem with that is I’m a guy, and a bachelor, and I’m not big on decorating. I have all the essentials, but not a lot of creature comforts.” Maybe she’d give him a clue as to why she was easily accepting his plan to stay glued to her side.

“Well, considering that the sheriff has already told me that my house has been broken into, not messed around with but broken into, I’d say that yours would be the best place to be. I think I can handle your Spartan messiness.” He heard the fear in her voice when she spoke and that pissed his bear off. He liked her teasing and laughing instead. “So I guess your place. Maybe stop by mine and grab some clothes? Or do you think that would just give them a way to follow us to your place?”

“They could try but they won’t find it easily, and even if they did we’d see them coming. We’ll go to your place first. No way in hell am I denying a woman her clothing and whatever other mystical items she needs to prepare for each day.” Stepping closer, Harley slowly put his hands on her hips and took another step into her space when she seemed to relax. “We’ll stop for groceries and take-out after your place to help make sure no one is following. Sound good?”

She placed her hands on his chest, then looked up at him with a nod. Fucking hell, that trust on her face shocked him to his core. “Why are you doing this? Why are you so willing to protect me? Most people would be running the other way.” She licked her lips. Damn, he wanted to do that. “So why do you want to help me? And … what is this between us? I know you feel it, too. It’s like electricity and I like it, weirdly enough.”

Stroking his hands around to the small of her back, Harley pulled her in closer to him. “I know this may come as a shock given how I was this morning, but I do like you, Alaska.” He lowered his head to brush her nose with his own and breathed in the scent that was uniquely hers. Pure heaven. “You’re in trouble. I don’t know what kind, but I can’t stand aside and do nothing. I’m more than willing to look after you until this is resolved. Then we can decide where to go moving forward. Don’t ask me to do nothing, Alaska. I can’t do that.”

After a moment, she looked up at him. “Do you have room for me at your place?” She mimicked his earlier move and rubbed her nose against his. “I won’t ask you to do nothing. I just hope that I don’t ask for too much from you.”

Right, the bedroom situation. “Uh, I do have more than one bedroom. But I only have one bed. The other bedrooms are currently storage space in one and my office combined with a gym in the other. I’ve been meaning to get the gym down in the basement but haven’t bothered. Don’t worry, there’s a pull-out couch that I can sleep on while you take the bed.” His custom, king-sized cloud. He would mourn not sleeping on it, but she needed it more.

“I’m not going to make you give your bed up. I’m a big girl—I promise I can handle a couch.” There was another option but he hesitated to offer it to her because he wasn’t sure how she would feel about it.

“Nuh-uh, my momma always taught me to be a gentleman. Most days I even remember what she said. You are taking the bed, period. No arguments, Alaska. You won’t win with me, I promise. Now, if you’re done we should head out so the deputy can head back to the station.” And maybe along the way, he might bring up sharing the bed.

She pulled back from him and grabbed her purse. “I wouldn’t feel right stealing your bed from you.” He heard her sigh and had to stop walking fast when she stopped dead in her tracks. “Maybe we should share it? The bed, that is? That way I don’t feel horrible for taking your bed, and your momma wouldn’t have your head.”

Now he didn’t have to bring it up. This woman might well be after his heart. The way she was going, he’d hand it to her on a silver platter. “Only if that wouldn’t make you uncomfortable,” he said. He had to say it. It was the right thing to say in the situation. “Think about it while we hit your house, the store, and get food. You might change your mind before we get out to my place.”
Please don’t change your mind; please don’t change your mind.

“As long as you don’t steal the covers I think you and I will get along smashingly. Oh, and I talk in my sleep, sometimes walk, just ignore me. I will eventually find my way back to bed, I’m sure.” There was that smile again. Goddamn, that smile lit up parts of him he’d forgotten he had.

“I’m sure you will,” he muttered. Not that his bear would let her out of the bed. At least, that was his gut feeling on the subject. Waving her to precede him from the kitchen, he went to let the deputy know the plan for the night while she turned lights off.

He stepped out onto the sidewalk and watched her while she locked the shop up. Then he slipped his arm around her waist and led her up the street to the sheriff’s office. It was where he’d left his truck that morning when things hadn’t exactly gone according to plan.

Chapter Four

Alaska couldn’t believe that she had actually offered to sleep with him. They barely knew each other but there was something there. There was something between them but she didn’t know what it was. She was shocked by how she felt around him, especially since he was a bear. She was terrified of bears and had been since her whole coven was wiped out so many years earlier. Each time he touched her, each time he spoke to her, she felt herself slipping deeper into his charms.

At her place, he helped her to pack what she needed. She packed enough clothes to last a week. She hoped that would be enough, because she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to stay with him for more than a week without falling for him, then getting them both naked.

“So, where do you live?” she asked Harley when they got into his vehicle.

“Outside town, lots of space and the forest around me. I know, I’m totally advertising what I am.” He got them moving from her house back toward the center of town and the biggest grocery store Shifter Falls had to offer. “But I like the quiet and the fact I have no neighbors to whine when I feel like walking around in the buff during my days off.”

She knew her mouth was hanging open when he said that and quickly gathered her wits. “Wait, you, huh?” Okay, so he might have broken her. Just the thought of him walking around in nothing but the skin on his body had her pussy dripping. Son of a whore, it made her wet, needy, and horny as hell. “I don’t know what to say to that.” She panted the words instead of speaking them normally.

He gave her a huge smile. “No need to say anything. I promise to keep pants on while you’re there. Wouldn’t want to send you screaming for the hills or anything. I think even that might be noticed by the few folks that live out that way.” Turning on the radio but keeping the sound low, he began to hum along with the song playing while keeping one eye on the road and the other on the mirrors.

She didn’t say anything for a long time. She finally said, very quietly, “And if I didn’t mind the nudity?” Then she shook her head. “I have a feeling that you would break my heart if you tried.” She didn’t want to think about how many women had been in his bed.

“I’d never break your heart, sweetheart.” Pulling into a spot out front of the store, he shut off the engine and turned to look at her. “The nudity is negotiable. Tit for tat, you might say.” With a smirk, he slid from the truck, whistling, and made his way around to open her door for her.

“Yeah, well, the first laugh you give me because I’m naked…” she warned. “And does that mean you’ll tell me about whatever this is that’s going on between us?” She knew he knew something and it was driving her nuts. There was definitely something between them. She wondered if it was what Phi had told her about. Surely she would know if he was her mate, though. Right?

“I would never laugh at you while you were naked. I might jump you, but laughing would be the last damn thing on my mind.” Taking her hand, he tugged her into the store and grabbed a cart. “I don’t know what’s going on between us, Alaska. I guess we’ll have to figure it out as we go along, together.”

“I like that idea,” she told him and started to grab food here and there.

“Since we’ll be living together for a while,” he leaned his arms on the cart while she picked through fruits, “what are your feelings about meat?”

“Unlike most witches, I love it. Beef and pork only, though. I hate lamb, dislike chicken and all that. Bacon is its own food group. Just FYI.” She moved along with him and added salad to the cart.

“Damn right it is, and we’ll be picking up lots of it. Steaks, too. Damn, you’re the perfect woman, Alaska Ceridwen.” Smiling at her, he let her lead the way through the rest of the store, occasionally tossing things into the cart but letting her do the majority of the picks with a side comment here and there along the way.

It warmed her body to know that he thought she was perfect. She kept up the casual conversation with him while they shopped. Once they were again in the vehicle, she reached out and put her hand in his. “I like you, Harley Ogden, and I think you are pretty perfect yourself.”

“Hardly, but thank you for saying so.” Starting up the truck, he pulled away from the store slowly, reaching out to lace his fingers through hers. “Now, where do you want to stop for take-out? Ladies choice.”

“Burgers and fries? And a large Coke for me, please?” She pointed to the burger joint that she wanted him to go through.

He turned into the lot and headed around to the drive-thru. He put in her order, then his own along with a couple extras. It didn’t take long for them to get their order and head out for his place—with his hand in hers as they chatted about nothing important. It was a comfortable conversation with no pressure and completely relaxed her as they left the Falls. The farther they got from the town, though, the more she wondered where exactly they were going.

“When you said that you lived outside of the town proper you weren’t kidding,” she said as the trees got larger and the road turned more into gravel than pavement. “Are we still inside of Shifter Falls or have we crossed into Shadow Valley?”

“We’re still in the Falls, right along the border.” He slowed and made a turn onto a side road that backtracked them toward the town a bit before curving around. One last turn and they were driving through trees, a lot of trees. Then she saw his house nestled in a natural clearing. Or at least, it looked natural to her. He pulled to a stop and shut off the truck. “Home sweet home.”

“It’s beautiful.” She was in complete awe of the home. “It has floor-to-ceiling windows. Incredible.” She was walking toward the house, forgetting the food and clothes and instead wanting to see his home. “It’s all open, too.” She was standing outside looking in, then shivered. “Please tell me that you have floor-to-ceiling blinds or something.” She didn’t like the fact that anyone could see in, and if he was going to be naked she didn’t want anyone seeing him but her.

“The windows turn opaque with the press of a button.” He tossed her the keys and waved her forward. “Leave the door open and go take a look around. Remember, I’m a bachelor so if there are any socks laying around ignore them. There won’t be any underwear because I don’t wear any.” Then he turned his back like he hadn’t dropped yet another bomb on her and began to pull bags from the truck.

She was still standing where he left her and swallowed hard. “You don’t wear underwear?” Once more her attention turned to the buttons of his jeans and she could see the outline of his dick behind the denim. Holy mother of God, he was growing behind that material again and she wanted to drop to her knees in the grass and take it out so she could lick and suck him. What the farking hell was wrong with her? She didn’t act like this, ever.

“Nope.” He breezed right past her with half the bags and disappeared around a corner. While she was processing his words, he came back and went to gather the last bags, including her luggage. “Inside is where you should be, Alaska. It’s cold out here and you’re standing there gaping like a fish.”

“Right, gaping like a fish.” She shuddered, then followed him into the house. When she stepped in, the scent of him surrounded her and she let out a sigh. “It’s perfect.” The kitchen was massive. It looked like a professional kitchen, actually, and the floors weren’t hardwood but something else. “What are your floors made of? Some sort of stone for if you are in bear form?” She could figure that would be hell on hardwood floors.

“Everything down here is concrete. It’s been stamped and painted to give the illusion of tiles, but it’s better because it contains in-floor heating for the cold days. Upstairs is all wood and actual stone in the bathrooms,” he told her. Stepping around her, he set the last bags down on the huge counter before going to the door to shut and lock it. “Go on, take a look around. I’ll get things put away and when you’re done we can sit on the deck to eat. I’ll even turn the heaters on so you don’t have to wear your jacket.”

Her magic kicked up into full gear as she saw more of his house. Witches would recognize their mates by something they
saw
when they went through puberty and received their full power. This house was what she’d been shown in her dreams. She needed to know when he’d designed it to know if it had been when she was going through puberty and receiving her gifts or if it were after. Boldly she asked him, “How old are you? It’s important. Please, how old are you and when did you create this home?” She had to know if it was something that he’d created because he’d been subconsciously linked to her—to her dreams—for that brief time, when she’d went through puberty, when she’d gained full access to all of her abilities. If so, then she knew exactly what was going on with them. He was her fated one. He was the one created just for her, just as she was for him, and that led to a whole different can of worms.

He frowned at her. “I’m thirty-six. I started to design it when I was a teenager but didn’t actually start building it until I was, shit. Twenty-three, maybe. Why?” he asked, walking toward her. “What’s going on, Alaska? You have this weird look on your face and frankly it’s freaking me out a little.”

She put a hand to her forehead and gulped. “And when you began building it did you by any chance have dreams that made you need to build it? Three nights’ worth of dreams?” He had to have been who she connected with during those three days of hell. “Please, it’s important.”

He looked absolutely baffled by her question but he started to nod slowly. “Now that you mention it, I did. They were the same each night, a bit here about a balcony and then floors? I can’t recall what they were exactly but the need to build this place became intense until I broke ground. Then it eased off. Now, what the fuck is going on, Alaska?”

“I know that you know Jagger.” She was pacing now. “He mated to a human, so there was no supernatural involved with it but with witches it’s different.” She felt like crying. “I’m terrified of bears, but not you. The second you touched me all my fear of bears was gone—well my fear of you, that is.” Okay, so she wasn’t making sense. She took a deep breath and told him her story. “Starting at the beginning. My entire coven was killed by polar bears when I was seven. I barely escaped and only did because my mother died spelling me to transport from our home to my aunt here in Shifter Falls. My last time seeing her was when a polar bear tore her head off.” She gulped. “But I learned from my aunt, who was also a witch. I embraced my heritage and tried not to let my fears get in the way but I admit that more than once I would cross the street when I saw a bear coming because they terrified me. Anyway, when I started to go through puberty, a time where a witch gains all of her power,” which sadly was a hell of a lot for her, “I connected with a man. He stood behind me on a hardwood floor and we looked around us at a beautiful home with a fabulous balcony. He shared my pain but my dreams as well. This house, this setting…” She was crying, openly allowing the tears to roll down her cheeks. “It’s from the man I connected with. A witch doesn’t know her fated one by scent but by that connection that’s formed when they go through that hell. There is pain, so much pain. Jesus H. Christ the pain that a witch goes through in order to gain her power is intense. The more powerful the witch, the more painful but also the easier for her to connect to her fated mate. It’s the smallest of things that we connect over, the most mundane things, and the thing that I connected with my mate with was this house. Our home. That’s why there is this electricity between us. It has to be. I connected with you and you with me.” God, she was making such a mess of explaining this. “Harley, I’m so sorry for you but I think that I’m your fated mate.”

He grabbed her hands and pulled her toward him gently. Wrapping her up in his strong arms, he stroked her hair while she cried harder. “Shh, Alaska, don’t cry. There’s no need for tears. I’m not angry or upset.” He picked her up and carried her from the kitchen, cuddling her to his chest the entire time. When they stopped, she was in his lap.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to cry, I really don’t, but I don’t want you to hate me. The home is beautiful. It’s absolutely perfect, actually, and made for both a bear and a witch to live in harmony.” From the massive stone fireplace in the living room to the floor-to-roof windows that would let all sun and moonlight in, all of it was perfect for them. “Are you sure that you aren’t angry with me? You can walk away, of course. We all have a choice.” She just prayed he didn’t.

Cradling her cheek in his palm, he leaned in to press a kiss to her other cheek. “I’m not angry, Alaska. Not by a long shot. And I’m also not going anywhere unless this is your way of telling me you plan on making the mad dash back to the Falls. I should warn you that running only excites me, especially when it would involve this gorgeous body. Actually, anything involving your body would excite me. Hell, I’m getting all wound up just thinking about the possibilities right now.”

Alaska laughed, smiled, and nodded all in one action. “I’m not running. Not unless you want me to.” She rubbed her cheek against his, then leaned back slightly. “I would really like it if you kissed me right now.” She would ask him before they got into bed how many women he’d had in it. If he’d had any, she would burn it and order them a new one. And yes, she was just that damn jealous.

“With great pleasure, sweetheart.” His lips brushed to hers. Then he applied more pressure. The stroke of his tongue had her opening up to accept the deeper kiss from him, his tongue sliding over hers as he tipped her back over his arm.

When they parted, she was panting. She couldn’t seem to help it. “Gracious, that’s a kiss.” But he still hadn’t said that he believed she was his mate. Crap. “I have a strange question.” She would table the thought of mating and being fated until he was ready to admit it to her as well. “How many women have slept in your bed, have you brought home with you?” She felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment, then cool at the look he gave her. “I’m finding I’m a little jealous,” she admitted bluntly.