Bearly Dated (The Enigma Shifters) Read online

  “What’s important is that you come back to Enigma. You aren’t safe out here.”

  “Shut up, Jax. Trying to scare her isn’t going to help.”

  “I’m not trying to scare her. It’s a valid warning. The psy clan is sending someone down here, and we’re about to have a much bigger problem. Her sister says she’s already having the dreams. If that’s true, then the other clan may have a valid claim.”

  “What kind of claim?”

  “The kind where they arrange a mating for her and take her back to Tennessee, and there would be nothing we could do to stop it from happening.”

  “Bullshit,” Carter exploded, his face and and arms distorting in a way she didn’t know how to describe other than he didn’t fully look like himself anymore.

  She recoiled in horror, taking several steps back. Was this the shapeshifter thing happening in real life, right now? If so, she wasn’t ready. It scared her, and she didn’t have time to be scared. She was still pissed at him and had to work through that first before she could deal with something else.

  “He won’t hurt you.” Jax reassured her, but she didn’t feel reassured at all. In fact, she didn’t feel particularly trusting about anything they had to say right now. Carter had lied.

  “Why?” She asked. “Why did you lie about being a handyman? Why not just tell me the truth instead of letting me humiliate myself?”

  “You have nothing to be humiliated about.” His words were more guttural than before, and it alarmed her. “An attractive woman in need of a handyman. I wanted to be whatever you needed. The bear inside me sensed you were mine from the start. In that moment I cared less about my official duty than I did getting to know everything about you.”

  If he’d said those words before the Sheriff had arrived, she might have accepted them easily. Now they felt forced and rang hollow.

  “She’s your mate?” The sheriff asked.

  Carter gave him a tight nod, but it was enough. That acknowledgement of what she’d expected from the moment he mentioned his bear, and the very thing Jami had tried to warn her about. Not to mention it made the way she’d been so quickly drawn to him make more sense. As if she’d known him her whole life instead of such a short time.

  But if that were true, why couldn’t he have told her that sooner? Why not trust her with the truth?

  “It doesn’t matter. In fact, I think it’s time for you both to leave.”

  “I can’t,” Carter insisted. “If there is danger coming I need to be here. I won’t leave you unprotected. Or better yet, you need to be in Enigma where the entire clan can protect you.”

  “Too bad. That’s not your decision, and that’s final. Now get out. Both of you.”

  10

  Carter stalked through the woods surrounding the cabin, doing the best he could in bear form to burn off the excess energy tearing through him at his mate’s rejection. Shifting into his bear form had not helped. First his skin crawled to let the bear out, and now his skin crawled to shift back. The situation had pretty much ended up like he'd figured it out would, he'd just thought there might have been a little more time before his story imploded.

  "A handyman? Really?"

  The sound of his brother's voice made his bear snarl. Jax was the last person he wanted to talk to.

  "Don't be pissed off at me. I wasn't the one who made shit up. All you had to do was come out here, get her, and bring her back. You could have claimed her there just as easily as here. Only now, we're going to have to be a little more aggressive about returning her to Enigma. The psy clan is coming, and if you want to keep her, then you've got to claim her now."

  He sighed. His brother wasn't telling him something he didn't already know. Hence, the freshly worn path from all the pacing. He wanted to give her the space she needed, but the situation tied his hands. He'd given her all the space he could. An hour wasn't going to cut it for Violet, but he had no other choice.

  Ready to figure this out with Jax, he pushed at the bear until the ripple of magic that turned him from beast to man washed over him. His bones still popped and his body stretched in ways it shouldn't be able to, but he'd been doing this long enough to master the worst parts of shapeshifting. For some, it never got less painful. It tore them up from the inside out every single time. His brother Jax was like that.

  It got bad enough that he hardly ever let the bear out. At least not until he couldn't take it anymore. Carter couldn't imagine having to cage his inner beast like that. The frustration would eat him alive. Which kind of explained a lot when it came to Jax. He could be a real dick sometimes.

  "She's not going to come willingly."

  "I suppose not. But are you willing to let a bunch of strangers come out here and take her by force?"

  "Don't be an asshole. I'm not letting anyone else touch her." He paced over to the backpack of clothes he'd stashed next to the tree before shifting. "What else do you know about this clan?"

  "Not much, other than they're pretty fucking secret. However, one of the guardians from that cougar clan up north is married to a woman from their clan. I was able to use a few connections, and I talked to her today."

  "Oh yeah? Anything good."

  He nodded. "It turns out that clan keeps a lot of secrets, and none of it good. The females get the bulk of the psychic power, but it comes at a cost. It's often too much for one person to handle alone and can quickly drive them into dangerous madness. So in order to control it, and remain viable, they use the mating bond to distribute it more evenly."

  He tightened his brow and quirked his lips. "What does that even mean?"

  "It means they are fucking powerful. And it means they are going to do whatever it takes to claim Violet and her sister as their own. Jami is obviously safe, but I doubt even Drago is going to have much sway with these people."

  "Shit."

  "Yeah. So maybe instead of walking around here like a whiny bear, you should get inside and talk to her. Make her accept your claim, and it should be enough to stop them. Otherwise, we're going to start a war, and I for one, am not ready for that. Nor is our clan.

  He was right, of course. But knowing that didn't piss him off any less. "So what next?"

  "First, we secure them. Then we tell them their options. They get to choose."

  He laughed at his brother's choice of words. "Choice is a joke at this point."

  Jax shrugged. "It's all I got. Without understanding the full extent of the power they are sending this way, it looks like our only option."

  The odds this worked were not good. They were going to take a huge gamble and he hated gambling.

  Together, they walked back to the cabin. The tree canopy offered quite a bit of privacy and protection, but they were predators at heart. No trees, gates, or locked doors could keep them out.

  "How do you want to do this?" Jax asked. "Snatch and grab?"

  He groaned. "Jesus, Jax. You act like kidnapping a woman is just another activity. You're the Sheriff, sworn to upload shifter and human law.

  "I'm also expected to keep her alive from enemies that pose a threat. And when those two directives conflict, I'm going to choose life, every single time."

  There wasn't much else to say. They both knew that whatever needed to be done would be done. For them, human laws were guidelines. However, that didn't mean they weren't civilized, and if they didn't handle Violet with kid gloves, their mother would give them hell.

  "I thought I told you two to leave?"

  He whirled at the sound of Violet's voice behind him. "What the hell are you doing outside? Did you not hear a word Jax said about your safety?"

  So much for diplomacy.

  "I hear perfectly. I do not, however, take orders. That's something you should, or will understand clearly. And my decision to kick you both out hasn't changed. You aren't welcome here anymore."

  "You can't stay here. It isn't safe."

  "Not your problem."

  "Bullshit. Everything about you is my problem. Which
is the problem." He'd raised his voice a few notches to match hers without even realizing. She was so far under his skin, he didn't know how he'd even get her out. Which was of course, the point. He didn't want her out. A fact she was about to learn the hard way.

  She attempted to brush past them to get to her door when he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the ground.

  "Hey!" she screamed.

  "Just because you think you understand the danger, doesn't mean you do. Whatever you think it is, multiply that by at least ten and maybe you'll understand."

  "I understand you had better put me down before I lose my temper and scratch your eyes out." She pushed against his arms, but she was no match for his strength.

  "You can try." Something about her feisty, fighting nature was having the opposite effect than he’d expected. Instead of guilt, fire flooded through his blood and made him want to throw her over his shoulder and run for the hills.

  "Carter!" She snapped. "This is not okay. Let me go now before I start screaming bloody murder."

  "I'm not sure that will help you much out here. But either way, you are not safe. Can you truly not understand that? We aren't going to leave you alone because they won't leave you alone. They will take you, and my bear will lose his mind and start killing people. Is that what you want? Drago probably won't be far behind. Jami will be distraught and no shifter, let alone a dragon who is bigger than your whole cabin, is going to sit back and do nothing. The whole clan will end up at war over this. Lives will be lost. Is that what you want?"

  She stopped fighting him, suddenly going quiet as well. He could hear animals scurrying in the distance and the leaves rustling nearby, each one poking at his psyche like nails scraping a chalkboard. Her sudden silence unnerved him.

  "Of course I don't want that. What do I have to do?"

  He breathed an internal sigh of relief. He'd won the battle to get her to listen, although he knew better than to think he'd won the war.

  "We need to take you back to Enigma where we can keep you safe. But overall, the options are limited." His brother had stood by and watched the struggle between him and his mate, but now he stepped forward and took charge. As the Sheriff, it was for the best, even if it did rub him wrong. She didn't need anyone but him to take care of her.

  "So I go back to Jami's and do what? Sit around and wait for those clan people to show up? Then what?"

  He liked that she had a lot of questions. It meant she had been considering the situation all along and not burying her head in the proverbial sand as it had seemed. He should not have underestimated her.

  "What happens next will be up to you. He-man over here will try to bully his way into the process, but ultimately whether you stay here with him or go with your family clan will be up to you. And like Carter mentioned, you could decide not to mate with anyone, as should be your prerogative, but Carter is right, it will start a war. I'm duty bound by the laws of both shifters and humans to honor your wishes. However, by shifter law, your family clan does have full claim to unmated females already exhibiting power. Unfortunately, there is only one way to go against that."

  "Those are some crappy choices," she said quietly.

  Jax nodded and Carter frowned. This situation was definitely far from ideal.

  "If it helps any, my brother here is a pretty good guy. And while he isn't a contractor, he is handy. There isn't much he can't fix when he sets his mind to it. He'd make a good, solid mate."

  Carter cringed at his brother's assessment. He could see that Jax was trying to help, but he didn't need that kind of assistance.

  "Y'all realize how crazy all of this is, right? I'm not psychic, nor do I have any psychic powers. Just a few disturbing dreams. At this rate, I'm going to need therapy more than a mate."

  "Apparently, that's how the power manifests. It starts there and then gets more intense. Your sister can explain that."

  "I know. Her dreams started before she moved here and were what drew her here in the first place. By the time she met Drago, she thought she was going insane. I've heard the story. And it's still hard to believe. All of this is."

  "Hence, why we normally keep humans in the dark. It's confusing and often scares people. Not to mention panic."

  She nodded. "I definitely get that." She turned away and looked out over the water. "I'm scared. People tend to think of me as well-adjusted or a go-with-the-flow kook. That somehow, because I turn to crystals and tea leaves I'm more prepared for the weird and unusual, but I don't think that's true. Whatever these dreams are supposed to manifest into scares the hell out of me."

  The sadness in her voice compelled him forward. "Let me help you." However, as he reached for her she took several steps away.

  "No. As confused as I am about what I have to do, I'm still pissed off too. You lied, and I fell for it."

  "I didn't—"

  "You did and I don't want to talk about it right now. Go home, deputy. The Sheriff can take me to Jami and Drago. I'll stay with them until a decision has to be made."

  Her words crushed him, but they were also a relief. The sooner they got her to safety, the better. It drove him crazy that she wouldn't turn to him for help. Didn't she understand that taking care of her was now his responsibility? In the reasonable part of his mind, he knew she didn't fully understand how his kind worked. She barely knew they existed, let alone how they ticked. Not that human males weren't overprotective, too. Only, for shifters, it was protectiveness on steroids.

  Unfortunately, he wasn't in a particularly reasonable state of mind. He'd been about to tell her that too, when his brother shook his head at him. But it was the stern warning in Jax’s eyes that got through and kept his mouth shut. He wasn't going anywhere, but maybe not saying the words would make a difference. He doubted it. He'd gotten the impression she might be as stubborn as him.

  Although if she got the impression he was the kind of bear to slink off into the woods in defeat, then she was wrong. He'd stand his ground and guard his mate whether she liked it or not.

  11

  Violet raised her hand to knock on Jami and Drago’s door and paused. Carter had turned the corner and was headed in her direction.

  “Are you going to follow me everywhere?”

  He shot her a dark look without slowing his stride. “That is what protection means.”

  The infuriating man had followed her here despite her protests. Or maybe because of. It was hard to say.

  “I still don’t understand what I need protection from while I’m here. Do you think Jami or her husband are going to hurt me?”

  He shook his head. “We don’t know when a threat will present itself or how strong it will be. So that means I have to be ready for all scenarios. Even in a private suite in a swanky hotel at the butt crack of dawn.”

  She smirked at his slang. Although he wasn’t wrong. The sun had yet to crack the horizon and she was here. Now she was about to wake up her sister and her sleeping dragon, as weird as that sounded. Was that really a good idea?

  “Having second thoughts?” he asked.

  She was, but that didn’t mean she’d admit it to him. He could go suck it before she revealed anything about her private feelings to him again. She did not like being followed around and having every move she made scrutinized. Especially by him.

  With his ridiculous good looks and a body that matched the face, she already knew the man to be perfect in every way. Perfect hair. Perfect eyes. Perfect mouth. Perfect abs. Perfect co—

  She shook her head and made that thought cease before it took hold. The last thing she needed to have in her head was the reminder that Deputy Carter Stone not only had the perfect dick, but also knew how to use it perfectly.

  She closed her eyes and willed them not to roll. Could she obsess anymore about his perfection?

  Somehow, some way, she needed to put all of that out of her head. He may have followed her this far, but that didn't mean he had to come inside. The jerk could wait outside. Maybe forever.
/>
  She cringed at the harshness of her thoughts. This kind of anger wasn't her style. But she couldn't seem to get past the idea that he'd tricked and humiliated her. Not to mention this whole situation had her feeling a little more than sour. Didn't anyone understand that when it came to real estate, time was money?

  The longer it took her to renovate the cabin, the less profit she would make. Okay, maybe in this situation that wasn't entirely correct. She'd paid cash from her savings for the cabin and so far her account was still holding up to the additional supplies she purchased. Unless she started borrowing money or using her credit card, the time factor wasn't quite as critical.

  Although, since she did plan to return to Texas as soon as the renovation was over and this situation resolved, she should be at work at the cabin, not chasing down her sister.

  With that thought firmly in her mind, and not on the man standing at the end of the hallway like some sort of crazed sentry, she finally knocked on the door. It wrenched open immediately, and she jumped in surprise.

  "Finally!" Jami greeted her with a frown before grabbing her hand and pulling her inside. From the corner of her eye, she caught Carter watching and she refused to acknowledge the longing expression on his face or the same pull inside her. "What took so long?"

  She dismissed her guilty thoughts about Carter and forced her attention towards her sister. "Long? What are you talking about? It's barely past sunrise. How much earlier did you want me to arrive?"

  Jami frowned. "Like two days ago. When that storm came through, we were all worried that cabin out there wasn't going to hold up."

  It was her turn to frown. "That's silly. The cabin is fine. A tree came down near the gate to the peninsula and that made it impossible to get out. I mean technically we could have waded across the river and hiked out on the other side, but I was in no hurry to leave. In fact, I'd still be out there now if the Sheriff and his deputy hadn't guilted me into coming here."

  She nodded. "A lot's changed in the last forty eight hours. You can't stay out there by yourself anymore."