LOVED BY THE BEAR
Chapter One
Brent Jenson was having a crappy month. First Micah declared that shifters could marry whomever they wanted. Now he had to monitor everyone who came into the territory. Other shifters. Humans. Witches. Even vampires. It was getting ridiculous. Then Jackson married a witch, and he had to keep surveillance on the whole pack to make sure she was safe.
And now there’s the tunnel.
Who the fuck tunnels into a convenience store?
Someone had done their homework. Of the entire perimeter, the spot behind the convenience store was the only location not covered by a camera. And why would it be? It was a wall.
But someone had busted in. Who knows how long it had been there. The only reason Brent knew of it was when a shifter from another pack found it and entered the premises.
Lucky for us.
He sighed and stared at it for the millionth time that week. He didn’t need this crap, but, as the third member of the head of the Woodland pack, Brent made billions to deal with crap just like this.
“Sir? We’ve finished wiring the camera. Is there anything else you need us to do?”
Brent shook his head. They had checked out the rest of the perimeter to make sure there were no other dead spots, and they’d checked the rest of the buildings to make sure that this was the only entrance. And now that they had wired it with a camera, they didn’t have to worry about anyone else getting in.
He was more concerned with what they had taken out. It was impossible to know how many times trespassers had entered the quarters. He hoped that maybe they’d caught the tunnel in time, but he knew it was never that easy.
“What are you thinking?”
Brent looked up and saw that Micah and Jackson had both joined them in the store. He frowned. “Shouldn’t you be on your honeymoon?” he growled at Jackson.
The second-in-command grimaced. “I’d love too, but Natalie hasn’t quite mastered her power yet. Every time she gets upset or emotion, things start flying off the shelves. She’s terrified to go anywhere. And every time I try to talk to her about, she gets more upset and more things start to move. We’re slowly working on spells, and even I’m terrified now.”
“I told you to find a witch to train her,” Micah said with a sigh.
“I’m trying, but Brent keeps turning down all the names I give him.”
“That’s because you keep choosing women with shady pasts.”
“Their witches. They all have a shady past,” Jackson grumbled. “Anyways, I don’t want to talk about it. I want to talk about this.”
Brent pinched the bridge of his nose. He loved his two best friends, but sometimes they were complicated. “I’ve already told you that there’s nothing new. It leads about half a mile and begins under a brush in the woods from one of the trails. It’s the public portion of the woods. There’s nothing about the tunnel to indicate who made it. We’ve put a camera up, and the only thing I can do is hope that someone is stupid enough to come back. Until then, we’re changing all the passcodes to the security entrances. By tomorrow, everyone will have new cards to enter certain buildings.”
Micah reached up and clapped the man on the back. “I know you’ll figure this out. You’re the best.”
“I deserve a raise,” Brent growled. “You’ve made it so that any Tom, Dick, and Jane can walk in here as long as they’re in love, you created a strangely powerful female shifter, and now Jackson was a witch for a wife.”
Micah shrugged. “You’re a billionaire. How can I pay you more? Besides, you’ll fall in love one day. And then you’ll understand.”
Brent rolled his eyes. Him? Fall in love? That would be the day. He ran his hand over his chin and frowned. He hadn’t shaved in days, and the hair was getting ridiculous.
“Keep it,” Jackson said, reading his mind. “The ladies love some good facial hair.”
“Bigger issues,” Brent muttered. “What did you tell the owner of the convenience store? I haven’t been fielding any questions on the tunnel, so everyone’s doing a good job keeping it secret.”
“Told him we were concerned about a sinkhole. We’re going to relocate his inventory to the other side of the territory,” Micah said smoothly. “I do not want this getting out until we know what we’re dealing with.”
Brent turned and led the men out of the store. “There’s not a whole lot we can do now except wait. I’ve got camera’s at both ends, so hopefully someone will come back soon.”
“I hate waiting,” Micah growled.
“You and me both,” Brent agreed. He shook their hands and watched as they slowly made their way back to the condos. It was surprising how much the two men had changed over the past month.
Micah used to be so stressed about being alpha, but with Stacey by his side, he was stronger. Bolder. Calmer. And Jackson used to be the biggest of playboys, but Natalie practically had him on an invisible leash. He doted on her.
Love.
It wasn’t that Brent never imagined being in love, but while Micah and Jackson were expected to take wives, Brent knew he would be married to the job. Micah and Jackson were groomed for their positions of alpha and second-in command. Brent just happened to be lucky enough to be their friends.
They convinced him to be their top chief in security. And Brent, having inherited his wealth and having nothing better to do, agreed. And for the first few months, it was fine. He kept an eye on the changing vampire community, and he canvassed the area, but this was a major breach in security. And it happened on his watch.
He’d been too relaxed.
He cast one more glance at the convenience store. Who was crazy enough to break into the bear shifter community? And why?
***
Tara Schmidt forced a smile and tried to ignore the two men ogling her cleavage. Her uniform was ridiculously tight, but that’s how Dave liked his waitresses. He wanted their curves popping out in all the right places. And Tara was as curvy as they came. It was one of the only reasons people kept coming back to the shitty bar because Dave couldn’t cook worth crap.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked sweetly.
The bald one eyed her lecherously and licked his lips. “I can think of a thing or two that I might want to get my hands on.”
“If it’s not on the menu, you’re not getting your hands on it,” she said as the smile dropped off her face. God, it was going to be one of those nights. She moved past the table, careful to keep out of the reach of the men, and made her way to the back. “Sandra, can you take table twelve? They’re getting on my last nerves.”
The petite blonde peered around the corner and frowned. “Fine, but it’ll cost you. You’re going to have to fill the ketchups tonight.”
“Done,” Tara said immediately. “Anything to get away from them.”
Sandra pulled her low cut top up in an effort to hide her cleavage and straightened her shoulders. She looked like she was about to do battle.
“You going to see Matthew tonight?” Gretchen asked.
Tara shrugged. “I haven’t heard from him. And things are kind of fizzling pretty quickly.” She’d started dating Matthew two weeks prior, but things weren’t going well. She normally never dated the bar guests, but there was something about him that was mesmerizing. Unfortunately, she’d only seen him twice since then, and she wasn’t very impressed with him. But every time she walked away, she ended up wanted to see him again. It was bizarre.
“Boring in bed?”
Tara shook her head. “We haven’t made it that far. And I don’t think we’re going too.” She reached up to grab two glasses from the top and filled them with water. As Dave yelled out orders from the back, she made a face. “I need a vacation.”
“Don’t we all. I’ll take those waters if you grab two Bud light packs from the back for table two.”
Tara nodded and handed over the waters. As Gretchen opened the swinging door, Tara made her way to the bar cooler to grab a case of beer. As she entered the chilled area, her phone vibrated. Frowning, she pulled it out of her pocket. It was a text from Matthew.
Doing anything when you get off work tonight?
She sighed. She didn’t have any plans, but she hated to keep dragging things out with him. They just weren’t compatible. Still, if she saw him tonight, she could break things off. It was classier than a text break-up or completely ghosting from the relationship.
Was a few dates considered a relationship anyways?
No plans she texted back.
Great. I’ve got a surprise for you.
She wrinkled her nose. She could just guess what kind of surprise he had at two o’clock in the morning. And she wasn’t interested. Maybe you could just meet me here?
Nope. I’ve got something you’re really going to want to see. Meet me in the Woodlands Park at campsite B.
The park? There was no way she was going to the park in the middle of the night. He must have been out of his mind. That doesn’t sound safe.
Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you. I think tonight might be the turning point for us ;)
A winky face? Matthew didn’t really seem like the type to text facial expressions. Still, she was intrigued. She agreed to meet with him and put her phone away. They were still busy out there, and she didn’t have time to argue with him anyways.
Briefly, she wondered what kind of surprise he would have for her. Maybe she’d underestimated him after all.
Four hours later, she was cold and pissed. She’d been waiting for nearly ten minutes for Matthew to show in the clearing, and so far, nothing. She walked around the perimeter of the campsite to see if she could get a glimpse of his surprise, but all she could see were trees and darkness. She pulled out her cellphone again.
This isn’t funny! I’m cold and kind of freaked out. Where are you?
“Tara?”
She perked up at the sound of Matthew’s voice. It was about time. “Matthew? Where the hell are you?”
“I’m back here. You have to see this!”
Tara turned around and tried to identify the direction of his voice. “Back where?”
“Follow the trail.”
After a moment of hesitation, she found the trail on her left and followed it down a ways. “Matthew? I don’t think they allow hikers after dark.”
“Just keep going. Trust me. It’ll be worth it.”
“It better be,” she mumbled. She kept going, but after a few minutes, she didn’t hear anything. “Matthew?”
There was no answer. Her heart started to pound in her chest, and she suddenly thought about all the things that could happen to her in the dark. “Matthew? I’m scared.”
There was still no answer. Fumbling in her pocket, she pulled out her cellphone and turned on the flashlight app. Shining it around, she could see nothing but trees and the twisting path. She had a bad feeling about this. “Matthew, I’m heading back to the campsite.”
No response.
Growling in irritation, she turned around and headed back to the clearing. There was no sign of the man, and he never texted her. Hoping that nothing bad happened to him, she hurried to her car.
She never noticed the blinking red light in the trees.
***
The next night, she relayed her story to Gretchen and Sandra. “And then he just stopped talking to me. Do you think it was a prank? Maybe I should call the police.”
Sandra leaned over to finish wiping the bar. “Did you hear a struggle or anything to indicate that something bad happened?”
Tara shook her head. “No. But I’ve tried texting and calling him. You’d think that if was a prank, he’d want to chance to gloat. At least then I could punch him. I just have a bad feeling about it.”
Gretchen shrugged. “The police can’t do anything until forty-eight hours. And you don’t even know if he’s missing.”
“Still, I should at least tell them that something strange happened,” Tara said defensively.
“Girl, it’s a pretty popular park. If something happened to him in Woodlands, at the very least, the bear shifter community would know.”
Tara nodded. She hadn’t considered that. “Right. I’m just overthinking it. Matthew is just an asshole.”
“Oh, come on.” Tara looked up to see Sandra tossing the towel on the bar. The source of her frustration was obvious. They were closing in five minutes and three men just walked into the bar.
“We’re closing,” Tara called out. She gave them a friendly smile. “Sorry, gentlemen.”
But damn, they were sexy. Tara almost volunteered to close the bar down if it meant that she could serve them. They were all tall and built, but the third one had jet-black hair and dark brown eyes. And he had that sexy shadow across his jawline that she ached to reach over and touch.
But none of them looked particularly friendly at the moment. “We’re here to speak to the owner,” the first said seriously.
“Dave,” Sandra called out. “There are three sexy men here to see you.” She winked at them and flounced into the back.
They barely looked at her. They all had their eyes on Tara, and she swallowed nervously. What the hell was going on here?
“What?” Dave muttered as he pushed through the door. He ignored Tara has he reached the men.
They spoke in a quiet voice, and one of the flashed an ID. Dave turned and frowned. “Gretchen. Sandra. Go home.”
Gretchen raised an eyebrow. “We’re not done.”
“Shut-up,” Sandra said as she grabbed her friend’s arm. “We’re going. Thanks Dave.” Tara heard her whisper to Sandra. “Why would you tell him that we’re not done? Do you not want to go home?”
Dave turned to Tara. “Serve them a drink.”
“What?” Tara frowned. It was close to midnight. “How did I end up with the short straw?” Dave ignored her and stomped into the back.
She sighed and turned to face the men. “You can have bottle beer because I’ve already cleaned the taps and drain,” she muttered.
“Why were you in Woodland Park last night?”
Tara froze. “Excuse me?” she asked slowly. How the hell had they known where she was?
“It’s a simple question.”
Tara put down her bar towel and stared. “Did Matthew put you up to this? Because I’ve got to say, I’m not really amused.”
“Who is Matthew?”
She rolled her eyes. “Very funny. Dave. I’m leaving. You can take care of these jokers on your own,” she called out. “You can tell Matthew this is the most immature thing that has ever happened to me.”
She stormed past them, and her heart sank when they followed her. “Hey,” she said as she whirled around at the door. “This isn’t funny.”
One of them produced an ID. She eyed it wearily. Brent Jenson. Security for the Woodland Pack. “Shit,” she muttered. “Something did happen to Matthew.”
“Come with us Ms. Schmidt. We have some questions for you.”