Bear's Baby (Bear Lake Protectors) Read online

  Bear’s Baby

  (Bear Lake Protectors)

  Maia Starr

  Copyright ©2019 by Maia Starr - All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Dragon Shifter Island (Sneak Peak)

  Other Books By Maia Starr

  About the Author

  Exclusive Offer

  Prologue

  She had basically given up on every meeting someone. She thought that all the good guys had been taken and no one would look twice at her. However, she thought that tonight, she would give it one last try and dress up. She wore a tiny red dress, showing more skin than she normally did. She was wearing quite a bit of makeup, and she had her hair slicked into a ponytail.

  If anything, Jenna Mae thought, at least she would take a good Instagram picture.

  She hoped that she would meet someone, thinking of it as her last chance. She had read so many stories about strong, alpha men that walked into the bar and swept women off their feet. Jenna Mae thought that men like that didn’t exist. However, she still wanted to believe in the fantasy, even if it never became more than that.

  She walked into the bar without creating much of a scene. Some girls tended to draw attention to themselves by calling out loudly to a friend, or by clicking their heels against the hard floor, flashing their smiles in the light. She kept her head down and moved around the dance floor, going to the bar and ordering a cocktail so she didn’t look out of place. She didn’t tend to drink much, but she knew enough to know that she should always have a drink in her hand so that people didn’t accuse her of being boring.

  Jenna Mae had been coming to the same bar for several weeks straight, and there always seemed to be new faces. However, those new faces didn’t pay any attention to her. She was small and mousy—timid, and no one ever noticed her compared to the goddesses in the rest of the room.

  “Hi,” said a voice and Jenna Mae moved out of the way, prepared to allow someone behind her to greet their friend. She didn’t even turn around and was surprised when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

  “Hello?”

  “Uh—hello?” she spun around and found herself face to face with a tall and handsome man, whose eyes almost looked yellow in the dark light. “Sorry, am I in your way?”

  The man smiled.

  “No,” he said. “I just thought I’d say hello to you.”

  “Do I know you?” she asked and the man chuckled.

  “No,” he said. “But I saw you across the room and knew that I had to come and say hello. You’re beautiful. Does anyone ever tell you that?”

  “Uh...thank you,” she turned bright red.

  “But look at you; people must tell you all the time,” he pushed.

  “They...um...don’t,” she said. “But it’s nice to hear.”

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Jenna Mae,” she blushed, stuttering. This man was, without a doubt, the most handsome man she’d ever spoken with. She kept checking that he really was talking to her.

  “My name is James,” he said. “And I would like to get to know you. I’m going to buy you a drink.”

  “What?” she said. “Oh no, I already have one. I’m fine, really.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t asking,” he said. “I’m going to buy you a drink, and you’re going to sit here and tell me all about yourself.”

  “Uh...ok.” She was taken aback by his manner, but she didn’t see a reason to refuse. After all, she had wanted someone to notice her. James grinned and went to the bar, getting her a new drink. Whenever he looked back to see if she was still there, she smiled at him.

  She could see the other girls at the bar watching him. A couple tried to talk to him, but he brushed them off, pointing her out. Jenna Mae felt like a princess as he brought her the drink.

  “Now,” he said. “Jenna Mae, tell me all about yourself.”

  “There isn’t much to know about me,” she said. “I’m just...trying to make a life here. Just moved here.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Oh, I thought I’d try a new place,” she said. “But that’s a lot braver than it sounds. My parents live in the suburbs. I just thought the city sounded exciting and I wanted to try.”

  “And how is it going?” he asked. “You meeting a lot of people?”

  “Um, a few,” she said. “Do you live in the city?”

  “Just moved here,” he said. “Trying to get to know people as well.”

  “Oh,” she said. “So...we’re the same.”

  He chuckled at that.

  “I don’t think we’re quite the same,” he said. “But we could be more alike than you know. Do you want to come home with me?”

  “What?” she asked. “But I don’t...I don’t know you. You don’t know me.”

  He quirked an eyebrow.

  “Well, that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?” he asked. “What do you say? Two people, new city, getting to know each other? Let’s have an adventure. Let’s take a risk.”

  She had never met anyone like him. She had certainly never had anyone proposition her just like that.

  “Maybe...I can finish this drink first?” she asked. “I mean, you bought it and all.”

  “I don’t normally have patience with people,” he leaned back and crossed his legs. “But I suppose I can wait for you.”

  He said it in a teasing tone, and she found it exciting rather than rude.

  “Are you...well, do you work here?” she asked.

  “Yes. Family business,” he said. “I like to keep a small apartment here so I can be myself when I’m in the city. Lately, though, I’ve decided to live there almost full time. You know, completely independent, away from all the bullshit that my family brings up.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had some trouble,” she said. “I love my family. I call them all the time.”

  “Ah, you can’t do that,” he said. “You have to forge your own path.”

  “Oh,” she said. “I mean...I try, but sometimes…”

  “No trying,” he gripped her had. “You gotta be brave. Spread your wings and fly.”

  She giggled, taking a drink.

  “I’m not super brave,” she said. “But I moved here, so that counts for something, doesn’t it?”

  “Totally,” he said. “What would you do right now, tonight, if you could do anything and no one would judge you?”

  “Oh my goodness,” she said. “I don’t know. No one has ever asked me a question like that before.”

  “Come on, Jenna Mae,” he said. “Think adventurously. What would you do if you could do anything?”

  “I would...run through the fountains,” she said and his brow furrowed.

  “What fountains?”

  “The fountains in the center of town,” she said. “I walk by them every day, and it just looks so refreshing in this heat. I see little
kids playing in them, and I know it sounds so stupid...but it looks freeing. And refreshing.” She was babbling, and she knew it. She was terrified he was going to think she was a fool and walk away.

  “Let’s do it then,” he said. “I’ll take you, and if anyone judges, I’ll growl at them. But I’ll only do it on one condition.”

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “When we are done, you come to my place to dry off,” he said. “We have your adventure, and then we have mine.”

  She knew that it was dangerous to agree to go home with a man that she had never met before. But the alcohol was flowing in her brain, and her heart was pounding with excitement. She couldn’t believe she was really talking to him.

  “Alright,” she agreed. “But just to dry off.”

  “Of course,” he said. “Just to dry off. All done?”

  “As done as I’m going to be,” she said, and he jumped up, tugging her arm.

  “Come on, then,” he said, grinning. She laughed as he pulled her out of the bar.

  “What’s the rush?” she asked.

  “Life is short,” he replied. “And the moon is already high in the sky.”

  “Huh?” Jenna Mae asked. “I mean, I know life is short...but what does the moon have to do with it?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’ll teach you later. If you’re brave.”

  She thought he was ridiculous and exciting all at the same time. He held her hand, looking back at her and striding ahead towards the town square. Jenna Mae focused on his face, and she found herself unable to look anywhere else. James was as intoxicating as the drink she had, and as addicting as anything in that bar.

  “Here,” he said when they got to town square. “Let’s make your dreams come true.”

  “You want me to just run through those?” she asked, looking at the fountains. There was no one within eyesight, but she could hear people in the distance. “Right now?”

  “Trust me,” he said. “Come on; I’ll run with you. I love to run in the moonlight.”

  She hesitated, even if only for a moment, and then found her feet moving before her brain registered what she was doing. She felt the cold water hit her in the nighttime heat and she shrieked with delight as they got to the other side.

  “Oh my God,” she said, dripping wet. “Oh my God, that was amazing.”

  “Wasn’t it?” James asked, drawing close to her. “Did it change your life?”

  “Maybe,” she said, looking into his eyes. Maybe it wasn’t the fountain was changing her life, but him, in the moonlight.

  Maybe, just maybe, she had finally cracked the spine on her own romance novel. Maybe this was chapter one of a fairy tale.

  Chapter One

  “And if you serve me cold food again, you will find out what pain really is.”

  In the beginning, Jenna Mae thought that it was a good relationship. She remembered when she had first fallen in love with James. He had been the most handsome, most exciting man that she had ever met. She thought about that night by the fountains so often. How did things go so wrong?

  Jenna Mae thought it was exciting that James was a wolf shifter. She had been afraid at first, but the more she got to know him, the more she accepted it was just who he was. There were wolf shifters, bear shifters, lions shifters, and lion shifters. Unless they were choosing their animal form, they looked perfectly human, usually a bit more buff and with a slightly more rouge attitude. Some of them lived among the general population and rarely shifted into their animal form, like James. Others felt more comfortable in their animal forms or were shunned by humans, so they lived in a more animalistic way.

  Jenna Mae felt like a princess in the beginning. James had revealed to her that he was the young new Alpha of the wolf pack and treated her to a life of privilege.

  James had the energy of a wolf, and he always came alive at night. It was exciting to the meek and calm Jenna Mae.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, her lip trembling as she picked up the plate she had just put in front of him. “I thought it was warm, but you were late…”

  “Excuse me?” James turned around to look at her. “Are you blaming me for your shitty cooking skills?”

  “No,” Jenna Mae cried. “I just…”

  Their raised voices woke up the baby, who started crying in the other room. Jenna Mae felt like crying herself, but she knew that James would yell about that as well. Their baby boy, Cameron, was only three weeks old, and Jenna Mae had been responsible for one hundred percent of the care. The young mother was exhausted, especially when it came to dinner time.

  The life of privilege had evaporated quickly. Within a few months, completely under James’s spell, Jenna Mae went from a princess to a caged bird. He constantly reminded her that he could give her everything, or he could take everything away. He often told her that she couldn’t do any better than the wolf alpha, especially not as a timid human. He told her so often that she believed it these days.

  “Shut him up,” James said, and Jenna Mae paused, her plate in her hand. She put it down, and James slammed his hand on the table. “What about my food?”

  “You just told me to get the baby…” Jenna Mae said, confused and afraid. James stood up, leaning over her slight form. His teeth were bared, and Jenna Mae braced for the worse.

  “After. You. Get. Me. Dinner,” he said. “Is that clear? I am the Alpha of this house, and you will show me respect.”

  The baby screamed louder, and Jenna Mae winced. She picked up James’s plate and took it into the kitchen, putting it in the microwave. As soon as it was warming up, she went into the nursery to check on Cameron.

  Cameron cried so much that Jenna Mae wondered if there was something wrong with him. Her pediatrician had assured her that the baby was healthy, and there was nothing physically wrong. But the child seemed constantly upset.

  Of course, Jenna Mae thought as she picked him up, that could be because his mother was constantly upset. Jenna Mae felt like she had cried more in the last three weeks than Cameron had.

  Having a baby was supposed to be a happy time. It was supposed to rekindle the couple’s love for each other and give them a fresh start. Jenna Mae had even fantasies that their relationship would become what it was when they first met two years ago: fresh and exciting. They were going on a new adventure together, as parents.

  Instead, it made everything worse.

  “Ssh, baby, ssh,” Jenna Mae said, picking up her tiny bundle of joy. This wasn’t supposed to be like this.

  With one hand free, she took Cameron downstairs and into the kitchen, where the microwave beeped. Their small, one-bedroom apartment had been perfect when they first moved in. She had been thrilled to have a place that was theirs, and she didn’t even care that James wanted to stay in most nights when he was home. He traveled for work a lot, and he didn’t want her to come much. She thought he was her Prince Charming, come to save her from a mediocre existence. It wasn’t that she had a bad childhood; it was just that she always wanted more than what her parents could give her. She wanted lavish vacations and a husband that made her wake up every day looking forward to spending time with him. She wanted to be the apple of someone’s eye, rather than the middle child in a sea of faces.

  Cameron looked like a cross between the two of them. He had Jenna Mae’s pale skin, and James’s dark hair, with his mother’s large eyes and her father’s long and lean body.

  Their relationship had already gotten bad when Jenna Mae got pregnant. Jenna Mae never considered getting rid of the baby for a second. She had wanted to be a mother since she was a child herself. She felt like raising the next generation was something she would be good at. James, over the years, had made her think that she wasn’t good at anything else.

  “Here,” she said to him, placing the warm plate in front of him.

  She thought that everything would be alright for a moment. Cameron was happily gurgling on her shoulder, and she could see James’s food steaming, which
meant it was hot. For one moment, everything was perfect.

  And then she felt pain across her face, suddenly blinding her.

  She reeled backward, stunned.

  “Don’t you take such a nasty tone with me,” James said as he sat back down. She could see blood on his knuckles, and she felt like her nose was broken. Cameron was shrieking again, and Jenna Mae immediately checked that he hadn’t hit the baby. “And shut her up.”

  James then sat down and began to eat his food like nothing had happened. He shoved it into his mouth like he hadn’t eaten in days. Wolf shifters had an appetite that could put any human to shame, and James had a complete inability to cook for himself.

  She didn’t dare say a word to him. This wasn’t the first time he had hit her, but she resolved to herself, then and there, that it would be the last.

  Jenna Mae decided that the safest route was to act like everything was normal. She stayed quiet, picking up his dish and taking it to the sink as soon as he was done. He headed into the bedroom to watch TV, and she did the dishes and cleaned up the leftovers. On nights when they fought, James usually acted like nothing had happened within the hour. Sure enough, as soon as whatever he was watching ended, he came into the kitchen, kissing her on the back of the neck. Jenna Mae flinched but continued to wash the dishes.

  “What do you want to do tonight?” he asked as if everything was normal.

  “I have to clean up,” she said, trying to sound casual. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I think you know what I have in mind,” he said, continuing to kiss her neck. Her heart rate rose, and she resisted the urge to move away from him. Every touch felt like it was burning her, and she felt tears prick her eyes.