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  Forbidden Alpha Bear

  Bridge Hollow Shifters 2

  Samantha Leal

  Copyright ©2019 by Samantha Leal All rights reserved.

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  Lost Creek Shifters Complete Collection

  The Forsaken Riders

  The Forsaken Riders series is a collection of novelette and novella length standalone Bad boy romances that fit together to tell the longer tale of the Forsaken Riders – and the woman they love - as they fight to dominate the town of Slate Springs.

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  Table of Contents

  1.

  2.

  3.

  4.

  5.

  6.

  7.

  8.

  9.

  10.

  11.

  12.

  14.

  Preview of Her Keeper Bear

  1.

  Scottsdale, Arizona

  The sun was setting over the hills and casting a pink and gold glow over the valley that sprawled out in front of him. The desert was dry and arid, but the colors that oozed from the ground were nothing short of spectacular. The purples and the oranges clashed together and produced something totally out of this world. Something that made Ernest stop and take notice, it truly made him appreciate all he had.

  He sat and watched from the vista of his terrace, sat proudly in the large egg chair as he steepled his index fingers underneath his chin. Ernest would never get tired of this view, but the heat of the desert night, before the sun fully fell and plunged him into a familiar chill, wasn’t doing anything to distract him from the rumors that had been heading out west to find him.

  He had heard whispers of terrible things happening, things people couldn’t explain, and it was making him anxious and afraid.

  He breathed in sharply and exhaled as his heart thumped away in his chest and his anxiety started to rise.

  Ernest had been waiting for almost two weeks, but he knew he couldn’t leave it much longer. Since he had heard what was happening in that little mountain town, it had done nothing but play on his mind.

  He rose to his feet slowly and wiped his sweaty palms down the sides of his jeans, before he leaned over the balcony and looked out at the desert sand. He looked at the spindly trees and remembered still how lush and green a forest could be. He remembered the beautiful canopy of branches and leaves that surrounded Bridge Hollow, and for a brief moment, a smile flickered across his lips.

  His stomach dipped and he shook his head before he turned away and headed back to the house. The bifold doors which extended the entire length of the backside were all open, letting in air and light but that meant he had to turn off the air conditioner, so when he stepped in, he felt the heat more than he had outside. He turned and began to close them one by one, and when he locked them, he slipped the key in his pocket and found himself looking around for anything out of place.

  Ernest didn’t know what could be lurking out there in the wilderness, and he didn’t know if anything or anyone was coming for him, but he had to be mentally prepared.

  He jumped as the hiss of the air conditioner started to blast from the vents that ran all along the top half of the room, and he felt the icy blast on his moist, hot skin, a welcome feeling.

  He turned and walked down the crisp, immaculate, white tile and felt how cool it was underfoot. He passed by the rooms on each side of the hallway and marveled at the modern cleanliness of what was inside. Spotless living areas, black and white leather, modern artwork his assistant had furiously bid on for him at auction−which didn’t serve much purpose now, but what would hopefully be a great investment and inheritance for his children sometime in the future.

  Ernest had created himself a stunning oasis there in the middle of the desert, but lately, it had begun to feel more like a prison. He could feel what was coming, he knew a storm was brewing and he wanted to fight it before it had a chance to reach him first.

  He peered through the pane of glass at the top of the front door and looked out across the driveway. His vast collection of cars was all in their own individual ports, already covered with protective blankets and put to bed for the night. Nothing stirred outside, but he still felt apprehensive, as if he could tell that he wasn’t safe.

  He checked the locks and then he lifted the receiver next to the main doorway which connected him to the security at the entry gate.

  “Hello,” he said as the guard answered. “I’m just checking we still have people patrolling the perimeter?”

  “Yes, sir, we have a rotation and we’ve just switched, nothing to report so far.”

  The guard was stern and reassuring, and he hung up the receiver feeling better than before. He checked the locks once more and then he turned back and headed into the main body of the house again. The splendor rising around him, cocooning him and keeping him safe.

  After the sun had set, and the night truly came in, he heard the howling of the coyotes out on the mountains. The valley was sprawling and wide, and he was perched right up at the top of it, a king surveying his own kingdom. But this time, he couldn’t be present. All he could think about was Bridge Hollow, of what he was hearing, of what could potentially be happening there.

  He swallowed his nerves down and scratched the back of his neck, before he opened his drinks cabinet and reached for a crystal decanter that had long been hidden away but he could no longer ignore. He reached for a tumbler and poured in the whiskey, sloshing it around in the glass before he held it up to his lips and drank it down in one. The sensation of warmth and calm washed over him for a moment, but then his heart continued to race, and he poured himself another.

  As he moved toward his desk, gripping the glass and raising it to his lips with shaking hands, he paused for a moment as he looked down at his computer.

  He knew if he opened it, there would be no going back. All he would have to do was type the name of the town into a search engine and within seconds, he would have every conspiracy theory and latest news update known to man. With so much technology and information available at the touch of a button, there wasn’t a place on Earth that Ernest could hide from this truth. And apart from that…

  He had to know…

  He sat down in his tall leather chair and slid under the glass desk, taking one last sip of the whiskey and draining his tumbler before he tapped the keyboard, the monitor of the computer blaring back to life.

  He had spent so many nights alone, he had isolated himself from the world, and there was still no escaping it. He opened a search page and typed in Bridge Hollow, his fingers shaking with each tap of a key.

  His
eyes scanned the page, watching the results flash ahead of him. He saw the articles, some from only hours before, with various headlines all alluding to the same things…

  MISSING HUNTERS….

  MASS ANIMAL DIE OFFS…

  STRANGE WEATHER PHENOMENA…

  And his heart beat even harder beneath his ribcage.

  “Christ,” he whispered as he rubbed his forehead and exhaled.

  He knew it wasn’t good. How could it be?

  None of this was his fault, and yet, he had to know more. He couldn’t help but wonder if any of this was relevant to him and his past…

  He quickly clicked the X at the top of the screen and closed the page. He leaned back in the chair and steepled his fingers underneath his chin. He had sat on this for almost two weeks, but now that he had seen what the internet had to offer, he knew he was going to have to react.

  His fingers grazed over the two files sitting in front of him. Two profiles of the people he was going to entrust. Ernest scanned the photographs pinned to the top of their identity documents and resumes, and his eyes stopped on the girl. He knew the man personally and had done for many years, but the girl was a stranger, someone selected for her knowledge and educational background. She was young and new to the field, recently graduated and coming with a set of fresh eyes. She didn’t need to know the reason she was truly being sent to Bridge Hollow, and she certainly didn’t need to know who she was working for.

  He reached over to the phone sitting unassumingly on his desk and pulled the receiver up to his ear, the long wire trailing down almost to his knee. It was one of the oldest things in the entire building, but he didn’t care. Why change something that would never be seen by anyone but him?

  He flipped open his Rolodex and his fingers flicked through the pages until he stopped on one and bit his lip.

  He didn’t know if he was going to regret making this call, but he couldn’t spend the rest of his life hiding up there in his gilded cage.

  The ringing drilled away in his ear, and when he heard the click on the other end of the line his breath caught in his throat.

  “Hello?” the voice sounded half asleep and dazed.

  “It’s me,” he said. “Sean, I need your full attention.”

  The voice on the other end seemed to clear its throat.

  “Yes, sir?” Sean replied, suddenly sounding a lot more awake than he had only a second before.

  “I have something I need you to do,” he said sternly. “Pack a bag and meet me at HQ.”

  “Yes, sir,” the voice replied, clipped and military like.

  He hung up the call and sighed, leaning back into his chair. The darkness seemed to be closing around him, just like the silence and sense of dread, but now, he would hopefully be setting the wheels in motion to bring him and everyone else back out into the light.

  He spun around and looked out of the window behind him, at all the bright stars twinkling in the sky, at the deep, inky blue of the heavens and at the moon shining high above. He smiled.

  This was his world, not anyone else’s.

  And he wasn’t about to give it up without a fight.

  2.

  Present Day, Bridge Hollow

  Pamela looked out the window as the world flashed by her in a haze of green, brown and blue. The train was speeding across the country toward the mountains, and even though staring so intently at the scenery around her was making her dizzy, she couldn’t help but be drawn to it.

  The carriage was crowded and stifling, and she reached for the magazine that was laid face down on the table in front of her and began to wave it back and forth in front of her face like a fan.

  She had spent the first couple of hours of the journey reading all about how to get that summer glow without actually having to sit out in the sun and expose your skin to harmful rays, she had read ten book reviews on the perfect beach reads, and she had perused articles on how to find the elusive G-Spot, all the while cringing at how predicable everything in this kind of mag was. Nothing was new and exciting any more, it was all the same stuff, recycled and churned out again and again every year.

  She kept fanning her face, and with her free hand, she reached for her sparkling water and took a sip. At least the service on the train had been decent and she hadn’t had to clash her way down to the bar cart and sit among god knows how many others trying to just pass the time and stay hydrated on what was starting to feel like a never ending trip.

  Her colleague, Sean, sat in front of her and he glanced up momentarily and caught her eye. She smiled and looked away, but he sighed and placed the file he had been reading down on the table between them.

  “I thought you might be excited rather than full of misery?” He said it with a wry smile, and she found herself rolling her eyes at him and grinning.

  She had only known Sean for a few days, but already, his humor was beginning to rub off on her slightly. He was dry and witty, and even if they were sat in an overcrowded train cabin hurtling toward The Rockies, at least he was there to crack the odd joke and keep her sane.

  “I know,” she admitted, raising her hand and lowering the magazine in the other. “I can see that I haven’t been the most enthusiastic companion.”

  Sean leaned across the table slightly and raised his eyebrows.

  “That’s an understatement,” he said, before he leaned back and opened the file again, pulling it onto his knee.

  Pamela had been casting her eyes toward the file, wondering what was inside and what information he had that she didn’t.

  Pamela had been hired by the government agency that Sean worked for only a month before, and now, she was out on her first job in the field, to investigate a series of strange environmental happenings in none other than the infamous Bridge Hollow.

  When she had interviewed for the position she hadn’t a clue what she would be doing on the job, only that they were looking for someone with as much experience as possible with the environment, geology, geography and science, and with her past degrees and PHD under her belt, Pamela had been the perfect fit.

  She had spent her whole life preparing for this moment. Working hard at school and grad school, taking unpaid internships, and pulling some serious all-nighters. Her life was her career, and now, she had finally aced it by being hired by the government and pulled straight out into the field on a somewhat secret mission. But at this moment, her mission in life was to make sure that she did the best job possible and made the agency proud.

  Sean cleared his throat and turned another page and Pamela watched him suspiciously. She wished she could see what he had in front of him, read what he was reading.

  She was second-in-command to him. With Sean being the leader and the man in charge, he would be setting out and exploring more of the scientific side of things while they were in Bridge Hollow, and Pamela would be looking more at environmental factors. She closed the magazine-fan and placed it back on the table before she opened the lid of her laptop and pressed the power button so it came brightly to life. She was still new, and she didn’t want to be seen as slacking, even if they were in the midst of one of the hottest days of the year, on a cramped train, with minimal air conditioning.

  She waited for the computer to load and looked back to the window and at the scenery on the other side. The train seemed to have slowed slightly, and she smiled as she took in the lovely fresh greens and crystal-clear blue of the skies and lakes that weaved their way through the mountains below.

  “Really beautiful, isn’t it?” Sean said, breaking her concentration.

  She nodded and smiled.

  “Yes, it really is.”

  “Have you ever been out this way before?” he asked.

  She turned to look at him and noticed that the file had been closed and placed back in his bag. She could see a set of documents peeking out the top, all the spines a crisp white.

  “No,” she admitted. “I’ve never been to the mountains before.”

  His eyes widened slig
htly, and he leaned in again.

  “No way, you haven’t even been skiing?”

  “Nope,” she half laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve always been too busy working my butt off and making sure I get where I need to be with my career to be taking vacations.”

  Sean cracked a smile and shook his head.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said.

  “It’s true,” she said smugly. “If I hadn’t, then I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and let her head lean against the side of the window. Her vision began to blur again, and she got swept up in the intense colors.

  “Well, you’re in for a treat then,” Sean said as he rose to his feet and stretched.

  She watched as he made his way down the aisle toward the doorway, clinging to the top of each seat as he passed.

  When she was alone, Pam finally let herself breathe and relax. She was trying to be professional, but at the same time, Sean was so annoying she couldn’t find it in herself not to slip into her regular girl mode and tease him a bit.

  She took another sip of her water and looked down at her watch. It was coming up close to 3pm and she knew the train was supposed to arrive in Bridge Hollow around half past. She had thirty minutes left on the sweltering train, and then, hopefully, she could disappear into this new little town and just be herself for a while before the working day began all over again and her and Sean would be back out on the job.

  When the door between the carriages slid open and she saw him coming back down the aisle, she picked up her cellphone and pretended to be busy. She scrolled through social media until she lost signal, and she realized that they were heading up higher and higher into the mountains.

  The small windows had been slid open slightly to let in some air, and the higher they climbed, the fresher it seemed to become.