Forbidden Alpha Bear Read online

  “You’ve heard the legends about this place?” he asked her seriously.

  She nodded slowly, but there had been so many things she had read and heard, she didn’t know fact from fiction.

  “I didn’t know if any of it was true,” she said.

  “It is,” Ryder confirmed as he opened his arms out and placed them on the armrests.

  “What is?” she grilled him.

  He faltered for a moment and then he seemed to internally debate with himself, before he shook his head and leaned back forward.

  “Okay,” he said. “I need to level with you because of what happened. I know all of this is going to sound crazy, but I kind of think you’re going to understand it too…”

  The spot where he had touched her chest began to radiate heat, and she gasped as she touched it.

  “What are you?” she asked him suspiciously. “And what have you done to me?”

  Ryder slowly got to his feet and walked around the side of the desk, so he was standing in front of her. He looked down at her and she felt her entire body stiffen. She was nervous around him, but in the best kind of way, and deep between her legs, something else was happening, she was feeling turned on and red hot, and she wanted nothing more than to jump up and wrap her arms and legs around him.

  “I don’t know what you’ve heard about our town,” Ryder began as he sat down on the edge of the desk and faced her fully, “but you must have seen the various totems and depictions of bears and wolves scattered around?”

  Her mind instantly flipped to the statue in the center of Main Street. The half man, half bear… the violence behind it and the struggle. The bear ripping out of the man’s body and roaring free.

  “The statue?” she asked nervously.

  “Exactly,” Ryder nodded.

  “What about it?” she said.

  “There have been legends around here for years that there are packs of wild animals, large animals, ones that are dangerous and magical. It’s one of the big pulls for tourists coming to the town, as if they expect to be able to go hiking up the mountain and run into their very own Big Foot,” he half laughed. “But what they don’t understand is, that these animals are among them all day, every day… right in plain sight.”

  A chill rolled over her again and her skin tingled.

  “Not even half of the people who live in Bridge Hollow know the truth. Some of them have been labeled crazy by their families because they’ve had sightings of their own, and some of them don’t even dare speak up. The others probably think it’s all just hype and aren’t interested. There are a lot of old-timers here, and not all of them are so open minded to the idea of things not being quite what they seem.”

  “And why aren’t things quite what they seem?” Pamela interjected.

  “Because the legends aren’t just legend. It’s true, all of it…”

  He trailed off and sighed, but his eyes didn’t leave hers. She saw the tinge of gold and amber returning to them, and the place on her chest burned even hotter.

  “I’m a shifter, Pamela…,” he said suddenly.

  She heard the words and they registered, but she didn’t even know if she truly knew what he meant. She had heard of the legends and she had seen the statue in the center of town. One of the biggest legends of Bridge Hollow were the mythical man bears that roamed the forests and the mountainside, but not only that, there were wolves too. She had always imagined it all being down to a full moon, but what she was seeing in Ryder made her realize what had been different about him all along….

  He was part animal… and it was always there, lurking beneath the surface.

  She gasped and reached up to touch the place where he had laid his hand on her and done something to her.

  “You feel that?” he asked her. “Now, you will always feel it.”

  “What did you do to me?” she whispered, a hint of anger in her voice.

  “Something I had to do to keep you safe.” He was being so serious, she knew that there was no way he was lying.

  “Why am I in danger?” she asked him nervously.

  The tension between them was mounting with each passing second, and she felt herself moving closer to him. It was as if they were being pulled together by an invisible force, something was winding them in closer and closer with each breath they took, and suddenly, they were only centimeters apart. He stood from the corner of the desk and looked down on her with his dark, gold-tinged eyes, and she longed to reach up and touch him. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss the hell out of him; she wanted to feel her body against his, to trace her fingers along his incredible muscles and feel the animal within.

  Her heart was racing, hard and fast, and she could sense the change within him too, as if he was fighting to keep control.

  “My pack doesn’t trust you,” he said finally, and his eyes were so serious and full of angst she could feel his pain. “They want you gone.”

  “Your pack?” she whispered.

  “The other bears…” He said it, and it all made sense.

  Ryder was part man, part bear… he was a powerful being and now, he was taking hold of her heart.

  “The people you’re working for,” he said. “I can tell you’re innocent, but they’re not… they are not government.”

  When he spoke the words, Pamela’s heart seemed to crash into her stomach. Her breathing became rapid and her mind was racing.

  “What do you mean?” she asked with confusion. “I… They must be…”

  “They’re not,” Ryder told her with all the confidence in the world. “We don’t know who they are, but they’re not the government. They’re lying to you, and they’re poking around here, looking for something, and it’s putting everyone on edge. No one knows who they can trust.”

  Pamela sank down onto the desk next to him and stared into space. She thought of what had happened already that day, how she had been ditched by Sean almost immediately. He hadn’t cared about her safety out on the mountain, he hadn’t known they would need permission from the national park, and he had then gone on to disappear once he had managed to shake Ranger Dean. He had been nothing but secretive with her, and although he was clearly very switched on and knew what he was doing, there was something about him that was so unprepared. It was suddenly blaringly obvious that he couldn’t have been part of a government organization.

  Pamela rubbed her temples and furrowed her brow. This onslaught of information was giving her a headache, but she was smart enough to know that she had to take it all in and gather the facts.

  “So, you’re telling me, the people I work for have been lying to me, and now a group of wild man-bears want me dead?”

  “Not dead,” he said nervously. “Just out of the picture.”

  “And why did you put it upon yourself to come and help me?” she asked as she turned her head and their eyes met again.

  “Because, the moment I lay eyes on you, I knew you were different,” he said. “I saw that guy you were with in the lobby of the hotel and I could see how embarrassed you were by him. I have a sixth sense for a pure soul, and yours was screaming out to me. His, on the other hand, was dark and black. He’s hiding something and isn’t genuine. I was worried about you, and not only that but…” He stopped for a moment and then his hand moved on top of hers.

  She felt the heat in his palm, and it made her bones quiver. He was so sexy and handsome, and so powerful. He had the most amazing energy of anyone she had ever encountered, and it was pulling her in more and more. Her nerves were rife, and her heart raged away below her breastbone. She felt the place on her chest throb with desire, and her hand now was tingling, reacting to his skin, and wanting more of him.

  “I knew when I saw you…,” he said quietly. “I knew that you were the one I had been waiting for…”

  Her heart swelled and her limbs felt like jelly. She had spent so much time avoiding men and love, this had taken her totally by surprise, but she would be lying if she didn’t adm
it that she knew what he meant. When their eyes had met for the first time in the lobby of The Hollow Hotel, something had been awakened in her that she didn’t know how to handle. And now she was there with him, in a quiet back room of his bar, and he was telling her some of the most insane things she had ever heard in her entire life, and yet, she knew they were completely true. She felt his honesty, and she knew she could trust him. He was being open with her, and things were beginning to make sense, however out of this world and crazy it all sounded.

  “Ryder…,” she whispered as his hand squeezed hers, and her heart beat harder and harder.

  “Each one of us has one true mate,” he said. “When I saw you, I knew I had found mine.”

  She reached up with her free hand and cupped his cheek. The heat beneath his skin was raw and fierce, and she could see the animal in his eyes coming to the fore. His instincts were primal and savage, and she could sense that he could easily tear her apart, and he was doing everything in his power not to take her right there and then.

  She moved a little closer and he took hold of her wrists and pinned them lightly behind her back as their bodies pulled closer together and their lips were almost touching. She could barely breathe, and every inch of her was turned on and open to him. When he kissed her, the whole world seemed to spin, and she was lost in his arms. He pulled her closer, still holding on to her wrists and gripping her at the base of her spine. She could feel his power, and she knew she was completely at his mercy, but she had never wanted anything more.

  When they broke apart and looked into each other’s eyes, she knew that something big had just happened. The touch to her chest had changed her body’s chemistry and bound her to him, but the kiss had sealed them in an even deeper way.

  She felt now that she was truly his. And no one would ever be able to tear them apart.

  “This is so dangerous,” he told her, his breath hot and heavy on her face. “If the pack finds out…”

  She swallowed and looked into his eyes. Her nerves rising by the minute.

  “They wanted me to get rid of you today when we were up on the mountain, but I knew I would never do it… it’s one of the reasons I volunteered to be the one to go with Dean.”

  “So, it wasn’t a coincidence you turned up today?”

  He shook his head.

  “I wasn’t about to let any of the other members of the pack take you onto the mountain. I know what they’re capable of when they don’t trust someone.”

  Her blood began to run cold.

  “I’m going to keep you safe,” he told her as he cupped her face and stared sternly into her eyes. “But I need your help too.”

  She nodded.

  “You have to find out what Sean is up to,” he said. “If he isn’t government, then who the hell is he? And what is he looking for here?”

  She nodded nervously and leaned into his touch.

  “I’m scared,” she whispered.

  “You don’t need to be,” he reassured her. “I’ve got you now. You’re completely safe, no one can harm you now that you’re joined to me.”

  She nodded, and even though this concept was completely new to her, she felt it deep in her bones. She felt the connection they shared now, and she knew that if she were in danger, then somehow, he would know and come running.

  “I’m going to help you get back to the hotel,” he said. “And then I’m going to speak to the pack and tell them you’ve got nothing to do with it and that you’re with us now. Okay?”

  She nodded.

  “I still think I can help,” she said. “With my knowledge of the environment, I think I can find out what is happening here in town and what is causing all these strange phenomena…”

  Ryder nodded.

  “None of us know for sure, but some of us already have an idea of what may be happening,” he said ominously. “But we need to be sure.”

  “And what is that?” she asked, her heart racing.

  He reached up and traced a finger down her jawline.

  “Take in what I’ve already told you, for now… it’s a lot… while I’m here, your mind is open to the impossible and everything will make sense. Once you’re alone, it’s going to take a little more to process.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t want to argue with him. She knew he was right. He had just dropped ten bombshells and she was still absorbing it all, but her mind was calm. Everything Ryder had told her seemed to make complete sense.

  “I feel duped,” she said sadly as she looked down at the floor. “By Sean… and by myself. I’m embarrassed; I thought that I’d landed some big government job, when really I was being used…”

  She felt tears welling up behind her eyes, and Ryder took hold of her hand and held it to his lips.

  “You must not feel like that,” he said sternly. “You’re clearly incredibly intelligent, they want you for your mind. They know you can help them, but what we are all worried about is what they are going to dig up here and expose. People nosing around, scientists and supposed government types, none of that is good for people like me. My kind and I are in danger as long as they are here in town.”

  She nodded, and she completely understood. She could only imagine what type of man Sean would turn into if he found out the truth about Bridge Hollow and the shifter packs that lived there. It would blow his mind and then all he would see was dollar signs.

  It made her shudder.

  The thought of a man like Ryder being exploited and harmed for financial gain was too much to bear.

  “I need time with the pack,” he said softly. “Until I know I can trust them not to harm you, we can’t be seen together.”

  The nerves crept up the back of her neck and her palms began to sweat.

  “They wanted you gone; I have to take certain steps to let them know that they can trust you. It’s not just as simple as me walking in and declaring everything is okay and that now, I’ve imprinted on you…”

  Imprinted…

  She had never heard the word before, but she reached up and touched the place on her chest where he had laid his palm on her earlier that day in the woods. She felt it pulse and she could feel his energy within it.

  Suddenly, the word made sense.

  He had touched her and made her his.

  She smiled at him and then looked away shyly. She didn’t know what to make of it all, only that she had gotten herself into one hell of a mess… but she was starting to be glad of it, nonetheless.

  Ryder was already completely worth it.

  He gripped her hand and pulled her toward the doorway. As he undid it slowly, he peered out into the hall and then looked back at Pamela.

  “Typical,” he whispered. “I’m clearly paying him for nothing.”

  Pamela peered around the door and saw Jerry sleeping soundly against the crate, his mouth hanging open and snores coming out lightly from between his lips. Ryder looked at her and they both smiled, and she was glad of the light relief. The entire day had been so completely draining and now she was on the run from a pack of angry bears.

  “Come on,” Ryder whispered as he pulled her lightly out of the door of the office and across the hall to another door. He pushed it open and they stepped silently inside before he closed it and another hallway spread out in front of them with a fire escape at the end.

  “This place is like a maze,” she whispered, trying to be as quiet as she could.

  “It is,” he said. “And it sure as hell comes in handy.”

  They raced down the hall to the end, and when Ryder opened the fire escape, the cool, mountain night air hit them and seemed to bring them back to the real world.

  She stopped for a moment and looked at him, and he looked back at her and smiled.

  “Thank you,” she said. “For having faith in me.”

  He nodded slowly and then pulled her back for a kiss. Their lips met and he pushed her back against the wall, his tongue sliding in against hers and exploring her mouth so deeply that he took her breat
h away.

  She wanted him so badly, and there they were, in the dead of night, among all the magic and danger of Bridge Hollow, but they were the only two people in the world.

  She knew there and then she had found something special in Ryder. She just hoped that the rest of the town wouldn’t be determined to tear them apart.

  8.

  She woke with a start in the pitch black and sat up straight. She was panting and her skin was glistening with sweat. Her heart was beating so fast she could barely catch her breath, and she reached up and touched her forehead to find it cool and wet.

  She reached toward the nightstand and grasped at the bottle of spring water she had taken from the mini bar before bed and twisted off the cap before she took a big, deep sip.

  She had been dreaming of being chased through the woods of the mountain by a pack of bears, and as her mind started to awaken and she remembered the events of the previous day, she leaned into the pillow and closed her eyes.

  She was in trouble.

  Big, big trouble.

  She took another sip of her water and then placed the bottle back down before she drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She felt safer cocooned slightly, as if folding her body into a small ball would somehow protect her from the outside world, like a porcupine with its spines standing on end to spear any predator that came close.

  She could only think about Ryder and the conversation they had had back at the bar. She saw the intensity in his eyes all over again, she felt the animalistic heat coming out of his skin, and she felt his power and the way he wanted her.

  Within seconds, she was hot under the collar and her pussy was aching, but she was also afraid. He had told her so many things, and he was right when he said that once she was alone it would be hard for her to process it all.

  She was falling for someone who was dangerous.

  He was part wild animal, one that was part of a pack that wanted to harm her.

  She shivered.

  What had she gotten herself into?

  She thought back to the way she had lived her life. How she had always put her career first and had sworn off men since she had seen how her father had left her mother in a state of despair. Her mother had always told her not to trust men, and she never had… So, why did it feel so different with Ryder?