All About the Bear (Grizzly Cove Book 1) Page 2

  All because of her. Nell. The sweet lady who baked the sweet pies he liked so much.

  But he liked her even more.

  Probably more than was good for him.

  “I’m sorry, John. This guy just came in here and shifted before I could stop him,” Brody said to his Alpha, leaving the more troubling thoughts about the pretty baker for later.

  “I saw most of it, though I couldn’t believe my eyes when he turned into a koala. Never seen a koala shifter in my entire life. Cute little fuckers, aren’t they?” John bent down to get a closer look at the snoring marsupial. At that point, he seemed to get a good whiff of the stranger and backed off quick, shielding his nose. “Whew! Eucalyptus and alcohol. Not sure which one is stronger. I’m amazed he was sober enough to walk in here.”

  “He passed out. I can put him in a cell to sleep it off. Then, he’s going to have to answer for his actions.” Brody frowned. “And one of us is going to have to deal with the fallout.” He glanced significantly at Nell, still standing with her mouth open, behind the counter.

  John looked at her too, then frowned. “She saw you shift. You’d better talk her down. I’ll take sleeping beauty to the jail.” He held out his hand for the keys. “You give me a call if you need help with Nell.”

  John threw the small bear over one shoulder while Brody bundled the man’s clothing into a ball that John tucked under one arm. Without a backward look, the Alpha was out the door and down the street a moment later.

  Brody realized he was still shirtless, so he found his golf shirt and spent a few stalling seconds turning it right-side out. He pulled it over his head before turning to Nell, once again. She still hadn’t moved.

  “Are you okay?” Brody asked quietly, not wanting to startle her.

  Nell blinked at him. “Was that…” She paused, then tried again. “Was that real?” She gestured widely to the floor of the bakery and back to Brody. “You were a bear.”

  Knowing the time for lies was over, he nodded. “Yes, I am.”

  That got her full attention. She stared hard at him.

  “You can turn into a bear?” Shock. She was definitely in some form of shock. “How is that possible?”

  Brody shrugged. “I was born this way. It’s what I am.”

  Nell just shook her head, clearly unable to deal with the revelation. Brody sighed.

  “Look Nell, I’m the same guy you see every day. Now you just know a little secret about me.” He tried to be casual. “And it is a secret. You understand? You can’t tell anyone about us. The world isn’t ready to know about shapeshifters.”

  “There are more?” She looked slightly appalled by the idea.

  Brody wasn’t certain if that boded well for getting her cooperation on this matter. And without her cooperation… He feared what the group might decide if Nell couldn’t be counted on to keep their secret.

  “Honey, this entire town is made up of shapeshifters. That’s why it was so difficult for you and your sisters to get permission to open your store here. We weren’t sure about letting humans in.”

  “Humans?” she repeated as if it was just sinking in, despite what she had seen. “You mean everybody is a…a…bear?” She looked outside at the people walking down the street, fear in her eyes. “Don’t bears eat people?” she whispered, working up to a full-fledged freak out, if Brody was any judge.

  He decided to tease her. Now that she knew the secret, she was fair game. And he’d seen her first.

  “Only if they ask very nicely,” he said in a husky drawl that made her gaze shoot back to his.

  “Are you flirting with me? Now?” Outrage wasn’t quite what he’d been aiming for, but it was better than panic.

  At that moment, the little bell on the door jingled, and two of the town’s most recent arrivals entered. Lyn Ling and her daughter, Daisy, had moved in last month. They were Chinese by birth, but the loss of her mate had sent Lyn running from her homeland, looking for a safe place to heal and raise her baby. Daisy was about four years old and cute as a button. She had just about every man in the settlement wrapped around her little finger, Brody included.

  Daisy skipped up to the counter, looking with wide eyes into the glass display case as her mother said hello to Brody and Nell. As Nell looked from Brody to Lyn and back again, her eyes widened.

  “You said everyone,” Nell repeated. “Oh, God. Lyn too? And Daisy? They’re…bears?”

  Lyn scowled, looking at Brody. “What have you been telling her?”

  “I didn’t tell her. Some dumb drunk koala came in here and challenged my dominance right here in the middle of the bakery. Nell couldn’t help but see. John left me to deal with it.”

  Lyn huffed at him. “Well, it’s clear you’re not dealing well.” She then lapsed into Chinese muttering, probably saying unkind things about men in general, and Brody in particular, as she lifted her daughter into her arms. Pasting a smile on her face, she turned to Nell. “Yes, we are bears,” she said firmly. “No, we do not hurt people. Not unless they hurt us first. We just want to live in peace. In harmony with nature. Free to be who we are. Is that too much to ask?”

  Nell was left gaping at the outburst from the normally quiet woman. Slowly, Nell seemed to calm down. Eventually, she nodded.

  “No, Lyn. It’s not too much to ask. I guess, when you put it that way, it’s kind of what everybody wants. Freedom to do what we wanted is why me and my sisters came here too. As long as you guys…bears…are okay with that, I think we can get used to the idea of people turning into grizzly bears.”

  “Not grizzly,” Daisy decided to interject in her high voice. “Panda!”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Oh, dear Lord,” Nell whispered, completely overwhelmed by the craziness that had invaded her bakery today.

  Maybe she was hallucinating. Maybe somebody had spiked the flour with PCP or something. That would explain why she was seeing koalas and grizzly bears in her store, and the cutest little four year old on the planet just claimed she was a panda.

  “She better sit down,” Lyn said in that no-nonsense way she had of talking.

  “Yeah, I think you’re right,” the sheriff agreed, taking Nell’s arm across the counter and guiding her out from behind. He escorted her to the nearest chair, and she let him.

  She sat, only then realizing she was trembling from head to toe.

  “You gonna faint on me, honey?” Brody asked, squatting down in front of her chair.

  He had that boyish smile on his face that usually made her knees weak. But they were already weak. They’d turned to rubber when the men had turned into bears, and only her death grip on the display case had kept her upright.

  Nell had had a thing for the sexy sheriff since she first moved into her new shop. He’d come by to welcome her to town and had been by most days since, usually eating lunch here, while she covered the store. Her sister, Ashley, got up with the roosters and stayed until after the breakfast rush. Then, Nell took the afternoons, and little sister Tina covered the evening shift, which wasn’t nearly as busy.

  Nell was the oldest. She had brought her sisters here. Were they safe? Had she moved them all to an even more dangerous place than the one they’d just left?

  Oh, God. Bending over, she wrapped her hands around her middle, feeling ill.

  Brody’s warm hand settled on her back, rubbing slow, pacifying circles as he moved closer. She felt surrounded by his warmth, but oddly, it made her feel safe.

  This was the closest she’d ever been to him. The barrier that had seemed to keep him at a distance was gone. But was her safety gone with it? Nell frowned, worrying.

  “It’s okay,” Brody whispered. “You’ve had a shock. But you’re safe, Nell. Nobody in town would ever hurt you.”

  A clatter on the table beside her made her look up. Lyn had brought her a strong cup of coffee.

  “Drink up,” Lyn said. “You need a jolt of caffeine. Only wish I had something stronger to give you.” Lyn’s smile was friendly, and Ne
ll realized that the woman she’d become friends with over the past weeks was still the same, even if there was some bizarre way she could turn into a enormous bear.

  Brody took the mug and handed it to Nell. He was such a gentle giant of a man. She had admired him from afar over the past weeks, glad his habit was to take a late lunch when the shop was quiet, as it was now.

  Nell drank a sip of the coffee, and it did make her feel a little better. The heat of the liquid and familiar flavor of the brew grounded her a bit. It wore down the shock that had been riding her for the past fifteen minutes.

  “Can you call Tina in to take over a little early?” Brody suggested as she downed the coffee. “Tell her you’re not feeling well or something?”

  Nell’s eyes widened. “Are my sisters safe here?”

  Brody nodded solemnly. “Safer in this town than anywhere else,” he insisted. “Our residents have all been vetted, and most have known each other for many years. While it’s true we recently opened up to new faces, there’s a procedure for shifters who want to join the community. That drunken Aussie wasn’t supposed to just show up in town and go furry. He’s going to face the Alpha when he sobers up, and believe me, that won’t be pretty.”

  “We don’t go around advertising what we can do,” Lyn said, picking up her daughter once more. “Secrecy is the first rule of our society. You are now one of very few humans who know about us,” Lyn went on. “Can you be trusted to keep our secret?”

  Nell was surprised by the question. “I won’t tell anybody,” she promised. “Nobody would believe me anyway. I’d end up in the loony bin.” She finished her coffee and put the mug back on the table at her side. Then she realized Lyn had come in to pick up the lunch order she’d called in an hour before. “Oh, you probably need to go. Let me get your bag,” Nell said, rising and going behind the counter.

  The familiar work helped calm her further, even if her world had been turned upside down in the past half hour. The lunch order was ready and sitting in the cooler. Nell took it out and handed it over the top of the display case to Lyn.

  “It’s on the house today, Lyn,” she said when the other woman reached into her bag. “And there’s a treat inside for Daisy.”

  The little girl’s face lit up when she heard that last part. Her mother asked the universal mommy question. “What do we say when someone gives us a treat?”

  Daisy responded with a loud, “Thank you!”

  Nell couldn’t help but smile at the child. “You’re very welcome, Miss Daisy.”

  “I wouldn’t leave, but I have a buyer coming to the gallery in twenty minutes. Promise me you’ll come by later so we can talk?” Lyn insisted.

  “I’ll take good care of her,” the sheriff insisted. Lyn shot him a doubtful look but left with a nod.

  When Lyn had left, Nell found herself staring at Brody. His quirked eyebrow invited her to speak.

  “So far today, I’ve seen a koala, a grizzly and, if Daisy is to be believed, a panda walk into my shop. In human form.” As observations went, it was a doozy.

  “I told John he should be more specific when he sent out the call for bears.” Brody shook his head with a smile. “I was willing to bend the definition for Lyn and Daisy, but that puny Aussie? I don’t think so. Besides, he smells like cough drops.”

  Nell laughed out loud but quickly stopped herself. “Eucalyptus. I think that’s what koalas eat.” She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. “God. I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation.”

  “Actually, I’m kind of glad we’re talking about it,” Brody admitted, moving nearer, his arms crossed and his stance contemplative. “I’ve been wanting to get closer to you for weeks, but until you knew my secret, I had to keep my distance. I don’t like lying to people I respect.”

  That took her by surprise. “You respect me?”

  She couldn’t imagine why. She was nobody special. She was just another rolling stone who happened to land right side up in the cove, looking for a new start.

  “Of course I do,” he answered without hesitation. “You care for your sisters. You were strong enough to stand up for yourself, and for them, in front of the town council. You convinced Big John that you could make a go of your business here, and you’ve done just that. What’s not to respect?”

  When he put it that way… It was kind of charming of him to have noticed, actually. Nell felt her cheeks heat as she blushed. She’d been covertly watching the big sheriff every day since they’d met. He pushed all her buttons on a physical level, but also on a mental one. Their lunch conversations had ranged from the latest tech innovations in the news to the planning and layout of the town. She’d known he had a hand in it and liked what he had to say about the way he’d designed certain security aspects right into the road system itself.

  “I respect you too,” she admitted. “I like talking with you when you come in for lunch.”

  Brody sighed heavily. “But you’re not sure what to make of the idea that I can turn into a grizzly at will, huh?” He gazed straight into her eyes.

  She shrugged in reply. “I don’t know what to think.”

  Rather than answer her, Brody reached for his cell phone and placed a call. Still feeling a little bewildered, Nell watched him as the call connected.

  “Yeah, hi, Tina? This is Sheriff Chambers. I’m over at the bakery. Everything’s okay, but I think your sister could use a bit of a break. She just finished dealing with a difficult customer. Is it possible for you to come in a little early?” He paused, listening to her sister’s reply. “Excellent. We’ll wait for you to get here.” Another pause. “Yeah, I’m taking her out to decompress. I think she needs a little TLC after the day she’s had. We’ll probably just take a quiet walk around the cove.” He smiled as her sister said something else. “Thanks. Yeah. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  He ended the call with a tap of his finger and put the phone away. That little grin never left his face. He looked a bit smug. Was he feeling satisfied that he’d arranged to take her out? And how did she feel about his highhandedness? She honestly wasn’t sure.

  “You seem very pleased with yourself,” she observed.

  “That’s because I am.” His smile grew wider as he came around the display case, joining her in the work area as if he belonged there.

  He took one of the empty boxes off the stack she kept ready and placed a few of the honey buns she knew were his favorites into it. She watched, bemused, as he put the box into a shopping bag and then pulled a few bills out of his pocket and stuck them in the cash register.

  “What’s that for?” she couldn’t help asking.

  “Our picnic,” he answered, still grinning.

  “What picnic?”

  “The one we’re going to take down by the beach while I tell you all about the bears and this town.” He took her hand and led her out from behind the display case, even going so far as to remove her apron and fold it neatly before placing it on the counter. “Now that I’m free to speak the truth, there’s a lot I want to tell you.”

  “What about my sisters? Will they be let in on the secret?” she wanted to know.

  Brody’s smile dimmed as he tilted his head. “I’m not sure. That sort of all depends.”

  “On what?” She put her hands on her hips as she faced him.

  “On a few different things. How you handle what I’m going to tell you. How we proceed from here on out. What the Alpha decides. Any number of things, including your sisters’ temperaments.” He shrugged. “If it were up to me, I’d probably tell them, but when we agreed to settle here, we also agreed to follow Big John’s laws. He’s the Alpha. He gets to decide the big questions, like this one. But I wouldn’t worry. He was the one who approved of your plans to open this bakery. He checked you all out before he ever agreed to let you into our town.”

  “He investigated us?” Nell was a bit insulted by the idea, but then again, it looked like these people—if that’s what they were—had a lot to
lose if they let the wrong sort of person run around loose in their community.

  “Don’t feel bad. He had us all investigated before he ever made the offer to let us live on his land. You probably don’t realize it, but this place was Big John’s dream from the get go. He quietly accumulated acres and acres of land around the cove over the past several decades. He plans long-term. And he wasn’t about to let just anyone settle here.”

  “I had no idea. My rent goes to a big corporation, I thought.”

  “Yeah. A big corporation ultimately owned by John Marshall. He’s got all kinds of paperwork and shell corporations that hide the fact of his ownership pretty well. That’s why the lawyer was one of the first shifters he invited to join him here.”

  “The town lawyer is a…a shifter?” She tried out the unfamiliar term.

  “Honey, everybody who lives here, except you and your sisters, are shifters. If you want to stay here, you’re going to have to get used to it.” He shook his head, his smile still charming, though his words were alarming.

  “What if I want to leave? Would you let me go, now that I’ve seen what I’ve seen?”

  Brody sighed. “That’s another thing that would be up to the Alpha, though I would definitely argue in your favor. I don’t think you’re about to go hunting up the nearest newspaper reporter. And you also had no option when that crazy, drunk Australian forced the issue. It’s not like you were deliberately trying to find out about us. You shouldn’t have to pay the price for his stupidity.”

  “What kind of price are we talking about?” She had a bad feeling about this.

  Brody started to look uncomfortable. “Well, in the past, some Alphas were known to impose permanent solutions for this kind of thing, but I don’t believe Big John would even consider something like that in your case.”

  “When you say permanent solutions, do you mean…?” She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

  “Death,” he said succinctly, nodding as she felt herself go faint. “I won’t lie to you, Nell. Not anymore. Not even by omission. That’s a promise.” He held her gaze, and she felt some of his strength flowing into her, odd as it seemed. “But if it comes to that, I won’t let it happen. I’ll protect you with my own life, if I have to.”