All About the Bear (Grizzly Cove Book 1) Read online

  “Oh, you’re going to love this,” Nell said, turning to face him. The expression on her face was a strange one. She looked sort of angry, but not at him, thank the Goddess. “Apparently, I’m the last one in the family to figure out the big secret of Grizzly Cove. They’ve known for weeks!” she said in an accusatory tone.

  “How?” Brody frowned. Everyone in the cove knew to keep things quiet. If someone had been blabbing, he’d have to have words with them.

  “Oh, come on,” Tina said, lifting her glass and taking a swallow of the wine. “You guys are terrible at keeping secrets. I saw your brother strip and shift the second day I was in town.”

  “He shifted in front of you?” Brody was shocked.

  “Hello? Roof garden,” she sing-songed, rolling her eyes. “We have a hell of a vantage point from up there. I was up there putting the planters together when I saw him getting naked in the woods behind our building. He’s kinda hot, so of course I watched. And then, he turned into a freaking bear.” Tina downed the rest of the wine and reached for the bottle to refill her glass.

  “And he’s not the only one we saw from up there,” Ashley chimed in. “Nell, did you know that Dr. Olafsson can become a polar bear? He likes to skinny dip, then come up as a bear. And hubba hubba. Doc is built.”

  “I had no idea you two were such voyeurs,” Nell said over her shoulder. She seemed more hurt than mad. Brody put his hands on her shoulders, stroking gently, hoping to soothe his mate. He didn’t like seeing her upset.

  “See?” Tina said in an accusing tone. “That’s exactly why we didn’t tell you.” Tina drank more wine. “You would have totally spoiled our fun.”

  “Can you believe them?” Nell said, moving more into Brody’s arms. “And here I was all worried about how we were going to tell them. I agonized over this big revelation, and it turns out I’m the only one who was in the dark.”

  Brody tried to think of the best response. “Well, at least now you know they’re not going to run screaming into the night at the idea there are shapeshifters in the world.”

  He tried giving her a lopsided smile, and she responded with a faint one of her own. He felt relief flow through him. She was recovering from both the shock of hearing he’d been shot and from learning that her sisters had known about the town’s secret all along and neglected to tell her.

  “Ashley, Tina, we wanted to tell you that we’re getting married.” He let that announcement fall without waiting for a response. There would be time for congratulations later. First, he had to get some pants on and comfort his mate—not necessarily in that order. “Now, if you’ll please excuse us for a few minutes, we’ll be right back,” he said firmly, as he walked slowly backwards into the house, Nell still in his arms. The sisters watched but didn’t move from their seats on the deck.

  Once inside, he couldn’t wait. He had to take her into his arms. He had to comfort her and hold her. The bear inside him demanded he make her happy again, and Brody could do no less than agree.

  He dipped his head and claimed her lips in a gentle kiss that quickly turned into something much hotter.

  “Way to go, sis,” Ashley called from the other side of the screen door while Tina let out a wolf whistle. Brody paid them no heed. He was way too busy kissing his mate.

  # # #

  Thanks for reading All About the Bear (Grizzly Cove #1). If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review.

  The next Grizzly Cove story is called Mating Dance. Scroll down for a sneak peek…

  A complete list of all of Bianca’s books, separated by series, follows the excerpt. You can also check out Bianca’s website at WWW.BIANCADARC.COM. Or you can sign up for Bianca’s Newsletter to be alerted when new books are released.

  EXCERPT FROM MATING DANCE

  © 2015 Bianca D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Tom Masdan was the one and only lawyer in Grizzly Cove, Washington, and he liked it that way. Tom figured if there was more than one lawyer in a town, they were obligated to fight things out in court, which is one aspect of his profession that he loathed. The conflict of the adversarial process annoyed his inner bear and made him want to scratch, claw and just beat his opponent into submission rather than wait to hear what some old guy wearing a dress and sitting on a podium had to say.

  Tom thought, not for the first time, that maybe studying law hadn’t been the brightest idea he’d ever had. Then again, shifters needed legal representation every once in awhile, just like everybody else. That’s where he came in.

  He enjoyed helping people like himself—people who lived under the radar of the human population. Shapeshifters had to learn to adapt to the modern, human world. That included following the laws of the countries in which they lived.

  Tom had been born and raised in the United States. He’d gone to an ivy league law school back east. Since then, he had offered his services solely to the were of North America, or any foreign-based were that needed legal representation in the States. He filed claims, did a lot of paperwork, and helped shapeshifters of all kinds create the paper trail that humans found so necessary to their existence.

  In his job, he had traveled all over, but had never found the one woman who could complete him. He’d never found his mate.

  So when his long-time friend, John Marshall—known simply as Big John to most folks—proposed the idea of forming their own little enclave on the Washington coast, and putting out an open call for any bear shifters who wanted to move there, Tom was cautiously optimistic. The idea of gathering a relatively large group of usually solitary bears in one town was both novel and intriguing. It could also be dangerous as hell, but Tom trusted Big John’s ultra-Alpha tendencies to keep everybody in line.

  John had asked Tom to begin the process of turning the large, adjoining parcels of real estate John had bought over the past several years, into a new town. There were lots of forms to file with the state of Washington, and quite a few building contracts to oversee. He’d also overseen the real estate deals of neighboring properties for each of the core group of bear shifters that had joined John on this quest. It had taken a good portion of the last several years of Tom’s life, but the town of Grizzly Cove had finally become a reality.

  It was a really good reality too. The town was small by human standards, but already a few dozen bear shifters had answered John’s call for settlers. There were still more males than females, but with the recent decision to allow a few, select, human-owned businesses to open up on Main Street, things were beginning to change.

  Just last week, the sheriff had found his mate in the human woman who, along with her two sisters, owned the new bake shop. It was a true mating, and Tom was happy for them.

  But, it had become clear, that the so-called secret of Grizzly Cove hadn’t really been that much of the secret to the other two sisters. They’d taken the news about shapeshifters, in stride. It seemed they’d already figured it out.

  Which meant that the shifter residents weren’t being careful enough. And that the two remaining sisters needed to agree not to spill the beans.

  A job for Tom, the Alpha had said. Tom wasn’t so sure. He might be a lawyer, but he wasn’t necessarily a smooth talker. He did his best work on a computer, in an office. He wasn’t the kind of attorney who schmoozed clients over three martini lunches.

  But Big John had asked him to try, so there he was, approaching the bakery he had never stepped foot in before. It wasn’t that he was shy. It was more that he hadn’t really wanted to interact with the new humans in town, until the experiment had been proven a success. The bakery was the first of many applications Tom had received from business people who wanted to open stores in their town.

  The decision had been made to allow the bakery—and the three sisters—as a trial run. Their food was excellent, from all accounts, and most of the shifters in town liked the women, and were glad one of their comrades had found a mate.

  Humans made decent mates and bears cou
ldn’t be picky. There weren’t a lot of bear shifters in the first place, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to find mates outside their species. A lot of bear shifters took human mates.

  It didn’t diminish the magic. Bears had more than most shifters, and Tom often thought, that’s why they were kind of rare. But what did he know? Only the Mother of All—the Goddess who watched over all shifters—knew for certain.

  The bell over the door tinkled as Tom pushed into the bakery. Immediately, he was surrounded by the most scrumptious scents of baking bread, honey, and some kind of cheese. He took stock of the place and realized he was the only customer this early in the day. Only one of the sisters was there, working in the back.

  That would be the middle sister, he’d been told. She worked the morning shift and her name was Ashley Baker. The irony of the Baker sisters owning a bakery had struck Tom as suspicious when he’d first seen their application, but he’d done thorough background checks on all three women and they really were named Baker, and had been since their birth.

  The blonde woman came out from behind one of the ovens, wiping her hands on her apron as she greeted him. She took up her position behind the counter with a brisk sort of efficiency and Tom was struck momentarily dumb when she smiled.

  “Good morning,” she said brightly. “What can I get for you?”

  Sonuva… Tom’s bear sat up and wanted to roar. It liked the woman.

  Hell, it more than liked her. It was thinking mate.

  No. Way.

  To read more, get your copy of Mating Dance by Bianca D’Arc.

  Release date: November 17, 2015.

  Pre-order now available.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Bianca D’Arc has run a laboratory, climbed the corporate ladder in the shark-infested streets of lower Manhattan, studied and taught martial arts, and earned the right to put a whole bunch of letters after her name, but she’s always enjoyed writing more than any of her other pursuits. She grew up and still lives on Long Island, where she keeps busy with an extensive garden, several aquariums full of very demanding fish, and writing her favorite genres of paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi romance.

  Bianca loves to hear from readers and can be reached through Twitter (@BiancaDArc), Facebook (BiancaDArcAuthor) or through the various links on her website.

  Welcome to The D’Arc Side…

  WWW.BIANCADARC.COM

  OTHER BOOKS BY BIANCA D’ARC

  Paranormal Romance

  Brotherhood of Blood

  One & Only

  Rare Vintage

  Phantom Desires

  Sweeter Than Wine

  Forever Valentine

  Wolf Hills*

  Wolf Quest

  Tales of the Were

  Lords of the Were

  Inferno

  Tales of the Were ~ The Others

  Rocky

  Slade

  Tales of the Were ~ Redstone Clan

  The Purrfect Stranger

  Grif

  Red

  Magnus

  Bobcat

  Matt

  Tales of the Were ~ String of Fate

  Cat’s Cradle

  King’s Throne

  Jacob’s Ladder

  Her Warriors

  Tales of the Were ~ Grizzly Cove

  All About the Bear

  Mating Dance

  Guardians of the Dark

  Half Past Dead

  Once Bitten, Twice Dead

  A Darker Shade of Dead

  The Beast Within

  Dead Alert

  Gifts of the Ancients: Warrior’s Heart

  Epic Fantasy Erotic Romance

  Dragon Knights

  Maiden Flight*

  The Dragon Healer

  Border Lair

  Master at Arms

  The Ice Dragon**

  Prince of Spies***

  Wings of Change

  FireDrake

  Dragon Storm

  Keeper of the Flame

  Hidden Dragons

  Science Fiction Romance

  StarLords

  Hidden Talent

  Talent For Trouble

  Shy Talent

  Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Arcana

  King of Swords

  King of Cups

  King of Clubs

  King of Stars

  End of the Line

  Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Sons of Amber

  Angel in the Badlands

  Futuristic Erotic Romance

  Resonance Mates

  Hara’s Legacy**

  Davin’s Quest

  Jaci’s Experiment

  Grady’s Awakening

  Harry’s Sacrifice

  Print Anthologies

  Ladies of the Lair

  I Dream of Dragons Vol. 1

  Brotherhood of Blood

  Caught by Cupid

  The Beast Within

  * RT Book Reviews Awards Nominee

  ** EPPIE Award Winner

  *** CAPA Award Winner

  COMING SOON

  Mating Dance

  Grizzly Cove #2

  Tom, Grizzly Cove’s only lawyer is also a badass grizzly bear, but he’s met his match in Ashley, the woman he just can’t get out of his mind. She’s got a dark secret, that only he knows. When ugliness from her past tracks her to her new home, can Tom protect the woman he is fast coming to believe is his mate? And more, will she allow it? Or will she run from him, and the secrets of Grizzly Cove, forever?

  Release Date: November 17, 2015

  Night Shift

  Grizzly Cove #3

  Sheriff’s Deputy Zak is one of the few black bear shifters in a colony of grizzlies. He’s used to taking guff from his comrades, but it’s all in good fun. He’s fought beside these guys for many years and it’s time they all stopped roaming and picked a place to settle. Grizzly Cove seemed as good a place as any when the idea was proposed, and Zak likes the slow-moving police work in the sleepy coastal town.

  When his job takes him into closer proximity to the lovely Tina, though, he finds he can’t resist her. Could it be he’s finally found his mate? And when a bloody vampire washes ashore, will she turn to Zak, or run, screaming, into the night? Zak will do all he can to make sure she chooses him.

  Releasing December 2015.

  Come over to The D’Arc Side… WWW.BIANCADARC.COM