Mine to Bear (Romance on the Go Book 0) Read online

  “Don’t watch, Neo. You don’t need to see this. No one needs to ever see this.”

  “I want to kill him. To tear him apart and bathe in his blood. He hurt you!”

  A soft smile spread over her lips. “Oh, my sweet blood thirsty man. You have no idea the hell he put me through.” She frowned at me with her head tilted. “I’ve never had anyone be protective over me. It’s strange.”

  I could hear the sounds of the man raping my girl but thankfully couldn’t see it because Jolie continued blocking my vision with her body.

  “Is he still alive? Tell me where to find him.”

  She chuckled. “Oh, he’s well and truly alive. Why do you think I’ve been running?”

  “Where. Is. He?”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “No idea anymore. I always assume he’s looking for me. He was no doubt rather unhappy that I left.”

  The dream swirled around us again, and she stepped aside so I could see a slightly older version of her, maybe sixteen or seventeen now, curled up in a fetal position in a bed. She was naked except for the chain around her ankle, and there were no covers on the mattress for her to use to get warm. Her skin looked a little blue to my eyes as she shook and tried to make herself smaller. The door to the bedroom banged open.

  “You learned your lesson yet, girl?”

  “Y-yes, s-sir.” Her voice stuttered as she shivered.

  “You don’t fucking run from me. I’m all you got. You should appreciate what I do for you.” He stripped as he approached the bed, pulling his hard dick out of his pants as he reached her. “Show me how much you appreciate what your daddy does for you.”

  I slammed my eyes closed as I felt fur ripple over my skin. I wanted to shift, to go attack this motherfucker and gut him where he stood. To end Jolie’s torment.

  “Enough.” My voice was hoarse and rough with my agony of watching her suffer.

  “You can open your eyes now. It’s over.”

  Holding my breath, I opened one eye to see a very different yet equally painful scene. Jolie was now an adult, this was recent. Like in the past couple of years. She was in a simple white dress and standing next to an older man in a suit. The man looked like a fucking accountant or lawyer or something. He had his chest puffed out like he’d won the fucking lottery or some shit, while Jolie looked vacant. Her eyes were hollow, her small smile fake and practiced. Her bastard foster father was there keeping a close watch as the couple stood before a judge and got fucking married. Fucker. My heart felt as though it was going to burst from my chest, torn to shreds watching some other bastard lay his hands and mouth on my girl.

  “I was getting too old for most of his clients. So he sold me off to be married to Trent.”

  I pulled at my arms and legs again. Surely whatever was holding me had to give way at some point. But whatever it was that held me seemed unbreakable.

  Things swirled again and my stomach turned, bile rising up my throat, just thinking about what might happen next. The image that formed was of her cowering in the corner of a room, her husband pulling her up by the hair so he could viciously smack her down again.

  “So useless. I should ask for my money back. What good is a wife if I can’t breed her, huh?”

  I roared again. I knew it was useless, but I couldn’t hold it in, not while watching my mate get beaten. Of course he wouldn’t be able to breed her. She was my mate. I was the only one who would ever be able to plant seed within her womb.

  “I didn’t want you to know any of this, but especially that.”

  Her voice was still monotone, but there was a little emotion creeping into it now. The man pulled a knife, slashing at her. She attempted to fight, and as the blade sliced across her collarbone, I knew how she’d gotten the scar I’d kissed so many times.

  “Enough, Jolie. None of this makes a difference to how I feel about you! You’re still mine. I still want you. I want to kill those two fuckers, but I still want to keep and protect you.”

  I looked away from the scene before me to focus on her beside me. She’d returned to her ghostly form, and I thought I saw tears in her eyes before she faded away, vanishing completely. She left me to watch the other Jolie now in a bathroom, tears streaming down her face as she used butterfly-clips in an attempt to close the wound on her collarbone, and another one up the underside of her forearm. She then grabbed a bag and stuffed it with clothes and toiletries, before slipping from the room. Helpless, I watched as she snuck from the house and out into the night where she hitchhiked out of town. Then, finally, the dream faded to black, leaving me wrenching awake to discover her sleeping peacefully beside me. She’d rolled over as we’d slept and the sheet had slipped down, baring the top part of her breasts. The moonlight shone on the silvery scar along her collarbone. It was all I could see.

  I needed to check with Ranger, but I didn’t think she would know we’d shared that dream when she woke. She wouldn’t know what I’d seen, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to act as though I hadn’t seen what I had. As quietly as I could, I slipped from the bed and dressed before leaving her. I needed to talk to Ranger. Needed to try to work out what her foster father’s name was. I needed to find and end that prick before he came after her again. Maybe that husband of hers too.

  ****

  Jolie

  I woke slowly from my peaceful sleep where I dreamed of Neo as he’d grown up. I envied how he was raised. Well, it was just a dream, so I guess I envied my imagination. Which was working overtime because it kept inserting bears at various times throughout the dream. That had been beyond strange.

  I rolled over and stretched, the tightness between my thighs reminding me that I’d brought Neo home with me last night. Had I remembered to send him on his way afterward? Memories filled my mind of me crying against him and falling asleep wrapped in his arms. Slightly mortified at my breakdown, I opened my eyes and sat up to look around the room. He wasn’t in bed with me and I couldn’t see anything to indicate he was still here. If I couldn’t still smell his scent on my sheets, I’d wonder if I hadn’t dreamed the entire night. There were no signs of him having been here. He wasn’t in the bed with me, and there were no clothes on the floor. So where was he now?

  I was still sitting there, flipping between relief that he’d left without me needing to push him away and hurt that he’d snuck away before I woke, when my alarm buzzed. With a huff, I shut off the noise and headed toward the bathroom. I needed to get ready for work. As I washed up and got dressed, I hoped that Neo would be out of the office today. Last night was different. Something more happened between us and I needed time to process what the hell it was and what the hell I was going to do about it.

  By the time I was in my car, I’d concluded that I needed to come clean and tell Neo about my inability to have children. Despite me trying my best to keep him at arm’s length, it wasn’t working. It was as though something deep within me needed him or something. It was completely crazy, but I was beginning to accept the fact that it wasn’t going to go away. And since I couldn’t seem to leave him, I needed to tell him everything and hope it wouldn’t end with him kicking me to the curb.

  With that decision made, I was disappointed when I got to the office and discovered that Neo was out. His brother, Ranger, was there, but he seemed off. He was acting weird. He’d nearly run out of the building when I’d said good morning to him earlier. With a frown, I set about making myself a coffee. Then I turned my computer on and the phone answer machine off.

  By the time my computer was up and running, I was enjoying my fresh hot coffee. After taking a couple mouthfuls, I set it aside and pulled up the calendar to see if I could work out when Neo would be back. In the three months I’d been working here, I’d never gone an entire day without seeing him. Well, except for that one time he took a group on a three-day hiking tour.

  “That’s strange.”

  There was nothing booked in for any of the brothers. So where were they all? Before I could get up and start searching for the
m, the phone rang and the daily chaos started. When I’d first started, it had shocked me how busy they were. The inquiries by either phone or email were nearly constant every day of the week. I was grateful for it. It meant that the days passed so much faster because I was busy and didn’t have time to dwell on the past. Yet, I was still a little surprised at how fast lunchtime came around today. I still hadn’t seen Neo, or any of his brothers, which was extremely strange. Flipping the phones over, I stood and, after stretching, decided I’d go for a wander and see if I could find any of the brothers.

  I was about three feet out the back door when the sound of a car door slamming caught my attention. I turned toward the side of the building where the parking lot was located and cursed silently, as it looked like my break was over already. The sight I discovered had me frozen in place, unable to fully reconcile what I was seeing.

  This couldn’t be real. Just when I’d decided to attempt to really settle down in one location, he turned up. It was as though he could read my mind, even at a distance, and refused to allow me any chance at happiness. Although, I wasn’t sure if Neo still wanted me with his vanishing act after I broke down on him last night.

  A sob caught in my throat as I turn to sprint toward the forest. With none of the brothers around, my only chance of escape was to outrun him. My daily afternoon runs paid off. Even if with the low heeled boots I wore—I wasn’t as fast as I’d have been if I’d been wearing running shoes—I was still setting a good pace. As I hit the tree line, I heard a shout that had my heart kicking up a notch and my legs pumping faster. He’d seen me. I knew he’d give chase, and if he caught me, I was done for.

  I swiped at the tears in my eyes and focused on going as fast as I could without tripping on anything. After about ten minutes of running, my foot slipped on some leaves and my ankle rolled. I bit my cheek against the scream of pain that was trying to break free.

  Panting, I rested my forehead against a tree trunk and held the injured foot off the ground for a few moments. Knowing I didn’t have time to stay in one spot, I tentatively tested the ankle by stepping on it. Pain shot up my leg, stealing my breath and making my eyes water even more than they already were. “Fuck.” I breathed the curse and braced myself to take the pain. I had to keep moving. I couldn’t run anymore, but leaning on various trees, I kept moving as best I could.

  Chapter Three

  Neo

  A jolt of fear had me instantly on alert.

  “What is it?”

  I’d been working with Ranger, Axel, and Darby out in the shed doing some maintenance and checks on all the equipment this morning, to avoid my mate. Even after talking to my brothers about what I’d learned overnight, I didn’t know what to do about it. They weren’t much help with providing ideas either. So, instead, all four of us were out here hiding from her.

  “Don’t know, Rang. Jolie’s scared. Really scared.”

  I jogged out the door, with my brothers on my tail, and got outside just in time to see Jolie running like her life depended on it into the forest.

  “Come back here, girl!”

  Looking in the direction of the new voice, I growled at the man I saw. From last night’s dream, I knew exactly who that fucker was.

  “That’s her foster father.”

  “Oh, he’s a fucking dead man. Let’s do this. Axel, go check no one else is in his car. Close up the office, put the “back soon” sign in the window, and then come follow us.”

  I didn’t complain as Ranger took control and gave out orders to the others. It meant I could leave him to it while I took off after the man chasing my mate. His reign of terror over Jolie was going to end today. My bear was slamming at me to let him out, but I pushed him down. The last thing I wanted was to scare the hell out of my mate by coming up on her as a bear, especially if that fucker beat me to her.

  By the time I hit the tree line, Ranger and Darby had caught up to me. Following the scent of my mate, I led my brothers farther into the forest. The longer we ran, the more impressed with my mate I was. The woman was wearing heels and had run fast enough to not yet be caught.

  After a few minutes, a flash of pain slammed through me. Since sleeping beside her last night and having the bonding dream, I was more attuned to her than before, which included being able to feel any intense emotions she had.

  “Fuck, she’s hurt.”

  It was about five minutes later when another flash of pain ran through me, and I caught the sound of her whimpering.

  “Got you now, bitch. You thought you could run from me? You’ll pay for this chase you’ve led me on, especially considering how useless you proved to be as anything more than a whore. Trent already paid for the shit he pulled. Stupid bastard wanted his money back after you ran off. I guess at least with you sterile, I can save money on birth control.”

  Every word he uttered raised my temper and brought my bear closer to the surface. We broke through to a small clearing and found the fucker had Jolie pinned up against a tree with his hand wrapped around her throat. Her feet weren’t touching the ground, and she was doing her best to kick out at him. She tugged at the hand at her throat as he used his spare hand to rip at her clothing. What the fuck was he trying to do? Make her pass out before he raped her? With that thought, my bear had had enough and demanded air time.

  With a roar, I gave over, willingly ceding control to my inner beast. In a flash, I was no longer human but a large black bear. Standing on my hind legs, I towered over them both and roared once more before dropping down and charging toward them.

  The fucker released my mate, and she fell to the ground gasping for breath.

  Ranger, still in human form, raced to her and picked her up, taking her away from me.

  I growled a warning to my brother that he better take good care of her, and he gave me a nod before moving behind me.

  “Hey! What about me? You gonna save me from this animal?”

  If bears could laugh, I would have.

  “After all you’ve done to Jolie over the years, what he’s about to do to you is going to be over way faster than you deserve.”

  “I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire after what you’ve done.”

  I loved my brothers. I couldn’t speak in my bear form, but Ranger and Darby covered my thoughts nicely between the two of them.

  “Ranger, where’s Neo?” Her voice was hoarse from nearly being choked and had me wanting this bastard’s blood even more.

  “He’s right in front of you, sweetheart. We’re shape shifters, and that big ol’ bear about to kill your foster father is your mate.”

  “Oh.”

  I knew she’d have a hell of a lot of questions after this, but thanks to what I was about to do, she’d be safe to do so. Her attacker had heard what Ranger told her too, and I bared my teeth at him as he looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. Then, with a curse, he turned and ran through the trees. Stupid idiot. No man could outrun a bear shifter, especially an enraged one.

  I took off after him, pouncing when I got him in range. He hit the dirt with a grunt. Shifting my weight off him, I rolled him over so I could see his face. He was babbling some shit I didn’t care enough about to listen to, and he’d pissed himself. Coward.

  Placing one paw on his chest to hold him down, I bared my teeth and ripped into his throat. My bear wasn’t happy with only delivering a killing blow. As the bastard bled out beneath me, I set about tearing up his body, mauling every inch of him so he’d suffer at least a fraction of what my mate had at his hands before he died. She deserved no less than to be avenged by her mate.

  Once I was done, I moved off what was left of the body and took some deep breaths.

  “Fucking hell, brother! Remind me never to piss you off!”

  I threw a low growl over at Axel, who had finally caught up with us.

  He backed up a step with his palms up. “Whoa, brother. It’s just me. How about you shift back so we can deal with this shit and you can go help out with your girl. S
he’s not doing so well.”

  Shit. What did he mean by that? Not well how? I swung my head back in the direction of the clearing, but it was empty. That had me growling again.

  “Slow your roll, brother. Ranger and Darby took her back to the office. Figured she didn’t need to see what you were doing with this piece of shit any longer than absolutely necessary.”

  It was a struggle, but I pushed my bear down until I could rise up and shift back to my human form. Thankfully, the magic of our shift meant I came back clean and fully clothed as I’d been before I’d turned furry.

  “Let’s get this fucker dumped so I can go see to my mate.”

  Axel grabbed his feet, while I grabbed under his arms. His whole body was a fucking mess, but because I’d done the damage in my bear form, I wasn’t worried about getting caught for it. We’d dump the body in the river and eventually it’d wash up somewhere and be found, and it would get written off as an animal attack.

  This wasn’t my, or Axel’s, first trip through this deal, and I doubted it would be the last.

  ****

  Jolie

  With my arms wrapped around my torso, I did my best to curl into a ball. To disappear. My body wouldn’t stop shaking as Ranger carried me through the trees. My mind was a tangle of thoughts, and I had no clue where to start on untangling them.

  Neo was a bear and a man?

  Did that mean his brothers were bear-men too?

  Did they eat people?

  From the screams I’d heard, Neo had killed my foster father. That thought didn’t bother me. At all. That said, I didn’t want to think about a bear eating him. It was a relief to realize if he was truly dead, I’d never have to look over my shoulder again. I knew deep down that when my foster father told me he’d dealt with Trent, he’d meant he’d killed him. So that meant there was no one left to come after me now. Although, even if Trent was alive I doubted he would ever bother seeking me out. Once my husband had discovered he couldn’t breed me, he was done with me. Which was how I’d managed to escape in the end. After he’d beaten me and told me he was annulling our marriage, he’d left me alone and completely unguarded.