A Wife For The Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Brides Book 3) Read online

  A WIFE FOR THE BEAR

  By

  Natalie Kristen

  Also by NATALIE KRISTEN

  BEAR BRIDES

  A Bride For The Bear

  A Date For The Bear

  A Wife For The Bear

  Billionaire Bear Shifters Romance

  Taken By The Bear

  Owned By The Bear

  Saved By The Bear

  MISTY VALLEY SHIFTERS

  Growl For Me

  Fight For Me

  Purrfect For Me

  MATE series

  Alpha Mate

  Bear Mate

  Vampire Mate

  Wolf Mate

  Wild Mate

  Dark Mate

  Blood Mate

  NORTH WOLVES

  To Kill A Wolf

  ALPHA GAME

  Alpha Game

  Alpha Game 2

  Alpha Game 3

  DARK erotic romance

  Rapture In The Dark

  Release In The Dark

  One Night With Death

  Copyright © 2015 Natalie Kristen

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  About this book

  Witness to her father's murder, Lisha Kwok knows she is in grave danger. Lisha thinks she has found a safe haven in the small shifter town of Moonstone Creek. But there are some things you can never run away from.

  There is something in her, an animal waiting to emerge...

  When Brad Jameson rescues a human woman from a mugger, he suspects there is more to the exotic, curvy beauty than meets the eye. Lisha is keeping a secret, a secret that could kill her.

  Brad will never let anything happen to her. She is his mate, the woman he wants to build a home, a family, a future with.

  When an old enemy surfaces and trouble comes looking for Lisha, she will have to make a stand and fight back. This is no longer just about her. She has finally found a home, and no one, not even a stone cold killer, messes with the people she loves.

  *****

  CHAPTER ONE

  Lisha Kwok waved cheerfully and called out her goodbyes and goodnights to the other two librarians. Polly and Josephine frowned worriedly at her but she shook her head and waved them off before they could open their mouths. She knew what they were going to say, and she appreciated their concern. Really she did, but she was fine on her own. She had to be.

  “Don't worry, I'll make it home safely. I can protect myself.” Lisha curled her fingers into claws and slashed at an imaginary assailant. “Besides, no one will want to rob me. I practically have nothing in my purse.” She straightened up and shrugged.

  Polly, a middle-aged, motherly woman sighed. “You should move to a safer neighborhood, Lisha. Walking home alone every night just isn't...”

  “My sister is a real estate agent. I'll ask her to see if there are any cheap apartments for rent closer to the library,” Josephine said. Josephine was younger than Polly but just as motherly. “Polly's right. It's not safe and you won't let us walk you home...”

  “If you walk me home, then I'll have to walk you home. I worry about you too. Then we'll end up walking to and fro the whole night,” Lisha laughed. “See you tomorrow!”

  Lisha blew them a kiss and hurried off before they could raise any more objections. Polly and Josephine were sweet, and she counted them as her first real friends since she moved to Moonstone Creek three months ago. In fact, they were her only friends. She didn't socialize at all outside of work. She had always been introverted, but now more than ever, she found that withdrawing into her shell was a necessary means to stay alive.

  Lisha ducked her head and walked briskly. No one would pay attention to her. She wore her straight, black hair in a tight bun at her nape, and her work attire consisted of loose slacks and long-sleeved blouses which she kept buttoned up to her neck. She was only twenty-two, but with her severe hairstyle and conservative, dull dressing, no one would give her a second glance.

  She had to stay under the radar and avoid attention. Mack Kross had been put away. But she just had a feeling that she was still being watched.

  Lisha tightened her arms around herself as the memory of her dad surfaced in her mind. She wanted to remember his life, but always it was his death that flashed before her eyes.

  She saw him getting out of the car and walking up to the house, briefcase in one hand, a big pizza box in the other. He usually worked late, but every Friday, without fail, he would get off work on time to spend the evening with his daughter. They would have junk food and watch a movie, or have a karaoke session. Lisha usually worked long hours as a web designer in a small, start-up IT firm but Fridays were sacred. It was Fun Friday, a time to bond and catch up with her dad. Her dad was a widower, and he had practically brought Lisha up single-handedly. Her mother's family had objected to the marriage and they'd turned their backs on their only daughter when she went against their wishes and married Daren Kwok. Her mom's family had been fully human, and they didn't want their daughter marrying a shifter. Her dad never hid nor flaunted his shifter status. He lived and worked largely in human society, and when he needed to shift, he would drive way out of the city and let his animal out in the wilderness. It was only after Lisha turned eighteen that her dad let her accompany him on his long drives out into the country. He'd wanted to show her the basics of shifting so she would be prepared if and when her animal emerged. She was only half shifter, so there was a possibility that she might live her life as a full human, without her animal ever surfacing. Female weretigers would experience their first shift between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. If she passed her twenty-fifth birthday without shifting, then it was quite certain that her animal would never emerge in her lifetime.

  Lisha thought of the way her dad gazed at her mom's photographs which could be found in almost every corner of the house. It was clear her father loved her mother deeply and still missed her very much. Her parents' wedding pictures could be found among the framed photographs of Lisha and her dad. Her dad might be busy, but he was always there for her. He had taught her how to ride a bike and skateboard. He was there at her school concerts, her birthday parties, her graduation. They were lucky they'd had wonderful neighbors. When she was younger, she would go to her neighbor's house after school and do her homework there until her dad came to pick her up.

  Tiger shifters were solitary but social creatures. There were only very few tiger clans around, and they were small in number. Daren Kwok didn't belong to a pack or clan. His mate, Annabelle, was human, and he knew that she missed her family. Perhaps he hoped that one day her family would accept and bless their marriage, and she would be reunited with her family. But when Annabelle died in childbirth, her family blamed Daren. Annabelle had died giving birth to his child, and they wanted nothing to do with him and his half-shifter offspring. Lisha never knew her grandparents, and she didn't miss them. Her dad made sure that her childhood was filled with fun, laughter and so much love.

  Daren was a good father, and a responsible, respectable, successful member of human society. As a prosecutor, he made sure justice was done and he kept dangerous elem
ents off the street. He did his part to make the world a better, safer place for all. Lisha was proud of her dad and the work he did. But in the end, it was his work that killed him.

  Her dad never made it home for Fun Friday that evening.

  He was gunned down before he could make it to the front door.

  Lisha had instinctively dived behind a tree and clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her screams. She had just hopped off the bus and was walking towards the house. She had been about to break into a gleeful run and call out to her dad when a car glided silently past her on the road. For some reason, a shiver slid down her spine and she froze beside a huge tree, barely thirty feet from her house.

  Her dad had probably felt the same chill in his bones. It was clear that he sensed danger. She saw his black eyes turn feral and claws glinted just before the pizza box fell to the ground.

  Lisha saw the drive-by shooter pump two silver bullets into her father's chest. Even in his agony, Daren Kwok found the strength and resolve to lunge towards his assassin. In a flash, he was flying towards the car, his claws fully extended. He raked his claws across the shooter's face, scarring him and effectively marking him out for identification. And he would have his murderer's skin under his claws. Even as he died, Daren Kwok wanted to make sure that there would be enough evidence to put his murderer away.

  Lisha saw the man press his gun against her father's heart and squeeze the trigger.

  It had been a silver bullet.

  Her father had turned and met her eyes just as the car sped away. With his last breath, he had given her a smile and a nod. He was proud of her, and he had faith in her. He knew that his little girl was a survivor. She had hidden herself well, and she would stay alive.

  The murderer, Mack Kross, was hunted down and tried. Lisha had testified at his trial, giving accurate, detailed testimony as a witness to the murder of Daren Kwok.

  Mack was put away, but he had refused to give any names to the police and the prosecutors. After the trial, one of the prosecutors, her father's old colleague, had quietly told Lisha that she suspected that a syndicate was behind Daren's murder. Daren Kwok was the lead prosecutor in a human trafficking case, and this syndicate had a wide reach. That meant that Mack didn't act alone. And Lisha—was in danger.

  After the funeral and the trial, Lisha decided that she couldn't stay in the same place and wait to be killed. She had to leave, stay alive, start anew. And she couldn't possibly stay in the house alone. It was too painful, too hard. Passing her dad's empty bedroom, his study, the kitchen. Sitting down for dinner alone at the dining table, doing laundry and ironing for one, looking out the window and knowing she would never see him stroll up the driveway again, was just...impossible. She couldn't do it.

  After donating most of her father's clothes and belongings, Lisha folded a few of his favorite items into a suitcase. Then she sold the house and packed her bags. She was leaving, and hopefully she would make a new life for herself.

  Lisha had decided on Moonstone Creek, a small, busy shifter town. It wasn't too prominent, and it wasn't too out of the way. And being a half shifter herself, she thought that she could probably blend in and remain invisible in a town full of shifters. If her first shift came upon her unannounced and unexpectedly, at least she wouldn't cause that much of a stir.

  Lisha could see her rickety walk-up apartment building in the distance. Her tiny apartment was old and shabby, but the rent was cheap, and she wanted to save as much as she could. She didn't know if she had to move again soon, and she didn't want to touch the proceeds from the sale of the house. That was her emergency fund, and she knew her dad wanted to set up a college trust fund for his grandkids. He had spoken to her often about it, and Lisha knew that her dad wished for her to be happily married and have a wonderful, loving family of her own. He dreamed of playing with his grandkids, and Lisha knew that he would be a doting, adoring grandfather to her children. Lisha heaved a soft, painful sigh.

  Daren Kwok would never know his grandchildren, but his grandchildren would know all about him. Lisha would make sure her kids knew what a great man their grandfather was.

  The thought of having a loving husband and a bunch of lively, rambunctious kids made her smile.

  She'd often stared wistfully at the happy families around town, strolling hand in hand with cute, laughing kids in tow. It was such a pretty picture, a beautiful dream. One day, hopefully, she would have…

  Her phone chirped noisily in her bag. Lisha started and fished out her vibrating phone.

  “Hi, Polly,” she answered.

  “Hey, girl. You home yet?” Polly asked. Her tone was light but Lisha could hear the worry in her friend's voice.

  “Yeah, I'm right outside my door,” she lied, wanting to put Polly's mind at ease. She could see her apartment building looming up, but it was still some distance away.

  “Okay.” Lisha heard the smile in Polly's voice. “I'll see you tomorrow then.”

  “See ya. And...thanks, Polly.”

  Lisha dumped her phone back in her bag and quickened her pace. Most of the houses along the street were unoccupied. They had been boarded up and were just sitting there, awaiting demolition. Her building was largely unoccupied as well. And she rarely bumped into the few tenants in her building. They seemed to work odd hours, leaving the building when the sun went down and returning when she had already left for work. On some nights, she could have sworn that she was the only tenant in the entire building. All the floors seemed eerily empty and silent.

  Lisha looked up and saw that the whole building was dark. Not a light was on in any of the windows. She shrugged. She didn't mind the quiet and the solitude. At least she was safe.

  Just as she reached the building, a hand closed around her shoulder and shoved her against the wall.

  “Give me your purse,” a rough voice said behind her.

  Lisha gasped and felt the point of a knife at her back.

  “I...”

  “Shut up! Don't try any tricks now.”

  Lisha turned her head sideways and made eye contact with a thin, blond man wearing a hoodie. The robber's eyes narrowed when he saw her face.

  “You...are younger than I thought,” the man mused. “At first glance, I thought you were a frumpy, middle-aged woman. But you're actually a lot younger, and...rather pretty.”

  Lisha's blood ran cold at his words and tone.

  Menace, greed and lust shone in the man's pale eyes.

  He had initially planned on just robbing her. But now that he had seen her up close, he'd decided that he would have her body before he took her money.

  Lisha took small, shallow breaths and forced herself to remain calm. The man wasn't very tall, but he was taller than her five foot three frame. He was thin, pale and gaunt, and she wondered if she should test his strength. She might be shorter than him, but she was broader and from the looks of it, heavier than him. If she could knock him to the ground, she could use her weight to her advantage and inflict some serious injury. When she was an impressionable, insecure teenager, she had tried to go on a diet but her dad had rolled his eyes and continued preparing all her favorite dishes during the weekends and scooping generous portions onto her plate.

  “You take after your mother,” he'd told her. “Your mom was a beautiful, curvy woman. You're her daughter. It's natural you'd have her generous figure and her generous heart. Why would you want to be thin and pinched?” her dad had scoffed.

  It seemed her dad knew best. She wasn't tall, so if she was skinny, she would be too puny. Being round and fleshy added bulk and weight to her frame. It would be that much harder to take her down.

  Lisha studied her attacker surreptitiously and swiftly. She had always been able to identify another shifter. There was just something in their movement, their mannerisms and their eyes that gave them away. But as far as she could tell, her robber and would-be rapist was human.

  For the first time in her life, Lisha wish
ed that she could shift. She had been dreading the emergence of her animal, silently wishing and hoping that her animal would never surface so she could live her life out as a human. As long as her animal didn't emerge, there would be no scent, no trace, no sign at all that she was a shifter.

  But at that very moment, she realized how useful it would be to have the power and instincts of her animal. She would be a predator instead of a prey. She would be able to defend herself, and protect others. Just like her dad.

  Lisha heard a tearing sound and felt the blade against her belly. The man smiled an ugly smile as he slashed at her blouse with his knife and attempted to cut away her bra.

  Rage burned through her. She would not be touched and violated by this lowlife. Screaming and shrieking, Lisha fought back with every fiber of her being. Her panicked eyes swept round the empty street as she struggled. There was no one to hear her and help her. It was up to her to outwit and outfight this human trash.

  The man might be thin and not too skilled with a knife, but he was cunning and vicious. Lisha struggled hard, trying to twist away from her assailant. Her resistance infuriated and excited the man. He snarled and smiled as he tried to pin her down.

  Lisha made a grab for the knife. If she could disarm him, it would be a fairer fight.

  They fell to the ground in a tangle, and Lisha saw the blade gleam just above her.

  “No! No!” Her voice was raw and ragged with anger. This wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

  “No!” Her scream echoed down the street as the knife slashed down.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Brad Jameson laughed and waved at his clan members. “Nah, I won't be joining you. You guys have fun.”

  “Oh, we will. We most certainly will.” Connor waggled his brows at Brad. Curtis disentangled himself from the rowdy group of Nightfire werebears who were mangling a perfectly good song beyond recognition, and flung his muscular arm around his twin's shoulder. “Come on, Brad,” Curtis said. “The night is still young. Come with us. It's a Friday night. Boys' night out, just us single guys.”