Her Bear for Life (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Second Chance Shifters) (6 page)

Chapter Fourteen – Drake

“Drake,” Ty called, lifting his chin toward the house and indicating the front door, which was wide open.

Drake nodded and moved quickly, gun at the ready as he took point and entered the house, Ty a couple of feet behind him. They went through each room, clearing it to be sure no one was waiting, then went up the stairs to the attic.

“There,” Drake said, when he was sure the room was empty. A floorboard was raised with a pink shoebox on the floor in front of it. “She was here.”

“Do you think she went to the station?”

“There’s no sign of a struggle, but I can’t see Mia leaving the front door open like that… unless the suspect came in after she was gone. Call Alice and see if Mia came in. I’m going to go through the house one more time.”

Drake opened all of his senses as Tyson made the call, and when he got to the top of the attic stairs, he picked up the scent. Not Mia’s sweet floral scent that was permeating the house, but the sour stench of sweat and body odor.

“Alice hasn’t seen or heard from Mia,” Ty said, as he shoved his phone in his back pocket.

“He was here,” Drake replied. “I’m going to go after them.”

“How? We can go back down and check for tracks, but unless we get a tip, I don’t know how we’re going to find this guy. We haven’t been able to so far.”

“I’m going to shift,” Drake said, holding up his hand when he saw that his friend wanted to argue. “I’ll be able to track his scent. I know it’s not what we’re supposed to do, Ty, but I have to do whatever I can to find her, and if the clan wants to punish me for it, so be it. All that matters is that I get her back.”

“I get it, brother, I do,” Ty said, moving toward him. “But what are you going to do when you find them?”

Drake shrugged.

“I’ll figure something out.”

Rushing out of the house and out the front door, Drake kept the scent to the sidewalk, where he lost it. Ms. Carter’s house backed up to the woods, but being close to town made things more difficult. They were never supposed to shift this close to town, and there was a good possibility that Drake’s bear would be running through populated areas in order to follow the trail to Mia.

But like he’d said to Tyson, he was willing to suffer whatever consequences his rule breaking resulted in, as long as he got to Mia before she came to any harm.

He went around to the back of the house and took off his clothes, not caring in the slightest if anyone happened to see him naked in the woods. Drake was one hundred percent focused. He needed to get to Mia.

Drake relaxed his body and cleared his mind. Shifting could be painful if you resisted, but he’d done it enough now to allow it to happen without feeling it at all.

His bear extended to its full height, roaring wildly at the fact that his mate was in danger. Within seconds, he caught the scent of Mia’s capture and took off running. Drake felt the wind rushing through his fur as his paws slapped against the pavement. He veered out of sight when possible, but he heard the startled scream of someone as he broke through the trees and took off down the freeway.

Luckily, he was left alone and was able to follow the trail to the woods as he tracked Mia and the elusive thief. The people of Spring Creek were no strangers to bear sightings, and all except a small few knew that shifters lived in the outskirts of town, but his clan had always made it a point to keep their bears safe and in the shadows. Not just for the safety of the townspeople, but for the safety of the clan. The last thing they needed was hunters from out of town catching wind of their existence and deciding they wanted to come to Spring Creek to hunt.

Drake knew these woods well, and had traveled them often, which was why he was surprised to see that a tiny cabin had been erected about five miles off the highway.

Treading softly, Drake approached the house, scenting not only Mia and her capture, but a third human as he neared.

“Holy shit!”

Startled, Drake’s bear roared as he swiveled just in time to see a man step around the house and lift a rifle, aiming the barrel right at him.

Without thought, Drake moved as the man pulled the trigger.

He felt the bullet pierce his flesh, but didn’t stop advancing until he felt the satisfying crunch of bones as he clamped down. Blood flowed in his mouth and he moved his head rapidly, tearing at the thief until a noise from his left distracted him.

Mia stood at the entrance to the house, a look of horror on her face and a knife at her throat. He moved to advance on the man holding her when Mia threw her hands up and screamed.

“No! Stop! He’s my father.”

Drake stayed where he was, waiting until Mia’s father lowered the knife to shift back to human form.

“Please, let me go to him,” he heard Mia plead, as he shook his head, waiting for his equilibrium to right itself.

“No,” her father replied. “Be still.”

Drake raised his head and saw them go back in to the house, leaving the door open for him to follow behind them. 

Chapter Fifteen – Mia

Tears streamed down her face as she watched the door from the bench her father had forced her to sit on. At any other time, she would have been charmed by the tiny house with the compact kitchen, living space, and loft, but now, she was too frantic to take it all in.

Drake had been shot.

She knew it was him the moment she’d heard the enraged roar. Mia wasn’t sure how she knew, but instinctively, she did. Maybe it was because they’d claimed each other. She hoped she got the opportunity to ask him later, but for now, she just prayed he was all right.

Mia tried to jump out of her seat when Drake’s feet hit the entrance, but her father’s hand on her shoulder shoved her back down.

“Drake,” she called, her eyes roaming over his naked skin, searching for signs of injury. There was blood on his chest and arms, but she couldn’t tell if it was his or not. “Are you hurt?”

Drake’s eyes stayed on her father, fury written all over his face, but his voice was gentle when he answered. “I’m fine, babe. How are you holding up?”

“I’m ready to go home,” she said, making a half-hearted attempt at a joke, but Drake didn’t even crack a smile.

He kept his gaze on her father’s face and promised, “We’ll go home soon.”

“The hell you will,” her father said, speaking to her fiancé for the first time. “Mia is going back to New York with me. This is the last you’ll see of her.”

Drake stood tall, fisting his hands as if he were ready to attack.

“Don’t even think about it,” her father said, one hand holding the knife, the other pulling a gun from behind him and pointing it at Drake. “It’s quite simple, either she leaves with me peacefully, or I kill you and take her by force. It’s entirely up to you.”

Mia looked at her father, shocked by his words and his actions.

“What is going on with you? Why are you doing this?”

She’d known her father had never approved of her relationship with Drake, but she’d always thought it was because of how young they were. Apparently, it went deeper than that.

“For Christ’s sake, Mia, do you really think I’m going to let my daughter be with some bear shifter? It’s disgusting. He’s a filthy animal and you’re a world-renowned model. I’ll take you back home with me and we’ll get you set up with a nice, respectable man. A rich, human man.”

“No, Daddy, I love him. If you’d just give Drake a chance, you’d see how good he is to me. I’m not going back with you. We’re getting married.”

“The hell you say,” was her father’s response. “You forgot about him once, Mia, you’ll forget about him again.”

“I didn’t forget about him, you and Mom made me think he didn’t care about me. I found the letters, I know you guys intercepted them somehow.”

“Your mother was a fool to keep them,” he replied blandly, then turned the safety off on his gun when Drake made a move toward him. “For God’s sake, cover yourself. Throw him that blanket, Mia.”

Mia did as her father said. Drake wrapped the blanket around his stomach, then he shifted his gaze to her and said, “It was your father that hired that thug to steal the artifact from your mother. He’s the reason she’s in the hospital.”

She sucked in her breath and looked at her father, wondering how she’d ever believed he was a good man.

“How could you? Mom was your accomplice in all of this, why would you hurt her?”

“She was never supposed to get hurt. She ruined everything, stupid woman,” he said with a scowl. “I tried to get the vase in the divorce, but because it came from her ancestors, the court said it was hers… But her father had intended it to go to me. It was rightfully mine. I asked again over the years, but she insisted she was saving it for you, said it was your birthright. I met Collins one night in a bar when he was talking about a painting he’d stolen. One thing led to another and I asked him to get the vase for me. Your mother wasn’t supposed to be there, and she certainly wasn’t supposed to go after him with a bat and get herself shot. Her stupidity snowballed into all of this mess. You flying here, hooking back up with him, none of it was ever supposed to happen.”

Mia looked from her father to Drake and back again, and decided to try and reason with him.

“You can have the vase, just let me stay. You’ll never have to see me or Drake again if you don’t want to, but we’re all adults now. Can’t you just let me make my own decision and be with the man I love?”

“You obviously don’t have the ability to think rationally when you’re around him, Mia.” Her father raised the knife and pointed it at her, the gun still trained on Drake. “Now stand up and bring the vase, we’re leaving. You,” he said to Drake, “Don’t even think about trying to stop us, or I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

“Drake,” Mia cried, unsure of what to do. She didn’t want to leave, but she didn’t want anything to happen to him either.

“Go with him, babe, it’ll be okay. He can’t run far enough away. I’ll find him, and I’ll find you. I’ll bring you home.”

“Don’t be stupid, Dad, Drake’s the sheriff, you won’t get away with this. Just go and leave me behind.”

“He’s the sheriff in a shifter town that no one cares about, Mia, and I know why he didn’t come after you last time. I’m not worried. Let’s go.”

“I love you,” she said, as she once again left Drake behind.

“I love you too, Mia, and I’ll see you again soon,” Drake promised.

Chapter Sixteen – Drake

Drake waited until he heard them drive away before he shifted. He knew he wouldn’t be able to control his bear and stop himself from killing Mia’s father if he got his claws on him. He needed to calm down and think rationally about what his next move was.

Mia would never forgive him if he hurt her father, and he’d never forgive himself if something happened to her.

He headed back home, careful to stay off the roads and keep to the woods. He knew Ty would be waiting there with his things, to see if Drake had found Mia or not.

His friend was sitting on the back porch when he came out of the woods and shifted. Tyson started down the steps, discarded clothes in his hands as Drake approached.

“Is she okay?”

Drake grabbed his pants and started to put them on.

“Her father took her, but she hasn’t been harmed. I’m afraid our thief didn’t make it.”

He dressed and they moved inside while he brought Ty up to speed on everything.

Tyson moved to the living room and picked up what Drake recognized as the pink box from Ms. Carter’s attic.

“I thought you should see this,” he said, handing the box to Drake, who looked at him curiously, then lifted the lid.

His heart clenched when he saw the envelopes addressed to him in familiar handwriting.

The letters.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do? How we’re going to get her back?”

Drake smiled absently at his friend’s immediate inclusion of himself in Mia’s rescue mission. He’d expect nothing else from his clan mate and brother of the heart.

“I’m going to put in some calls to our contacts, ask them to put me in touch with their contacts, and do whatever I can to find them. Carter planned a robbery, which resulted in attempted murder, kidnapped his daughter, and threatened a police officer. There’s nowhere he can hide that the law won’t find him.”

“I’ll get get in touch with Alice and Mika, and we’ll get started on those calls. I’ll give you a few minutes. Meet you at the station?”

“Yeah,” Drake said, his eyes filled with gratitude. “Thank you, brother.”

“Anything for you, and for Mia, you know that.”

Drake just nodded absently as his friend left him. He sat down, placing the box in his lap, and picked up a letter.

Drake,

My mom is making me go to my dad’s in New York. She says that they’ve decided that we’re too young to be so serious, and as much as I’ve begged her to let me stay, or at least say goodbye to you, she won’t let me.

I love you, and although I’d rather die than be without you, I promise that I’ll keep in touch and come back as soon as I can.

I’ll be thinking of you every second and will write you when I get to my dad’s house to give you his address and phone number.

Love Always,

Mia

Drake sighed as he gently folded the letter and put it back in to the envelope and the box.

She’d been telling the truth. He’d known it in his heart, once Mia had explained why she’d stayed away. But seeing the evidence of her innocence, and her sweet, young love for him, made his bear cry out with need for her. He wanted to hold her, to comfort her, to have her safe and in his arms.

Sifting through the envelopes, he drew another one from the middle and opened it.

Drake,

I don’t understand why you haven’t written me back, or called, or anything. It’s been a year and I still feel the same way about you as I did when I left. Don’t you love me too? You said you’d love me forever, that we’d be together for life, that you wanted to marry me. Was it all a lie?

I’m stuck here, in a school full of people I don’t care about, living in a house that I don’t want to be in, and I’m wishing for you every second.

I don’t understand what’s going on, but I have to believe that you love me, that everything you said to me is true.

I have a year and a half until I turn eighteen, and then I’ll come to you. I just wish you’d let me know that you still want me.

Write me back, please.

Love Always,

Mia

A hot ball of regret filled his chest as he put the letter away and closed the box.

He couldn’t read any further right now. He didn’t want to see when her hope turned to doubt, when she started to believe her father’s allegations against him and decided to turn her back on him and move on with her life.

Maybe once he had Mia back with him where she belonged, Drake would be strong enough to read through all of the letters with her, but now he needed to focus on getting his mate back.