Her Secret Protector Bear (Oak Mountain Shifters) Page 5

  “Adrian,” she managed, offering a trembling hand out to the intimidating old man. “Do I just call you Coty?”

  “That’s all there is to it,” he agreed with a deep belly laugh.

  “Well it’s nice to meet you, Coty,” Adrian said. Although to be truthful, she wasn’t quite sure how she really felt about this. She trusted her stepfather implicitly, but she didn’t know how she felt about Coty, and she already knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she hated Kent, whether he was handsome and good in bed or not. What was she doing out in the middle of nowhere with two men she didn’t trust?

  “She’s a pretty little thing, isn’t she?” Coty said, glancing over at Kent. Kent stiffened and nodded, looking down at the ground without speaking. Adrian shifted uncomfortably. She had never been comfortable with men commenting on her appearance. Even though she was completely comfortable and confident with her body now, it brought her back to the days when she wasn’t, when the boys in her peer group had been nothing but cruel and judgmental. Sometimes she wasn’t sure whether the men were actually complimenting her, or teasing her.

  “So, who are you, Coty? Why would my father want me to meet you?”

  “Oh, I suspect it’s because I’m the keeper of the mountain,” Coty said, leaning back and taking a long, unwavering look at Adrian. “I’m kind of a big shot around here. One of the most powerful bears in this countryside. If you have any issues, little missy, any issues at all, I’m the guy you want on your side. Just give me a holler.”

  Adrian nodded. So this man wanted her to come to him in times of need or danger. Nothing sketchy about that. It wasn’t like young human women in danger were vulnerable or anything. But if her stepdad wanted her to meet him, she decided she would just have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

  “Thank you, Coty, that’s very kind of you.”

  “No kindness about it, missy. That’s just what I do. I gotta keep the riffraff in check. Elsewise Blaine won’t let me keep in the Valley no more.”

  “Why wouldn’t he let you stay in the Valley?” Kent interjected.

  “Valley’s a dangerous place these days. Blaine thinks I’m getting too old for this nonsense, but I say it keeps these old bones young! I’m not going to be one of those assholes who goes into retirement and just wastes away in front of the television set, you know. Gotta keep active, or it will kill my spirit. And my spirit doesn’t want to die! I live for these woods. And the Valley is like a second home to me.”

  “Right,” Kent said, still keeping his eyes to the ground as Coty spoke. The old man didn’t bother turning to face Kent, he kept his eyes on Adrian, as if attempting to determine something important about her.

  “You ought to hear some of the stories I have about your dad,” Coty said with a grin. “He was quite a rascal back in the day. You’d be surprised.”

  The way Coty’s eyes were sparkling good-naturedly made Adrian feel more at ease. She had a pretty good sense about people most of the time, Kent clearly excluded,. so she decided to trust her instincts and allow herself to like this pleasant old man.

  “I bet he wouldn’t want me to hear about them,” Adrian replied.

  “Well that’s not up to him. The facts are the facts, so if you want to hear them, there’s nothing he can do to change the past or keep my old mouth from running about it. You’re always welcome here, Adrian, and if you ever find yourself in some trouble you can’t solve on your own, just give a holler and I’ll come for you.”

  Coty dug into his pocket and pulled out a whistle, offering it to Adrian. “Everybody worth their salt around here has one of these. It’s a way of summoning me at a moment’s notice. You keep that on you just in case, all right? That’s how I earn my keep around here.”

  Adrian took the whistle, smiling at Coty. He seemed friendly enough, and soon, they were all saying their good byes. Adrian waved at Coty as they drove away, and Kent remained silent until they were back on the road.

  “I think that’s enough for the day,” he said finally, sighing deeply and leaning back in his seat. “I’ll come back tomorrow and take you to town. You can just drop me off here.”

  Adrian frowned. “Are you sure about that? I don’t want you to get in trouble with my dad.”

  “No, he’ll understand. Just let me out. I hate cars.”

  Adrian felt a pang of pain from Kent’s insistence that she release him. It was as if he couldn’t stand to be with her for one second longer than he had to be. And whether he liked cars or not, it was pretty rude of him to just insist on being let out. How was she supposed to have known that? He could have mentioned it sooner.

  Kent turned his pensive dark eyes onto Adrian, and she felt a pang of unwanted longing surge through her.

  “Thanks,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”

  Adrian opened her mouth to reply, horrified by how captivated she was with him, but before she could speak Kent was gone, and she was left alone in her car with nothing but her mixed emotions.

  9.

  Kent’s eyes followed Adrian’s car as she rolled on down the road. He shifted into his bear form and waited for a moment until she was out of sight before beginning the real task he had been assigned with.

  Kent stalked the car, following it to the small convenience store located about ten miles away from Adrian’s place all the way down the mountain, toward the Valley. What the hell was she doing out there?

  Maybe it had been Coty’s mention of the place that had sparked her curiosity, or maybe she really hadn’t known where she was going or why, but whatever the reason for her jaunt, one thing was certain. She had chosen a trail rife with dangers.

  The reason Coty had been appointed the guardian of the valley and keeper of the mountain was that he had been one of the most skilled bears in combat against the dragon-shifters. Although there had been peace on the mountain between the dragons and the bears for quite some time, there had been a time when that peace was not so rampant. When he was a boy, Coty had been involved in a very bloody war between the dragon-shifters and the bear-shifters, and he had become a decorated war hero at the time. It was a position of honor that all the men in Blaine’s family had chosen to acknowledge, giving Coty free reign over his own section of the mountain, but most importantly, the Valley, where the dragon-shifters were currently attempting to close in.

  For some reason, Adrian had decided the most violently disputed area on Oak Mountain was the first place she wanted to do some sight-seeing. It was just his luck.

  Kent hung back, watching closely as Adrian parked her car and stepped out, stretching comfortably and taking in a deep breath of fresh air. She probably loved it, considering the state of Stonybrooke. The bears felt a small sense of disdain toward the wolf-shifters, who had been far too quick to adapt to a human way of living and had gone so far as to create their own humanoid city. As far as the bears were concerned, they were turning their backs on their natural state of being. Then again, wolves and bears thought differently about such matters, and perhaps aligned with a more humanoid approach to life in general. It was hard to say.

  Either way, all Kent knew was the air on Oak Mountain was fresher and cleaner than the air in Stonybrooke where most of the population drove around in cars, despite having several footpaths for shifters and humans alike to travel upon.

  He pushed the thought aside and continued to follow Adrian with his eyes. When she finally began to move, she grabbed her handbag from the car and began walking at a leisurely pace through the Valley.

  A deep rumble began in the back of Kent’s throat, but he quieted it down and continued to follow Adrian. The whole place reeked of dragon shifters. He couldn’t help but become on the defensive immediately. He was just glad she hadn’t seen him hiding in the brush and watching her as if he were stalking his prey. His orders had been clear, and if he let her out of his sight, he was bound to regret it for the rest of his life, whether she survived the attack or not.

  Adrian was oblivious to the danger, and Ken
t crept closer as she walked deeper into the valley, ultimately finding a nice, quiet place to sit down and open her handbag. Inside, she pulled out a sandwich and a bottle of iced tea she had apparently bought at the convenience store, and began to have a quiet, lonely picnic in the Valley.

  Kent couldn’t help but admire the way this human sought out the comfort of solitude. She didn’t have to go to a restaurant to be around the hustle and bustle of other people who were going about their lives. She chose instead to enjoy the great outdoors, all on her own, even if it was the most dangerous place possible for her to be.

  This fact was reinforced when a sharp snapping of a twig made Kent hyperaware of their surroundings. Somebody was there… and it wasn’t a bear shifter. It was something else. Someone with malicious intent.

  Kent kept his eye on the girl, all the while feeling out his surroundings. It was lucky he had become so adept at martial arts. He was able to get a good idea of where the enemy was located without even moving a muscle. But then, that wasn’t really luck, was it? That was why he had been hired for this job. He had to stop selling himself short.

  There was no time to worry about that now. There was someone creeping up on Adrian, someone who knew something about her that even Kent wasn’t aware of. Only Adrian’s stepfather would have the answers as to why the dragon-shifters were after Adrian. It wasn’t his business. All he had to do was keep her safe.

  Once he had the enemy in his sights, Kent started after it. It was a young dragon-shifter, one that seemed inexperienced and under-practiced. However, seeing Adrian right where they wanted her, he didn’t seem likely to let the opportunity slide.

  Kent supposed he would’ve done the same thing if the roles were reversed, so he headed toward the dragon. It hadn’t shifted yet, so he managed to keep himself concealed until he saw the enemy in question.

  Just as he had intuited, it was a young man, probably only about twenty years old. He was eyeing Adrian greedily, creeping forward. The energy between them began to change as the boy prepared himself to shapeshift, but before he had the chance, that was when Kent struck.

  The dragon shifter’s human form was small and relatively powerless, so when Kent leapt out at him in bear form, the fight was nearly over before it had even begun. It was too late for the boy to complete his transformation so he attempted to utter a spell that would freeze Kent in place.

  Kent charged at the boy, attacking before he could finish his incantation. Kent swept a heavy paw at him, striking him down. He dealt another devastating blow to the kid, but felt a little bit of pity. He fixed a warning look on the boy, who was still somehow uttering his spell beneath his breath. However, they were too far away from the Mount Argon, where the dragons made their home so his magic was ineffective.

  Kent sneered at him and growled viciously, sending the boy running on his way, struggling to stay upright due to the injuries he had sustained. Kent had gotten out of the fight unscathed and was about to make a quick exit out of the brush when he found himself captivated once again by the compelling sight of Adrian. She had finished enjoying her meal and was now getting herself situated to read a book. Kent couldn’t tell from where he was sitting what book it was, and in his bear form found it difficult to focus on tasks like reading, anyway.

  He subtly shifted back into his human form and peered out from the reeds, attempting to get a hint about the title of the book. Maybe it would help him to understand her better if he knew what kinds of things she liked to use to occupy her mind with.

  “You think you’re so tough!”

  Kent whirled around just in time to receive a painful blow to the face. The boy had come back for a sneak attack, but before Kent could regroup, the kid had already disappeared off into the wilderness.

  “What the hell?!”

  Kent groaned and covered his groin with one hand, squinting up from the ground at Adrian who had scrambled to her feet and rushed over to glare down at him, her face red with steaming hot embarrassment and indignation.

  “Did you follow me here? What is the meaning of this? Do I need to call Coty? And why are you naked?!”

  Kent pursed his lips and slowly stood up from the ground, taking his time to attempt to avoid revealing any more of his body to Adrian than he had to. He could sense Adrian was still just as impressed by his body as she had been from the start, but frankly they were both too angry and startled by the situation to allow the sneaking tendrils of desire to amount to anything.

  “You don’t need to call anyone,” Kent managed in a reedy voice, looking up at the sky with a pained expression on his face. “Just let it go.”

  And with that he shapeshifted back into his bear form and took of down the mountain.

  10.

  Adrian tossed and turned that night, unable to get her mind off the bizarre situation she had encountered with Kent that afternoon after she had been happy to believe she was rid of him for the rest of the day, then somehow he’d shown up when she least expected. Not only that, but he was naked. What a thing to see!

  He had seemed sheepish and uncomfortable, so she was fairly certain he’d been up to no good. The last thing she wanted was to see him again the next day, especially if he was some kind of creep.

  Should she tell her stepfather about this? He would put a stop to it right away if Kent turned out to be a sleaze-ball. But if she brought him into it, wouldn’t she have to tell him about why it was so weird in the first place? She wanted to talk to her father about her sex life even less than she wanted to see Kent again. What was she going to do?

  She tossed and turned all night, mulling the puzzle over in her mind. If she didn’t make some kind of decision before the morning came, she would be stuck with Kent for the rest of the day doing who knew what kind of activities her father had planned out for them. Meeting Coty hadn’t been so bad, but not knowing what to do about Kent or whether she could trust either of them had been disturbing. Hadn’t Coty said he was the one in charge of the Valley? Were they both trying to spy on her, or something? She would never have all the answers she needed, and the whole thing was starting to really make her regret listening to her stepfather and moving away from Stonybrooke to Oak Mountain.

  By the time the morning finally rolled around, she was surly and unrested, also bitter at Kent for being the asshole he was and angry he hadn’t refused her stepfather the position of taking her around the mountain. Although neither of them wanted to spend time with each other, that much was clear enough during the dinner. He hadn’t been man enough to refuse. Apparently, he cared more about his job than he did about the woman he had slept with then run away from. He hadn’t even said good bye. It was bullshit! She had been starting to like him, at least a little bit, but now that she knew what kind of person he actually was she never wanted to be near him again.

  Yet there he was bright and early, pounding on her front door.

  She went to answer it, barely able to keep the bite out of her voice.

  “Stay away from me,” she growled, standing in the doorway, making it clear he wasn’t welcome. “I don’t want to see you again.”

  Kent looked surprised for a moment, then grinned. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like you’ve never seen me naked before.”

  “I’m serious,” Adrian said, glaring at his cocky, handsome face. She would smack it if she could. “I want you to leave now. You aren’t doing anybody any good by staying here. Okay?”

  Kent’s eyes narrowed.

  “I’m here to do my job and nothing more. We have to get you introduced to the townies, and then I can leave you alone.”

  “I don’t want you to introduce me to the ‘townies.’ I don’t want you to introduce me to anyone. I want you to leave me alone.”

  “Sorry,” Kent said, putting his hand between the door and the frame before she could slam it in his face, “but that’s not going to work for me. See, I have a job to do, and without you, I can’t do that job. So… you see the dilemma here, I’m sure.”

&n
bsp; Adrian swallowed hard, their eyes locked and a crackling electricity passing between them. She wished so badly she could just kick him off her porch, but she had already seen how strong he was. She would have no chance if she picked a fight with someone like this. She had no choice but to do as he told her.

  “I’m going to tell my stepfather what you did,” she grumbled, grabbing her purse and stalking out onto the porch.

  “What, that I was roaming the Valley in my bear form and it just so happened that when I lost my balance I happened to be near you?”

  “No! that’s not even the worst part. You were…”

  She couldn’t bring herself to even say the word, and shook her head.

  “You do remember that your dad is a shifter just like I am, don’t you? He isn’t going to think anything of it to know that I’d recently shifted out of my bear form in the Valley. So you go right ahead and tell him what you saw. I’m sure he’ll have a lot of fun questions for the two of us. They wouldn’t bother me to answer them, but out of respect for you, I haven’t told him anything that happened between us. If that’s a free topic to discuss, then I’d be happy to—”

  “Don’t you dare!” Adrian shouted.

  Kent looked at her in surprise, his handsome face breaking out into another cocky smile that made her blood boil.

  “Then you’re just going to have to deal with this for a few more days until your dad is sufficiently convinced you’re nice and ready to go about your business on the mountain without any trouble. It’s pretty sweet of him, really. Don’t you think?”

  “He’s a considerate guy,” Adrian agreed, stalking forward and slamming the door of her cabin shut. “Unlike you.”

  Kent’s eyes flashed at her as if he wanted to say something, but he didn’t speak. Instead, he led her to the driveway where there was a motorcycle parked.

  “I’m not taking another fuckin’ car ride on this mountain again,” he said. “This time, I’m driving.”