Bear Next Door (Shifter Protection Agency Book 1) Read online

  Mystic, Connecticut was exactly how she’d pictured it; tiny and idyllic. Being barely ten kilometers in size, Laura was certain there must have been half a dozen rumors about her by now, and she’d only been in town for a single day. She didn’t mind so much, she was used to odd looks.

  When she finally managed to pull herself from bed, she padded down the stairs and into the front room. Boxes covered every available surface and Laura dreaded going through them all. She’d never realized how much stuff she had before moving. Her laptop poked out of her bag and she set it up while the coffee machine boiled before settling down and pulling up her research.

  She didn’t quite know where to start – stats and figures about the town and its citizens flashed in front of her as she scrolled and she paused when she got to the bottom of the document, the words “Found in Mystic” underlined. The number of bear attacks for such a tiny population of people was discussed on a lot of small news websites, not to mention the sheer amount of folklore and horror stories all over the internet. If she was ever going to prove that shapeshifters existed, this had to be the place.

  The morning passed slowly as she typed and edited the document, managing to drain three cups of coffee before she decided the caffeine was making things worse rather than better and shut down her laptop. It was strange not being interrupted while she worked; usually by now her housemates would have begged her to look over their work or bullied her into taking a break to watch some stupid reality TV show with them, glasses of vodka being passed around while they made fun of the contestants.

  She washed up her mug and decided she might as well go out and explore the town. It was cold out, a stiff sea breeze rustling the trees against the windows as Laura pulled on her coat and scraped her hair back to keep it out of her face.

  Rustic-looking houses in pastel shades dotted the streets as she walked. They reminded her of kids’ toys – everything was so clean and bright in the sunlight and the trees were all neatly trimmed and a lush green.

  The realtor had given her the quickest of tours when she’d first started looking into the area. Laura knew there was an aquarium and several nature parks. Maybe I should try getting a job at one of those places, she thought to herself. An animal science degree has to be useful for something, right?

  By the time the sun was starting to set, Laura had walked the entire length of the town twice and was ready for a strong drink and something to eat. She found a bar tucked into a side street with soft light spilling out onto the sidewalk and headed inside. She took a seat at the bar, ordering something red and fruity. The place had a nice atmosphere, all cozy and laid-back. She figured there weren’t many tourists in Mystic this time of year but the bar was still full to the brim with locals talking and laughing with each other over drinks. Laura shifted on her barstool, conscious of the fact that she was the only person sat on her own. She contemplated the menu and was about to call the barkeep over to order her food when her phone rang in her pocket. She checked the caller ID and answered with a grateful smile.

  “Hey, Vi.” Violet had been her best friend back at college and her housemate for the four years it took for them both to pass their exams.

  “You were supposed to call me when you arrived.” Violet’s voice was teasing but there was a hint of worry in her voice that made Laura smile. It was nice to be worried about.

  “Nice to hear from you too,” she joked, stirring her drink with her straw and feeling herself start to relax. Violet was exactly who she needed to hear from right now.

  “Shut up, you know I miss you more than anything.”

  Laura smiled, trying her best to ignore the pang of loneliness in her gut.

  “I miss you too.”

  “Why have you got to be so far away? Trust you to move to the most mysterious-sounding place in the whole US,” Violet whined.

  “It’s gorgeous, Vi, everything’s so small and cute. I feel completely out of place,” she laughed, remembering the strange looks she’d gotten as she walked past the buildings. She must have doubled the rumours by now.

  “Have you met any cute guys yet?”

  She shook her head at her friend. Trust that to be the first question she asks.

  “Not even a ‘how do you like the area?’” Laura scoffed.

  “It’s a little New England seaside town in Connecticut. There’s a nature reserve, several idyllic looking bars and a yoga studio… Am I close?”

  Laura managed to get the bartender's attention and pointed to the beef sliders with an apologetic smile that the older woman reciprocated with a don't-worry-about-it wave of her hand.

  “There’s eight, actually.”

  “Christ, what place needs eight yoga places?”

  “Living by the sea is stressful, Vi.”

  “Oh I’m sure. So, boys?”

  Her sigh was one of half-exasperation, half-fondness – fuck, she missed her friend.

  “I’ve been here exactly one day, Vi.”

  “Your point?”

  “My point is only you could find a guy within twenty-four hours of moving to a place, Violet. It’s one of your many talents.” Violet laughed in agreement down the phone and Laura could picture the shit-eating grin on her face with alarming clarity. “I haven’t even seen a guy yet, not one under the age of fifty at least.”

  As she finished speaking, the door opened and a man walked in, head turned away from the bar as he spoke to someone behind him. When he turned a moment later, Laura had to bite her lip to keep in a gasp. He was fucking gorgeous with soft brown hair and blue eyes that crinkled up in the corners, caught mid-laugh. Three more men followed him in, all unfairly attractive but Laura couldn’t take her eyes off of that first guy. She watched them as they settled into a table in the corner, only tearing her eyes away when Violet’s voice called out to her down the phone.

  “Hey, Ward! Don’t ignore me!”

  “Cute guys,” Laura replied dumbly. “Like magic, the second you mention them, how the hell did you do that?”

  “It’s one of my many talents,” Violet drawled back. “Describe them right now.” Laura leaned surreptitiously back on the barstool, watching the men as they talked.

  “There’s four of them: two blonds, a brunette and a redhead.”

  “God, you sound like you’re giving me a police report. Give me the good stuff!” Laura’s eyes strayed once again to the dark-haired man.

  “He’s got the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen,” she murmured.

  “That’s so cute,” Violet cooed. “Which one?”

  “The brunette.”

  “Body type?”

  Laura hummed, watching the way the guy's Adam’s apple bobbed as he took a mouthful of his beer. Her eyes dropped down to roam over his wide shoulders and trim waist, and she pressed her thighs together as a flash of arousal went through her.

  “Kinda a swimmer’s build, I guess?” she said.

  “Lean and wiry?”

  Laura was not drooling, though she did wipe at her chin to make sure. The group laughed, bright and loud and the dark-haired man looked around him, sending a tiny apologetic smile to anyone he made eye contact with. Oh man, and a gentleman too.

  He looked toward the bar and Laura forgot how to breathe when their eyes locked. Heat pooled in her cheeks but she held his gaze.

  “He’s looking right at me,” she murmured down the phone.

  “Wooo, get it, girl!”

  Hot guy held her gaze a second longer before his friend nudged him in the side and he broke their contact to glare at him. Laura let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

  “Fuck me, he’s so hot.”

  “Why do you sound so upset? This is a good thing!”

  “No. No it’s not. I’m here to study and get my research papers finished and now all I’m going to think about is what hot guy wears to bed.”

  “I bet he’s a briefs man, I know your type.”

  “Not helping!”

  She took a steadying sip from he
r glass, savoring the sweet taste as it glided down her throat. The men left ten minutes later and Laura watched them go, already mourning the loss of the most beautiful man on Earth, and let her head thunk onto the bar top. In her ear, Violet laughed.

  “You’re a terrible friend,” Laura moaned petulantly.

  “I’m an amazing friend,” Violet corrected. “And the next time I call, you better have an update.”

  3

  Sam

  “We sent Jonas and Daisy down to the crime scene you visited earlier.” David’s face was drawn and serious. Sam watched him from his seat, surprised the alpha wasn’t pacing. “You were right when you said that bears were responsible, but these attacks were too sporadic to be a shifter and too close to town to be an ordinary bear.”

  Sam frowned. Not a bear and not a shifter? Then what the fuck has torn those people apart?

  “What about the tracking spell?” Axel asked quietly from behind him. David shook his head.

  “Nothing. Jonas tells me only magic can hide things from a tracking spell so, whoever they are, they’ve got help from a witch or warlock.”

  “Fuck,” William said with feeling.

  “Quite,” David replied, looking ready to rip his own hair out. “That’s not all though, attacks are spiking. We had to wipe twenty more humans’ memories in the past few days alone. Whoever this is, they’re getting bolder.”

  “So what can we do?” Sam asked, foot jogging impatiently.

  “We have to look into every possibility. Tomorrow I want Axel and William to question every bear shifter in the area, and if they don’t have an alibi for last Thursday, I want them brought in for questioning. Even, you and Stella will need to look into every witch and warlock you can find – don’t go further than forty kilometers out, they’d need to be within that range to hit us as many times as they have so quickly.”

  Sam looked at him expectantly, knowing he was next to receive his orders.

  “Sam, a young woman has been spotted sniffing around, she just moved here. She might be human police. I’m gonna need you to keep an eye on her.” Sam suppressed the urge to groan; Stake-out duty. That’s worse than paperwork. But if the others can question every person in a ten-kilometer radius, then I suppose I could stand to sit outside a woman’s house for a few weeks. “You’ll move next door to her and keep an eye on her. If she finds something out, report back to us here and if she gets too close to something we need to keep hidden then I trust you can make her research ‘disappear’ okay?”

  Sam blinked. Move out of the agency? He’d lived here for seven years. David was looking at him expectantly and Sam found himself nodding, trying to ignore the anxiety swirling in his gut. He could freak out about leaving home later. This was for the good of the town.

  “Good. This is her.” David turned his laptop around. Sam could see a list of information: Animal Science degree, twenty-two years old, two living parents and no siblings and in the top left corner, a picture. Sam’s eyes widened.

  Even took a step forward to look over Sam’s shoulder and smirked, clapping a hand down onto his back.

  “Oh, this is perfect.”

  The woman from the bar smiled sweetly back at him from his boss’s laptop. Sam’s head hit the desktop with a thunk.

  He must have walked past this house thousands of times over the years, but he’d never stopped to appreciate how pretty it really was. Like all the houses in town, it had that distinct New England charm, with white window shutters and two balconies overhanging the front of it. The wood was so white it actually hurt to look at, and as Sam stood on the front porch looking up at his new home, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d stepped into munchkin land.

  He had to duck to get through the front door but was pleasantly surprised by the interior of the house. Back at the agency, his room had been converted from an old storage room and no matter how many posters he’d put up and how many times he’d sprayed the place down with air freshener, the room had never quite lost the smell of dust.

  This place was a completely different story. The rooms felt open and airy and when he breathed in, all Sam could smell was the grass outside the window.

  He could definitely get used to a place like this.

  He didn’t have much stuff to move, just a few boxes and a suitcase full of clothes, but it still took him a few hours to unpack every box and put everything away. While he worked, he thought about Laura Ward, his new neighbor. He had been counting on never seeing the hot girl from the bar ever again. He was the equivalent of a cop, with long hours and an erratic sleeping schedule. No self-respecting girl would want someone like him in their life. And now, he had to keep an eye on her. “I trust you can make her research ‘disappear’ okay?” David’s words swirled through his head. He could do it, would do it if he needed to, he knew that, but it wasn’t fucking fair that it had to be her.

  When everything was finally put away, Sam knew the time had come. He’d seen Laura get home about an hour ago, looking cute as hell in snug-fitting jeans and a black turtleneck sweater. If he was going to find out what it was she was doing here, he had to strike up some kind of friendship with the woman. He was more excited about that than he cared to admit.

  Laura’s house was a carbon copy of his except for the color. Where his was a blinding white, hers was a light shade of blue. He couldn’t help but think it suited her. He hesitated on the doorstep, trying to think of what he wanted to say, and the door swung open just as he raised a hand to knock.

  Laura looked out at him with a startled expression on her face that Sam couldn’t help but smile at.

  “Oh, hi.” God, even her voice is sweet – soft with a slight rasp that had his cock stirring in his pants. “I was actually just about to knock on your door. I saw you through the window.” Sam nodded, trying to remember how to speak properly.

  “Great minds think alike, it seems.” He winked. A wink, really? God, you’re corny. “Uh, yeah, I just thought I’d introduce myself, be neighborly and all that.” When did I get so awkward? “I’m Sam,” he finished lamely, contemplating the pros and cons of simply turning on his heel and sprinting back to the safety of his new home.

  Laura smiled at him and Sam forgot how to move.

  “I’m Laura.” I know. “I just moved here too.” I know that too. “I’m doing some research in the area.” And that, Christ, this is weird. Please say something I don’t know so I can pretend this is a normal conversation.

  “Oh, a detective huh?” he asked. Laura laughed.

  “God, no, not a cop. I’m a scientist, or- I’m trying to be.”

  Not a cop. Thank fuck. Human cops tended to do nothing but get in the way. The agency’s general rule was to not get them involved unless absolutely necessary and even then to only tell them as much as they needed and nothing more. It was safer that way. If Laura wasn’t a cop then there was more of an excuse to get to know her.

  Wait, what?

  “I’d invite you in by the way...” She looked at him apologetically. “But I haven’t finished unpacking yet. I saw you unpacking all your stuff and uh... It looks like a bombsite in here.” She gestured vaguely behind her and Sam grinned at her. “I’m a little lazy.”

  “No, I’m just anal about mess. I’m used to living with four other guys so having my own space is a welcome change.”

  “The guys from the bar?” So she does remember me. That thought made him smile.

  “I thought I’d seen you somewhere.” Laura blushed and Sam watched it spread down her neck and disappear into her collar. He wondered how far down it went.

  He mentally shook himself, taking a step back before he did something stupid. Like ask her back to his.

  “Well, I should get going. I’ve got an early start tomorrow,” he said.

  “Oh yeah? What do you do?”

  “Uh…” He cursed himself. Stupid, say something. Anything. “I’m a doctor. Or, I’m trying to be.” He smiled, hoping he’d covered himself. Laura nodded, smiling bac
k, and Sam sighed with relief.

  “Well, don’t let me keep you, go get your beauty sleep, I’ll…I’ll see you around?” She sounded so hesitant and Sam wanted to laugh.

  “That you will,” he promised. “Goodnight, Laura.”

  “Goodnight, Sam.”

  Sam climbed down the porch steps and watched Laura close the door before running back to his house and opening the door, his heart racing.

  He stood for a long moment, back pressed against the wood, trying to calm his racing pulse and let his head fall back on the door.

  I am so fucked.

  4

  Laura

  “Listen, Miss Ward-”

  Laura could already tell by the tone of his voice that this guy wasn’t going to tell her anything. She sighed quietly, she should have known. The fat man behind the counter looked like he barely had a clue what day it was – he had nothing worth saying. “I know you’re new to Mystic and, what with the attacks in the area, I can only imagine how scared you are, a sweet little thing like you.” Laura had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes. She wasn’t scared, she was convinced these attacks had to be the result of shapeshifters. She’d been trying to offer her assistance, limited as it was, and maybe give them a helping hand. But she got the feeling that the local police saw her as a scared little girl looking for reassurance. “I can assure you, we’re doing everything in our power to protect all the citizens of Mystic. We have several strong leads that we’re looking into; there’s nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about.”

  Laura had never punched anyone before, her form would probably be terrible and she didn’t enjoy the prospect of spending any amount of time in a cell…but it was still hard not to jab the bastard in the face.