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  Copyright

  Copyright © 2019 by Fay Walsh

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  Contents

  Copyright

  Get Fay’s Exclusive Material

  Bonded to the Bear

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  The Extended Epilogue

  A Note from Fay Walsh

  Preview

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  About Fay Walsh

  Bonded to the Bear

  Chapter 1

  A red Chevy truck drove down the interstate highway. The driver of the vehicle was twenty-five-year-old, Harmony Ashur.

  Her right hand rested on the steering, while her other hand nestled in her curly, dark brown locks, her elbow leaning against the car door. She had been driving for nineteen hours, with a few brief stops along the way.

  She wanted to put as much space between herself and L.A. as possible.

  “Why don’t you just let me drive, Harmony. You look like the living dead, right about now.” To the right of Harmony, in the passenger seat, was her seventeen-year-old sister Chrysanthemum.

  Her dark brown, blonde highlighted hair was in a ponytail and her dark brown eyes gave Harmony a glare.

  “Yeah, that’s a big no, now stop asking, Chrys.”

  Chrys’ cherry-red lips pouted at her sister and rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, yeah, sure, it’s not like I’m trying to help or anything, so you don’t pass out on the steering wheel and make us go top-side,” she said sarcastically. “We could have stayed back home, but no we just had to move because you said so.”

  Harmony shook her head, and mumbled, here we go. In retrospect, Harmony knew this was coming. She had been moving Chrys and herself around since Harmony was eighteen. They couldn’t stay in one place for too long, but Harmony was never sure how to tell her the truth.

  Back when Chrys was five years old and Harmony was fourteen, their parents took them to their cabin for the summer. Unbeknownst to them, wolves had ransacked their home, and their parents were killed. The last words their mother said to her was: keep running and protect your sister, Harmony. I love you.

  Harmony gulped back the tears that threatened to come out, but she held them in, not wanting to explain why she was crying.

  “Look, Chrys, we’re just getting a fresh start and I think Richmond County would be good for us.”

  Chrys snorted and gave her sister a sideways glance.

  “Yeah, a fresh start you always say. You’ve been saying that since I was fourteen. How many fresh starts do you want me to have?” The octave in Chrys’ voice grew louder as she became angrier. “If you haven’t figured out by now, Harmony, I have no friends and no boyfriend. I would at least like to lose my virginity before I’m forty.”

  “Jeez, Chrys a little melodramatic, don’t you think?”

  Chrys sunk down into the seat with her arms crossed over her chest and glared dangerously at the road.

  Harmony sighed to herself, not knowing what more she could say to her sister. She looked up at the rearview mirror and adjusted it to see better before she briefly noticed the dark circles underneath her eyes.

  Maybe I should get a few hours of sleep, she thought just as the car engine started to make a strange noise.

  “What the hell?” Harmony said and looked at the speedometer on the dash. The cars started to slow. “No, no, not now!”

  The car came to a slow stop by the side of the road. Several inches away was a green road sign that read Fairview in the next ten miles. Harmony knew she should have checked the car’s history, but she was in such a hurry she took the keys and they hit the road.

  “So,” Chrys started to say in a sing-song voice. Harmony narrowed her eyes at her sister and saw the casual smirk on her fair skin. “How’s that fresh start coming along?”

  “Not another word, stay in the car, and don’t touch anything.”

  Harmony gets out of the car and went to the front of the vehicle. She popped open the hood and immediately hot, acrid smoke rose up. Harmony coughed profusely and waved her hand in front of her face to clear some of the smoke.

  “Damn it.”

  Harmony leaned on the rim of the car and inspected the engine There was an odd smell coming from it, but she wasn’t sure what it was. She turned around and inspected the area, they were practically in the middle of nowhere, there was nothing but farms on either side of the road and rolling hills in the distance.

  “Well, this is just great.” Harmony mumbled and pulled out her phone from her back pocket to call Triple-A, but before she could dial the number a baritone voice made her look up from her phone.

  Through a cornfield came a shirtless, toned and muscular man, wearing nothing but blue jeans that were hanging off his waist, exposing the deep cut of his pelvis. He was handsome with a lean face and a 5 o’ clock shadow that framed his chiseled jaw and cleft chin. His straight nose adorned his face and his dark brown crew cut was neatly trimmed.

  It wasn’t until Harmony’s eyes landed on this handsome stranger’s amber ones that a surge of electricity coursed through her body. Her heart beat wildly. He towered over her, standing close to six feet tall. She pushed the thoughts from her mind and craned her neck up to his face when he neared her.

  “You seem to be having some car trouble, mind if I check?” The handsome stranger had a slight drawl in his accent, which Harmony found oddly comforting and sexy.

  “Yes,” she squeaked and cleared her throat. She stepped away from the man so she could breathe better. “I mean, yeah, um, thank you. It just conked out all of a sudden and it won’t start.”

  He nodded and leaned down over the engine. Harmony, unable to help herself, tilted her head to the side so she could get a better look at the way his jeans hugged his perfectly round ass.

  She bit her lip. Damn.

  “Yep, your car is shot,” he said out of the blue. His words pulled Harmony back to reality and she blinked several times, having not heard what he said. The man chuckled and revealed perfectly white teeth. “This car has been on its last legs, probably for a good couple of years, it would have broken down at any point. How did you have it for so long and not get it fixed?”

  Taking a bit of offense, Harmony raised her brow and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, for starters, I haven’t had it that long. I bought it from someone, and, secondly, I was in a bit of a rush. If I knew that it was going to be a rust bucket, I would have never bought it.”

  The man raised his hands in defense, sensing that he had triggered something. “I didn’t mean any offense, truly. I am sorry this happened to you.”

  The blast of car horn made Harmony jump and she slapped her
hand over her heart.

  “Come on, what’s taking so long!” Chrys shouted from back inside the car.

  “Can you relax, Chrys, I’m coming!”

  Harmony sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. She wondered what they would do now.

  “You know,” the handsome man said. Harmony looked up at him to see his amber eyes looking at her. Her heart sped up again. “I could drive you into town if you like?”

  Harmony twisted her lip slightly and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Yes, thank you. That would be really helpful.”

  He smiled once again, and Harmony felt like she was swooning. “Good, I’ll be right back with my truck.”

  Harmony nodded and watched him run back through the field until she couldn’t see him anymore. She went around to the passenger side and leaned her arms on the car window.

  “So, he’s going to give us a ride, you don’t have to lose your head.”

  “Oh, great! Strange shirtless guy, coming out from a cornfield to help us,” Chrys sarcastically said.

  Harmony furrowed her brow and tilted her head, confused by her sister’s sarcastic joke. “I don’t follow you.”

  Chrys rolled her eyes. “Uh, hello? Have you not seen a scary movie before? Meanwhile, it seemed like you were going to lose your head, you looked like you wanted to jump on him right there.”

  “Haha, no one is getting killed or jumped on,” Harmony said, though she felt her entire body heat up at Chrys’ observation. Did I really look like that? “And watch your mouth too. I know you’re mad at me, but that isn’t any way to talk to me. ‘kay?”

  Chrys sarcastically stuck her thumb in the air and gave her sister an obviously fake smile.

  “But seriously, though, this entire trip is going to benefit only you. You don’t care about anything, Harmony. You just wave things off, keep going, and then forget it even exists.”

  Harmony frowned, hurt by her sister’s comment. She walked back to the front of the car and closed the hood. She crossed her arms over her chest on the lookout for Mr. Amber Eyes.

  Harmony couldn’t explain the feeling in her chest, and she reached out to rub it. She had thought the feeling was normal and would go away after a time, but somehow it only increased.

  It’s probably nothing. She thought, or so she hoped.

  Chapter 2

  The brush of wind coursed through Roan’s cream-colored bear’s fur. His movements were powerful as his gigantic paws hit the soft earth. He had just finished hunting and was running through the fields. It made him feel a surge of excitement, patrolling the perimeter. It was not only important, but it freed his mind from frivolous human emotions that would threaten him from time to time.

  Roan came to a slow stop and he stood on his hind legs, standing close to ten feet. His claws retracted from his paws, and his jaws stretched letting out a bear-sized roar. The fur that had collected on his skin, slowly receded until he was hairless and naked. A pair of his pants sat upon a log where he had left them to change into.

  The moment he had on his jeans, a surge of electricity coursed through his body. Roan furrowed his brows and wondered where the source of the electricity was coming from. He hadn’t felt that feeling in so long, he couldn’t be sure if he was imagining things.

  He narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, where he saw curly locks near the hood of a smoking car.

  “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

  The woman was attractive, he thought. Her locks bounced when she moved and gently would hit against the pleasing complexion of her face. Roan started to walk toward them before he even realized what he was doing and emerged from the field.

  “You seem to be having some car trouble, mind if I check?” He called out. Up close she was even more attractive. Her hazel eyes were large and prominent, making them her most attractive feature. Her breasts were finely shaped, and she had a curvaceous figure that suited her frame.

  She squeaked a reply when she answered him, and Roan thought it was cute as she cleared her throat. He looked into the hood of the car and from the corner of his eye, he saw her tilting her head to check out his butt. He grinned.

  Once he explained the situation to her, letting her know that her car was a total mess, she looked like she would have a nervous break-down. He could feel a tug on his chest again, only this time, a sweet-smelling aroma circled around him that smelled like honeydew. He knew very well what this meant, but he couldn’t believe it, he thought that a shifter could only be mated once.

  “Come on, what’s taking so long!” Someone shouted from back inside of the truck. It sounded like a young girl.

  “Can you relax, Chrys, I’m coming!” The woman shouted back, he assumed that the person in the car must have been some friend or family member.

  Harmony sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. She wondered what they would do now.

  “You know,” Roan said, choosing his words carefully. She looked up at him and the lighting from the sun made her hazel eyes seem brighter. His head started to spin. “I could drive you into town if you like?”

  She twisted her lip slightly. For a moment, Roan was scared she was going to say no, but she shrugged her shoulders.

  “Yes, thank you. That would be really helpful.”

  He smiled once again. “Good, I’ll be right back with my truck.”

  Roan went back into the field at a normal pace to the ranch where he left his car, but once he was out of sight he started to run at full speed. He was in front of the ranch in less than two minutes, his mind boggled as he headed to the truck, and grabbed the door handle.

  Roan looked at his reflection from the car’s mirror, he had a bewildered look on his face because he didn’t understand how it was even possible.

  Does it even matter?

  He shook his thoughts from his head and opened the car door. He had left his keys in the ignition and turned them to start the car, where he drove to where he last left her.

  ***

  It didn’t take long for Roan to come back with the truck and in minutes, her car was tethered to his truck so he could tow it into town.

  “Do I really have to sit in the back of the truck? There’s hay in here!” the woman’s sister complained, with her hand over her eyes to shade the sun from her face.

  “Really, Chrys?” The woman said to her sister. “Just get in the back seat, it’s only ten miles. You can give me a break for that long, right?”

  The girl, Chrys, groaned and rolled her eyes getting in the back. Roan grinned about to help, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t need it. He climbed into the driver’s seat, and the woman in the passenger seat.

  “I’m sorry about my sister, she has a bit of a mouth since I made us move from our home in L.A.”

  Roan whistled and started the truck. “Los Angeles, really? That’s pretty far.” He started down the highway and watched as she sat back in the seat. “I’m Roan, by the way.”

  The woman’s eyes widened, and she sat up quickly like she forgot something. “Wow, I’m sorry, that was really rude of me. I’m Harmony, it’s nice to meet you, Roan. And as you know that’s my sister, Chrysanthemum, but she goes by Chrys.”

  She pointed to the back of the truck where her sister leaned on the side of the truck looking up at the sky.

  “That’s an interesting name.”

  Harmony smiled. “Yeah, our parents were Wildlife Biologists and would always bring back rare or amazing finds from their research. We used to have a greenhouse with all sorts of plants, from the Venus Flytrap, to plants no one has even heard of, like the Encephalartos woodii.”

  Her cheeks reddened, he assumed she was embarrassed, but Roan thought a woman with knowledge was not only sexy but powerful.

  “I think that’s pretty interesting that you know that. So where did your name come from?”

  The red from her cheeks faded and she smiled again. Roan realized that he liked her smile because there was a slight trace of a dimple in he
r left cheek.

  “It sounds corny, but my parents told me they found harmony when they first met each other and I guess they thought, what better way to express their love than to name their firstborn after it.”

  Roan looked away from the road and examined Harmony. This mysterious girl who he only just met and loved everything about her already, from the way she smelled of honeydew, to the lighting when it hits her eyes just right, and the way she smiled.

  She looked at him and her thin brow raised in the air.

  “What? I told you it was going to be corny.”

  Roan shook his head and looked back at the road. “No, that’s beautiful. It’s hard to find love. It’s a gift and a blessing your parents passed their love to you, in your name, and perhaps they hoped you would find love as equally strong as theirs.”