Big Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES Fur BEARS Book 4) (7 page)

Everyone seemed to know about Nick and her as soon as she came back to work.

It took her a while to figure it out, but she finally realized that they could see the claiming mark on her neck and the shifters could smell Nick's scent all over her. The nurses, and even some doctors, teased her and congratulated her. Some of her patients pretended to be heartsick and heartbroken at the news. “Mated already? Aw, I thought you and I had something special going on. Whenever you looked into my eyes, I see a beautiful, bright light...”

“That's because I was shining a light in your eyes!” Zoe had laughed and rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.

Zoe finished checking on all the patients in her ward and glanced at the clock. Her shift was over. Nick had just texted her to let her know that his team was rushing to complete a project by the end of the day so he couldn't come fetch her from work. But he promised to take her out for a lovely dinner later.

“I'm leaving now,” Zoe waved to her colleagues. “See you all tomorrow!”

“You have a date with Nick tonight, don't you?” Georgia teased. “Your smile says it all. Ah, love is a glorious thing!” Georgia declared and pretended to swoon.

Zoe waved goodbye to her giggling colleagues and hurried out before they could see her blush. But she really did feel glorious. She felt so happy, so blessed to have found Nick. They just felt so right together. It was like finding the other half of your soul, your heart. She was insanely, deliriously happy.

The only thing that bugged her was that she still wasn't able to shift. And no one could tell her what her animal was. The other shifters were equally baffled. They told her that she was definitely a shifter, but they just couldn't identify her animal.

“Not eagle?” she'd asked a group of shifter nurses.

“Not fully,” was their reply.

At Nick's suggestion, she had asked Gramma and Ne-ma for help. But when Gramma and Ne-ma tried to cast a spell to draw her animal out, her animal simply retreated further and stubbornly refused to show itself.

So what was she?

She was so deep in thought that she almost walked right into someone's shoulder.

“Zoe.”

Zoe jerked her head up and started. “Oh, Mr Sinclair! I...”

Sinclair smiled and gave a small bow. “Miss Riley, you're looking lovely as usual.” His eyes flicked to her neck and his smile wavered a little. Straightening up, he held a bunch of flowers out to her. “These are for you.”

“Thank you. That's...really sweet of you.”

“Well, I wanted to take you out on a date. But you didn't accept my bid that night. Instead, you chose that...bear.”

“That bear is my mate,” Zoe answered sharply.

Her tone was harsher than she'd intended. Not wanting to sound rude, Zoe added hurriedly, “Mr Sinclair, I want to thank you for putting in such a high bid at the auction. I hope you enjoyed yourself that night.”

Sinclair smoothed a hand down his jacket and smiled. “Well, I must say my trip to Shadow Point has been very fruitful. But I'm leaving today.”

“You're leaving? Are you here on business?” she enquired politely.

“You can say that.” He sighed and looked at his watch. “Well, I just dropped by to give you the flowers. I have to be on my way soon.”

“Oh. Do you have time for...a coffee? Let me buy you a drink at least,” Zoe said. “You didn't have to come and give me the flowers...”

“You are a very special lady, Miss Riley. I'll take a rain check on that coffee, if you don't mind. I'm running late. But if you'd walk with me to my car...”

“Of course,” Zoe said at once.

Sinclair offered her his arm and Zoe hesitated just a beat before taking it.

As she walked out of the hospital building with him, she couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. Something rose inside her and clawed warningly at her chest.

Zoe pressed a fist to her chest, scowling at the sudden pain. Her animal was behaving badly. Whatever her animal was, it seemed to be trying to claw its way out of her skin to attack the well-mannered gentleman next to her.

Zoe plastered a smile to her face and fought her rebellious animal down. First, it had tried to embarrass her on stage. And now, it seemed to be trying to cause havoc and destruction. Was it trying to ruin her reputation and get her thrown out of this nice, peaceful town? Just what kind of crazy animal did she have inside of her?

Zoe was too busy waging an internal battle to notice that they had walked out of the hospital parking lot and into a quiet side lane. There was only one car parked in that narrow, deserted lane.

Sinclair turned to her, a slow smile spreading across his face. Zoe gasped and tried to pull away, but he was pressing something into her neck.

“No one can see us. And no one can hear you,” Sinclair whispered in her ear. Zoe struggled but the needle pressed into her neck.

“You really are a very special creature, Zoe,” Sinclair hissed, his thumb on the plunger of the syringe. The syringe was filled with a clear, colorless liquid.

Zoe stared in horror as Sinclair's canines lengthened and jutted out of his mouth. They were thick and curved, not long and thin like vampire fangs. It was clear that he wasn't a vampire. He could walk in the sun, and...she could sense an animal inside him.

“What are you?” she wheezed just as he pushed the plunger down.

Zoe opened her mouth to scream but a numbing chill was spreading rapidly through her body. Her facial muscles froze as her brain began to shut down.

Her eyes were still functioning even as her legs crumpled beneath her. She saw Sinclair open the trunk of the car and stuff her in swiftly.

She saw the eerie, murderous glow of his eyes just before he slammed the trunk shut.

He's going to kill me
, she thought as she heard the engine roar to life.

She could feel her animal struggling to emerge from her weakening human body. Her animal clawed furiously at her before it was pulled under by the drug Sinclair had injected into her body.

Zoe jerked her head up and stared around wildly. Where was she? She seemed to be in the middle of a forest. There were trees all around her, and her back was against a rough tree trunk. Her hands were bound behind the trunk and there were thick ropes around her legs. She squirmed and struggled, but the ropes held her securely to the tree.

She turned her head and saw Sinclair standing to the side, watching her intently.

“Let me go,” she spat. “You freak!”

“Freak?” He laughed, displaying his unusually long canines. “You've never seen a saber-tooth tiger before, have you?”

“A what? You're telling me you're a saber-tooth tiger?” Zoe rolled her eyes and sneered. “Yeah, right. Saber-tooth tigers went the way of the dinosaurs and the dodo bird a long time ago.”

Sinclair shrugged. “That's what people believe. There are only very few saber-tooth tiger shifters in existence now. We have difficulty...repopulating.”

Her eyes widened as his meaning sank in. Then she began to laugh. She didn't know why she did that. But laughter was the best medicine, and the best distraction. She always encouraged her patients to laugh and keep their spirits up. Laughter distracted them from their fear and pain.

“You're saying...that you're impotent?” she wheezed. “Okay, mister, there are lots of drugs these days to help with your problem. Just pop a pill and you are good to go for hours. Is that why you kidnapped me? Listen, I may work in a hospital, but there is no way I can get you any drugs without a prescription...”

“Drugs aren't the solution,” Sinclair snarled, prowling towards her.

“Then what...what do you want? Stay away from me,” Zoe said, suddenly frightened. His features were contorting, and she saw that he wasn't lying about his animal.

“Don't touch me!” She tried to twist away but he gripped her chin viciously, forcing her to look at him.

“A saber-tooth tiger is a very rare animal. To regain our ability to reproduce, we need to eat the heart of another rare creature.”

“I'm not a rare creature,” Zoe squeaked.

“Oh, but you are.” Sinclair smiled. “I need you to shift, Zoe. I don't want your human heart. I need your griffin heart.”

“My...what? G-griffin? You're crazy!”

Sinclair exhaled slowly. “I've been waiting for you. I could scent what you were when you were a teenager. But your animal didn't emerge. I was willing to wait. Years, decades.”

Zoe shook her head. “No one can identify my animal. You're bluffing.”

“My species has been around for a very, very long time. Our senses have been honed to perfection. Only one in ten males can reproduce, so our numbers are dwindling. We are close to extinction. Griffins are very, very rare. You will never be safe, Zoe. Even if I let you go, another saber-tooth tiger will hunt you down.”

Zoe gulped and replayed his words in her mind. “You've been watching me...since I was a teenager?” she asked slowly. “How...”

“It was sheer luck.” He chuckled. “I passed you on the street, and I knew immediately what you were. I followed you and watched you, but your animal didn't emerge. I was willing to wait but I wasn't willing to let you go. Not when I'd searched for so long. When you moved, I moved. I took jobs around your neighborhood, so you'd probably have seen me around but never noticed me.”

Zoe cringed. “No wonder I thought you looked familiar. You followed me all the way to Shadow Point. And you were willing to pay fifty thousand dollars for a date with me?”

“Ah yes, a date.” Sinclair let out a mocking laugh. “I sensed that your animal was almost ready to emerge.”

Zoe tamped down her fear and revulsion. “Sorry to disappoint you, Sinclair. But I can't shift. My animal has never emerged, so I guess you'll have to eat my puny, ineffectual human heart.” She hiccuped a hysterical laugh and shouted, “And remain impotent for the rest of your miserable life, you loser!”

Zoe listened to her own maniacal laughter and feared she really was losing her mind.

She was being held captive by a saber-tooth tiger who believed she was a griffin. A griffin! Sure, she'd used her talons to mark Nick during their mating, but…

She sucked in a painful breath. “Nick...” she whispered.

Sinclair turned to her with a thin smile. “You're calling for your mate.”

Zoe stiffened and shook her head mutely.

“Don't worry. He'll come,” Sinclair said, his smile widening. “Your mate will definitely come for you. I didn't drive you too far out from the town. Just far enough.”

“Nick will kill you,” Zoe snarled, straining against the ropes.

“No. I—will kill him,” Sinclair answered with a short laugh. “Your animal won't just stand by and watch its mate die. You will shift, Zoe. And then...” Sinclair cocked his head at her. “I will eat your heart.”

Zoe stared at Sinclair in horror. She was the bait, as well as the catch.

Sinclair was using her to lure Nick out here. He was going to kill Nick, just to provoke her animal and trigger her shift.

Zoe knew that Nick was a big, strong bear shifter, but Sinclair was both crafty and crazy.

She didn't know how powerful saber-tooth tigers were, but to have existed for so long, their bodies and prowess must have developed and adapted to help them survive. They would have evolved to become fearsome apex predators. And to remain hidden and undetected for so long, these saber-tooth tigers must have incredible strength, speed and stealth.

Was Sinclair really so formidable? Or was he just bluffing? He sounded so confident that he could defeat Nick. Zoe gulped and tried desperately to connect with her animal.

Where were her goddamn talons when she needed them?

Didn't Nick tell her that the animal would emerge to protect the human in times of trauma and danger? Well, she was in danger right now. So why wasn't her stupid animal coming out to protect her?

Sinclair believed that she was a griffin. Zoe took a deep breath and tried to envision the majestic hybrid. A griffin was half eagle, half lion, all courage.

A griffin would be able to tear a whiny saber-tooth tiger to shreds with its beak and talons! A griffin wouldn't just sit by helplessly and wait for its mate to walk into a trap.

You're no griffin.
You keep hiding under my human form.
You're a chicken!
she taunted her animal. She made chicken sounds in her head.

Come out and fight, you useless...bird!
Chicken! Bawk, bawk , bawk!

But her animal didn't even stir. She felt no change at all in her body. She bit the inside of her cheek hard, hoping that the taste of blood would lure the predator out of her. It didn't work. All she managed to do was make herself even angrier. Why didn't she listen to her instincts? She had felt uneasy around the man, yet she had dismissed her gut feelings and stupidly put herself in danger. And now, even her animal seemed to have abandoned her.

“I'm not a bloody griffin!” Zoe shrieked in desperation. “I'm just not! You're mistaken, Sinclair. I'm not what you think I am.”

Sinclair didn't even turn around. He had his back to her and was watching the shadows intently.