Read Saved by the Billionbear Online
Authors: Stephani Sykes
Saved by the Billionbear (5 page)
I put on my work uniform, tied my hair in a ponytail, and looked myself in the mirror. Every day, I had to make sure I looked as non-threatening as possible to all the kiddies. My uniform, which had cartoony animals on it, such as a giraffe, elephant, and monkey, made me feel not so intimidating, but I still had to work on my “resting bitchy face”. When I relaxed myself, I realized just how snarly I looked, like I was going to bite someone’s head off if they even looked at me. I practiced smiling, and when I decided that I didn’t look like a homicidal killer, it was time to work.
As I left the changing station, a fellow zookeeper past me by. “Morning, Stacy,” he greeted, a twinkle in his eyes. Yeah, in your dreams, I thought. No wonder I had a bitch face.
I started checking each cage to make sure the animals had an adequate supply of food. The monkeys still had plenty of fruit in their cages, the elephant was busy munching on some oranges, the giraffes were eating from the trees behind their fences, and I saw another zookeeper throwing fish into the mouth of a walrus, so it looked like all the cages were accounted for. Except for one.
Behind the cage, I saw the bear. It was a large grizzly, and it always gave the onlookers a stare that sort of freaked some people out. It was a very odd bear. I’d heard it hadn’t been with the zoo that long actually. He’d arrived just before my time apparently. This was supposedly a temporary place for him before they found a more permanent home. I wasn’t really sure. I wasn’t privy to that kind of information. But, what I was aware of what that its trough wasn’t filled, so I grabbed his special slop from the prep room. It looked like someone had been getting ready for work, or ready to feed him or something, because someone had left their uniform and a bag just outside the cage. I typed in the keypad combo that gave me access to the trough. It was easy to remember because they used the same combo for all the pads, even the ones on the inside of the cages. When I started dumping an amalgam of fish, raw steak, and other meat byproducts into its trough, it came up to me and nuzzled my hand with its nose.
“Who’s a good boy?” I asked him. To me, this bear was like a big puppy. Everyone thought that he was scary and many zookeepers neglected him attention wise. I was the only one who seemed to care. In fact, we were getting so close that it felt ok to give him a little pat on the head as I left the cage. Thankfully my instincts were on, and he didn’t bite my hand off.
“Bye, Barry,” I said as I left, making sure to lock the door. That was my cliché name for the bear. I had named him that, but I still made an inner eye roll every time I said it. As I left, I had to sigh. That bear was the highlight of my day, and I didn’t know why. Before coming to work here, I’d thought I’d be starry-eyed over the more exotic animals, such as the tigers, gorillas, and the manatees, but instead I found myself relating to an animal that you could find in the local woods if you were lucky, or unlucky, enough.
I spent the rest of my day cleaning out the cages, keeping the food and water in check, and giving the sickly animals their medication. Being at the peak of summer, I was sweating and wished I could take this uniform off already, but I was determined to finish my rounds. It was my job, after all.
It may not pay much, but it’s just a summer job. Besides, it will look great on your qualifications when you finally decide to get your dream job, I kept thinking.
As I tried reassuring myself, I looked at my phone. Just an hour and a half left and I could return to my apartment. I began making last minute checks of every single cage out there until finally I arrived at Barry’s cage. I expected to see him sitting all by his lonesome, and was shocked to see his cage was empty.
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And one more thing…
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this book and if so, please leave a review
here.
Either way have a fantastic day and may all your dreams come true.
This is a story by another author from the
Totally Romance Reader’s Club
circle. It’s another Werebear Romance and I hope you like it! I include it here as a thank you.
Desired by the Billionbear
Pamela Avery
Copyright ©2015 by Pamela Avery. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review
2012
Lisa Fuller jogged, her strides lengthening along the path in time to the music blaring over her earphones. She had decided to take the scenic route today, jogging down the forest path that was least popular among most joggers in Fidelity, Philadelphia.
It was quite early in the morning and the air was dewy, fresh, and invigorating. The smell of fresh pines tantalized her nostrils and she inhaled deeply as her feet pounded along the path. Her red hair was done up in a simple bun atop her head and she was clad in a skin-fitting exercise outfit that accentuated the generous curves of her waist and hips.
A noise like thunder rumbled overhead and she almost lost her footing as she looked around in amazement. It was still a bit too dark to tell but the skies didn’t seem to be cloudy. With a shrug, she resumed her jogging, humming in time to the music as a slight wind began to rustle the leaves of the trees lining the forest path. Lisa picked up her pace a little, almost running now.
She had gone almost a half mile along the forest path when she suddenly got the unmistakable feeling of being watched. Her eyes widened with irrepressible panic as she scanned the tall pine trees on either side of the path, extending in every direction as far as the eye could see. She saw no one. Fear coursed through her veins and almost automatically she started running, her breath burning in her lungs as she ran faster than she had ever run before.
Then she saw him. A huge, brown, absolutely beautiful, and deadly, bear with chestnut brown fur with flecks of gold. Its teeth were bared as it raced towards her. She almost froze in her terror. She couldn’t remember … are you supposed to freeze when you see a bear, or play dead, or run? While she tried to figure it out, he kept coming right at her in long lopping strides.
Raw fear clotted her blood in her veins and adrenaline burst through her in a rush as her terror took over and she faced forward and chose the “run away” option. He caught up to her effortlessly, his large paws closing about her waist as he lifted her in his great big paws and roared loud enough to wake the dead. She didn’t have to speak bear to recognize a roar of triumph when she heard it. His scent assailed her nostrils, surprisingly clean and nice. There was something strange about this bear. Why wasn’t she dead already? Her eyes fastened in fascinated horror on the pink inside of his mouth as he roared anew. The sound so loud she was almost afraid it would break her ear drums. Goosebumps erupted all over her hands and sweat poured down her body in rivulets. His paw encircled her entire waist effortlessly as he held her closer to his face and studied her.
Then things got even stranger as some deep survival instinct took over. This was a wild animal, but there was something different about it. There was an intelligence behind its eyes. Rather than scream she chose to speak.
“Please, please,” she panted, barely breathing through her fear. “Please don’t. I have little kids depending on me! Please don’t kill me!”
She was talking to a bear, her subconscious screamed. But even knowing that it couldn’t understand a word of what she was saying – or at least shouldn’t be able to, didn’t deter her as she continued to cry and plead for her life. Every nerve in Lisa’s body strained to breaking point as the beast kept her on level with its shiny white teeth, the size of small tusks.
Lisa struggled weakly in its arms, tears coursing down her cheeks as the animal stopped roaring long enough to look right at her out of strangely beautiful grey eyes flecked with bits of golden color. The animal seemed to freeze as it looked into her clear turquoise eyes. It blinked its great big eyes as though in confusion and Lisa wished desperately that she had a gun or tranquilizer.
The bear shook her slightly staring at her as though in wonder and she screamed anew. Then it extended one paw an
d
unbelievabl
y
stroked her cheek gently. Lisa’s eyes widened in terror; was that the signal to begin eating her?
The beast made a low sound deep in its throat, its pale gaze fastened on hers. They stared at each other for a while and then with a grunt, it gently, almost reverently, with a deftness she did not think a bear could possess, placed her on her feet back onto the ground.
Lisa stared up at the immense bear, almost afraid to believe this was happening. The beast, as though understanding her disbelief, poked her slightly with one claw on its paw. She jerked backwards, almost falling over. Then with one last glance back at it, she turned and began to run, expecting every second to hear its feet thundering after her and the large furry paws closing around her neck again.
But with every step that took her farther away, the bear just stood watching her, an almost wistful expression on its face.
It let her go.
She ran for all she was worth, gasping as she stumbled and fell. Her alarmed gaze flew over her shoulder again and then widened in disbelief; the bear was gone! In its place, she saw a naked man walking away.
He turned for one last glance over his shoulder, the distance masking his features, and then he himself disappear. She fainted on the spot in mid-stride.