Marrying The Bear (Gray Bears 1) (2 page)

Alisa hesitated for half a
minute. She had fifty dollars left in her account and she was hoping
she didn't have to touch that last fifty. But what the heck. What
harm could it do, giving these ladies her account number? What could
they do, scam her out of fifty bucks?

She told them her account
number.

“Okay, just give me a
minute, Alisa,” Neveah said, pushing her glasses up her nose.
“I'll transfer the money right now, and you can go check your
account.” Neveah got up and disappeared from the screen.

Glynda remained in front of
the computer, smiling happily at her. She nodded at Alisa and
murmured, “Really pretty. Ahh, I can't wait!” She began
to giggle to herself.

Can't wait for what?

Alisa squirmed but decided
not to ask.

“Where is Broomstick
Inn?” she asked instead.

“Oh. Right here in
Shadow Point,” Glynda said. “Neveah and I have been
running Broomstick Inn for years. Neveah is my best friend, but she
can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”

Alisa smiled. She could see
that the two ladies were as close as sisters. They squabbled like
siblings but they were tight. Even on a computer screen she could
see that. It made her feel all the more alone in the world, and she
was glad that tonight she was actually talking to someone in her
silent, empty apartment.

“Have you ever been to
Shadow Point?” Glynda chatted as she sipped a big mug of tea.

“No. But I know where
it is. It's a little town about eight hours' drive from where I am
now. It's, um...”
One of the few
towns that has
more
paranormal
than human inhabitants.

Glynda inclined her
head. “Would you feel comfortable living and working in Shadow
Point? You're human, and you'll be surrounded by paranormals...”

“No!” Alisa said
immediately. “I mean, no, I don't have a problem with
paranormals.” She thought briefly of Ben and Lucy. They were
both human like her, yet she hadn't understood or known them at all.
“I think I'll like it at Shadow Point.” A new place, a
fresh start. And hopefully, a real shot at a happy life.

Glynda smiled. “Do
you drive, Alisa?” Her smile faded and she began to look
worried. “It's a long drive. Maybe I should get Tristan to
fetch you...”

“No, no, I can drive
there. I have a car.” She didn't tell Glynda that her car was
a rattling, rickety tin can that was running on borrowed time. She
had tried to sell her car, but no one would buy it.

“But driving eight
hours...” Glynda shook her head. “No, I think I'd
better send Tristan over and...”

Before she could finish,
Neveah came back and announced, “The money is in your account!
Go check. Now, Alisa!”

“Um...”

“Now,” Glynda and
Neveah urged in earnest.

“Okay, I'll just check
online then.” Alisa opened another window and typed in her
banking details. Her eyes bugged when she saw her bank balance.
Instead of the measly fifty bucks, there was a four-figure sum in her
account.

“This...this is too
much,” she whispered.

She closed the banking window
and saw that Glynda and Neveah were still huddled in front of their
computer, anxiously waiting for her response.

“So, when can you
start?” Glynda asked hopefully.

“How soon can you come
to Shadow Point?” Neveah said, her eyes feverishly bright
behind her glasses.

“I...” Alisa
stared at their expectant faces and sucked in a breath. She couldn't
let them down. They trusted her and they were waiting for her.

She wouldn't keep these sweet
ladies waiting. She didn't want them to think that
she
was
scamming them.

“I'll be in Shadow
Point tomorrow evening. See you at Broomstick Inn! And...thank
you.” Her voice quivered as she blinked back tears. “Thank
you so much, Glynda and Neveah, thank you!”

CHAPTER
THREE

Tristan Gray was perched on
the roof of a half-finished house when his phone rang. He fished the
phone out of his back pocket and answered.

“Hi, Gramma,” he
said as Glynda's voice chirped exuberantly into his ear.

“Tristan!” His
grandmother always spoke rapidly, but this time she was speaking so
fast he could hardly catch her words. She sounded breathless and
excited, but then, Gramma got excited about a lot of things. And
lately, she and Ne-ma seemed to have hatched some sort of secret plot
concerning him and his three younger brothers. Neveah Wright was
Gramma's best friend. They used to call her Grandma Neveah, but soon
shortened it to Ne-ma.

Gramma and Ne-ma had raised
Tristan and his three brothers since their parents died when they
were cubs. The Gray boys were bear shifters, but Gramma and Ne-ma
were witches. When their Grampa was around, he used to joke that
Gramma used a love spell to snare herself a big, sexy bear.

“...and she's driving
in today! You have to make sure she's all right,” Glynda said,
her voice rising over the phone.

Tristan frowned. He couldn't
catch all her words with all the hammering and drilling going on
around him. They were rushing to finish this house on time, and his
crew was working at a frenzied pace. Tristan owned Gray's Domain, a
construction company that prided itself on building quality homes at
affordable prices. They would work with the owners to understand
their budget and they would design and build lovely, lasting homes
for their clients.

Jackson, his youngest
brother, helped him in the business. Aidan and Mason, his middle
brothers, had gone off to work and live in the city. But it seemed
that Gramma had just given Aidan and Mason the order to return home.

Tristan suspected it had
something to do with that nefarious secret plan that Gramma and Ne-ma
were hatching behind their backs. But for the life of him, he
couldn't imagine what it was.

“Wait, hold on, Gramma.
I can't hear you,” Tristan said, scrambling down a ladder.
“Hey, watch it, Jackson!” he barked at his brother as the
guy almost swung a plank into his face.

“Sorry,” Jackson
said, and threw the plank up to one of the boys on the roof.
Tristan's lips quirked up at a corner. His baby brother was
incredibly strong. They all were. His crew weren't all bear
shifters, but they were all strong and hardworking. Some of his men
were human, half-fae and other shifters. None were vampires because
vamps couldn't work in the sun. But the efficient, meticulous
architect they worked with was a vampire.

“Okay, what were you
saying, Gramma?” Tristan said, leaning against a tree.

“I said that Alisa is
driving in from the city and she'll probably reach Shadow Point only
in the late evening. I want you to drive out to the highway and wait
for her car. It gets dark pretty early and I don't like her driving
alone on that lonely stretch of highway in the dark. I want you to
make sure she gets to Shadow Point safely,” Glynda repeated
with studied patience.

“Okay,” he
answered automatically. He never denied Gramma and Ne-ma anything.
It wasn't easy raising four wild, boisterous bear cubs, but Gramma
and Ne-ma did it with lots of grace, patience and love. These two
women were their parents and grand-parents all rolled into two
petite, dynamic packages.

“Wait, who's Alisa?”

“She's the new chef at
Broomstick Inn. Neveah and I just hired her last night!”

“You didn't tell me you
were looking for a chef,” Tristan said, frowning.

“It was a spur of the
moment thing.”

Tristan raised a brow when he
heard Ne-ma chortling in the background.

“Does this Alisa have a
mobile phone? I should call her to check on her location so I don't
miss her. What car does she drive?”

Glynda rattled off Alisa's
mobile number and Tristan immediately stored the number in his phone.
“I don't know what car she drives,” Gramma said.

“Do I have to peer at
the driver of every car I pass along the highway?” Tristan
asked, incredulous. “How will I know her?”

“You'll know,”
Glynda said simply.

“Gramma...”

“Get in your car now,
Tristan. Go meet her now!”

Tristan opened his mouth, but
his grandmother had already hung up.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Alisa finished her fish and
chips and slurped down her milkshake. She burped and smiled
contentedly. This diner at the side of the highway served really
good food and the portions were huge.

The generous advance that
Glynda and Neveah had given her had allowed her to buy herself a
satisfying meal that would last her the rest of her long drive.

She slapped the crumbs off
her jeans and went to refuel her cranky, thirsty car. She didn't
think her small car would guzzle that much petrol, but like her, her
car hadn't had a full meal in a long time.

After filling her gas tank
and her stomach, Alisa turned back out onto the highway and drove on.
Her two bags containing all her worldly possessions were in the
trunk. She had gone to her landlord early in the morning to pay up
everything she owed and terminate her lease. She wouldn't be coming
back.

The city held nothing but sad
memories for her.

She had started driving at
around ten in the morning, and stopped for lunch. She should have
covered half the distance by now. In just another five or six hours
she should be in Shadow Point.

Alisa turned the knob on the
radio but only static crackled from the speakers. Then the radio
wheezed its final breath and died.

Alisa grimaced. She hoped
her car wouldn't decide to follow its longtime companion and journey
through the pearly, electronic gates to car heaven as well.

Her car sputtered almost as
if it had heard her. Alisa eased up on the accelerator. Better late
than never. At this speed, it was going to be a ten-hour drive at
least. But it was better not to put pressure on that wheezing
engine.

The few cars on the highway
dwindled as the sun began to set. The road signs became few and far
between. Alisa frowned and squinted worriedly into the distance.
She didn't remember seeing any signs that indicated the remaining
distance to Shadow Point. Finally, she saw a road sign and pulled to
the side of the road.

When she saw the names of the
upcoming towns, she gave a cry of dismay and fought down her panic.

She had taken a wrong turn.

She had to circle back and
turn out to get on the right highway. She checked her watch and her
fuel tank. She should have enough to get her to Shadow Point, but
she'd be lucky to reach the town before midnight.

Alisa made a U-turn and sped
down the deserted stretch of road. Dusk was falling and the shadows
on either side of the road seemed to stretch and crawl towards her.

Alisa swallowed her fear and
kept her eyes on the road. She was just imagining things. She would
be fine. She just had to keep driving.

The last rays of the setting
sun finally disappeared and Alisa could see only as far as her car's
weak headlights allowed. There were no other cars on the road, no
other living soul for miles.

Alisa heard the desperate
pounding of her heart and her eyes darted from side to side, to her
rear view mirror and windows. She had wound down her back windows a
little since her air-conditioner had broken down, but now she wished
she hadn't.

The wind rushing into the car
suddenly felt much colder. She jabbed the button to wind her windows
back up but the button didn't seem to work. The windows were stuck.

Alisa felt the hairs at the
back of her neck stand on end. She cut her eyes to the rear view
mirror again but there was nothing. All she saw was darkness behind
her.

Yet, she felt something.

She wasn't alone.

For the first time in her
life, she wished she was.

CHAPTER
FIVE

Alisa drove faster, but she
couldn't shake that clawing sense of dread and terror.

She heard a soft, velvety
rustle and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

Was it the wind? The trees?
The leaves?

Alisa had never felt so
vulnerable, and so helpless. She was driving desperately, speeding
towards a town she had never even visited, and not knowing if she
would even get there. Was anyone really waiting for her in Shadow
Point? Would anyone care if she got there safely or not?

Glynda and Neveah.

They cared.

She had only spoken to them
over the computer and seen their faces for a few minutes. But she
just knew that they cared for her.

And sadly, Alisa realized
that if she were to perish right now, these two kind strangers would
be the only people who would miss her.