ROMANCE: Military: SEALED BY APACHE (Military Soldier Navy SEAL Romance) (Alpha Male Billionaire Bad Boy Romance Short Stories) (65 page)

"You can't. It will be born a bear," Elias whispered.

"Oh god," Hailey cried. She put her head in her hands and wept. She had never been so scared in her life.

Elias was on the phone talking to someone, and after a few minutes Hailey heard the roar of a motorcycle outside. Elias had made her a cup of tea and it sat steaming in front of her, untouched.

The door opened and Claudette walked in. She smiled at Hailey.

"Hi honey," she said.

"Claudette, I'm sorry for the other night," Hailey said.

Claudette waved her away. "It's not your fault sweetheart. Patrick was always finicky."

"Do you know where he is?" Elias asked, he was standing off to one side, looking worried.

"Quebec, somewhere," Claudette said. "I think he's been taken in by one of the MC's up there. For now. Unless you allow him back," she looked at Elias longingly.

Hailey looked at Elias, confused.

"I'm the Alpha now. I beat Patrick, so now the title is mine. As long as I can maintain it. And an Alpha needs an heir..." he trailed off and gestured toward Hailey.

Claudette explained that Hailey would be pregnant for four weeks, and labor would be just like having a human baby. However the baby would be born covered in a thin black layer of fur. She explained that Hailey would have to stay here, that her life was in danger now.

"Why?!" Hailey asked.

"It's a difficult time for the MC. When a new Alpha is in charge the group can become... volatile. It's easy for other members to challenge the new Alpha's authority," Elias explained.

"Why am I in danger?" Hailey asked.

"One of the most painful ways to hurt the Alpha is to take away the one thing in the world that would mean the most to him," Claudette explained.

"His baby," Hailey whispered. She covered her stomach protectively. She had only been pregnant for an hour, but already she felt a fierce maternal protection for this baby. For this cub.

"What do I have to do?" Hailey asked.

"Stay here," Elias replied. "I will protect you. Both of you," he said. Hailey looked him in the eye and saw a fierce loyalty there. She also saw something that she had never experienced in her life, love.

"Okay," she said after a moment. "I'll stay." She meant it. For once in her life she felt accepted, and loved. In the weeks to follow, Hailey experienced the most thrilling days of her life. Elias cared for her every needs, not allowing her to lift a finger as she carried their child. Her love for Elias grew more and more and she yearned to embrace their baby in her hands and show the cub all the love in the world. She promised herself that she would give the cub everything she longed for but never received in her childhood growing up in foster care. She finally had her happily ever after. Perfect in every way.

THE END

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ella Hart resides in Seattle, Washington with her two children, husband and pet puddle, Mishka.  Ella has been in the Romance writing field for over 8 years, and has recently begun sharing her passion to online readers around the world.

CLAIMED

Paranormal Romance

By

Ella Hart

CHAPTER ONE

The curtains lifted and Sara’s heart fluttered in her chest. She normally would have loved the feeling of having the lights on her. A few years before she’d adored singing and performing on the stage. It had left her feeling empowered.

Now she felt trapped. She felt dirty and cornered and she had nowhere to run. Sara was starting to feel like she had when she was a small girl, trying to find her place in the world. She felt like she was in that horrible town all over again.

Sara had grown up in the small community of Franklin, Tennessee. It was the type of place where status meant everything and you were only as good as your money. Sara’s father owned a pizzeria in town and since he was set up in such an affluent neighborhood, he could charge a little more for his food.

Sal’s was the only pizza joint in town and people were happy to pay for it. What they didn’t like was Sal and his family living in their midst. Old money was the only kind of money people in Franklin liked. If you couldn’t afford to have your wife living at home then you didn’t belong.

Franklin liked money but it loved conformity. When they had first moved there, Sara thought it was funny that all of the blonde women had the same haircut and wore the same types of dresses. She had admired them. They all looked so pretty and coiffed. Sara decided she wanted to be just like them one day.

Too bad that day never came. Sara and her family weren’t welcomed in the community. When she went to school for first day, people frowned at her olive skin and dark hair. She was an outcast from the beginning even though she was beautiful. Her mother told her she was too beautiful and that’s why people were so hard on her.

She’d sit up in her room, staring at herself in the mirror. Her bright blue eyes were always wet with unshed tears and her cheeks had a rosy hue to them without needing blush. Full lips parted in a silent sob and she would stare at herself and weep. She wanted to be like everyone else.

Her struggle wouldn’t stop with her skin tone or her dark, curly locks. When she entered high school she began to notice that she had fuller hips than the rest of the girls. Her breasts were bigger and her stomach was softer. Sara was a petite 5’2” but filled out a little too well everywhere else. She had her mother’s thick build and winding curves.

Sara was drop dead gorgeous but she’d always think of herself as fat. That’s what she heard whispered in the hallways and when someone hears something enough, they begin to believe it.

She didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself so she wore baggy clothes that hid her curves and hips and refused to wear make-up. She didn’t want to stand out. She wanted to blend right in and go unnoticed.

Sara did her best to avoid any kind of attention but was unable to escape it when a small French woman came to her high school to teach music. The school put Ms. Dupuy in charge of everything from band to choir. It was the thing Sara’s nightmares were made of. She didn’t want to get on stage and give all the kids in her school a chance to make fun of her.

Ms. Dupuy saw Sara’s fear and knew that she could pull something out of the shy girl. She asked Sara to stay after class one day and sing her a song. Sara had never sung in front of someone before and the idea made her stomach roll. Ms. Dupuy was kind, though and she knew that she was safe with the short, silver haired woman.

When Sara opened her mouth and sang, Ms. Dupuy’s eyes widened and grin spread across her face. She’d walked over to Sara and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder, squeezing it as she spoke.

“Child, you have a gift. Don’t let it go to waste.”

It was the best advice that Sara ever got. She joined her school’s choir and became the best singer in it. She was recognized in multiple performances and went on to be a student at Juilliard. She never imagined that she would enjoy being on stage and having all eyes on her.

The moment she escaped that tiny, wretched town she realized that people adored her figure. Men fawned over her and women envied her curves and luscious hair. In Franklin she had been fat and ugly but here in New York she was vibrant, beautiful and curvy. She loved the word curvy. It made her feel beautiful.

New York had changed her life but it had come with a price. She’d started out as a popular singer, performing in a new club every night. She loved the feeling of being on stage and she never wanted to give that up.

A man named Henry Fessler came to her one night and offered her a steady gig. He was a big man with strong arms, thick hair and a handsome face. Sara fell head over heels. She agreed to work in his club and a romance blossomed between them.

It was storybook perfect for a while until the business started to fail. Clubs weren’t something that were easy to keep open and as attendance started to dwindle, Henry’s anger and desperation increased. He would take his anger out on Sara and the poor girl always seemed to think she deserved it.

She didn’t put up a fight when she’d been ordered to perform in nothing but a thin piece of pink, gauzy fabric draped over her bottom and most intimate parts. She hadn’t argued but she wished she had.

The curtain rose and tears welled in the corners of her eyes, spilling down her cheeks as she sang and swayed her hips. Men stood and put money at the edge of the stage, though Sara knew she wouldn’t see a cent of it. It would all go right back to Henry and his drinking problem.

There were hundreds of eyes on her and she resented them. She wanted to run and hide like she had when she was a little girl. There was no way out of this now. If she left he would kill her. Henry had told her that many times.

CHAPTER TWO

The stress of owning a club had turned Henry into a monster. He would never admit it, of course, but he had spiraled down a dark hole he couldn’t dig himself out of. He owed more money than he’d ever be able to earn and his future looked bleak. It wasn't just his future, either. It was Sara’s future as well. It was how he was justifying the meeting he was having.

Two handsome, European men sat across the table from him. They’d both refused liquor and were drinking water instead. Henry was starting to wonder if they were gay together or something.

He eyed the two handsome men and downed his own shot in one gulp, “So you guys are interested in Sara, huh?”

The taller blonde spoke first. His English was perfect but he had a thick German accent. It was the only hint that he was a foreigner.

“Yes. We are very interested in her. We were surprised to find out that she wasn’t a private contractor.” He said, sipping his water.

His partner nodded, his own accent vaguely European but hard to place. “We were honestly hoping to talk to her. Not her manager.”

Henry wrinkled his nose and leaned back, eyeing the two men, his dull brown eyes narrowing in distrust. He didn’t like the way these guys were talking to him. This was his club and Sara was his performer. He hadn’t called her his girlfriend in a long time. Her preferred to call her his performer. It allowed him to distance himself from his emotions. He’d never imagined himself as an abusive boyfriend and it was a hard pill to swallow. Henry had found a chicken way out in simply refusing to acknowledge their relationship.

“If you can’t talk to me, you can’t talk to her. I have to protect my talent and my interests.”

The taller of the two, Jaeger, eyed him dangerously but smiled instead of lashing out. They had to play their cards right. After all, Sara smelled oh so good and he wouldn’t want to lose this chance to procure her.

“I completely understand, Mr. Fessler.”

“Call me Henry”

“Henry. We are very interested in talking to both of you. Our businesses could be good for each other. We could open up at different times, share a performer and reap the profit of a larger audience. My partner and I own nightclubs all over the country. We’ve been in the business for some time now and our clientele is very vast.” The dark haired man commented.

Jaeger and his partner, Armand, were both very wealthy businessmen with a bit of a secret. Their clubs weren’t regular clubs that normal people went to. Their clubs catered to the very wealthy and the supernatural. Their clientele included shifters, demi-gods and everything in between. It was a very lucrative business since supernatural creatures didn’t have many places to meet up.

In the dark ages they’d had to hide in caves and stay away from the human world, existing in the shadows. It was no kind of life for any creature. It was shameful and difficult to be a supernatural creature. Jaeger and Armand understood the struggle because they themselves were bear shifters. Men who could take the form of bears if they let their anger and emotions get the better of them.

They understood the hardships that came with their kind’s existence and so they created places where they could gather and be themselves. Jaeger and Armand opened many boutique nightclubs that catered to people like themselves. Most creatures, including Armand and Jaeger were hundreds of years old. With that age, money almost always followed. They’d had multiple lifetimes to perfect skills and build empires.

Empires like the nightclubs that Jaeger and Armand owned. Their clients always enjoyed a live show and they preferred human performers. Something about the smell and warmth of humans drove supernatural creatures crazy. Scent was very important to most of them and that was exactly what had dragged Armand and Jaeger into this club.

Sara had a scent like no other and they found themselves incredibly interested in her. She didn’t smell like any other human that they’d encountered. She was something entirely new and exciting.

Armand licked his lips and flashed Henry a grin that was all teeth. Henry wasn’t sure why but he was vaguely uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and addressed his potential business partners, looking between them for a moment. He stirred his drink idly before speaking.

“A partnership between nightclubs, huh? I never heard of something like that.”

“We’ve done it before, Mr. f-Henry. We’ve seen this work.” Armand assured, running a hand through his thick, curly hair.

It made Henry self-conscious of his own balding head. He cleared his throat and leaned back. “And you want my talent to perform at your club?”

“Yes. In the early evenings. When she’s finished her act and our club is closing down, we’ll send all of our clients your way for an encore.” Jaeger explained.

There was a moment of tense silence between them and Henry sighed.

“I don’t know...Seems fishy.”

“Not at all, Henry. It is the most legitimate course of action you could possibly take.” Armand assured, flashing him another toothy smile.

There was something animalistic about that smile and it unnerved Henry. Jaeger continued the conversation, reaching into his jacket pocket. Henry stiffened but relaxed when Jaeger pulled out a wad of cash and set it on the table. Henry’s eyes widened when he realized the pile of money was all in hundreds.

“Here’s some insurance to calm your worries. That's $10,000 and just a taste of the cash flow we could bring to your business.” Jaeger said, offering a smirk.

Henry’s eyes were as wide as plates and all he could see were money signs. He reached out and put his hand on the cash but Jaeger stopped him from pocketing it. He stared at Henry with an intense gaze as Armand spoke.

“We want Sara sent to our office tomorrow at noon for an interview. Have we got a deal?”

“Oh, we have a deal, gentleman.”