Bearly Tempted: Bears of Southoak, #4

By Kayci Morgan

Bears crush wolves. They don't date them

Garrett
Protect your mate.
It's a drive beyond reason.
It can't be denied.
Jasmine is mine and I will protect her.
Even if she hates me for it.

Evan
Ever since I left my clan,
all I've wanted is a place to belong.
Now I've found, not one, but both my mates.
And they are the most contrary people alive.
Trapped between a blizzard and an inferno,
how can I possibly bring these two together?

Jasmine
I wouldn't say I'm prejudice, per se.
I just think wolves are a waste of fur.
And the world would be better off without them.
But these stupid wolves won't take no for an answer.
Evan is doing everything he can to get me to fall in love with him.
While Garrett is trying to ignite my passions.
But me?
I'm barely tempted.

This story can be read as a standalone. HEA with MF, MM and MMF pairings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kayci Morgan
• Release date: Mar 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393776369

Kayci Morgan

Kayci Morgan has had a passion for romance and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She lives in Chicago with her family. In her cozy apartment, she spends endless nights tapping away at her keyboard and playing computer games unheard of by normal people. Her English Literature degree serves as a superb coaster for her 20oz mug of coffee. Follow her sleep deprived ramblings at her website: http://www.kaycimorgan.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kcmwriter Twitter: @kaycimorgan

Book preview

Prologue

Jasmine sat in the back seat of a Pinto wearing a tattered nightgown and clutching a one-armed teddy bear to her chest. She strained her heightened hearing to it's limits.

Thump. Thump.

As long as her mother's heart kept beating, she wasn't alone. As long as it kept beating, she had hope.

Thump. Thump.

Was it really her mother she was hearing from the trunk? Maybe it was her own heartbeat she was hearing. Maybe she was already alone.

Dyson turned off of the highway into the woods. He parked in a clearing.

Was this it? Was this the end?

He and his two friends got out the car, but left her there. Jasmine was relieved. Dyson's friend always gave her strange looks. He looked at her in a way that made her wish she was invisible. Once her mother was gone, Jasmine was sure he'd hurt her.

If her mother wasn't already gone. Dyson had beat her so badly. Could a human survive a beating like that?

The lights from a truck blinded Jasmine as it pulled up. A man with broad shoulders and dark hair stepped out of the vehicle and walked towards Dyson. You got my stuff?

Yeah man, I got it right here.

Just another drug deal. Jasmine quickly lost interest in the conversation. At eight, she'd witnessed more drug deals than she could remember.

It was only when the conversation turned to her that she started to pay attention again. Who's that? asked the man with the truck.

My woman's kid. Why? You want her? Throw in another grand and she's yours.

Hey man! You said I could have her, his friend interjected.

You know she's a bear shifter, right? You're just going to sell her?

Dyson shrugged. If the money's right. It'll teach her mother to watch how she talks to me.

Jasmine watched the stranger closely, holding her breath the entire time. He'd take her away and she wouldn't even know if her mother was dead or alive.

His face twisted in anger, but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at Dyson. She wondered what he said that made the man so mad.

Then he began to shift.

Dyson backed away, his hands in the air. No charge. You can have her for free. Just take her.

The dark man didn't seem to hear Dyson's words, or he didn't care because he continued to shift.

Dyson and his friends also shifted. Jasmine crawled up on her knees to watch. Three wolves circled a giant bear.

The first wolf dived at the bear and got swatted away with a massive paw. He hit a tree so hard his back broke. Then the bear pounced on the second wolf grabbing him by the neck and snapping it. He wouldn't be looking at Jasmine inappropriately ever again.

Dyson, the biggest wolf among the three, was smarter than his friends. He turned and ran, but he didn't get very far. He was still in sight when the bear caught him and tore him apart piece by piece. It was a wretched and bloody scene. A thing of nightmares for most children. But for Jasmine, it was just Tuesday.

The bear shifted back into a man. He walked over to the Pinto, naked and covered in blood. He opened the driver's side door and knelt down. As if talking to a nervous cat he started to say, Don't be afraid, I won't—

His words were cut off as Jasmine dived into his arms and hugged his neck. My mom. She's in the trunk.

The man took her to his truck and then tore open the trunk of the Pinto.

Jasmine sighed with relief when she saw her mother was still breathing. She was too out of it to know what was happening. That was probably for the best. No matter how badly Dyson had treated her, when she realized what happened to him, she'd be devastated. She might even blame herself...or Jasmine.

The man loaded her mother into the truck and then grabbed some shorts out the back as his clothes were destroyed when he shifted. I'm going to take your mother to the hospital. Everything is going to be okay. I'm Malcolm Knight.

She smiled at him. What a perfect name. He was a knight, or a king, or a god. Certainly something more than any mortal man. Jasmine... She paused wanting to give her full name the same way he did, but she didn't know it. She'd never gone to school and no one had ever had cause to say her whole name in front of her. Just Jasmine.

Don't worry, Just Jasmine. We're going to get your mother patched up and you're going to join my clan. No one will ever hurt you again.

At that moment, Jasmine felt something that she'd never felt before in her entire life...

Protected.

Chapter 1

Evan sat at the edge of the lake skipping rocks across the surface. Southoak was a wonderful town. Just as beautiful as Levi described when they sat huddled in some abandoned building trying to imagine a better life for themselves. He listened to his best friend talk about how one day he'd get it all back and he believed him. He'd never seen that much fierceness in a starving person before. And he was right. Levi got it all back and more. He made Southoak his home again. He turned enemies into lovers. He kept all his promises.

But as wonderful as this town was, it wasn't his home. He didn't have a home. Worse than that, he didn't have a plan. He met Levi and latched on to his plan, his life. Now he wasn't needed anymore, yet he still hung around for no reason other than having nowhere better to go.

That wasn't true. That wasn't the only reason. There was also her...

The last thing Evan expected to find in this quiet little town was his mate. But there she was. An ebony goddess with a smile that could light up a room.

Finally, life had given him a fucking break.

He was so excited when he told Levi. But instead of his best friend being as thrilled as he was, he looked concerned.

She hates wolves, he said.

Evan didn't understand at first. Surely, she'd look past any bias for her mate.

But she grew up in a wolf pack that abused and neglected her. Even attempting to pursue her would cause her pain.

What did a shifter do when their very nature would cause psychological damage to their mate? They sat and they sulked. That's what.

Familiar footsteps made their way towards Evan.

You've been sitting out here for four hours, Levi said as he took a seat next to Evan. His platinum blond hair and silver eyes always made him look otherworldly. A stark contrast to Evan whose black hair and blue eyes were about as a common as he was.

Thank you for keeping time for me. I'd hate to lose track of my morning on my day off. Evan avoided direct confrontation when he could, which was why he handled everything with sarcasm and snark.

At least tell her... Levi was getting right to it. Not even pleasantries first.

You should at least buy me dinner before you start telling me how to live my life. Besides, you're the one who told me how much damage I'd do if I pursued her.

I'm not suggesting you push the issue. I'm saying you make her aware of it, let her decide for herself.

She knows. She's a shifter. There is no way she doesn't know. Sometimes Evan would catch her looking at him as though she was trying to unravel some mystery. She had to sense it.

Bears don't sense their mates as acutely as wolves do.

You knew that Bailey was yours. Evan flicked another stone across the water's surface. It skipped four times before it sank.

Levi picked up a stone and did the same. His made it five skips. I didn't know. I suspected. I also worried that my feelings were because of Jaxon, that I wanted what he had out of spite and I had no clue about Jaxon, I just thought he was a childhood crush. Wolves get a flashing neon sign. We get an easily obscured pin light. And with you being a wolf...might as well put blinders on her.

If she doesn't know then that's even better. I can't force her to make a choice like that. I won't. He knew it would be best to leave. If he lost control, his beast wouldn't take no for an answer.

No. He hadn't lost control since the day he left his pack. He'd never lose control again. He understood the costs now.

But this was his mate. Sometimes he'd catch her scent on the wind and his beast would stir.