Brash Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 3) by Natalie Kristen
Authors: Natalie Kristen
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CHAPTER
ONE
Bella Paige clutched her wine
glass and inched further back against the wall. In a state of mild
panic and bewilderment, she stared around the vast, crowded, noisy
ballroom. She honestly didn't know what she was doing here.
I hardly know the bride
and groom. How in the world did I get invited
to this wedding?
Bella blew out a breath and
drained her glass. She glanced around the rowdy ballroom and caught
sight of Staci Castillo.
Oh right. It wasn't the
bride and groom who had invited her. She didn't even know Jax and
Serena, and it was their wedding. It was Staci, her financial
consultant, who had extended the invitation to her and made her
promise to come.
Bella winced. There were
only a handful of people she knew in this small town so far. Her
next door neighbor, Celia, her new colleagues and her financial
consultant. And she had only gotten to know Staci because she had
walked into the bank to apply for a loan.
She had just moved to Shadow
Point about a week ago. She had secured a job at the local library
and bought a house even before she'd set foot in Shadow Point. Her
house was really a fixer-upper, but she had managed to snag it at a
really low price. It was a roof over her head, but there was still a
lot of work to be done before it could be called a home. Which was
why she had walked into the bank to apply for that renovation loan.
Bella put her glass down on a
nearby table and pressed her back against the wall. Warily, she
studied the people around her. Shadow Point was a small town with
more paranormal than human inhabitants. No one batted an eyelid when
someone sprouted fur or fangs, as long as it wasn't in aggression.
Despite the diverse makeup of
its population—Shadow Point had shifters, vampires, witches,
fae, a young demon and even the odd angel who much preferred not to
reveal his celestial pedigree—the small town was quiet and low
key.
And from what she could see,
the town was pretty close-knit but the residents weren't
close-minded. The townspeople weren't suspicious or wary of
newcomers. Instead, most of them were very warm and welcoming.
Bella couldn't help smiling
as she watched the children chasing one another around the spacious
ballroom. Squealing children were chasing one another with icing on
their faces, and some of the younger kids had shifted into their
animal forms and wriggled out of their little tuxedos. A lion cub
wrestled with a furry bear cub, happily ignoring their exasperated
mothers who were trying to pull them apart.
Bella saw Staci laughing and
whispering to her husband, Marcus Beck. Marcus was the big brother
of the groom, and he had walked the bride down the aisle earlier. He
was a mountain of a man, and it wasn't hard to tell that Marcus and
his two brothers were bear shifters.
The twins, Jax and Joshua
Carlan, were Marcus's adopted brothers, Staci had told her. The two
young men looked alike but Bella had no difficulty telling them
apart. Joshua was the older, taller, and gruffer twin. He was his
brother's best man today, and Bella had to admit to herself that she
had been ogling the best man almost the whole evening.
She just couldn't help
herself. In a room full of brawny, handsome males—paranormal
males were insanely good-looking, Bella found her eyes moving of
their own accord to Joshua time and again.
Joshua Carlan was tall,
broad, dark-haired with intense, deep brown eyes. He was certainly a
very good-looking young man. Young, being the operative word. He
was in his mid to late twenties at most.
Bella smirked. She could
safely ogle him, maybe even fantasize about him when she was alone in
her bed tonight. She would probably never get to talk to him any
way.
But even if she ever got to
know him, there was no way she would fall for a younger man.
Been there, done that. For
her folly, she had been burned good and proper.
She wasn't going to make the
same mistake. Once was quite enough, thank you very much. Younger
men were nothing but
ONE
Bella Paige clutched her wine
glass and inched further back against the wall. In a state of mild
panic and bewilderment, she stared around the vast, crowded, noisy
ballroom. She honestly didn't know what she was doing here.
I hardly know the bride
and groom. How in the world did I get invited
to this wedding?
Bella blew out a breath and
drained her glass. She glanced around the rowdy ballroom and caught
sight of Staci Castillo.
Oh right. It wasn't the
bride and groom who had invited her. She didn't even know Jax and
Serena, and it was their wedding. It was Staci, her financial
consultant, who had extended the invitation to her and made her
promise to come.
Bella winced. There were
only a handful of people she knew in this small town so far. Her
next door neighbor, Celia, her new colleagues and her financial
consultant. And she had only gotten to know Staci because she had
walked into the bank to apply for a loan.
She had just moved to Shadow
Point about a week ago. She had secured a job at the local library
and bought a house even before she'd set foot in Shadow Point. Her
house was really a fixer-upper, but she had managed to snag it at a
really low price. It was a roof over her head, but there was still a
lot of work to be done before it could be called a home. Which was
why she had walked into the bank to apply for that renovation loan.
Bella put her glass down on a
nearby table and pressed her back against the wall. Warily, she
studied the people around her. Shadow Point was a small town with
more paranormal than human inhabitants. No one batted an eyelid when
someone sprouted fur or fangs, as long as it wasn't in aggression.
Despite the diverse makeup of
its population—Shadow Point had shifters, vampires, witches,
fae, a young demon and even the odd angel who much preferred not to
reveal his celestial pedigree—the small town was quiet and low
key.
And from what she could see,
the town was pretty close-knit but the residents weren't
close-minded. The townspeople weren't suspicious or wary of
newcomers. Instead, most of them were very warm and welcoming.
Bella couldn't help smiling
as she watched the children chasing one another around the spacious
ballroom. Squealing children were chasing one another with icing on
their faces, and some of the younger kids had shifted into their
animal forms and wriggled out of their little tuxedos. A lion cub
wrestled with a furry bear cub, happily ignoring their exasperated
mothers who were trying to pull them apart.
Bella saw Staci laughing and
whispering to her husband, Marcus Beck. Marcus was the big brother
of the groom, and he had walked the bride down the aisle earlier. He
was a mountain of a man, and it wasn't hard to tell that Marcus and
his two brothers were bear shifters.
The twins, Jax and Joshua
Carlan, were Marcus's adopted brothers, Staci had told her. The two
young men looked alike but Bella had no difficulty telling them
apart. Joshua was the older, taller, and gruffer twin. He was his
brother's best man today, and Bella had to admit to herself that she
had been ogling the best man almost the whole evening.
She just couldn't help
herself. In a room full of brawny, handsome males—paranormal
males were insanely good-looking, Bella found her eyes moving of
their own accord to Joshua time and again.
Joshua Carlan was tall,
broad, dark-haired with intense, deep brown eyes. He was certainly a
very good-looking young man. Young, being the operative word. He
was in his mid to late twenties at most.
Bella smirked. She could
safely ogle him, maybe even fantasize about him when she was alone in
her bed tonight. She would probably never get to talk to him any
way.
But even if she ever got to
know him, there was no way she would fall for a younger man.
Been there, done that. For
her folly, she had been burned good and proper.
She wasn't going to make the
same mistake. Once was quite enough, thank you very much. Younger
men were nothing but
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