Lonely Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Bluff Clan Book 6) by Harmony Raines
Authors: Harmony Raines
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Chapter One – Chloe
Chloe pushed herself harder, trying to climb as high as she could, up into the mountain range above Bear Bluff. She hoped the clear mountain air would seep into her brain and evaporate all the muddled up thoughts going round and round in one continuous loop. It was as if a tornado had started spinning and was now out of control.
A breathless sob escaped her; she was not going to think about Jerry, her fiancé, anymore. She looked down at the engagement ring on her finger. Ex-fiancé, but she couldn’t bear to take off the ring he had given her. Why? Because to do so would be to shrug off all the hopes and dreams of having a family that she had so carefully cultivated over the last six months.
She still remembered the day Jerry had proposed to her, dropping down on one knee, and asking those words she had so wanted to hear.
“Ugh!” she groaned in disgust. “Why do you keep thinking about it?”
But she couldn’t help it; she felt so stupid. So used. All he had been doing was trying to get on the good side of her father. Date the boss’s daughter to get a job, propose to the boss’s daughter to get a promotion. Then cheat on her when he got a new job and she was no use to him anymore.
She kicked a loose stone and listened to it skittering down the mountainside behind her. Onwards she climbed; higher up, until everything below was a distant blur, just like her dreams. Tears filled her eyes, but refused to fall. She had cried so much, her face was now permanently red and blotchy. That was why she had come up here: to be alone and think of what lay before her, now her ideal future no longer existed.
Up ahead, she saw a small clump of trees; she decided to head for them, to gain some shelter and sit down and eat her picnic lunch. Not that she felt like eating, but the climb had taken a lot of energy, and she planned to rest, stay here for a couple of hours to let her head clear in the beautiful still air, and then climb back down.
She looked at her smart phone, only to check the time—there was no signal up here. No one could contact her; for a few hours she would be offline and not have to field all the questions and recriminations. In some way, she knew her father blamed her. Thought that if Chloe had kept Jerry happy, he would still want to marry her and still work for the firm.
Oh yes, if only Chloe was trophy wife material, everything would have turned out fine. Instead, Chloe was a woman with too many curves and too many opinions. If only her dad could see that wasn’t a bad thing. Instead of being annoyed with her over Jerry leaving, he might then give her a chance to show her worth. However, she doubted that would ever happen. After her mom died, he had taken a new wife, Charity, and Chloe had been shocked that all her new stepmom was expected to do was look good at parties.
A thing she doubted she would ever excel at, and it didn’t bother her. Not really.
Feeling like a failure all-round, she took the last few steps, which would take her onto a game track and then into the trees. Deep in thought, she didn’t see a deer grazing in the shade. Startled, it sprang forward, knocking her over. Her ankle twisted, and she rolled painfully down the steep slope she had just climbed. Small rocks slid before her, creating an avalanche of scree. There was nothing for her to grasp hold of to stop herself from falling. Everything was moving down with her.
Panic swept over her; she knew she had to stop herself, or she would just keep sliding down. Reaching out, she tried to grab a tree root that had become exposed. It slipped through her hand, tearing the skin, but she couldn’t give up. Then her hurt ankle snagged on a boulder. A searing pain coursed through her, but she kept her foot firmly on it, grabbing whatever she could to stop her fall.
With a mouth full of dust, and her eyes streaming as they tried to get rid of the dirt, she assessed the situation. Standing was not going to be an
Chloe pushed herself harder, trying to climb as high as she could, up into the mountain range above Bear Bluff. She hoped the clear mountain air would seep into her brain and evaporate all the muddled up thoughts going round and round in one continuous loop. It was as if a tornado had started spinning and was now out of control.
A breathless sob escaped her; she was not going to think about Jerry, her fiancé, anymore. She looked down at the engagement ring on her finger. Ex-fiancé, but she couldn’t bear to take off the ring he had given her. Why? Because to do so would be to shrug off all the hopes and dreams of having a family that she had so carefully cultivated over the last six months.
She still remembered the day Jerry had proposed to her, dropping down on one knee, and asking those words she had so wanted to hear.
“Ugh!” she groaned in disgust. “Why do you keep thinking about it?”
But she couldn’t help it; she felt so stupid. So used. All he had been doing was trying to get on the good side of her father. Date the boss’s daughter to get a job, propose to the boss’s daughter to get a promotion. Then cheat on her when he got a new job and she was no use to him anymore.
She kicked a loose stone and listened to it skittering down the mountainside behind her. Onwards she climbed; higher up, until everything below was a distant blur, just like her dreams. Tears filled her eyes, but refused to fall. She had cried so much, her face was now permanently red and blotchy. That was why she had come up here: to be alone and think of what lay before her, now her ideal future no longer existed.
Up ahead, she saw a small clump of trees; she decided to head for them, to gain some shelter and sit down and eat her picnic lunch. Not that she felt like eating, but the climb had taken a lot of energy, and she planned to rest, stay here for a couple of hours to let her head clear in the beautiful still air, and then climb back down.
She looked at her smart phone, only to check the time—there was no signal up here. No one could contact her; for a few hours she would be offline and not have to field all the questions and recriminations. In some way, she knew her father blamed her. Thought that if Chloe had kept Jerry happy, he would still want to marry her and still work for the firm.
Oh yes, if only Chloe was trophy wife material, everything would have turned out fine. Instead, Chloe was a woman with too many curves and too many opinions. If only her dad could see that wasn’t a bad thing. Instead of being annoyed with her over Jerry leaving, he might then give her a chance to show her worth. However, she doubted that would ever happen. After her mom died, he had taken a new wife, Charity, and Chloe had been shocked that all her new stepmom was expected to do was look good at parties.
A thing she doubted she would ever excel at, and it didn’t bother her. Not really.
Feeling like a failure all-round, she took the last few steps, which would take her onto a game track and then into the trees. Deep in thought, she didn’t see a deer grazing in the shade. Startled, it sprang forward, knocking her over. Her ankle twisted, and she rolled painfully down the steep slope she had just climbed. Small rocks slid before her, creating an avalanche of scree. There was nothing for her to grasp hold of to stop herself from falling. Everything was moving down with her.
Panic swept over her; she knew she had to stop herself, or she would just keep sliding down. Reaching out, she tried to grab a tree root that had become exposed. It slipped through her hand, tearing the skin, but she couldn’t give up. Then her hurt ankle snagged on a boulder. A searing pain coursed through her, but she kept her foot firmly on it, grabbing whatever she could to stop her fall.
With a mouth full of dust, and her eyes streaming as they tried to get rid of the dirt, she assessed the situation. Standing was not going to be an
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