Alpha Bear Detective: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Read online

  Alpha Bear Detective

  By

  Zoe Chant

  Copyright Zoe Chant 2016

  All Rights Reserved

  Maria Hernandez was working late again.

  It was Friday night at midnight, and she was still at the office. Earlier that evening, Maria’s boss, Illinois State Senator Laura Davis, had had a dinner to thank her donors. Now Maria was sitting down with her to do the post-mortem.

  Laura Davis was the first shapeshifter to ever be elected to state office in Illinois. There were still a lot of people who didn’t like shifters, and even some who thought they were all dangerous and couldn’t be trusted. Spreading goodwill and good information about the shifter community was one of Laura’s biggest goals.

  So she spent time asking everyone who supported her how their friends and acquaintances had reacted to her election. Maria’s job had been to get as many notes down as she could. Now they were comparing what they remembered, and it was a long process. They weren’t going to get out of the Capitol building before one AM.

  Though, to be honest, Maria didn’t mind staying so late. Laura had even offered her the night off if she wanted it—you work too much already, Maria! Go out and have some fun, instead of coming to another political function.

  Maria had protested, insisting that she wanted to stay and help Laura out. And that was true, as far as it went. She truly believed in Laura’s cause and she wanted to do as much as she could to ensure that shifters were recognized as equal citizens everywhere.

  The other truth was just that she didn’t have anything else to do on a Friday night.

  She’d dumped her last boyfriend, Dave, almost two months ago. He’d been tall, good-looking, athletic, and muscular. When he’d asked her out, she’d thought she’d scored a real catch.

  The relationship had lasted for about five minutes before she’d discovered that, as usual, those big muscles came with a big ego. It had been clear that he thought that because he was a big strong man, he didn’t have to listen to a word she said.

  Maria had always been into men with strong bodies and strong personalities, who weren’t afraid to go after what they wanted, and who could bench-press her generously-curved body.

  But over and over, she’d ended up with boyfriends who wouldn’t listen to a woman. They thought her big boobs and her big butt meant that she couldn’t possibly have a big brain, too.

  After Dave, Maria had decided that she was fed up with being disrespected by her boyfriend, and she was taking a break from men to focus on her job. Which had been good, because the campaign had taken up all of her attention and all of her energy—she hadn’t had time to think about dating.

  Now that Laura was firmly in office, though, Maria was starting to remember why she resented the Daves of the world.

  If only—

  No, she told herself firmly. No, no, no. She was not falling into that trap again. Men were jerks, and she still had too much to do to worry about dating. Laura deserved her full attention.

  * * *

  “I still don’t see why we had to run out here right away,” Danny complained. “He’s not going to be there.”

  Detective Levi Hale turned the car left with some lingering hope that they were going the right way. “He might be.”

  “Even if he is, what are we going to do? Arrest him based on how he looks kind of like someone our drunk witness described?” Danny was scanning the neighborhood from his window, but obviously seeing nothing.

  “We might catch him in the act,” Levi pointed out. “And anyway, we can’t ignore a lead. Even a drunk lead.”

  “You and your procedure, man.” Danny shook his head, although he didn’t take his eyes off his window—as much as he complained sometimes, he was a good cop. Levi suspected that with another partner he might’ve goofed off a bit more, but whenever Levi insisted they follow something through, Danny was right behind him. They made a good team.

  It was too bad they hardly ever got to do anything.

  “Procedure is there for a reason.” Levi turned again, with less and less hope that they were actually going to find their drug dealer.

  Potential drug dealer. Potential small-time drug dealer. The lieutenant had dropped this case in Levi’s lap with the air of someone doing him a favor, and Levi was grateful to get a chance to be out on the street instead of staring at paperwork, but it was a tenuous case against a guy who probably wasn’t all that bad in the first place.

  But maybe if Levi could arrest this guy even on their flimsy information, the lieutenant would realize that he was a capable detective and give him something a bit more challenging. Finally.

  Levi had been with the Springfield Police Department for almost two years now, and the lieutenant still treated him like he was a green rookie. Levi couldn’t figure out why—he was a hard worker and he thought he was as smart as any other detective in the department. But maybe what he needed was to take initiative on a case like this, and the lieutenant would see his potential.

  He turned again. Still no one in sight. “Taking directions from a drunk witness might have been a mistake,” he admitted to Danny.

  Danny grinned. “But what could be better than a late-night tour of scenic, empty downtown Springfield? On your left, the Capitol building. On your right…maybe just keep looking at the Capitol building.”

  It was hard to look at anything else—the place was monolithic, and it loomed over everything nearby. The witness’s statement had directed them to a possible deal being conducted by their prime suspect, right by the Capitol building, you know, just right there. He had refused to elaborate as to whether he meant to the north, south, east, or west, or how far away “right there” was.

  Levi had to acknowledge that their chances of finding anything were basically nil, but they were at such a dead-end right now that they couldn’t afford to ignore any information. Even information as dumb as this.

  “I’ll circle around it a few times, and then we’re going back to the station.” Levi scanned the side of the road as he spoke, but there was no sign of anyone.

  “Unless we see something,” Danny said. “Like, oh, crime.”

  “I promise if we see any crime, I’ll stop immediately.” Levi turned onto another empty street. It didn’t seem likely.

  * * *

  Maria and Laura wrapped up at the office around one AM. Maria saved all her notes on her laptop and stretched mightily. It had been a long job but it was worth it.

  This was the sort of thing that kept them on top, whether they’d been socializing with donors, lobbyists, or other politicians. Maria really liked this part of the job, if she was honest—tracking what everyone was trying to do behind the scenes. Separating what they said they wanted from what they actually wanted.

  It was good work, too. For so long, shifters had been hidden in the shadows, and now they were finally getting to come out into the light. Laura, as a smart, articulate, well-educated, not at all dangerous sparrow shifter, was doing an amazing job of showing the public that shifters were just people like anybody else.

  Maria did wonder sometimes if the larger shifters, like bears and lions, would ever feel comfortable revealing themselves to the public. She knew of a few who had admitted what they were, but too many people thought they were dangerous. People were afraid that they wouldn’t be able to control their animal instincts.

  Well, Laura was taking the first steps now, and that was what mattered.

  “Thank you for staying so late, Maria.” Laura filed their notes away and smiled warmly at her. “Take the weekend off. Go away overnight or something. You deserv
e it after these last few months.”

  And with the bonus Laura had given her when she was elected, Maria could even afford a spur-of-the-moment vacation if she wanted to go. But…“I’d rather be available,” she said firmly.

  After all, it wasn’t like she had anyone to go away with, was it?

  Laura shook her head, smiling. “Well, I’m not going to call you at all this weekend. You deserve to relax.”

  “So do you,” Maria pointed out. “You work harder than I do.”

  “I’m not young like you! You should have some good times around all of this work.” Laura shook her head at Maria’s dubious look. “At least take a bath and have a glass of wine or two.”

  That did sound nice. “Maybe. But promise you’ll call if there’s an emergency.”

  Laura put her hand over her heart. “I promise. If there’s an emergency, I’ll call.”

  * * *

  “Man, this is a bust,” Danny complained, staring out at the empty streets. “I cancelled a date so that I could work tonight, I hope you know.”

  “One night off the dating scene this week won’t kill you.” Levi scanned his side of the road. Still nothing.

  “Fair point. I’m going out with Tanya tomorrow night, anyway. Are you sure you’re not up for seeing her friend? I bet she’s hot.”

  “Thanks, I’ll pass.” Levi turned off onto a side street.

  Danny went out with tons of women, and hardly ever saw the same one twice. Levi was more of a monogamous kind of a guy, but he’d broken up with his last serious girlfriend over a year ago, and since then, Danny kept trying to set him up with some of the endless string of women he knew.

  The thing was, Levi wasn’t into Danny’s kind of woman. They were party girls, skinny and heavily made-up and looking for a good time. And once that good time was done, all they wanted was another one.

  Levi wanted to take his time getting to know one woman, a woman who was smart and motivated to do more than drink and party. A woman who listened to him instead of just looking him over, and who had something to say back.

  And frankly, he liked a woman with a few more curves than Danny’s skinny blondes. He was getting sick of it being fashionable for women to starve themselves—he wanted someone who looked like she knew how to eat more than a salad.

  Then there was also the fact that he knew that as a shifter, he was always waiting for his mate. His bear had never even twitched at any of the women Danny had introduced him to. His mate was still out there somewhere, waiting for him to find her.

  He thought about her sometimes, wondering where she was, hoping she was doing all right without him. Thinking, I’ll be there for you soon. Someday soon.

  He just hoped he knew her when he saw her. Sometimes it hit people like a bolt out of the blue, but sometimes it took a little longer for a bear to realize their mate was standing right in front of them, looking them in the eye.

  Someday.

  “One more pass around,” he told Danny as he turned again. “Then we can head back. Maybe you can hook up with Tanya tonight after all.”

  “No, man, Tanya’s tomorrow night.” Danny shook his head in despair. “Tonight is Stephanie. You’ll never make it on the dating scene if you can’t keep their names straight, take it from me.”

  Levi had a perfectly dry comeback ready for that, but the bang! bang! of sudden gunshots stole it right out of his head.

  * * *

  Maria followed Laura out of the building, shuffling her stack of papers into one arm to get the door from Laura.

  “Let me take some of that.” Laura turned around to face Maria as they came out into the wide concrete columned entryway. “Oh—shoot.” A pen rolled off the top of the pile of papers and bounced down the stairs.

  “I’ll get it—” Maria darted forward.

  Laura was already halfway down the steps toward it, and they both leaned over just as something boomed over their heads.

  “What—?” Maria started to say, but then the noise sounded again.

  A spray of pinpricks hit her left cheek. She turned to look, and saw that a chunk of concrete had been knocked loose from the steps.

  “What was that?” Maria looked out over the dark Capitol grounds, but couldn’t see anything.

  Another boom, and she ducked, startled, as more concrete chips pattered down around her.

  “That was a gunshot,” Laura said faintly, looking at the shattered section of the wall.

  “Is someone shooting at us?” Maria managed, astonished.

  If someone was, they had to move—the Capitol building was all lit up in the night, and the two of them were perfectly illuminated by the floodlights on the stairs.

  There was another horrendously loud noise—was that really what gunshots sounded like close up?—and Laura shrieked and poofed away.

  Maria could just see the pale form of a sparrow fluttering upward, and had time to be thankful that Laura was getting away—and worried that she was hurt; why had she yelled like that?—before there was another shot, and a hot line of pain lanced along her upper arm.

  Holy crap, she’d been hit.

  Just grazed, she realized almost immediately. It was bleeding, but it was barely more than a scrape. Still, a bullet had actually hit her.

  She wasn’t safe here. She started to run, an awkward, crouching run along the stairs. She stumbled once, twisting her ankle painfully—she kicked away her heels and kept going.

  She didn’t know where the shooter was, though, so she didn’t know where she’d be safe. Her breath was rasping in her ears, her heart going a million miles a second—had Laura gotten away? How was she going to get away?

  The Capitol’s grounds had a lot of trees, but they were small and spindly, no big thick hedges. Still, there weren’t any lights on the grounds, so Maria would take it over the spotlit stairs. She stumbled down the last couple of steps and bolted for the grass.

  Another shot sounded, so loud it was deafening.

  Wrong way. If the shots were getting louder, was she moving closer to the shooter? She darted behind a tree and tried to mentally force herself to be only six inches wide, crouching down to make herself as small a target as possible.

  Her mind was racing. Was this a mistake? Should she have kept running? Surely a moving target was harder to hit. But she still didn’t know where the shooter was—if there was even only one!—and if she ran right out into his line of sight, or even right toward him, blindly, she could be dead.

  She might be safe for now, here in the dark where he couldn’t see her, but she didn’t know for how long.

  And she couldn’t even call 911. The light from her phone would give her away instantly.

  So she waited, her panting breaths sounding loudly in her ears. Could the shooter hear them? Her heartbeat sounded almost as loud to her and he wouldn’t be able to hear that, so maybe not…?

  Slowly, her vision adjusted to the nighttime. She scanned the grounds frantically, looking for anyone else. Surely the security guard had heard the shots and called the police?

  Surely someone had heard something?

  Wait—there was a person, running quickly and quietly along the grounds. Was it help? Was—

  No, he had a rifle. That was the shooter.

  As he darted along the grass, he was briefly caught in one of the floodlight beams, and Maria stifled a gasp.

  She knew who that was. She’d seen his face before.

  The man took up a position against the staircase and surveyed the grounds. Maria willed herself to be invisible.

  His eyes flicked past her, once—

  —twice—

  He saw her.

  As if in slow motion, Maria saw him come up from his crouch and raise his gun. It was pointed directly at her. He smiled.

  She ran.

  Shots boomed out behind her. Her breath sobbed in her chest, but she couldn’t hear it over the gunfire. Surely he was going to hit her—now? Now?

  She stepped on a rock. The sharp pain
in her bare foot made her stumble, and she hit the ground with both hands, hard. Pain lanced up her arm where she’d been grazed. Oh, God, this was it, he couldn’t miss her now—

  “Police! Drop your weapon!”

  Maria froze, not believing her ears. But she couldn’t have made up that deep, powerful voice.

  She lifted her head and saw another figure approaching at a run from the opposite direction. He had his gun out, and he charged right up to where she was lying on the ground—and stopped, taking up a position by her side.

  For a moment they were both frozen, Maria sprawled on the ground, her breath harsh in her ears, and her rescuer standing solidly above her, his feet planted and his gun out.

  Another minute ticked by, and another…and she wasn’t shot. Slowly, she pushed herself up to her knees and looked over her shoulder.

  The shooter was gone.

  “Ma’am?”

  She looked up.

  “Ma’am, are you all right?” The man loomed protectively over her, his gaze flickering from her to the darkness behind her. His gun was pointed directly at the place where the shooter had been.

  Maria tried to get up, stumbled once, and then the policeman caught her with a solid, warm grip and eased her to her feet.

  She looked up into concerned dark eyes. “I’m fine.” Her voice wobbled.

  “You’re bleeding.” He touched her other arm gently. “You need a doctor.”

  His voice was velvet-soft and deep, and she just wanted to wrap herself in it and forget that any of this had happened.

  She couldn’t do that, though, because she needed to—oh, no. Laura!

  * * *

  Levi had screeched the car to a halt in front of the Capitol building as Danny called in shots fired, and they’d leapt out and taken opposite routes into the darkened grounds, trying to cover as much territory as possible.

  Levi had been the one to find the shooter…just in time.

  As he helped the intended victim to her feet, she met his eyes, and he couldn't help but stare.

  She was absolutely gorgeous. Long, curling black hair, full mouth, dark eyes surrounded by long lashes, and very generous curves. Her chest was heaving, which really showed off her—