Fighter Bear (Enforcer Bears Book 4) Read online

  “Linden Creek,” Lily murmured.

  Logan nodded. “I never wanted to become the man I’d become. I didn’t really have a choice about joining Iron Fang’s clan―my father had debts. It was…”

  He shrugged uncomfortably. He’d never talked about these things before. Opening up to another person like this was terrifying. He’d much rather have fought Iron Fang himself.

  Back in the clan, to admit even the smallest sign of weakness was a mistake which his enemies would use to try and take his position from him. To survive, he’d learned to suppress his feelings until all that was left was Blood Claw, who’d followed Iron Fang’s commands and tried as best as he could to make a life for himself.

  It was still strange to be Logan now. Logan, who owned a farm and had an old dog and horse to protect.

  Logan, who’d found his mate and would love nothing better than spending the next few years making at least ten cubs.

  A reluctant smile appeared on his lips. It was new and scary, but he rather liked being just Logan.

  “Back then, I felt like it was the only option for me. If I didn’t go, they might have taken my brothers instead. So I joined Iron Fang’s clan, and I spent most of those years constantly fighting, suspicious of everyone around me.”

  “All those scars on your body,” Lily said softly, reaching out to trail a finger along his arm, where a werewolf claw had left behind a reminder of a fight he’d only barely survived.

  “I didn’t harm humans,” Logan said, swallowing thickly. “But lots of the things Iron Fang did were illegal. I was constantly involved in fights with the local werewolf gangs up north. The lion mafia, too. I’m not a good person, Lily. I want to be, for you… but I can’t undo those years. All I’ve ever learned was how to fight.”

  Lily’s lips quirked. “The lion mafia? Really?”

  Startled, a laugh escaped Logan. “That’s what you’re most worried about?” he murmured, his voicestill rough after his confession. “Yeah, it’s a thing. Lions are usually the most honorable, noble people you’ll ever know. Proud, too―but always good for their word. Only when they go bad… they go real bad.”

  Lily’s smile widened, and the hand that had gently traced his scar now stroked up his arm while she nestled against him.

  “Then it’s a good thing I’ve got my own bear to keep me safe,” she said, her voice firm. “Logan Anders, I’ve seen you jump a man pointing a gun at you, just because you were afraid for me. I’ve seen how you love this farm. I’ve seen what you’d do to protect an old animal which everyone else calls worthless. You’re a good man. And most of all, I think right now we really need a fighter around here.”

  Logan’s voice was still rough when he replied. “Then I can only hope that you’ll still have a use for an old fighter when all of this is over…”

  “This is our home now, remember?” Lily said. “Ours. And I rather think that I’ll need your help if we want to have four cubs playing in our apple orchard any time soon…”

  “Oh, I’m good at that, too,” Logan murmured, and now the roughness in his voice was for an entirely different reason as his cock throbbed with a new surge of need at her words.

  Chapter Nine: Lily

  The wind had picked up again. Every now and then, it made the barn door creak, sending a jolt of alarm through Lily. Earlier, Darrell had returned, this time in human form, and thankfully dressed. He’d accepted breakfast before he went out again, tirelessly prowling along the borders of their land.

  Lily sneaked a glance at Logan. She knew that he was aching to go out as well. She knew men like him―they got restless, those strong hands always searching for something to build or repair. But with Darrell patrolling the farm’s surrounding land, Logan was needed to keep watch right here.

  “You could call your brother again,” she suggested as she eyed the large, wooden box they’d just dragged down from the attic. “You said he’s a cop. The local police won’t do anything. They told me they’d look into my report, but I don’t think they believed me.”

  Logan made a thoughtful sound. “Don’t really trust human institutions to do things right,” he muttered, “but maybe Chris can hurry things along.”

  Lily grimaced and brushed the dust and cobwebs from the old box while Logan made his call. The box hadn’t been opened in years; she had to sneeze as the dust of cloud settled.

  This was where her uncle had kept all the clippings and papers connected to his old life at the race track. She hadn’t seen the contents of this box since she was a small child, awed by the stories of the adventure and glamour of the races. When she was seven, she’d wanted to become a jockey. By the time she was seventeen, her uncle’s stories had made her turn away from that dream to pursue a different dream of helping animals instead.

  Still, even now her heart was beating faster when she lifted the lid. Within, there was a stash of paper clippings, faded betting slips, pictures of horses with the winner’s wreath around their necks, old pedigrees and tiny notebooks full of numbers and addresses that were surely more than a decade out of date.

  To a child, it had been a mysterious world of glamour and great adventure. Now, as a grown woman, she still felt a faint fondness for those hours of make-believe, when she dreamed of riding a black stallion like Lucky from win to win. It was strange to see how much the past had shaped her―but also, it suddenly became easier to look clearly at herself and see who she had become.

  She hadn’t followed her childhood dream―but she’d found her own dream. Life as a vet tech wasn’t very glamorous, and the past few years, she’d worked in the office of a rescue organization where she was mostly responsible for PR. But she’d made a difference for hundreds of animals, and while not as glamorous as the race track, it meant everything to her.

  She lifted a clipping from the pile of documents.

  Black Star wins Triple Crown, it read. Beneath it, another: Black Star Still Unbeaten.

  The pictures were black and white, but the horse showed an uncanny resemblance to Lucky. Dimly, she remembered her uncle’s stories: Lucky had been the son of one of the most famous racehorses of his time―but unlike his father, Lucky had hated the track from the beginning. He’d never won a single race.

  At the bottom of the pile, there was a pedigree, carefully kept in a thin plastic folder. Lucky Star, it read. Sire: Black Star, Dam: Lucky Lucinda.

  Lily’s smile widened. Lucky Star… that had to be her Lucky.

  “Find anything?” Logan asked.

  She shook her head as she placed the pictures back into the box.

  “My brother says no stolen trailers or vanished horses in the area. He’s contacted a friend of his in the city, but… I’m starting to believe this isn’t an ordinary horse thief going after the first horse he finds. There’s something strange about all of this. Why Lucky?”

  Lily looked at the old notebook she’d kept. “Maybe I should start calling my uncle’s old friends, see if they know anything weird going on with horses in the area. Though I’d be surprised if these numbers still exist.”

  She had no luck with the first few numbers she tried. Then she began to Google the names in the notebook instead. For a few names, she found up-to-date numbers and addresses. Two of her uncle’s buddies were even on Facebook. Curiously, she clicked one name―and there, right at the top of the page, was a picture that looked familiar.

  “Lucky!” she breathed.

  This wasn’t an old black-and-white picture. This was a glamorous shot of a black thoroughbred stallion, his coat gleaming in the sunshine like jet, his eyes gazing at the camera with curiosity. Some of the hair around his muzzle had gone gray, but that was the only sign of the horse’s age.

  Lover’s Star, the headline beneath read.

  “You’ve got to hear this.” Lily turned towards Logan. “Listen: Lover’s Star dies aged 25 years. The most famous thoroughbred stud of the racing world produced an extraordinary amount of successful offspring, among them last year’s Kentuck
y Derby winner Lover Boy, and now-retired Love Is In The Air, with lifetime career earnings of $9,650,000. Lover’s Star, sired by famous Black Star, dam Lucky Lucinda, only barely missed the Triple Crown in his youth, but quickly gained great fame as this generation’s most influential―and most expensive―stud.”

  With a frown, Logan studied the picture. “He looks just like Lucky…”

  “That’s because he’s Lucky’s full brother. Same father, same mother.” Lily felt excitement rise up. She was still no closer to figuring out who had tried to kidnap Lucky, but at least now it felt like they had a trail.

  “And this Lover’s Star died a few weeks ago… I wonder if they want Lucky for some sort of insurance scam?” Logan picked up the phone again, determination in his eyes. “I’d suggest I go and have a sniff around their stable―”

  “Oh no, you won’t,” Lily said firmly.

  “But in this case, maybe it’s better to make use of my brother’s human law enforcement connections,” Logan agreed. “I’m not going to leave you alone, without protection. If there’s something fishy about these people, my brother will find out for us. I’m going to stay right here on the farm, in case that guy returns with his gun.”

  As Logan talked to his brother once more, Lily went to check on the animals again. Cody was restless, circling the yard. The food in his bowl was untouched. She had to sit with him a while, stroking his head and scratching his throat just the way he liked it, until he’d calm down enough to reluctantly eat some of the food.

  “You won’t help us if you’re so worried you starve yourself,” she told him gently. “We need you alert and strong for this.”

  Cody shook himself, then wandered away from the bowl again to where he could keep an eye on both driveway and barn.

  With a sigh, Lily stood. Inside the barn, everything was quiet. Motes of dust danced in the air. She smiled when Logan came to join her, and together they visited Lucky, who’d been confined to his box as long as they didn’t know what was going on.

  Lucky hadn’t finished the pellets in his crib either, though at least the armful of hay was gone.

  “You need to eat too, old boy,” Lily said worriedly. “I know you don’t like being cooped up in here, but it’s too difficult to keep an eye on you out on the paddock.”

  Logan went and fetched a few carrots, which Lucky gingerly took from his hand. He was still blowing air nervously from his nostrils as he sniffed at Logan’s fingers, but he didn’t move away.

  “There, nothing to fear from this bear,” Logan murmured. “We’re both in this together, see? Let’s work together to keep our Lily safe.”

  Warmth spread inside Lily once more. Despite the danger and the still unsolved mystery, she was filled by the sudden awareness that this was what happiness was like. Logan and her and the animals. She needed nothing else.

  Strange how well they fit together. This wasn’t what she’d dreamed of when she’d driven here with her small lottery win. She’d thought she’d turn into one of those single farmers working day and night to keep their farm afloat―but she’d wanted that life.

  She’d grown up watching the strong men and women in her family willingly taking that risk and devoting all of their life to their land. And it would have been enough for her, she thought even now as she watched Lucky shift in his box. It would have been enough; she would have been happy with only that.

  But what she’d found instead was so much more. This was the reason why everything felt so right: because Logan shared her dream. There would never be the discussions and fights she’d had with past boyfriends, who’d wanted adventure and were unwilling to compromise.

  I don’t need to compromise with Logan. Our dreams are the same: solitude and peace out here on the farm, with our animals and the orchard.

  And if two lonely souls shared their dream of a quiet life, then solitude suddenly became family. Home.

  I won’t have to change for him. And he won’t have to change for me. Just like this, it’s already perfect.

  Logan turned towards her then, a smile on that handsome face that still took her breath away, his golden-brown eyes full of protective love. With his arm wrapped around her waist, they made their way back towards the house.

  “Should we start lunch? Darrell should check in again soon,” Lily said.

  Logan nodded. “He’ll be hungry. How about I get out your uncle’s barbecue grill we saw in the attic?”

  “I don’t know who dragged it up there,” Lily muttered. “Must have been the estate agent's people cleaning up before you arrived.”

  Together, they carried the box back up into attic, then wrestled the grill down the stairs. Whoever’d had the brilliant idea to store it there instead of the barn had at least given it a good scrubbing beforehand. They could throw some steaks onto the flames for her bears playing guard dog, and Lily’d fix a salad and potato wedges to go with it. Maybe Cody would be distracted from his own guarding duty by the smell, and Lily could convince him to have some more food…

  Just when they’d managed to drag the barbecue out through the doors, Cody began to howl.

  Lily’s heart froze. She recognized the sound. It was the same howl that had greeted her when she’d first arrived. Back then, it had been because of Logan. It was a warning.

  Intruder.

  Logan was already halfway around the corner, sprinting around the house towards the barn.

  “Stay inside!” he shouted.

  Lily’s heart was racing. She wanted to run after Logan―but last time, the stranger had been armed.

  Even though everything inside her was crying out in worry for Lucky, she ran back inside, closing the door after her. She grabbed the phone and called 911. Even as she hastily gave them her address, she heard the distant sound of a truck―or a trailer?

  Instinct made her grab the poker by the fire place. Cody was still barking, a hoarse, angry sound that rose and swelled, and suddenly she could no longer take it.

  They weren’t after her, after all; they were after Lucky. And she’d be damned if she allowed strangers to come to her farm and harm her animals!

  Poker in hand, she ran towards the barn. The door was wide open―but once inside, she saw that the barn was empty. Lucky’s box had been opened, and light fell in from the door at the other side of the barn, which lead to Lucky’s paddock and the meadows. She could still hear the barking―and it came from that direction.

  She sprinted through the barn. When she came out into the sunlight, she nearly stumbled over Cody.

  The old dog was growling, showing his teeth as he held a man in check against the wall of the barn. Between Cody’s feet, there was another tranquilizer gun on the ground, and the man’s hand was bleeding from the wounds Cody’s teeth had left.

  As soon as he saw her, the man lunged at her―perhaps hoping to use her as a human shield against the enraged dog. But Lily veered to the left, and Cody managed to sink his teeth into the man’s ankle.

  Even as the intruder toppled, Lily only had eyes for the meadow stretching before her.

  There, almost at the other end of the meadow, Lucky was limping along behind the stranger who had threatened them yesterday. Where the meadow ended, a trailer had stopped on the dirt road―she must have heard its engine just a few minutes ago.

  And there, behind the man who was pulling an obviously tranquilized Lucky along, Logan was facing off against yet another man holding a gun.

  “No,” Lily screamed when she saw the stranger raise the weapon. From the distance, she couldn’t tell whether it was another tranq gun, or the real thing.

  And then there was the sound of a shot being fired.

  Everything happened so quickly that Lily could barely register what she saw. She was still running, her heart pounding in her chest as the golden bond between her and Logan sprung into existence once more, pulling her forward with irresistible force.

  Logan had fallen to the ground. But it wasn’t the bullet that had hit him. Something large and
black had appeared from out of nowhere, pushing him out of the way. There had been an agonized, animal groan… and then both Logan and Darrell were on the ground.

  Darrell, who’d been a bear a second ago, had shifted into human form. He was naked and clutching his shoulder. Lily was now close enough that she could see the red of blood beginning to spread.

  The stranger raised his gun again. Lily was running as fast as she could, but she was too far away.

  Shift, she thought through the bond, even as Logan, visibly dazed from the impact, groggily shook his head.

  Shift!

  Then, as if some dam had broken, she felt his emotions flood back into her: anger, protectiveness, and a love so fierce it nearly took her breath away.

  Where Logan had rested a heartbeat ago, a bear now reared up with a mighty roar―and then, before the stranger could fire at him, a powerful swipe of his paw batted the gun away with enough force that the man cried out in agony and cradled his arm.

  There was enough emotion flowing through the bond now that Lily knew what Logan knew: Broken. No longer a danger.

  Two of their attackers hadbeen taken out. Which left one final opponent―or two, if they counted the trailer’s driver.

  Already, Logan had jumped into action. On all fours, he was racing after Lucky and his kidnapper. But would he make it?

  Lucky had nearly reached the gate where thetrailer had parked. The trailer door was open. Logan was still running towards the stallion, his powerful paws digging into the earth as he shortened the distance between them―but now Lucky had reached the trailer, and the driver was starting up the engine.

  He won’t make it.

  Her stomach twisting with fear, Lily watched as Lucky, slow and confused, lifted a first hoof onto the ramp that led inside. Through the bond, she could feel Logan’s exhaustion and despair.

  And then suddenly, it all came back to her: Summer evenings braiding Lucky’s mane in the barn. Sneaking Lucky apples when she was supposed to help with chores. Riding on his back without saddle or halter, the fiery thoroughbred carrying her around the orchard again and again as though he was a gentle pony.