Mate Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #3)(20)

The clock on the bedside table read 10:00, so she rushed to shower and ready for a day of pampering. Girly shit, ha! Tobias probably didn’t understand her need to feel like a human woman again after those hard, rugged years surrounded by crazy men on Perl, but he’d listened—really listened—and then went to the trouble of planning a day for her. She could imagine his face stricken with mortification when he made the appointments and asked the front desk about clothing shops. Tobias was a big, tough, growly, bear-shifter, enforcer, mountain man, but he had no problem accepting her feminine side. He encouraged it, even.

She liked that he hadn’t tried to change her. He’d even called her a strong mate. She didn’t feel like that very often. Most of the time, she felt like a plastic bag in the wind—helpless. But Tobias must have seen a vein of inner strength she hadn’t given enough credit to.

Flowers! She’d never gotten flowers from a man before. Not even Jonathan-the-Pretender. She was glad no one had gifted them before because Tobias’s flowers were special now. For the rest of her life, Gerber daisies would hold a special meaning. She would dry them before they wilted and keep them forever.

Tobias had left a bag of sugary bear-claw pastries on the table, so she scarfed down two of them and then walked down the street to her first appointment, hair still wet and limp down her back.

She got her hair cut just below her shoulder blades and styled with soft curls. At her next appointment, she asked her nail technician to paint her fingernails and toenails a bright red to match her penguin nightgown. Vera smiled as she imagined Tobias’s grin when she showed him tonight. It wasn’t until mid-way through her nail appointment that she began to feel sick. Or not sick exactly, but unsettled, as if something was clawing at her insides. Waves of nausea took her as everything began to sound louder. Her head hurt with the noise of the nail salon, and after she’d paid and stepped outside, the sun blinded her, making her squint until her eyes watered. But despite a few concerned looks tossed her way from the passing strangers as she stumbled down the sidewalk, within a few minutes, she was back to her normal self again. Weird.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the last remaining ache behind her eyes, Vera made her way to Beek’s Boutique for a shopping spree. She had so much fun picking out clothes that fit her and that she thought Tobias would like. A harsh life on Perl Island had demolished her figure, making her waist too thin for her liking, but she had big plans on getting all of her curves back. She ate a crepe from a roadside vendor and then a full lunch at the taco stand before she meandered over to the Treasure Chest, which was, in fact, a lingerie store. It was surprising that a town so small could support one of these, but she was happy it was here because her undie drawer wasn’t flattering. Not if she intended to seduce Tobias on the reg. Not that he would be hard to seduce. The man had made love to her even though she’d worn llama pajamas, but still. She couldn’t wait to see his reaction when she showed him her new negligée.

While she waited in line to pay, the headache and nausea came back even worse, doubling her over. A store attendant asked if she was okay.

“I’m fine,” she gasped, holding her head like it would keep her brain from exploding. “Just a headache.” Or perhaps a migraine? She’d never had one before, but that sounded right.

A high pitched whining sound rattled her eardrums, and Vera clapped her hands over her ears, dropping her wares. She was horrified to look up and see it was the cashier’s voice causing that awful noise. She paid as fast as she could, eyes watering at the pain, then took her bags and made her way back to the hotel.

By the time she closed the door and fell into bed, she was reeling, barely able to move into the fetal position. A long growl rattled from her throat. She should call Tobias. He was good and strong and level-headed. He would know what to do to stop the pain. But she didn’t have his number, and really, she didn’t even know if he would hear a phone in the cockpit of his plane. He must be on a delivery that had been scheduled before she’d shown up. The clock read a blurry 4:00.

She was dying. No one could endure pain this bad and survive. Tobias would find her curled up on the bed, cold and dead, and there was tragedy in that. She’d only just gotten him, and she was going to leave him like this?

She yelped in pain as her neck snapped back. A long snarl vibrated through her throat, and suddenly, it all made sense. She wasn’t dying. She was Changing. No, no, no, not now! She was alone and in the city. In a hotel room. She needed to do this in the woods, away from people, but it was much too late for that.

The echoing sound of her bones breaking was like gunfire against her oversensitive ears as a keening wail left her lips.

Tobias wouldn’t like her after this. He couldn’t.

She’d tried to warn him, but he hadn’t listened.

Vera’s animal was Monster.





Chapter Nine


Tobias’s hands were smeared with dried blood. He would have to wash them thoroughly before he hugged Vera. She would smell Jonathan on him. Her senses would be even stronger than his because of the animal she housed inside of her, and he wanted to explain before she jumped to conclusions based on the amount of blood.

He pushed open the door to room 1010 and froze immediately as the smell of fur hit his nose. Shit.

In the doorway, he rushed to close the door and squinted in the darkness as his eyes adjusted. A low growl sounded from the corner, long and low and filled with fury. He was definitely getting bit tonight. Again.