Page 1 of Bearly in Love

one

MADISON

“Come on, come on, come on,” I muttered to my car, patting the steering wheel as if that would help soothe her. The angry sounds she was making told me she wasn’t going to be any easier to calm down at the moment than I was.

I’d driven away from home like hell was on my heels an hour earlier. The sun had finished setting while I drove, and my little SUV’s heater had gotten weaker and weaker with every passing minute.

Now, I was fairly confident the vehicle was dying.

I wasn’t that attached to it, but I’d be in deep shit if I didn’t make it back home. Or to some place far, far away.

Because my wedding was tomorrow.

I wouldn’t be heartbroken if I missed it. I’d technically been running from my fiancé when I drove away in the first place. Cold didn’t even begin to describe the way my feet were feeling.

The marriage was arranged. My dad had promised me to the alpha of our skulk—an ugly word for a group of foxes, I know— before I was even born. As soon as the ultrasound showed that I had lady bits, I’d been engaged to the biggest asshole in the small neighborhood the skulk owned.

My dad had used the opportunity to buy himself a place in power, as the alpha’s second-hand man. Female kitsunes were basically nonexistent, other than me. There was only one other alive at the moment, and she was the alpha’s bitchy mother.

My car made a truly horrendous noise, and I groaned as smoke started coming from the engine.

It wasn’t even that old. Only like… thirteen years.

Basically new.

I knew I should probably pull over before something actually caught on fire, but at the moment, death by car explosion sounded a little better than going back home.

So, I kept driving.

A bunch of warning lights were on in the car, and something was beeping, but I ignored all of it.

What else was there to do? I’d headed straight into the mountains and was now an hour outside Cub Lake, the bear-shifter-owned town that the skulk lived on the outskirts of.

Cub Lake had a nice grocery store, and foxes didn’t care about farming anywhere near enough to live any further than we already were from the food.

I did know someone with a house close to where I was—the middle of snowy, hellish nowhere—but there wasn’t a chance in hell that I’d be contacting Ambrose Stevenson for help with anything.

My older brother’s best friend was almost as big of a bastard as the alpha I was engaged to, in an entirely different way.

Where the alpha was charismatic and manipulative, Bo was just an asshole.

I’d sooner run back to Cub Lake in the snow than come face to face with him again for the first time in five years.

…but that would mean marrying the alpha.

Both of my options were awful.

The smoke coming from my engine grew thicker the further I drove.

I was starting to wonder if my fiancé had paid a witch to enchant my car or something.

Most witches were awful. I only knew of one that I liked, and she lived on a tropical resort full time, so it wasn’t like I could ask for her help on the regular.

The snow-covered forest around me was hardly a luxury hotel on the beach.

We’d been having our coldest winter in multiple decades in Cub Lake. This deep in the mountains, it felt like I’d descended into an icy version of hell.

“You can do this,” I told my car, hoping like hell that a pep talk would work. It could probably sense my impending doom, though. Even if it wasn’t cursed.

The smoke got thicker, as if in response to my plea.

And darker.

Fuck.

The engine started sputtering.

It had to be cursed, because whatever was going on didn’t seem normal.

The heat in the vehicle suddenly flared, and my gut said to move .

Fast.

I jerked the wheel, taking my SUV into the three-foot snowbank on the side of the road before I threw it into park. Steam and smoke billowed together when I lunged out of the car, leaving the door open as I stumbled away.

There was another weird noise, and when I looked back, I froze.

It was on fire.

Literally on fire.

A groan escaped me.

The nearest town or city other than Cub Lake was about a three-hour drive. Kitsunes weren’t made for traveling long distances, so even shifting to my fox form wouldn’t get me there quickly.

A cold, wet splotch landed on my cheek.

It was starting to snow, too.

The universe wanted me to marry the alpha.

Or call Bo for help.

Neither of which seemed like a valid option, so… maybe I’d try trekking through the trees. How many miles was three hours? 180? 150?

I’d survive.

Probably.

Dying in the snow sounded better than either of my other options. So even if I didn’t make it, I was better off going that route.

I gave myself two more minute to stare at the burning car and panic silently. When those two minutes were over, I’d shift.

Yay.

My eyes stung a little, but I refused to acknowledge my emotions. Or the situation. I wasn’t going to cry about my life, even if parts of it really sucked.

Snow crunched off to my side, and my heartbeat picked up.

If my fiancé had already caught up to me, I was in serious trouble.

The thick bushes nearby rustled, and a gigantic, fuzzy brown head poked out through a gap between them.

The stinging in my eyes stopped immediately.

Frustration replaced it.

Because I knew that bear far better than I had ever wanted to.

“Go home, Ambrose,” I bit out.

He stared at me.

And blinked, slowly.

Then looked at my car.

It was still on fire. I could feel the heat blazing off it.

More falling snow landed on my face. When I looked up, I found the dark sky filled with it.

I was screwed.

So, so screwed.

Even making the trek back to Cub Lake in that weather was going to be nearly impossible. And if I went back to Cub Lake, my fiancé would definitely find me.

The trees rustled again, and I looked over in time to watch Bo’s giant grizzly form pad over to my car. He ignored the engine fire and bumped the button to open the trunk with his muzzle. When it rose slowly, he ducked his head to avoid getting hit.

How the battery on it was still functioning, I didn’t know.

Maybe it really was cursed.

Bo grabbed my hastily-packed duffel bag between his teeth, and without a word, ambled back to the bushes he’d broken his way through.

Asshole .

If walking in the other direction had been a possibility, I would’ve done exactly that. Clothes be damned.

But the snow was falling thicker by the minute.

Leaving wasn’t an option.

So, I silently followed the monstrous grizzly through the forest, walking in his massive footprints so I didn’t end up stuck in the snow up to my knees.

I wasn’t short for a woman, coming in around 5’8”, but I had nothing on a six-and-a-half-foot shifter.

Let alone a grizzly bear. I’d definitely take advantage of the tracks he’d left.

We only walked through the forest for a few minutes before his cabin came into view. I’d seen it once before, but the falling snow mostly concealed its appearance from me this time. From what I remembered, it was made of thick, rough logs that had seen better days.

Much better days.

The entire building had been in horrible shape, even for a who-knew-how-old one bedroom cabin far from civilization.

That was five years ago, so I assumed Bo had fixed it up at least a little. That was his plan. He hadn’t qualified for any of his clan’s money after he refused an arranged mating, so he’d been making do.

Back then, I’d been so jealous he could turn down the arrangement that I started a massive argument with him.

Then again, fights usually started between us even without any jealousy to instigate them.

The snow was falling so hard I could hardly see the bear’s footprints when we reached an opening that looked like… a garage.

That was definitely new.

Bo must’ve added it on. He’d done construction as a teenager, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch to think he could manage it. It probably didn’t look great, but when you lived in the middle of nowhere, looks didn’t really matter.

A blast of heat hit me as I stepped inside the garage, wiping melty snow off my face and looking around.

Maybe it did look good.

The garage was wide enough to fit three cars. The floors were level and looked awesome, done in something fancier than I’d seen in the skulk’s neighborhood.

Though I had been known to avoid the alpha’s mansion. So I couldn’t say it wasn’t more elegant.

The walls of Bo’s garage were even too, and painted a grayish-white color that was decent at hiding scuffs.

His truck was just as old and shitty as I remembered, but he’d taken pride in that ancient thing since the day he’d gotten it. Him and my brother, Artie, had spent endless hours working on their crappy trucks together during their last two years of high school.

Of course, Artie had moved to Scale Ridge to escape the skulk immediately after graduation. He’d only been back home to visit twice. Once for our mom’s funeral, and once to help Ambrose move. He’d gotten married to a nice human woman the year before, but he hadn’t invited me.

As far as I knew, he wasn’t coming in for my wedding, either.

I didn’t blame him for skipping. Even if it made everything worse to be going through it alone. Artie had always been shittier than either of the beat-up trucks they were fixing. Especially to me.

I should’ve run away long ago.

But the skulk did have connections. If I ran away, I knew everything would end up a hell of a lot worse for me than it already was.

So I stayed.

Bo bumped the garage door button with his nose. I turned to watch as the door lowered.

The thing didn’t even make awful creaking or squeaking noises as it closed.

It had to have been fancy, because I’d never seen one lower without making a ton of noise.

Or maybe the ones I was used to were just crappy.

Both options seemed equally possible.

My dad had been at the bottom of the skulk’s power ladder until I was born. My gender was the only reason he had connections to the alpha now. And he wasn’t making any money off those connections until after my wedding, so he was still pretty much broke.

I’d moved out of the skulk’s neighborhood and into my own shitty apartment in Cub Lake as soon as I graduated high school.

I wasn’t sure why the alpha let me do so, but I appreciated it.

Almost as much as I appreciated that he hadn’t tried to mate with me the moment I became an adult.

My 23 rd birthday had been our agreement.

Anyway, the only fancy thing I’d ever done in my life was take a two-week vacation to the Supernatural Resort. The alpha had paid for that as a mating gift for me after I asked him to consider postponing the ceremony for another few years.

Those had been the best two weeks of my life. I’d only cried a few times that I could remember, and the morning I had to come back home was one of them.

I’d made friends at the resort. I’d relaxed. I’d been free, for the first time in my life.

Tomorrow, I was supposed to be the opposite of that.

Bo’s garage door closed, and I let out a slow breath.

I had at least a few hours until the snow stopped falling and the alpha found me. I might as well try to enjoy them. Even if that was going to be pretty much impossible while staying with Bo.

The grizzly dropped my duffel bag next to the door that led into the cabin, then took a step back and plopped down on the garage floor. I noticed a few blankets and pillows piled there. He must’ve slept there sometimes.

He closed his eyes.

Relief made my shoulders sag.

He wasn’t going to try to talk to me.

Maybe we could make it through the night without fighting. Or interacting at all. I could slip out of his cabin while he was still asleep, and maybe I’d be able to make it to another city before the alpha found me.

I might still be able to get out of my arranged mate bond.

Grabbing my bag, I murmured a thank you before slipping into the cabin. Bo wouldn’t care if I slept in his bed for the night, but I’d take the couch. His nose was sensitive, and even after washing the sheets, my scent would linger on the mattress.

If I covered the couch with a quilt or something, I should be able to prevent that.

Also, sleeping on the couch felt less intimate.

Which was definitely a good thing when it came to the bear in the garage.

I took a minute to look around after the door shut behind me.

Bo had definitely fixed it up.

Everything looked old, with rustic charm, but I was confident most of it was new. Or new to the cabin, at least.

The wooden floors were worn to perfection, with soft, earthy rugs stretched over them.

The walls were a light shade of beige that made everything feel cozy.

There was no art hung up, but some of the walls were paneled, some were logged wood, and a few strategic ones were either made of or covered with bricks.

Honestly, it was gorgeous.

And comfortable in a way even the Supernatural Resort couldn’t compete with.

I suppose it helped that the whole place smelled like Bo.

Even though that bastard was the closest thing I’d ever had to an enemy, we’d spent so much time around each other that he had always smelled like home to me.

I grabbed a blanket out of a closet and set my bag on top of it, beside the couch. The better I covered my scent, the less pissed Bo would be that he’d had to let me stay.

Even though he technically hadn’t had to let me stay.

He was the one who led me to his cabin. I hadn’t asked for a rescue.

I did appreciate it, though.

The alternative would’ve been a hellish trek. Assuming I actually survived.

But like I said, dying in the forest still would’ve been better than marrying the alpha.

So, with Ambrose sleeping in the garage and the heater making his cabin nice and warm, life was good for the moment. Or better than I would’ve expected, at least.

My phone had been in the car, plugged into the stereo, so I was sure it was toast. The fire had been way too close not to fry it. Even if it hadn’t, the alpha could probably track me with it.

I spent at least half an hour beneath the rain shower in Bo’s updated bathroom before climbing out and drying off.

All of the clothes on the top of my bag were wet—thank you, shitty old duffel bag—so I just threw on a comfortable bralette and a pair of shorts.

I didn’t bother putting my damp clothes in the dryer.

I probably wouldn’t be able to take them with me when I snuck out the next morning, since I’d have to shift to get out.

I turned on Bo’s TV before curling up on his couch between two thick blankets, and numbed myself with a spy movie until I fell asleep.