Her Fae-vorite Bear: A Wishing Moon Bay Shifter Romance, page 1





Table of Contents
Copyright
The Bond of Brothers
Foreword
Chapter One – Flora
Chapter Two – Aiden
Chapter Three – Flora
Chapter Four – Aiden
Chapter Five – Flora
Chapter Six – Aiden
Chapter Seven – Flora
Chapter Eight – Aiden
Chapter Nine – Flora
Chapter Ten – Aiden
Chapter Eleven – Flora
Chapter Twelve – Aiden
Chapter Thirteen – Flora
Chapter Fourteen – Aiden
Chapter Fifteen – Flora
Chapter Sixteen – Aiden
Chapter Seventeen – Flora
Chapter Eighteen – Aiden
Chapter Nineteen – Flora
Chapter Twenty – Aiden
Chapter Twenty-One – Flora
Chapter Twenty-Two – Aiden
Chapter Twenty-Three – Flora
Chapter Twenty-Four – Aiden
Chapter Twenty-Five – Flora
Chapter Twenty-Six – Aiden
Chapter Twenty-Seven – Flora
Chapter Twenty-Eight – Aiden
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Flora
Chapter Thirty – Aiden
Chapter Thirty-One – Flora
Chapter Thirty-Two – Aiden
Chapter Thirty-Three – Flora
Chapter Thirty-Four – Aiden
Chapter Thirty-Five – Flora
Epilogue
Also By Harmony Raines
Get In Touch
Her Fae-vorite Bear
The Bond of Brothers
Book Three
***
All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.
This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.
© 2021 Harmony Raines
The Bond of Brothers
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Individual Books
The White Wolf of Wishing Moon Bay
The Bond of Brothers Book One
The Horse Shifter’s Mate
The Bond of Brothers Book Two
Her Fae-vorite Bear
The Bond of Brothers Book Three
Her Fae-vorite Bear
The Bond of Brothers
Book Three
A silverback shifter romance
Aiden’s mate is a fae. Fae don’t always like shifters.
Can the bear shifter convince Flora he’s worthy of her love?
When Aiden’s mate arrives in town, she isn’t interested in exploring their relationship. Not when she has a child to save.
As she journeys to the world beyond Wishing Moon Bay, this shifter isn’t going to get left behind. Flora needs his help, even if she’s too proud to admit it.
There must be a way to make her see they are meant to be together. That he’s supposed to love and protect her.
What Aiden doesn’t know is that she’s trying to protect him—from heartbreak. Because Flora has a secret that might keep them apart. Forever.
Flora needs information that might help her find her friend’s missing child. She does not come to town to meet a growly bear shifter who calls her mate.
However, she soon realizes that Aiden is a shifter she can depend on, someone who’ll be there for her no matter what.
When a shocking discovery sends them back to the fae realm, Aiden is by her side. Where she wants him to stay. Forever.
Will Aiden still feel the same way when he discovers her secret?
Chapter One – Flora
“Calm down, I don’t want to cause trouble.” Flora stopped around ten feet away from the small group of people staring at her. With a slight tilt of her head, she surveyed the broad-chested, dark-haired man, his eyes a little out of focus, but fixed on her. “Or maybe you would like me to hurt you.” She smiled disarmingly.
“What do you want?” Oscar Renshaw, an older man in his mid-sixties stepped forward, his chin jutted out in defiance.
“You.” She put her hands on her curvy hips and lowered her gaze, challenging him.
“Why?” Another man stepped forward. She lifted her chin and sniffed the air.
“Don’t be alarmed, horse shifter. I only need to speak to the detective.”
“I’m not a detective anymore,” Oscar replied.
“That’s immaterial. You were a detective. And I need knowledge of a case you worked some years ago.”
“And you expect me to help you?” Oscar had enough run-ins with the fae to be wary, but she needed him to trust her.
“I do.” She bowed her head and relaxed her stance. “I’m sorry. Maybe if we start again and I introduce myself.” Flora stepped forward.
“I know who you are, Flora Delavere, Daughter of Evander, High Lord of the Starlight Realm,” Oscar replied.
“Ah, that explains the slightly hostile behavior.” She looked at each of them in turn. “I’m only here for information and then I’ll be gone.”
“Dario, why don’t you and Helena go back to the store? I’ll handle this.” Oscar nodded at the horse shifter and the woman by his side.
“And the other one?” Flora pointed to the man who was still staring at her. A bear shifter. A true warrior among his kind. Her eyes lingered on him longer than they should but there was something about him that she found...attractive. Great. As if her life wasn’t messed up enough.
“He’s your mate, Flora.” Oscar took pleasure in those words.
“Oh, no. I am not in the market for a mate.” She waved her hands at the shifter. “You’re probably a really nice guy and everything but a shifter is not the man for me. Thank you.”
“You know you have no choice in this.” Oscar’s eyes twinkled. “And neither does your father.”
Her jaw tightened. Oscar was wrong, her father had a couple of choices. But that trouble could wait for another day. “My father has other things on his mind right now. So, why don’t we get to the reason I am here. The rest can wait.”
“Can it?” Oscar asked.
“Are you going to be unreasonable?” She arched a perfectly curved eyebrow.
“Would it matter if I was?” Oscar stared at her. He didn’t like her. Most people in Wishing Moon Bay didn’t. They judged her before getting to know her. The fae were not the friendliest of people outside of their realm. And in response, people were not friendly toward fae.
“Oscar. May I call you Oscar?” She respected the detective. His reputation for bringing criminals to justice was well known even in the realm of the fae.
Oscar bowed his head. “You may, Flora.”
“I need some information on a case you worked on some years ago.” Would he help a fae? They were not renowned for helping the authorities, preferring to deal with their people in their own way, even if the crime was committed outside of the fae realms.
“As you mentioned.” He stepped closer, his voice low. The bear shifter stepped closer, too, his eyes never leaving her face. “I am going to need a little more information.”
“It’s...” She glanced at the candy store. There was a child outside croaking like a frog and a sudden need to not talk about this in front of him overwhelmed her. Great. Not only was she attracted to a shifter, she was now experiencing maternal feelings. She didn’t have time for distractions. “Could we talk elsewhere?”
“Tell me what information you seek.” Oscar closed the space between them.
“Children. Missing children.” Her lip trembled and she lowered her eyes. “Please, I need your help.”
Oscar’s eyes widened and he gave a curt nod. “We can go to my house. My memory isn’t as good as it once was. If it’s about what I think it is, then I need to access my files.” Oscar glanced at the bear shifter. “Why don’t you give Flora a ride? I’ll meet you there.”
“I could ride with you,” Flora called out, but the detective walked away without turning around. “Bear shifter.”
“Fae.” His eyes came back into focus, he’d lost the dreamy look. Instead, he was filled with suspicion. “Why are you looking for missing children?”
“Where is your car?” Flora looked around. This was none of his business. She’d only come into town to find Oscar and ask him for help. She wasn’t here to make small talk with a shifter. Even one as growly as the man who was supposed to be her mate.
Although, if he knew what he was getting mixed up in, he’d have turned around and run back into the candy store. His life would be a whole lot easier if he forgot all about her.
“This way.” He strode down the street and even with her long legs, she struggled to keep pace with him. Great, another male who intended to show her he was stronger than her, had power over her. Well, he had another thing coming.
They walked in silence until they reached a truck that had seen better days, like most of the vehicles in Wishing Moon Bay. People here didn’t travel too far, they were happy to
Only those folks who left the town more often bought newer cars. They traveled more miles...
“Are you getting in?” the bear shifter asked.
“Yes.” She reached for the passenger door handle and pulled it. The door swung open, no creaks, no groans. When he started the engine it purred like a kitten. The truck might be old, but it was well cared for.
This shifter deserved better than her.
“Tell me why you are looking for missing children?”
“What am I supposed to call you, mate?” She was a master at not answering the questions of others. Non-answers caused much less trouble.
“My name is Aiden. Why the children?” Aiden waited for her to answer, the key poised over the ignition.
“A fae child has gone missing. I’ve been sent to help bring her back.” It was a half-truth, but it was not a lie.
“And why does this relate to a case Oscar worked on?” Aiden pushed for answers.
“I received information from a trusted source.” She glanced sideways at him. “Does it pain you that your mate is fae?”
He sighed. “No.”
“That face says differently, as does your tone.”
“I know what fae think of shifters.”
“I know what shifters think of fae.”
A small smile crept over his face. “Why don’t we just pretend we are two people who have just met and leave our prejudices out of it?”
“A shifter with a brain. How marvelous.” She looked down at her hands clasped in her lap.
“I’m being serious, Flora.” He didn’t rise to her jibe, instead, he turned his heartwarming, soft brown eyes on her.
She swallowed hard and inclined her head. “That would be...refreshing.”
“Okay. So, tell me more.” He pushed the key into the ignition and started the engine.
Flora let out the breath she’d been holding. “A friend of mine. Delphine. She lives in the world beyond.”
“The world beyond. That’s what your people call the world outside of Wishing Moon Bay?”
Flora nodded. “Yes, that’s the name we give for the non-magical world.”
“And your friend lives there?” He stared at her for a moment. “And she is fae?”
“Yes.” She understood his surprise. But he didn’t know the circumstances and Flora wasn’t ready to explain them, not to him. Not yet.
“And it’s this friend whose child was taken?”
“Yes.”
“Did they get a look at who took the child?” Aiden drove out of town toward where the retired detective lived.
“No. They have no idea as to the identity of the kidnapper. However, a friend of the family concerned mentioned another case, one Oscar has knowledge of.” She shouldn’t be telling this shifter, but if he truly were her mate, she could trust him with her life. “When my friend investigated further, they found there was a spate of these kidnappings over a period of time. Children considered supernatural are taken. Shifters mainly. This is the first time a fae child has been stolen.”
“Ah, so that’s why you are interested, not because you want to bring down the people involved but because someone dared to take one of your special fae children.” Aiden’s jaw tensed.
“That’s not true,” she said firmly. “We are only interested now because we have knowledge of it.”
“Because it involved a fae child. It doesn’t bother you that this has been going on for decades?”
“Decades. I never said decades.” He knew more than he was saying. She wasn’t the only one with secrets. “You know of these cases?” Flora asked. Perhaps this was the reason she had been drawn to Aiden. He might be the key to the whole thing. She had come to meet Oscar, but that was just fate leading her to where she needed to be.
“I am one of those cases. My brother and I were taken as children. We were found in a cramped apartment. Apparently, we were going to be sold. Because we were shifters.” He stared ahead, not looking at her as they arrived at Oscar’s house.
“And this all happened outside of Wishing Moon Bay?”
“Yes, we were born in your world beyond.” He glanced sideways at her. “We were lucky, sometime after we were rescued, we were adopted by Valerie. She runs the hotel...”
“I know of Valerie Kelts.” She rested her chin on her hand and stared out of the window. “Will you come with me? Will you help me find the missing child?”
“What do you think?” Aiden ground out.
“I think you are angry that I am your mate.” Her heart ached like a wound that wouldn’t heal.
“I’m not angry.” He relaxed his shoulders. “I’m just...”
“Disappointed?”
“No. Concerned.”
“Concerned.” She gave a short laugh.
“Yes. That you won’t take this seriously. I know how fae feel about shifters.”
“Then you will have to change my mind.” She blinked rapidly and swallowed down her emotions as she’d been taught to do since a small child. “But our mating is secondary to the need to find the child.”
“Agreed.” He parked the truck and got out. “We’ll find the child. Then we’ll figure us out.”
“Us.” She joined him and they walked to the house together. Oscar had already arrived and was waiting for them at the front door.
“Yes. Us. You and me.” He glanced sideways at her. “You find that amusing.”
“A little.” She stopped walking and stuffed her hand in her pockets. “The fae are very...individual. I suppose in some ways selfish.”
“Really?” He arched an eyebrow.
“Oh, we do sarcasm, do we?”
“We do, although it’s more of my brother’s thing.”
“Is he older or younger?” Flora tilted her head to one side.
“We’re twins.”
“Twins. Identical?” This had her interest.
“Yes. Although, I’m the better-looking one.”
She nodded solemnly. “And I will agree with you because you are my mate, and we should agree on all things.”
Aiden laughed. “A fae with a sense of humor. This is going to be interesting.”
“You have no idea, Aiden. No idea at all.”
As they reached Oscar, he opened the door and went inside. Flora followed behind Aiden, pausing to glance over her shoulder. The skin on the back of her neck prickled as if she were being hunted.
She’d hoped to get out of town before her father realized she was gone. Evander, High Lord of the Starlight Realm, would not condone her risking her life to help Delphine.
Not when she should be at home planning her wedding.
Chapter Two – Aiden
“Right. Aiden, why don’t you go into the kitchen and make coffee while I go and dig out the files I need.” Oscar removed his jacket and hung it up in the hallway before rubbing his hands together and heading into the first room on the right.
“And what shall I do?” Flora asked.
“Stay right there. Don’t touch anything and don’t talk.” Oscar stared at her for a long moment. Flora opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. Oscar’s eyes twinkled and he cracked a smile. “I was just testing you.”
She frowned. Flora didn’t seem to get people at all. “Testing me for what?”
“To see how serious you were about all of this. Fae are not known for holding their tongues or doing as a mere mortal tells them.” His smile faded. “But you were willing to.”
Flora stepped forward, an air of menace surrounding her. “I assure you, this is deadly serious.”
“Then you’d better come this way. We have a lot of files to go through.” He inclined his head toward the door. “Aiden, there is some cake in the cupboard. Perhaps you can root it out and bring it in when the coffee is ready.”
“Sure.” He turned on his heel and went to the kitchen to make the coffee.
We have a mate, Aiden’s bear sounded as stunned as he was.
We do.
A fae.
A fae. Aiden grabbed the empty coffee pot and made fresh coffee before checking through the cupboards for the cake.