Amy’s Bear (The Werebear Shifters)
Aurora Reid
They found him. Dom ran for a week, driving most of the days with little sleep, and still, they found him. He thought he might be paranoid at first, so he kept walking, pushing past all of the country folk enjoying the fair and heading toward the amusement rides. When he got to the ferris wheel, he didn’t need to turn around to sense that the two following him were at his heels.
He could smell them.
That was what gave Dom the edge, his extra senses. These guys trailing him were professionals. If he didn’t have his powers, he probably wouldn’t have gotten far, but those powers made him cautious. Right now, he wondered, would there be a drone above him trying to snap a picture? Maybe it would follow him out of the parking lot and then send a missile his way, but probably not, they needed him alive.
Dom was valuable.
He wasn’t sure what he was, but he knew he was important. If someone got their hands on the ability to control his shapeshifting, he was sure they would make billions. Dom wasn’t positive if it was a company on his heels or if it was the government, but these men meant business.
Dom knew the type. He used to be one, and he had good reason to believe that these men were sent by someone from his past. While stationed as an operative in Kabul, something bad went down. That’s when this all started. There was a good number of people, all powerful enough to hunt him, who saw his first shift.
Hungry, always so hungry, Dom hurried to the long line waiting for funnel cake. He skipped it all, snatched the funnel cake off the first person in line, tore into it, and then ran.
“Hey,” screamed someone in line behind him, but he was already gone, rushing through the crowd, immersing himself in it. His stalkers were on his trail, and sadly, the funnel cake hadn’t curbed his hunger much.
Dom tested his keen sense of smell and could tell there were more people hanging around his car than before. Going back to his old vehicle wouldn’t be an option. They would already have it staked out. He raced toward the opposite end of the carnival, making the men shove their way through locals.
“You’re drunk, Tom,” a woman said ahead.
“Don’t tell me what I am,” the man shouted. It sounded serious. The scents he picked up of the woman were alluring. They drove him wild, kicking him into overdrive. If he had time, he would stop and get a better whiff, but he didn’t have time.
He broke through the crowd to see the couple struggling.
The girl was right. Tom was wasted. He clung onto her arm as she reeled back. She flinched, and Dom could smell her fear. That fear was nothing new for her. This man had done this to her before, and more. He’d struck her. Dom snarled, unable to control his rage and his need to protect such a lovely prize.
Before Tom could spin around, Dom decked him square in the jaw. Out cold, he dropped to the dirt. And why shouldn’t he have done that? He was already a wanted man. Why not live it up a little, and do a little good at the same time?
The girl screamed. Dom took her by the hand and ran with her.
“Why?” she yelled. Wasn’t it obvious? Dom needed her, and she needed Dom. He had just done her a favor, so she was going to do one for him.
He pulled her with him to the parking lot.
“Where’s your car?”
“No,” she said and yanked back.
He gave her a wild glare. She understood.
She handed him the keys.
Amy clutched the seat, staring straight ahead as the car shook. She didn’t know if her car could take the speed. The man next to her, who told her his name was Dom, didn’t look as worried as her, not even close. He looked like former military. Maybe he snapped? If he was former military, that was even worse for her. He would know what he was doing.
He turned onto the highway, bringing his speed down.
“There. We’re done, at least for now.”
“What the fuck is going on?”
“Calm down, it’s nothing serious. I’m being trailed, but we lost them.”
“Sure, I’ll calm down. This is a kidnapping. Do you realize that?”
How could he act like she didn’t deserve to freak out? This guy had to be on something, or crazy. She couldn’t decide which.
“I don’t know about that. I did save you from that asshole back there. You owed me.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that. That was my boyfriend.”
Dom scoffed. He shook his head.
“He hit you before,” he said.
Amy looked away. It was true. It seemed like Dom wasn’t just guessing, which was what stopped her from saying, “bullshit.” It seemed like he really knew, really understood what she was going through, but that was crazy. He was a stranger. There was no way for him to know that. Unless it was that obvious to everyone else? She didn’t think so. Her sister, when she told her about Tom getting physical, didn’t believe her at first.