Ripe for the Alpha (The Ridge Brothers Bear Shifters Book 4) Read online

  I see the way they’re looking. I’m a curvy girl and I’ve heard that shifters like their women thick and voluptuous.

  I glance over at the barricaded window as a shakiness trembles through my limbs. I don’t want to lose my virginity like that. I’ve saved it for someone special, and now I’m afraid it’s going to be taken from me.

  My mind darts back to what the shifter had said—Is there five million dollars in my purse…

  Something about that number is not sitting well with me. Why would he ask that? That specific number?

  But I think I already know the answer… I saw the papers in my father’s office…

  My head jerks up as the footsteps return. The roaring outside has stopped. Someone has won the battle.

  And that someone is at the door.

  My breath catches in my throat as the door handle turns.

  The door swings open and I let out a long exhale when I see the most gorgeous man in the world walk in. He’s staring at me like he can’t believe his icy blue eyes.

  For what feels like an eternity, we just stare at each other in shock and awe.

  The warm comforting feeling comes flooding back, radiating through my body. I’ve felt nothing but fear and terror over the past four days, so the feeling staggers me. This man is larger than the other four, but I don’t feel any fear. My gut knows that he’ll never hurt me.

  He has to duck under the doorframe as he walks into the room.

  I can’t take my eyes off of his. They’re the brightest, most icy blue eyes I’ve ever seen.

  Finally, I manage to pry them away and quickly look him over. His clothes are a ripped mess, and it takes me a few seconds to realize that he’s wearing a police uniform. He’s a cop.

  Hot tears sting the back of my eyes. A cop. I’m saved.

  He comes forward and my eyes drop to his torso. I can see his wide muscular chest and hard sculpted abs through his shredded shirt. My body starts to tingle when I see the black and gray hair on his chest. I’ve always loved older men.

  He sits down on the bed and he’s so heavy that I bounce up. He has a nice face. Kind blue eyes, salt and pepper hair (with a bit more salt than pepper), and a short gray beard that covers his thick jaw.

  This man seems as mesmerized by me as I am by him.

  We can’t stop staring at each other.

  He lifts his nose a little and inhales deep. My cheeks start to blush. I’ve been in this room for four days without a shower and I don’t even want to think about what I smell like right now.

  But he doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, he seems to like it. His eyes fall closed as goosebumps rise on his thick powerful forearms.

  My breath stops when two dead bodies in the hall catch my eye.

  “What happened out there?” I squeak out in a tiny voice.

  His face softens as he reaches up and cups my cheek in his big hand. The soothing feel of his hand touching my skin feels so good that I lean into his palm with a moan.

  “No one is ever going to hurt you again,” he says with a fierce determination in his deep growly voice. I believe him. How could I not with the protective way he’s looking at me?

  He takes his hand back and I moan in frustration at the loss.

  “Let’s get you out of here,” he says as he looks at the rope that’s kept me tied to the bed.

  “I tried to untie it,” I say as he reaches for the knot on my wrist. “I think you’re going to need a knife or someth—okay!”

  He just rips it in half as if it was made of tissue paper. The rope falls to the floor and I rub my sore wrist as he scoops me up in his big arms.

  I can feel his heart beating fast and hard as he cradles me to his warm chest. I close my eyes and rest my cheek against his hot skin, feeling safer than ever. I never want to leave his embrace. I finally feel like I’m home.

  He carries me out of the house and shields my eyes as we pass one dead body after another.

  “Don’t look, peanut,” he whispers as he steps over a dead body on the porch. “It’s all over now.”

  I close my eyes, trusting him completely as he brings me to his Sheriff’s car. He puts me inside and then closes the door.

  “I’ll be right back,” he says through the open window.

  I watch as he grabs the dead lion’s body and tosses him onto the porch.

  He’s so strong. I can’t believe it. He picked up a full-grown lion like he was made of feathers, and now he’s picking up a motorcycle and carrying it up the stairs. He drops it on the porch then kicks the gas tank a few times until it cracks and gasoline starts pouring out.

  I’m staring at my sexy savior in complete awe as he walks back down the steps, lights a match, and tosses it at the shack.

  It lights up into flames with a whoosh and a grin hits my lips as I watch it burn. It’s all old dry wood, so it catches fast.

  My gorgeous guardian gets behind the wheel and I feel a rush of happiness hit my core.

  By the time we’re backing out onto the road, the entire shack is engulfed in flames. I watch it collapse through the rearview mirror as he drives away.

  “Are you just going to leave it like that?” I ask, looking up at him. There’s a calmness to him. A quiet tranquility that I’ve never experienced before.

  “It will burn itself out,” he says in a smooth deep voice that makes my heart flutter. “And it will take all of the evidence with it. I’ll make sure of that later.”

  “But if the fire department comes?”

  He looks down at me and the look in his icy blue eyes tells me that everything will be okay.

  “I know the fire chief well,” he says. “Trust me, he won’t miss the Copeland Lions.”

  “They were lion shifters?” I ask as I play with the bottom of my dirty shirt. I’ve been wearing it for the past four days and am feeling a little self-conscious. I know that this gorgeous man wouldn’t be interested in me, but I still wish that I looked a little better and was a little cleaner for him.

  “Yeah,” he grunts.

  “And you?” I know it’s none of my business, but I have to know. I want to know everything about him.

  “I’m the Sheriff,” he says as he gives me a side-eyed look. “My name is Austin.”

  “I meant…” I say, trailing off. “I heard a bear roaring. At least, I think it was a bear…”

  His jaw does a little clenching thing as he turns to me.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” I say, dropping my eyes to my lap. “I was just wondering what—”

  “You know about shifters?”

  “Everyone in my town knows about shifters.”

  He takes a deep breath as he turns back to the road. “I’m a bear shifter.”

  “Wow,” I say as I look up at him in awe. My eyes roam all over his body from his big round shoulders down to his hard biceps that are showing through his tattered shirt.

  “Polar bear.”

  I swallow hard as I look at his massive chest. There’s a polar bear hiding inside there. A polar bear who protected me. That’s so fucking hot.

  The heat swirling through me starts to settle between my legs. I turn back to the windshield with my cheeks blushing as he inhales deeply.

  Is he smelling me… down there?

  “So, you know about shifters,” he says. “But tell me, Ellie. Do you know about mates?”

  Our eyes meet and the seriousness of his look has my heart pounding.

  I know that a bear shifter would do anything to protect their mate. I know that they get obsessed with her and possessive to the extreme. I know they claim her womb and spend every second they can trying to breed her.

  And I know that a shifter’s mate is one damn lucky woman.

  “I’ve heard… things…” I say with my cheeks burning. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  “No,” he says with a grunt. “I want to show you.”

  Chapter Three

  Ellie

  “Where are we going?” I ask afte
r we’ve been driving for a while. I don’t care where he takes me as long as he doesn’t take me home.

  I still have an uneasiness about that. I can’t get what I saw in my father’s office out of my head. It could just be a coincidence, but knowing my father, it’s not.

  “Do you trust me?” he asks.

  I nod. “Yes.”

  “How come?”

  “I don’t know, but I do.”

  “You can feel it? In here?” He taps the top of my chest and it sends a tingling rippling through my breasts that make my nipples harden.

  I nod. “Yeah.”

  He’s not acting normal. There’s something going on here that he’s not telling me. He seems to know something I don’t.

  “I’m taking you to my home,” he finally says. “You’ll be safe there. I’ll make sure of that.”

  I look up at the side of his face as my breath quickens. His place?

  My gut should be filled with uneasiness right now. It should be screaming in alarm. I got kidnapped and held by unknown men and now I’m in a similar situation.

  Is this guy even a cop?

  Instead of keeping the evidence and calling backup, he burnt down the crime scene and took me away. That is not the actions of a Sheriff. It’s not the actions of a sane man either.

  But even knowing all this, I find myself nodding.

  “Okay,” I say with my heart strumming in my chest. “I’ll go to your place.”

  There’s something about him that I can’t put my finger on. I feel almost pulled to him. Like now that I know he exists, I can’t live without him.

  “You can call your parents from my place,” he says. “Let them know you’re okay.”

  “All right,” I say as a bad taste hits my mouth. The uneasiness hits my stomach when I picture them. I think they’re involved in this somehow.

  A little while later, Austin pulls into his driveway and I shift in my seat when I see his trailer home.

  “It’s not much,” he says, looking embarrassed.

  “It’s great,” I say with a genuine smile. It’s adorable and on a private lot with the beautiful mountains visible in the background. I love it.

  “It’s not,” he says with a shake of his head. “I wanted to give you mo—”

  I put my hand on his arm and he turns to me.

  “It’s perfect,” I say.

  He smiles in appreciation and then gets out of the car. I follow him out and breathe in the crisp mountain air. We’re on the border of seasons where the days dance between the end of summer and early fall, unable to make up their mind.

  I smile when I look at the trees with a couple of early bird leaves that have already changed color. I’m sure this place is going to be gorgeous when the trees are all vibrant orange, yellow, and reds. I hope I’m still hanging around here to see it.

  “Are you hungry?” he asks as he looks me up and down. His eyes darken a little when his eyes roam over my large hips.

  “Starving,” I say as my stomach growls. The guys kept me fed, but it was with granola bars and cookies. I would kill for a hot meal right now.

  “I’ll cook you something nice while you take a shower,” he says as he walks to the front door. “Do you want to call your parents first?”

  I hesitate and he sees it.

  “What is it?”

  He’s on full alert as if he’s attuned to every feeling I have. I watch him with my stomach churning as he comes over and takes my hands in his.

  “You’re upset.”

  I shake my head. “Just nervous. My parents…”

  He patiently waits for me to finish, but how can I tell him that I think my parents are behind my kidnapping? What kind of family would he think I come from? What kind of person would he think I am if my parents would do that to me?

  But the tender look in his soft blue eyes undoes me and I find myself spilling my soul and telling him everything.

  “I think it was my parents,” I finally say, “who set me up.”

  His face drops.

  “About three weeks ago, I was in my father’s office and I saw a paper on his desk with my name on it. My parents had taken out a kidnapping insurance policy on me. Five million dollars was available for ransom.”

  His face hardens as he listens.

  “Wasn’t that exactly what the Copeland Lions were asking for?”

  He nods as his eyes darken. “Yeah. Exactly that amount.”

  I drop my eyes in embarrassment, but he gently touches my chin and lifts my head back up until I’m looking into his eyes once again.

  “We’ll save the phone call for later.”

  I nod, thankful that he’s being so understanding.

  “Shower and food first.”

  I grin. “Hot shower and hot food. Sounds amazing.”

  He smiles as he wraps his big arm around my shoulders.

  “Then let’s not wait another second.”

  I feel ah-ma-zing after a hot shower and with Austin’s clothes draped over my naked body. He leant me a t-shirt that’s tight on him, but goes to my knees. I have a nice warm housecoat over it that his daughter Kinsley left when she moved out with her mate Damon.

  “How is it?” he asks as he watches me eat.

  I’m sitting at his table and shoving a BLT into my mouth as fast as I can.

  “So good,” I say as I lick a bit of mayo off the corner of my lips. He lets out a low groan as he watches my tongue dart out.

  “I’ll make you another one,” he says as he turns around to the stove.

  “You don’t have to,” I quickly add. I don’t want to be a bother.

  “Are you still hungry?”

  My lips curl up into a smile.

  “I’ll make you another one.”

  I laugh as he turns the burner back on.

  I’m already being a bother. I’ve taken up his time and now I’m taking up his place. I really don’t want to repay him for saving my life by being a nuisance.

  “I’ll leave after this,” I say as a wave of regret washes through me.

  He freezes and I swallow hard when I hear his heavy breaths. My eyes are locked on his hulking back muscles that are tense and flexed.

  My eyes widen as I watch him slowly turn around with a face that says, ‘you’re not going anywhere.’

  “What did I tell you in the car?” he asks in a voice that has a hit of growl in it.

  No words are forming in my head. My throat is so tight. I can barely breathe, let alone talk with his eyes on me like this.

  “I have a lesson to teach you,” he says as his eyes drop down to my small breasts. “About mates. I said I was going to show you and I meant it.”

  I swallow hard as his eyes dart back up to mine. I should be feeling fear. Alarm. Unease.

  But I’m not.

  All I feel is lust.

  It starts penetrating me with every second that his sexy eyes are locked on me. And it’s not any type of arousal I’ve ever felt before. This is different. It’s all-consuming. It’s making my heart pound. It’s making my nipples ache. It’s making my fingers tingle. And it’s making me so very very wet.

  The heat is pooling between my legs and I suddenly realize I’m not wearing any underwear, just his long t-shirt underneath this housecoat.

  He seems to smell it. His shoulders rise and his chest puffs out. I glance down at his pants and see the hard long outline of his erection swelling before my very eyes.

  It’s then that it hits me. It clicks.

  He thinks I’m his mate.

  That’s crazy talk. He’s more than double my age.

  He’s pure rock hard muscle with a gorgeous face and I’m… well, I’m not. If he’s hard candy, then I’m pure marshmallow. If he’s carved out of wood, then I’m molded out of Play-doh.

  We’re not in the same league. He can’t be interested in me.

  But then… the look on his face… He’s looking at me like I looked at the BLT he laid in front of me… with pure hunger.
/>   “What do you want to show me?” I say in a scratchy voice.

  He holds his breath as his body tightens. There’s more than just arousal in his gaze, I start to see.

  It’s almost a territorial look. Like he plans to own me. Like he knows that I’m already his and he wants me to know it too.

  “Not today,” he says as he quickly turns around. I notice that the bacon is burning. It’s sizzling and bringing up smoke. It’s not the only thing in this kitchen that’s burning up.

  I smooth out my hair and shake out my hands while he’s turned.

  “You’ve been through a lot,” he says with his back to me. “You need your rest first.”

  A low rumble fills the trailer and it takes me a second to realize that it’s coming from him. It’s an animalistic growl and my pussy clenches when it hits me that it’s his polar bear making the sound.

  “Is that your bear?” I whisper as it gets a bit louder.

  “Yes,” he grunts.

  “Why is he making that sound?”

  Austin drops two pieces of toast in the toaster and slams the lever down with his big hand. I’m amazed that it didn’t break off with how hard he hit it.

  “He’s frustrated.”

  “With me?”

  He shakes his head. “No. With me.”

  I shift on the stool and start nervously fidgeting with the fluffy belt on his daughter’s housecoat. “Are you sure it’s not me? I could leave.”

  The last thing I want is for a polar bear to be pissed that I’m invading his territory.

  He turns around and his eyes look strained, like there’s a pain behind them.

  “It will get much worse if you try to leave,” he says. “I need you here. We need you here.”

  I have a sudden, strong, almost irresistible urge to jump off the stool, run up to him, wrap my arms around his neck, and pull his mouth down onto mine.

  It almost takes me over, but I come to my senses and drop my eyes to the crumbs on my empty plate.

  “Then I’ll stay,” I whisper.

  When I raise my eyes again, he’s staring at me with a look that can only be described as pure love and adoration. I feel like he’s going to come kiss me and my mouth waters in response.