Saved by the Bear [Red Mountain Bears 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Read online

  Red Mountain Bears 2

  Saved by the Bear

  Werebear Mac O’Riley’s life changed when he met his mate ten years ago, only to lose Pat when Pat’s family moved out of town. Since then, Mac’s been drifting, unsure of the direction his life is heading. Things take a turn for the better when he discovers Pat is back in town. Mac missed his chance once, but he won’t let Pat leave until he claims the human as his mate.

  Pat has only held a torch for one man, gorgeous and lethal werebear Mac O’Riley. High school might be long over but Mac’s ruined all the other men for Pat. When Pat breaks down and quits his stressful job in the city, he finds himself back in the Red Mountains. When he runs into Mac, sparks fly. It's no coincidence that fate brought the two of them together again.

  And this time, Pat intends to find out where this road will take them.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Paranormal, Romantic Suspense, Shape-shifter

  Length: 21,205 words

  SAVED BY THE BEAR

  Red Mountain Bears 2

  Fel Fern

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  SAVED BY THE BEAR

  Copyright © 2018 by Fel Fern

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-924-7

  First Publication: February 2018

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2018 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Felicia Fern works as a graphic designer during the day, and loves penning M/M paranormal erotic romance at night.

  A sadist who loves watching her heroes break their backs trying to earn their happy endings, Fel likes throwing in the occasional dash of the unknown to the usual romantic concoction.

  www.felfern.com

  https://tinyletter.com/felfern

  https://www.facebook.com/author.felfern

  For all titles by Fel Fern, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/fel-fern

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Landmarks

  Cover

  SAVED BY THE BEAR

  Red Mountain Bears 2

  FEL FERN

  Copyright © 2018

  Prologue

  Ten years ago

  “Look, boys, fresh meat,” a familiar voice said behind Pat.

  Before he could turn around, a hand shoved him against his locker. Pat let out a cry of protest as big hands twisted his skinny arms behind his back. Pain seared up his skull as another hand slammed his head against the metal.

  His vision spun. Pat Lane knew that voice. God. It was just his luck to bump into Joe Hoover on his first day of high school. Pat thought he’d be free of his childhood bully when Joe, two years older, had left middle school.

  He heard Joe went to the same school, played on the football team even, but it was a big place. What were the chances their paths would collide, or did Joe purposely seek him out?

  Then again, what did Pat expect? Red Mountains was a small town. Everyone pretty much knew each other. Not for the first time, he wished his father got that job in the city so Pat and his family could move out of this miserable town.

  Pat knew he never quite fit in with the other boys his age. He’d always been too skinny, awkward, and not many people got him. By some miracle, the pressure on his arms lessened, and he no longer felt Joe’s hot and putrid breath behind him.

  Scared and curious to see what happened, he turned to see another guy, with short black hair and blazing blue eyes, facing Joe. The newcomer was as tall and big as Joe, except he was made of muscle where Joe was padded with fat.

  “This isn’t any of your business, O’Riley,” Joe said with narrowed eyes. Joe had two other friends with him, both big bastards, but for some reason, they kept their distance from the black-haired, blue-eyed boy.

  “You don’t want to get suspended for the season for another bullying incident, do you?” Pat’s savior drawled. When he smiled, he flashed a bit of—Pat blinked. Those were definitely sharpened teeth. Even the guy’s eyes seemed to take on a different shade, blue flecked with gold.

  A shifter, he realized, heart hammering against his chest. Oh, Pat had lived in the Red Mountains long enough to know the town was integrated. Shifters and other paranormals might have gone to the same school or workplace as humans, but they still kept to their own groups.

  Despite knowing this guy was a shifter, Pat found himself closely studying his savior. Not once in all his years in middle school had someone come to his aid. Even the few friends he made growing up would protect their own hide first than getting Joe’s attention. This O’Riley guy, with his easy grin and gorgeous looks, wouldn’t have any trouble getting whoever he wanted.

  Pat bet O’Riley had every girl in school eating out of his pocket, and every guy, too, if he swung that way.

  Way out of his league, Pat thought, but why did O’Riley save him?

  Even Joe, for all his bulk and sneer, was still human. He’d never seen Joe back away from a fight. Joe was the king of bullies, but he showed caution in front of the shifter who happened to play on the same football team.

  “What’s this loser to you?” Joe asked.

  O’Riley shrugged. “Him? He’s nothing to me. Think of it as a fellow teammate’s concern.”

  Joe snorted.

  Pat’s heart sunk at those words. He felt like an idiot. Of course. Why would a guy like O’Riley bother with a nobody like him?

  “O’Riley, Hoover,” a voice barked. “Problem?”

  Pat turned his head to see a teacher dressed in jogging shorts and a sports shirt.

  “No problem here, coach. Joe and I are just saying hi to an old friend,” O’Riley said smoothly, then out of the corner of Pat’s eye, the shifter winked at him.

  Wait. Did he imagine that?

  The coach grunted. “Then get to class. The bell rang a minute ago.”

  Joe and his buddies, much to Pat’s relief, stalked away, but Pat had a feeling Joe wouldn’t give up that easily, not when his favorite punching toy was nearby. Once the coach left, Pat was left alone with his savior.

  O’Riley said Pat was nothing to him in a bored tone, and yet he winked at Pat. What was that all about?

  “Um
, thanks,” he finally said lamely. “I know it means nothing to you, but it does to me.”

  “No problem.” The shifter regarded him, thoughtful expression on his face. “I can’t stand that sort of shit, and Joe’s known for pushing freshmen around.”

  “We kind of have a history,” Pat explained.

  The shifter raised his brows at that, pupils back to blue again.

  “I’ll explain next time," Pat muttered.

  Mac grinned. God. That dimpled smile. Pat had a weakness for dimples, and why did this shifter have to be so cute?

  “Where are you heading to?” the guy asked.

  His heart started hammering again. This was a good sign, wasn’t it? This shifter hadn’t made an excuse to leave when he could have. He lingered, and that meant something.

  “I need to head to the science labs, but I don’t know where the west building is.” Did Pat sound too helpless? He wished he could say something charming or interesting. Too bad he always found himself tongue-tied when it came to speaking to gorgeous guys.

  “I’ll take you. I’m Mac, by the way. You?” Mac began leading him toward another corridor, not waiting for his response.

  “I’m Pat.”

  He extended a hand and felt like an idiot. Shaking hands? What would Mac think of him? Mac only shook it, grip strong. Electricity raced up his arm, and he found himself staring too long at those lips, how easily they formed a smile.

  He looked away quickly. Mac was just being nice, that was all. It wasn’t like a guy like Mac would be interested in a little nobody like him. People got bored around Pat easily. They always left soon after, as if being around him wasted their time. Even his parents couldn’t stand being around him for so long. Not Mac though. Mac flashed him a smile that made his heart race. A genuine smile.

  “Are you coming, Pat?”

  Realizing he’d stopped in his tracks, he nodded and hurried after Mac.

  Chapter One

  Present

  “Pat, that report done?” his colleague Barry asked by his cubicle.

  Pat heard the smug bastard all right but chose to pretend he didn’t. He wished he bought noise-cancelling headphones instead of the normal ones. Pat continued typing on the screen, his nerves frayed. A quick glance at his computer clock told him the meeting would be in ten minutes. Not enough time to finish the presentation he and Barry were supposed to pull an all-nighter for.

  “Hey,” Barry repeated, hand on his shoulder, but Pat shoved it aside, eyes narrowed.

  He could tell the move surprised Barry. Push-over Pat, they called him around the office. His colleagues thought he didn’t hear them or didn’t care, but he did. Pat learned to hide the internal pain a long time ago, to smile even when people made jokes in front of him. He pretended words didn’t have the power to affect him. Little did they know how he unraveled once he was alone in his shitty apartment.

  Pat would play those moments on repeat in his head, feeling so miserable that he’d spend the entire night, drinking himself to sleep.

  “Fuck off,” he said with narrowed eyes, not bothering to lower his voice. “We were supposed to finish this together. As usual, you let me do all the work.”

  Barry blinked, handsome face at a loss for words. Then the bastard easily recovered, glancing around him, probably trying to save his reputation. “Come on, Pat. You’re cranky, probably had too many drinks last night,” Barry said.

  Pat chucked his headphones aside. That website lied. Listening to classical music didn’t lower his stress levels at all.

  “I didn’t sleep. You know why? Because I had to do your share of work.” He gritted the words out, his voice sounding strange to him. Pat sounded almost feral, not his usual and uncertain self.

  People smell weakness, they take advantage of it, of you. Don’t let them, a familiar voice in his head whispered. Old advice he hadn’t heard in a while, because he didn’t couldn’t bear to remember that wonderful time in his life when he didn’t feel like a freak, when he didn’t have to second-guess himself every single day of his life.

  Unlike most of his work colleagues in Smith Advertising, he didn’t come from some fancy Ivy-league school. He worked his ass off, twice as hard as any of them, and still got the shitty pay, even two years toiling here. He ought to know. He overheard Melissa whining to Barry in the pantry about how she needed a pay increase. When she rattled off how much she earned in a month, nearly twice as much as him, he was shattered. She only started at the firm three months ago. Rumors said she slept with the boss, but no way that tactic would work for Pat.

  “What’s going on here?” asked Brandon Smith, their boss. When had Brandon come out of his office?

  God. Was he having a nervous breakdown? Pat read about it online. Celebrities had them, so did normal people. He could certainly tick of the symptoms of a nervous breakdown check list. Depression and feelings of helplessness and frustration. Check. Suicidal thoughts? No, he wasn’t there yet, but working seven days a week and practically living in the office might just do the trick and land him an early grave.

  Pat told himself it didn’t matter. He had no social life to speak of anyway. Pat was busy, had so much going on in the office, but that had been just a cover-up. People confused him as a kid. That didn’t change even when he was an adult. It was as if people like Barry, who yielded deceit and charm like weapons, could scent blood in the water. A shark. That must be Barry’s spirit animal.

  He was sick and tired of his life. Pat woke up early, came back late. Too tired and mentally exhausted to do anything else, he’d heat up a microwave dinner, shower, go to bed. Wake up only to have people pile more work on his desk. Rinse and repeat.

  “Pat?” Brandon asked with concern.

  Fake concern, Pat told himself. This bastard didn’t even raise his salary once during his two-year stint here. Maybe it was partly his fault for staying on, but jobs were harder to find these days. What he earned went to his bills and his rent. He had little savings. What was he still doing here?

  Did Pat plan on wasting the rest of his life in misery?

  He met Brandon’s gaze even, voice steady.

  “I quit.” Pat put his wireless Bluetooth headphones back on and began packing his shit.

  Brandon was telling him something, but he refused to listen. He didn’t have a lot of personal stuff in his cubicle, just piles of other people’s work. Always a sucker, he thought, then and now. He hadn’t changed at all.

  No. Dwelling on the past didn’t help. He stood up for himself finally and that was all that mattered. A hand appeared on his line of sight. Brandon still hadn’t left. Did the bastard finally realize his most hard-working employee was finally leaving?

  His former boss hesitated though, as if seeing something savage in his eyes. With an armload of his belongings, he exited his cubicle, Wagner blaring through his headphones. People gaped at him. Not long ago, he would have worried about what they thought of him.

  It wasn’t like he’d be seeing them anytime soon anyway. Pat went to the lift, exiting the building without incident. He didn’t even drop any of his stuff, and he was usually a clumsy guy. Pat thought he’d have conflicting feelings brewing in his chest, but his mind filled with clarity. Reaching his rusty old car on the curb, he dumped his things in the backseat and got to the wheel.

  Pat loosened his tie. That felt so good, easier to breathe.

  He started the engine and began to drive, destination unknown. It felt odd, not needing to look at the clock all the time. For some reason, he saw his high school crush in his mind’s eyes. Mac always wore a relaxed look, that familiar, easy smile on his face.

  “What’s the rush?” Mac always liked to say whenever he spotted Pat hurrying off to a study group or class.

  It had been, what? Ten years since he last saw Mac? He’d been fourteen, shy, and awkward as hell. Only two years stood between them, but he always saw Mac as older, more mature, confident of his place in the world.

  In the end, Pat got his w
ish. His father got a job in the city so they had to move out of Red Mountains even before he could finish freshman year. He cherished those few months with Mac though. Even though Mac was a junior, the shifter didn’t care about reputation and hung out with him all the time. When he told Mac he was leaving, that was the only time he saw the werebear mad.

  Mac had left that conversation without another word.

  Pat let out a dry laugh. Oh yeah. He was definitely off his rocker, thinking about the past. For all he knew, Mac was probably married, settled down somewhere. Thoughts of Mac wouldn’t leave his mind though, even when he eventually headed back home. Leaving his belongings in the car, he headed upstairs to his miserable studio apartment.

  Pat didn’t know why, but the first thing he did was fire up his laptop. He opened his browser and began searching for a ticket back to Red Mountains.

  * * * *

  “Connor, not here,” Danny whispered to Mac’s younger brother, Connor, in the kitchen.

  Mac met his older brother’s gaze in the living room. Rick had less patience with the newly mated couple than he did, because Rick headed for the door.

  “I’m heading back to the bar,” Rick announced.

  “It’s your day off, and you’re the fucking owner for crying out loud,” he told his brother. “You’re married to that bar.”

  Rick waved him off and shut the door, leaving him with the sickeningly happy couple. Things used to be so damn different around here. Dinners with his brothers usually meant Connor scowling at either Rick or him. Connor always seemed angry at something, at the world. Then again, Mac couldn’t blame him. Connor’s bear had always been hard to manage, and Connor spent his entire life fighting his animal. All that stopped when Connor found his mate.