Cord: Everglade Brides, #3

By Ava Benton

A bear shifter.

Being protective isn't something Cord does, it's who Cord is. That's his greatest quality, and his most devastating flaw.

An inquisitive hottie.

Lucy can't resist a good story. So she asks her editor if she could look into the shifters, maybe do a story or a series.

Against hired assassins, against territorial clan leaders, against all odds…
Lucy won't be kept from her bear. Her bear shifter Cord won't be denied his mate. Can a war between rival clans keep them apart?

• Language: English
• Publisher: ABP
• Release date: May 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393087090

Book preview

1

Cord

S o what happens when you shift? I mean, like, what happens to your body? The girl I made the mistake of talking to at the club dragged a finger down my arm.

It shifts. I gave her a quick smile and a shrug. I mean, it’s right there in the word. My body changes. That’s how it works.

I know, but like, how? I mean, do you do it? Does it hurt?

I shook my head and wished I hadn’t noticed her. One day, I would learn that just because a girl had a great rack didn’t mean she was worth the trouble. She had been a little too quick coming over to me, too. That was another bad sign. But there I was, making mistakes over and over.

No, it doesn’t hurt, I said. Couldn’t she hear how bored I was?

She swung her dark hair over one shoulder. It hung halfway down to her waist. I usually went for girls who had hair like that—another reason I had to stop thinking with my dick. When I see movies about werewolves and stuff, it always seems like it hurts them a lot when they change.

Oh, fucking seriously? Well, that’s made-up stuff. It’s the Hollywood version. That’s not what it’s really like at all.

Oh, really? She looked relieved, actually. At least I eased her mind or something. So you don’t feel much of anything, then?

No. It’s pretty easy.

What kind of shifter are you? I mean, what do you turn into?

I bit back a sharp reply. If she didn’t seem so clueless, I would’ve assumed she was a groupie. They came to the club in droves every week. I told myself it was time to find somewhere else to hang out, but I wasn’t into the more hardcore stuff that went on at some of the shifter-based clubs in the area. Everywhere else after that was too boring. I’m a bear.

Ooh, a bear? What kind of bear? Her hand was on my arm again, and her eyes were wide.

Brown bear.

Wow. I bet you’re pretty strong, huh? She squeezed my bicep.

Yeah, I’m strong. Duh. All of us were strong. I wasn’t so full of myself that I got hard when a girl told me I was strong. It sort of went with the territory, like the golden eyes that ran in my clan’s bloodline.

Could you pick me up and carry me around? She pressed herself against my arm and stared up at me. Her lips glistened and parted a little, inviting me to come closer. What she didn’t know was that she was giving me the same line most girls did. I bet you couldn’t pick me up and carry me. I’m too heavy. Right. Like they weren’t actually begging me to prove that they weren’t too heavy. Like they didn’t get off on the thought of me dominating them. They didn’t know I had heard it all before, and that the stronger they came on to me the less I wanted them.

Yeah, if I had to. I finished my drink. But there’s no fire for me to rescue you from, so there’s no reason for me to.

She pouted, and her eyes started scanning the area. Yep. She finally figured out she was wasting her time. Well, I guess I’ll let you get back to… whatever it is you’re doing, she said in a tone of voice that wasn’t nearly as playful or seductive as the one she had been using on me.

Have a fun night, I said with a smile. Inside, I was fuming. What the hell had happened to my social life? Why did I keep going back there when nobody interested me? I was getting too old, I decided. Too old and too jaded. I had seen it all. That was one of the sad side-effects of decades spent screwing around and having a little too much fun.

It had helped having cousins who were along for the ride with me. Jace and Levi were practically my brothers. I would kill for them, and they knew it. But then they went and got themselves mated up and a year had gone by since Levi got engaged and I was still on my own most of the time. I hadn’t found anybody to buddy up with the way I did with those two. Nobody compared.

I decided it was time to leave for the night. I might not ever come back, either. It was groupie central around there. Things had really changed. The worst part was, I didn’t have anybody to talk it over with—my cousin Kurt was on the floor, dancing with a cute redhead. So he was having a good time and wouldn’t agree when I complained about how lame the place had gotten.

That was all right, I decided as I was walking out. I needed a new change of scene. It wasn’t like I was looking to mate up—I didn’t care if that never happened. I just wanted to have a little fun, blow off some steam. Get laid whenever possible. There were other places where that could happen, and no rule that a shifter couldn’t socialize in a bar mostly visited by humans. I was sure that by the time I left a place like that, I’d have women hanging off me. Human men didn’t usually compare well to shifters. We had the tendency to make them look pretty pathetic. It almost wasn’t fair.

I went outside and took a breath of fresh air. It was quieter out there, and my ears rang a little from the thumping music inside. I was definitely getting too old. What a depressing thought. It looked like another night when I’d go home alone. They were starting to happen more regularly, which sucked.

It didn’t help that I was always so tired and stressed out. Vincent wasn’t making it easy on any of us, always afraid we were just one misstep away from war with the Eastwings. It hung over me like a cloud. He didn’t even want us going out, he said, because we might walk into a trap the other clan had set for us—even though they hadn’t so much as said Boo to any of us in months. Not since we dismantled their sex club. But Vincent’s spies were always coming back with more information none of us but him were privy to.

Jace was the one who had vetoed the idea of all of us acting like hermits. If we all go into hiding, that would be too obvious. The clan’s too big and too visible to pull off anything like that. And he was right. So we were all warned to keep an eye out for traps, spies, that sort of thing. Who could have fun when that was always on the back of their mind?

I walked to my car and was just about to slide behind the wheel when I heard what sounded like a fight. I didn’t have what it took to mind my own business, especially not when one of the voices sounded female.

I said no. I don’t want to go back with you. Why won’t you leave me alone?

That was all I needed to hear. I closed the car door and looked around—damn my ringing ears. I couldn’t pick up where the voices were coming from. If I shifted I’d be able to hear so much clearer, but I didn’t want to do it in the middle of a parking lot.

I said, leave me alone! She was louder that time, and I turned in the direction of her voice. There she was, with a tall, lanky guy. It looked like he was trying to get into her car with her, but she was trying to fight him off. I headed straight for them with my fists clenched.

Hey. I didn’t need to yell it. The sound of my voice was enough to get the guy to turn around with a look of fear on his face. What a twerp. I could’ve taken him without breaking a sweat—skinny, looking like he couldn’t hurt a fly if he tried. I was surprised any girl could have trouble fighting him off.

I’m not looking for any trouble with you, he said, holding up a hand. This is between me and her.

I think she said she wanted you to leave her alone, I pointed out. My fists were still clenched. I had at least seventy, eighty pounds on him. Maybe more. And it was all muscle. He would break like a wishbone. I allowed my eyes to flicker over to the girl, pinned against the side of the car. She was tall, like him, with mouth-watering curves in all the right places. She needed to learn a few good self-defense moves with a body like that.

Please, just go, she whispered. I don’t want you to come with me. I had a fun time tonight, but I want to go home alone now. She reached up with one hand and twirled a strand of chestnut colored hair between her fingers. A nervous tic.

He shook his head and waved his hands like he was through with her, then walked away. I watched until he disappeared behind the doors to the club. Only when he was really gone did she sigh and lean against the car like she was deflating.

Thank you so much, she whispered with a shaky laugh. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come along.

No problem. Next time, go for the balls. That’ll usually take a guy down.

She laughed. One guy telling me to hit another guy in the balls. That’s pretty interesting.

I shrugged. Hey, just trying to help.

She smiled as she looked me up and down. Well, the least I can do is buy you a cup of coffee or something. Maybe a burger? I mean, you really helped me out. I was terrified.

Of that loser? She was terrified of him, but she was asking me out for a burger? I