Connected (Gem Creek Bears, Book 5)

By Jennifer Snyder

Sometimes tragedies force us to fully live.

After the death of her mother, Penny Daniels leaves Opal Pine and heads to Gem Creek Campground. There, with the help of her best friend Tris, she hopes to heal and figure out what her next step in life should be.

What she finds is trouble.

Penny wasn’t looking for love or danger but somehow finds both. A certain bear shifter has been working his way into her heart since she arrived and someone has been watching the clan, waiting to strike. When they do, Penny finds herself caught in harm’s way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jennifer Snyder
• Release date: Jan 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215272619

Jennifer Snyder

Jennifer Snyder lives in North Carolina where she spends most of her time writing New Adult and Young Adult Fiction, reading, and struggling to stay on top of housework. She is a tea lover with an obsession for Post-it notes and smooth writing pens. Jennifer lives with her husband and two children, who endure listening to songs that spur inspiration on repeat and tolerate her love for all paranormal, teenage-targeted TV shows.To get an email whenever Jennifer releases a new title, sign up for her newsletter a https://jennifersnyderbooks.com/want-the-latest/. It’s full of fun and freebies sent right to your inbox!

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Grief was a nasty bitch, but cancer was worse. It weakened the strong until they became a fragile shell of their former selves, leaving their soul the only courageous thing about them. Sometimes having a strong soul was enough to win. Others, it wasn’t.

In my mom’s case, it wasn’t.

I crept down the hall, listening to the sound of my sandals slap against the hardwood floors as I walked. Knots formed in the pit of my stomach as a creepy crawly sensation rushed along my skin.

This house was no longer home.

I’d known it the second I stepped inside after my mom passed. A foreign coldness I couldn’t describe lived here now. This space was unfamiliar and devoid of my mother’s presence.

My eyes burned with the threat of tears, but not a single one fell. I was supposed to cry, to mourn my mother, but I hadn’t cried since her death. I’d gone into autopilot mode. I was unable to feel or think—locked inside a perpetual state of numbness.

I glanced around the living room as I exited the hall, soaking in my childhood home. The walls were bare, and the space was devoid of furniture. Memories still surfaced, though. Mom and I settled on the couch for a late night TV binge with buttery popcorn and chocolate. The two of us decorating the Charlie Brown Christmas tree she bought from a thrift store years ago. Us playing board games at the coffee table while she sipped a glass of wine.

The corner of my mouth twitched at the memories, but a smile never formed.

I wasn’t sure it was possible for me to smile anymore. Mom was gone. I’d never be able to see her again. There would be no more Christmases setting up that ugly tree with her. No more binges on the couch with popcorn and chocolate. No more game nights at the coffee table while she sipped wine.

I was alone. Utterly alone.

My eyes burned with the threat of tears again, but nothing fell. My cell chimed with a new text, pulling me from my sadness. It was a text from Tris.

Have you left yet?

I stared at her text, realizing that I wasn’t alone. I still had her. I still had my best friend. Heck, Tris had always felt more like a sister than a best friend.

Now even more than ever.

She’d spent the week after my mom passed with me, making sure I ate something each day to keep up my strength and that I drank plenty of water. She’d helped with my mom’s funeral preparations and with the reception. I couldn’t have done it without her.

I tapped out a response to her text and hit send.

Not yet. I’m taking one more walk through the house, and then I’m leaving. I need to stop for gas, though. - Penny

Normally, I’d be happy to be on my way to visit her at the campground. This time, I didn’t know how I felt about it. Tris didn’t want me to be alone. Frankly, I didn’t want to be alone either, but I also didn’t want to be around people. All anyone did was look at me with sympathy in their eyes and ask how I was doing. I was sick of it. Honestly, I wanted to throat punch the next person who asked how I was or said they were sorry for my loss.

Okay. Drive safe. Can’t wait to see you.

I will. See you soon. - Penny

I pocketed my cell and pulled in a deep breath as I headed for the front door. The only thing left here were memories, but thankfully, those I could take with me wherever I went.

After I pulled the door closed behind me and locked it, I placed my key in the lockbox for the realtor. Tears stung my eyes again, but never fell. I swallowed hard on the way to my car. It was surreal that was the last time I’d be inside that house.

Ever.

People in town said I was crazy for putting the house on the market so soon after my mom’s passing, but it felt like the right choice for me. I could never live there without my mom, and there was no way I wanted to rent it to someone. Selling was the only option. Besides, with my mom gone, and Tris living in Gem Creek, only pain remained for me in Opal Pine.

I needed a clean break.

Selling the house gave me the opportunity to keep my memories and the freedom to discover my next step.

I paused at my car and shifted to look at the house. My gaze drifted along the front, soaking in the gray-blue siding and white trim. I took in the large windows along the front, half expecting to spot my mom standing in one of them, waving goodbye. If she was—in spirit form, of course—I wasn’t able to see her.

Goodbye, Mom, I whispered.

I slid into my car and cranked the engine to life. A hollow sensation festered in my chest, making it hard to breathe. My ribs were tight, and my stomach had tensed. I thought I might finally cry, but no tears came. I shifted into reverse, but before I pulled away a ladybug landed on my windshield.

I stared at it.

For the first time in weeks, a smile tugged at the corners of my lips because I knew this was a sign from my mom. She always said ladybugs were a symbol of good luck. Anytime one landed on her or she saw one, she always smiled and reminded me what they symbolized.

When the ladybug flew away, I eased out of the driveway and onto the road, my smile still intact. The ladybug had to be from my mom. It also had to be a sign of good luck, which I could use a heavy dose of right now.

As I drove, memories of my mom filled my mind. Her singing to the radio at the top of her lungs anytime a song she liked came on. Her deep belly laughs. Her silly dance moves. The way she loved to stare at a star-speckled sky. How she never folded the corners of the books she read, but instead, always used a bookmark.

God, I missed her.

My mind continued to flood with memories of her, all the little things I didn’t think I’d remembered about her but had. By the time I cut into the gas station, warmth had settled in my chest. I pumped my gas, and bought a bottle of strawberry-flavored water and my mom’s favorite chocolate bar to eat on the ride. In under fifteen minutes, I was back on the road.

It was after eight when I turned down the gravel road that led to Gem Creek Campground. I was glad I knew where to turn this time. The last time I’d been here, I’d missed the makeshift sign for the place. From the main road, it looked like someone’s driveway.

I turned the radio down as I continued along the gravel road. There were a few small potholes, but nothing like most of the roads in Opal Pine.

Liam and his brothers took care of this place.

A bubbling sound came from my dash. Then, my car sputtered and jolted forward, and smoke poured from beneath the hood as she slowly died.

Freaking great, I muttered. Just what I needed, Myrtle!

The car spewed smoke from beneath its hood. A gargling, popping noise sounded again, and my stomach tensed as my heart kick-started.

Don’t you blow up with me inside, I shouted while unbuckling.

My heart pounded as I climbed out. After I put some distance between us, I placed my hands on my hips and stared at the white smoke billowing from beneath the hood while listening to the sizzling popping sounds.

That couldn’t be good.

Crap. Well, thanks for at least getting me to the campground before deciding to quit on me. I sighed, glancing around. Movement in the woods across from me caught my attention.

Something was there, watching me.

While I couldn’t make out exactly what—thanks to the rays of the sun streaming through the treetops and all the smoke coming from my car—I knew the possibilities of what it could be. Gem Creek Campground held secrets. Shifter secrets. There was a good chance whatever had caught my eye in the woods was one of the bear shifters who lived at the campground.

Excuse me. Could I get a little help here, please? I called, placing my hand over my eyes to block the sun.

A strangled huff sounded, and then a large shadowy figure came into view. As it stepped closer, I noticed thick brown fur. Definitely a bear. My teeth sank into my bottom lip.

Were Tris and Liam’s clan the only bear shifters in the area?

Surely they’d be the only ones this close to the campground. Right? I didn’t know how the dynamics of the shifter world worked, but I imagined they were territorial like