Bear Rescue: Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance: Big Bear Mountain Book 1

By Bianca James

The first book in the bestselling Big Bear Mountain trilogy!

High Mountain Ranger, Jarrad, isn’t looking for a mate. Women are a complete mystery to him. Every time he opens his mouth to speak to one, it leads to a big misunderstanding. Or a huge argument.

But his Bear gets other ideas after they rescue a feisty and spirited city girl from the slopes of the treacherous and unforgiving Big Bear Mountain.

Curvy, junior executive, Elle needs to get away from the city in a hurry. A big hurry. Finding out her boss is a money laundering crook doesn’t leave her with too many options, especially when the cartel find out how much she knows about their operation.

They’re coming after her and a quick getaway into the mountains seems like a pretty good plan.

When her car is hanging over the edge of a cliff, though – not so much.

This is a standalone with no cliffhanger. It is the first in a collection of stories from Big Bear Mountain, where big, sexy, bear-shifter mountain men sometimes get lucky and find a curvy girl who can handle them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Feb 18, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1

Elle was born and raised in the big city, so the yellow warning light with the cute little snowflake inside a triangle didn’t really seem that important, despite the ominous sound the warning chime made at regular intervals. Besides, it wasn’t actually snowing and her BMW coupé was almost brand new, so it was unlikely that it had any kind of serious problem. Hot air was blowing from the vents and the heated leather seats were doing their job, so there was little else to focus on, other than maneuvering the stylish European coupé through the countless sharp twists and turns on the narrow mountain road.

Well, maybe there was one thing. Glancing at the discarded power bar wrapper on the passenger seat, her stomach grumbled. She’d been in a rush at her last fuel stop, anxious to fill her tank and get out of there that she didn’t want to waste precious time buying food. She was regretting that decision now. The emergency snack she carried in her handbag just hadn’t cut it.

Elle needed to put as much distance between her and the city as fast as she could, so the snowflake and her hunger pains would just have to wait. With the cops and the cartel gangsters hard on her heels, the only way she could get through this was to get somewhere they’d never find her and disappear. Fast.

A business graduate, she’d worked in finance long enough to know that a money trail was impossible to hide. Ironically, that’s what got her into this huge mess in the first place. She knew what she needed to do to survive. Go offline and live off the grid for a while until she could figure out a way to get out of this mess. That was her only chance. No internet. No cell phone. No credit cards. Her first thought was that a life without the three essentials might not actually be worth living. Then she reminded herself that it was only temporary. She needed time to work things out. Right now, though, she had to run. Nothing else mattered.

She was still trying to convince herself that she’d have no problem living without her cell phone when the damn thing rang. The caller ID displayed ‘Mom’. Not that she needed to see the display. The Darth Vader Imperial March ringtone had already told her who was calling.

What’s up, Mom?

I hope you’re not talking while you’re driving, her mother admonished, without introduction.

Hello to you, too, Mom. Ever heard of Bluetooth. Elle rolled her eyes.

"Don’t you dare take that tone with me. I’ve had the police here … the police! Asking questions about you! I’ve never been so embarrassed. And all the neighbors saw them, too. I nearly died of shame!"

Of all the diseases you claim to have had over the years, I’m pretty sure that’s one thing you can’t die from, Mom. Oh, and I’m OK, by the way. Thanks for asking. Her tone was thick with sarcasm. That’s how these conversations usually ended up. This one wasn’t wasting any time and was starting out that way.

You need to come back. I told them it was some kind of mistake. No daughter of mine would do such a thing. Embezzlement … that’s what they said. Do they even know who we are? How dare they! What are they going to think of me at the tennis club? My God! It’s a disgrace and you need to come home and set things right straight away, young lady. I won’t have people gossiping about me. Do you hear me?

Without so much as a second thought, or a goodbye, Elle hit the switch to roll down her window before hurling the phone onto the road, where it smashed into a thousand satisfying pieces.

"Yeah, I can definitely live without that," she said to herself as she rolled up the window, sealing herself from the chilly mountain air.

And that’s when she hit the patch of black ice. As the car began to lose control, despite the valiant effort of the traction control system, her eyes locked on to the snowflake-in-triangle warning light, it’s cryptic meaning suddenly becoming apparent. Risk of black ice.

Damn Germans and their stupid pictograms … was her last coherent thought before the front of her car ploughed into the barrier. German engineering competing with American construction.

The Germans won.

Chapter 2

Jarrad’s fingers trembled as they strained to cling to unyielding cliff face long enough for him to steady his labored breathing. Even through the bulky Alpine climbing jacket his massive bicep bulged as he tried to pull himself into a more stable position. Despite the layers of high grade thermal wear, Jarrad’s fingers were numb and unresponsive thanks to the brutal wind chill factor, even though he was only at 10,000 feet. As a High Mountain Ranger, specializing in mountain search and rescue, this was just another day at the office for Jarrad.

Heights didn’t really bother him, but his bear had never really got used to the whole climbing thing. There’s not much a 1,500 pound Kodiak bear likes more than the feel of solid ground beneath its massive 18 inch paws. Vertical rock faces are not really a part of any bear’s natural habitat. Growling in protest, his bear made his feelings very clear.

We’re going to be fine, Jarrad said in a soothing voice. I’ve got this.

Not so sure, his bear growled plaintively.

We’re nearly there. He hoped that sounded encouraging, but he wasn’t convinced he’d pulled it off. Just remember, there are two times you never look down. One of them is right now. The other is when Whoopi Goldberg is giving you a blow —

Crack!

Suddenly, a piece of metamorphic rock that had been an integral part of the mountain for something in the region of a billion years decided to break free, just when it was actually needed for the first time in its history.

Oh, crap! That’s not good. Jarrad was nothing if not the master of understatement.

With his feet precariously balanced on a 2 inch ledge and one hand still clinging to small fissure in the rock, he quickly discarded the now useless chunk of mountain he held in his flailing hand as he frantically sought another hand hold.

The bear wailed pitifully inside him. Although a full grown Kodiak was all but indestructible, even if he shifted as he fell, nothing could survive a fall from that height and it was unlikely that the strongest pitons and cams anchoring the belaying ropes could withstand the impact a falling Jarrad would subject them to.