Christmas Bears: BBW Holiday Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Return to Bear Creek Book 12) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Piracy Notice

  Foreword

  Chapter One – Leona

  Chapter Two – Neil

  Chapter Three – Leona

  Chapter Four – Neil

  Chapter Five – Leona

  Chapter Six – Neil

  Chapter Seven – Leona

  Chapter Eight – Neil

  Chapter Nine – Leona

  Chapter Ten – Neil

  Chapter Eleven – Leona

  Chapter Twelve – Neil

  Chapter Thirteen – Leona

  Chapter Fourteen – Neil

  Chapter Fifteen – Leona

  Chapter Sixteen – Neil

  Chapter Seventeen – Leona

  Chapter Eighteen – Neil

  Chapter Nineteen – Leona

  Epilogue

  Get In Touch

  Also By Harmony Raines

  Christmas Bear

  Return to Bear Creek

  (Book Twelve)

  ***

  All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.

  © 2017 Harmony Raines

  Piracy Notice

  Christmas Bear is only available on Amazon.

  If you obtained this book from anywhere other than Kindle Books it is a STOLEN copy.

  Piracy is a crime.

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  Christmas Bear

  Return to Bear Creek

  (Book Twelve)

  When Leona moves into a house in Bear Creek with her two sons, Jack and Harry, all she’s hoping for, is to get through Christmas and then figure out what their futures hold. With her life and confidence in tatters, thanks to an abusive husband, she’s given up on finding happiness for herself. All she wants is to love and care for her boys.

  But fate lends a hand when Neil walks into her life, picks her up, and helps put her back on her feet. He’s the kind of man with so much love to spare, not just for Leona, but for Jack and Harry too, that she is irresistibly drawn to him.

  Neil was asked to help a friend of Suzie’s move into a rented house in Bear Creek, but as a fireman, work comes first and a call out means he is late. However, when he finds Leona upset, he realizes he arrived just at the right time. He is more than ready to take on this ready-made family and make their dreams come true.

  Fate works its magic, and Leona and Neil, along with Jack and Harry, with the help of a cast of your favorite characters, find their way to a Happy Ever After. They also find their way to the North Pole, with the help of Vicky Vixen and her reindeer friends.

  Christmas Bear is filled with a large dose of Christmas Magic, and is only for those who believe!

  Chapter One – Leona

  “It’s perfect.” Leona stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the room and trying not to cry. “I can’t thank you enough, Suzie.”

  “There’s no need to thank me.” Suzie glanced up at Leona. “Hey, this is a fresh start for you all. Jack and Harry will love it here. All this fresh air. Wide open spaces.”

  The sob bubbled up and erupted in a bone-jarring hiccup as Leona failed to swallow it back down. “I thought I was done with crying.”

  “It’s gonna take time.” Suzie enveloped Leona in a warm hug that unleashed more tears. “Let it out.”

  “I hate crying in front of the boys. It’s all I seem to do lately.” She sniffed loudly, and let a breath out through her pursed lips, steadying herself.

  “There’s no harm in that. It’s good for them to see you don’t have to bottle up your emotions.” Suzie rubbed Leona’s back as if she were the child. The whole situation had left her feeling helpless; if it wasn’t for Suzie finding them this small house in Bear Creek, Leona and her boys would be spending Christmas in a battered women’s shelter.

  Battered. Inside and out. Leona pulled away from Suzie and wiped her eyes. “A new start. I can’t thank you enough.” So much to be thankful for. Leona breathed deeply and then let it out. “Right, I need to get started. The boys will be here in a couple of hours, and I’d at least like to get their bedrooms ready.”

  Tears threatened again. Her poor boys had coped so well with the upheaval, but she needed to get settled in; it was less than a week until Christmas. Leona was determined this would be a good Christmas, a happy Christmas, even if she didn’t have much money for gifts.

  “My husband, Kit, and his brothers will be here soon to help.” Leona looked horrified at Suzie’s words. “Don’t worry, no one knows your history, they just know that you are moving in and need some muscle, and maybe a few extras to furnish this place. Can’t have you eating Christmas dinner on your laps.”

  “Really, Suzie, we’d manage.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s all second-hand stuff. My mom’s been trying to find a home for her table for weeks. When she moved in with her new husband, Dean, there wasn’t room for all the furniture from her own house. She’s stored it in Dean’s garage, while she figures out what to do with it all. Seeing it go to a good home makes it easier.” Suzie gave a reassuring smile.

  Leona circled the room, her fingers trailing along the walls. “I know what she means. There are things back home that I chose, furniture I spent hours restoring.” She was doing it again, looking backward when she needed to look forward. “This is a nice house.”

  “It is, and we will make it into a nice home for you and the boys.” Suzie rolled her sleeves up. “Let’s go get started.”

  Leona nodded, and the two women went outside into the cold winter air, to where the rented truck, full of all her worldly possessions, stood on the driveway. “I have to get the truck back by four.”

  “We’ll easily have it all done by then.” Suzie looked at her watch as Leona opened the back of the truck. It rattled noisily, revealing a meager amount of possessions for a mother and two kids. Leona’s husband, Clive, had argued over every single item, and so she’d only insisted on the boys’ furniture and clothes, plus the few personal items of her own he hadn’t destroyed. The man she once loved had turned into a cruel bully.

  Leona was thankful the man was out of their lives. The restraining order would see it stayed that way.

  “Oh, here they are.” Suzie swung around, her face lighting up as a pickup pulled up behind the rented truck.

  “Hey there, honey.” A man got out and strode over to Suzie, kissing her briefly. They parted, and he turned to Leona. “Hi, Leona. I’m Kit.”

  “And I am Jacob.” The other guy got out of the truck and stood smiling in the bright December sun. “Sure are lucky with the weather. Snow is on its way.”

  “Really?” Leona asked. “My boys would love to go out on the mountain in the snow.”

  “There is a slope over by my house that all the kids head to with their sleds.” J
acob pointed toward the mountains that overlooked Bear Creek. Their peaks were hidden by thick gray clouds.

  “Oh, we don’t have sleds.” Jack and Harry would be disappointed. Maybe she could squeeze enough money out of her savings to buy one for them to share.

  “We do. They’re stored in Jacob’s barn,” Kit piped up, excitement lacing his voice. “We’ll take them.” He looked up at the sky. “If it snows.”

  “It’s gonna snow,” Jacob insisted.

  “Why? Did a bird tell you?” Kit asked with a grin.

  “OK. Boys. Best behavior, good impression.” Suzie gave both men a stern look. “And where’s Neil?”

  “He’ll be over later. He got a call-out.” Jacob stepped toward the truck. “We can manage this.”

  “We can. Grab ahold of something, and let’s get moving.” Suzie joined Jacob, but Kit put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her back. “Not you, Mommy, you are here in a purely supervisory role.”

  “Mommy?” Leona asked, a warm smile on her face. “You’re pregnant?”

  “Pregnant, but not an invalid.” Suzie glared at Kit, but the love and devotion in Kit’s expression made her soften. “I’ll go put the coffee on.” Luckily Suzie had brought a coffee maker with her as a moving-in gift.

  “Coffee. Keep it flowing,” Kit called. “Right, Leona. Where is this going?”

  They worked together. Leona, Kit, and Jacob doing the heavy lifting, while Suzie kept busy emptying boxes and putting the items away. Two hours later, the truck was empty, and the small house was looking more like a home.

  “Why don’t we zip over to Dean’s place and grab the table? It’s in his garage,” Kit suggested. “It’ll go in the back of your truck, Jacob.”

  “Good idea,” Suzie said. “And I’ll go into town and get us some lunch.”

  Leona paled. “I can do that.” Suzie had done so much; providing lunch was the least Leona could do.

  “No, you stay here and carry on. You know better than any of us where you want your things to go.” Suzie headed for her car. “Is there anything else you need?”

  “No. Thank you.” Leona stood and watched them all leave. Then she slowly walked back into the house.

  Swallowing down her emotions, she set about putting away the meager amount of items Suzie had unpacked in the kitchen. Leona missed her old kitchen, she missed knowing where everything was, and cooking while the kids did their homework at the table.

  She didn’t miss their worried faces when their dad got home from work. The sounds of the front door closing, and him taking off his coat before heading to the kitchen, were always tense. His mood often depended on what kind of a day he’d had at work. In the last couple of months, there were never any good days. However, a really bad day meant he would find fault with everything.

  Leona would watch him and wonder what had happened to the man she fell in love with. The man she married, the man who held her hand while she gave birth to each of her sons. But that man had gone, replaced by a resentful ticking time bomb, a monster who could lash out with no warning, a man who constantly berated and belittled her, until her confidence was in tatters.

  That was her past. This house, Bear Creek. They were her future. It was a fresh start for Leona and her boys, Jack and Harry.

  Leona placed her hand on the kitchen counter, leaning on it heavily. The events of the last few weeks came crowding in on her. This was the first time she had allowed those thoughts to overpower her.

  For weeks she had pushed down her fears and her doubts about their future and clung to the hope that it would all work out. Was this it? Was Bear Creek the right place for them to start again?

  Or had she made a terrible mistake?

  The breath left her lungs and she slid down to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chin. Depression had stalked her, fear had preyed on her; she fought them off, but she was mentally and physically tired. While emotionally, she was defeated. A numbness was taking over as Leona tried to cope.

  Yes, she could put a smile on her face, but the feeling behind that smile, any pleasure she should experience, had gone. Joy at life had slipped away, and she didn’t know how to get it back.

  Tears spilled down her cheeks, leaving salty tracks. Would she ever come back from this? Leona couldn’t see the way; it was as if someone had switched off all the lights. Screwing her eyes up, she pictured her two boys: they were what kept her going, they teased the last threads of hope out of her soul and pulled her along in their wake.

  For Jack and Harry—she could do this for them. Leona sobbed, giving herself permission to cry this one last time. Then she would wipe her tears away, fix a smile on her face, and find a way through this. She would find a way back to happiness.

  Clive would not win. She was beaten, but not beat. As she sobbed her heart out, she prayed these were not empty words or empty promises to herself. Like those Clive had said on their wedding day.

  Whatever love Leona had for Clive on their wedding day was long gone. She’d stayed for the boys, she’d stayed because she had loved being married, loved being part of a family. Each day she had persuaded herself that the man she had married would return, he had to be in there somewhere. Until finally she realized Clive simply didn’t want to be that man anymore. He didn’t want Leona as his wife; he didn’t want Jack and Harry. They were an inconvenience, a chain around his neck. Because Clive had found someone else, a woman he wanted to be with, more than he wanted to be with his wife and children.

  Her marriage was broken, she was in mourning, and one day it would pass.

  Chapter Two – Neil

  Neil arrived at the house where he’d promised to help one of Suzie’s cases move in. That sounded so impersonal, but Suzie had not given him any further details, other than a woman, and her two young children, who had just separated from her husband, needed help moving into a new house before Christmas.

  He parked on the driveway, behind a rented truck, and got out, breathing in the crisp winter air. Snow was on its way, and his bear shivered in anticipation of rolling in the virgin snow.

  We have a job to do first, Neil reminded his bear as a stray snowflake floated down to the ground.

  Then let’s get on with it, his bear said.

  Neil walked up the driveway. He was late. Neither Suzie’s car nor Jacob’s truck was here; only the empty rented truck stood on the drive. They might have already finished the unloading, but since he was here, he might just as well do the neighborly thing and say hello.

  He dusted down his clothes and raked a hand through his dark chestnut hair. Neil felt bad at not being here to help earlier, but his job didn’t run to a schedule. A call-out half an hour before the end of their shift had sent his crew out to the scene of a traffic accident. Being a fireman meant you stayed on and finished the job, no matter how long it took. If your shift was due to end at ten, and there was a call-out at nine thirty, you didn’t stop work and clock off, you finished the job.

  Finishing the job today meant they’d saved the life of a family trapped in their car after a tangle with a fuel truck on the highway. It could have gone horribly wrong in so many ways, but thankfully everyone got out safely. The crew had worked hard, as they always did, to get everyone out alive. They all knew that losing someone at this time of year, with Christmas so close, would have been unbearable. Not just for the crew, but for the family involved, it would have haunted them for the rest of their lives, every time Christmas came around. Neil had seen it happen before, and didn’t plan on letting anyone else go through the same harrowing experience if he could help it.

  As he strode up the driveway, past the rented truck, his head spun a little. The adrenaline that fueled his actions when on a call had ebbed away, leaving him feeling drained. He’d get over it: a good cup of coffee, which he’d passed on at the fire station, and maybe something to eat, then he’d be ready to help Suzie’s friend with whatever she needed.

  Neil reached the front door, rubbing his neck in an attempt to fo
cus. A wave of an emotion he didn’t recognize swept over him. As he raised his fist to knock on the door, he instead found himself leaning against it for support. Weird. He took a breath, stood up straight, shoulders back, thankful his brothers were not here to make fun of him. Being the youngest of three brothers was tough growing up, and they still saw him as the little guy, even if he was taller than Kit and stronger than Jacob.

  It didn’t help that they had both found their mates in the last couple of months. They were both settled down, cozied up with their women on these dark winter nights, while he lived alone. What he wouldn’t give for a family. Yes, he admitted it, he was jealous.

  For some reason, Christmas, a time he loved, didn’t feel the same this year.

  Selfish son-of-a-bitch, he told himself. That wasn’t strictly true. It wasn’t that he wished his brothers were still single; it was that he wished he was not.

  Neil knocked lightly on the door, telling himself to get a grip. There was no answer. He knocked again, the strange sensations still lurking in the back of his mind. Nothing. Maybe the house was empty. The cars were gone; perhaps they had all headed into town for lunch. He checked his watch, but a noise from inside the house made him look up. There was someone home.

  He walked around to the window and peered through. There was someone inside, she was sitting on the floor, was she hurt? Neil headed back to the front door and tried the handle, it turned, and he pushed the door open.

  “Hello,” he called. “Are you hurt?” A muffled sound came from along the hallway. “Hello. My name is Neil, I’m a friend of Suzie’s.”

  His heart stalled, not unusual when you might be faced with a potentially horrifying scene. But this felt different, more intense. Neil shook off his unease, and told himself to get a grip. He didn’t usually overact.

  “I’m OK.” The voice, a woman’s, sounded strained.