Free All About the Bear (Grizzly Cove Book 1) by Bianca D'Arc Page A

around the local pub. Brody had to wade in and break up the standoff, taking a shot in the shoulder before he could wrestle the peashooter away from the drunkard. It wasn’t a serious wound, but dragging the koala’s drunk ass down to the station and locking him up ate up precious time.
    Brody was going to be late to the very important dinner he was supposed to be hosting at his den. Nell wouldn’t be happy, and being late wasn’t a good way to impress the in-laws either.
    There was only one way he’d get there on time. Straight through the forest.
    Brody shrugged out of his bloody uniform and left it on the chair in the back of the jail. Shifting to his bear form, he used one paw to open the back door of the jail and made a beeline through the forest at the back of the building, running on all fours toward his den. He could cover a lot more ground a lot quicker in his fur than if he’d had to drive around the long way on the winding road.
    And shifting shape had mostly healed the bullet graze across his arm. He couldn’t do much about the blood until he got a chance to clean up, but at least bleeding had stopped with his shift. The only blood left in his fur now was what had been on his body before he’d changed into his grizzly form.
    He had left his watch and phone behind at the station, but he thought he might just make it before the sisters arrived. He saw his house and made for the side of it, hoping to sneak in from the deck, shapeshift, and clean up a bit before the girls arrived.
    “Brody!” Nell met him in the woods a few yards from the deck, running to him and dropping to her knees to look at his shoulder. “John called and said you’d been shot in the arm. Are you okay?”
    She was touching his furry front arm, her hands coming away bloody. There were tears in her eyes, and he knew he had scared her. Dammit. He hadn’t meant to worry her.
    Brody shifted shape right then and there.
    “I’m fine, Nell. It was only a graze, and it healed when I shifted.”
    “But the blood…” She gestured with her faintly red hands.
    “It stopped. Look.” He twisted to present his shoulder to her and waited while she touched him gently, probing the area around the wound, wiping away the residual blood with her fingers.
    They were both still kneeling on the ground, and he urged her to her feet, taking her into his arms.
    “I’m sorry you were scared. John shouldn’t have worried you like that.” He frowned. The Alpha was going to hear about making Brody’s mate cry. The tears in Nell’s eyes bothered Brody. A lot.
    He rocked her gently in his arms. He was stark naked, but as a werebear, he was used to that after a shift.
    “He said you were on your way, but that you’d been shot,” she said, tucking her cheek against his chest. She was trembling, so he held her closer. “I didn’t listen after that. All I could think of was that you were hurt. Thank God you’re okay.” She squeezed him tight, making his heart do a little flip at the undeniable evidence of how much she cared. She loosened her hold and moved back a little, meeting his gaze with teary eyes. “You are okay, right? You didn’t lose too much blood, did you? And the bullet didn’t go in, it just grazed your arm?” She looked at the wound again, as if making sure.
    “Yes, I’m fine,” he assured her, smiling. “I didn’t lose much blood. It was just a scratch, and all evidence of it will be gone by morning. I promise.” He moved his hands to her shoulders. “I’m sorry you were worried. And I’m sorry I was almost late for the big dinner.” He lifted her off her feet and onto the deck, following close behind. “I need to get cleaned up before your sisters arrive.”
    “Too late.” It was Ashley’s voice, coming to him from the far end of the deck.
    Looking up quickly, he saw both Ashley and Tina seated at the table with half-full glasses of wine in front of them. They’d been there for some time already.
    Dammit. He really