Free Loving The Bear: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Gray Bears Book 2) by Natalie Kristen

CHAPTER
ONE

    Elle Redfern went to the door
of her small bakery and flipped the sign to 'Closed'. She sighed and
went to the counter to tally up the accounts for the day. Business
was slow, but hopefully things would pick up soon. This bakery was
tiny, but it was hers. The previous owner was in a hurry to move out
of town and had sold it to her at a price she could afford.
    Elle had been in Shadow Point
for less than a month, but she hoped that she would stay here for a
long time. She didn't want to keep moving, running and hiding.
Maybe, just maybe, she could finally make a new life for herself here
in Shadow Point.
    Shadow Point was a small town
with a diverse population. There were humans, shifters, vampires,
witches and other paranormals living in Shadow Point. As a half
witch, Elle felt that she would be able to blend right in. She
wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb and no one would pay particular
attention to her. She didn't want to keep looking over her shoulder
for the rest of her life. All she wanted was a peaceful, happy life.
    Elle lifted her fingers to
her cheek and felt the scar on her face. The glamor spell she has
cast over herself during the day had worn off. Elle gulped and
muttered another glamor spell under her breath.
    Elle knew only the most
rudimentary, simple spells. Her mother was a witch, but she had only
taught Elle some basic glamor spells.
    The glamor spell lasted only
a few hours but it allowed her to hide the scar on her face during
the day. The magic wasn't powerful enough to change her appearance.
It didn't change her hair or eye color, or change the shape of her
face and body. It just made her look like how she used to look
before her ex-husband, Skinner, attacked her with a knife.
    When Skinner was in jail,
Elle had plucked up the courage to serve him the divorce papers.
This was her only chance to flee. She couldn't let Skinner find her.
She knew that once he got out of jail, Skinner would come after her.
    She had been too young and
stupid, and her marriage to Skinner had been a terrible mistake. It
was only after marriage that she saw through all his lies. Skinner
was a half-human, half-paranormal like her. But while Elle accepted
that she would never be as powerful as a full witch, Skinner resented
the fact that he could never shift into his wolf, and wasn't as fast,
strong and deadly as a full wolf shifter.
    Maybe it was the wolf in him
that made him so violent and volatile. But Elle's neighbor, Roth,
was an elderly, sweet-natured half bear shifter. Roth couldn't shift
into bear form but he had the heart and courage of a bear. Skinner
was twice the size of the scrawny old man, but Roth had come running
at the sound of Elle's screams and held Skinner off her. If it
hadn't been for Roth, Elle might have died that night instead of
escaping with just a scar on her face.
    It wasn't the repressed
animal in Skinner that made him so cruel and brutal. There was
simply no excuse for his violence. The beatings had started soon
after marriage, and she had made excuses for him in the beginning.
She thought he was just frustrated and angry because he couldn't find
a job and wasn't accepted into a prestigious shifter pack or clan.
He'd apologized at first but he wasn't really sorry. Soon the
apologies stopped but the beatings didn't. He just beat her whenever
he felt like it. And because he could.
    Elle had used the glamor
spell to hide her bruises from her neighbors and colleagues. She
worked as a waitress in a cafe, but her boss sometimes let her help
with the baking. Working in the kitchen, immersing herself in the
wonderful smell of butter, vanilla, chocolate and sugar made her
forget her troubles and unhappiness for a few blissful hours.
Looking at the lovely muffins, cookies, and other lovely treats that
she helped bake gave her a sense of pride and joy.
    But she didn't tell anyone
about her troubles at home. Skinner had warned her and threatened
her. He even spied on her while she worked