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

said, cocking his head. “Ah, that's right. You're not
my wife anymore. You're the vicious, vindictive ex-wife who put me
in jail. Why would any wife put her own husband in jail? That was a
really hurtful thing you did, Elle. You broke my heart.”
Skinner smiled an ugly smile and spat. “Bitch! I should have
killed you! I should have cut up your heart, instead of just slicing
up your face. But it's not too late. I made some friends in jail
and they have contacts. That's how I found you. They even gave me
some good advice. They told me, don't get mad, Skinner. Get even.”
    He laughed and flicked out a
blade.
    “Elle, my pretty little
ex-wife, who isn't so pretty anymore.”
    He tapped the flat of the
sharp blade against her cheek. “You can fool others with your
glamor now, Elle. But when I'm finished with you, the whole world
will see you as you really are. An ugly woman with an ugly heart.
You are a vile, hideous woman, Elle, and all the glamor spells in the
world won't be able to save you!”
    Elle whimpered as she watched
the knife coming closer and closer to her. She struggled angrily.
She was just getting her life on track. Why did Skinner have to
appear? Why couldn't she have her happily-ever-after? Was that too
much to wish for?
    Elle gasped at the sudden
realization.
    A wish.
    She had made a wish earlier.
She wished for her true love...and in a blink, Skinner was here, in
her shop!
    No! No!
    Skinner wasn't her true love!
He never loved her. He despised her and hated her. There was no
love between them at all.
    Her wish had gone horribly,
terribly wrong. There was not going to be a happily-ever-after.
With a knife at her throat, there was no way this was going to end
happily for her. Painfully, bloodily and messily, yes. But happily?
No way in hell.
    In her blind terror, her
survival instincts kicked into gear. She acted on pure impulse and
reflex.
    Widening her jaws, Elle sunk
her teeth into Skinner's palm. She bit down. Hard.
    Skinner bellowed a curse and
staggered back.
    She scrambled away from him
and lurched towards the door.
    Skinner roared and lashed out
savagely with his knife. The blade whistled past her ear as she
lunged forward and yanked the door open.
    In a heartbeat, she was out
of her shop and tearing down the street. The street was empty and
the other shops were all in darkness.
    Elle sobbed and continued
running. She didn't dare look back or slow down even when she lost a
shoe.
    She was running for her life!
She just needed to get away, and get help. If only there was
someone around…
    She stumbled on, running past
the empty park and pressing her hand to her mouth to muffle her sobs.
She wanted to scream for help but she couldn't let Skinner hear her.
    “Oh, thank God!
Thank...” Elle cried.
    A sheriff cruiser was just
turning into the street.
    Waving her arms madly, she
shrieked as she ran towards the car, “Help! Please, stop!
Help me!”

CHAPTER
THREE

    Aidan Gray turned his sheriff
cruiser down Grove Lane and scanned the quiet street. He blew out a
breath. He still wasn't used to the sleepy pace back here in Shadow
Point. He and his brother, Mason, had left Shadow Point to
experience life in the big city. They had been working in one of the
largest security firms in the city, the Black Bears Group, and they
had been on death-defying, time-sensitive missions with the Black
Bears. He loved the adrenalin rush, the urgent, pulsing pace, and
when he and Mason returned to their hometown, Aidan had hoped to find
the same thrill and excitement in the Sheriff's department.
    He had been made a deputy
Sheriff, and his first week on the job had been rather mundane and
uneventful. Helping little old ladies across the street and
retrieving lost pets didn't make for the most exciting police work.
    But this was his community.
And Aidan was glad to serve and protect. He had grumbled a little
when his Gramma summoned Mason and him home, but honestly, he was
glad to be home. He missed his