Bodyguard Bear
Bodyguard Bear
Justice Squad Book 3
Scarlett Grove
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Also by Scarlett Grove
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Chapter 1
The weights cracked as they hit the ground. Sweat dripped from Titus’s brow and he took several deep breaths. He wiped it away with his gym towel and poured water down his throat. He’d broken his record, and every other bodybuilder in the gym was looking on with a mixture of amazement and jealousy.
He stepped back from the deadlift, running the towel over his closely cropped head. His CO Hawk Barlow slapped him on the back, congratulating him for his achievements.
"That's impressive even for a shifter," Hawk noted.
"You might be able to best me if you spent as much time working out.”
"You definitely have us beat when it comes to time at the gym," Hawk admitted. “Your dedication to your physical fitness puts the rest of us to shame.”
“My body is my business card,” Titus said as he slapped Hawk’s back and said his goodbyes.
The human onlookers watched him with awe as he passed. He stopped to check in at the reception desk, and found that he had six more sign-ups for his personal training sessions. In the locker room, he quickly washed the sweat from his bulging muscles and dressed.
After a workout like that, he had definitely earned some R&R. He grabbed his gym bag and stopped at the smoothie stand on the way out, ordering his favorite protein peanut butter shake. He climbed into his Jeep and started down the road through the beautiful town of Fate Rock, Colorado.
Nestled in an evergreen forest in the mountains, Fate Rock was one of the nicest places to live in all the world. Titus pinched himself every day. He still couldn't believe that he got to live in a place like this.
His human mom had lost his shifter dad during the Great War, and her mental health had deteriorated. When Titus was just six years old, she disappeared one day, leaving him with his human grandmother. Life with his grandma had been good. Until she too had left this world.
Ever since Titus was eight, he’d been shuffled between human relatives and sometimes strangers. Never having a place to really call home. The sensitive little boy who’d been left by his mom as a kid went on to become an aggressive, street smart tough guy by the age of eighteen.
He’d joined the military right out of high school, and had learned to hone his skills, his body, and mind. But it wasn't until he joined the Justice Squad, a clandestine unit stationed in Fate Rock, that he had found his home.
His crewmate, Jamison Stone, was a real estate developer. He’d helped Titus get set up in a nice three-bedroom house in the same neighborhood as the rest of the squad. He’d said he didn’t need such a big place, but Jamison insisted that he’d want it for when he finally found his fated mate and started a family. Titus finally agreed, knowing that a family was what he truly wanted.
The crew spent Sundays at each other's houses eating barbecue. And since Rider had found his mate Darcy, they'd been spending more and more time at her new sports bar and grill, Squad Goals, downtown.
Rider was lucky he’d found a mate. He had always been handsome and charming, unlike Titus, who was massive, aggressive looking, and probably a bit intimidating to the ladies. But if a guy as haunted as Max Johnson could find a mate, Titus had hope that maybe he could too.
He sipped on his peanut butter smoothie and headed up the mountain. He liked to go to his favorite spot up the hill after a particularly challenging workout. It helped him clear his mind and stay focused.
He parked his Jeep near a field full of wildflowers spreading out in every direction. He grabbed his duffel bag and smoothie and found a spot in the middle of the field. Then, he pulled out his sketchbook.
He looked around, making sure that no one could see him before he began to sketch the pretty pink wildflowers. He let out a deep sigh of contentment as he gazed at the lovely magenta blooms.
The subtle curves of the petals and the delicate arc of the stems filled his heart with peace. He pulled out his watercolors and dipped his brush into the vivid pink paint, spreading a wash over the paper.
This was when he felt most alive. This was when he felt most himself. All his life, he’d had to pretend to be the tough guy who everyone believed was as hard as nails. But the truth was that deep inside, Titus was as soft as they came.
He had a special place in his heart for butterflies and babies, puppies and kittens. But nobody knew about that side of the big burly bear he pretended to be. And no one ever would.
He’d learned at a young age that revealing the truth about himself was dangerous. He couldn't trust anyone with his secret. He hoped that if he ever found his one true mate, she would be the first person he could share his true self with. He'd been on mate.com for as long as he could remember, but still no one had been his match.
Just thinking about it made him sad. He wanted home, family and a mate more than anything in the world. And he always had. It was the truest hope of his heart to finally be able to be himself with that one special someone. But he still hadn't found anyone and sometimes he doubted he ever would.
"Hey Titus," he heard a voice call over the meadow. Titus immediately recognized it as his crewmate, Zander Shaw. Titus threw his painting into his duffel bag and stood up, flexing his muscles. Zander walked through the field toward him with a smile on his lips.
"Hey, Titus, I didn't know that you came out here. Was that a book you just had? I've never seen you read a book in my life." Zander began to chuckle.
Titus did everything he could to suppress the embarrassment rising in his cheeks. Everyone knew that Zander read classic literature and wrote poetry. And he wasn't embarrassed about it at all. In fact, he seemed proud of it. Titus wished that he could be as open about his own sensitive side. But the crew kne
w Titus as the tough guy, and they knew Zander as their diplomat. Everyone expected completely different things from them.
"I'm working on my meditation practice to improve my martial arts." Titus said it like meditation was a huge inconvenience. He was a master of martial arts, and had even won professional meets for his heavyweight class. However, he enjoyed meditation for its own sake, especially in a field full of flowers.
"That's what I usually do out here too," Zander said. “The air is so fresh and it's so peaceful. But that doesn't explain what you just threw in your duffel bag," he went on.
Zander had an annoyingly inquisitive nature that came in handy on missions, but right now Titus wished he would just disappear.
"It's nothing," Titus said, unable to come up with a plausible excuse. “Just a book of meditation that my sensei gave me. If I want to advance, I need to learn to relax and focus my mind.”
"You're certainly dedicated to fitness," Zander said.
"Well I need to be going now," Titus said. He grabbed his duffel bag and hurried through the field and away from Zander and his nosey questions. Of all the people Titus was close to, Zander was probably the best choice to tell the truth about his hobbies.
He knew that at the end of the day, his crew wouldn't think any less of him if they knew he liked painting pink flowers. They'd depended on him in the most harrowing situations, and he had always come through. They had a bond of brotherhood that was as strong as steel. But Titus had been pretending for so long, he had no idea how to reveal the truth.
Chapter 2
Arabella Fernandez's voice echoed through the stadium as she tilted her head back, her microphone above her. She gripped her fist, feeling the swell of her music and the power of her voice. It was her greatest love and what she had dedicated her life to. Her stage crew clapped at the end of the song, and she did a mock curtsy to them. It was only a practice session, but her entourage was always so supportive.
"There's a call for you," her manager said, walking on the practice stage. “I'm sorry to interrupt, but… it’s your mother.”
"I'll take it," Arabella said, taking the phone.
“Hi, Mom," she said, trying to disguise the irritation in her voice. “What's up? How are things on Capital Hill?”
“You're going to have to cancel your tour, Arabella. Things are heating up here in DC.” Arabella gritted her teeth as she listened to her mother. "I am introducing a bill to Congress that will increase the security measures against hyena shifters, and there will most likely be backlash. I need to know that you're safe.”
"I'm not canceling my tour," Arabella said. “I understand that you think you're doing something important, but so am I.”
"Arabella, you need to listen to reason.”
"I am being reasonable, mama. My career is as important to me as yours is to you.”
Arabella knew that she made about ten times as much money as her mother and touched the hearts of millions of people every day. Singing on stage in short shorts might not be as heroic as saving the world from terrorism, but Arabella had worked hard to get where she was. Despite her mother's disapproval. Her national tour was about to kick off, and she wasn't about to back down now.
"Your life could be at risk, mi hija. You must listen for once.”
"Why don't you just wait to introduce your bill until my tour is over,” Arabella suggested playfully.
"You know that is impossible," Senator Fernandez scoffed. “That's not the way these things work.”
"Have it your way. But I'm not canceling my tour.”
"Then we’re going to have to send some additional security from DC. We can't have you out in the world with a target on your back. They could use you to get to me. And this bill is too important to take any chances.”
"Fine, I could use another guy on my detail anyway.” Arabella checked her nails. She loved this new shade of yellow. Perfect for summer.
“We’ll have someone sent out to you by the end of the week,” her mother said before hanging up the phone.
Arabella rolled her eyes. She loved her mother to pieces, and she knew that she was just trying to do what she believed was right. But her mom had been trying to talk Arabella out of her dreams since before her first recording contract! If she’d listened back then, who knows where she would be today.
Her mother's career as a senator and Arabella’s career as a singer had evolved simultaneously, each of them pressuring the other along the way. Neither would relent, and both had succeeded. Her mother had become one of the few Latina officials in Washington DC, and Arabella had become a world-famous popstar.
"I need to take five,” she said to her crew. She suddenly felt exhausted.
Speaking to her mother always left her frazzled. It wasn't that she didn't love or respect her mother. But the two of them were so alike that they were always butting heads. She hoped that someday, when she was older, the two would begin to see eye to eye, and be the way a mother and daughter should be. But that wasn't going to happen as long as her mom kept trying to interfere with her career.
Arabella grabbed a bottle of water and walked to her trailer, closing the door behind her. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked every bit the part of a sexy popstar. Short shorts accentuated her curvy behind, and fishnet stockings hugged her long legs. A low-cut top revealed the swell of her full breasts. And expertly applied makeup to make her look superhumanly beautiful. And she pulled it all off with the expertise of a seasoned professional.
Arabella sighed and flopped down on the couch. She knew what she was supposed to portray. A sexy, independent, in-control young woman who all the men wanted to be with and all the girls wanted to be. But nobody knew the truth. Underneath all the frills and the fishnet, Arabella had a secret not even her closest friends knew. A secret that, if her fans ever heard about it, could change everything. She picked up her lipstick and applied another layer, smacking her lips in the mirror. On the outside, Arabella Fernandez was the queen of the stage. But on the inside, she was a twenty-five-year-old virgin who'd never even been kissed.
When she'd been younger, she had waited for the right guy at the right moment. She'd been so focused on her career that casual relationships had never been on her radar. But as she got older and her career took off, the pool of guys available grew smaller and the oddity of her lack of experience grew stronger with each passing year.
At twenty-five years old, and as an international superstar, she had no idea how she could tell anyone what she really was. The longer she waited, the more she believed she would never find anyone who she could be honest with. She was married to her music. And that was one of the biggest reasons she wouldn't let her mother sway her from her tour. But as much as she loved the swell of a note in a crowded auditorium, she was impossibly lonely.
She hadn't dated since high school and didn't even know where to start. It wasn't like there was a popstar dating app. And all the other men who were at the same level of fame as she was would expect her to be what she pretended to be. She couldn't imagine telling one of them the truth. If it got out that she was a virgin, she had no idea how she would handle the PR nightmare.
Not that it was wrong or that her fans would reject her. But her entire image would be at stake. People would wonder why she pranced around on stage in skimpy outfits and behaved so provocatively when she had no idea what it even felt like to be kissed. Aside from that, she just didn't want anyone to know. Least of all the entire world.
It was humiliating and embarrassing. And her own private business. If she wanted to date someone, it had to be someone who would understand. Someone who was out of the limelight.
She glanced up the newspaper sitting on the table. One of the hairdressers must have left it. She flipped through the pages of the local paper and ended up on the advertisements. A huge ad for a shifter dating website stared at her and seemed to glow like a neon sign.
‘Sign up for mate.com and find the love of your life,’ the ad promi
sed. Arabella bit her lip and picked up her cell phone, tabbing over to the app store to download it to her phone.
"What could it hurt?" she whispered to herself.
Most shifters were peace-loving citizens, with strong family values and work ethics that could rival her own. Maybe that was exactly the kind of guy she needed. That's what she told herself as she opened the app and began to fill out the application.
She raised an eyebrow at the strange questions. “If you were a vegetable what kind would you be?” She answered to the best of her ability. Even though she didn't know how it could possibly match her with the love of her life.
Apparently, this website had a 99.9% success rate in matching shifters with their fated mates. She knew enough about shifters to know that they only had one perfect partner that they were dedicated to for the rest of their lives. Most shifters, anyway. It was well known that hyenas broke this standard and would mate with any female shifter. That's why the population of hyenas had exploded in the last twenty years. They believed that shifters were superior to humans and that they should be in charge of the world. They didn't want equality with humans, they wanted domination.
Her mother worked with several shifters in the Senate. Nothing was keeping shifters from entering the political arena. But the hyenas didn't want that. They didn't want humans and shifters to mate, or to be friends, or to have any connection whatsoever. They wanted supremacy and separation. She'd even heard that they would kidnap female shifters and force them to bear their children, leaving their fated mates without the love of their lives.