HAUNTED BY MAGIC -Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Boxset Sampler

BEARLY MAGIC - CATHERINE VALE

A Magical Were-Bear Shifter Romance 

Chapter One

Angela sipped from a frothy mugful of Sam Adams, as she straddled the back of the barstool she sat on, and waited for her partner to show up. Her keen green eyes lazily scanned the crowded bar, hoping to find someone of interest, but though the place was teeming with fae, shifters, and mages, they were all the usual crowd - no fresh blood to be found.

Well, unless she counted the posse of pixies, who were currently tearing up the dance floor. Full of mischief and mayhem as usual, they moved their little bodies to some kind of techno beat they'd convinced the DJ to put on, and while their sparkling outfits, and wild hair certainly qualified them as 'interesting', she had no intention of getting involved with the kind of trouble their kind tended to bring.

Well, not unless she had to arrest them. And since she was off-duty, she was really hoping things didn't come to that tonight.

The front door opened, and Angela turned her head, just in time to see Raina walk through the door. Tall and willowy, with inky black hair, and eyes that were nearly as dark, she tended to draw the eye of every male she walked past, especially dressed as she was, in her long black leather coat, and knee-high stiletto boots. Paired with a plum sweater and skin-tight jeans, she somehow managed to look classy, and dangerous at the same time. Like a woman who flirts without fear, because there's always a knife at her fingertips, if she decides she doesn't like the way you're looking at her.

But then, Raina Madison didn't usually carry knives. As a mage, she really didn't have to.

"Hey Angie." Her partner slid neatly onto the stool next to Angela, and ordered her a Guinness. "Sorry I'm late... was trying to catch up on some sleep. You know, to recover from the double-shift we've been pulling nearly all week?" She narrowed her dark eyes at Angela to convey her displeasure at being dragged out of her condo, on the first night they'd had off in nearly two weeks. She snatched up her beer, and took a long pull from the bottle. "I'm going to need a lot more of these to drown out the sound of my bed calling my name."

"Oh, please. Suck it up." Angela rolled her eyes, but leaned over the counter to order her friend another beer. "You're starting to sound like an old broad. You gotta get out every once in awhile."

"Yeah, but did we really have to come to the Crazy Horse?" Raina complained, pouting a little. "I mean, if we're going to go out, and enjoy ourselves, at least we can go to a place where every third person doesn't happen to be someone that we've cuffed within the last few months. Know what I'm saying?"

Angela sighed. That was the crux of being a Protector – you tended to run into a lot of violators when you were off the job, no matter where you decided to go to have a bit of fun, and relax.

She and Raina both worked for the Order of Protection – a government-sanctioned organization whose job it was to police all of the shifters, and supernatural beings. It was their job to make sure that the various races didn't violate the treaty that had been established, in order to allow everyone to live peacefully.

"You know that we can't go to human bars," Angela chided Raina quietly, as she tugged at her red leather motocross jacket. Unlike Raina, she did carry weapons underneath her jacket. Sure, she had plenty of teeth and claws, when in her bear form, but in human form, she was nearly as vulnerable as anyone else. There were knives tucked into her matching red leather boots, and a gun tucked into the holster fastened to her belt. "If your father found out, he'd lock you away in a tower, and skin my pelt."

Raina wrinkled her nose. "Dad might be a little overprotective, but he's not that bad," she said, and then pouted again. "Still though, you're probably right. But on our next day off, I vote that we just hang out at my place with several pints of Ben and Jerry's, and watch a season of Orange is the New Black."