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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  This book is intended for adult readers only.

  Any sexual activity portrayed in these pages occurs between consenting adults over the age of 18 who are not related by blood.

  Contents

  Rancher Bear’s Baby

  Thorn

  Wolf Boss

  Fire Breathing Beast

  Rescue Bear

  Cherished Mate

  Werebear’s Mail Order Mate

  Nathan: Billionaire Bear

  Billionaire Bear’s Bride

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  Shifter Starter Set

  A Shifter Romance Collection

  Candace Ayers

  Lovestruck Romance Publishing, LLC

  Rancher Bear’s Baby

  Rancher Bears

  Her life is a country song, no job, cheating boyfriend, pregnant by a one-night stand. What else can go wrong?

  Elizabeth gave up everything and followed her boyfriend across the country hoping the move would cement their relationship.

  Then, she found him in the arms of another woman.

  Alex actually thinks his father’s will is funny.

  The first of his sons to produce an heir will inherit the family’s billion-dollar ranch.

  He’d rather party and play than run a ranching operation.

  When Alex meets Elizabeth, they share one night of steamy passion.

  Each has only memories of that night… until Elizabeth receives news about a soon to be arriving little bundle of joy.

  1

  Elizabeth

  I kicked up dirt in my ruined ballet flats as I headed towards the sounds of screaming fans and country music. I wanted to find Sam and watch the rodeo with him. It was about time I tried to assimilate to the country way. We’d been in Landing, Wyoming for almost two weeks and I still hadn’t seen the little town’s nightlife.

  As I spotted the small stadium, if you could even call it that, I couldn’t help comparing it to the nightlife I was used to. DC had everything. Culture, dancing, and drinking. There was more, but at twenty-three, those three things ranked pretty high on my list of fun things to do.

  What ranked pretty low was walking down a dirt path between the only motel in Landing and the little mud hole where the rodeo was held. My flats were label and had cost me a pretty penny. A penny I no longer had, so I had no hopes of replacing them. They’d been the victim of Sam thinking he was going to cheer me up about the dust I’d been tracking through to get to the local library. He’d tried to clean the delicate suede with a nice rough run through an industrial sized washing machine at the laundry mat.

  The stadium was really just a big fence surrounding a bunch of dirt and a few sets of metal stands. There was a big wooden box set up on one end with windows revealing a few men who were giving commentary about what was happening in the dirt.

  I passed by a few cowboys in their outfits and smiled at them. Of course, they just stared at me. If I had to say one thing about Landing’s population, it was that they were the most private people I’d ever met. They weren’t big on strangers. While it seemed like they’d taken a liking to Sam, even the sweet looking librarian clammed up when I walked into the library, looking to borrow her paper to job hunt.

  The metal seating was mostly full, which was surprising for the small town. I never expected so many people to show up for something that didn’t make much sense to me.

  I stood at the bottom of the stands and looked for Sam. For the guy I’d moved across the country with, he sure had been hard to find since we arrived in Landing. I could feel the people in the stands looking at me, but I ignored it and just focused on finding my newly mysterious boyfriend. I made my way around the stadium with no luck. I couldn’t find him anywhere.

  He’d said that he would be there, so I found a seat and tried to blend into the crowd while I waited for him to show up. It wasn’t easy, that much was sure. Landing residents seemed to scoot away when I walked by them. I wanted to like them, but I’d never felt quite so alone in my entire life. I didn’t think I’d done anything to offend them, but they all seemed to want to keep their distance from me.

  The country music screeched to a halt and a man with a thick accent started talking about the next cowboy up. The men were riding bulls, which just seemed dangerous and pointless to me. I was slightly concerned for the bulls, too. It couldn’t be healthy for them to have such large men sitting on their backs. As I contemplated the cruelty level of bull riding, a man caught my eye.

  It was different for many reasons. First, it was the first time anyone had really met my eye since I’d arrived. Second, because something seemed to sizzle in my lower stomach as soon as our gazes connected. Butterflies seemed too innocent and small a word to compare to what I was feeling. In all actuality, it felt like someone had released a thousand tornadoes in my stomach, that were all trying to escape at once.

  The man was big. He towered over the tall men around him, making them seem average, at best. His shoulders were wide enough to land a small plane on, it seemed, and his arms tested the limits of the denim shirt he was wearing. A narrow waist and hips were encased in dark leather chaps that made me hungry to know what was waiting for my eyes in the back.

  Tousled blonde hair fell almost to his shoulders and peeked out from behind a dusty cowboy hat. His lower face was all sharp angles and five o’clock shadow. I couldn’t see his eyes as clearly as I wanted to and I found myself standing, my body desperate to get a closer look, to see them more clearly.

  I bumped my ankle on part of the metal seating and the pain cleared my head. I blinked a few times and felt my eyes go wide. The cowboy was still there, standing in the dust right inside the fence, watching me with a half-grin on his face. He winked and I reacted like someone had set my ass on fire. I jumped about a foot in the air and then rushed towards the exit.

  With my heart racing, I fought the urge to look back at the man. Something about him was calling to me, but I’d never been a cheater and I had no plans on starting. I had to just get away from him and pray that whatever I was feeling went away. I had to find my boyfriend and make him spend some time with me so I could remember why I didn’t need to feel anything for anyone else. Sam was enough. He had to be.

  I decided to go back to the motel and find my phone so I could call him. I would ask him to come home and then wait for him in just a nightie. Things were okay. I’d just have to prove it to myself, I figured. I shook out my trembling hands and tried to forget about the stranger. The tornadoes in my stomach hadn’t calmed down any, but I could easily convince myself that it was just something funny I’d eaten.

  I rounded the corner of the stadium and, from the new angle, spotted Sam’s truck at the back corner of the parking lot. The shiny new chrome stood out amongst the other vehicles and I had a moment of anger at Sam. He’d just had to have a new truck. I’d poured more money into it than I cared to admit. It was just a part of his country western dream that I was going
along with.

  The closer that I got to the truck, the closer I got to realizing something wasn’t right. The cheering from the rodeo drowned out most of the moans, but not all of them. I knew what I was going to find by the time I reached the front bumper of the truck, but it didn’t stop me.

  I trailed my fingers along the warm metal at the side of the truck until I stood beside the bed of it and could clearly see Sam with a woman bent over in front of him on the other side of the bed. Judging by the look on her face, she was really enjoying it. Judging by the look on his face, he’d spotted me.

  “Shit! Beth!”

  Dread dropped like steel in my stomach, crushing everything in its path, including the tornadoes and my ability to keep my lunch down. I bent over and threw up on the special edition rims that he’d wanted. They didn’t matter much anymore, anyway.

  2

  Elizabeth

  By the time Sam got his pants up I was halfway across the parking lot. I didn’t have a clue where I was going, but I wasn’t seeing clearly through the tears.

  I’d given up my life in DC to join him on his stupid journey of getting back to his roots. I’d given up my job and my beautiful apartment. I’d given up being near people who loved me and wanted to be with me.

  The injustice of it all settled on my chest and I found myself so angry that I wanted to hit something, someone. I wanted to hit Sam. I’d never been violent, but I could feel my fingers tightening into fists at the idea of laying into him.

  “Beth! Jesus, stop. Let me talk to you!” Sam caught my shoulder and spun me around.

  It was the push I needed. I swung my hand out at him, aiming to clean his clock, but he ducked it. Frustrated, I shoved him away. “Don’t let me stop you, Sam. Go back to fucking Daisy Dukes over there.”

  “Are you going to calm down any?”

  I laughed. “Go to hell, Sam. It’s over. This whole thing was a stupid mistake.”

  “We’ve been together for two years, Beth. You just moved across the country with me! You’re really going to end it like this?”

  “You’re really going to fuck someone else while I’m waiting for you to come back to the motel?”

  He tossed his hands in the air and seemed exasperated. “I’m sorry, okay? Let’s just forget this. Come back to the room with me.”

  I sat down on the curb behind me and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m done with this, Sam. Let’s not drag it out.”

  He punched the car next to us and backed away. “I’m going back to the room. I’ll be there, ready to talk, when you are.”

  I didn’t watch him go. I was really done. When I made up my mind about something, I stuck with it. I was ending a two-year relationship in a matter of seconds, but strangely, it didn’t feel the way it should’ve. I was pissed, embarrassed, and hurt, but I didn’t feel crushed by the thought of leaving Sam. I’d get to go back to DC and bitch to my friends. I’d get to escape the country hell he’d landed me in.

  I sat there for over two hours watching people get in their cars and leave. When there was just one truck across the lot and the lights flickered out, I realized that I wasn’t as okay as I thought I was. I mean, I was still sure of my decision, but I hadn’t thought about how I was going to get back to DC. Everything I owned was in the motel room with Sam. I had no money, no transportation, and nowhere to stay the night.

  The tears that I’d been fighting off fell too easily as I realized just how alone I was, and just how dark it was in the parking lot.

  3

  Alex

  The rodeo had done nothing to soothe my nerves. Every muscle in my body had been tense since I’d seen the woman in the stands. My bear was pawing at me, telling me to go and find her. He wanted to devour the little human. I wasn’t far behind.

  It’d been a while since I’d felt anything besides anger and frustration. For over two months, I’d been dealing with the shit from Dad’s death. He’d left the ranch in a fucking mess, that was sure. No boss, no back up plan, no nothing. My oldest brother, Matt had stepped in as temporary leader, but he wasn’t exactly made for it.

  Matt was no better than my other brothers. Lucas, Michael, and John were all money obsessed. They didn’t give a shit about the ranch when it came down to it.

  Despite the distraction that my family had become, everything had quieted when I spotted her. I’d fucked my way through every woman, bear and human alike, in Landing, and every town around, but I’d never felt anything like I’d felt when I laid eyes on her. My bear had tried to take control.

  Her scent called to us. Honeysuckle with a little hint of something spicy. It’d taken everything in me not to chase after her when she’d left. My bear had roared in my head, demanding I go after her.

  I’d stayed late at the stadium, using the excuse that I needed to make sure everything was locked up tight, but in reality, I needed more time to calm down. My fur was still just under the surface. I was too close to shifting to be able to hang out at the bar with everyone else. Adding liquor to my current state was a sure fire way to cause a disaster.

  A hint of her scent wafted my way as I headed out to my truck. Damn. I shook my head. I was losing it, smelling her when she wasn’t even there.

  The farther into the lot I got, though, the more I was sure she was around. I stopped moving and tilted my head back to take in a deeper breath. Her scent came from the north end of the lot, the darkest spot. When I tuned into my senses, I realized I could hear whimpering.

  Fur sprouted from my arms and hands as my bear roared in my head. He shouted that she was hurt and we had to save her. I was already running in her direction.

  I spotted her, sitting on the curb, looking small and vulnerable. With a quick scan of the area, I saw that there was no imminent threat, but it didn’t stop my bear from raging at the sight of her tears.

  I was still a few feet away from her when she looked up at me. Her bright blue eyes widened and she held up her hands.

  “What are you doing?!”

  I froze in place and shook my head. Great, I thought, I’d scared the hell out of her by charging at her. “I heard you crying. Are you okay?”

  She reached up and wiped at the tears. “I’m not crying.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Of course, not. What are you doing out here, in the dark?”

  She wrapped her arms back around her knees and frowned. “It wasn’t dark until a few seconds ago.”

  My dick hardened into steel as her plump breasts pushed up. Her dress barely contained them and my mouth watered at the sight. “Need a lift?”

  As she hesitated, I shoved my hands in my pockets, trying to look harmless. It wasn’t easy. I was a big man, an even bigger bear, and everything in me was demanding that I grab her and claim her.

  That gave me a slight pause. Claim? I’d never felt the urge to claim anyone before. I’d never even wanted to feel that urge before. Fucking my way through town had never seemed all that bad. Claiming someone meant having a mate to come home to. It meant responsibility. It meant forever. Forever for a bear was a long time.

  I looked down at the small human and took a step back. My bear snuffed at me and demanded that I get closer to her. He was infatuated with her already.

  “I… I don’t have anywhere to go.” The words seemed to break some type of barrier that she’d erected upon seeing me. The tears began falling again and it didn’t seem like they were going to stop.

  My bear was so close to the surface that I was sure my eyes were turning golden. I blinked a few times and tried to remain in control. “Alright. How about you just get in my truck for now and we can decide where to take you after? It’s going to rain soon.”

  She looked up at the sky and then at me. “You aren’t some pervert, are you?”

  I couldn’t help the sly grin I gave her. “Of course, not, ma’am.”

  4

  Alex

  “I’m Alex, by the way.”

  She stood up and straightened her dress. Her h
ands shook slightly as she rubbed the fabric down across her thighs. “Elizabeth.”

  I walked beside her to my truck and had to fight to keep my hands to myself. She was too sexy for my own good. At probably a foot and a half shorter than me, she made up for her lack of height with the most delicious looking curves. Her waist dipped in but her hips and ass flared out, begging for me to bite at them. I wanted nothing more than to bury my face between her legs and find out if she tasted as good as she smelled.

  “Why don’t you have anywhere to go?”

  “Because my boyfriend is an asshole.”

  My bear raged and I had to cough to cover a growl. If the bear was pissed, the man was irate. I’d been entertaining visions of sinking into her soft curves all night long. The idea of another man getting to do that set my teeth on edge. “Yeah?”

  She shrugged and a lock of her long blonde hair fell over her shoulder. “I guess I can say ex now. I just caught him banging some red head over the side of his truck. So, that’s over.”

  I opened my truck door and stared down at her. “He cheated on you? What the fuck is wrong with him?”

  That got a grin out of her. “That’s not even the best part. I just moved here with him. From DC. I moved across the country to be with an idiot who cheated on me within days of arriving. I quit my job. I sold my car. I sold my favorite bed set!”