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    Bear Protection: Pleasant Valley Shifters, #1
    Bear Protection: Pleasant Valley Shifters, #1
    Bear Protection: Pleasant Valley Shifters, #1
    Ebook106 pages1 hour

    Bear Protection: Pleasant Valley Shifters, #1

    By Marlie Monroe

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    About this ebook

    She ran from the man who hurt her. Can she trust the one who wants to claim her forever?

    A safe refuge…

    Sophie has moved across the state to escape her abusive ex. Deep in the heart of shifter territory, the last thing she’s looking for is a new relationship. But after she bumps into a sexy stranger at the grocery store, she can’t get him out of her mind.

    A deep instinct…

    Grizzly shifter Rick doesn’t let many people close—especially humans—but it’s impossible to resist the pull of his mate. The need to care for her and protect her pulses with every beat of his heart. How can he tell a woman who’s learned not to trust that she belongs to him?

    A deadly game…

    When Sophie’s ex tracks her down, he’ll stop at nothing to take his revenge. She's determined to fight him, but without Rick's help, her chance at a new life—any life—could be gone forever. Can the shifter keep his mate safe long enough for them to have their happy ending?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMarlie Monroe Books
    Release dateJan 10, 2017
    ISBN9781386684657
    Bear Protection: Pleasant Valley Shifters, #1

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      Book preview

      Bear Protection - Marlie Monroe

      Table of Contents

      About Bear Protection

      Bear Protection

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Epilogue

      If You Enjoyed This Shifter Romance...

      About Marlie Monroe

      Sign up for Marlie Monroe's Mailing List

      About Bear Protection

      She ran from the man who hurt her. Can she trust the one who wants to claim her forever?

      A safe refuge...

      Sophie has moved across the state to escape her abusive ex. Deep in the heart of shifter territory, the last thing she’s looking for is a new relationship. But after she bumps into a sexy stranger at the grocery store, she can’t get him out of her mind.

      A deep instinct...

      Grizzly shifter Rick doesn’t let many people close—especially humans—but it’s impossible to resist the pull of his mate. The need to care for her and protect her pulses with every beat of his heart. How can he tell a woman who’s learned not to trust that she belongs to him?

      A deadly game...

      When Sophie’s ex tracks her down, he’ll stop at nothing to take his revenge. She's determined to fight him, but without Rick's help, her chance at a new life—any life—could be gone forever. Can the shifter keep his mate safe long enough for them to have their happy ending?

      License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

      Copyright © 2015 by Marlie Monroe

      Edited by Jersey Devil Editing

      This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature adults.

      Bear Protection

      A Pleasant Valley Shifter Story

      Marlie Monroe

      Chapter One

      ––––––––

      A chill slithered down Sophie’s spine as she crossed the small gravel parking lot behind the library. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed her coworker’s vehicle, and saw the trees beyond the lot swaying in the breeze, but nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at her. She sped up her pace nonetheless and didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until she’d entered the building and closed the door behind her. Once she was safely inside, she felt ridiculous. She’d been looking over her shoulder for months, jumping at shadows, but there was no reason to be so nervous. Not anymore. She’d left her past behind and started over here in Pleasant Valley three months ago, and she’d never been happier. Unfortunately, leaving behind the paranoia and fear so deeply ingrained in her psyche after years of abuse hadn’t been resolved by ditching her ex.

      After stashing her purse in the breakroom, she clocked in and headed up front to begin her day. The musty smell of books and wood polish greeted her just like it did every morning. She walked through the stacks, ran her fingers over the spines of books filled with enough imagination to fuel endless dreams, and made sure nothing was out of place. The Pleasant Valley Community Library was small by comparison to some of the others where she’d worked, but there was something about this one that charmed her more than the others. She loved the modest size, the laid-back pace, and being able to work one-on-one with the people who came in for help. Luck had been on her side the night she’d applied online for the position.

      At the time, she’d been desperate to find a new job as far away from her prick of a boyfriend as she could get. She’d searched online for months to no avail. It didn’t help that she’d worked as a librarian assistant since college and had no other experience. As much as she loved working in libraries, positions were few and far between and she hadn’t held up much hope of finding anything. She’d almost given up when she stumbled on the Pleasant Valley ad for a full-time librarian and applied despite not really being qualified. To her surprise, she landed the job. She hadn’t cared about the library being smack dab in the middle of a shifter reservation. It wasn’t like she was one of those crazy, shifter-phobic protesters who were always on TV.

      Three months later, she was settled in and loving life on her own. Sure, she got lonely sometimes, but she would happily deal with a little loneliness rather than kowtow to a man. She had a cute little house, her trusty junker of a car, and her life was finally her own. Now the only person she had to answer to was herself and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

      Hello. A hand waved in front of Sophie’s face and fingers snapped. Earth to Sophie.

      Sophie blinked and turned to smile at her coworker. Sorry, Deb. I’m a space cadet this morning.

      I can see that, the kind, older woman said. Tell me you were thinking about some hot new guy you just met and all will be forgiven.

      Nope, Sophie said. That’s not going to happen anytime soon. Deb was happily married and dying to introduce Sophie to a slew of locals she claimed were hot, ready, and willing to settle down. Sophie wasn’t interested. Not now. Maybe never. Hoping to change the subject, she headed toward the information desk to turn on the service computers.

      Deb trailed along behind her. Well, just let me know if you change your mind about me setting you up with someone. I know a lot of available bachelors.

      I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to pass.

      You know what they say. Deb wiggled her eyebrows. The best way to get over one man is to get under another one.

      That’s the last thing I need right now. Sophie typed her username and password into the computer and hit enter. Even casual sex came with too many complications. A battery-operated boyfriend would work just fine for anything she needed.

      Deb’s fingers flew over the other computer’s keyboard. All right. I’ll drop the subject for now, but I reserve the right to bring it up again in the future when you’re ready to start dating again.

      Thank you. Sophie didn’t bother saying that wouldn’t happen anytime soon. There was no use wasting her voice. Deb’s insistence that she needed a man would have been annoying if Sophie didn’t know her coworker’s heart was in the right place.

      Deb sighed. Looks like it’s time to open.

      Sophie glanced at the clock on the lower right-hand side of the computer screen. I guess so. Let’s get this show on the road.

      Deb pulled her keys from her pocket and jangled them. I’ll get the doors.

      The rest of the morning went by quickly. Sophie led toddler story time, gave recommendations on age-appropriate board books for the kids’ parents to check out, and then straightened up after the crowd. Lunchtime arrived in the blink of an eye.

      It was her turn to run out for lunch, so she walked a few blocks down and headed into the grocery store to pick them up something from the deli. One of the downsides of living in a small town was limited options when it came to dining out. There was the diner, which was usually full to

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