His Human Mate (A werebear story)

Chapter 4

Garrett's POV

As usual on a Friday night, Garrett was behind the bar, serving drinks to his patrons, his friends and family. Grizzly Falls was a small town tucked deep in the Montana mountains, remote and hard to find, which was all by design. Grizzly Falls was a special place. A safe haven founded by Bear Shifters. While the town was built for the supernatural beings, humans were welcome, especially those humans who were mated to bears.

Bear shifters were mostly all male, with only a few females ever born. This made trying to find ones mate difficult, so most had found their mates to be human. It was common knowledge among the town and its inhabitants that if a human female wandered into town, it was destiny and there was a higher than normal chance that woman would be someone's mate. So when a young, beautiful blonde checked into the Grizzly Inn, every shifter in town knew it. The Inns owner had mind linked the pack announcing her arrival.

But when she walked into Garrett's bar he hadn't expected to smell the most delicious scent, lavender mixed with the forest after a fresh rainfall. His eyes immediately went to the door and his Bear, Koda, growled inside his head. 'Mate.' Garrett smiled to himself as he looked at her, his mate, she was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever laid eyes on and Koda agreed. But she was human, and he knew he couldn't just pick her up and take her. He had to bide his time, get to know her, court her.

When she made her way across the dimly lit bar, he could hear Koda egging him on. Telling him to grab her and kiss her. He scolded him, pushing him to the background as he mind linked his pack. "My mate. She's off-limits." A chorus of cheers and congratulations erupted in his mind before he severed the link and focused on the beauty before him.

She smelled even more incredible up close and her scent had Koda practically purring inside his head. He'd known the moment she'd walked in that she was his, but when she took his hand it was confirmed, she would've felt sparks, and electric shock along her skin, but Garrettwas slammed with enotions, instantly connecting him to how she felt. Koda whined as we felt her. We could feel her pain and we didn't like it, we wanted to hunt everyone who had every made our mate hurt and suffer. We could feel how badly she'd been hurt, that she'd been so deeply hurt sometime in her life that she'd built walls so thick it seemed it might prove impossible to break them down. But Garrett wasn't one to give up, and he would never turn his back on his mate. He'd been searching and waiting for her for what felt like forever.

When she asked for a job he didn't even hesitate, anything she wanted, she would get. And knowing she would be in his bar every night right beside hin was exactly where he wanted her to be. The hours passed by as he kept her busy severing drinks to everyone, he'd kept an eye on her, making sure his pack mates were kind and didn't give her a hard time. He knew he could trust them, and was glad to see them all try to get to know her, but he'd noticed whenever a man got a little too close, or tried to strike a conversation with her she would almost fold in on herself. Like she was waiting for something bad to happen.

As the night begun to slow Garrett pull Morgan from the floor and had her helping behind the bar. There wasn't much room as Garrett was a very large man, but he liked having her in his personal space. He was enjoying the scent of her in the air, the occasional brushing of hands or arms. He tried his best to not touch, noticing how she flinched every time, but it was difficult for him, especially when all he wanted was to wrap her in his arms and make her feel safe.

As the last of the patrons left he weren't and locked the doors, turning towards her he noticed how she looked around, tensing as she noticed they were completely alone. Koda growled in his mind, displeased their mate was so fearful. "Why don't you restock and wash the glasses, I'll handle the rest alright?" He grabbed the broom from behind the bar and started sweeping, lifting chairs and placing them on tables. He wanted to be closer to her but he could feel her anxiety and fear.

"Um sure." She said softly as she started cleaning up behind the bar. He kept an eye on her as they both worked, his body itching to hold her, but he refrained. He knew he needed to go slow with her.

"You did a good job tonight." He said. "Jobs yours, you can work as much as you want. We're open every day from 2 to 2." His regular staff would welcome her with open arms, knowing she was his mate, but he wanted her to feel she had choices. She could work as little or as much as she wanted. "When we're finished here we can sit down and go over the schedules and get your paperwork all set." He watched her visibly tense at that.

Morgan chewed her lip before she lifted her head to face him, her back going ramrod straight. "Mind if we do this under the table?"

He c****d his head to the side as he eyed her. She was hiding something or from someone. Not wanting to risk losing her he nodded. His voice came out low and gravely, but soft. "Sure love. Anything you need." He watched as her body relaxed, a soft sigh escaping her full lips.

"Thanks." She gave him a small but grateful smile.

When they were both done he made his way to his office, asking her to wait for a few minutes. When he came back out he grabbed a bear and popped the top, taking a long pull. "Alright I reckon this should be good for the night. And any tips are yours to keep." He counted out a few hundred dollars and passed the bills to her.

Her face scrunched up in confusion as she looked at the money and back to him. "That seems a little too much." She worried her lup between her teeth and he fought the urge to touch it.

"Seems like you need it." He shrugged. Yes he was aware that a few hours work didn't justify a few hundred bucks, but she was his mate and he wanted to take care of her. Even if she didn't know it. "Take it. You did good work love." He finished off his beer and pushed himself off the bar as he gestured to the front door. "Let me walk you back."

Morgan followed him to the door and when he offered to walk her to the Inn he watched her once again tease up, a frown etching itself onto his face. "Um no. That's ok. I'm just staying across the road." He stopped, hand on the door as he looked at her, he had to stop himself from reaching out.

"I know it's just across the road, but the gentleman in me would never allow a lady to be alone after dark." She was safe in his town, but he wasn't ready to be apart from her yet. She continued to chew her lip, her face going through a million emotions when she finally relented and nodded.

Koda cheered in his mind, feeling like they had a small breakthrough. But Garrett knew better. He knew it would be a hard road for them to break through to her. As promised he walked her to her door, keeping about a foot of distance between them, it was difficult for him, but he did it. When he dropped her at her door she promised to be back at the bar for a shift the next night and he smiled, looking forward to seeing her again. He bid her a goodnight and hopped in his truck and made his way home.