Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,86

to the suites, intent on finding Lydia and keeping his eyes, ears, and nose open.

He was halfway to his own suite, thinking she was probably there when he caught Lydia’s scent coming from a far hallway on the second floor instead. It was far from Lydia’s room and from his own residence.

It was close to Michelle’s suite, he noted.

He had spent some time in her room the few times they had gone out. He hadn’t missed the lingering scent of another bear shifter in the room either. Michelle had told him she had a business partner in town who came to work with her in her suite. Her entire job had sounded a little tedious and complicated, though Eric had expressed interest in hearing about it on their dates. But Michelle had always rolled her eyes and said it was boring to talk about.

Eric did not so much as suspect Michelle of anything nefarious in the least...until he followed Lydia’s scent right to her door. That was more than a coincidence. It wasn’t impossible the two women had met and they were just talking in there, laughing about what a dip Eric Strauss could be sometimes. The Lydia he had always known was shy about making new friends, but Michelle could be pretty disarming. It wasn’t impossible.

Except that the hairs on the back of Eric’s neck were standing up.

Lydia had not texted him back and he’d felt things were off with Michelle. It was one of the reasons he had rejected her in the first place.

None of this felt right.

Eric was wearing a sweater under his suit jacket and he took a deep breath as he attempted to get his inner bear under control. His bear was pacing, becoming increasingly restless not knowing where his mate was or if she was in danger.

Eric knocked on the door.

He heard something like a thump and some murmured talking. A male voice said, “We didn’t order anything!”

Eric frowned and said, “It’s Eric Strauss!”

“Shit, I knew I smelled him,” the man said. He was speaking softly, but Eric could just make his voice out.

Eric growled under his breath, his muscles tensing. Something was most definitely up.

He clenched his fists, prepared to strike if necessary.

“Let him in!” That was Michelle and Eric bared his teeth.

They had done something.

His bear roared in his chest. His blood was hot.

The door swung open and in a rush of warm air from the heater in the suite, he caught Lydia’s scent as sharply as if she were standing right next to him.

Everything happened very quickly.

In a second, Eric took stock of the suite. A handsome yet weasley looking man around his own age with long dark hair had answered the door and he looked tense, as if he were about to throw a punch at any second. He stood by the door, his eyes narrowed at Eric.

Michelle stood in the middle of the suite, her lips pursed, staring at him with wide eyes. She wore a red parka and she had a bruise on her face and a bad scratch along her cheek still oozing blood as she began to dab it with a towel. She looked like she’d been in a fight.

Eric’s jaw clenched and he was about to ask where Lydia was. He had just opened his mouth, the man’s eyes fixed on him, when Michelle shot her hand out toward him. Her eyes flashed and just as he saw light that he recognized as the magic energy of a spell casting, he felt a terrible force strike him and take him right off his feet.

“Someone will see!” The man hissed, just as Eric was thrown back across the hall and hit the opposite wall.

Eric was stunned, the wind knocked out of him.

His bear demanded he get to his feet and fight.

Except that he couldn’t move.

“Well, drag him inside then!” Michelle snapped.

She sounded completely different. He felt blindsided. His head throbbed and his limbs wouldn’t move. He frowned, groaning. His bear was demanding he get up. But just as the man ran out into the hall and grabbed his feet, unceremoniously dragging him into the suite before anyone could walk by in the hall and see the ruckus, he felt a stranger rooting around in his head.

That was what it felt like anyway.

It was completely different than the few times when he had heard Lydia in his head. That felt like a warm hug. This felt like someone had barged in, breaking down the doors of his