Gunner - Silverback Redemption 1 Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Foreword

  Chapter One – Gunner

  Chapter Two – Sadie

  Chapter Three – Gunner

  Chapter Four – Sadie

  Chapter Five – Gunner

  Chapter Six – Sadie

  Chapter Seven – Gunner

  Chapter Eight – Sadie

  Chapter Nine – Gunner

  Chapter Ten – Sadie

  Chapter Eleven – Gunner

  Chapter Twelve – Sadie

  Chapter Thirteen – Gunner

  Chapter Fourteen – Sadie

  Chapter Fifteen – Gunner

  Chapter Sixteen – Sadie

  Chapter Seventeen – Gunner

  Chapter Eighteen – Sadie

  Chapter Nineteen – Gunner

  Chapter Twenty – Sadie

  Chapter Twenty-One – Gunner

  Chapter Twenty-Two - Sadie

  Epilogue

  Also By Harmony Raines

  Get In Touch

  Gunner

  Silverback Redemption

  Book One

  ***

  All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.

  © 2019 Harmony Raines

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  Gunner

  Silverback Redemption

  Book One

  A silverback seasoned shifters romance

  A bear in need of redemption. A mate in need of revenge.

  Something called to Gunner. Something he could not describe. A need to go into the mountains.

  He’d heeded the call even though he had no idea what he’d find. Certainly, he’d never expected to find his mate. Gunner had long stopped hoping she would walk into his life. Not that Sadie did walk into his life. She crawled, on all fours, determined to get down off the mountain and avenge the death of her friend.

  But Gunner knew revenge led to ruin and death. Could he protect his mate from harm, even if that harm was self-inflicted?

  They’d killed her friend and mentor.

  Sadie couldn’t get the image of Professor Augustine, lying in a pool of his own blood, out of her head. No matter how dangerous it was she had to avenge his death and bring those responsible to justice.

  But who could she trust?

  Should she believe in the man—bear—who had found her in the mountains? Should she believe him when he calls her mate and tells her they are meant to be together forever?

  It all seems impossible. Sadie had accepted she would always be alone. People confused her. They said one thing and meant another.

  But when she was with Gunner, everything made sense.

  Chapter One – Gunner

  “Come on, man, you have to come inside. Everyone is missing you.” Jason stood in his default position, hands on hips, his voice calm and encouraging, which was what made him a great leader.

  Unfortunately, Gunner wasn’t in the mood to be led anywhere. Even though Jason was right, and he should rejoin the party, all Gunner wanted was to be left alone. Crowds were not his thing. Not anymore.

  “I just need to finish fixing the car.” Gunner proved his point by walking around to the front of the car and ducking under the hood, wrench in hand, as he scanned the engine with an expert eye.

  “I know you just want to fix the car. You know you just want to fix the car.” Jason jabbed his finger toward The Happy Bear Club. It was a stupid name for a bar. But that stupid bar had given him his life back. “But they want you to come inside and blow out your damn candles.”

  Gunner raised his head and glanced out of the open doors of the old shed he used as a makeshift garage. This was his refuge, the place he came to where he could bury his head in work. Gunner didn’t care that it was dirty work which left his hands ingrained with oil that he had to scrub with hot soapy water and a stiff brush if he wanted to look clean. Working in here made him feel useful, as if he was making a difference.

  He wasn’t just fixing up cars. He was helping people. Helping make other people’s lives better.

  Not that Gunner was alone in this. He, along with Jason and a couple of other friends, did what needed to be done to make the lives of the people of Bear Creek better. That might mean mending a roof, installing wheelchair access into someone’s home. Or as in this case, fixing up a car that they then gave away to someone who needed a ride but didn’t have the cash to buy a car.

  People called them the Silverback Saviors.

  A name Gunner didn’t deserve. Not in a million years. The others felt the same, but as Jason often said, sometimes you have to smile and wave and go with it.

  This is one of those times, his bear told him bluntly. And anyway, they have cake.

  And you know all about cake, Gunner answered.

  Now you’re making me drool, his bear said drily.

  “I promised Jodie I’d get the car to her by Thursday. It passed all its safety checks, but the radiator hose sprang a leak. I just need to replace it.” Gunner tried one last-ditch attempt to get out of joining the party. Jason simply looked at him with his hands still on his hips. “I’ll wash up and be inside in five minutes.”

  Gunner walked back around the side of the car and dropped his wrench in his toolbox before picking up an oil rag and wiping his even oiler hands. Under the watchful gaze of Jason, he dragged off his coveralls and hung them up.

  “Don’t be too long. Those people need cake.” Jason flashed Gunner a smile of thanks—for not making this even harder—and left the building.

  Gunner walked back over to the car and rested his hands on the cool hard metal. Socializing was not his thing. He preferred working alone. Fixing things was what he did. What he loved.

  Some things cannot be fixed, his bear reminded him. Some things can never be put back together.

  Gunner didn’t answer. He didn’t need reminding. Yet still a fleeting memory flashed into his head. A memory he could never wipe from his brain. Unlike the oil on his hands, no amount of scrubbing would ever erase it.

  Pushing off from the car, he strolled across the garage to the small washroom out in back. With a long-resigned sigh, he switched on the faucet and let the water run until it was scalding hot. Lathering his hands in soap, he washed the grease and oil from his hands, making sure to scrub under his fingernails.

  He wasn’t particularly bothered about getting his hands completely clean, as soon as he’d done his time at the party, he’d be back out here working. It was the only way he got through the long, dark nights.

  Satisfied his hands were clean enough, he wiped down the sink so there was no trace of dirt and then dried his hands on the navy-blue towel that hung on the back of the door. Switching off the light, he went back into the garage area and took one long, lingering look at the car before he headed out the door.

  Flipping the light switch, he left the building in darkness and dragged the sliding door closed. With another sigh, he checked out the stars which were shining down on him before he took a look at his watch. Nine-thirty, it was later than he thought. No wonder Jason had come out to get him
.

  You are a miserable excuse for a birthday boy, his bear told him lightly.

  I never asked for a party, Gunner grumbled in return.

  But Jason is right, and you know it. Sometimes you have to do things to make other people happy. And no matter how much you say you don’t deserve it, there are plenty of people in Bear Creek who owe you their thanks. And allowing them to give thanks makes them happy. His bear was better at socializing than Gunner himself.

  Maybe I should shift and send you in there, Gunner grumbled.

  Turn that frown upside down and get in there, his bear shook his head and walked to the corner of his mind and lay down. Oh, and save me some cake.

  Gunner grinned as he pushed the door open and stepped inside The Happy Bear Club. That grin was captured for posterity by Killian’s bloody phone. The grin instantly disappeared.

  “What the hell!” Gunner blinked rapidly to get rid of the bright flash that was etched on his eyeballs.

  “Happy birthday!” Killian dragged Gunner into a bear hug. “Sorry, I’m late. Old Mrs. Hibbard thought she’d lost her cat. We eventually found him asleep in her laundry basket.”

  “You’re not as late as Gunner.” Patrick grabbed hold of Gunner’s arm and propelled him forward. “The cake needs eating.”

  “I’m not late,” Gunner protested. “I was here earlier.”

  “For five minutes before you skulked off to that shed of yours.” Patrick threaded his way through the crowd of people that filled the main bar of the club.

  “I was fixing the car for…” Gunner stopped talking as they arrived at the cake, which was proudly sitting on the end of the bar. It was a beautiful cake, three layers all covered in chocolate frosting. But it wasn’t the cake that stopped Gunner from giving Patrick his excuse for not being at his own party. No, it was the microphone that Jason thrust into his hand. “Not a speech, man,” he pleaded.

  Jason arched an eyebrow and nodded. “Just a simple thanks for coming, and particularly thank Roane for making the cake.”

  “You can do it,” Patrick encouraged. “Just imagine it’s us. As you look out at the hundreds of faces staring at you, just pretend you’re talking to me, Jason and Killian.” He slapped his friend on the shoulder and took a step back before he clapped his hands together and started to chant, “Speech, speech, speech.”

  The mantra was picked up by each and every person in the room, people who had come here to wish him a happy birthday. Gunner knew every one of them, and yet it was as if he were in a room full of strangers. Alone except for his three best friends in the world. Friends who knew the very deepest, darkest parts of him and loved him anyway.

  “Thank you all for coming,” he spoke into the microphone and kept his eyes focused on the wall at the back of the bar where a picture of the mountain hung. If only he were there now. Out in the wilds. Alone. “It seems like birthdays come around faster with each passing year.”

  “Don’t be a Debbie Downer,” Patrick whispered quietly into his ear.

  Gunner paused. “Which is fine with me,” he raised his voice and pitched it at what he thought was happy. “Because it means I get to celebrate with you guys.”

  He glanced at Jason who nodded as the people in front of him murmured in appreciation and someone whistled.

  “I’d like to thank my best friends, Jason, Patrick and Killian, for arranging this wonderful party, and I’d also like to thank Roane for this amazing cake, which I’m sure you would rather be eating than listening to me talk.”

  “Here, here,” Killian and Patrick chorused as they clapped in agreement.

  Gunner rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the support.”

  “You know we’re always here for you.” Patrick grinned widely as a pretty young woman walked past, undressing him with her eyes. “Have a good evening.” He nodded his head in her direction.

  “I intend to.” She smiled back at him and licked her lips, but Patrick seemed oblivious to her ample charms.

  Killian caught Gunner’s eye and winked, both men turned away from Patrick, so he didn’t see them laughing. Patrick was the youngest of the Silverback Saviors, although he still had salt and pepper hair at his temples. In different circumstances Patrick would likely have played the field, since he had the good looks and charisma women seemed to find so attractive. But the bear shifter had given up on romance a decade or more ago, just like the rest of the forty-something silverback shifters. Whether it was their pasts that haunted them or simply the knowledge that the women they dated weren’t the one, it didn’t make a difference, the outcome was the same. Four single, eligible bear shifter bachelors who fate had passed on by.

  “Are you going to light the candles?” Roane called from along the bar.

  “Oh, candles. Yeah.” Jason produced a lighter and quickly lit up the candles adorning the cake.

  “Don’t worry, I didn’t put all the candles on the cake,” Roane shouted just loud enough for her voice to carry across the room. “I was afraid it might collapse.”

  “You’re too funny,” Gunner called back.

  “You’re welcome.” Roane collapsed into laughter as Jason beckoned to Gunner.

  “Make a wish, old friend.” Jason stepped back as Gunner approached the cake. Roane might not have used all the candles, but she’d used enough that the perfectly handwritten Happy Birthday, Gunner was partly obscured by flames now that they were lit.

  “A good wish.” Killian pointed his finger at Gunner. “And remember to keep it to yourself or it won’t come true.”

  “Ah, come on,” Patrick said in a low voice. “We all know Gunner is going to wish this party was over.”

  Gunner shook his head as he turned his attention to the candles burning brightly on top of the rich chocolate frosting. The wax was beginning to drip down the sides of the small candles as his wish popped into his head.

  Then he took a breath and blew every single candle out. The people crowded into the bar clapped and whooped. “Everyone want cake?”

  Stupid question, his bear replied as a deafening roar filled The Happy Bear Club.

  The microphone magically got swapped for a long cake knife as Roane placed napkins down on the table and began taking the candles off the cake. “Thanks again, Roane.”

  “You are welcome.” She turned her radiant smile on him. “You helped me out when I was down, I owe you.” Her smile widened. “I’ll always owe you and I’m okay with that.”

  Gunner opened his mouth to tell Roane that she didn’t owe them anything, but Patrick interrupted him. “Are you going to cut the cake or just stand and stare at it with your mouth open?”

  “Do you want cake rammed in your mouth?” Gunner asked his friend lightly as Roane removed the last of the candles.

  “Yes, please.” Patrick slid his arm around Roane’s shoulders. “Since Roane makes the best cake in Bear Creek, I would not complain at all.”

  “Don’t let Betsy hear you say that, or you will be banned from the diner.” Roane glowed with pleasure as she walked back toward the bar with the used candles.

  “Gunner,” Jason said as he came to help pass out the cake as Gunner cut it into slices. “You need to stay around for at least half an hour before you take off. This is your birthday party and people expect to see the birthday boy.”

  “I know.” Gunner raised his eyes from the cake and cast a glance around the room. “I appreciate the thought and effort you guys put into this.”

  “You are welcome.” Jason leaned in close and said, “I know it’s not your thing, but sometimes you have to man up and accept that people like to say thank you for what you do.”

  “What I do?” Gunner asked. “What I do, I do to try to make amends, not so people feel indebted to me. To try to give something back.”

  “I know that. I understand better than most people. But there comes a time when you have to forgive yourself and move on.” Jason smiled warmly as he handed out the cake, his face a mask that hid the turmoil raging inside him. Turmoil
he hid from all but his closest friends.

  “And you practice what you preach?” It was unfair to press Jason’s buttons. “Sorry, Jason, I’m just not feeling all warm and fuzzy right now. It’s like I have an itch I just can’t scratch.”

  “It’s okay. I know we pushed you into this.” Jason handed a piece of cake to Sharon Hessel. When a summer storm ripped a couple of tiles off her roof and let water in, Jason stepped in and organized the repairs. “There you go, Sharon.”

  “Thanks, Jason.” Sharon turned to Gunner. “Happy birthday, Gunner. I know the invite said no gifts, but I made this for you.”

  “Thanks, Sharon, but you didn’t have to.” Gunner took the small gift, carefully wrapped in a piece of sky-blue tissue paper.

  “I wanted to. You were all so kind. I don’t know what the kids and I would have done if you four handsome men hadn’t come to my rescue.” She grinned, nodded her head and moved off into the crowd.

  Gunner simply stared at the tissue paper, his thumb rubbing over the thin paper before he put it carefully into his shirt pocket. He’d open it later.

  Perhaps when we go for a run on the mountain, his bear suggested.

  I didn’t know we were going for a run on the mountain, Gunner answered.

  Neither did I. But after all these people, I need the peace and solitude.

  Well, since it’s your birthday… Gunner began, to which his bear guffawed.

  You aren’t the only one who made a wish when you blew out the candles, his bear chuckled.

  You wished for a run on the mountain? Gunner asked.

  If I tell you what I wished for, it won’t come true, his bear replied.

  Then keep it to yourself. Just as Gunner would keep his wish to himself, in the hope it might one day come true.

  Chapter Two – Sadie

  Sadie opened her eyes. It was dark and she was lying uncomfortably on her back with the stars above her head in a skyline broken only by mountain peaks. She curled her fingers and her nails bit into the moist earth as she rolled over and pushed herself to a sitting position. There was a backpack on her back. She didn’t own a backpack. Did she?