Page 3 of Marked By The Grouchy Grizzly

“I’m the boss.”

“You try to fire me and I’ll break your arm.”

“Real mature,” Victoria says, shaking her head.

Magnus throws his arms up in frustration. “I can’t work like this.”

“Just ignore him,” Victoria says. “He’s just pissy because he wants his mate.”

No, Ineedmy mate. I need her like I need skin. She’s a part of me that’s been ripped off. I’m empty without her. I need needfuckingneed her.

“We all need our mates,” Magnus says with a roll of hiseyes. “Doesn’t mean we get to hate the world until they get here. We’re not wild animals.”

My grizzly bear disagrees with that. He’s practically feral from waiting.

The bell over the door rings and someone walks in. I take a breath of relief for the distraction.

“Hi, Curt,” Victoria says with a big smile. “I have your dragon ready.”

Curt is a male stripper who’s one of our most regular customers. My sister has tattooed his arms, back, and neck. She’s working on his chest now.

I’m not convinced that he’s here for the tattoos. The only thing he seems to want is to get into my sister’s pants.

A part of me wants to tell him he has no shot. Not a chance in hell.

Victoria is a grizzly bear shifter and he’s… not.

He’s not her mate and therefore she has zero interest in him no matter how many times he flexes his arms or flashes his baby-blue eyes at her. It’s kind of pathetic to watch, thinking he has a chance, while we all know he absolutely does not.

“Think that would look good on my chest?” Curt asks as he pulls off his T-shirt in dramatic fashion. He flexes his chest like he’s on stage in front of screeching women at a bachelorette party. Instead, he’s in front of my not-so-amused sister and her two older brothers.

“It will look great,” she says, nodding as she looks at his left pec.

“What about on the side here?” he asks, pointing to his abs. “Or, would that ruin my six-pack?”

He’s trying to impress her. Fucking humans… At least I’m notthatpathetic.

“Let’s get you on the chair and we’ll figure it out,” Victoria says as she takes her stencil and walks around the counter.

Once they’re distracted at Victoria’s station, Magnus comes over and sits in front of me.

“You got to keep your emotions in check,” he whispers as he puts a hand on my shoulder.

I drop my head and sigh as my bear paces around inside, snarling at the world. I can tell it’s going to be another long sleepless night tonight.

“We’re running a business here,” Magnus continues. “And we need you.”

I take a deep breath as I look at him and then look at Victoria as she deals with Curt, laughing at his lame jokes. He’s constantly flirting with her, but she just rolls with it.

She could literally bite his head off. Her inner grizzly bear is crazy strong. She did have two older brothers and we made sure she was tough enough to handle herself.

Against a human? He wouldn’t stand a chance.

But she’s still playing nice. She’s still being professional.

Maybe I should do the same.

My bear lets out a nasty hiss in my ear as he begins to pace around, snarling savagely.

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