Page 1 of Marked By the Possessive Polar Bear
CHAPTER ONE
Victoria
“What’s that sound?” my client asks as he looks around the shop with a worried look on his face.
“The air conditioner is on the fritz again,” I say with a nervous laugh. “It should stop in a minute.”
Hopefully.
I glance away from the intricate compass I’m tattooing on this guy’s forearm to sneak a peek at my oldest brother.
He’s doing it again. Magnus is drawing a tattoo at the front desk and growling to himself. It’s been getting worse lately.
“I don’t think that’s the air conditioner,” the guy says, eying my brother wearily.
“Is that guy okay?” his girlfriend whispers.
“Yeah, he’s just umm…” I’m trying to keep my voice bubbly and worry-free, but Magnus is looking like his grizzly bear is about to explode out of him in a vicious rage.
Shit. His shoulders look like they’re getting larger as he takes deep, violent breaths. He accidentally snaps a pencil and throwsit on the floor in frustration. He’s gone through dozens of pencils this week alone.
“I’ll just go check on him,” I say as I put down my tattoo gun and hurry over. My heart is pounding as I slip behind the counter where Magnus is bent over, teeth gritted, fists clenched, and inhaling every breath like he’s at war with the air.
“We have customers,” I say, trying to keep my voice cheery as I bend down beside him. “Maybe a walk outside would do you—Whoa! Okay!”
His eyes are glowing golden as he whips his head around to face me with a low snarl.
This isnotgood. Where the fuck is Julian? He slipped out for coffee about twenty minutes ago, and I could really use him at the moment.
“Take a deep breath,” I say as I rub Magnus’ massive back. He’s borderline right now. One little push and his grizzly bear is going to burst out in the middle of our tattoo shop. I’d really prefer that didn’t happen.
But in case it does… I should really get this innocent couple out of here.
I pop back up and hurry over to the confused couple at my workstation.
“I think we should stop here for the day,” I say with a tight smile.
“Aren’t we almost finished?” he asks, looking at his freshly inked forearm.
“No, we’re finished,” I say as I grab his girlfriend’s purse and practically shove it into her chest. “I’ll call you to schedule the next appointment.”
I only have the chain on the compass left to ink, which would have taken me about fifteen minutes, but it will be a little hard to focus with my brother’s grizzly bear rampaging through the shop behind me.
Magnus lets out a deep, violent growl, not even trying to hide it anymore.
I can feel it vibrating through my body. My own inner grizzly bear perks up.
My clients must feel it too, because they skeddadle pretty quickly after that.
I show them to the door and am about to lock it behind them when our middle brother Julian returns with a cardboard tray holding three coffees.
“It’s happening again,” I shout, frantically waving him over.
“Shit,” he mutters as he rushes across the parking lot. He bursts into the shop and I close the door, lock it, and flip the sign toCLOSED.
Magnus rises from behind the counter like a possessed monster. His shoulders and arms are twice their normal size and his eyes are glowing like he’s some kind of golden demon. He’s huffing out violent breaths as his canine teeth extend into sharp points.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Julian says, his eyes wide with shock. The poor guy was expecting a coffee break and came back to this instead. “Magnus.Outside.”
