Free Bearing the Whiteout (Ice Bear Shifters Book 2) by Sloane Meyers Page A

standing.
    “Does he need stitches?” she asked, eyeing the blood on his fur. “Tell him not to shift back until I can stitch him up. It’s easier for me if he’s still in bear form.”
    The only response was a loud whoosh, and Delaney was thrown backwards unexpectedly from a powerful rush of air. When she looked up, Eric was standing in the doorway, naked as the day he was born.
    “Stubborn-ass bears,” the green-eyed woman said, shaking her head in annoyance, and seemingly unfazed by the fact that Eric wasn’t wearing any clothes.
    “I’m fine,” Eric said. “Nothing stitch-worthy. The Blizzards weren’t expecting to actually fight me, so they only sent four bears. They were trying to burn down the shelter with Delaney and me inside of it. Oh! This is Delaney, by the way. Delaney, this is Ryker, another one of the clan members I told you about. And Kenzie, his life mate, who’s expecting their cub.”
    “Hi,” Delaney said shyly. “Congratulations on the new baby, er, cub. How far along are you?”
    “Thanks. I’m somewhere around three months, now. Due in early October.”
    “You’re not showing at all,” Delaney said. “You look amazing.”
    Kenzie laughed. “Thanks. They say with the first one it can take a while to start showing. I can definitely tell my jeans are getting a little tight, though. I’m starting to wear Ryker’s sweatpants more often than not these days. I just have to roll up the bottoms, because his legs are so freaking long.”
    “Speaking of Ryker’s clothes,” Eric cut in. “I’m still naked over here. Do you think I could borrow some pants, man?”
    “Oh, sorry, right!” Ryker said, and went to his dresser to pull out some clothes, which he tossed to Eric. After Eric finished dressing, Ryker raised an eyebrow in his direction.
    “I think we need to talk, buddy,” Ryker said. Eric nodded wearily, and Ryker grabbed two parkas off of a coat rack in the corner. The men put on the parkas and headed out into the cold storm.
    Delaney was left awkwardly staring at Kenzie, who mercifully smiled and asked how Delaney would feel about some tea.
    “That sounds great,” Delaney said gratefully.
    Kenzie started putting water on a pot to boil. “Black tea okay?” she asked.
    Delaney nodded.
    “So, obviously you know Eric is a shifter,” Kenzie said.
    “Yeah. The last day has been… interesting. Speaking of which, why did they go outside in this weather? Are they planning to shift again for some reason?”
    Kenzie shook her head no. “Ryker wanted to talk to Eric about you in privacy. Which isn’t exactly easy to do in a one room cabin.”
    “About me? Why?”
    Kenzie sighed. “The Northern Lights bears are very kind, don’t get me wrong. But they’re extremely suspicious of humans. With good reason, mind you—their clan has been the subject of bear hunts before. Neal, their leader, whom they call the alpha, forbids anyone to seriously date a human without his prior approval. So, Ryker’s probably a little curious as to where you came from all of a sudden.”
    “Wait, what? Eric has to get approval to date? That’s bullshit! He’s a grown ass man!”
    Kenzie shrugged. “I know it sounds a little strange. It’s not as paternalistic as it sounds, though. It’s just that they have to be very careful about revealing that shifters exist. Not all humans are as understanding as you seem to be.”
    “So how did you find out that Ryker is a shifter?”
    “I’m a veterinarian. Long story short, Ryker needed emergency medical attention, and shifted into a bear so I could treat him. I was a little nervous to stitch up a human. Having him be an ‘animal’ made it easier to wrap my mind around. Neal forgave him for shifting in front of me because he didn’t have much of a choice, if he wanted to live.”
    Delaney nodded. “Yeah, I guess Eric didn’t have much of a choice either. We were stuck out to sea on an ice floe and the storm was getting worse. He had to be