Free Bear Cop: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant Page A

relieved to find that his shifter healing had indeed kicked in overnight. The bites still hurt, but he could walk—and defend his mate, if it came to it.
    They took the fishing rod with them as they went out once more. This time, they made certain to stay away from the creek where the jaguar had ambushed them the day before. Instead, they walked back to where the river had destroyed the bridge and taken the car with it.
    The red cloth was still hanging from the branch where he had left it, undisturbed. Below, the river rushed past with just as much force, muddy from the soil it carried with it. It was impossible to cross. Maybe further upstream, he would have chanced it as a bear, if he could find a spot where the river was narrower—but even the thought was enough to make his bear roar at him in consternation.
    Calm down! I’d never leave our mate behind.
    And there was no way Eve could make the crossing with him. There was, in fact, a good chance he’d injure himself further if he tried it. A river swollen to such a torrent that it carried away a stone bridge that had stood here for years was an opponent even his bear was cautious of taking on.
    “They’ll find us today,” he said and drew Eve closer. “I wish I’d told Jim what route I was going to take. But even if they’ve searched the other roads first, today someone is going to drive up this way and see that the bridge has been destroyed. And then—”
    He fell silent when the bear in him suddenly tensed. His first thought was the jaguar. Was there going to be another attack?
    Just when he’d decided that he’d better shift to see if he could make out its scent, Eve gripped his hand hard and pointed up at the sky.
    “Look!” she said, excited. “Is that a plane?”
    He squinted upwards. There, in the distance, was a small dark spot that slowly came nearer—and now he could hear it too.
    “A helicopter!” he breathed. “Come on, we should build a fire so they don’t miss us!”
    Relief lifted the weight on his shoulders as they hastened back up the hill to their cabin, laughing every now and then and talking about the things they’d eat. No rice for at least a month, Eve declared, and Chris didn’t want to argue with that. Eve was flushed and lovely, her cheeks rosy with animation and her eyes sparkling, now that rescue was so close. Chris lifted her up despite her laughing protest when they made it back to the shack and spun around with her, just to hear her laugh some more.
    The helicopter was much closer now. Eve had fetched the moth-eaten towel she’d found and was waving it, while Chris had taken one of the burning logs from the fireplace and tossed it into the outside fire pit, where it smoldered while he added a handful of wet leaves. A pillar of smoke rose straight up into the sky.
    It was impossible to miss it, he thought, watching as the helicopter came ever closer. Eve was still waving the towel—and then the helicopter changed its course and flew a curve, and another, swerving left and right several times as if to reassure them that they’d been seen.
    “It can’t land here,” he told Eve when she let go of her towel to hug him instead in relief. “The clearing isn’t big enough, it’s too dangerous. But they’ve seen us. They found us! They’ll probably call for one of the teams from town. We don’t have the tech in Linden Creek to ford a river like this.”
    “But we’ll be back home this afternoon,” Eve said and smiled at him, even as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. “We’ll have a shower, and pizza—”
    “And some of your cupcakes,” Chris added. “And then I think I’ll have you for dessert. How does that sound?”
    Eve laughed and twined her arms around his neck. “Are you sure you can have both me and cupcakes?” she teased.
    “I told you I like sweet things,” Chris growled playfully against her throat until she giggled again. “And I can eat a lot. I’m always hungry.”
    “For cupcakes—or