Free Bearing the Black Ice (Ice Bear Shifters Book 4) by Sloane Meyers Page A

morning’s display of affection gave any indication of his feelings, he still considered her beautiful and special. But did he want to make the leap of committing to her for all time? And would his clan members accept her?
    And what about her own clan? Where they still out there? Had they given up looking for her. Were the other two clan members who had been taken prisoner still alive? She feared they had been killed, since she hadn’t seen or heard anything about them for a very long time.
    Hannah wondered if the rest of her clan had escaped the area alive. Was her alpha still alive? Would her clan’s alpha be willing to agree to an alliance with the Northern Lights alpha, Neal? Usually, when two bear shifters from different clans decided to become life mates, the alphas of the different clans would make an agreement to form an alliance. Each clan would pledge to protect and support the other clan. But the rules for clans were changing, since so many clans had been wiped out or reduced to a handful of bears. These days, given the dwindling number of many clans, more and more bear shifters were taking human mates. And bears who found shifter mates were going through the life mate ceremony quickly, forgoing the formalities of joining two clans together. Since Hannah didn’t know if she would ever see any of her clan members again, odds were against there ever being an alliance between the Frozen Claw Clan and the Northern Lights Clan.
    Hannah lathered shampoo into her hair and, for the first time in a long time, allowed tears of grief to run down her face. She knew she had to accept the fact that her clan, like most of the other Northern Arctic clans, had either been killed off completely by the Blizzards, or had slunk away into the shadows, never to be heard from again. She knew the best course of action was to go forward with her own life. But her heart broke for all the lost bears. This madness had to stop. Someone had to stop the Blizzards from their quest to violently take over the Arctic. The pain of losing clan members never left you, and almost every polar bear shifter in the Arctic Circle had now felt that pain.
    Hannah let the steaming water wash away the shampoo, and continued to stand under the soothing stream long after the last suds were washed away. Water somehow cleared her mind and helped her think. She knew Alan would be asking her soon if she would be his life mate. She wanted to say yes, but she felt as though doing so, without trying to go find her own clan first, was disloyal. Hannah closed her eyes and tried to imagine what advice her alpha would give, if he knew the situation. And then, the answer became clear.
    Her alpha would want her to be happy. And being with Alan made her happy. She and Alan had survived so much together already. She knew they were bonded to each other—emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Every aspect of their being blended into one, in the deepest of bonds.
    Hannah killed the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a large, fluffy towel. She found another towel to use to vigorously rub her hair as dry as she could. Alan didn’t seem to have a hair dryer, so she had to do the best she could with the towel. Luckily, the air inside the cabin was warm and toasty, so her damp hair didn’t bother her too much. She finger combed her hair and let it fall loosely around her shoulders. After staring at herself in the mirror for a few moments, she smiled approvingly. Her appearance had already improved, just by washing away the dirt and getting the tangles out of her hair. The gaunt look on her face would need a little time to go away, but positive changes had already started.
    Hannah slipped on the clothes that the women of Alan’s clan had loaned her. They didn’t fit perfectly, but they would work well enough until she had a chance to get some of her own. Since her hair had mostly dried at this point, she put it up into a smooth bun. Alan had brought her a