Free Mine to Bear: Icy Cap Den #2 (Alaskan Den Men) by Jennifer Hilt

1
    Dane
    M y workday began with a vampire and a drooling ghoul staring at my ex-girlfriend’s ass. It was a fitting way to end my first month back in Icy Cap. I’d returned here from California to find the typical cold and dark February. At least that I’d been expecting.
    I hadn’t planned on my twin brother’s mate being a seriously ill vamp requiring emergency medical treatment in Fairbanks. On Ash’s way out of town to be with Meg, I’d been appointed acting sheriff. I had no idea when my brother would be back. I’d planned on being in Icy Cap for twelve hours—maybe twenty-four, tops. My objective was to end the silent partnership I had formed with my brother to finance the inn we were rebuilding. That plan was shot to hell.
    The sheriff gig turned out to be in more than name only when I learned my ex-girlfriend had been one of the latest victims of glamoured bear traps set by an unidentified assailant. Now I was starting my thirtieth day in Icy Cap with these two paranorms lusting after Trudy.
    Before I even got to the work site, I’d been counting the hours until I had my “ex with benefits” back in my bed. And this was after a night of enthusiastic sex.
    We’d been lovers back in high school, fifteen years ago, but Trudy was impossible to forget. One minute I was sitting next to a slender redhead; the next, an arctic fox considered me through silver eyes. She’d never succeeded in taming her fox spirit enough that she could leave the Arctic even briefly.
    Unlike my brother and Trudy, who regularly frolicked around in their shifter forms, I denied my ice bear spirit. I had an MBA from Stanford. I wouldn’t allow myself to be chained to Icy Cap. This place was at the end of the world.
    But back to this vamp ogling Trudy’s delectable ass. First, I’m not a fan of vampires. California is full of them. They’re the used-car salesmen of the supernatural set. Considering what she recently went through with escaping the glamoured bear trap, and that she still walks with a limp, I didn’t like this vamp near her. I didn’t care for the ghoul’s presence either, but he was manageable.
    These paranorms stared while Trudy perched on a ladder, busy with computer wiring. The entire inn would have Wi-Fi thanks to Trudy’s expertise. She was intent on her work in the control box, and the vamp and ghoul ignored my entrance.
    I cleared my throat. “Morning.”
    Three heads swiveled toward the door. Being paranorms with enhanced senses, we all were aware of one another before we were standing in a room together. How soon to address one another is always a bit touchy.
    “Hi, Dane.” Trudy called over her shoulder. “Sleep well?” Her head turned back to her work, but she grinned. I could hear it in her voice.
    “Not particularly.”
    “That’s too bad,” she said cheerfully.
    Trudy would be a terrible secret agent.
    “I’m Dane Barlow.” I extended my hand first to the vamp and then the ghoul. Paranorms aren’t big on physical contact between species, but I’d be damned if I’d stand here while they ogled her.
    The ghoul and I had known each other back in high school. Gary had been the puny guy with bad skin. His lot in life hadn’t improved. Even compared to other paranorms, ghouls aged slowly. He’d had a crush on Trudy every since I’d known him. He eyed my outstretched hand but kept his own hands pushed deep in his pockets.
    Gary still smelled rank. That came with being a ghoul and his diet of the dead. He wore cheap aftershave to cover the smell, but that only made it worse.
    Ghouls have a slow metabolism, which meant he didn’t eat often. His taxidermy shop was the first stop when someone’s pet went missing. It wasn’t fair when sharp-eyed eagles were the culprits but everyone still suspected him. As a result he whined and thrived on self-pity.
    Trudy had a big heart for her small frame. She’d been Gary’s friend ever since high school. After the fire that destroyed the town years