Free Her Big Bad Polar Bear by KD Jones Page A

tools.”
    Rhonda did what he told her to. “Now what?”
    “Give them to Andy. Andy, cut around the track, making sure to keep it intact. We’ll have to find somewhere to keep it cold so it doesn’t lose its integrity. Once I get this analyzed, I’ll make an announcement to all the news stations on my findings. I’ll offer the specimen to the highest bidder. I’ll be rich and this place will be swamped with teams of researchers and fortune hunters. I can see it now.”
    Andy could see it too. It would be a disaster. Cosmo and his clan’s well-kept secret would be jeopardized. The clan might have to move from the only home they had known for centuries, and it would all be her fault. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to stop Denny. She knelt down on the ice next to the tracks. Cosmo’s tracks. She would protect him and his people if it was the last thing she did.
    *****
    Cosmo was next to Ivan. They were both in human form, but the rest of his brothers had shifted to polar bears. They surrounded the area on the lake where Vega stood with the blonde. Andy was on her knees. He wasn’t sure why, but seeing Vega looming over her made him see red. Mine. The male took my mate, threatened her, and scared her. He would rip his throat out.
    “Easy, brother. You’re starting to shift.”
    They moved closer. He watched as Andy took some kind of cutting tool and stabbed it into the lake ice, hard. She repeated it over and over. Then Vega started screaming at her, but she didn’t stop until there was a cracking noise. She scooted backward. A piece of the ice started to sink into the frigid water coming up around it.
    “No!” Vega yelled as he stalked toward Andy, who was getting to her feet.
    “You are a stupid bitch! You’ve ruined everything!”
    Cosmo rushed forward. “Stop moving, Vega! You’re surrounded.”
    Vega turned toward Cosmo with the gun up. “It’s all your fault!”
    *****
    Andy feared for Cosmo. It was at that moment with Denny threatening Cosmo that she realized that she had fallen in love with the big shifter. “No!” She didn’t think twice as she ran and threw herself directly between Denny and Cosmo. The gun went off and she felt a sharp pain in her side. She touched her side and felt something wet and lifted her hand. Blood was coating her hand. She heard a roar behind her and slowly fell down to the ice. Funny, she wasn’t really cold; she felt really warm and dizzy. The last thing she saw was Cosmo’s eyes, so black and furious.
    “So sorry. I love you,” she whispered to him. Darkness was coming for her and her eyelids were so heavy.
    *****
    Cosmo roared in fury when Vega shot his mate. Seeing her fall, he leaped toward her to try to keep her head from hitting the ice. “Come on, baby. You can’t die on me.” He looked back to watch as the blonde swung the backpack she was holding at Vega’s head. The male dropped the gun and fell backward. He would have gone after him, but Ivan and Niko were there. He needed to focus on his mate.
    “I called the paramedics. They’ll be here in five minutes,” Luka told him. Ryder knelt on the other side of Andy. Ryder worked as a deputy sheriff but also as a fireman. He knew about injuries.
    Ryder took his coat off and tore it into strips. He tied it around Andy. “This will help slow down the bleeding. It’s not too deep and I think it missed all the vital organs.”
    Cosmo nodded and looked down at Andy. She started at him with foggy eyes. She whispered so low he almost didn’t hear her. “So sorry. I love you.”
    “Baby, I love you too. Don’t leave me now that I’ve found you.” She smiled then she passed out.
    “Where’s the damn ambulance?”
     
     

 
     
    Epilogue
    Two Weeks Later
     
    Andy sat on a comfy sofa and watched in fascination as Cosmo’s mother and grandmother scolded him for not bringing her to them sooner. She was introduced to the clan and the rest of the family. Everyone seemed to welcome her with open