Free Suzanne's Sexy Shifters [Shy River Pack 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Bec Adams Page B

on his face.
    Was the fact that she wanted to smack the smirk right off him related to her change into a werewolf?
    “I doubt it, baby girl. You’ve probably just never come across someone as annoying as Canlon. The guy’s an A-grade asshole.”
    She glanced at the werewolf in question and wondered why he didn’t react to such a damning assessment. Perhaps he hadn’t heard Gideon’s quiet words. Although, considering her own noticeable increase in hearing since becoming a werewolf it seemed unlikely.
    And hey, none of that explained how Gideon had been able to answer an internal thought. She moved in his arms, uncomfortable with the realization that she might have said something so inflammatory out loud. Hadn’t she just decided to stay out of everyone’s way until she understood the group’s dynamics?
    “It’s okay, Suzanne. I’ll explain everything. I promise.”
    Again, no one else seemed to have heard Gideon’s quiet words, and it took a moment to realize that the conversation was still going on around her.
    “But if he was a shifter, surely another shifter could identify what species he was,” Hensen said, sounding perplexed.
    “Unless he’s never encountered that species before,” Brigden said quietly.
    Canlon rolled his eyes as if Brigden’s suggestion was ridiculous. Suzanne bristled again, but Gideon pulled her closer, forestalling her reaction.
    “What species wouldn’t he have encountered?” Hensen asked, seeming at least to consider Brigden’s suggestion.
    “I’ve read accounts of strange animals in other countries.”
    “Read?” Canlon asked dismissively. “Human hysteria on the Internet. Nothing but bullshit.”
    “They have werewolf stories,” Gideon said. “It stands to reason that at least some of the humans’ accounts of shifters have a grain of reality. We can’t just assume we know every shifter on the planet.”
    “Okay, say we assume, for the moment, that this guy is a shifter of unknown origin, why is he here? Why would a shifter be working as a park ranger and not have at least introduced himself to the local alphas?”
    “Maybe he doesn’t know about the alphas,” Brigden said.
    “Or maybe his intentions are less than honest,” Henson said with a grim expression. “The kid was too traumatized by what happened to Suzanne to tell us anything coherent.”
    “Does he know I’m okay?” Suzanne asked anxiously. In human form the child had looked maybe as young as four years old. She had no translation for what that might be in bear-shifter years, but it was clear that he was very young.
    “He does, but it might help for him to see you whole and happy.” Gideon seemed very confident that she felt happy. That alone was enough to annoy her. She might be feeling happy that he was back safe and sound, but that didn’t mean she was happy. “Well, uninjured, at least.”
    “Stop doing that,” she whispered to Gideon even as she suspected all four men in the room were able to hear her easily. “It’s getting annoying.”
    Brigden gave her a confused look, but Gideon just laughed and hugged her tighter.
    “It’s getting late, and our mate needs more rest,” Gideon said with a pointed look at Canlon, almost as if he was daring him to repeat some of the things they’d said about Brigden earlier. Suzanne wasn’t sure how she knew it, but there was a challenge somewhere in there. If Canlon made another derogatory remark about Gideon having to share his mate with Brigden, she had no doubt Canlon was going to regret it in a very physical way.
    Hensen glanced at Canlon and then answered for both of them. “No problem. We’re just going to check over the equipment and make sure we’ve got everything we need to get started by next week.”
    “I’ve got more on order,” Brigden said, turning back to his computer. “I’ll print a list of what’s due for delivery in the next few days.”
    Gideon managed to find enough things to fiddle with so that they had a viable