Free A Spark to Bear (Fire Bear Shifters Book 2) by Sloane Meyers Page B

welcoming his clan’s reception was going to be when he showed up with a human, claiming she was his lifemate.
    Hunter wrestled with his worries for the next two hours, until the truck pulled up to the large hangar that served as home base for the Burning Claws smokejumpers. He groaned when he looked out the window and saw several news vans parked in front of the hangars. Reporters with microphones loitered around the vans, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their own hometown hero. Ian stood leaning against the front entrance of the hangar with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Hunter winced. His alpha was not amused.
    “Wow, looks like we’re popular,” Riley said as she gazed out the window of the truck at the reporters. They had realized by now that the truck had arrived and were crowding around the spot where the driver was trying to park.
    “Yeah,” Hunter said, furrowing his brow. “Just try to say as little as possible, okay? Ian’s already pissed off that they’re here. This isn’t going to make introducing you to the crew any easier.”
    Riley nodded, and Hunter opened the door to the truck quickly, hoping he could get through the crowd of reporters without having to talk too much.
    “Hunter! Hunter! Are you glad to be back?”
    “Did you think you were doomed to die when you fell off of the helicopter?”
    “What did you think when you found out you weren’t alone in the burning forest?”
    “Riley, how did you feel when you realized someone was there to save you?
    “How did you manage to stay calm when Hunter told you that you’d have to use the fire shelter?”
    The questions kept coming, faster and faster. Hunter couldn’t keep up with what he was being asked, let alone formulate any kind of coherent response. He glanced over at Riley and saw her eyes widen. She looked like a deer in headlights.
    Hunter hated being in the spotlight, and he wanted to push through the crowd and disappear into the hangar without saying anything. But he knew that giving them no answer at all would only make them more insistent on a chance to interview him, so he held up his hands to try to silence them and have a chance to say something for a moment.
    “Thank you all so much for coming to welcome Riley and me back from the forest. To answer your main questions, I think we both realized there was a very real possibility that we might die out there in the fire, but we did our best to remain calm and use the resources we had to get through it. Thankfully, we made it. I appreciate your hailing me as a hero, but, honestly, I was just doing my job. Now, if you all don’t mind, we’d like to go get some rest. We’ve had a very exhausting couple of days, and I’m sure you can all understand that we need time to recuperate.”
    Hunter gave the reporters a little wave, and then made his way to the hangar’s entrance, pulling Riley along with him. Ian gave Hunter a pointed scowl as they stepped inside and closed the door against the horde of reporters. The hangar was two stories, and the bottom floor where they now stood had a massive, open space to store an aircraft. This crew didn’t have their own permanent airplane, though, so the space was mostly just empty, although several sewing machines lined the far wall. The rest of the Burning Claws Crew stood just inside the entrance, warily watching the spectacle outside.
    “You’re in a pile of shit, Hunter,” Ian said.
    Hunter looked meekly up at his alpha. “Boss, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to stir anything up. But I couldn’t just let Riley die out in the fire. I knew she was there, and I had to do something. You would have done the same, if you’d been in my position.”
    Ian ignored Hunter’s explanation, and nodded in Riley’s direction. “I’m assuming this is Riley?”
    Hunter nodded, and a moment of awkward silence ensued before Riley interrupted it.
    “Um, hi, everyone. I’m Riley,” she said.
    “Hi, Riley,” Ian said, seeming to remember