Free Bearing the Late Thaw (Ice Bear Shifters Book 5) by Sloane Meyers Page A

unfamiliar sights and sounds of Christine’s apartment, but it only took a few seconds for him to remember the marvelous evening he’d just had.
    A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he padded out to the kitchen, wearing only his underwear. He didn’t feel like putting his shirt and jeans back on just yet. Christine alternated between humming and whistling as she flipped pancakes on a griddle.
    “Well, good morning, handsome,” she said, looking up when she heard him entering the room.
    “Good morning, beautiful. Those smell delicious, and I’m starving.”
    “They’ll be done in just a minute. Grab yourself some coffee if you want,” Christine said, pointing to the coffeepot where a fresh, full pot of coffee sat ready and waiting.
    Neal grabbed some coffee, and then noticed the clock on the stove.
    “Holy cow, it’s only 6:30 a.m. No wonder I still felt so tired,” he said.
    “Yeah, sorry. I’m trying to get in to work early. I’m super behind, and it’s only going to get worse after today when my coworker leaves. I’m going to have to keep sending my boss emails pestering him for help until he sends some. There’s no way I can finish everything on my own.”
    Neal sat down at the kitchen table and blew on his coffee to cool it down a bit. “As happy as I am that this job brought you to Glacier Point, I have to say that it sounds pretty awful.”
    “It is. But it has to end eventually,” Christine said with a shrug. She piled pancakes onto a platter and set them in the middle of the table. Plates, silverware, and syrup were already on the table.
    “Dig in,” she said as she started to pile pancakes on her own plate.
    Neal didn’t need to be asked twice. He served himself a generous helping of pancakes, drizzled them with syrup, and started wolfing them down.
    “What about you?” Christine asked. “What are you up to today?”
    “I’ll be at the shop for a few hours this morning, although I doubt anyone’s going to come by. Then in the afternoon I’ve got a meeting with my clan members. We’ve been working like crazy trying to solve this crisis with the Blizzards. The problem is that we still can’t find their hideout. I don’t understand how they’ve managed to keep it a secret, but they’ve done a damn good job of covering their tracks.”
    “It sounds like you guys have been searching for months. How can a group as large as the Blizzards manage to stay so hidden?”
    “They’re underground somewhere. There’s an extensive group of caverns out there below the tundra known as the Black Ice Caverns. The only reason we even know that is because one of my clan members, Alan, fell into the caverns and was trapped down there for weeks. He escaped, but we haven’t been able to find another entrance since then. Unless we accidentally find an entrance again, I’m not sure how long this search is going to take. They basically have found a way to make all of the entrances blend in with the tundra, which, as you’ve seen, is vast.”
    “Is there a way to lure them out? They seemed eager to use that trick on you, using me as bait.”
    Neal sighed. “Yeah, I still feel badly about that. But I think the only lure that would be tempting enough to bring them out without knowing they have the upper hand would be the cubs, Hope and Calum. And there’s no way in hell I’m going to purposefully risk the cubs’ safety.”
    Neal looked over at Christine, and his heart ached at just the sight of her. Her beauty overwhelmed him, and he felt like the luckiest bear alive that he was getting a second chance with her. She even seemed to agree that they were destined to be life mates! Neal kept telling himself to take things slowly, but his resolve to be patient weakened every time he looked into her beautiful eyes.
    “Listen, Christine,” Neal said. “I want you to be really careful. Don’t leave Glacier Point’s city limits alone, no matter what. You should be relatively safe as long as you