Free Beary Guarded (Polar Bliss Book 2) by Ruby Shae Page B

especially considering he’d been living in apartments for the last ten years, and had very few possessions, but it would be a great place to start a family.
    If he ever found his mate.
    At thirty-one years old, he wasn’t sure he would ever find her, and he was honestly tired of looking. When he first got his badge, he enjoyed the constant attention the job awarded him, but the badge bunnies got old fast, and he rarely met anyone worth a second date.
    The badge was an aphrodisiac for women of all ages, all relationship statuses, and all walks of life, and they were all looking for the same thing: a notch on their bedpost that represented an officer of the law.
    He’d stopped fulfilling their dreams years ago.
    If he met someone worth his time, then he might start dating again, but it could only go so far. He wouldn’t marry someone who wasn’t his mate, and honestly, he wouldn’t feel right about being exclusive and wasting someone’s time. If it never happened for him, then he was content to live out the rest of his life alone, and Longmeadow was a good place to do it.
    The white twinkling lights of Polar Bliss , the local coffee house, caught his eye, and he laughed as he glanced in the snowflake covered windows and maneuvered his truck past the building.
    Longmeadow snowed six months out of the year, and the obvious play-on-words was perfect for the cold, white covered city. The name wouldn’t mean anything to most people—very few full humans, including his new deputies and the majority of the town’s residents, knew about shifters—but he felt certain he’d just found the first shifter family.
    He’d found out about the bears from other shifters he’d crossed paths with over the years, but the only way to confirm their existence was to meet them in person. If there really were two families of bears in the area, they must be doing something right to remain undetected for so long. One family had lived there for over three generations.
    He decided to confirm his assessment after he checked into the sheriff’s office.
    The sky was filled with nearly black clouds, and though he was tired, he wouldn’t risk waiting to unload the contents of his truck into his new home. A large, warm, black coffee from Polar Bliss was exactly what he needed to fulfill his need for caffeine, and give him a plausible excuse, aside from being the new curious sheriff, to meet the coffee house owners.
    The tiny parking lot to the sheriff’s office had eight stalls, four of which were marked Reserved , and he pulled his truck into one of the labeled spots. Though he didn’t officially start until Monday, he’d been the boss enough times to know how to build a strong partnership with the rest of his team.
    Food was always involved, but so was respect and common courtesy. He wanted to issue an invite to his home for the following weekend; a barbecue would be a great way to get to know the men and their families.
    He walked into the office, and was surprised to find all three deputies waiting for him.
    The oldest officer, John, and the youngest, his son, Jake, sat in regular clothes, playing cards across one of the desks. The third man, Chris, was completely uniformed, and stood in the middle of the room holding a steaming hot cup of coffee. Nate knew he’d been momentarily stunned by his presence, but the man quickly recovered and held out his hand.
    “Hey, man, it’s good to see you again.”
    He’d met all three officers on the day he’d interviewed for the job.
    “Thanks, Chris,” he said. “You, too.”
    “Ginn!” John yelled. “And you owe me five bucks.”
    “Oh my god, dad,” Jake said, standing. “We haven’t even said hello, yet. Let’s get to know our new boss before we unleash all the crazy.”
    “Oh, please,” John said, following his son. “He knew what he was getting into.”
    “Welcome, Nate,” Jake said, shaking his hand.
    “Welcome to Longmeadow, Sheriff McCallister,” John said, winking.