Free Bear's Kiss (Bear Heat Book 2) by Natalie Kristen

free to go.
    Prisha's eyes darted around
the chaotic scene, searching desperately for Caleb. Was he all
right? Was he hurt?
    She saw Caleb holding the
bleeding, writhing assassin down on the ground. Paramedics loaded
the screaming man onto the stretcher, and three policemen followed
the paramedics closely as they rushed towards the ambulance.
    Caleb searched the crowd
anxiously and once he found her, he leaped off the stage and came
rushing towards her.
    “Prisha!”
    He reached her and crushed
her into his embrace. Kissing her hair, her temple, her face, he
murmured, “My Prisha, you're safe. I...I'm sorry I took so
long...” He captured her face in both his hands and thumbed
away her tears. “Did they hurt you? Are you okay? How...”
    “I'm okay, I'm okay,”
she assured him, swallowing and blinking hard. “You...you're
here now. With me. Everything is okay.” She pressed her face
into his chest and sobbed as she hugged him tightly.
    “Hey, Beta.” A
deep voice greeted Caleb.
    Prisha's head jerked up and
she stifled a cry when she saw Tom, Ray Shapez's bodyguard, standing
beside Caleb.
    “Y-you...” she
stuttered and stared from Tom to Caleb. Caleb wasn't in the least
ruffled or disturbed by Tom's presence. On the contrary, he
looked...mighty pleased.
    And—what did Tom just
call Caleb?
    She must have heard wrongly.
    Beta?
    Caleb smiled and nodded at
Tom.
    “Prisha, this is Thor
McKenzie. He's a Black Bear, and one of our best undercover agents.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

    “Undercover...Black
Bear,” Prisha spluttered. “But...you shot him! I saw
you shoot him in the chest! In that alley...”
    “He shot me, but he
missed my heart. On purpose.” Thor shrugged. “And it
wasn't a silver bullet, so the bullet wound healed very quickly.”
    Prisha gaped at Thor. “Caleb
shot you on purpose,” she repeated slowly, shaking her head.
“He could have killed you...”
    “He didn't. He
wouldn't. And he can shoot me again if it means smashing the whole
crime syndicate once and for all,” Thor answered with a
straight face but she saw the conviction and fire in his blue-green
eyes.
    Prisha paused before asking,
“What about the other guy...the one with you in the alley...”
    “Oh, he's dead all
right. Caleb shot him right through the heart. On purpose,”
Thor deadpanned.
    “So...it was you. Back
at the restaurant. You told Caleb your location and what you had
been ordered to do, so he could come and shoot you. By shooting you,
he stopped you from blowing my brains out, and prevented you from
blowing your cover.”
    “Yes, Ma'am. I would
never have hurt you, but I had to look convincing. I'm sorry if I
frightened you.”
    She shook her head and let
out a laugh of amazement. “You infiltrated the Mob and gained
Ray Shapez's trust,” she told Thor. “That's really
impressive undercover work.”
    “Oh, I didn't work
alone. I was in contact with Caleb, and the Black Bears were behind
me all the way,” Thor said with a lopsided smile. His smile
faded and his expression became grim “I infiltrated the Mob,
but the Mob managed to get its tentacles in the police force as
well.”
    Caleb nodded. “Yes.
That assassin was on a suicide mission. He would have turned the gun
on himself after shooting the Mayor. But we got him alive.
Hopefully we can get some useful information out of him.”
    “They should let Baxter
have a go at him. Bax can get information out of anybody.”
Thor grinned.
    “Did someone just
mention my name?” a deep voice boomed from behind them.
    Prisha turned to see the
hotdog vendor sauntering up to them, clasping his deadly rifle to his
side.
    “Hey, Bax. That was
some sharp shooting.”
    Baxter gave a little bow and
bumped fists with Thor. “Good to have you back, man.”
    “I don't know.”
Thor blew out a sigh. “There's still a lot of work to be done.
The Mob has moles all over the place. In the police force, prison
services...”
    “Let's hope they
expedite Ray Shapez's