Bears' Claim [PUP Squad Alpha 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

PUP Squad Alpha 4

Bears’ Claim

Hannah Long is suddenly afraid of children. She doesn't know why. She doesn't know how. She only knows she has to run. Even when she has to leave the man of her dreams behind.

Eric Johansen is a bear-shifter and Hannah's mate. He hasn't told her yet because she's only twenty-seven and human. When she goes missing he regrets waiting patiently and wants his mate in his arms, right now!

West Rindell, a dedicated member of PUP Squad Alpha, wasn't looking for a mate. He was just trying to do his job and find the missing Oracle's receptacle. But sparks fly when he discovers they are one and the same. The fact that sweet Hannah has a submissive streak just makes things way more interesting.

But if they can't stop the group of assassins on her trail, the future her bear-shifters want could end before it truly gets started.

Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among cousins.

Genre:
Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter
Length:
22,044 words
 

PUP Squad Alpha 4

Abby Blake

MENAGE EVERLASTING

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED:
Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device.
You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book.
This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

[email protected]

IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

BEARS’ CLAIM

Copyright © 2012 by Abby Blake

E-book ISBN:
978-1-61926-706-0

First E-book Publication: June 2012

Cover design by Les Byerley

All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers

Dear Readers,

If you have purchased this copy of
Bears’ Claim
by Abby Blake from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy

This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

This is Abby Blake’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Blake’s right to earn a living from her work.

Amanda Hilton, Publisher

www.SirenPublishing.com

www.BookStrand.com

BEARS’ CLAIM

PUP Squad Alpha 4

ABBY BLAKE

Copyright © 2012

Her heart pounded, her skin crawled, her breathing faltered. The urge to run was near overwhelming. Every day for the past three she’d forced herself to put one foot in front of the other, but today the fear choked her. She stopped, frozen, unable to move forward, her mind creating an invisible line that she could not cross.

“Hannah? Everything okay?”

Her eyes darted to the familiar face of Dr. Eric Johansen. Hannah dragged in a ragged breath, trying to hide her strange behavior.

“Sure,” she said, taking a step back, moving away from that invisible line. “I…um…am due for a break. I’ll just grab a quick coffee.”

“No worries,” Eric said with his usual kind smile. The man was tall enough to be a basketball professional and wide enough to play football but somehow the pediatrician didn’t scare his young patients at all. The weirdest part was that even Hannah felt the same sort of comfort in the big man’s presence.

Strange, especially considering that her current phobia seemed to revolve around a sweet, seven-year-old child who was too ill to harm a fly. How could a man large enough to snap her in half evoke a sense of peace, but an innocent child incite so much terror?

Eric gave her such a kind look that she very much wanted to blurt out her current problem. Unfortunately, fear for her job—and perhaps embarrassment at her current, unexplained fear—stilled her tongue. Admitting such a crazy phobia while working in the children’s ward would only get her transferred out of the job she loved.

“I’ll…um…just go get that coffee then.”

He nodded, but tilted his head slightly as he assessed her tense body language. “You’ve been working really hard lately. Perhaps you should consider taking a vacation. Lord knows you deserve one. What the board expects from the nurses is beyond ridiculous.”

“True,” Hannah said as they moved down the hallway side by side. Every step away from room five made her feel infinitely better. Perhaps that was all it was. Maybe she was just so overworked that the child represented her need to take a break. “In fact,” she said, warming to the idea, “I’ll head over to personnel during my lunch break. A few weeks sitting on a beach drinking cocktails sounds very appealing.”

The doctor laughed quietly. “That does sound nice. Have a drink for me while you’re at it.”

“Will do,” Hannah said, feeling much calmer as they parted ways.

“Eric,” West Rindell called as soon as he saw his cousin. It had been many years since they’d seen each other, but with bear-shifters living several human lifetimes a decade or two wasn’t really that long. Eric, probably better known in this building as Dr. Johansen, glanced up, smiled, and held up a finger to indicate he’d be there in a moment. He then went back to talking to the young child in front of him.

West and Darian stood back, not wanting to get in the man’s way, but eager to get their mission completed. Tracking down the women who were the potential next victims of a pixie assassin was proving way harder than it should have been. The women were only human after all.

“Hey, cuz,” Eric said as he came over to them and wrapped West in a big bear hug. West hugged him back, surprised to realize how much he’d missed the big guy. They’d grown up together, but about fifty years ago they’d chosen very different career paths. Between West’s assignments with PUP Squad Alpha and Eric’s hectic life as a pediatrician, neither of them got home very often and very rarely at the same time. “What brings you to my neck of the woods?”

“Official business actually.” West glanced around the crowded corridor. “Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”

“Sure,” Eric said with a concerned frown. He led them to an empty consulting room and locked the door behind them. He leaned against the desk and waited for an explanation.

“We have good reason to believe that one of the nurses who works here has been targeted for assassination by pixies.”

“Are you sure? As far as I know they’re all human. Don’t pixies limit their work to paranormals?”

“Apparently they’ve made an exception for a group of human women.” West didn’t want to say much more than that. The mission was classified on a need-to-know basis, and technically Eric didn’t need to know. “Do you know a nurse called Hannah Long?”

“Hannah?” Eric asked in obvious concern. “She took a vacation four weeks ago. She’s due back to work tomorrow. She was pretty tense last time I saw her, so I was planning on dropping by her place on my way home tonight.”

“So you have her home address?” West asked, watching his cousin’s body language closely. Eric was a caring guy, but his reaction seemed to indicate their relationship was more intimate than simply coworkers. “Just let me grab my keys. I’ll come with you. If she’s home, I can explain who you are, and well if she’s not…” He shrugged, trying to look calm but failing miserably. “Two bears are better than one.”

Darian looked slightly annoyed. He was often mistaken by other paranormals as being simply human. He pulled out his smart phone and started tapping away. “What’s her address?”

Eric grabbed a piece of paper off the notepad on his desk and handed it to Darian. West raised an eyebrow in question, but Eric just shrugged sheepishly. Perhaps Eric’s relationship with Hannah wasn’t as close as he would have liked.

“Got it,” Darian said as he found the coordinates for Hannah’s address. Just before he could open a bounce tunnel, West interrupted with a hand on his shoulder. If he knew one thing at all about the warlock he was working with on this assignment, it was that Darian had the ability to make bounce travel hurt way more than it should if he felt the need. Considering Eric’s assumption and ill-timed “two bears” comment, this bounce was liable to hurt way more than usual.

West didn’t have to say a word. Darian obviously knew what was on his mind because he rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Fine, I’ll play nice.” He did smile rather smugly though when Eric’s mouth fell open at the sight of the bounce tunnel that opened in the room.

“Um…sorry,” Eric managed to mumble as they stepped toward the swirling doorway. “You smell human.”

“That’s the trouble with most shifters,” Darian said with a smirk. “You rely too heavily on what your nose tells you. Maybe once in a while you could use your brain.” He glanced at West and rolled his eyes. “I said I’d play nice. I didn’t say anything about not talking.”

West nodded. He’d only worked with a handful of warlocks over the years, but they all seemed to loathe being mistaken for humans by other paranormals. Considering that they had skills most humans wouldn’t even be able to imagine, it was rather insulting. And to be fair, even if Darian had been human, his cousin should have at least realized by the simple fact that he was working with West that Darian was a highly trained operative. He would certainly be more help in a fight than an unfit, overworked pediatrician who probably hadn’t shifted into his bear form in months.