Bearing the Late Thaw (Ice Bear Shifters Book 5)

  Bearing the Late Thaw

  Ice Bear Shifters, Book 5

  By Sloane Meyers

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Similarities to actual people or events are entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 by Sloane Meyers. All rights reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  Thank You For Reading!

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Christine Cook downed the last of her beer in one long swig, then signaled the bartender for another. After the week she’d had, she was planning to close down Northwinds Pub tonight. Christine’s friend and coworker, Jill, raised an eyebrow in Christine’s direction.

  “You do know we still have to work tomorrow, right? The firm doesn’t care that tomorrow is Saturday. They want this project done yesterday.”

  Christine rolled her dark brown eyes at Jill, and greedily reached for the fresh, frosty beer mug that the bartender slid in her direction.

  “What are they going to do? Fire us?” Christine asked. “No one else was willing to take this job. I’d say our positions are pretty safe.”

  Christine brushed her dark brown hair back from her shoulders and took a long sip, just to prove her point. Jill shook her head in exasperation, but couldn’t hold back a smile.

  “You’re the only fun part about working for this stupid law firm,” Jill said.

  Christine grinned and raised her mug in Jill’s direction before taking another gulp. Five years ago, when Christine had arrived for orientation at the University of Texas Law School, she had dreamed of changing the world. She wanted to use her legal education to fight injustice, and to champion the cause of the underdog. But, after three years of law school tuition, Christine had been drowning in debt. If she was ever going to pay off her student loans, then saving the world would have to wait.

  So, Christine took a job with a big law firm that specialized in getting huge oil corporations out of questionable legal predicaments. The work didn’t exactly make you feel as though you were changing the world, but, with a six figure starting salary, the pay was right. Although she had to spend most of her life under fluorescent office lights, Christine did have the satisfaction of watching her loan balances slowly dwindling down. And she was never tempted to go out and spend money on shopping or entertainment—the endless grunt work of reviewing legal documents in preparation for trials kept her at the office for all hours of the day and night.

  Not everyone could handle the grind. More than one disgruntled, overworked junior associate at the law firm had stormed out and quit during the two years Christine had worked there. Christine persevered, however. If she could hang on just a little bit longer, she would be debt free. Then she could go work for a legal aid society, doing a job where she felt like she was actually helping people.

  Last month, when Christine had about six months to go until she finished paying off her student loans, a document review project had come up that required traveling to the remote town of Glacier Point, Alaska. An oil company that Christine’s firm represented had been sued, and to properly take care of the case, some very old business plans and contracts would need to be reviewed before trial. The old boxes of documents had not been scanned into a computer system yet, and so would need to be examined in hard copy. No one seemed quite sure just how many boxes of documents were sitting in the old Alaskan warehouse, and no one in the firm wanted to take the assignment. The best estimate that management could give was that the project would last a minimum of three months. It was the dead of winter, and because of the extreme northern location of Glacier Point, the sun would not rise at all for the first month of the project.

  In an effort to incentivize associates, the firm offered a generous bonus to anyone willing to travel to Alaska. When Christine saw the opportunity to speed up her loan payoff a little more, she signed up for the project. Sure, enduring a frigid Alaskan winter didn’t sound appealing—especially not for a girl accustomed to warm Texas sunshine. But Christine could not pass up the chance to get away from the awful law firm life just a little sooner. The only other associates who joined in on the adventure had been Jill, and a mousy, quiet man named Steve who had barely spoken two words during the entire trip so far.

  The constant darkness had been difficult to adjust to, but the cold hadn’t been all that bad. Christine spent most of her time in a heated building, anyways. If she wasn’t at the warehouse scrutinizing boring legal documents, she was in this pub, drinking too much of the local beer and enjoying the delicious comfort food they served up. Most of the time, Jill joined her. They spent their evenings enjoying a nice buzz and admiring the interesting fashion sense of the pub’s other patrons.

  A low whistle from Jill caught Christine’s attention, and she turned to follow Jill’s gaze.

  “Look at that piece of eye candy,” Jill said.

  A tall, dark-haired man had with piercing violet eyes had just walked into the pub. He shrugged off his parka and stomped the snow off of his boots. Then he made his way to the bar, where he took the only empty seat—which just so happened to be next to Christine.

  Christine looked at Jill with wide eyes and mouthed, “Oh my god.” The man didn’t even look human. His gorgeous face reminded Christine of an airbrushed model on the cover of a magazine. His chiseled cheeks had just a hint of dark stubble on them, and his skin looked tan despite the fact that darkness had covered Glacier Point for nearly two months. He gave off an aura of strength, and even his thick flannel shirt couldn’t hide his bulging bicep muscles.

  “Hey, Neal,” the bartender said, sliding a cardboard coaster in front of the man. “Haven’t seen you around here in quite a while.”

  “Yeah, I know. I moved out past the edge of town in the opposite direction of the pub, so I just go home after work most of the time these days. But I worked so late tonight that I wanted to get some grub before heading home. I’m starving.”

  “Well it’s good to see you, buddy. What can I get for you?”

  “I’ll do the fish and chips, and a mug of the White Moose Ale.”

  “You got it, coming right up,” the bartender said, then headed off in the direction of the kitchen.

  Neal glanced sideways at Christine, who realized too late that she was staring.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, sounding more amused than annoyed.

  “I… I’m sorry. I was just noticing how tanned your skin is. Did you just get back from vacation or something? I’m pretty sure that tan didn’t come from a tanning bed, because I’ve been trying to find one in Glacier Point and there don’t appear to be any.” Christine bit her lip as she looked over at Neal, waiting for his reply. She felt nervous, which almost never happened to her around a guy. Sure, he was quite possibly the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. But Christine was good-looking, too, and she knew it. She also firmly believed in the idea that nothing conveyed sexiness better than a confident attitude, so she liked to give off bold vibes. Something about Neal unsettled her, though. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

  Neal chuckled. “Nope. I just have naturally darker skin, thanks to my mom. I haven’t been on vacation in a very, very long time. And you’re right, there aren’t any tanning beds in Glacier Point. In fact, I’m pretty sure there aren’t any tann
ing beds within a thousand miles of here. You new in town?”

  “Yeah. I guess that’s painfully obvious. I’m an attorney, just here on a temporary project for a client,” Christine said, extending her hand to him. “I’m Christine.”

  “Neal. Neal Ray,” he said, confirming the name the bartender had used for him. He gave her a handshake that was firm but not crushing.

  “Nice to meet you,” Christine said. “You’re a local, then? What do you do?”

  “I own a tattoo parlor in town. So if you want to rebel a little against the traditional boring attorney stereotype and get tatted up a bit, I’m your guy,” Neal said with a chuckle. His teasing tone made it clear that he didn’t expect Christine to actually take him up on the offer. Christine tried to come up with a witty retort, but, before she could think of anything, the bartender returned with Neal’s drink and started asking him something about whether his buddy was still refusing to go ice-fishing during the winter.

  Jill poked Christine in the ribs. “Damn, that guy is smoking,” Jill said in a loud whisper. “You should try to stir up a little Alaskan romance.”

  Christine rolled her eyes at Jill. “Weren’t you the one just telling me that we needed to be working constantly?”

  “Yeah, but that was before Mr. Hot Stuff walked in. You’d be an idiot to pass that up.”

  Christine glanced over at Neal, who had turned his back slightly to her as he talked with the bartender.

  “Yeah,” she said slowly, then lowered her voice even more. “He is gorgeous. But he doesn’t seem that interested in getting to know me better.”

  “You’ve never let a little detail like that stop you before.”

  Christine snuck another glance at Neal as he burst into loud laughter at something the bartender had said. He had almost completely turned his back to her now, and Christine narrowed her eyes in his direction. She did love a challenge, and, in her mind, Neal had just challenged her to win his affection.

  “Challenge accepted, Mr. Ray,” Christine whispered under her breath. “You’re not even going to know what hit you.”

  * * *

  Late the following day, Neal started cleaning up his tattoo shop before closing. The task wouldn’t take too long, since he’d only done one small touchup on a tattoo today. Business, as usual for this time of year, was painfully slow. A smart businessman would have just closed down the shop for a few weeks, but Neal wasn’t in this for the revenue. Coming in to the shop gave him time and space to think. And thinking clearly had become more and more important since he had taken over as alpha for the Northern Lights Clan.

  When his dad and most of his clan had died in a poisoning attack by their rival clan, the Blizzards, Neal had been consumed with grief. Unprepared for the alpha position suddenly thrust upon him, Neal had stumbled his way along at first. After a little over a year and a half of this gig, though, Neal had started to get the hang of it. His bears seemed to be happy and thriving in their new Glacier Point cabins.

  And his little clan had grown! The poisoning had left the clan with only five bear shifters—Neal, Ryker, Eric, Tyler, and Alan. At first, they had been unable to find life mates, since Neal had insisted on only allowing bear shifter mates. With the Blizzards on a rampage to kill off everyone except their own clan, not many bear shifters remained in the Arctic. Once Neal relaxed his stance and allowed human life mates, three of his clan members had found human mates. Ryker had Kenzie, Eric had Delaney, and Tyler had Kat. Then Alan had found a bear shifter mate, Hannah. Hannah’s clan had also been wiped out by the Blizzards, but Neal had taken in the other two surviving members, Seth and James.

  And Neal’s favorite additions to the clan, by a long shot, were Ryker and Kenzie’s brand new cubs. Hope and Calum, now a few months old, were adorable, spirited little bear shifters. Although they had been born during a difficult chapter of the clan’s history, Neal could already see the determination and spunk in their eyes. He knew they would rise to whatever challenges the future held for them. Neal constantly obsessed over how to protect the cubs from the Blizzards. It had been a few months since he had seen a Blizzard, but he knew they were out there, regrouping and planning more attacks.

  The bell above the front door jangled, snapping Neal’s attention toward the entrance. His eyes widened when he saw that the attorney he had met at Northwinds Pub last night had just walked into his shop, bringing in a blast of cold air with her. He had been somewhat standoffish to her, so seeing her here despite his attitude came as a surprise. She crossed her arms as she surveyed the shop, taking in the organized front counter and tidy row of three tattoo chairs that stood behind it.

  “Not too shabby,” she said.

  Neal chuckled. “It’s Christine, right?”

  Christine nodded.

  “What were you expecting, Christine? A dingy, crowded room or something? Just because Glacier Point doesn’t have a tanning bed, doesn’t mean we can’t have a decent tattoo parlor.”

  Christine shrugged and unzipped her parka, hanging it on the large coat rack near the door. As she walked up to the front counter, Neal took in her lean frame. She wore an oversized, chunky gray sweater and a pair of dark wash skinny jeans. Furry snow boots covered her feet and came up over her jeans, stopping at mid-calf level. Her makeup looked flawless, and she had pulled her hair up into a sensible bun. She wasn’t dressed exactly like he thought an attorney would be dressed. Her clothes did scream “designer label,” but they were much more casual than a suit. Neal noticed her curves with appreciation. She had looked lovely when he saw her sitting in the pub last night, but seeing her standing at full height added a whole new level to her beauty.

  “So, how much for a tattoo?” she asked.

  As she leaned toward him over the counter, he smelled it. Arousal. This lovely creature wasn’t here for a tattoo. She was here for him. Before he could stop it, he felt his dick stiffening and his bear leaping inside of him with desire. What the crap. He couldn’t date a human, not after he’d given the other boys such a hard time about finding human life mates. And besides, he held the title of alpha. He had to set the bar a little higher for himself. His bear was just starving for attention. There’s no way a human was actually his life mate. Especially not a fancy attorney in designer jeans who was only here for a few months to poke her nose in a bunch of legal shit and then leave.

  “Shop’s closed,” Neal said gruffly.

  Christine frowned at him. “The door wasn’t locked, and the open sign is still up.”

  “Well, I was just in the process of closing down. Besides, you need an appointment,” Neal said. That last bit wasn’t true at all. He had never required appointments. Sometimes, when things got really busy during tourist season, he recommended appointments. But he had never required them. Especially not in the dead of winter, when he was lucky if even one person walked through the door on a weekday.

  Undeterred, Christine flashed him a bright smile. “Well, then, can I make an appointment?”

  Neal rolled his eyes, making no effort to hide his annoyance. Couldn’t she take a hint? “Fine. When?”

  “How about tomorrow at 6 p.m.? Or will you be as overwhelmingly busy then as you are right now?” Christine asked, looking pointedly around the empty shop.

  “Fine,” Neal said. “Tomorrow at 6. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to close down my shop.”

  Christine smirked at him and went to grab her parka. Through the front window, he watched her hop onto her snowmobile and drive away.

  “Well, she is persistent. Gotta give her that,” he said aloud to the empty room. He walked around the counter and locked the front door, then went to exit through the back. After zipping on his parka and locking the back door, he hopped onto his own snowmobile and started the trek home through the dark Alaskan afternoon.

  Christine’s dark eyes danced in his head, and he found himself thinking of the next day with eager anticipation. He felt his bear growling with passion.

  “No,” he said fo
rcefully into the wind as he sped by the edge of town and into the group of cabins where all of the Northern Lights clan members lived. He had a clan to care for and protect. He didn’t have time or energy to waste on a pretty little thing in designer jeans. Maybe back at her law firm Christine could waltz into the room and get any guy she wanted. But Neal wasn’t any guy, and this wasn’t a ritzy law firm. Neal was an alpha bear shifter, and this was the Alaskan wilderness. If Christine really wanted a tattoo, he’d oblige her. But he wouldn’t let himself fall for her, no matter how interested his bear seemed to be.

  As Neal slowed down and guided his snowmobile through the group of cabins, he saw one of his clan members, Eric, sticking his head out the front door of one of the cabins.

  “Neal!” Eric called out. “Can you come here when you get a second? Tyler thinks he has a new idea on where the Blizzards might be hiding.”

  “Sure thing, buddy. Let me get my snowmobile parked and I’ll be right over,” Neal replied. He pushed any last traces of Christine from his mind as he killed the engine on his snowmobile. His clan had been trying to track down the Blizzards all winter. If a new idea could lead to their hiding place, Neal was all ears. He was more than ready to find those scoundrels and put a stop to their malicious plans once and for all.

  Chapter Two

  “You’re crazy,” Jill said, shaking her head in Christine’s direction.

  “You’re the one who told me I’d be an idiot not to go for him,” Christine said. A giant cloud of dust billowed upwards as she struggled to move a box of ancient documents from the floor to a shoddy folding table. She sneezed for the umpteenth time as particles of dirt and dust filled her nostrils.

  “Yeah, well, you don’t have to get a tattoo just to find out if the guy is interested in you. Those things are kind of permanent, you know. Why don’t you just invite him back to the pub for a drink or something?”