Bearing the Black Ice (Ice Bear Shifters Book 4) Read Free Page B

dark-haired bear trudging along in front of her, and wondering if they could have hit it off better if they had met under different circumstances. Oh well, a lot of things in her life could have been better under slightly different circumstances. All she could do now was make the best of the circumstances in which she found herself. And the best of these circumstances was watching Alan’s hot ass walking along in front of her.
    They walked in silence for two hours, and Hannah let Alan lead the way the whole time. Whenever they came to a fork in the passageway, Alan would stop and sniff carefully in either direction. Hannah rolled her eyes at him, discreetly at first, and then with open derision. Everything down here smelled the same. Every path led to nowhere. Hannah knew this, but Alan seemed unwilling to accept it. At first, he ignored her mockery. But after about the fifth time, his patience had worn thin.
    “What?” he snapped at her. “Do you have a better idea of how to navigate down here? Because I would love to hear it.”
    Hannah shrugged indifferently, which seemed to only irritate him further.
    “I should have just left you back there to starve,” he muttered, and took off down the left path.
    “As opposed to leading me blindly through this maze to starve? Look, I appreciate the company, buddy. You’re charming, really. But don’t act like you’re doing me some big favor. We’re both as good as dead down here.”
    “Speak for yourself,” he called back over his shoulder, quickening his pace.
    Hannah had had enough. “Whatever,” she said to herself. “He might be gorgeous, but he doesn’t have much going for him besides his good looks.”
    She started off down the path to the right in a huff. She knew she had triggered his display of hostility with her blatant eye rolling, but she still didn’t want to spend any more time with him if he was going to be so unpleasant. She’d had enough time to enjoy his good looks, and it was time to move on. She would find her own way.
    After only about ten seconds of walking she realized she had no flashlight. She grimaced, but her pride kept her from turning back and running after Alan. So, she’d die in the dark. Whatever. Maybe it would be less scary that way, anyways.
    Tossing her long black hair over her shoulder, she kept moving forward. She put one hand on the wall to keep her balance and stay aware of where the path was located. It was slow going, but what did it really matter?
    Suddenly, she felt herself thrown backwards violently as a huge, furry mass slammed into her. A scream of pain escaped from her throat as she landed on a sharp rock and felt it digging into her upper arm. The scent of bear filled her nostrils and she roared in anger. How had she missed the smell until the Blizzard was right on top of her? Had she been that distracted?
    Hannah didn’t have long to ponder the question. The bear roared and smacked at her with its paw. In the pitch blackness of the tunnel, Hannah couldn’t see where the next strike was coming from. She covered her face with her hands and roared. She needed to shift. She was going to lose her clothes when she did, which meant she’d be stuck in bear form in this freezing cold cave, but she didn’t have time to think about that right now. She’d be lucky to be alive after this fight, regardless of the form. She could tell the bear attacking her was huge just from the size of his paws.
    With a quick burst of energy, Hannah shifted from her human form into a small, sleek polar bear. She snarled and snapped out with her teeth, trying to make contact with her attacker. She guessed where the bear stood and rammed into it at full speed, but he barely budged. He was huge. Hannah started to panic. She swiped wildly at the air in front of her with her paws, attempting to land one of her long claws on a vulnerable spot. But the other bear seemed unaffected by her efforts. Hannah roared and snarled in frustration as she grew