Bearly Ever: An Alpha Werebear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Arcadia Knights Book 1) Read Free

called, “why you’re trespassing on private property?”
    When in doubt, stick with the truth. “Hey, it’s my sister’s house. She invited me.”
    Obviously that wasn’t what the cop was expecting. He frowned. “Your sister?”
    Okay, so cop-guy was kind of cute. Maybe even really cute, although she’d need her glasses to be sure from this distance. “Yeah, Sonya Jackson. She lived here until recently.” Ever cocked her head to the side. “Can I see a badge, please?”
    Her question seemed to confuse the cop, as if he’d been thinking about something else. “Why don’t you get off the rubble and we can talk.”
    Ever crossed her arms. “How do I know you’re a real cop?”
    “The silly hat and blue lights don’t give me away?”
    His words made her lips twitch, although she wasn’t in the mood for smiles. “Just your badge, and we can talk.”
    She could imagine him grumbling under his breath, but he pulled something off his belt and held it aloft. Without her glasses, Ever couldn’t make out the specifics, but it looked vaguely badge-shaped and glinted in the sunlight. Good enough. “Okay, gimme a minute.”
    “You know, construction zones are dangerous to walk through,” he commented as she moved over the pile. “Nails and broken boards can be hidden anywhere.”
    “Thanks for the tip, Ranger Rick.” Stepping down off the rubble, Ever dusted off her hands and looked across the car at the cop.
    And blinked.
    Whoa.
    Thoughts of her sister fled her mind as she stared at the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on. Damn her near-sighted eyes, it would have been nice to know beforehand that the pretty was this, well, pretty. She stared, slack jawed, mind flitting to all things dirty and awesome . Oh yeah, he could totally break her two year drought.
    Maybe he could even keep the uniform on.
    “Miss Jackson?”
    Ever blinked. Mr. Talk-Dark-and-Yummy was staring at her, a frown creasing his gorgeous brow. Was anything this man did not sexy? The wind shifted slightly, blowing her hair forward over one shoulder, and his nostrils flared.
    Frown, hell. Now he was glowering at her.
    What did I even do? Still didn’t stop him from being dead sexy.
    “You’re human.”
    The matter of fact way he said it, and the fact that such a declaration even needed to be made, confused Ever. “Uh, yeah,” she said, “and you aren’t?”
    His jaw snapped shut, loud enough that from this close Ever could hear the click. He looked confused about something, glaring at the house then back at Ever. “Did you file a missing persons report?”
    Missing…oh, her sister. “No, I didn’t know she was even missing until I got here and saw the house.” Or, what was left of it.
    “Get in the car.”
    His imperious order cut through some of the haze clouding her mind. “Excuse me?”
    His glower deepened, but he didn’t repeat himself. Damn, he looked good in that uniform. Even the silly hat.
    “I don’t even know your name yet,” she said, her voice a purr, and gave him an uncharacteristic wink.
    Then she paused. Blinked.
    Wait a minute. What the hell was wrong with her? Since when did she, Ever Jackson, get all googly-eyed over a guy ?
    “My name is Sheriff Aidan Tucker, and I need you to come with me.”
    He didn’t seem to have any problems with googly-anything, just with her. His words pulled at her strangely, as if she wanted to obey, but Ever had a lifetime of practice with disobedience. She crossed her arms. No matter how gorgeous he might be, she wasn’t getting into an unknown man’s car.
    Well, unless maybe he meant to…
    No.
    “No,” she echoed her thought, lifting her chin.
    Obviously he wasn’t used to someone not following orders. “Do you want to find your sister or not?” he snapped.
    Well. Mr. Handsome seemed to have changed from one moment to the next, and Ever wasn’t appreciating the attitude. Of course, that just made it easier to turn him down. “No thank you, I’m fine on my