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

experience?”
    “Yes,” Hannah said, hoping the woman wouldn‘t ask for references. She’d done some bartending and waitressing to get herself through college. Hopefully it wasn’t a skill she’d forgotten. In fact after several hectic years working at St. Alfred’s hospital, she might even be better at it. How ironic? All those years training to be a nurse, just so she could end up a better waitress.
    “Job pays minimum wage plus tips.” Hannah nodded her understanding, her heart pounding harder now than it had her first time performing CPR on an actual patient. It would almost be funny if she weren’t so desperate to replenish her fast-dwindling cash. Four weeks on the road had only proven she hadn’t saved enough money to survive any length of time without working—even when she slept in her car.
    But she couldn’t apply for nursing work without supplying her registration details and employment history and that just made her easier to find. The worst part was that she didn’t even know who she was running from. Only that she had to run. Even the internal realization that she was probably suffering some sort of paranoid medical condition hadn’t been enough to have her running back home to get some help.
    “I can’t guarantee how long the job will last,” the woman said with an apologetic smile. “My niece left town unexpectedly a few weeks ago. If she comes home, I want her to know she’s still welcome.”
    Hannah nodded her understanding. It must have been nice for the woman’s niece to know that her life would still be there if she came home. It wasn’t a feeling Hannah ever expected to have again.
    The woman glanced at Hannah’s comfortable shoes and smiled.
    “Can you start right now?”
    “Yes,” Hannah said nervously.
    “Excellent. Grab an apron and jump on in. It’s only the two of us for the lunch shift, so just serve whoever needs serving. Give me or Leo—he’s the cook—a holler if you’ve got any questions.”
    “Will do,” Hannah said, nodding. “Thanks…um…”
    “Ida,” she said with a soft laugh. “Sorry, sugar. It’s been a busy day. What should I call you?”
    “Annie,” Hannah said, hoping like hell the name was close enough to the one she’d used for the last twenty years that she’d remember to respond.
    “Okay, Annie. Let’s get this crowd fed.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Eric couldn’t concentrate. Every time he tried to focus on the budget report in front of him the numbers would blur, and he’d find himself wondering where on earth his mate had disappeared to. It didn’t matter that he was a doctor and West the trained soldier. It simply didn’t feel right waiting for someone else to find and protect his mate.
    He grabbed the phone and dialed the number his cousin had left with him.
    “West,” he said urgently as soon as his cousin answered. “Why did it take you so long to come looking for Hannah? She’s a registered nurse. She should have been easy to find.”
    West hesitated, and Eric got the impression that he was conferring with someone silently. He seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief and then said in a calm voice, “I’ve been given permission to bring you in on the details.” Eric started to thank him, but West cut him off, his voice very serious. “This is only happening because she’s your mate. Do you understand me? Everything, everything I tell you is classified information. Spill one word to anyone and we will have a serious problem.”
    “I understand,” Eric said, as both relief that he would know what was going on and terror for his mate ran through him simultaneously.
    “Are you still alone in your office?”
    “Yes.”
    “One of my squadmates, Alex, will be there in a few minutes.” And then West seemed to relax just a little. He sounded more his normal self when he added, “You might want to grab some antacids before he gets there. Slip travel is quite unpleasant.”
    A few moments later a fire demon stepped into his