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

she have anywhere to go? Maybe family to contact?”
    “None that we can trace,” West said, feeling the familiar frustration weave through him once more. Tracking down a human woman should not have been this hard. Even knowing that Hannah was destined to be a bear-shifter’s mate didn’t explain her ability to anticipate a pixie assassination attempt. “Eric,” he said, turning to his cousin, “is there anywhere you can think that she would go?”
    “No,” he said, looking as frustrated as West felt.
     
    * * * *
     
    Hannah smiled as she headed to table twelve. Jed Mathewson was an old grump, but over the past week he’d been her most consistent customer. He also seemed to appreciate her sunny disposition even though he always responded with a dour expression.
    “What can I get for you today, Mr. Mathewson?”
    “Just coffee,” he said in his usual gruff voice. The first time he’d grumbled those words she’d made the mistake of ordering for him “just coffee.” He hadn’t been impressed.
    “Coffee?” she asked, smiling at the harrumph that came from the old man. “I believe Ida made one of her famous blueberry pies this morning. I reckon it’d go down mighty nice with a cup of Leo’s famous coffee.”
    “Blueberry, huh?” Jed said as if he were ruminating on whether to order the pie or not. “Maybe I should try a slice, so, you know, I can make sure Ida isn’t losing her touch. She’s getting old, you know.”
    Considering Ida was probably a good twenty years younger than Jed Mathewson, Hannah was pretty sure her boss would be unimpressed by that accusation. Hannah nodded, grabbed the menu that Jed always insisted upon but never actually used, and headed back to the kitchen.
    She stepped around the corner without looking and almost ran over the young girl standing in her path. Immediately her heart leapt into her throat. Hannah backed away, her fingers shaking so hard that she dropped the menu to the floor.
    The child tilted her head, looking at Hannah with far more scrutiny than she was used to from one so young. “Hello, Annie,” the girl said with what could only be described as a malicious grin. Hannah backed up a few more steps which almost took her back into the main part of the restaurant. “You’ve been a very hard lady to find. I had a hell of a time uncovering the new name the Witness Protection Program gave you, but then you went and ruined all my hard work by disappearing mere hours before I got there. Lucky for me the type of car salesmen willing to take cash for a car are also the type to take bribes. He sold you out for a hundred bucks. Can you believe that? He obviously knew you were in some kind of trouble, but he never even questioned why a ‘child’ would want to know where you went.” She shrugged as she moved closer. “Of course, if I’d waited just a few more weeks it’s likely you would have popped up on the tax records under your original name and I wouldn’t have had to track you halfway across the country.” She smiled smugly and tapped a finger against her chin as she looked out the window at the end of the corridor. “It was quite nice of you to find an out-of-the-way location, but if you take one more step, I’ll have to kill them, too. Can’t leave any witnesses. That would be very bad for business.”
    “I don’t understand. Why me?” Hannah asked, shaking her head. This was the confrontation she’d been fleeing from, even though she’d had no idea why at the time. Right now everything urged her to run for help, but the thought of endangering anyone else was even more terrifying. “What did I do?”
    It was extremely bizarre. Despite the child’s outward appearance, something inside Hannah knew—absolutely knew—that the creature in front of her was not what she seemed.
    “You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Oracle should never have done what she did.” The child shrugged and moved closer. “Look, nobody else has to get