Snowbound (Arctic Station Bears Book 1) Read Free

me. “It’s nice to meet you.”
    “A cat from my time,” he said. He held my hand a little longer than I was expecting and never broke eye contact with me. I had to pull away a little before he let go. “A saber-tooth tiger is what you call it?”
    “And you can partially shift?” I asked.
    “I can.” He pulled back his hand, and as I watched, it transformed into a gigantic paw. The bone and muscle structure in his arm changed. Fur grew from his skin. He was a man with a cat’s forelimb. He extended his claws — two inches long at least and brutally hooked. Then as quickly as it happened, his arm was suddenly normal again.
    “I’d like to talk to to you later if that’s okay,” I said. “I have so many questions.”
    Calder smiled. “I would like it.”

Alanna

    Back in the common area, I took a cup of coffee with a trembling hand. “Thanks, Donny,” I said.
    “Sure thing,” Donny said. “I hope you like it strong and black.”
    “Is there any other way?” I asked, and he laughed.
    “Glacial and microbial analysis suggests that the ice we pulled the Snowman out of is at least a hundred thousand years old,” Donny said. “The exact time is proving difficult to pin down. We have some better equipment being shipped in, but the ice makes things slow.”
    “Plus they don’t trust me enough to fly in anything expensive,” Ben said. Donny and Ollie laughed.
    “What am I? Expendable?” I asked.
    Ben just grinned. “Not at all, doc,” he said. “Prettiest passenger I’ve had in years.”
    I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to Liam. He looked lost in thought, but something was gnawing at me after our conversation with Calder. “So what happens to the Snowman?”
    “We’ll keep him here for study,” Liam said.
    “As a prisoner?” I asked.
    Liam looked hurt. “Of course not.”
    “So he’s free to leave when he wishes?”
    Liam turned his chair to face mine. “Alanna, surely you see the scientific value this subject has. We can’t just let him go.”
    “That is such bullshit. You’re shifters. You might not be old enough to remember the zoos and the freak shows, but I’m sure you’ve all read history books. You’re planning to just keep him here and study him?”
    Liam’s face darkened. “You don’t need to tell me anything about that time in our history. It’s a big part of the reason we try to just blend in.”
    “I warned you about her bleeding heart, Liam,” Ollie said.
    “Fuck you, Oliver,” I said. “You flew me all the way to the frozen asshole of the Earth because I thought you wanted me to weigh in on the biological effects of the therianthrope progenitor. A virus I thought you pulled out of the ice — not out of the blood of a man I just talked to. Which, by the way, was a nice conversation. When did he learn English?”
    “Yesterday,” Ollie said.
    “You’re shitting me.”
    “We’re not,” Liam said. “He is learning things faster than any of us ever expected. He consumes books and even seems to grasp the content.”
    “He even knows how to work that fancy coffee maker in the kitchen,” Ben said. “Donny’ll be out of a job, soon.” He grinned. I smiled and Donny laughed, but Liam was fixed on me. I could feel the energy rolling off of him, like waves of heat.
    For a moment, we just stared at each other, like seeing someone familiar after a long absence. Did I know him from somewhere and had forgotten? Even sitting down, Liam’s presence was powerful. Every muscle in my body wanted me to jump into his lap, but instead I slid backward in my seat.
    Liam seemed to realize his own intensity. He broke off eye contact with me and sat up a little straighter. “We always assumed that ancient humans were less intelligent based on their tools and what we know of their society through evidence of burial grounds and trade routes, but what if they just didn’t need anything else? We don’t know if he’s dangerous. We don’t know if the virus he’s