Snowfall (Arctic Station Bears Book 3) Read Free Page A

I will happily leave this world knowing that my bloodline is secure. I can meet my mate again with pride.”
    “Your mate?” Liam said.
    “Yes. She and her son were taken from me. But your Alanna will help me usher in a world where that never happens again to our kind. Humanity will reconnect with their primal nature and it will save them.”
    “You’re insane,” Liam said. He wanted to tear out Calder’s throat with his bare hands.
    Calder closed his eyes. There were roars and howls from outside. He smiled.
    P arker
    Parker shot one of Calder’s half-shifted victims at point blank range, and the woman cried out and regained her human form.
    Good to know, Parker thought. Wounding would work just fine.
    He ran toward one of Calder’s hulking victims and shot him in the thigh. The man cried out as he fell in the snow. He was human again before he hit the ground.
    Two more snarling monsters changed direction and headed toward the wounded man.
    Parker hadn’t considered that changing the victims back to humans would make them better targets.
    I’m going to have to take them all out before anyone gets hurt.
    Parker shot both of the shifted that were charging the injured human. The distance was a little more than he would have preferred for a shot like that, but both creatures went down wounded.
    Zero casualties so far, Parker thought. Not bad.
    One of the shifted grabbed him from behind. The quiet ones really were the worst. Parker swung his elbow around and knocked the monster away as he turned around to find a female in fatigues. Her gun was even still in its holster.
    “I guess I’m glad you can’t use that,” Parker said, and shot her in the foot.
    She hit the ground and became fully human.
    The woman looked up at him. “Th—thank you,” she said.
    “Don’t mention it,” Parker said. “Where is the person who did this to you?”
    The woman motioned to the building that Alanna was about to enter. “He’s there,” she said. “Be careful.”
    Parker pulled out a second gun. “Good advice,” he said.
    Across the courtyard, Ben shot the last of the monsters. It writhed on the ground as it shifted.
    A lanna
    Calder stood beside a table while Liam was bound and lying on the ground when I walked in the room. Seeing Liam like that was like ice water in my lungs. I had to fight for breath.
    “I came, you son of a bitch,” I said. “Now let Liam go.”
    “Dr. MacCready!” Calder said. “I’m delighted you came. I hope now we can begin.”
    “Let Liam go.” I fucking hate to repeat myself.
    “No threats?” Calder asked. He closed his eyes.
    Suddenly, two of his growling half-shifted humans blocked the doorway I had entered. One looked a little like a cat. The other looked like a wolf.
    “How does that work?” I asked. “How do you choose the animal you change them into?”
    “I don’t choose it for them,” Calder said. “They choose it for themselves. Deep inside every human is a primal core. The animal is merely an expression. A latent bit of genetic code that lies dormant until awakened.”
    Two gunshots rang out, and I instinctively ducked. In the corner of my eye, I saw Calder’s two guards fall and shift. Then Parker stepped over them and fired three more shots at Calder.
    He’s shooting to kill now, I thought, and I grinned. I just couldn’t help myself.
    C alder
    Calder had underestimated the bears and the human. He was willing to admit that. He needed to escape. To live to fight another day. He would find another suitable candidate for a mate.
    As a cat, he ran through the snow toward his helicopter. The human was clearly skilled with his weapon, but Calder would be able to dodge his attacks more effectively on four legs. And the effectiveness of the man’s attacks decreased with each bit of additional distance that Calder was able to place between them.
    He reached the helicopter, tore open the door, and started the engine. Overhead, there was a sound. A helicopter engine. Not his