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

enough.” He shrugged on his shirt, not bothering with the buttons, and then moved toward her. “Let me look.”
    Protests died on her lips. If he wanted to ignore her advice and look for himself, fine. Maybe he didn’t believe her. Oh look, the little woman thinks she sees forest critters. Isn’t that adorable?
    That thought got her pissed enough that she hoped the mama bear did eat him. “By all means.”
    Her change in tone made him frown at her, but he eased the door and poked his head outside. He looked around, then leaned back to look at Ever. “I don’t see anything.”
    “What?” She pulled the door open and peered out, looking both ways. “It was just here, I swear!”
    Nearby, a child giggled, and Ever looked over by a nearby truck to see a little girl, no more than two or three, grinning up at them. She was naked as could be and didn’t seem at all concerned about an audience.
    “Amanda Lynn Priestly, you get your sorry buns over here this instant!”
    A frazzled-looking woman came hurrying down the parking lot, heading straight for the little girl. Ever saw disappointment at being caught flash across the child’s face before she was swept up in her mother’s arms. “You do not go running away like that, you hear me?”
    “Morning Carly,” Aidan said, sounding amused and relieved at the same time.
    “Hi Sheriff.” The other woman puffed out a breath. “I swear, this one is an escape artist. Sneaky little thing too, especially when she shif—”
    “Carly,” Aidan interrupted her firmly, “this is Ever Jackson. She’s in town for a while looking for her sister.”
    The other woman cut off whatever she was saying, looking over at Ever. Suspicion clouded the mother’s eyes almost immediately, and she clutched her daughter closer. Confusion overtook Ever.
    What did I freaking do to these people? The collective reaction from the town’s occupants was starting to annoy the hell out of her.
    “I’ll leave you to it then,” Carly said, licking her lips nervously and hurrying away.
    Ever turned to Aidan. “Am I flying some giant freak flag I can’t see?” she asked, throwing her hands up into the air. “Do I stink ? Because just about everybody in this town but my landlady has treated me like I’m some flipping boogeyman!”
    “We’re a small town,” Aidan said, shrugging and buttoning his shirt. “Takes a while to trust outsiders.”
    “Outsiders?” Ever stared at him incredulously. “Is this… Are you some…” Cult? She couldn’t finish the sentence, and just made another angry sound. “Come on, let’s go find that lead.”
    The faster Ever put this stupid town behind her, the better.

 
     
     

     
     
     
     

CHAPTER NINE
     
     
     
    The woman beside him was a distraction, more so because Aidan’s mind kept going back to earlier that morning and his delicious wake-up.
    “Are you even watching the road?”
    The waspish question from the woman beside him made Aidan realize he’d been driving over the bumps on the outside edge of the road for a while. He pulled back into the middle of his lane and murmured, “Sorry.”
    Beside him, Ever sighed. “No, I’m sorry for being snappy. I’ve just got a lot on my brain.
    Join the club. “You and your sister weren’t close?”
    She shook her head. “Once upon a time we were, but time and different circumstances pulled us apart.” She peered gloomily out the window. “Life sure enjoys its curveballs.”
    The need to ask questions and get to know her was strong, but Aidan kept his mouth shut. He could interrogate a suspect for hours on end, but every time he opened his mouth with his mate he only shoved his foot deeper. As much as he wanted to tell her, there was never a right time.
    After all, how did one go telling a human from the mundane world that there were such things as shapeshifters?
    “Tell me though, what’s up with this town? Why is everyone so weird?”
    Well, there was as good an opening as Aidan could