Read Bear's Match (Bear Heat Book 6) for Free Online Page A

was like a big brother to him, and he was family. The
guy knew him like the back of his hand, knew his weaknesses and saw
his strengths. He could act cool and nonchalant, but he bet Dylan
could tell how important Nicole was to him.
    Plus, Dylan was a bear
shifter and it was clear that Dylan had caught Nicole's scent on him.
After Baxter, Dylan was the next best tracker in the Black Bears
Group.
    It was no use trying to deny
anything, and he did want to talk to Dylan about Nicole. Something
was troubling him. His bear, to be precise.
    Luke cleared his throat.
“Um, Dylan,” he began.
    Dylan jerked his head towards
one of the smaller meeting rooms in the office. “Let's talk in
there.”
    They navigated their way past
desks and cubicles, greeting their colleagues on duty and exchanging
jibes and wisecracks. The office of the Black Bears Group was open
round the clock, and the office was a hive of activity at all hours
of the day and night. Some teams were just coming in after an
all-night operation, and they looked exhausted but satisfied.
    Luke slapped Baxter on the
back as he passed Baxter's team. Baxter was sitting on a desk,
debriefing his team members. Baxter's nostrils flared as he took a
whiff of the feminine scent that clung to Luke's skin. He smirked
and winked at Luke.
    Dylan and Luke saw Thor
McKenzie coming out of their Alpha, Ethan Flint's office. Thor
strolled to them and put his hand on Luke's shoulder. “You
okay, buddy?”
    “Yeah.” Luke
looked up into Thor's intense, mismatched eyes. Thor's right eye was
blue while his left eye was dark green. The big guy looked
forbidding and intimidating on the outside, but inside that hard,
scarred exterior, Thor had a big, caring heart. It was Thor who
climbed out onto that window ledge and stopped Luke from throwing
himself to his death.
    Without Thor, Dylan and the
rest of the Black Bears, Luke wouldn't be here today. Thor knew him
as well as Dylan, and Luke knew he could count on them for anything.
    “Do you have a minute,
Thor?” Luke asked.
    Thor nodded wordlessly and
followed Dylan and Luke into the empty meeting room. Dylan closed
the door and pulled out a chair. Dylan and Thor sat down while Luke
began to pace in small circles. They waited patiently for him to
speak.
    “My bear's behaving
badly,” Luke said at last and grimaced at his lame attempt at a
joke.
    Dylan and Thor didn't laugh.
They only nodded and waited for him to carry on. They knew how hard
Luke had worked to control his beast. Luke wasn't a born shifter.
He was Changed, violently, painfully and against his will.
    “How bad?” Dylan
asked flatly.
    Luke scrubbed his hand down
his face. “I almost lost control. I almost let the beast
out...when...when...” He took a deep breath. “I don't
ever want to let her see me like this. As a...” He swallowed
the word. Monster .
    “What do you mean you
almost lost control?” Thor asked slowly.
    “I...my bear...it, we,
I—I wanted to claim her, you know, really stake my claim and
mark her as mine. And I think I did...mark her. I bit Nicole, when
we were...” Luke closed his eyes.
    Dylan and Thor blinked at him
and he saw their eyes widen a fraction.
    They looked at each other and
back at him.
    He expected to see revulsion,
horror and outrage on their faces. Instead, they were laughing and
grinning at him.
    “Your bear didn't
behave badly,” Dylan said at last. “You found your
mate...”
    “...and you claimed and
marked her!”
    “Well done, Luke!”
    Luke felt himself being
pushed into a chair. “Sit. You look like you're about to fall
over.”
    “Are you saying...”
he finally spluttered. “...what I think you're saying?”
    “Yup! You found her,
man.”
    “The one female that's
meant for you.”
    “It's Nicole, isn't
it?” Dylan grinned. “I knew it.”
    Luke nodded mutely.
    “Jade knew it too. She
was just telling me this morning that you and Nicole would make a
great couple!”
    Luke stared at them for
another minute.