Read Online Bear's Match (Bear Heat Book 6) by Natalie Kristen - Free Book Online

the table. She held out a
bottle of milk and clucked at the baby. Brendon gurgled happily and
held out his arms to her.
    “You little darling,”
Tabitha cooed.
    Tabitha bent towards the baby
but Nicole held on to Brendon possessively and protectively. Tabitha
seemed sweet and motherly, but Nicole was taking no chances. She
wasn't letting anyone touch the baby.
    “I'll feed him,”
Nicole mumbled, taking the bottle from Tabitha.
    Tabitha simply smiled and
handed the warm bottle of milk to Nicole. She stroked Brendon's
downy hair and left the room.
    “Tabitha was four cubs
of her own,” Ethan said, watching Brendon drink greedily. The
bottle was almost half empty. “She loves kids.”
    “Cubs?” Nicole
raised her eyes. “Oh, she's a...”
    “Bear shifter.”
    “You are a bear too,
right?” Nicole said slowly. “I'm sorry, Mr Flint. I
don't mean to be...”
    “It's okay. Caleb and
Thor are bears too. But the Black Bears Group is an equal
opportunity employer,” Ethan said quickly. “Most, but
not all, of our staff are bear shifters.”
    Nicole nodded. “Yeah.
I know. The Black Bears Group is a great company. I can see that
Luke is very happy working here. And he's not even a bear...”
She trailed off at the look on their faces. “Oh. Luke...”
Nicole bit her lip. “I should have known,” she
breathed. “I sensed that there was something different about
him, but I never thought...”
    Nicole swallowed hard and
stared at the three men. “Was Luke bitten, or something? How
did he change...”
    “Miss Forrest, we care
about Luke. He's one of us but it's not our place to talk about what
happened to Luke. I'm sure he'll tell you everything when the time
is right,” Caleb said gently.
    “What happened to him?”
Her eyes rounded. “Oh God, it's something terrible, isn't it?
He suffered. Oh, why didn't he tell me?”
    At that moment, there was a
knock on the door and Luke stepped in.
    He took one look at her and
seemed to jerk back.
    “Nicole...”
    Oh shit, what did he see on
her face? Fear, horror, disgust? She had to get a grip and pull
herself together. This wasn't about her.
    Nicole stood up so quickly
her chair would have toppled if Thor hadn't caught it.
    “Hi Luke,” she
said brightly and smiled.
    “Hi,” he said
carefully. “You...okay?”
    “Sure. I...I just need
to figure out what to do next. Those men who were after me...who are
they?” she said, sitting down again. “Can you find out?”
    “We suspect those men
are connected to the mob,” Thor said. “The way they
work, the way they killed Brendon's mother, the brutality and
efficiency. I recognize the mob's fingerprints all over the murder.”
When Nicole gaped at him, Thor continued, “I used to work
undercover. I was the right-hand man of a mob boss for years.”
    Nicole nodded. “You
are a brave, brave man, Mr McKenzie,” she said sincerely. It
took grit, honor and courage not to break under the intense pressure
and horror of the job.
    She saw Thor smile at last.
“My mate, Aubrey, she's the brave one. She's a nurse,”
he said with pride.
    “So...the mob wants
Brendon?” Nicole said, shaking her head. “That doesn't
make sense. That's just crazy! He's just a baby, an orphan...”
    “Brendon's mother,”
Caleb began.
    “Anna Ward's my client.
I helped her with Brendon's adoption,” Nicole said. “She
adopted Brendon from an orphanage. Haven Orphanage.”
    Caleb nodded once and turned
to Thor.
    “They're doing it,”
Caleb said through gritted teeth.
    “Doing what?”
Nicole asked.
    Ethan stood up and addressed
Nicole and Luke. “We are investigating Haven Orphanage at the
moment. We have to tread carefully. In the meantime, the Black
Bears will protect you and Brendon,” Ethan said to Nicole.
“You'll stay with one of...”
    “I want to stay with
Luke,” Nicole said immediately.
    “Of course,”
Ethan smiled. “But I'm thinking it may be good to have another
female around to help you care for the baby.