Alpha Bear Detective: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Read Online Free Page A

he’s gone.”
    “No!” Levi was maybe a bit more vehement than he needed to be, and she looked back at him, startled. “We haven’t completely secured the area. I can go get it—”
    “Oh, no, no,” she interrupted hurriedly. “If I can’t go until the area’s secured, you shouldn’t either.”
    Levi started to explain that it was his job to go into unsecured areas, that he was armed, and that he would be happy to go get her purse for her, but the ambulance arrived before he could make his point.
    At least now they had backup, finally. Levi turned his attention to making sure the area actually was secure, and tried to ignore the way his bear was thinking unhappily that Maria had been whisked away from him by strangers.
    It was good that she was getting medical attention, he reminded himself. He’d find her purse for her while she was with the paramedics, and then he’d focus on doing his job.
    *              *              *
    It was only after the paramedics sat her down and started cleaning up her arm that it really started to hurt.
    That seemed backwards, Maria reflected, but she supposed the adrenaline was almost gone by now.
    Maybe now she’d be able to do her job and not get dreamy-eyed over detectives who offered to charge off into a war zone to get her stupid purse back.
    Levi Hale , she repeated to herself. Well, Detective Hale—and his partner, of course—would get a very generous thank-you from Senator Davis. She’d make absolutely sure of that.
    Not that Laura would neglect something so important. But Maria would ensure that it was a thank-you they could appreciate. Would they want a public statement to the press?
    She’d ask them, she decided. Some people were happy to be publicly labeled heroes, but not everyone would want that. She might not be able to prevent a news story, but she could at least advise Laura on what was best for her to personally say.
    “Ow!” She twitched.
    “Sorry, ma’am,” the paramedic apologized. “We have to make sure the wound is clean before we bandage it.”
    Maria took a deep breath, trying to will the pain away. “I understand.”
    She noticed that the paramedic, who’d identified himself as Matthew, was also a big, attractive man, with competent hands that were currently sterilizing Maria’s war wound.
    But somehow she wasn’t experiencing any overwhelming urges to throw herself into his pants.
    She guessed the adrenaline really was wearing off.
    *              *              *
    It took a long time to secure the grounds—they were enormous, and only partially lit. They were also covered in trees and statues and fountains, things that any remaining suspects could easily hide behind. It was slow, careful work.
    Eventually, they finished...and Levi found Maria’s purse, lying on the stairs with half its contents spilling out.
    Surrounded by bullet holes.
    It was incredibly lucky, he thought grimly, that she had escaped with only a minor injury. The concrete steps were pockmarked all around the area where Maria had dropped her purse, and the steps were one of the few places that were solidly lit up and easy to see. Maria could easily have been killed.
    There were spatters of blood where she’d been hit, and his bear was growling inside him, able to smell it, coppery in the night air. Innocents had been hurt, it insisted, and it was their job to make sure that couldn’t happen again.
    Levi was in complete agreement.
    If only they’d arrived a few minutes earlier, they might have caught the guy. But he’d vanished as Levi was running toward Maria, with no way to pursue him in the darkened maze of the grounds. He had to be grateful to Maria for managing to identify him even in the terrible lighting, even when she must have been scared out of her mind.
    He wondered if she had somewhere to go, someone to come pick her up and take her home. She hadn’t asked to call anyone at the scene, had been focused