An Alpha's Tempest (Water Bear Shifters 4) Read Online Free

enemies. Ben sighed, and picked up a pen from his desk, hovering it over one of his pages of notes. He frowned, trying to make sense of all the pieces of the puzzle that he had scrawled onto the papers in front of him, but none of it made sense. With a frustrated grunt, Ben threw his pen down on the desk with force.
    This whole situation was such bullshit. Half a decade ago, Ben had been the proud alpha of a wonderful clan of pandas. He had held a position of authority and respect. But then the scientists had wiped out his clan, along with most other pandas, by using a virus aimed specifically at pandas. Now, Ben was just a bear on the run, always looking over his shoulder and never quite sure how to get one step ahead of his enemies. He desperately wanted to get rid of the specter of the scientists once and for all, but he couldn’t fight them if he couldn’t find them.
    A knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts. He stood, and went to open the door. His crew, along with two members of the Northern Lights Clan, were holding an emergency meeting to try to spur some progress on their efforts to locate the scientists. Ben doubted that a simple brainstorming session would help them out much. He’d been over every shred of intelligence they had on the scientists hundreds of times, and none of it made sense. He knew the other bear shifters had all done the same. They’d had numerous phone calls and exchanged dozens of emails. Just being in the same room was unlikely to suddenly cast light on the situation.
    Still, Ben had agreed to the meeting, figuring that it couldn’t hurt things. And it would be nice to have everyone over at his place. It had been a while since he’d entertained company. Yesterday, he had gone to the store excitedly to boost his stockpile of beer and snacks. He was looking forward to having his best friends hanging out under his roof.
    When he opened the door, Brett and Lance were standing there, looking like they had just come from the gym.
    “Do you guys do anything else in your free time besides work out?” Ben asked as he opened the door wide to let them in.
    Brett shrugged. “Gotta stay in shape. These Alaskan waters are no joke, and I’d rather be a workout-crazed rescue swimmer than a dead rescue swimmer.”
    Ben wrinkled his nose. “Fair enough, but couldn’t you at least have showered before coming over?”
    “Sorry. We ran out of time,” Brett said with another shrug.
    “Whatever,” Ben said. “Better I have to smell it than Aubrey, I guess. Poor girl. How’d you ever get her to agree to date you?”
    Brett winked at Ben. “She couldn’t resist my charming personality.”
    Ben snorted. “Ha, yeah. Well, it must have been your personality, because it definitely wasn’t your looks.”
    Brett let out a belly laugh, and Lance rolled his eyes. “While you two are bickering, do you mind if I grab a beer?” Lance asked. “I need to relax after spending the morning with Brett.”
    Ben laughed, but Brett tried to punch Lance in the arm. Lance dodged the punch, and Ben pointed in the direction of the kitchen. “Fridge is fully stocked. Help yourself.”
    “At least I have a woman,” Brett said to Ben as Lance made his way to the kitchen. “You can’t get any girl to put up with you.”
    Ben wagged his finger at Brett. “No, no, my good man. I’m just smart enough to know that women are nothing but trouble. I’m quite happy with my carefree bachelor lifestyle.”
    It was Brett’s turn to roll his eyes, but he said nothing as he followed Lance to the kitchen. A few minutes later, they both came back holding frosty beer bottles, and they clinked them together in a toast just as another knock sounded at the door.
    Ben opened the door again to find Ace, the final member of the Rescue Crew, standing there with Neal and Ryker, polar bear shifters from the Northern Lights Clan. Ace had flown up to Glacier Point, where the polar bear shifters lived, and picked them up in a