Bear's Heart: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (Bear Heat Book 5) Read Online Free Page A

rubble unnecessarily. Any movement
might cause the precarious pile to shift and cave in further,
crushing the bodies and survivors trapped within.
    He took a deep breath and
said her name. “Jade.”
    He had never seen her face to
face, but Luke had shown him her photographs and he had spoken very
briefly to her on the phone when he was her brother's mentor.
    She was blond and blue-eyed
like Luke, and when he spoke to her over the phone, he could hear her
smile in her soft, soothing voice. She was always smiling happily in
her photographs, and he saw the sparkle in her brilliant blue eyes.
    But it was her voice that had
touched something in him.
    He would never forget that
beautiful, gentle voice. It seemed to speak to his soul, and stir a
strange, deep yearning in him.
    Why was that?
    Was it because she was Luke's
sister? He was responsible for Luke and he cared for Luke. Did that
sense of responsibility extend to Luke's sister as well?
    Dylan didn't know the answer.
He had learned from Luke that Jade had recently moved to the city,
but he just never had the chance to arrange a meeting with her.
    Dylan's heart and fists
clenched. “I will find you, Jade,” he swore.

CHAPTER
NINE

    Jade coughed and tried to
blink the dirt and dust out of her eyes. She couldn't see in the
pitch darkness. She didn't know how deep she was buried under all
this rubble.
    How long would she remain
buried down here?
    Did anyone even know that she
was here? Was anyone looking for her? Had the news reached Luke?
    Jade stifled a sob, forcing
herself not to succumb to panic and despair.
    She would be rescued. She
had to believe that.
    She was lucky to be alive.
She was trapped in a tiny space between criss-crossing fallen beams
and pieces of concrete. There was no wiggle room at all. She
couldn't move and she could hardly breathe. If she wasn't found in
time, she would just die here alone in the dark, buried under the
remains of Dino Diner.
    Jade thought of her
colleagues and her customers. Were they all dead?
    “Nancy...” she
called out weakly. “Basheera?”
    There was no sound, not even
the echo of her own voice.
    Jade tried to crawl forward,
then gave a cry of fear and dismay. The lower half of her body was
pinned under a big, heavy slab. She had passed out momentarily from
the excruciating pain, but now, she couldn't feel her legs at all.
    “Help...” she
wheezed, then coughed as dust fell onto her face. “P-please...help
me...”
    She closed her eyes. It made
no difference. It was still the same inky, oppressive blackness all
around. But she felt hot tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.
    The feel of her tears on her
face reminded her that she was still alive. If she wasn't dead, she
would fight to live. She couldn't give up. Luke would go berserk if
she didn't make it out alive.
    She sniffed and blinked away
her tears. “Help...” she croaked as loudly as she could.
“Can anyone hear me? I'm here. Please h-help me…”
    She coughed again, and
swallowed a mouthful of sand and dirt. Her throat felt raw and
parched. The realization that she would have no water, no food made
her slow her breathing. She had to conserve her energy. She had
faith that she would be found. She just didn't know when. Until
then, she had to try her best to stay alive.
    Her fingers scrabbled around
on the ground. She finally found a hard, jagged rock and she gripped
it gratefully. Using her voice would take up precious oxygen and
energy. She would use the rock instead.
    Holding the rock tightly, she
began to tap against the concrete at regular intervals. The rescuers
would pick up the sound and know that someone was alive. They would
be able to find her and pinpoint her location. She just had to keep
tapping, and hoping.
    Jade played an upbeat,
cheerful song in her head and tapped the rock to the optimistic
rhythm. She forced herself to visualize a happy scene and she saw
her family crowded around the small dining table, singing and
clapping as Luke