Releasing the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

jacket.
    “I’m dressed for work,” I grumbled.
    He held out his hands. “So am I.”
    Biting my tongue, I tried to sneak out around him. “Who’s in there?”
    Bo immediately turned serious—something I’d rarely seen in him. As the youngest brother of the three of us, he certainly never did anything to shake that little sibling stereotype. It was an exceptional day when Bo Callaghan actually took something seriously. “You should see for yourself.”
    “What? No warning?” I teased. But the worried look on Bo’s face had me dropping the smile immediately. “How bad?”
    Bo shrugged. “Not the end of the world. At least I don’t think so.”
    Great. Not exactly the vote of confidence I was looking for. So with a steady gait, I stepped into Brandt’s office, feeling Bo following closely behind.
    “Brennan,” Brandt said. “Finally.”
    I opened my mouth to reply to his unnecessary remark, but then I noticed him . Standing off to my right and gazing out the window that looked like we were in the tops of the trees. His back stiffened when I walked in and he turned slowly, like a predator not wanting to frighten his prey. The dominance rolled off of him in waves, making me cough when his scent filled the air. As tall as Brandt, his tanned skin reminded me more of Scarlett’s uncle than anyone else, and his straight, black, chin-length hair had been brushed back behind his ears. But it was his almost orange eyes that caught my attention the most.
    “Brennan, this is Major Patel. He’s with the ISC.”
    “The ISC?” I asked.
    “The International Shifter Coalition,” Bo added.
    I gave my baby brother a look. “I know what it stands for.” I thought I heard Major chuckle under his breath. The ISC was an organization that oversaw any kind of shifter issue, from family grievances to exposure to humans. It was kind of like our secret governing body. Although most shifters hardly ever had any interaction with them. Based out of London, they rarely sent representatives to other countries. We hadn’t met one since our father first became clan leader decades ago. I turned to look at Major as he stepped closer to me with an outstretched hand.
    “Very nice to finally meet you, Brennan Callaghan,” he said with a perfectly posh British accent.
    His orange eyes studied me while his hand squeezed mine a little harder than necessary. He wanted to assert his dominance but I wasn’t ready to succumb just yet. I needed to figure out what kind of shifter he was first. There were very few animals, if any, that would even consider challenging a grizzly.
    “Likewise,” I said while removing my hand. “What are you doing here?”
    I felt Brandt tense without even looking at him. We had a very close connection as brothers and often that meant that we could communicate through movement and looks alone. “Major has brought something to our attention,” Brandt began. He lifted his arm and aimed a remote control at the television on the far wall.
    “A few days ago, one of my colleagues at ISC received an unmarked envelope with a photo card in it that included a link to a video,” Major said as the television screen came to life. “A letter warned us that this video would be posted online if we didn’t pay them money. One million dollars to be exact. After studying the video, we were able to determine the location and that led me here.”
    “The location?” I asked. “What do you mean.”
    “Just watch,” Bo said, arms crossed and face scrunched up in concern.
    The video started playing. It showed a coniferous forest that resembled those in our area of the country. And while the quality wasn’t fantastic, I could still make out the sounds of fighting through the shaky footage. A woman screamed from an opening within the trees, and a bear roared. The person holding the camera spoke to their partner.
    “Holy shit,” he said. “Holy shit, did you see that? Did he just kill her?”
    I stepped closer to the screen.