Stone Bear: Sentinel (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Stone Bears Book 1) Read Online Free

happen.’” She sat back and let him absorb those words for a moment.
    Marcus had also told her something else. Something that would be absolutely essential. When dealing with bear shifters, she needed to show no fear, and to be completely confident in any decision if she thought the shifter might not agree with it completely. That was easy now, she thought, since she had exact words from Marcus to back up what was about to happen.
    When they were busy completing the project, however, she knew it would become a lot harder to convince him to side with her. But Marcus had laid it out. Gabriel was great at many things, but he was a little too hard-charging for this task. It needed a more delicate and planned touch. That was where she came in.
    To her surprise, Gabriel calmed down quickly and began to intensely scan the pages in front of him.
    “Give me the gist of it,” he prompted.
    At least he was willing to hear her out. “Mining crews currently have liaisons to oversee them, and ensure they don’t harm the human populace. While that seemed to work for a while, recent events have shown that perhaps another level is needed.”
    “Another level?”
    “Indeed. So you and I are in charge of the startup of the Sentinel program.”
    Gabriel choked back what sounded suspiciously like laughter. “Sentinel?” he managed to get out between coughing fits.
    “Yes. That is the name of the new position, and congratulations on being the first to achieve it. You are now officially a Sentinel of Genesis Valley.”
    “You have got to be kidding me,” he said, looking at her in outright disbelief, no longer bothering to try and contain it. “This is like a bad superhero movie, right?”
    Caia speared him with a glare. “If you went into Origin and told someone you were a Stone Bear, what would their reaction be?”
    Origin was the town within Genesis Valley, where the human population had arisen to help serve the Lionshead Mining Corporation and the shifters themselves. The LMC employed a number of people, and they had well over a hundred shifters who worked the mines as well. All in all, nobody had been surprised when a town began to grow up around the operation. The scale of it had surprised some. But even now, two hundred years since the project started, it wasn’t home to more than a few thousand people, including all the employees.
    “They would look at me with respect, admiration, or if they were a shifter, most likely disdain, or perhaps fear. Few of them like dealing with us.”
    “Now, go out into one of the large cities in the world and tell someone that you’re a Stone Bear. What are they likely to do?”
    Gabriel didn’t have to think about it. He responded instantly, though she saw him grimace slightly as he realized where she was going. “They would look at me like I was stupid, or perhaps outright laugh at me.”
    She opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hand politely, admitting defeat.
    “Okay, okay I get it. You made your point. It may sound stupid to me, but it won’t to others.”
    She nodded. “Especially the humans in Origin who are getting antsy over the antics of a number of shifters lately.”
    “Is it that bad?” he asked, frowning with concern.
    “I’m not sure, but that’s part of my end of the project. To go and find out what they’re feeling.”
    “That makes sense,” he agreed. “What is it that Marcus wants me to do?”
    “The Kedyns,” she responded, noticing the way his eyes focused even further as he realized that Valen had gotten involved, which was rare when it came to the humans who resided in Origin. “They want you to track down the Opal crew.”
    “Marcus already told me to do that,” he said. “I’ve been using all my spare time to do that, without success. I have a meeting with someone tomorrow that might be able to help, but I’m not counting on it.”
    “The major difference is that this is now your primary job. The other Stone Bears will continue on in