The Bear's Arranged Mate: A Bear Shifter Romance Novel Read Online Free

was early autumn in a much more northern climate.
    “You’re up early,” Caroline said behind her.
    “I wanted to make sure I have everything I need.”
    “You’ll do fine, sweetie,” Caroline remarked, “what’s bothering you? It’s more than just this marriage and the ceremony, I can tell. What’s going on?”
    “What if I don’t like Connor? I mean, I’ve never even met him before.”
    “You both come from noble lines. That makes you compatible.”
    “That’s a bullshit answer,” Sarah snapped, and turned back to the mirror.
    “Yeah, I suppose it is,” Caroline finally relented, “truth is, maybe you won’t like him. There’s no way to tell. If he’s Patrick’s son, he’s probably a hellion, I can tell you that much – watch yourself. Don’t take any risks, and keep your guard up.”
    “You make this sound like we’re hunting each other. I thought this was a marriage proposal?”
    “In a sense, it’s both.”
    Caroline turned back toward the door. “C’mon, they’ll be waiting for us.”
    A helicopter was waiting for them outside the chalet, a matte black vessel with a thrumming propeller that kicked up dust around it in small hurricanes. Caroline gave Sarah a small push from behind indicating for her to board it, and as she climbed into the cabin, she saw that Patrick was there also.
    “Morning!” he said, “I hope you’re well rested.”
    “Have you chosen a good spot?” Caroline said, over the top of him, her words drowned out by the helicopter’s propeller as it started to lift off. Sarah felt the contents of her stomach shift.
    “Just beyond the northern ridge,” he said back.
    From above, the chalet looked like a tiny toy castle, and it was another moment of shock as the landscape shrunk away from them. The mountains to the north now looked even more bitter in their inclines, and Sarah found her blood shivering with the anticipation of being stranded in that vast wilderness. It was both exhilarating and terrifying, and she did her best to hide both of these emotions as the pilot pitched wide, taking them toward a rocky outcrop that overlooked the valley.
    All three, Sarah, Patrick, and Caroline, piled out of the helicopter to a safe distance. A huge hill of shale ascended behind them, arching up toward the high peak of one of the nearest mountain ranges. Sarah’s keen senses picked up the smells of other things as well – animals, flowers, wafting in from the valley below. She felt ready to explode – the Bear in her was anxious, testing the chains of her self-control that kept her in Form. “We can’t tell you where Connor is, I’m afraid. You’ll have to find him on your own,” Patrick shouted, “but he has a one day head-start, so he might’ve seen the helicopter. Do you have any other questions?”
    Sarah looked back and forth between Caroline and Patrick, trying to wrack her mind for anything she might’ve missed, and when she couldn’t think of anything, merely shook her head. Patrick nodded and clapped her on the shoulder, a huge heavy pad of skin and bone that almost caved in her legs and she let out a small whoof as he returned to the helicopter.
    As he turned, Caroline bent down low and grabbed her by the back of her the head, pulling her in close. The action scared Sarah, who reflexively tried to escape her cousin’s grip, but stopped when she heard the serpentine words whispered in her ear.
    “Be careful, Sarah. Everything is not as it seems. If you get the chance… kill Connor,” Caroline murmured.
    Sarah pulled back, a look of horror and confusion on her face, and felt something cold thrust against her. When she looked down, she saw it was a gun, a black sidearm with a single clip. Caroline pushed at the weapon again, sliding it under the rim of her pants above her coccyx with a look of lethal seriousness.
    Then, she was gone, and the helicopter took off, its thumping knocking loose Sarah’s senses like a rockslide as she gaped. Kill Connor??