Bearing the Whiteout (Ice Bear Shifters Book 2) by Sloane Meyers

There are several polar bear shifter clans in the Arctic Circle. Or, there used to be at least. We’re being slowly wiped out by the Blizzards. The Blizzards are a clan that basically wants to get rid of all the other clans and be the only shifters in the Arctic. They killed most of my clan, the Northern Lights Clan, with silver poisoning. That other bear on the ice today was a Blizzard. He was trying to kill me, but the bears in the Blizzard clan are relatively weak, physically. And the bears in the Northern Lights Clan are physically very strong. So he can’t just attack me. He’ll lose for sure. He has to be cunning about how to kill me.”
    Delaney shivered in fear. “Do you think he’s still around?”
    “Nah, he’ll have gone to find shelter. These whiteout conditions are dangerous even for a polar bear.
    Delaney nodded. “So, wait. Is Tyler one of your clan members? Is he a bear shifter, too?”
    “Yes. There are five of us left. Me, Tyler, Alan, Ryker, and Neal. Neal is our alpha. Which basically means he’s the clan leader. We also have a human member of the clan, Kenzie. She’s Ryker’s life mate, and she’s expecting his cub. We’re all pretty excited about that.”
    “Will the baby be a bear shifter, or fully human?”
    “Almost certainly a shifter. The genetic mutation is a dominant gene. Kenzie’s going to have her hands full with that little cub,” Eric said, and chuckled.
    “Can I meet the rest of your clan?” Delaney asked.
    Eric hesitated. “Neal is pretty anti-human. He doesn’t like to unnecessarily expose our identity as shifters to humans, so I’m not sure how he’d feel about your meeting everyone.”
    “Oh,” Delaney said flatly. She felt deflated, and she hated herself for feeling that way. She watched Eric as he poured the now-boiling water from the teakettle over some tea leaves to steep. She felt cheated. She had found a man who turned her on with something as simple as the way his hands looked. He was gorgeous, and fun. She loved everything about him that she had learned so far. He had an adventurer’s spirit, and a love of the wild like she did. Of course, the fact that he could turn himself into a bear would take a little getting used to, but even that was more fascinating than frightening, now that she had processed the initial shock of the news.
    “Look, I’m sorry,” Eric said, obviously noticing her disappointment. “I would love to introduce you. But Neal has some pretty strict rules. I can ask, but I can’t promise he’ll say yes. He usually only allows humans who are planning to become a bear’s life mate.”
    “That’s like, marrying?”
    “Essentially, yes.”
    Delaney fell silent, and Eric handed her a cup of the tea he had just made. The soothing, hot liquid warmed her body, chasing away any last vestiges of the cold chill the snowstorm had given her. Eric sat on the bunk next to her, sipping his tea. After several minutes of silence, Eric looked over at her and let out a huge sigh.
    “I guess I fucked up pretty royally, huh?” he said.
    What do you mean?”
    “I mean, I’ve blown any chance I ever had to be with you. When I brought you out here to help you get your sunrise photos, I was hoping to have a chance to get to know you better. I was hoping we might hit it off, and that I might eventually be able to convince you to go on a few dates. Maybe then I could have explained the whole bear thing to you. I don’t think I was even willing to admit to myself that dating you is what I wanted. But it was. Then the whole fiasco on the ice happened. I swear to you, I never would have taken you out there if I knew there was a Blizzard shifter around. I’m sorry I put your life in so much danger. Then I tell you I can’t even introduce you to my friends because they’re afraid of humans finding out that they’re half bear. I should probably just stop talking. You probably think I’m some kind of freak.”
    Delaney glanced over sideways at Eric.