Her Big Bad Polar Bear by KD Jones Page B

worked with him and his brothers and sister at the Scout and Tour. Her easy nature helped deal with the humans.
    He sometimes wondered why he didn’t pursue her as a mate. The elders in his clan had encouraged their union for years. It wouldn’t be a hardship to be with her. She was beautiful, with curly dark blond hair and brown eyes. She was tall, about six feet, and had an athletic body and gorgeous long legs. He wasn’t sure exactly why he wasn’t more attracted to her.
    On Dahlia’s part, she had always been friendly with Cosmo but never overly friendly or too flirtatious. If she did on occasion flirt with Cosmo, he always knew that she was not serious. He only scented arousal from her whenever his twin brother, Ivan, was around, which was getting more and more infrequent these days. Perhaps his bear sensed her disinterest and that was why his bear remained dormant whenever Dahlia was around. His bear looked at Dahlia like he would his sister, Sage.
    “Dahlia, I’m going to head out to Lake Minoah for a few hours. Will you be okay by yourself until Luka and Sage come in? They shouldn’t be gone long; they are picking up some tourists from the airport.”
    “Sure, no problem. I’ll man the ship until they get here. I bet Sage is excited about graduating high school.”
    Cosmo nodded. “She is impossible to live with right now. She is so ecstatic.”
    His baby sister was graduating high school next week. He couldn’t believe it. It was like yesterday when his mother, Mara, gave birth to her only daughter. Mara had produced six boys and often joked that she had done her duty for the clan.
    Cosmo and Ivan were the first born and twins, but Cosmo was just a few minutes older. Then Damen was born two years later. He went off to work for a legal firm. The triplets Niko, Ryder, and Luka were a surprise. They were born when Cosmo was eight. Ten years later his mother was pregnant again.
    Sage was a miracle. The pregnancy had been rough on his mother. She almost lost the baby several times. Unfortunately, his father never got a chance to hold his only daughter.
    His father, Coso, and grandfather were scouting around the Moon Lake cliffs, checking to make sure the area was okay to take a tour group out on. There had been reports of breaks in the ice that would make it too dangerous to tour. They were in their bear form and poachers started shooting at them. His grandfather fell, breaking through the ice and into the frigid water. Cosmo’s father tried to pull him out, but ended up falling in himself. His grandfather drowned under the ice, but his father had managed to climb out.
    The poachers tried to come for him and he limped off, seeking shelter. He was shot twelve times and three of them pierced his heart. He made it to his snowmobile, changed back to his human form and called for help. He told the dispatcher what happened and then fell unconscious. He couldn’t shift back to his bear form to heal. When they got him to the hospital, he was already dead. Mara was hysterical and had to be sedated. That was when Cosmo became Alpha of his clan, taking on the responsibility of helping to raise his younger siblings. He worked two jobs to help pay for Damen, Niko, and Ryder to all go to college. He also saved for Sage when her time came to go off to a university. She held a soft spot in his heart, like she was his daughter instead of his sister.
    “Call me if anything comes up!” Cosmo walked out of his store. He needed a little rest and relaxation before the next batch of nosy humans showed up.
     
     

 
     
    Chapter 3
     
     
    “I told you, Dad, I couldn’t call you on the plane because there was a lot of turbulence and the pilot kept the light on to not use electronics.” Andy held her phone up to her ear and turned away from the looks she was getting from her coworkers. She kept her voice low so no one would overhear. They would tease her endlessly if they knew her daddy was checking up on her.
    “Are you sure