An Alpha's Lightning (Water Bear Shifters 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the situation, but he cared more about the answer than he wanted to admit, even to himself. He wanted to know why, exactly, Jade was refusing to date him. He had never been so quickly brushed off by a woman like this. It irritated him—and it only made him want her more. No one said no to him. He was an alpha, a bear, a legendary panda. She didn’t know what she was refusing.
    “You’re just not my type,” Jade’s voice came over the line.
    Ace sighed. “That’s not a real answer,” he said.
    “Why not?” Jade asked. “It’s the truth.”
    “Is it? What is your type, exactly?”
    “Not you.”
    Ace sighed. “Fine. Can we go to dinner just as friends, then?”
    “Nope.”
    “Why? Am I not your ‘friend’ type, either?”
    Jade laughed. “Come on, Ace. Pretending it’s going to be just hanging out as friends when it’s obvious you want more? That’s the oldest trick in the book.”
    “Just tell me why I’m not your type, then. At least let me know why you’re rejecting me so I can work on fixing it.”
    “I doubt it’s something you can fix. It was nice talking to you, Ace.”
    “Jade, come on—”
    The line went dead.
    Ace tossed his phone on the table and crossed his arms. What was he supposed to do now? Come up with some romantic gesture to prove that he was worth her time? Ace had never been interested in playing the romance game. He always took good care of a woman he was in a relationship with, but he preferred the direct approach. If he loved a woman, he told her so. If he wanted to date a woman, he told her so. And that life philosophy had worked well for him up to this point. But Jade was going to require some convincing.
    If she would just spend a little time with him, damn it, then he felt sure she would come around. But she wouldn’t even agree to go to dinner as friends, so he wasn’t sure how he was going to manage to spend time with her. Ace stared at his coffee mug for a few moments, when, suddenly, it hit him. If he wanted to spend time with Jade, he just needed to go to where she spent the majority of her days.
    Ace picked his phone back up and dialed the number for the rescue center again. When Mary answered, Ace made his voice sounds as friendly and upbeat as possible when he spoke.
    “Hi, Mary. I was wondering what I would need to do to work as a volunteer at the rescue center.”
     
    * * *
     
    A week later, Jade sat in the charting room at the rescue center. She furrowed her brow as she reviewed records from the rescue center’s current patients, most of which were suffering from malnourishment. The number of seal pups currently in the rescue hospital had become overwhelming. The entire staff was working around the clock to get everything done, but they still needed more help. And rescue requests continued to come in daily for stranded seals. Jade needed more people with vehicles capable of transporting the animals, but none of the staff had trucks. They all drove tiny, eco-friendly cars. Their commitment to the environment was admirable, but it wasn’t doing the stranded seals any favors.
    Jade rubbed her forehead as she closed the file of yet another seal pup. Jade had gone before the board of the rescue center last week to beg them for funding for a dedicated rescue vehicle, but the board had refused the request. The large number of seal pups needing to be rescued right now was a fluke occurrence, the board had pointed out. It didn’t make sense to make such a large purchase to deal with a situation that was temporary. Jade had tried to explain that the vehicle would continue to be useful long after the last of this year’s crop of seal pups had been rescued. But the board had remained impassive, telling Jade to get creative.
    Jade frowned. Get creative? How? It’s not like she could manufacture a vehicle out of thin air. She had already contacted local animal shelters and law enforcement agencies to ask whether anyone had a vehicle they could borrow. No luck.
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