Jade Crew: Fallen Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 7) Read Online Free PDF

would be up to them to fill it in. Starting with Evan.
    “Here,” Garrett said, tossing something Evan’s way. Gabriel had gone back into the Lionshead offices, but the Jade Crew Alpha had stayed behind.
    She watched as Evan snatched it from mid-air, the distinct sound of metal on metal coming from his palm before his fingers closed around whatever it was.
    “Keys?” he said, looking at Garrett. “What are these for?”
    “Your new home.”
    Something in his tone made her focus on Garrett. “What aren’t you telling us?” she asked.
    He smiled. “I hope you can make a better name for it than those who lived there before you.”
    “These are the keys to the Sapphire apartments, aren’t they?” Evan asked softly as understanding dawned.
    Victoria looked back and forth between the two of them, confused.
    “Yes,” Garrett said. “You’re in charge of making it respectable again.”
    She expected Evan to burst into an uncontrollable rage, angered by the challenge, though she had no idea what it was all about. Instead, however, her Alpha simply smiled.
    “I think we can do that,” he said, his voice quiet but confident.
    “Good,” Garrett said. “Get to work. Your truck is out front waiting for you.” He threw another set of keys at Evan.
    The two exchanged a few more muted words as Evan stepped forward to shake his former Alpha’s hand, then motioned for his crew to follow him out into the hallway.
    “The Sapphires?” she asked as soon as they were outside, away from any prying eyes.
    “Our former crew,” Matthew said, jerking a thumb at himself and Jared.
    “A bunch of assholes,” the second shifter said, his eyes looking off into the distance, remembering.
    “Care to fill me in?” she pressed, sticking close to Evan’s side. It felt natural there, and none of the others challenged her for the spot. That was surprising, as the left side of the Alpha was typically where the second walked.
    “It’s a long story,” Evan said dryly, and the group had a chuckle over the line once again.
    “Wow, looks like they took good care of it,” he said with genuine joy as they approached a big silver pickup. “Hop in,” he said, hitting the unlock button.
    Without waiting for anyone else, she yanked open the passenger door and hopped in to sit next to Evan. The others piled into the back, or even into the bed of the truck.
    “First order of business: more vehicles,” Evan said as his truck’s suspension groaned from all the weight.
    He brought the truck to life, and guided them down the sole road that led away from the LMC headquarters and wound its way down the mountainside to the town below.
    “So,” she said at last, giving Evan plenty of time to formulate his thoughts before she pressed him for information once again. Clearly there was a lot of backstory between Evan and Garrett, and she wanted to know what the hell she had gotten herself into.
    “The Sapphire Crew,” he rumbled at last, clearly reluctant to talk about it.
    “What happened to them? Why are they not living there anymore?”
    “The Sapphire crew used to be the largest crew in town.” He paused, and she could see him sorting his thoughts. “They were also the only ones who lived in Origin itself,” he said, pointing a finger at the cluster of buildings at the foot of the mountain that they were heading toward.
    “They were, as Jared so eloquently said, a bunch of assholes. They thought they were the best, and when the opportunity to make a lot of money and escape from a life of working the mines appeared, their Alpha, Ben, took it.”
    “What opportunity?”
    “They got their hands on a new drug,” Evan said angrily.
    Victoria’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Just like that? Things that mess with us are rather rare,” she said, stating the obvious. Any shifter knew that.
    “They had some help,” he said, and she caught the self-incriminating tone of his voice.
    “You gave it to them?” she asked hesitantly, unsure