Lord of the Bears (Wild Ridge Bears Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

I’d
stopped to hibernate. Friends had looked after it while I went away, and now it
was time to find them again.
    But not yet. I had just these few moments left to myself. When I closed
my eyes, I saw Nora’s face smiling back at me, her blue eyes shining. If I
breathed in deep enough, I could almost imagine the scent of her still. Clean
and fresh. Feminine. My bear stirred within me and my cock grew stiff. I wanted
her. That dark knowledge gnawed at me. I wanted her. But I could never
have her. Women like Nora could only get hurt by men like me.
    I stretched, showered, and threw on a fresh pair of jeans, t-shirt, and
work boots. It was time to go back to the mine and check on my crew. I missed
them, but still dreaded every second of this. I’d been gone for nearly a year,
and there was no telling what I might find when I got there.
    I went outside, found my truck just where I’d left it with a full tank
of gas. Smiling, I found the keys under the visor and it started on the first
try. Oh, yeah. My crew had taken care of that for me too. I owed them
everything. I owed them my life. Now it was time to try and begin to pay them
back.
    The Wild Ridge Mining Company was actually a co-op run by a group of
bear shifters here on the ridge. Each of us runs our own claim, but we abide by
a simple set of rules. Well, really only one main rule. Nobody fucks with
anyone else’s livelihood. A big part of that meant keeping our shifter nature
hidden from outsiders. Sounds easy, except shit between bears can get
complicated. Especially these days with trouble always brewing from the wolf
packs to the south. Some of that trouble is what kept me away for so long. But,
I didn’t want to think about that now, I’d put it behind me. It was time to get
back to the business of being Caleb Lord’s son and my own man too. I ran my
father’s crew now, and he made me the head of the family. I just had the
sneaking suspicion there might be a few who wouldn’t want to make that easy for
me.
    I pulled into the parking lot of the company store on the north side of
the entrance to my mine. My stomach flipped when I saw the row of other trucks
parked outside. I hadn’t seen a soul last night, but word must have spread
quickly that I was back. The bear inside me grew unsettled; he was spoiling for
a fight.
    “Easy, bear,” I said. “You’ve done quite enough.”
    I slammed the truck into park, tucked my keys back under the visor, and
headed up the wooden porch steps. Movement to my right made me freeze. Cullen
charged me, his smile widened, showing a deep dimple in his right cheek. He
came to me, leaned in and slapped me on the back. He was big and broad, his
faded Red Wings t-shirt stretched across his chest.
    “Jax, man, what a sight for sore eyes you are.” My heart lifted at his
words. I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about Cullen. He was part of the James
family crew. The Lords and Jameses had been allied for the better part of two
centuries. Still, it felt damn good to hear his words gush out and know they
were genuine. Cullen had probably been responsible for keeping my place intact
and my truck running while I was gone.
    “Good to see you, man,” I said, clasping his hand tight. Cullen’s smile
dropped just a touch. He put his arm around my shoulder and gestured with his
chin to follow him around the corner on the other side of the porch.
    “Before you head in there,” he said. “We need to have a little talk.”
    I swallowed hard. “Is that why you were lurking around here waiting for
me?”
    Cullen nodded. “You need to know what’s been going down since you
left.”
    I nodded. I’d expected an inquisition from the rest of the heads of the
bear families. I was damn glad Cullen was here to give me a heads up about
where things stood. Doing so put him at a little bit of a risk depending on
which way the wind blew with the others.
    “First thing,” he said as we stepped off the porch and headed a good
bit into the