PolarBearS-express Read Online Free PDF Page A

“I’m all right. Really.” Bending, Kat pulled an iron skillet out from the cabinet next to the stove and set it on the burner. Grabbing the matches she’d left next to the stove, she lit the burner and set the flame.
    “So,” she said as she moved to the refrigerator to get the butter and eggs. “How long have you two been friends?” She cut a pat of butter from the stick and dropped it into the pan. “I would say it’s been a while. You two work well together.”
    “We’ve been friends for a long, long time,” Liam said as he leaned back against the counter and crossed his legs. “Working together is something we’re used to.”
    “Yeah, I could tell.”
    “Most people can.” Liam chuckled. “When you’ve been friends for as long as we have, everything seems to come naturally.”
    “I could see that. It’s almost as though you can talk to each other without saying anything.” The two men looked at each other strangely and Kaitlin frowned. “What?”
    “Nothing, lass. Do ye hae some bread for the toaster?”
    Kaitlin pointed to the breadbox. “Right there. The rest of the butter’s in the fridge.”
    After the butter melted, Kat poured the vegetables in. She cracked the entire dozen eggs she had, whisking them in the bowl. Afterward, she dumped the egg mixture in, layering the meat, cheese and vegetables onto it. She eyed her largest skillet critically. She only hoped it was enough to keep them satisfied until she could get something in the freezer thawed.

Chapter Six
    Liam smelled the best omelet he had in a long time—maybe ever. He wasn’t sure if it was the lass’s cooking that made it smell so good or if it was the fact that it was the first meal they would eat with their mate. Whatever it was, he was certain that both he and Angus wouldn’t forget it.
    After so many years alone, watching the mated pairs enjoy each other and their families had begun to wear on them. Just having to watch them together during clan gatherings had gotten difficult to bear.
    It was as though someone had gouged a deep wound inside them. Every year, at every gathering, it festered more and more until they could no longer tolerate it. That was why he and Angus had left. Nothing could have made them stay another day in Scotland with the clan always getting together for this birthday or that. Watching others so happy, even though they were elders, had begun to fester inside them like some dirty old wound.
    Every festival they attended, every birthday they went to celebrate, twisted the proverbial knife deeper until they had to leave. Anger filled them at the thought that others had been so lucky, others had mates and cubs, but Angus and he had been left out, forgotten as if they didn’t matter to the fates.
    Deep down, they knew that wasn’t true. Deep down, they understood that the reason mates were so difficult to find was because of the hunter-gatherer time of human evolution, where they had hunted animals for their warm pelts, but he’d gotten to a point where he had begun to feel a deep-seated animosity toward those of their clan who had been lucky enough to have their families complete.
    Both Angus and he knew they must leave the clan. When they began talk of feeling enough anger to take out their frustrations on their kin, they knew they had to go in search of a mate. Even if they didn’t find one, they knew they would be better off without the constant reminder of what they were missing.
    His throat burned with such deep emotion, he wasn’t certain he could contain it as he stared across the table at the only female in decades to stir his body or his heart. That this female, this human woman did both was a miracle that he refused to allow to slip through his fingers.
    Kaitlin pulled the frying pan from the heat of the stove. Grabbing a second potholder from the counter, she turned and tossed the thick pad onto the table and set the pan onto it. “Dinner is ready.” She smiled at them. “Thanks for