Covert Bear (P.O.L.A.R. Series Book 3) Read online

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  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  This book is intended for adult readers only.

  Any sexual activity portrayed in these pages occurs between consenting adults over the age of 18 who are not related by blood.

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Story Description

  1. Heidi

  2. Alexei

  3. Heidi

  4. Alexei

  5. Heidi

  6. Alexei

  7. Heidi

  8. Alexei

  9. Heidi

  10. Alexei

  11. Heidi

  12. Heidi

  13. Alexei

  14. Alexei

  15. Heidi

  16. Alexei

  17. Heidi

  18. Alexei

  19. Heidi

  20. Alexei

  21. Heidi

  22. Alexei

  23. Heidi

  24. Heidi

  25. Alexei

  26. Heidi

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  Covert Bear

  P.O.L.A.R.

  Candace Ayers

  Lovestruck Romance

  Author’s Note

  P.O.L.A.R. (Private Ops: League Arctic Rescue) is a specialized, private operations task force—a maritime unit of polar bear shifters. Part of a world-wide, clandestine army comprised of the best of the best shifters, P.O.L.A.R.’s home base is Siberia…until the team pisses somebody off and gets re-assigned to Sunkissed Key, Florida and these arctic shifters suddenly find themselves surrounded by sun, sand, flip-flops and palm trees.

  Vilified by strangers,

  Friendships aren’t Heidi’s forte.

  Unless it happens to be with a displaced polar bear.

  Hey, he’s a great listener!

  Alexei knows she’s his mate.

  But she refuses to date him.

  All he wants is a chance.

  And, as far as he can tell, there’s only one way to get it—as a Covert Bear.

  1

  Heidi

  Jayden and Jonas Perez stared up at me with wide, blue puppy dog eyes and pouty little mouths that were turned down just the slightest bit at the corners. Skillfully, they’d perfected that hard-to-deny look before they’d even reached their third birthday and they used it for everything. It didn’t matter how ridiculous their request was, when they shot me that look, my heart melted and I had a hard time denying either of them anything. Once, they’d almost convinced me to let them play in the street. I’d been scouting around looking for items to use as roadblocks before realizing I’d been played by two little masters. Those two had definitely figured out their superpower.

  At that moment, they wanted the cup of coffee I was drinking. It took one stern no from me to have them both in tears. I knew the drill, though. Crocodile tears. Even so, my stomach knotted at their pitiful howls. The little con artists.

  “What if I did give you coffee and it made you climb the walls? What would your momma say when she came home and found you on the ceiling?” I wagged my finger at them and drained my cup. “I don’t think she’d be very happy with me if her precious baby boys were on the ceiling.”

  Jayden, the gigglier twin, broke protocol and laughed. Forgetting about my coffee, or more likely, seeing that it was gone and deciding to surrender the fight, he shoved his fingers in his mouth and turned to play with the blocks precariously stacked behind him. Jonas, the serious brother, had laser focus. He grabbed for my mug and scrunched up his face in a scowl when I slid it out of reach. He fell back on his diapered butt and let loose a full out wail. Jayden looked at him for all of two seconds before joining in.

  I’d been watching them since they were days old, but I’d never grown a thicker skin against their cries. I scooped them both up—one in each arm—and carried them out to the porch. The warm sunshine and the sounds of the waves crashing always soothed them when they were tired and cranky. I sank into one of the deck chairs and held both boys against my chest until they stopped crying and fell asleep. Under the shade of a large porch umbrella, my feet kicked up, I let the beautiful sun and sea of Sunkissed Key relax me, too.

  Maria Perez found us there when she arrived home from work a half an hour later. She took one look at her boys and smiled a bright, glowing smile. “You’re the best. They don’t nap for me.”

  I shifted and handed Jayden off to her. “Do you think the terrible twos will be over soon?”

  Maria grinned wider. “Nope. Jake’s parents tell me all the time about how Jake and Kyle were terrors from birth on. I’m geared up and ready for them to remain in their terrible twos until they turn eighteen and go off to college.”

  I shuddered. “Let’s not talk about that. I don’t like the idea of them ever being that old. Besides, it makes me think about how old I’ll be when they reach adulthood.”

  “How old you’ll be? Yeah, okay.” Shifting Jayden to her right hip, she reached out and gently took Jonas from me, too. “I’ve got seven years on you. Do you know how much living happens in seven years? You’ll still be young. I’ll be practically be an old hag.”

  Rolling my eyes, I stood up and opened the door for her so we could all go back inside. “How was work?”

  Maria worked at Mann Family Dentistry as a hygienist. Roger Mann, the owner and main dentist at the clinic was a misogynist and usually made work difficult for Maria. Her face said it all. “He approached me about cutting my hours again this morning. Before our first patient. Told me that he’d understand if I needed to be at home with my kids more often. After all, kids need their mothers.”

  Scowling, I shook my head. “You’ve already cut back to half days. What does he expect from you?”

  “I think he wants me out completely. I heard a rumor that there’s a younger hygienist on the island. Cheaper and hotter.” She sighed and rested the boys both on the couch. Looking up at me from her stooped over position, she said, “It’s getting ridiculous.”

  I sighed, feeling for her. She’d been my best friend for over a decade and I loved her like a sister. I hated that she was having a hard time. More than that, her life had been a challenge for years. That much we had in common. “Have you thought any more about opening your own practice? You could do it. Just hire your own dentist. People love you and you have loyal patients who would follow you.”

  She shook her head and looked back at her boys. “Maybe when they’re older.”

  I let it drop and headed into the kitchen. As part of my day job caring for the boys, I snuck in some extra TLC for Maria too. When she needed it, anyways. I had the time during the day and, honestly, I was glad to do it.

  I’d just picked up some deli meat and freshly baked bread from Mann Grocery, owned by Roger Mann’s brother, Ramsey. Ramsey was a lot nicer than Roger and didn’t have a negative bone in his body. His wife, Martha, baked fresh breads and desserts daily and kept the island supplied. Their g
rocery store smelled like heaven on earth, every single day. I sliced a few pieces of bread and put together a sandwich with the deli meat, a slice of cheese, and some veggies.

  “That looks so delicious.” Maria sat down at the kitchen island and groaned when I pushed the plate over to her. “You’re more treasured than gold, Heidi. I’m starved. Mayo?”

  “Of course. On the top and bottom slice, just the way you like.”

  She took a hefty bite and moaned. “I love you.”

  I just rolled my eyes and put everything away. “Unless you need anything else, I’m going to head out. I need to clean my house before work tonight.”

  She waved me away. “Go. Thank you for this. And everything.”

  “Uh huh. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I left the house and took the beach path down to my house. Maria and the boys lived on Bluefin Boulevard and I could take the beach to avoid Coral Road and most of Gulfstream Lane. My house was at the end of Gulfstream Lane, on the beach. West Public Beach wasn’t as populated as East Public Beach for whatever reason, but there were still a handful of people enjoying the sun and sand.

  My house was a one story little beach bungalow on stilts. It’d weathered many hurricanes, including the most recent Hurricane Matilda. It looked almost like something the crew on Gilligan’s Island would’ve built to live in, but it was quaint and beautiful to me. It needed a new coat of the dusty blue paint I’d chosen for it years earlier. The porch needed sealing against the ocean weathering, the roof was probably ready for an update, and the front door screeched like a banshee when you opened it. To me, it was home.

  I had to jiggle the doorknob and use a hip thrust to get it to open, but the welcoming screech was so familiar that I usually replied to it. “Hello to you, too.”

  With a sigh, I looked around and got started cleaning.

  2

  Alexei

  The ocean was cool against my large, furry body. Even with the sun beating down on me, I wasn’t miserable. I dove under and swam down several feet, twisting and spinning until my lungs tightened and I had to come up for air. I loved the water… cool, freeing, and it did wonders toward making a 900 pound bear feel weightless.

  I’d never liked being anywhere more than in the water. While the rest of the team was busy feeling tortured by our move to Sunkissed Key, I was just as happy as I’d been in Siberia. Well, maybe not when I was being forced to sit in the office, sucking up everyone’s funk with the weird, “conditioned” oxygen. In the ocean, though, I was happy.

  I’d taken the move better than everyone else. The ocean, bikini clad women, tacos… Things could’ve been so much worse. The only real downgrade was the work. Instead of conducting insertions and extractions, accomplishing covert, special ops missions, or capturing high-value enemy personnel, we were chasing down shop lifters and petty criminals and making sure locals and tourists didn’t get drunk and punch each other out.

  I felt like a babysitter. Worse, I felt like a useless babysitter. I missed stopping coups and assassination attempts, infiltrating terrorist cells, and protecting world leaders. Mostly. As I ducked under the water and swam down to the sandy bottom of the ocean floor, though, I felt like maybe babysitting wasn’t all that bad of a career change.

  My bear spotted a fish while we were down there and set off chasing it. He loved fishing. And eating. And, he especially loved filling his belly with fresh fish he’d caught himself. He was a simple bear. Hunt, eat, sleep, repeat. The stifling heat didn’t even bother him all that much, as long as I took him for regular dips in the water.

  Got an assignment. Rendezvous at the office. Serge’s voice broke through my tranquility like a loudspeaker and interrupted fishing time. Serge was the task force Alpha.

  The lucky fish were free to swim another day and my stomach grumbled. Oh, well. I’d eat later. Even though I swam in what was usually a secluded section of the island, I swam as far in as I could without being spotted by the locals before shifting. I kept a pair of swim trunks hooked to the side of the pier and easily slipped into them before emerging from the water and jogging along the sand down to the office.

  Dripping wet with my lower body coated in a layer of sand by the time I got there, I made quick work of rinsing off with the outside shower head before going in to see what was up.

  Serge stood in front of one of the window AC units, talking to the rest of the team. His eyes cut to me and he frowned. “About time you showed up.”

  I shrugged, not minding the reprimand.

  “A woman was assaulted last week in Key West. A few days later, another woman was assaulted a few miles north. A couple of days after that, another one another few miles north of that one. If the timeline remains the same, whoever attacked these women could possibly be in our area either today or tomorrow.”

  Dmitry growled. “And you let me leave my mate at home, alone?”

  “He’s only attacked sex workers so far. Still, I hear you. I’m not any happier leaving Hannah by herself right now.” Serge sighed. “I’d like to send Hannah, Kerrigan, and Megan on a trip for a couple of days, but I seriously doubt—”

  Roman laughed. “Not going to happen. Megan’s way too stubborn to be ‘sent away’.”

  I shrugged into a t-shirt and watched as the three mated members of the team fretted over their mates’ safety. I was lucky that I didn’t have to worry. Of course, I wanted a mate, but at least without one I was spared going into freak-out mode every time the slightest hint of danger arose. Having a mate appeared to turn an otherwise level-headed bear into a crackpot. Going solo, at least I didn’t have to worry about my blood pressure.

  As the conversation turned into a discussion about how to protect one’s mate without her detection, I looked over at Maxim. “Are we needed here?”

  He snorted. “Not for this part.”

  Konstantin looked over at us and frowned. “Mate or not, we should all be concerned about the women on the island.”

  I sighed. “If you don’t lighten up, you’re headed for a stroke, Kon. You’re way too high strung.”

  He just frowned deeper and turned back to Serge.

  “Keep an ear out today, and your eyes open. Report anything out of the ordinary, asap.” Serge sighed. “No one has been able to provide a description, so we’re flying blind in that regard.”

  I got up and nodded to Serge. “Will do.”

  I left the office and headed down Main Street, using my keen shifter senses to astutely case the surrounding neighborhoods. I tended to be light-hearted, a jokester, but I took the job seriously. If there was someone on Sunkissed Key that was out to hurt women, I’d take him out and have absolutely no qualms about it. I may not have had a mate of my own, but I was fond of my team members’ mates and I’d be damned if I’d let anything happen to them.

  I wasn’t halfway down Dolphin Avenue when I saw a man leading a woman away from the street. Something wasn’t right about the scene. She looked as though she was with him willingly, but I scented an eagerness from him—and eagerness tinged with an evil, deranged enthusiasm. I followed. By the time I got to the rear of the house he’d led her behind, he’d already slipped a cloth over the woman’s face and she was slumped against his body. Chloroform.

  Beady eyes looked up at me from a hard face, and he bared his teeth. “What the fuck are you looking at?”

  I tipped my head from side to side, popping my neck. “A dead man.”

  I reached out to the P.O.L.A.R. unit:

  If you want this asshole to live, you’d better get here quick. I smiled outwardly. Feel free to take your time.

  3

  Heidi

  “Four Buds and six tequila shots!” Sarah hung half her body over the bar to call out the order to me. “In a rush!”

  I popped the top of four ice cold bottles and slid them down to her. Making quick work of the shots, I slid them down, too, before tending to my customers seated at the bar. A handful of orders later and I finally got to slow down a bit
. I took orders from the bar and doled out drinks as fast as I could. I was a damn good bartender. I’d done it for fun when I was barely old enough to see over the bar top and I hadn’t really ever stopped.

  My Uncle Joey owned a bar up in my hometown of Rocky Gorge, Colorado, and I’d ended up there every day after school from kindergarten through my senior year of high school. My parents, both high-powered career people, had been busy at work so Uncle Joey was the only one who could keep me. He’d taught me everything he knew, and by the time I was eleven, I could sling drinks like the finest Manhattan mixologists and put on a darn good show while doing it.

  I put myself through a few years of college by bartending and when everything else in my life went to shit, bartending put a roof over my head and paid the bills. So, there I was, at the age of thirty, with nothing to show for my years of existence but a bunch of trick pours and head full of fancy cocktail recipes. Almost thirty, anyway. That next birthday was coming up faster than I liked.

  “Heidi! I’ve got a big party that just got seated. You going to be ready for it, or should I tell Mimi to come out front and give you a hand?” My boss, and the owner of Mimi’s Cabana, Mimi Tuatagaloa, was a plus sized Samoan woman who wore a coconut bra and grass skirt to work daily. Fortunately, she didn’t make her employees do the same. Everyone loved Mimi, who was almost never without a smile. And, although she had curves on top of curves, she actually rocked the coconut bra thingy.