Bear's Claim (Bear Heat Book 3)

BEAR'S
CLAIM

By

Natalie Kristen

BEAR HEAT series

Bear's Bride (Book 1)

Bear's Kiss (Book 2)

Bear's Claim (Book 3)

Copyright
© 201
5
Natalie Kristen

ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED

No
part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are
used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination.
Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons,
living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

About
this Book

Aubrey
Williams is determined to forget the one night she spent with Thor
McKenzie. She is a dedicated, capable nurse, and she will focus on
caring for her patients instead of thinking of a big, sexy Black Bear
who touched her in the night and rocked her world.

But
she has no idea just how much her world is about to change.

When one of her patients dies mysteriously and suddenly, Aubrey finds
herself caught up in a deadly operation where the stakes are higher
than she could ever imagine…

Thor
McKenzie is a big, scarred Black Bear who has just returned to the
clan from a dangerous undercover mission. Aubrey is sweet, fun and
loyal, and even though he wants to claim her and spend forever with
her, he knows that one night is more than he deserves with the
beautiful, curvy human.

There
are lives hanging in the balance, not just Aubrey's.

Something
sinister is at work, and Thor may have to fight a battle where there
can be no winners...

*****

CHAPTER
ONE

Aubrey Williams tottered out
the door of Curry Corner, swaying and singing tunelessly with her
best friend, Cora. The owner of Curry Corner was Prisha Singh,
Caleb's beautiful mate. Prisha was an amazingly talented chef, and
her exotic, spicy curries certainly lived up to their reputation.
They sure packed a punch and were not for the faint of heart. Her
signature dish, Devil's Curry, was hotter than hot, and Aubrey felt
like she had just swallowed a mouthful of dynamite when she took her
first spoonful of Devil's Curry. It was incredible, spicy and
exploding with flavors. She loved it! In fact, Aubrey loved every
single dish and that's exactly what she told Prisha.

Prisha had graciously hosted
the party for the entire Black Bears clan at her restaurant. It was
supposed to be a welcome back party of sorts. The Black Bears were
welcoming their Alpha, Ethan Flint and his mate, Cora, back from
their honeymoon, and Thor McKenzie back from, in Baxter's words, “the
depths of the underworld”.

It had been a great party.
The food was amazing. And the company—what could she say?
They were simply the best! Aubrey luurved the Black Bears! Her best
friend, Cora, was their Alpha's mate, so she hung out with them a
lot. The Black Bears were a cool bunch, fun-loving and easy-going.
They sure knew how to let their hair down and party, but they never
messed around when they were on a job.

The Black Bears Group was a
top-notch security firm and everyone knew that the Black Bears had
the best trackers, investigators and interrogators in the city. The
Black Bears worked with a lot of government agencies and large
multinational companies on security matters, and they never, ever let
a client down.

Aubrey knew most of the clan
members pretty well. But she'd only just met Thor McKenzie tonight.
Thor had been working undercover, disappearing off the face of the
earth to burrow into the bowels of the underground world. He had
infiltrated one of the largest and most powerful gangs in the city,
and had been instrumental in the capture of Ray Shapez, the Boss of
the biggest, bloodiest underground gang.

Having just returned from the
underworld to the land of the living, Thor had seemed aloof and
reticent during the party.

Aubrey had tried to chat him
up, but he had kept his answers to her questions short and polite.
He had been gentlemanly but cool towards her. Maybe he was still
stuck somewhere between hell and earth.

What a pity. Aubrey thought
Thor was hot. Well, he would be hotter if he smiled more. But as it
was, he was a dark, brooding, smoldering package. He was tall, broad
and ripped, and his rugged face was made even more handsome by those
deep, intense mismatched eyes. His eyes were startling, riveting and
they gave him an aura of mystery. His right eye was as blue as a
clear summer sky, and his left eye was dark green.

Aubrey would love to get to
know Mr Dark and Brooding better, but Thor didn't seem interested.

Aubrey shrugged and hiccuped.
Real pity. But it was his loss, not hers.

She wasn't the silent,
brooding sort. She never stayed silent, not for long anyway. And
life was too short to brood over anything.

Plus, it had been a truly
wonderful party. She'd had a great time. She had been surrounded by
good food, good friends and mugs of frothing beer. What more could a
girl want?

Aubrey hiccuped again and
giggled. She'd had lots to eat and perhaps way too much to drink
tonight.

“Thanks, Prisha,”
Aubrey slurred. “I had a great time! Great party, and great
restaurant! I loooove your food, and I love you!” She threw
her arms around Prisha and sighed dramatically.

Prisha laughed. “Thank
you, and you're welcome. Please, come to Curry Corner again,”
Prisha said earnestly. “I'll be going back to my hometown for
a while, but the restaurant will remain open. Ali, Nurin and
Jennifer are here,” she said, indicating her three loyal
employees. “They'll keep the restaurant running while I'm
gone.”

“Okaaaay,” Aubrey
said in a muffled voice, her face still buried in Prisha's neck.

Cora tut-tutted as she came
to pry Aubrey off Prisha. “You! You're as drunk as a
bicycle!”

“You're funny, Cora,”
Aubrey said, waving a finger in her friend's face. “Everyone
knows bicycles can't drink beer. They don't have mouths. And why
are there two of you?” Aubrey narrowed her eyes in
disapproval. “Have you been drinking, Cora?” she nagged.

“Of course not! I
haven't had a single drop. No beer for the cub,” Cora
announced, pointing at her belly.

Aubrey grinned. “I
can't wait for your adorable cub to arrive! I'm going to spoil him
or her rotten!”

Ethan came over, shaking his
head at her. “We'll give you a lift home. Cora's right.
You're as drunk as a skunk.”

“Skunk on a bicycle?”
Aubrey chortled. “Nah, it's okay. You take care of Cora.
I'll hop in a cab and...”

“I'll drive her home,
Alpha.”

Aubrey looked up and saw that
it was Thor who had spoken. He wasn't looking at her though. He
simply addressed his words to Ethan, and his expression was straight
and humorless.

“Hmph! I think I can
go home on my own,” Aubrey sniffed.

But Ethan nodded and smiled.
“Thanks, Thor.”

Aubrey swayed on her feet and
staggered but Thor was already by her side, steadying her with a hand
on her waist. Aubrey shivered. His hand felt warm and strong
against her body, and she had to suppress a whimper when she felt his
hot breath on her neck. She found herself leaning against him and
she could feel the heat radiating off his powerful, solid body in
waves.

If her beer-addled brain
couldn't think straight before, now she couldn't think at all.

His presence, the sheer,
scorching proximity of him, was overwhelming.

“I...I don't want to
bother you,” she managed to stutter, tilting her face up to
blink at his grim profile. “Really, I can...”

“It's no bother,”
Thor answered tersely.

There were more thank yous,
goodbyes and hugs. Aubrey pulled away from Thor and went to kiss
Prisha on the cheek. “Thanks again, and congratulations!”
she told Prisha. Prisha would be getting married soon, if all went
well. Aubrey grinned at Caleb, the Beta of the Black Bears, and gave
him two thumbs-up. “Good luck! We await your good news!”

Caleb grinned back. He was
going back with Prisha to her hometown to formally ask her parents
for her hand in marriage. Prisha's family was a traditional Indian
family, and Caleb respected his mate's customs and traditions.
“Start planning the wedding,” Caleb said, puffing out his
chest with pride and confidence. “I'll win her family over.
I'll turn on the charm and impress them. I'll do anything to get
their approval and blessings.”

Prisha smiled at her mate.
“Just be yourself. They'll love you, Caleb. I know they will.
In fact, my mom loves you already.”

“I love weddings!”
Aubrey squealed. “I can't wait!” She blew the happy
couple a kiss as Thor shook hands with Caleb and Prisha. “Bye
now! Have a good trip!”

The Black Bears began to
disperse, calling out their thanks and teasing Caleb and Prisha a
little as they left. Aubrey could still hear Baxter's terrible
singing even from a few blocks away.

“Shall we?” Thor
asked, offering her his arm.

Surprised, she slipped her
hand into the crook of his arm and let him lead her towards the car
park opposite Prisha's restaurant. When she staggered, he curled his
arm around her waist and held her tight.

“Steady now,” he
said gruffly.

Thor opened the door of his
black Audi and helped her into the passenger seat. Aubrey sank into
the plush leather seat and her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. She
took a deep breath and inhaled the warm, seductive scent of polished
leather, minty aftershave and
him
.

The smell was clean and
masculine, and when Thor got into the driver's seat and started the
engine, she found herself folding her arms over her breasts and
crossing her legs. Her breasts suddenly felt heavy and full, and
there was a maddening throb between her thighs.

Biting down a whimper,
Aubrey clenched her muscles and grimaced.

The beer was playing havoc
with her system. She was getting turned on just by sitting in Thor's
car.

Blame it on the beer
,
she repeated to herself.

It's not her.

It's not him.

It's the beer.

Keep telling yourself
that, Aubrey.

CHAPTER
TWO

Aubrey stabbed her key at her
front door again. She cursed and squinted at the key. It was the
right key, was it not? Or had it magically changed shape?

“Here, let me,”
Thor said, easing the key out of Aubrey's hand.

Smoothly, he unlocked the
door and held it open for her.

Aubrey took a step forward
and hesitated. Turning to Thor, she said, “Thank you for
driving me home.”

“It's my pleasure.”

Aubrey gave him a long look
before advancing slowly towards him. “Was it really?”

Thor frowned at her.

“You hardly spoke a
word to me during the entire ride.”

Thor's throat moved as she
stood toe to toe with him at the threshold of her front door. Aubrey
stared up into his mesmerizing, blue-green eyes. She didn't tear her
gaze away even as she felt herself losing her sense of balance. It
was like falling into the ocean and soaring into the sky at the same
time. The sensation was both frightening and exhilarating, confusing
and liberating.

Thor gripped her shoulders to
stop her from coming closer to him. He was trying to keep her at
arm's length but she wasn't having any of it. She had to know. She
had caught him staring at her when he thought she wasn't looking.
She had seen the hunger and want in his eyes. And even in her
drunken state, she could feel his overpowering hunger for her.