Snowfall (Arctic Station Bears Book 3)
Read Snowfall (Arctic Station Bears Book 3) Online
Authors: Maeve Morrick,Amelie Hunt
Arctic Station Bears, Book Three
&
Amelie Hunt Presents© Maeve Morrick, 2015
May not be replicated or reproduced in any manner without express and written permission from the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to author and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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xcerpt
He dropped his own line in the boat and came to sit by me. “Okay, easy,” he said. “Pull on the line, then reel it in a little. This is contest of wills. It’s life and death right now.”
I grinned. “I didn’t realize it was quite so serious. I wouldn’t worn different shoes.”
Actually, I would’ve been happy to be wearing nothing at all. Just sitting on the second-floor deck of the cabin, getting a little sun and having a cup of coffee sounded lovely at the moment. But Liam had been very excited about going out on the lake today, so here we were. Fighting a battle for life and death. And any minute now, I would meet my opponent.
The fish that broke the water couldn’t have been more than eight inches long. I was still pretty jazzed though.
My first catch!
I thought. I could get used to his whole alpha predator thing.
“We should throw him back,” Liam said.
I spun around to face him, cocking my head and lifting an eyebrow. “Are you kidding? He’s
mine
.”
melie
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unt
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Join The Hunt
Moonlight caresses your skin. Your bare feet crush leaves and grass as you run. Your heart hammers in your chest and your breath burns, but you can't stop. He's so close now.
A flash in the corner of your vision! The chase is drawing to a close. For a moment, you feel a prickle of fear. But the feeling is fleeting. After all, you're not the prey.
You're the hunter.
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Thanks for the sanity.
hapter
O
ne
- O
liver
Oliver sat on the floor of the lab, bleeding from wounds received by Calder. The metal wall was cold against his back. His breath came in ragged gasps.
Finally
, he thought.
I’ve finally done something right.
He leaned back and closed his eyes.
“That’s not really true though, is it?” said a voice.
Alanna!
His eyes snapped open. There she was. Sitting on the table where he’d freed her from Calder not an hour before.
“What? Why are you here? Where’s Calder?” he asked.
“Gone,” she said. “In the Company man’s ride.”
“And you came back for me?” Tears streamed down Ollie’s face.
“Well, you came for me. I figured it would be nice to return the favor.”
“I don’t deserve it,” he said. His voice cracked.
“No,” she said. “You don’t. You’ve been greedy, Ollie.”
Ollie lowered his face. He couldn’t bear to look at her. His chest was tight and there was a lump in his throat that he could not swallow. “It…wasn’t greed.”
“Of course it was.” Oliver’s head jerked up again. Every muscle in his body went rigid. His veins were filled with ice water every bit as cold as what he could find outside.
It was Calder. He sat alongside Alanna on the table. The same table that he’d strapped her to in order to inject her with the virus he’d concocted. His plan. And now here they were together.
Ah, I see,
Ollie thought.
I’m hallucinating.
He leaned back against the wall.
“You showed me her photo and told me all about her the very first day I was thawed,” Calder said. “I didn’t even understand the words you said as you drew my blood, but I remembered them once I learned their meaning. When I suggested you adding her to the research team, you jumped at the chance. Because of greed.”
Ollie leaned forward with a jerk. “It wasn’t like that!” Every wound on his body punished him for the sudden, violent moment. He exhaled fire from his lungs and took another ragged breath that hurt just as much. “I…just wanted what was best for her.”
“You mean for yourself,” Alanna said. “How did I factor in exactly? You’d become famous when Calder released the virus through me? Then make a fortune with the cure?”
“It wasn’t about greed,” Ollie sobbed. “You’re not listening! It wasn’t like that…at first.”
“Of course it was, Ollie,” Calder said. “Admit it to yourself. Sure, you wanted what was best for our kind. To come out of the shadows. To suddenly be like everyone else. To be able to control our gift and celebrate it. But more than our day in the sun, you wanted your own.”
Ollie’s body was wracked with sobs. He stared at Alanna with wild eyes. “I did it for us, Allie! All of it. I’ve never stopped thinking about you. I know you so well. But then I…saw you with Liam, and I
knew
, I…” Ollie hid his face in his hands as he wept. “I knew you were fated and it was really over.”
“I don’t care about fame, Ollie,” Alanna said. “And I sure as hell don’t care about fortune. I care about love and loyalty. Liam has that to offer and more.” She shook her head. “You don’t know me as well as you thought. I don’t think you ever did.”
Ollie’s hands fell to his sides. He blinked in the bright fluorescent light. The table was empty. Allie was gone. Calder was gone. He took one last breath.
I’m glad we settled that,
he thought.
D
onny
“Ow, God! Where did you learn how to do this?” Donny said. He jerked the needle and thread out of his skin and Viktor’s hand, prompting the wound to bleed. Donny sutured his own shoulder with steady hands.
“Sorry, Dr. Bragg,” Viktor said. “I’m still learning these things.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to deal with digging too many silver bullets out of your arm in the future. But just remember that these things don’t heal immediately like a normal bullet or a cut or a broken bone. You’ve got to be able to stitch yourself up. It could end up saving your life one day.”
Viktor nodded. “Why do you think he only shot to wound?”
“Wish I knew. Ben said that he works for the Company. To be fair, we did almost take his face off.”
Viktor smiled. “We were on edge and he had a gun. Instinct took over.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much how I see it, too. You don’t sneak up behind a bear and expect not to get your ass handed to you. He’s just lucky that he was using silver bullets. Otherwise things would have turned out a little differently.” Donny finished his suture.
“So what do we do now?” Viktor asked.
“They’re headed to Alert, apparently. Calder took Liam. We’ve got to follow.”
“How? The cutter ship has been disabled and we don’t have a means of flying there.”
“We’ll hike it.” Donny grinned.
Viktor’s mouth dropped open. “You’re joking. It’s four hundred miles of ice.”
“Well, if you’re gonna be a baby about it, we can use one of the wind sleds. The ice is pretty thick this time of year. It’ll be fun.”
“Those things that look like a sailboat on skis? I’ve never used one.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything. Now c’mon. We’ve just got a minute to grab some supplies and get our asses in gear.”
“We’re just abandoning Arctic Station?”
“Liam needs us, and I’m not waiting around to figure out why the Company sent a guy to shoot us. And for them to send another one. So are you coming or not?”