A Christmas to Bear by Carina Wilder Read Free Book Online

festivities were to take place in the woods just outside of town. It seemed that this was a common occurrence; parties in Wolf Rock seldom took place indoors.
    Aria entered the shop and ordered a hot chocolate. That was meant to be the ultimate comfort drink, wasn’t it? As far as drinks without booze in them were concerned, anyhow.
    “So what’s this carnival all about?” she asked the barrista, who had the build of a female shifter.
    The woman turned to her, light blue eyes fixed on her own, and smiled.
    “It’s great. We do it every year. We pretend it’s for the tourists, but really it’s all about the shifters. A way to celebrate the holidays together, especially for those without families.”
    “Are there a lot of shifters without families, then?”
    “Yeah, you’d be surprised. That’s why Wolf Rock’s so important. It gives us a community. A lot of us were disowned when we were young, or lost our parents along the way. It’s not the easiest life in the world.”
    “No, I imagine that it isn’t.” Aria thought now of the polar bear who lived so isolated from even those who should have been his surrogate family. “Do you know Lucian? The polar bear shifter?”
    “Sure,” said the woman. “Everyone does. He’s got the ice house up in the hills.”
    “Ice house?”
    “Yeah. It’s pretty amazing, really. He built it on a glacier in the mountains. It’s not very high up–you can walk to it. It stays frozen all year round and he lives inside it.”
    “Can you tell me where it is?”
    “Sure I can. But you’re not thinking of hiking up there, are you? Lucian can be a holy terror if you venture onto his land.”
    “Oh, I have some idea, believe me,” said Aria. “I’m okay with taking my life into my hands.”
    The young woman wrote down directions on a scrap of paper and said, “Good luck to you. I suspect that you won’t need it, though.” If Aria hadn’t known better, she’d have thought that the woman was reading her mind.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    When she’d finished nursing the hot chocolate she set out. The house was apparently three kilometres away, in the direction of the ski hill. Just at the outskirts of town was a trailhead that would lead her most of the way.
    It took an hour or so to make her way up the slope, and the view at the end of the hike was well worth the climb: mountain peaks surrounded her, and before her spread a great white glacier. At one end of it, tucked near the rocky slopes, was a small house.
    As Aria approached, she saw that it wasn’t at all what she’d expected. When the barrista had mentioned an “ice house,” her mind had conjured an igloo. This was something else, something quite beautiful.
    Its walls were translucent and seemed to glow shades of aqua and blue under the sun. It was as though someone had originally constructed the building of blocks of ice, which had ultimately fused together to form smooth, flowing walls which seemed almost to be made of liquid.
    Inside she could make out movement, but no detail; the thick walls distorted any contents of the house itself.
    She was about a hundred feet away when a figure emerged. Lucian the man, wearing only jeans; no shoes, no shirt. As gorgeous as ever, even from a distance.
    He stood waiting for her and for those last steps, Aria felt renewed self–consciousness. What would she say to this man? Other than, “I think I love you and I want to have your polar babies. Take me now, on this glacier, you god.” No, that wouldn’t be the best idea.
    “Hi,” she said when she was close.
    “Hey.” He didn’t look pleased to see her. “I see you’ve found my mansion.”
    “It’s something else, this,” she said, looking at the structure.
    “Thanks. It’s home.” Lucian’s large form blocked the entrance, but he moved aside. “Go on in,” he said.
    Aria wandered in and was stunned. Sunlight poured through the frozen glass, lighting everything inside softly.
    The furnishings were sparse