Bear Mine for Christmas: BBW Holiday Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance (Christmas Bear Shifter Romance Book 2) by Ariana Hawkes Read Free Book Online

that?” Brock stared at her, in awe of the passion that raged inside her; at her protective instincts towards her niece. “You’ve been so irresponsible!” she continued, stepping towards the boy, fists clenched. But then she stopped herself and took a long, deep breath. “We can talk about this later, and I’ll be speaking to each of your parents, you can guarantee that. But for now, let’s figure out how we’re going to get you home.”
    Brock stepped forward.
    “Are you cold?” he asked the kids. They all nodded. “Let me feel your hands,” he said to Sophia, and she held them out. “They’re like ice. Do you feel faint? Sleepy? Confused?” she shook her head. “And the rest of you?” He felt all of their hands. “You’ll be lucky if you don’t have hypothermia. First, I think we’ll need to build the fire up to help you raise your core temperature, and then we’ll get you down the mountain.”
    Madison looked at the stove. There were only a few small pieces of timber burning, giving out very little heat.
    “We just found the wood lying around here,” Sophia said.
    “I can see that,” Madison said grimly.
    “I’ll get some more. Hold on a moment.” Brock stepped outside and was pleased to see that Grayson and Riley had found a load of wood and piled it up by the door.
    “Thank you,” he said, his heart warming with gratitude for his uncle and cousin. They were the best relatives a bear could hope to have. The two of them were lying down under the overhanging eaves of the cabin, waiting to see what would happen next. “The kids are all fine. We just need to warm them up a little before we take them down the mountain.” They both nodded calmly.
    He went back inside the cabin with an armful of tree branches.
    “The guys just gathered them for me,” he explained in response to Madison’s questioning expression. “And they’re dry enough. They must have been protected from the worst of the wet.”
    “Great!” Madison said, flashing him a beautiful smile, and he felt his heart heating again, but in a completely different way.
    Brock broke up the wood with his hands and pushed it inside the stove. Then he found a metal cauldron and filled it with wood as well, working at it patiently until a flame caught. He put it in the doorway of the cabin and left the door open a little.
    “It may get smoky in here, so if it’s bothering you, let me know.” The kids nodded vigorously. They all looked like terrified children, far younger than their years.
    Within ten minutes, the cabin was warm. Madison stood by the door, doing her best to waft the smoke out. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best they could do. He kept glancing at her, impressed by her practicality and strength of spirit. Her jaw was set tight, as he imagined his own was. They were both bursting to yell at the kids, but he could tell that Madison recognized as well as he did that they needed to keep their spirits up, as that was an important part of avoiding hypothermia.
    Half an hour later, Brock asked each of the kids how they were feeling.
    “About 20 percent warmer,” Sophia said, and the others said the same. “Ok, that should be enough. It’s not a long journey back.”
    “But we can’t walk down there. There’s a blizzard!” Marshall exclaimed.
    “Oh, I hadn’t noticed,” Brock said drily. “Shame you didn’t consider that possibility before you dragged everyone up here.” The boy hung his head, looking like he was trying to make himself as small as possible. Brock looked from the girls to the boys, thinking. At last, he made an executive decision. He figured that Madison might just kill the two boys if she was left alone with them, and the girls would benefit from the extra time in front of the fire.
    “Ok, boys, let’s go,” he said, clapping his hands. They got to their feet quickly. “Who’s ridden on the back of a bear before?” he said, just before he opened the door to the cabin. They shook their