Bear The Blaze (Firebear Brides 3) by Anya Nowlan Read Free Book Online

see that the names Hamilton and Hassleback featured prominently in most of the articles, and they all seemed to revolve around a big wildfire that had happened around that time, killing several people in the area. Apparently it had been the cause for why a lot of the then-local residents had chosen to leave.
    “I found them in an archive in a town about two hours from here, Adderville. I remembered the place from when I was a kid—it was the closest town we had back then. They talk about a big fire in the area that killed three people. One of them was my father,” Ragnar said, sipping his coffee with a hard expression.
    Looking up, Abigail could see the creases of worry on his forehead, the little signs telling her that he wasn’t quite as together at the moment as he wished to let on. She reached a hand over and put it on his.
    “Are you okay?” she asked.
    To her relief, he didn’t pull away from her touch.
    “I am. It’s been a long time. I think I’ve dealt with it in my own way, but it’s hard to face things like that no matter how much time passes, you know?”
    Abigail nodded. She could imagine, at the very least.
    “But what do these have to do with what’s going on now?”
    Frowning, she looked at the articles closer now. They spoke of a long-standing feud between the Hamiltons and the Hasslebacks, and the main theme of the articles seemed to be trying to determine who exactly was at fault for the fires.
    “I think it’s the same thing all over again.”
    “What do you mean? Whoever did it then is doing it again?” she asked, gathering from the clippings that arson was suspected back then.
    Shaking his head, Ragnar took another mouthful of coffee before continuing. “No. There aren’t a lot of people around here from back then. Most left after the fires when they lost their homes and their community. The only ones that remained sort of intact were my family’s homestead and the Hasslebacks. But they both lost their Alphas. My father and Eric Hassleback. They were two of the three victims.”
    “How could that happen?” Abigail asked, genuinely perplexed. “I mean, if there were only three dead, and two of them were Alphas… I’m no shifter expert but I know enough to assume that the Alphas are the strongest and the best in their clans. How could the leaders of two clans that got out of the fires mostly unscathed both die?”
    Ragnar smiled grimly, a sad look in his eyes.
    “Yeah, imagine that.” He paused long enough for Cerise to place their lunch in front of them and told them to enjoy their meal. When they were alone again, Ragnar continued. “It started a lot like now. It was a bad summer, really hot, water levels were low. Small fires started up here and there but they were put out without much loss. But then they started getting bigger, harder to control. Closer to people’s houses. People got scared. My father was a firefighter, a firebear. He ran the department back when the area still had one.
    “From what I can tell from these articles, he was vocal about thinking there was foul play involved. He thought the Hasslebacks were doing it. And the Hasslebacks retaliated by starting rumors that it was actually my father who did it, that it was odd that he was always the first one to respond, petty shit like that. No one believed them, at least no one with enough sense to think for themselves. But small rural areas like their gossip.”
    Shaking his head, Ragnar fell silent for a moment. He picked at his food, obviously not hungry anymore. Her stomach twisting, Abigail felt much the same about the eggs and bacon she’d ordered.
    “Until the big fire happened. An elderly wolf shifter got caught in it before his pack got to him, and the only two other victims were my father and Eric. But I was there that day. I think I’ve been blocking it out, but I remember the fire.”
    Ragnar swallowed hard and instinctively. Abigail scooted over to his side of the booth, sitting close to him. She