The Bear King's Captive: Curvy Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Milly Taiden Read Free Book Online

men shot to their feet. “Sir, yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” They trotted their separate ways, still snickering.
    Hannes glanced up at his gunner, but he disappeared. He leaned his forty-one-year-old body against a rusty container. While he waited for his pulse and adrenaline to return to normal, he ran his fingers through his hair. Damn children and their families.
    Although he cursed them, he remembered yearning for the love and warmth of a family. The thought of coming home to the arms of a beautiful and adoring wife with children running around their feet set a twinge of longing inside him.
    But his sanity learned to bury the hurt from something he could never have. He took comfort in knowing his sister, with his nephew and niece, were safe. He lost track of her after his father’s funeral fifteen years ago.
    After hearing news about Otilas living in the states, he set out to find her. So much time and pain had passed since their last words to each other. He was relieved when she agreed to meet, but even after seeing him for the first time in years, she wouldn’t forgive him. He was no longer the brother she knew. How true that was.
    The stinging wind chilled his face and cleared his mind. He needed to get his men inside to eat and stop wasting time on memories. Those reminiscences belonged at rest with the honorable soldier who deserved them--a soldier officially declared dead ten years ago.             
     
     
    When Hannes stepped onto the bridge, the captain and his crew had already settled in for the voyage. The squat man dressed in white with emblems on the shoulders of his jacket turned toward him. The captain’s lower eyelids tightened. Fists settled at his sides.
    With a stone poker face, Hannes stopped within a foot of the man.
    The captain growled, “How dare you wait this long to see me, amigo.”
    Hannes’ eyes narrowed. “Yes, my friend, I agree with you for once.” Both men broke into smiles and quickly hugged with a slap on the back. “It has been much too long.”
    “Sí, I am glad you come on my ship.” The captain motioned to a sliding door on the other side of the bridge’s long aisle. Hannes slid open the entry and stepped into the chart room. He skirted the round table consuming most of the small space and pulled out a chair at the computer desk in the corner.
    The captain leaned against the table. “Tell me, what bring you to my floating home, amigo?” 
    Hannes smiled. “Just a visit to the American Defense Department to re-appropriate information across the continents.”
    The short round man burst into laughter. “Señor, you loco as ever.”
    “When I discovered you’d be in Cleveland, I couldn’t hire anyone else to take us home.”
    The captain winked. “Especially since we have special cargo, no?”
    Hannes’ smile faded and he dropped his sight from the man in front of him. “This special cargo wasn’t what I had in mind. But I had no choice since we were leaving. Have you seen them?”
    “Them? I thought bounty hunter want one person.”
    “So did I.” Hannes ran fingers through his hair. “We have a female and a boy as guests for the next few weeks.”
              Straightening to his feet, the captain crossed his arms and frowned. “Woman and child?”
              “That’s who Roclas wants.” Both men shifted uncomfortably at the drug lord’s name.
    “What she do to get him mad? And the boy?”
    “I don’t know, but I will find out.” He lifted a brow toward the ship’s commander. “What about your crew?”
    “No worry, amigo. I tell mí men she belong to Roclas. They no touch her or boy with ten feet stick.”
    Hannes nodded. “Everything looking good for the trip home?” He stood from the corner desk. They clasped hands.
    “Perfecto. Calm seas and no sign of trouble.” 
     
     
    Inside the ship’s warm galley one floor below the guest cabins, Hannes sat at the head of a long metal table. Shiny stainless