Ranger Bear (Silvertip Shifters Book 5)

by J. K Harper

  Marisa's cat purred harder. Good. Marisa needed to know that everyone she loved was safe.

  Watching as the cubs danced with their friends, looking at the adoration on Jessie's and Shane's faces as they did a little family twirl out on the dance floor with Grant, Marisa sighed in utter contentment and nestled even deeper into Riley. Turning her head more, scooting up his chest so her lips were closer to his ear, she made herself be bold. "I have a question for you. I don't mean right now, it's too soon. But one day—” She paused. Her cat urged her on. Softly, she continued. “One day, would you like to have even more of a family? With me?"

  Riley shifted to the side, turning his head so he could look at her. The excited, hopeful shine of his eyes warmed her. "Do you mean, would I one day like to have a child with you?"

  She nodded, holding her breath as she waited for the answer.

  His smile almost touched his ears before he crushed her close again in a huge hug. "Yes. Definitely. One hundred percent, Marisa. I think the cubs would love it too."

  She let the breath she'd been holding out of her in a little chuckle against his chest, nodding against him. "They've already asked. They say they want to teach a little brother or sister all that they know. Which might mean they're going to teach a sibling all sorts of ways to get up to mischief."

  Riley laughed as well. "They probably will. We'll deal with that when the time comes. I can hardly wait," he added in a whisper. "But I'll definitely wait as long as you need. Always."

  A happy glow of joy felt like it covered her entire body. This man. This stunning, incredible, patient man. He would die to protect her and his children, and he would also give her all the space in the world she needed. Always.

  She was the luckiest woman in the history of the world.

  "Okay, then." Riley's voice suddenly turned brisk. "I can feel your foot tapping in time to the song. Feel like taking a whirl on the dance floor with me, beautiful lion woman?"

  Marisa's laugh rang out into the bubble of conversation and laughter throughout the room as she nodded. Jumping to her feet, she tugged him up. "Definitely. I got moves I can't wait for you to see."

  Riley gave her an appreciative little smack on the behind, making her half gasp, half giggle as they whirled out onto the dance floor to join everyone else. Her friends. Her family.

  Laughing with joy as her sexy mate spun her around alongside all the guests, alongside all her new friends and family, Marisa and her cat purred as one. This was the place she had always been searching for. The place she fit into purr-fectly and loved with all her heart.

  She was finally home.

  * * *

  I hope you enjoyed Ranger Bear! Riley & Marisa’s histories were tough, but it made their redemptions and love story more powerful.

  What's next for the Silvertip Shifters? Slade Walker’s story in Firefighter Bear. Keep reading for a sneak peek of FIREFIGHTER BEAR!

  Be sure to read more Silvertip Shifters:

  Hunter’s Moon: Quentin - Quentin & Abby

  Mountain Bear’s Baby: Shane - Shane & Jessie

  Taming Her Bear: Beckett - Beckett & Pix

  Ranger Bear: Riley - Riley & Marisa

  Firefighter Bear: Slade - Slade & Everly

  Superstar Bear: Bodhi - Bodhi & McKenna

  Christmas Night Bear: Wyatt - Wyatt & Brynna

  * * *

  In the mood for something that’s sweet and romantic but still scorching hot? Check out my Black Mesa Wolves series, which is connected to the Silvertip Shifters. Start with GUARDIAN WOLF!

  For sizzling hot, super romantic dragon shifters, check out my Dragon Mates series. It’s the same world as Silvertip Shifters and Black Mesa Wolves, although the books are set in a big city! The first book is DAZZLED.

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  Turn the page to read a sneak peek from Firefighter Bear.

  Sneak Peek! Firefighter Bear

  Everly flicked her rag over the polished bar top, then took a step back, assessing the gleaming wood with a critical eye and pursed lips. Deciding it was clean enough, she turned back to the drying rack where fresh sets of clean glasses waited to be transferred into their spot beneath the bar. With a rattle and clank, she hefted the rack of beer mugs and slid them into place beneath the bar.

  In the back corner, a burst of laughter indicated that her sole remaining table was still happy. The time after lunch and before happy hour was generally slower than cold molasses. It was the time of day that Everly had to clean and prep for the Saturday evening rush. In the spring, business always picked up. She expected a steady crowd tonight.

  "Ever!" The dark note in her brother's voice made Everly's right cheek twitch with the tic that had developed there two years ago. Forcing her tone to stay light, she said, "Yes?"

  "I can't find spreadsheets from last month. Where did you file them?"

  Rather than reply, Everly headed for the small office tucked around the corner behind the bar. With only one table occupied in the entire place right now, she could step away from her post in the front. She and her brother were the only employees in the entire place right now. Nobody would mind if she abandoned her post, anyway. Being as the owners were her and Tobias, she was the boss lady in these parts. Besides, in tiny shifter town Deep Hollow, one could be a lot more trusting than in a city. No one here was going to rob the cash register during the two minutes she disappeared from behind the counter.

  Her older brother, Tobias, sat in front of the office computer, a frown slashing across his face. Tobias had pretty much adopted the frown as a permanent landmark since two summers ago, so the sight didn't particularly alarm her. Besides, she knew exactly which file he was looking for and where to find it. Everly's official title was “assistant manager,” but it might as well be “she who knows every single thing about this bar and then some.”

  Stepping up behind him, she reached over his shoulder to touch the screen. "No, not in there." She swiped at the screen, flipping from folder to folder. "It's in here, then over in this folder, then it'll say the month name. It's organized if you take a second to look at it.” She elbowed him.

  He just grunted back at her. "Thanks," he said, never once looking at her. Focused on the screen, began tapping away.

  Everly didn't even bother to shrug as she turned back to the bar. She and Tobias had always been the closest growing up. But two summers ago, everything had changed. Tobias changed, her parents changed, her whole family changed. Her entire world had changed. Actually, it had been flipped upside down, stomped on, and left painfully exposed and raw.

  In other words, this was the new normal. There was nothing Everly could do to spin it back around to the old normal, and it didn't bother her that Tobias wasn't her best friend anymore. She got it.

  As she began wiping down the next set of beer mugs drying in the rack, removing water spots and any other smudges, the front door opened with a blast of chilly air and the fresh, cold scent of outside. Everly shivered a bit. It might be spring, but springtime in the high Colorado mountains could still be downright cold at night. The bar was set well back from the front door, but it didn't matter. Each time the door opened, chilly air rushed inside and found her. For a fox shifter, she was wimpy about the cold.

  Pathetic, but true.

  Without looking up, she called out, "Hi and welcome to The Tank. Take a seat anywhere and I'll be right with you."

  Not expecting a response, she jerked violently when a low, rumbling voice actually answered. "It's just me, Everly. I'm not staying."

  Everly trembled in a wild shiver of confusion and shock as the force of that voice seemed to radiate through her entire body.

  Only one man had that power over her.

  Her head practically snapped off her neck as she whipped it around to look at the door and the gorgeous bear of a man who'd just entered the room. His mere presence seemed to suck all the air out of the
place. Or at least out of her. Everly's lungs warned her to breathe even as her mouth dried and her eyes widened at the sight of the one guy who rattled her world.

  The only one who ever had.

  Slade Walker had been the object of her fantasies since high school. Despite the fact she'd had a crush on him for the past ten years, that wasn't the reason her pulse was banging out of control. Or the fact that he was big and built, that he was stronger than a mountain, darker than a thunderstorm, sexier than lightning dancing on the ridgetops. It wasn't his chocolate-brown eyes that flashed out above the dark beard covering the lower half of his face. Nor was it the unshakeable certainty etched into every line of his body that shouted he could do any damn thing in the world he wanted to, and do it perfectly well.

  And it sure wasn't because some nights, Everly still pictured his gorgeous lips touching every single centimeter of her body. Or that his voice echoed through her dreams, leaving her to awaken in the middle of the night in a restless sweat and sometimes the aftershocks of what she knew had been an orgasm in her sleep. No, it wasn't any of those things that had her staring at him in shock. Well, maybe a little bit. Slade and those eyes of his always managed to melt her thoughts every time she ran into him.

  It wasn't even that fact that he had what should be an impossible limp. The sort of limp a shifter should never have. One that every now and then made his leg drag, gimpy and useless, as he'd yelled at her in shame and self-pity once upon a time. Back when she meant something to him.

  None of those reasons were the real one. The main reason her heart stuttered a beat or two as he stepped into her bar was because Slade Walker was the last person to see her youngest brother alive, two years ago. Because Slade Walker was the last person to know why Jacob had done what he did, whatever that was.

  Because Slade Walker was the reason her other brother had disappeared.

  "Hi.” Slade went quiet for a moment after he said that, just looking at her. She couldn't quite read his expression, but it might have been—longing. Then he took a breath, shaking his head. “I'm not here to bug you, Ev." His stunning eyes captured her and melted her straight up stupid. She fervently prayed Tobias wouldn't hear Slade's voice and come roaring out of the office in a rage.

  "I just need to talk to you for a minute. Actually," he said, voice going even deeper, his hand pulling something out of his back pocket, "I needed to give you something. I just found it, Ev.” His voice went as quiet as the baritone allowed. "Believe me, I didn't know it existed before this morning."

  His hand, that huge, strong hand that Everly had imagined running over her skin multiple nights in a row, stretched out toward her, a tattered white envelope clutched in his fingers. Automatically, she reached out for it. Their fingers brushed as he handed it to her, and Everly jumped.

  Funny thing was, she could swear she saw him flinch too at that tiniest bit of contact.

  "What is—" she started, but Slade shook his head.

  "Look at it, Ever. He left it for you.” He paused, as if he might say more. Then he shook his head, turning and heading for the door. “I'll see you around," he threw over his broad shoulder.

  "Wait," Everly began, but then she looked down at the envelope. Her voice died in her throat at the sight of the familiar handwriting on it. The words. She barely registered the door closing behind Slade's imposing frame as her hand began to shake uncontrollably.

  The world's best sister scrolled across the top of the envelope in even penmanship. The ink was smudged with dirt and smeared from contact with some sort of long-dried wetness, but the words were clear.

  It was Jacob's handwriting. A ghost come to life, delivered by the man who turned Everly's world upside down in more ways than one.

  Slade Walker, the man who'd stolen not only her brother, but her heart. And he'd never given either one of them back.

  download FIREFIGHTER BEAR: SLADE now

  * * *

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  About J.K.

  J.K. Harper is a USA TODAY bestselling author. She lives in the rugged, gorgeous canyon country of the Southwest, which is a great place to let her imagination run wild.

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  Series by J.K. Harper:

  Dragon Mates

  Wicked Wolf Shifters

  Black Mesa Wolves

  Silvertip Shifters

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