Bad News Polar Bear (Polar Bear Express Book 2)

by KD Jones

  Andy spoke softly, “Your mom told us what happened with Jeanne but I think Dahlia wanted to tell you about it.”

  Just then, his mother came into the lobby of the hospital. She looked tired and disheveled, but when she saw Ivan a big smile lit her face.

  “Mom?”

  “He is so beautiful. I didn’t want to leave him but I figured I would let someone else get a chance to see him, too. Dahlia’s feeding him right now.”

  “Where are they?”

  “West Wing, Room 102.”

  Ivan kissed her on the cheek then walked through the doorway his mom had come out of. He could scent them before he reached the door. Dahlia with her sweet exotic fragrance and the new baby smell of his son; it was the best scent he had ever encountered.

  Pausing at the door, he stood there and watched as Dahlia sat in a rocking chair holding the baby like an expert, feeding him with a baby bottle. She sang a lullaby and Ivan felt his heart swell with so much love. He must have made a sound because she glanced up at him and smiled. She took his breath away. He had to struggle to find his words. The only thing that came out was…

  “Hi.”

  “Hi. Do you want to meet your son?”

  “Yes.” He approached and she stood up, gesturing for him to sit. Once he was sitting down, she bent and placed his son in his arms. She adjusted his arms to hold him more securely.

  “Chance, this big guy is your father. Don’t let his grumpy face fool you. He is going to protect you and care for you every day of your life.”

  Ivan snorted at the description of his grumpy face, but then he looked down at the tiny little face and their eyes locked. Father and son, heart to heart; it was a moment in time he would never forget.

  “I love you little one.”

  Dahlia smiled, “Do you want me to leave the two of you alone?”

  “No, I want you here with us. You belong here.”

  She grabbed a chair and brought it closer. “Are you okay? Do you need a doctor to check out your injuries?”

  “They’re just scratches. The ambulance is supposed to bring Luka—he was shot.”

  “Oh God. I’ll check on him for you so you can bond with your son. The nurse is supposed to come in with his birth certificate. We gave them both of your names as the mother and father, but we didn’t know what to put for his name.”

  “Why did you call the baby Chance earlier?”

  “It was something that Jeanne had told me after the baby was born. She said that he was her one chance to do something right in this world. I didn’t have a name to call him so I kind of nicknamed him Chance.”

  “I like it. Chance Vedar.”

  Dahlia smiled but it was sad. “I think Jeanne would have loved it, too.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  Dahlia nodded her head. She spent the next few minutes telling him how Jeanne went into labor and the bad guys showing up at the same time. How Mr. Lance caused Jeanne to get hurt and she bled out after the baby was born. She said they might not have gotten out of there unharmed if Rhonda Lee hadn’t come in through the old root cellar that connected to the basement and led them out.

  “I owe her greatly, as I owe you.”

  “I’m sorry about Jeanne dying, though.”

  The baby stopped sucking on the nipple and was completely asleep. The nurse came in with the paperwork and encouraged Ivan to place the baby in the portable crib.

  “When can he be released?”

  “The doctor wants the baby to remain here at least until tomorrow to make sure he is okay. You can sleep here on the bed with the crib in the room.” The nurse checked the baby. “Do you want the rest of your family to come in now?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll go tell them.” the nurse left the room.

  Ivan stood there across from Dahlia for a moment, and then opened his arms. She threw herself into his embrace.

  “Oh God, Ivan, I was so worried about you.”

  “I was worried about you, too.”

  He pulled her away to look down in her face. “I love you, Dahlia. I wanted to claim you last night but the timing was off with all the issues with Jeanne. When the cabin blew up…”

  “Your cabin blew up?” She began looking him over for injuries.

  “Yeah, but no one was in it. I’m fine except for a few bruises that will heal with my next shift. I lost my cell phone, though. But when the cabin blew up, I realized that I didn’t want to hold back anything from you. I wanted you to know just how much you mean to me.”

  She hugged him too and placed her head against his heart. “I love you and there is no where I want to be more than here in your arms, in this room with your son.”

  “You’re okay with Chance? It doesn’t bother you that another woman gave me a child?”

  “Honestly, it did hurt when I first found out about Jeanne and the baby. Meeting Jeanne was like a slap in the face. Then…”

  “Then what?” He moved them to the bed and sat, pulling her onto his lap.

  “Your mom placed Chance in my arms and I fell in love instantly. It felt like he belonged to me, too.”

  Hearing how she felt about his son filled his heat with such intense love, he didn’t realize that tears escaped until she reached up and wiped them away.

  “He does belong to you. We both do if you want us.”

  She kissed him deeply. “Of course I do.”

  “Good, because we will need a new place to stay until the cabin can be rebuilt.”

  They both laughed, holding each other, as his family invaded the hospital room. They headed straight to the crib and oohed and aahed over the baby.

  Sage reached down to touch his cheek. “Did you pick a name?”

  Ivan cleared his throat. “Chance, his name is Chance Vedar.”

  “I like it, it’s different and special,” Andy commented, smiling at the small infant.

  He noticed his mother wasn’t there. “Where are Mom and Damen?

  Cosmo made Andy sit down. He was definitely an overprotective husband and father-to-be. “She and Damen are in the ICU with Luka. He just came out of surgery but is expected to make a full recovery. It will be slow at first because of the stitches. They will have to keep him drugged and let him heal in his human form naturally. They expect he can shift safely in about a week or so.”

  Damn, the full moon was going to be out in a week. “I hope they have really strong drugs.”

  Cosmo nodded his understanding. “I know, me too. Mom and Sage will be staying with Andy and me. Damen is staying with Niko and Ryder until we can get the damages at Mom’s repaired. It should be done by the time Luka is ready to be released. Did you want to bring the baby and stay with us?”

  Dahlia spoke up, “They’ll be staying with me. I’ve got a nook in my bedroom where we can put a crib.”

  “Are they releasing the baby today or tomorrow?” Andy asked.

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Good.” She stood up and came over to Dahlia. “Give me your keys to your apartment. We’ll go and get the baby supplies and set it up for you guys.”

  “Thanks.” Ivan felt warmed by his family’s support.

  Dahlia handed her keys over. “I’m going to stay here tonight with Ivan and Chance. Could someone bring my car over?”

  “Oh, you’ll need a car seat, too. Let’s go shopping!” Sage said with enthusiasm. Cosmo groaned when Andy showed the same excitement.

  He hugged his family as they left. Going over to check on his son, he couldn’t resist picking him back up and sitting in the rocking chair again. Dahlia smiled as she lay on her side on the bed.

  “You can’t resist, can you?”

  Ivan shook his head and bent to kiss the top of Chance’s head. “I can’t believe he’s here and safe in my arms.”

  “He looks right there… it’s where he belongs. The two men I love the most are right there. I’m the happiest woman in the world.”

  Ivan smiled at her, “Your two men? I like that.
So, once we get settled with Chance, I plan to properly claim you. I’ll even marry you like the humans do. Andy’s wedding was nice.”

  She laughed. “Most men ask, Ivan.”

  He stood up and came over to sit on the edge of the bed with the baby who was now awake and staring around at his surroundings. His eyes were blue, just like his mother’s, and seemed to latch on to Dahlia before he gave a gummy smile. Maybe it was gas but to Ivan, it looked like a smile.

  “Will you Dahlia Berry, be my mate, my wife, the mother of Chance and any other cubs that we may be blessed with?

  She kissed Chance on his forehead and then looked into Ivan’s eyes, “I would be honored to be your mate, your wife, and the mother of however many children you would like.”

  “Ten sounds like a good number. One down… nine to go. I love you, my beautiful Dahlia.”

  Dahlia smiled. “I love you too, my Bad News Polar Bear.”

  Epilogue

  Damen slammed the cell door shut and locked it. The human, Edward Lance, was yelling at him.

  “You can’t hold me against my will! I have rights! I want my lawyer!”

  “No,” Damen told him simply.

  “What do you mean, no?”

  “You have no rights here. This is a shifter sanctuary and any crimes against a shifter will be dealt with by the shifter enforcers.”

  “I don’t know what lies you’re trying to sell, I’ve never heard of a shifter sanctuary. I am personal friends with the Secretary of State and he will rip this place apart.”

  “Wow, the Secretary of State, huh?” Damen looked over at Ryder. “I bet the President will be interested to know that the Secretary of State is anti-shifter.”

  Ryder chuckled. “Very interested, since the President is a shifter himself.”

  Mr. Lance turned pale. “The President is a shifter?”

  “Oh yes, many of the cabinet members are as well.”

  “I… Why are you telling me this?”

  For the first time since they came across Lance, he didn’t look too sure about himself. Damen smiled broadly. “Why do you think?”

  “You can’t kill me. That’s not legal!”

  “What do you care about the laws of man or laws of shifters? You were prepared to kill your own daughter and grandchild.”

  The other human male hired to help kill Ivan and kidnap Jeanne had been quietly reserved in his separate cell, but now he was talking. “Please… I didn’t know what I was signing up for. I will testify about Lance in a court of law in exchange for my freedom. Please.”

  Damen shook his head. “There won’t be a court of law for either of you. Sit here and wonder how much time you have left, because the clock is ticking.” Damen walked away with Ryder following behind him. They closed the door to the lockup area and locked the door to prevent anyone from going in and possibly setting the two men free.

  “How long do we keep them here?” Ryder asked.

  “The enforcers will arrive tonight at close to midnight. They say it will be easier to transfer the prisoners into their custody with fewer eyes watching.”

  “Do you want me to stay and help guard them until then?”

  “No, you go on to the hospital and check on Ivan, the baby, and Luka. I assume everything is okay but no one has called with an update. I’ll remain here.”

  “Okay. By the way, Rhonda is at her desk out front. She really came through for us today.” Ryder left him there feeling a mixture of conflicting feelings.

  She did help with saving the women, but how did she know about the root cellar? Had she been spying on his family and if so… why? He had doubted Rhonda from the beginning. She claimed to be a ditzy blond but he could see in her beautiful eyes an intelligence that was sharp and quick. It unnerved him at times because her hidden intelligence was a clash from her bombshell appearance. It also didn’t help that she was the most attractive woman he had ever seen.

  Walking to the front of the small sheriff’s station, he noticed her stiffen up her back before making an effort to relax. She was human but she seemed to have alert senses like a shifter. The only time he saw that with humans was with police force and with military-trained individuals.

  “Rhonda, I want to talk to you in my office.”

  “Sure, boss.” She stood up and waited for him to pass her and followed him inside his small office. He closed the door behind her.

  “Sit down.”

  She did with a nervousness only shown by her fingers twirling the pencil she carried with her. The image of a secretary, but she forgot her notepad.

  “First, I want to say how much my family and I appreciate what you did today. You risked your life to save my mother, Dahlia, and the baby. We owe you for that.”

  “It was nothing, really.”

  “How did you know you could enter the basement through the old root cellar tunnels? No one outside of the family even knows about the root cellar.”

  “Ryder would always tell me stories of his childhood and how you and he would sneak out at night through that route to go hook up with girls.”

  “You expertly took out the guy holding a gun on the women. Where did you learn to do that?”

  “I don’t think it takes a class to learn how to take a big fucking pan and whack someone on the back of the head.”

  “There was no pan in the hallway, room, or in the basement.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I might have thrown it out in the yard when we came out of the root cellar. I was in too much of a hurry to get the hell out of there.”

  He was positive that the next time he went to his mom’s house to check the yard, he would find a pan out there somewhere conveniently within the root cellar location. If she was as good as he thought she was, she would have no problem backing up her claims.

  “Is that all? I need to get back to work.” She stood up and started walking to the door but he surprised both of them when he grabbed her arms and backed her up against the wall.

  “Just one more thing…” He pressed his body against hers and felt her shiver and scented her arousal. The woman was driving him crazy, but he refused to let himself get distracted. He had a family and town to protect.

  “What?”

  “Who the hell are you? Because I’ve checked your story and as of two years ago, no one named Rhonda Lee looking like you with your credentials existed.”

  “I’m Rhonda Lee.”

  “Whom do you work for?”

  “You, Sheriff Vedar.”

  “Lies, Rhonda, I can tell a lie from a truth with my eyes closed. I have only one thing to say to you.”

  She gulped, the only outward sign that she was nervous. “What’s that?”

  He gently touched her lips with his, a small touch that seemed to affect them both strongly. “I will find out your secrets and I warn you now, if you plan to hurt those I care about I will make you pay.” Kissing her hard, he released her and walked to his desk. “You’re dismissed for the rest of the day.”

  “Yes, sir.” She opened the door and quickly walked out, leaving Damen feeling frustrated and angry. He had to keep his emotions in check. She might be the enemy. He already had to deal with enemies in lockup; he didn’t need another right now. Damen would find out her secrets… and God help her if she betrayed him.

  About the Author

  KD Jones has published over thirty books in five different series. She has been a huge fan of both romance novels and science fiction novels since she was sixteen years old. Her favorite television shows growing up were Star Trek and Doctor Who. When not writing, she can usually be found curled up on the couch with a good book, working on her hobby of photography, or spending time with her family. As a single working mom, she wants to show her son that anyone can follow their dreams no matter how old they are and where they are in life. Dreams can come true if you work hard and believe in yourself.

  KD Jones Book Series, Book List

  Katieran Prime Series

  Katieran Prime (Book
1)

  Prime Commander (Book 2)

  Prime Medic (Book 3)

  Kiljorn Prime (Book 4)

  Prime Deliverance (Book 5)

  Prime Salvation (Book 6)

  Colonial Prime (Book 7)

  Katieran Prime Celebration (Book 7.5)

  Kiljorn Commander (Book 8)

  Katieran Prime Miracle (Book 9)

  Colonial Commander (Book 10)

  Katieran Prime Infiltration (Book 11)

  Katieran Prime Discovery (Book 12)

  Galactic Cage Fighter Series

  Rage (Book 1)

  Talon (Book 2)

  Taurus (Book 3)

  Zara (Book 4)

  Hammer (Book 5)

  Zen (Book 6)

  Torch (Book 7)

  Maxim (Book 8)

  Ronin (Book 9)

  Nigel (Book 10)

  Dom (Book 11)

  7even Circles Series

  Moon is Calling (Book 1)

  Mercury Rising (Book 2)

  Earth Evolution Series

  Desolation (Book 1)

  Resistance (Book 2)

  Atonement (Book 3)

  Awakening (Book 4)

  Defiance (Book 5)

  Strange Lake Falls Series

  Strange Lake Falls Vampire (Book 1)

  Strange Lake Falls Werewolf (Book 2)

  Strange Lake Falls Vampire Mistress (Book 3)

  Strange Lake Falls Panther (Book 4)

  Strange Lake Falls Gypsy Wolf (Book 5)

  Strange Lake Falls Forbidden Wolf (Book 6)

  Strange Lake Falls Witch (Book 7)

  Inter-Galactic Bounty Hunter Series

  Inter-Galactic Bounty Hunter (Book 1)

  Tempting Bounty (Book 2)

  Rising Bounty (Book 3)

  Polar Bear Express Series

  Her Big Bad Polar Bear (Book 1)

  Bad News Polar Bear (Book 2)

  Leaving Triad Series

  Leaving Triad (LT Book 1)

  Patrolling the Stars (LT Book 2)

  Fighting the Stars (LT Book 3)