Spirit Bear Conspiracy by Anne Kane

Spirit bears (aka Kermode bears — Ursus americanus
kermodei) are a subspecies of the North American black bear with a rare
recessive gene that makes their fur white or cream. Spirit bears are found only
in the Great Bear Rainforest, the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest.
Estimated spirit bear population numbers no more than 400 individuals. The
First Nations communities who have lived in the region for thousands of years
call the spirit bear moskgm’ol, or “white bear,” and view the animal as
sacred.

Many thanks to BBC Wildlife for their Spirit
Bear Guide.

Kimberly

I rinsed myself off and then stepped out of the shower,
wrapping one towel around myself and using another to towel my hair dry. Still
working on my hair, I opened the door and sauntered down the hall into the
living room. “So who was at the door? A vacuum cleaner salesman or one of those
darling guys in white shirts and badly fitting suits trying to save your soul?”

“Ummm.” Sasha cleared her throat noisily. “Actually, it’s my
stepbrother, Matty. You remember me telling you about him?”

I let go of the second towel in favor of making sure the one
wrapped around my torso was firmly in place. “Oh crap, I’m sorry. I’ll go get
decent.” I could feel my face turning bright red as I whirled around and
scurried down the hall to my bedroom.

Just what I needed — to meet Sasha’s stepbrother without
any clothes on. I choked down an insane urge to start giggling. I had the
feeling once I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop. Hopefully I hadn’t flashed
the poor guy with any body parts before I fled.

I pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before
blow-drying my hair. I needed to buy myself time to get over the embarrassment
of waltzing practically naked into the living room.

I groaned at the thought of what he must think of me. Sasha
had told me he was a bit of a maverick, ex-military turned crusader, running
around trying to save the world.

Sounded like a nice enough guy, and Sasha adored him. A part
of me envied the fact that both Sasha and her stepbrother had the financial
security to let them do what they wanted with their lives. Unlike me, they were
born into wealthy families. Although my salary as a conservation officer was
decent enough, there wasn’t much left over at the end of the month. Life was
expensive.

Putting the hair dryer down on the dresser, I grasped the
door handle and took a deep breath. I opened the door and forced myself to walk
down the hall to the living room as if I hadn’t just waltzed in there sporting
a towel and nothing else. Matty was family, right? Family got to see you in
your tattered jeans and Saturday sweats.

And with your soggy bath towel wrapped around you.

Sasha’s stepbrother was a bit of a mystery to me.

I’d never met him. I’d just heard stories about this crazy
gonna-save-the-world guy that randomly showed up without prior warning. Sasha
adored him because he’d run interference between her and her parents and
managed to get them to back off when they wanted to marry her off to some
country club guy in their jet set.

From what I’d gathered from Sasha’s stories, he belonged to
a group of guys who didn’t always work within the law. I wasn’t quite sure how
they went about that, but I suspected it paid to be rich and powerful enough to
make people do what you want. He sounded like your typical rebel.

Plastering a smile on my face, I entered the living room at
a sedate pace. “So where’s this famous stepbrother of yours?”

“Right here.” Sasha bounced to her feet, her eyes glowing
happily as she swept her arm out to indicate the man lounging on the sofa
beside her. “Matty, meet the sister of my heart, Kimberly.”

The man rose to his feet and turned to face me, extending
his hand.

Taking the offered hand, I looked up and the smile froze on
my face as I stared into those gorgeous blue eyes. “Ryland?”