Bearing the Whiteout (Ice Bear Shifters Book 2) by Sloane Meyers

off, still. And how do you know the cub is a ‘he’?”
    “I just have a feeling. Mother’s intuition,” Kenzie said.
    Ryker laughed, and he and Kenzie started discussing whether they could add an addition onto the cabin to make it multiple rooms. Delaney only half-listened to what they were saying. She was watching Eric outside. He was gesturing emphatically with his arms, and obviously having a very heated conversation with his alpha. The storm had completely subsided, and Delaney could clearly see Eric pacing back and forth and waving his arms. After about ten minutes, Eric stormed back into the house with a strained look on his face.
    “We have to go, now. Emergency clan meeting.”
    Ryker raised his eyebrows but didn’t look all that shocked. “I take it Neal was pissed?”
    “To put it mildly. Can we borrow one of your snowmobiles to get into town? Mine is probably a pile of ashes since it was parked right next to the shelter when it went up in flames.”
    “Sure, here,” Ryker said, and tossed a pair of keys to Eric.
    “Delaney, do you want to borrow a parka?” Kenzie asked. “That jacket you wore in here isn’t exactly the warmest for this weather.”
    “That would be great,” Delaney said, and Kenzie handed her a parka. The four of them bundled up and then headed out to the snowmobiles. The women each hopped on behind their respective man, and the snowmobiles zoomed off toward town. Delaney had no idea where they were going, exactly, but she didn’t want to press Eric with any further questions. His mood had soured considerably. Delaney kept silent and watched the buildings and parked snowmobiles fly by. Occasionally they would speed past a person in a parka trudging along on foot. It seemed odd to be taking in the normal details of society when Delaney had spent so much of the last day thinking that she was going to die. Everything seemed to be in super sharp focus as she took it in, every little detail a reminder that she was, in fact, still alive and breathing.
    Fifteen minutes later, they pulled in front of a building with a sign that read “Neal’s Tattoo Shop.” There were already several snowmobiles in front, and Delaney assumed that the rest of the clan was there already. Either that or the tattoo parlor was doing a heck of a lot of business at the moment. Delaney realized she wasn’t entirely sure what the day or hour was right now. Everything had melted together into a blurry continuum of events.
    Ryker and Kenzie filed into the shop, with Eric and Delaney behind them. They walked past the front waiting area and a few tattoo chairs and privacy curtains, and into a back room that was full of boxes and filing cabinets. Delaney recognized Tyler from the Northwinds Pub. He gave Delaney a friendly nod of greeting, but his face had a somber expression on it. Another large man with violet eyes leaned against the wall next to Tyler. And sitting on a large stack of boxes, was a large man with arms crossed and an air of authority. This must be Neal. His expression appeared so angry that Delaney almost expected to see smoke literally coming out of his ears.
    “You must be Delaney?” he asked. His voice was strained, but he didn’t sound unkind.
    Delaney nodded.
    “I’m Neal, the Northern Lights alpha. I see you’ve already met Ryker and Kenzie. Over here is Tyler, who I understand you’ve also met?”
    Delaney nodded again.
    “Next to him is Alan. This is our entire clan.”
    “It’s nice to meet you all.”
    Neal gave her a brief nod. “Likewise. If you’d like to have a seat, we’ll begin this meeting.”
    Delaney scurried over to sit on a box next to Kenzie. Neal stood and raked his fingers through his hair, pacing back and forth for several moments before speaking.
    “There are a few reasons I called this meeting today. The first of which is that we’ve now been exposed as shifters to another human. We’ve got to be more careful, guys. I know you were in an emergency situation,