Bear Assassin: Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (The Enforcers Book 3) by Ruby Shae Read Free Book Online Page A

ring as if she were one of his sparring partners.
    Sweat soaked her hair and clothes, and she was pretty sure she smelled. When she stopped to take a drink of water, a puddle formed beneath her and she’d slipped on the mat twice while running drills. Tobias, of course, looked fantastic in comparison and she’d spent most of the sessions wanting to dig her own grave and climb in.
    “Let’s go again,” he said. “After the first night, you’ve done nothing but slack off.”
    “What if I just had an exceptional first night?” she snapped.
    Damn!
    She was seriously getting sick of him riding her ass, but he was right. She wasn’t giving it her all. Maybe she should, maybe it wouldn’t matter anyway, but after they confronted her attackers in the bar, she realized she was too aggressive. She’d wanted to beat the shit out of the men again, but Tobias, her mate, had been able to hold back.
    The truth had rattled her confidence, but it had also given her an idea. If she acted more like a girl, and less like a man, maybe he would change his mind about her one day.
    So far, her brilliant plan had turned out to be incredibly stupid and demoralizing, and Tobias seemed to dislike her even more.
    “We both know that’s not true,” he said, his voice normal again. “What gives?”
    “I…”
    Want you. Need you. Can’t think around you.
    “I’m tired,” she said finally.
    “We’ll take a rest when you take me down,” he said. “Let’s do it again.”
    “I doubt anyone can take you down,” she laughed, setting her water bottle back in the corner next to her towel. She was good, but she wasn’t that good, and he was insane if he thought she could ever take him down.
    “For the right woman,” he said, smiling, “I’ll fall like a bag of bricks.”
    For the right woman…
    But not for her.
    Tears filled her eyes, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. He was killing her, and she had to get away from him as soon as possible. She tried to climb out of the ring, but her sweaty hands foiled her plan and she landed on the hardwood floor in a heap. She felt Tobias’ shadow above her, but she couldn’t look at him or stop to hear his condolences.
    In that moment, nothing else mattered except getting as far away from him as possible.
    She crawled on the floor until she could get up without slipping on her own sweat, and then she raced out of the building. Tobias followed her to the door of the gym and called after her, but she didn’t stop or slow down, and soon his voice became a mere whisper in the night.
    With nothing more than the clothes on her back and sweat dripping from her skin, she had no choice but to run. It had been days since she’d shifted, and her bear welcomed the chance to change forms.
    A mile down the street, she turned down another road, and then another. Each turn led her closer to her favorite spot, and twenty minutes later she’d run into the forest on the edge of town.
    She leaned against a tree to regulate her breathing, and after determining the area safe, she called her bear and instantly shifted into her animal. Her grizzly wasn’t as big as Logan and Jacob’s, but no one would call her cute and cuddly either. She was a predator, one of the biggest in the forest, and she didn’t need a man who didn’t want her.
    She roared into the night, long and loud, and released some of her pent up anguish. It would never fully dissolve, but it was a start, and she felt noticeably better. Instead of running, she lumbered toward her favorite hot spring, taking the time to appreciate the smells of her surroundings along the way.
    Even though it was located deep in the forest, the spring was a popular make-out spot, and she had to make sure the area was free from humans before she could relax. A brief survey of the area revealed no humans, and she let out a loud groan when she waded into the warm water.
    The water wasn’t deep, or wide, which made it the perfect place for couples, but she could