For Shift's Sake: Paranormal shapeshifter alpha werebear soldier BBW romance by Mina Carter Read Free Book Online Page A

could speak, standing and wiping her eyes. Clearing up the evidence of her tears before she let him in. She had no clue he could see as well at night as he could in the day, obviously.
    He waited as she reached out for the bolt, trying not to jiggle from foot to foot with impatience. As soon as the bolt cleared, he shoved the door opened and hauled her into his arms.
    “What happened? Tell me,” he demanded, doing his best to keep the growl out of his voice. Gentle and understanding, he reminded himself, but it was hard as fuck when his bear was all growly stompy.
    “It’s okay. Just me being stupid, that’s all.”
    She rested against him, burrowing into his arms like a frightened creature. Her small frame shook and the smell of her fright was an acrid sting in his nostrils. Whatever had happened had rattled her. Pulling her closer, he rubbed her back in small, soothing gestures.
    At least he hadn’t popped a claw. His bear was closer to the surface than he’d ever felt it…fur poking from his pores… but she was traumatized enough as it was. Finding out all the creatures of myth and legend existed on top of what she’d been through would be enough to crack even the strongest mind.
    “Bobbi…can you tell me what happened?” he leaned closer and froze. There…just faintly on her shoulders…the scent of another man.
    “Who was it? Did he hurt you?” How he managed to keep his bear under control, he had no clue, but he did, pulling back to look down at her face.
    “No,” she admitted. There was a damp patch on the front of his jacket where she’d been silently crying. She laughed a bit, wiping at her eyes. “I’m being stupid, that’s all. He caught me off guard. I should have made sure the door was locked after Louise left, but she’s always forgetting stuff and I have to let her back in. I should have known better.”
    He slid his hands over her shoulders, and her upper arms. Rubbing for comfort and to erase the other man’s scent, covering her in his own. He ached to claim her. Now. Yesterday. Fucking morals.
    “Who was it?”
    It wasn’t a question, and they both knew it. She sighed and closed her eyes.
    “Conrad Jackson. He’s been trying to get me into bed for a few months. Doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the word no. Came here to tell me I was his and not to try his patience.”
    The growl escaped before Reese could stop it. “Fuck that. Bastard can’t just walk in and claim he owns you like that.”
    She shook her head. “I keep telling him that. But he seems a little rattled, perhaps after someone busted up one of Riley’s bars and warned them all off me.” Her eyebrow winged up and she looked at him suspiciously. “Want to tell me anything about that, Reese?”
    The sound of his name on her lips was heaven itself. Feigning an innocence he’d never possessed in all his born days, he shrugged. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. Is that it? He just talked?”
    She seemed way too rattled for a mere talk, however threatening. And the asshole had touched her. Just for that Reese was going to break every bone in his hands. Maybe up to the shoulder.
    She nodded, but tears sparkled in her eyes again. He reached out and brushed one fat tear away as it slid down her cheek. “Don’t lie to me, sweetheart.”
    “He…tried to kiss me.”
    Rage hit Reese. White-hot and feral, it exploded through him like a blast of C-4. His bear snarled, and fur covered his back in a wave before retracting beneath his skin.
    “Fucking son of a bitch, I’ll kill the bastard!” he snarled. “Tear his spine out and dance in his fucking entrails.”
    She didn’t back down in front of his anger, shooting out a hand to grab his arm when he turned, ready to track down and rip Conrad Jackson to shreds right that moment. He stopped and looked down. Her hand looked so small against his brawny forearm. Beauty and the beast. Without fear, she moved closer, fitting her softness against the hard