Lori took Nancy upstairs, changed her nappy and gave her a feed. How did I end up needing to be rescued by Bruno yet again? she thought. It was almost comical. Almost. He must think I'm such an idiot. Yet, his way with me is so gentle. He's this big, rugged, sexy man – wait – did I just say sexy? She sucked in a breath. He was, undeniably, a very sexy guy. His strong, solid physique was her ideal body type, and those eyes – when they fixed on her, they did something that made her feel hot and uncomfortable and excited, all at the same time. But he was so far out of her league that it wasn’t even funny. I wish I was beautiful and sexy too, so that he’d be interested in me, she thought. And then she clamped that thought right down in her brain. She had no time or energy to be thinking things like that now.
Nancy was making adorable little noises as she fed, looking up at Lori from time to time with her lovely violet eyes. This – this is all the emotional closeness I need, she reminded herself. Relationships just bring pain and heartache. When Nancy had finished feeding, she snuggled with her on her bed for a little while, before putting her into her beautiful new, hand-carved crib. Then Lori took her make-up off, cleaned her teeth and went to bed as well.
Chapter Five
All ten members of the bear clan had gathered outside Connor’s place. They shivered a little in the cool midnight air as they stripped their clothes off and left them on the porch. Then they shifted. Less than a minute later, there were ten full-grown bears standing in the forest. Despite being a clan, they weren't all related by blood, and their appearances were very diverse. Some had black fur, others brown. Timo’s fur had a silver hue, while Olsen’s was the color of honey. In the way of shifters, the color of their eyes stayed the same when they shifted, and Bruno’s pale blue eyes were more startling than ever when combined with his glossy, chocolate brown fur.
Their ‘midnight shift’ gatherings were a tradition they'd kept for many years. They could only run safely as a group of bears under cover of darkness, and they loved to hang out with each other in their bear forms. Once everybody was ready, they took off at an easy lope. They were heading for a lake deep in the forest. On the way, they hunted small animals, but they'd eaten enough at the ball not to need to do any serious hunting. They also picked up the scent of other shifters – Magnus had been nearby not so long ago, and there was a whole bunch of jaguars that had just moved to the area. They’d sprayed their scent everywhere to mark out their territory, and the air was bitter and acrid. Bruno raised an eyebrow. He wondered how that would work out for them when the other big cats noticed what they were up to. The moon was three quarters full, and illuminated the woods with a blue glow. The full moon had been a couple of days earlier, and wolf-shifters were noticeably absent from the forest. Following the frenzy they experienced up to and during each full moon, they’d keep a low profile, sleeping a lot and recovering their energies.
Bruno was pleased to feel himself full of vitality again. He got so sluggish in winter, and then spring was a slow process of reawakening, but by late in the season, he was fully energized. He didn’t need to sleep much in the summer months, and his body was at its strongest and most agile.
Before long, they arrived at the lake and jumped in, one after the other, with ten huge splashes. They tumbled and frolicked around, diving down and catching fish, and taking turns at dunking each other.
As Bruno was swimming, Niall came up behind him and tugged on his ear. He wanted to chat. Bruno swam over to an area of flat rocks where they often hung out and pulled himself out of the water. Niall followed him, and they both shifted, before dropping back into the water up to their necks. An underground hot spring took the chill out of the lake water, and it would be warm enough to hang out in their human forms for a quarter of an hour or so.
“What's going on, bro?” Bruno said, slapping Niall on the shoulder. Niall shrugged.
“Nothing much.”
“Now, I know that's not true. Otherwise we wouldn't be here, as naked as babies, while everyone else is catching fish and drowning each other. Did you have a good time at the ball?”
“I guess so. I mean, the food was really good. I liked dancing with Lori too. She’s really nice and pretty. I don’t think she liked me though, and she’s not my mate anyway.”
“Are you sure?” Niall nodded.
“I don’t have much experience at these things, but, yes, I am sure.” Shifters always knew if a woman was their mate. It was a primal instinct that went back through the generations, and was as much a part of their DNA as hunting or running.
“You want to find your mate, don’t you, Niall?”
“Yeah, I feel like it’s time. But I keep going to these balls and fairs and I don’t meet anyone. There are all these beautiful girls, but I’m too shy to talk to them. And then I see Connor and Logan so happy with their mates, and I want that for myself too. Timo’s also been dating a few girls lately.”
“And you know that’s all because of the dating app, right?”
“The app called Shiftr? They all met their mates through there?” Bruno laughed.
“Yes, bro! Where have you been?” Niall groaned.
“I’m not into technology. I don’t even know how to use an app.”
“You have a smartphone, though, right?”
“Umm, does that mean a phone with all those little colored squares on it?” Bruno threw his head back and laughed loudly.
“Niall, you’re like five years younger than me. You should be telling me about this stuff!” Niall looked miserable.
“I know. But I’m a simple bear. I like hanging in the forest and working with wood. Technology has never made much sense to me.”
“I believe Logan said the same thing until he met Dina, and he’s been thanking his lucky stars for the wonders of technology ever since!”
“Are you on the app, Bruno?” Bruno shook his head.
“Nope,” he said shortly.
“But why?”
“I’m not looking. It’s just me and Tad, and we’re happy with that.”
“But everyone needs their mate.” Bruno sighed.
“I’ve had my chance already, Niall. I had a mate and lost her, and that was my one shot.”
“I know what you’ve been through, Bruno. And nobody could ever replace your mate, but you deserve some happiness. You’re a really good guy. You know I look up to you.” Bruno smiled at the younger bear.
“Thanks for saying so. That means a lot.”
“How about Lori? I think she liked you more than me.”
“Really?” Bruno glanced at Niall, then looked away again. “No. She’s someone that I assisted in a professional capacity. It would be wrong. Like a doctor dating a patient. And, anyway, you know the real reason why I could never be with her.”
“Lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice,” Niall said. Bruno looked up at the clear, moonlit sky.
“Except, sometimes it does.”
Bruno pulled himself out of the water.
“Let’s get you set up on the app though. I’ll ask Connor how you do it. I think you need a secret code or something, as it’s not in the regular app store.” Niall grinned.
“Ok, I’ll try it. But I think if I’m doing it, you should have a go too.”
Bruno didn’t reply, as he was already half way through shifting back into his bear form. Niall shifted back too, and, as he landed back in the water with a splash, Bruno wrapped his paws around his broad back and dragged him under the water.
The bears often played rough. It wasn’t that uncommon for their teeth or claws to draw blood, but it was all part of being a bear shifter. Especially when they were growly and grumpy, it was a good way for them to get their aggression out. When everyone was done, they climbed out of the lake and shook themselves vigorously, spraying droplets of water over each other.
They loped back to Connor's place, shifted, and dressed quickly again. Then everyone went off to their individual cabins.
When Bruno got home, he mess
aged Connor and asked how the app worked. Connor was still awake as he and Lauren were up feeding Willow, and he called him back and explained that he just needed to forward an email, and the app would install from a link. The email arrived a minute later, and Bruno clicked on the link, wanting to check that it worked ok before he passed it on to his technophobe buddy. He got up and put some moody blues rock on the music player, went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, and came back to the couch. A little orange icon had appeared on his phone, complete with download instructions. Reflexively, he tapped the icon. An alert popped up:
Are you a shape shifter?
It couldn’t hurt to go through the motions and see what was involved so he could help Niall set it all up. He tapped a box to place a tick in it. Another alert popped up:
If your phone has a fingerprint-activated home button, please place your thumb on it now.
He did as it asked.
Our system has identified that you are a bear shifter. If this is correct, please tick the box.
That’s pretty cool. He ticked it.
Before you install and use our app, you need to read and sign our privacy policy. In short, you must promise not to discuss the app with any human whatsoever, and to only forward the download link to shifters within your clan, pack, or family, or those pre-approved by the owners of the app.
Bruno read through the T&Cs and gave his promise not to disclose any information.
Congratulations! You are now a member of Shiftr! A world of happiness and fun awaits. We are very confident that your perfect match is not far away!
Wait! But I was just doing this to prepare for helping Niall! I’m not even looking for my mate! The app opened, and he was prompted to enter his personal details. “What am I doing?” he muttered, as he found himself adding his height, build, eye color, and interests. Then the app asked him for a full-body shot, shirtless. What the? And a photo of himself in his animal form. I’m pretty sure I won’t have either of those, he thought, tapping on his photo reel app.
Less than 100 photos in there was one of him chopping some wood out the back. He remembered the occasion. It was a day in early spring, and he’d been really hot from his exertions, so he’d taken his shirt off and tied it around his waist. Tad had been running around with his phone, taking random pictures, and he must’ve taken one of him without him realizing. He selected it and added it to his profile. Then he scrolled back further, not expecting to find any bear pics. But there was a photo of him and the guys. Lauren had taken it as they’d arrived back from their ‘midnight shift’ and she’d been so entertained to see a bunch of bears running together, that she’d taken a photo with her phone. They were racing, and he’d come in first, so he was in the front of the shot. It wasn’t ideal; he imagined the app would prefer something a little more dignified, but it would have to do. He selected it.
His beer was empty. He went to the fridge and got another one. An alert was waiting for him:
What kind of mate are you looking for?
I’m not looking for anyone. He groaned. He’d come this far, he might as well finish. ‘Kind-hearted’, ‘genuine’, ‘strong-spirited’, ‘family-oriented’, ‘someone who wants to have kids’. He paused. He didn’t want to have any kids either, but it was theoretical. If he was looking for a mate, in a parallel universe, he guessed he’d want to have cubs with her. Ok, that’s enough. He clicked ‘done’.
Congratulations, your profile is complete! All that remains is for you to look through your feed at some of the gorgeous curvy girls that we have on here! We encourage you to use the compatibility matcher to make it easier to locate your perfect match. If you need any more tips or information, please contact Tamika right here!
the latest chirpy alert said. He tapped it and it disappeared. In its place was a list of profiles, each with a little thumbnail photo. Reflexively, he tapped the first one. A photo of a pretty, curvy blonde woman filled the screen. She looked nice, like a nice, normal girl. He sighed. But she wasn’t Karen. He couldn’t help comparing all women to her. She’d been his mate, which meant that they’d been completely bonded to one another. He couldn’t imagine replacing that bond with another.
Another alert popped up on the screen:
You’ve got mail! To activate your inbox, tap the icon below.
That’s weird – he’d only been on the site for a minute. He tapped the icon. The message was from the blonde woman:
I see you’ve left your scent on my profile. Want to get to know each other a little better?
He slapped his forehead. People can see when you visit their profile? What have I done now? He tapped out a reply:
I’m sorry, but I’m not actually looking for anyone. I just signed up to figure out how it works, so I can help a friend create a profile. Best of luck with your search.
The woman’s reply came fast:
Whatever, doofus. You could at least be honest and say that I’m not your type!
He began to tell her that it wasn’t like that, but then he stopped. What was the point? She wouldn’t believe him anyway. He turned off the messaging capability, killed the app and dropped the phone in his lap. He had no business being on there.
He laced his hands behind his head and lay back on the couch cushions with his eyes closed, listening to the music. He thought about Karen, as usual, and then, out of the blue, Lori rose up in his mind. Her unusual violet eyes seemed so vivid that she could have been there, right in front of him. There was energy between them, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. He could never, in a million years, date her. He believed in fate and omens, and the way they’d met said very strongly to him that being with her would bring disaster to both of them. Very deliberately, he forced her out of his mind.
He drifted for a while, dozing on and off, having those weird, vivid dreams that come at the edges of sleep. When he finally woke up fully and went to bed, it was gone 5am.
Chapter Six
Lori was sitting in Andrea and Magnus’s living room, and all her new girlfriends were sitting around her, casting glances at each other. As she took a sip of her coffee, she stifled a yawn.
“Rough night with Nancy?” Dina asked, holding Hayden on her lap.
“Mmm, I didn’t sleep much, but it wasn’t because of Nancy,” she replied. “Are there bears in these woods?”
“Yes,” Dina said cautiously. “There are a few. Why – did you spot one?”
“I’m not sure. I had the weirdest experience last night. Something woke me up in the middle of the night – a sound from outside. I went to the window and looked out, and I saw a pack of bears running by. I was sure I was awake, but I must have been dreaming, right? I didn’t think bears ran in packs, and, according to Google, they don’t. So it had to be a dream. But, after that, I was definitely wide-awake. I felt restless, and then Nancy woke up, and we didn’t get back to sleep properly until almost five.”
“Maybe you weren’t dreaming. There are some unusual animals in the woods of Hope Valley,” Lauren said.Lori looked at her questioningly, but she didn’t say anything more.
“You poor thing, you must be exhausted,” Melissa cut in.
“My body is tired, but my mind actually feels energized. I can’t explain it; it’s like I suddenly woke up after a very long sleep. I feel like I felt when I was in my teens, before I met Rob.”
“That’s amazing, sis,” Andrea said with warmth.
“I feel like I’m entering a new phase in my life. I was talking to Bruno last night about the store I used to own here, and I was thinking about starting it up again.”
“Great idea!” everyone said.
“So how did it go with Bruno last night?” Lauren said, eyes sparkling, and ignoring the frowns Andrea was directing her way.
“He was great. He really calmed me down after the fireworks freaked me out, and then we had a nice chat on the way home.”
“Annnd?”
“And nothing,” Lori said with a blush. “We were just talking like frien
ds. And, anyway, he’s way too hot for me.”
“That is not true!” Lauren said. “I can tell you that definitively, girl, as all four of us have got ourselves insanely hot mates. And you’ll be doing the same very soon.” Lori eyed the other four women. They were all curvy girls, like her, and all totally deserving of their partners. But in her experience, guys as hot as Connor, Logan, Roman and Magnus went for the skinny girl, the size zero celebrity look-alike. They didn’t go for real women with meat on their bones. But last night at the ball, she’d also seen quite a few beautiful curvy girls with stunning husbands, and they all looked blissfully in love. She looked at her friends suspiciously.
“I feel like there’s something you’re all bursting to tell me,” she said. “There’s something about Hope Valley, isn’t there? And I’ve got a strong feeling that it’s about more than unusual animals.”
“You’ve got a very smart sister, Andrea,” Lauren said with a laugh.
“It is, but unusual animals are a key part of it,” Andrea said.
“I don’t understand.”
“I wasn’t exactly honest when I told you that I met Magnus through interviewing him. That was the second time we’d been in contact with each other. The first was through a dating app – the same app that all these girls used to meet their mates.”
“So it’s an app for curvy girls?” Lori said. Andrea took a deep breath.
“Curvy girls and shape-shifting men. In other words, men who are half animal, and who can switch between their animal and human sides at will.”
“The bears you saw last night were Connor and Logan’s clan. They were going for a swim in the lake together,” Lauren said gently. Lori didn’t say anything. Her eyes were wide open and her lips had pursed into a small O.
“Are you ok, hun?” Lauren said, laying a hand on her shoulder.
“You’re kidding me, right?” she whispered. They shook their heads solemnly. “You’re telling me that Connor and Logan, and Roman and Magnus are all half bear?”
Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Lori) BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Hope Valley BBW Dating App Romance Book 5) Page 6
