A snowstorm on New Year’s Eve brought bear shifters Ellie and AJ together but a secret threatens to tear them apart.
#holidayromance #shapeshifters #paranormalromance #romancenovels
BLURB:
She had every reason to hate him
Aiden "AJ" Shepherd's mistake during a Shifter Army Enforcement
rescue mission cost Ellie Ortiz's brother, Marco, his life. She hates AJ with a
passion until a chance encounter with him on New Year’s Eve reveals he's not
the cold, heartless man she once thought him to be. Her attraction to him takes
her by surprise and she vows to ignore her feelings. When a new job puts her in
contact with him every day, the heat building between them threatens to flare
out of control. Her resolve to keep the sweet, sexy man in the friend zone is
weakening by the day.
His secret
could ruin everything
During a disastrous assignment with Shifters United, AJ uncovers some
information that changes everything. Keeping the truth hidden from Ellie is
killing him but he might lose her forever if he tells her what he learned on
his mission. When Ellie ends up in danger, AJ will stop at nothing to save her.
To survive, they’ll have to work together to stop a reporter who is determined
to prove the existence of shifters.
EXCERPT:
AJ staggered toward Ellie, holding his side. She caught him
before he fell. Blood poured down the side of his face. She pulled the hood of
his coat over his head to hide the blood.
People rushed over to them, asking if he was alright.
I guess they only care how he is now that the fighting is
over.
“He’s fine. Just a little bruised up.”
The wolf shifter woman cleared a path to AJ and guarded his
other side. “I’ll help you get him to the woods. My friend can stall the cops
and do crowd control while you guys shift out your injuries.”
“Thank you. Seriously, thank you.”
The wolf shifter nodded. “No problem. Hurry.”
Ellie grasped AJ’s face in her hands and looked him in the
eye. “We just have to get to the woods. It’s not far. Stay awake and stay with
me. I can’t carry you. Understand?”
“Yeah.” His voice was barely audible.
An eternity later, they found a spot amongst the pine trees
and bushes with enough cover for him to shift. “Hold on. Don’t shift yet. Let
me pull these chunks of metal out of your head first.”
He cursed as she pulled one particularly large, jagged chunk
out of his scalp. Blood poured down his face and neck. His eyes drifted shut.
“Come on! Wake up! Shift!”
He slumped over, oblivious to her yelling. She stripped him
then dug her fingers into his stab wound. He growled and shifted into bear
form. A sob of relief escaped her. AJ shifted back to human form, then, a split
second later, he was a giant furry brown bear again. The bear walked around for
a moment, dug his claws into a tree, then pressed his nose to Ellie’s cheek,
making her laugh. In the blink of an eye, he was in human form again.
“You’re alright now?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You’re sure?” She ran her fingers over the places on his
head she’d seen cut and gouged. No sign of any wounds. She looked at his eyes.
He focused on her properly. She breathed out a sigh of relief. “I’ve seen more
than one shifter be pressed for time to heal and they weren’t healed up as well
as they thought.” His injuries hadn’t been superficial. He wouldn’t have made
it to their room to shift in privacy without being stopped by well-meaning
regulars—shifters and psy often referred to humans with no strange,
extraordinary abilities as regulars—insistent on taking him to a hospital.
People who hated shifters lurked in hospitals, watching,
waiting to destroy anyone they found out of the ordinary. Today, some ignorant
haters had almost killed AJ, at a damn winter festival celebration. Nowhere was
truly safe. She was still freaked at how close he had been to losing
consciousness and never waking up. She knew damn well he would have died if he
hadn’t shifted when he did. She didn’t want his light to burn out. Didn’t want
anybody’s light to dim, really, but he was… She shook her head. A good guy.
That was all. She didn’t want to see a good person die too young. She wrapped
her arms around herself and her eyes teared up.
“Hey,” he spoke softly, “look at me.”
She met his gaze, reluctantly.
“I’m all right,” he assured her. “The important thing is, a
group of angry men didn’t get the chance to beat the living hell out of a
shifter teenager.”
She nodded.
He gently stroked her cheek and his hand came away bloody.
“Your turn to shift.” She hadn’t felt any pain in her face. Probably because
several of her ribs were cracked and her stomach had a fist-sized knot in it
where she’d been punched. She stepped behind a tree, undressed, and shifted. B
shook out her thick black fur and walked around a few paces in the woods. After
a moment, she reluctantly shifted back to human form. Ellie stopped still when
she caught AJ staring at her.
“Damn, you’re beautiful.” His appreciative tone wrapped
around her. She gulped and ducked behind the tree to put her clothes back on.
She emerged, wrapped back up in her bloodstained winter coat and clothes. At
least the blood wouldn’t show up since everything she was wearing was black.
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2 comments:
Mmmm, this sounds delicious - love the excerpt! :)
Thanks Tina!
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