Page 26 of Bria and the Tiger

Bria grinned and Rosalie flushed. “I’m sorry. Is that too personal of a question?”

“No. I spend most of my time in my human form, even at home.”

“Is that what most shifters do?” Rosalie asked.

“I think it depends on the shifter,” Bria said. “My dad spends a lot of time in his tiger form, but my mom rarely shifts. I can’t even remember the last time I saw her shift. I mean, she does shift, just not usually in front of others. We have to spend some time in our animal forms or we get…weird.”

“Do you have any siblings?”

“No. Tiger shifters aren’t known for their big families. If we even want kittens, most of us only have one, maybe two, at the most. We like our space.”

“What about lion shifters? Do they like to have big families?”

“That’s kind of tough to say. Female lion shifters love kittens and are great mothers but male lion shifters are a little on the,” she hesitated, “wild side. Not many of them want to settle down, you know?”

“Yes.” Disappointment coloured Rosalie’s voice. “So, male lion shifters never get like, uh, married or commit to one woman?”

“Some do,” Bria said. “I was dating a lion shifter for a while and he wasn’t your typical lion shifter.”

“Not typical how?”

“Well, he was ready to settle with one woman and um, honestly? He wasn’t super kinky in bed. Most lion shifters love the kinky stuff but Raden had pretty normal tastes in bed.”

“So,” Rosalie poked at her pasta with a fork, “if a woman wanted to attract a lion shifter, she needs to be really kinky in bed. Is that right?”

“It helps. Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule, but if he’s a typical lion shifter, then yeah, it helps if you’re open to trying new things in the bedroom.”

“Okay.”

“Is there a lion shifter you’re interested in?” Bria asked.

“What? No, no, that’s not it,” Rosalie said. “I just – I’m curious about shifters that’s all. I’ve never even dated a shifter before, although I’m, you know, open to that. There just aren’t a lot of shifters on the online dating app that I use. I think they stick mostly to the Shifters Love one and humans aren’t allowed to sign up for that site.”

“I just signed up on Shifters Love,” Bria said.

Rosalie grinned at her. “Been on any dates yet?”

“No, but I’ve had a couple of messages from a squirrel shifter and a wolf shifter.”

“A squirrel shifter?” Rosalie gave her a look of surprise. “Do tiger shifters date prey animals?”

“Not usually,” Bria said. “Again, there are exceptions, but if a prey shifter is looking to date a predator shifter, it’s because they usually like to be dominated. I’m not into that.”

She laughed at the look on Rosalie’s face. “Sorry, did I share too much?”

“No, not at all. I hope I’m not coming across as being too nosy. I’m very interested in your culture, but I’ve never really felt comfortable talking to Betty or Sam about it.” She lowered her voice and glanced at the doorway of the kitchen. “They won’t admit this, but neither of them are very fond of humans.”

“I don’t think you’re being nosy,” Bria said. “If you have any questions about shifters just ask me, and if I have questions about humans, I’ll ask you. Deal?”

“Deal,” Rosalie said.

As Rosalie reached into her lunch bag for an apple, Bria finished the last of her sandwich. She’d never been friends with a human before, Willow and Ava were the first humans she’d really hung out with, but she was already fond of Rosalie. The woman seemed very sweet.

“Well, it must be my lucky day. Two gorgeous ladies in the kitchen.” A deep voice purred.

The musky smell of lion filled the kitchen and she stared at the large blond man standing in the doorway. He smiled at her as his dark green eyes dipped to her chest before back to her face. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair and strolled into the kitchen, dropping into the chair next to Rosalie with lazy grace.

“Lincoln, this is Bria, our new receptionist.”

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