Page 3 of Shifter Mate Magic
The coyote slowed and stalked toward her, growling with yellow-eyed menace.
She took a swipe at his muzzle with her tube. “Back off, fur butt!”
She felt something on her leg and looked down just as the tall man’s hand clamped around her ankle. He growled through temporarily distorted teeth. Shit, he was changing right there, in almost-public, without bothering to take off his clothes. The first coyote lunged forward to grab her forearm. She shrieked, but her husky voice had never been very loud. She pushed her forearm into his mouth to make him gag and back off, grimly hanging onto her pipe.
A huge, rounded shadow emerged from the other end of the alley, near the trash bins. It barreled toward them with a roar loud enough to reverberate off the brick walls.
The coyote spun to face the new menace with a snarl.
The taller man finished shifting and shook off the shreds of his pants and ripped vest. The remnants of his T-shirt looked like a cheap collar.
She backed away, intending to run, but found herself unable to take her eyes off the largest, shaggiest bear she’d ever seen. Not that she’d seen one up close before. It was as big as a diesel pickup truck and had distinctive pale markings across its furry nose and chest.
The first coyote darted sideways to slash sharp teeth at the bear’s throat. The bear ignored him as it swung a mighty paw at the T-shirt coyote, knocking him back a good ten feet. T-shirt coyote slowly scrabbled to his feet, shaking his head as if dazed.
The other coyote danced back, and then in again, biting the bear’s shoulder. The bear turned and snapped wickedly long teeth at the coyote. He nimbly dodged away.
The T-shirt coyote lunged forward and bit at the bear’s other shoulder, but only came away with a mouthful of shaggy fur. The bear growled and swatted the T-shirt coyote again. This time, he flew through the air and hit the brick wall of the store hard with a pained yip, then fell to the ground.
The bear turned to snap at the other coyote again. The coyote scrambled backward, then lunged in and bit the bear’s flank.
The bear sat on him.
The squashed coyote whined, then was silent.
She glanced at the T-shirt coyote, but he lay unmoving in the dirt.
A powerful wave of something indescribable buffeted her senses, sort of like magic, but not. It seemed to come from the bear, and felt like an imperative to do something, but she didn’t know what.
Her brain managed to get a coherent thought past her shock. If the huge bear shifter with equally huge claws thought she smelled really good, she’d have no chance at all of getting away. Fear galvanized her into backing up with tiny, shuffling steps. Maybe he wouldn’t notice...
The bear whined, and she froze.
The massive animal heaved itself up and forward. Even as she watched, the flattened coyote was shifting back into a naked man. He was out cold. A quick glance toward the wall told her the other shifter was now human, too, wearing nothing but the ragged T-shirt collar.
The bear took a step toward her.
She trembled with the need to run but running prey excited predator shifters. She couldn’t help the whimper of fear that escaped her.
More not-magic brushed her senses, this time like a velvety soft blanket against her skin.
In an instant, the bear became a fully clothed man wearing jeans and a V-necked T-shirt over a hundred yards of muscles. Mr. Broad Shoulders himself.
Of course, the hottest man on Earth would turn out to be a shifter.
“Are you hurt?” His tone matched his worried expression. Even his voice made her want to step closer so he could whisper in her ear.
“No, I’m fine.” Her baby took that moment to kick, and she winced.
He took one small step forward. “You’re in pain.”
“It’ll go away.” She darted her gaze away for a moment to look for her helmet. “Thank you for helping me.” She kept her eyes on him as she took a trial step away, to see how he reacted. When he did nothing but stand there, with worry tightening his wide, kissable mouth, she moved slowly toward her helmet, watching him the whole time. Her makeshift magic-powered pipe needed recharging, so she slid it into the pocket of her cargo pants before bending over to pick up the helmet.
He cleared his throat. “Could I, er, buy you a cup of coffee?” His tone almost sounded shy.
Yes, yes, yes, sang her body, suddenly flush with raging hormones. She almost swayed toward him.
No, no, no, shouted her rational brain, the one that had plans. The first and only time she’d listened to her body, she’d ended up pregnant and an unwilling captive of a feline-shifter pride.
