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  Jagger smiled and waited for her address. When she was slow to spill the details, he grew restless. “Your address, Ingrid,” he said firmly.

  “Right.” She inhaled deeply and blew the air out between pursed lips. Leaning into her car, she dug through her purse for a scrap of paper and pen and jotted it down. She quickly shoved her hand out to him before she could change her mind. It was the most exciting thing to ever happen to her, even if she was terrified of going out with a man who had the ability to turn into a beast. She flushed, her cheeks heating up, and scampered back to her car. “I have deliveries to make,” she added.

  “Dinner. Seven. I’ll see you then.” Jagger watched as she drove away.

  Ingrid’s palms grew sweaty as she gripped the steering wheel too tightly. Did that really happen? Did she say yes? A huge grin spread across her face, and then slid off just as quickly when the reality hit her. She just said yes to a…shifter. Her father would be pissed. He called them half-breeds, told her they were dirty, and said they couldn’t control themselves. And yet, Dr. Quinn seemed normal enough from what she could tell. Of course she’d only ever seen him in his human form. And for barely a few moments…and this was a mistake. She panicked. What made her say yes? Stupid, stupid, stupid. She barely knew him.

  Chapter 5

  Jagger reached for his slacks and pulled them up. He’d need to keep his thoughts of her fertile and round body, or the softer material of his trousers wouldn’t hide his arousal. When he looked at her, the way she smelled, the way she walked… his cock started to fill again, engorging at the thought of penetrating her. The outline of his thick shaft was visible through the gray wool of his pants. In reality, he’d keep it in his pants and be a perfect gentleman, but his thoughts were private and he allowed himself that pleasure.

  Jagger finished dressing and checked the time. He grabbed the slip of paper with Ingrid’s address and headed to her house. Pulling into a spare slot in the driveway, his eyes swept over the surroundings. It was well cared for, with a neat manicured lawn, though little ornamentation or landscaping other than grass. Her familiar red car was in the drive; the one that almost took him out on his way to work that morning.

  Jagger’s long legs stretched out in front of him. Standing he gave another quick stretch and made his way to the front door. One quick ring of the doorbell and in seconds the door swung open. On the other side was a man with a shotgun aimed directly at him.

  “Do you think we don’t have a database with your half-breed, shifter-ass names on it?” He spat out, pulling the pump action of the shotgun to make it clear he wasn’t fooling around. “I don’t want your kind near my girl, you got that? Now you turn around slowly and get back into your car and make your way back to your side of town and we won’t have any trouble. Otherwise, I’ll send your head to the taxidermy to be stuffed. I’m sure it will look fantastic over my fireplace.” He looked him dead in the eye.

  Jagger stared back, but knew not to mess with his kind, the racist, scared, asshole kind that made assumptions about the shifters. Many were known to shoot first and ask questions later.

  “Daddy! No!” Ingrid yelled out from behind him as she scrambled down the stairs.

  Jagger didn’t move. He stared at the man. Finally realizing it wasn’t worth his life, he turned to leave.

  Ingrid’s father slowly lowered the shotgun, seeing the half-breed turn away.

  It took everything inside of Jagger not to turn back and lash out at him. He knew no matter how powerful he was in his bear form, lead was lead, a shotgun was a shotgun, and a crazy fearful person couldn’t be trusted.

  “Dr. Quinn, wait,” Ingrid called out and started after him.

  “Ingrid, you get your ass back in this house,” he said, his voice flushed with anger. “So help me, I won’t be having you dating some half-breed bear.” He wasn’t a fool. The second he got wind that his daughter had a date and got a name, he did the search. It wasn’t a secret that there was a database of shifters. It was for the town’s safety. They needed to know.

  A bear. Ingrid’s heart skipped in panic at hearing the word bear. “You don’t get to tell me who to date. I’m a grown woman,” she said, snapping at her father. She was terrified. She’d never stood up to him like that before.

  “Like hell I don’t. As long as you live in this house, you’ll follow my rules.” His shotgun was up again, his sights triggered on the man.

  Jagger turned to look at Ingrid and saw the shotgun aimed at him. She would be hit if he pulled the trigger. Anger rushed through him. He wanted to pummel the man, take him out, tear at him, shred him to bits, but he kept it inside, forcing his bear from showing itself. Not here, not now. It was getting harder to hold it in…a snarl was reeling up from within him. In a bellow, he let out a roar and snarled at the man, but kept his distance. He knew he wouldn’t pull the trigger. His daughter was too close.

  Ingrid froze, her eyes growing large. Her head tipped up to look at him… this wasn’t some joke. He was truly a shifter. A real bear. Jagger turned away when he saw the fear in her eyes. He’d been a fool to try to be some social mediator and turn a girl who was afraid of shifters, and let her see they could be what…he was a fucking bear. He couldn’t change his primal nature. He couldn’t change his native ways. Who was he to try to bring understanding to some woman he barely knew? He shook his head and got in his car. Driving away, it took everything he had to stay in human form.

  When he got home, he tore out of the car and took off for the woods. He needed to run hard, to claw at a tree, to let out an earth-vibrating roar. He needed to vent out the frustration that grew in him. In his shifted form, he could own the forest, cry into the night in a wicked snarl, pound on the earth, and let his coiled up aggression out.

  The last thing he expected when he calmed down and went home was for Ingrid to be sitting on his porch steps.

  She looked shaken up. Thankfully, he’d come back into his human form before leaving the wooded area. That would have freaked her out. He was grateful he had. Sometimes he didn’t shift back.

  “What are you doing here?” Jagger honestly didn’t have the interest at this point, but there she was.

  “Dr. Quinn, I wanted to apologize for my father.” She lowered her head. “It’s how I was raised,” she said, embarrassed. “I just…I felt badly that he did that.”

  “Go back to your own world, Ingrid.” He was in no mood.

  “I thought you invited me to dinner.”

  “Really?” He shook his head. “You really expect me to go out after that? I don’t need that kind of drama in my life. I’m a researcher. I live a quiet life.”

  “Right.” She stood up to leave. Her insides buckled, ashamed at what took place earlier. “I’m not like that,” she finally got out. “I just don’t know any different.”

  Jagger sighed. “Do you want to come in? And stop calling me Dr. Quinn. Call me, Jagger.” She did make the effort to come apologize, not that she needed to. It was her asshole father that pissed him off.

  “Maybe we could try again tomorrow,” she suggested.

  “Tomorrow wouldn’t be smart. It’s the red moon,” he started, and then stopped himself.

  “The red moon?”

  “I won’t be myself,” was the only way he could answer.

  “Will you be…” She started to ask, nervous to hear the answer.

  “Yes.” There was no shame in Jagger’s world to be a shifter.

  “When you’re that way, would you hurt me?” The curiosity grew within her.

  “No. I still have my human thoughts. I’m just more primal, and…” he paused. “Some things I have less control over. Carnal urges,” he said, looking her square in the eye.

  Ingrid swallowed hard. “Like…” she whispered.

  “Sex.” He looked away. “It gets a little primal on the red moon. Some nights, those things can’t be controlled. The urges are too strong. Nature takes over. It’s not a night for humans to be here.”

 
She couldn’t look away from him. It felt so brazen to speak so openly about sex.

  He watched her reaction. Her breathing grew shallower. He picked up her scent, she was aroused. This wasn’t good. “You should go,” he said. His bear wanted to come out. It wanted to… “Go. You should go.”

  “But…” She felt stuck. Part of her was afraid and yet the other had an insatiable desire to know more about this strange man. She was drawn to him in ways she couldn’t explain.

  “Ingrid, this isn’t a good time.” He balled his hands into fists, trying to focus.

  Ingrid looked down, his cock was stiffening. She swallowed hard. He was aroused. He wasn’t sending her away because he was angry. He was sending her away because he was aroused and afraid he couldn’t control himself. Her mind was moving too fast. She couldn’t keep up with it.

  “Ingrid, please leave,” he demanded. If she stayed, it would take everything inside of him to hold back his primal need. Her curves, her soft body, her gorgeous face…his cock pulsed, engorged and hard.

  Ingrid looked back down. She saw the outline of the largest, meatiest cock she’d ever seen before. Her heart beat loudly in her ears; her eyes were fixed on it. He knew what she was looking at. Ashamed, she wanted to look away, but couldn’t.

  “You don’t need a bear in your life. You should go.” He was thankful the red moon was still a night away. He’d be in trouble if she stood before him on the red moon.

  “You don’t know what I need.” Her words were out before she could stop them. Her cheeks flushed crimson red, embarrassed to have said it aloud.

  “I don’t need a human in my life,” he said, forcing the issue.

  She stepped closer. “You asked me out to dinner.” Where was the courage coming from?

  “It was a mistake.” She needed to get out of there. The scent of dampness between her legs, her arousal was doing things to him he wouldn’t be able to control soon. He’d want to ravish her body.

  Hesitantly, she reached up and touched his arm.

  “You don’t know what you’re doing,” he warned. He watched her movements.

  Ingrid’s curiosity was boiling over, edging out her fear. “You wouldn’t hurt me, would you?”

  He shook his head. “No. I’m not a violent man.”

  “Are you a violent bear?” Saying the word bear pushed her adrenaline higher, like a rush through her veins, unlike anything she’d ever felt before.

  He looked away and spoke his truth. “Only when I’m forced into a corner.”

  Ingrid licked her lips and dropped her hand, realizing she was playing with fire. She wanted him to want her. She saw it in his eyes. With her fuller curves, he seemed unfazed by her size, unlike some of the other guys she knew. He wasn’t shy about his lustful desire. He didn’t rush to cover his erection and he didn’t turn away. He simply warned her to leave…because he wanted her. That alone set Ingrid ablaze, knowing he craved her body. She’d never experienced such raw sexuality before, open and daring.

  “You should go,” he said again.

  She glanced back down at his hard-on and back up to his face. “What will you do with that?”

  He shook his head. “Don’t start something you can’t finish. Go home, Ingrid.”

  The words stung. But he was right. She had no idea what she was messing with. What was she trying to prove? The idea that he was half man, half bear scared her as much as it fascinated her. And yet all the things her father said left an imprint too. But there she stood fiercely attracted to a man that was capable of turning into a beast. What’s a girl to do? She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and gave him a shy smile. “I’ll be back tomorrow for dinner.” It bought her time to think. She could always back out, but the thought of heated sex with an incredibly sexy man, yeah, that was hard to walk away from too. Nobody said she was a saint.

  “That wouldn’t be wise,” he finished.

  She ignored him and waved over her shoulder. “Tomorrow,” she said. With a grin he couldn’t see, she sashayed her hips just a little more than she normally would. For the first time in a very long time, she felt good in her skin. He obviously liked what he saw, so she flaunted it.

  Sitting in her car, her heart was wedged in her throat. I can’t believe I just did that. Holy cow. She tried to keep her wits about her as she drove away, and gave out a little yip. She was high on the rush of the moment.

  Chapter 6

  She didn’t want to go home. Her father would still be angry and carrying on about her bringing a shifter right to their front door. Those mangy mutts were filthy beasts and incapable of controlling their primal longings. He was disgusted she even considered dating one. The hell he lashed out at her after Jagger Quinn left, it was the first time she truly heard him speaking. She heard the prejudice in his voice, the stereotypes, and the garbage he was spewing…based on what?

  Her stomach lurched realizing her own father wasn’t truly protecting her, he thought he was protecting his clean blood-line. He didn’t want half-breeds tainting up his family. The words rang out as he spewed more and more, venting, angry, and yelling after the shotgun incident.

  Ingrid opened her eyes and saw the ignorance. It was a hard pill to swallow. She’d never even given the shifters a fighting chance. She’d been brainwashed to believe all these things about them her entire life. And yet, now she was questioning why…why did she believe them? She trusted her father; he loved her and looked out for her. But was he stuck on something in the past? It’s not like he interacted with them, so he didn’t know them well. It was confusing. Was her own blind lust making her susceptible to this new thought process, or was it simply growing up and thinking for herself?

  She needed to know. Why the blind rage? Ingrid finally made her way home with nowhere else to go. Her father was waiting on her, disgust on his face.

  “Pack your bags and go,” he said as calmly as he could. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he’d been crying, though his face was stone cold at the moment.

  “Daddy?” She stood, stunned into silence and stared at him. It was hard to speak. She choked on tears, trying to find words. “Daddy, tell me why…” was all she could say.

  He looked away from her. “You’re your mother’s child,” he said coldly.

  “What?”

  “Just go.”

  “Daddy?” She was confused by his change.

  “You belong with them.”

  “I don’t understand.” She dropped onto the sofa. “Daddy, talk to me.”

  He shook his head. “I tried to keep you safe, but you betrayed me, just like she did.”

  “Dad, you’re not making sense.” Her head was swimming after the events of the night.

  “You’re not mine. You belong in Mountain View Crest like the rest of them. Your mother, she betrayed me. You’re not my blood.” He turned away.

  “But, I’m not a shifter,” she started, back pedaling. Her head grew dizzy. “I’m just a human.”

  “You share their blood. I was afraid at first, but you never turned. I realized that while you carried shifter genes, you didn’t turn. Your mother…she…she strayed. I lied on the birth records and recorded myself as your biological father so it didn’t show up in the town records.”

  “But you stayed with her?” Panic laced her voice.

  “She was pregnant, what was I supposed to do? Let her raise a child alone? He didn’t stick around. I loved her. I loved her with all my heart, even after what she did to me.”

  “How do you know I’m not yours?” She was stunned.

  “She got pregnant before we married. She didn’t know who the father was. I told her I’d raise the child either way, because I wanted her in my life.”

  “I could be yours…” she started.

  “You’re not. We got you tested,” he said, dropping his head. “We went out of town for the testing, so it wouldn’t show up on the local register.”

  It was too much. It all happened too fast, too soon. It was information she didn�
��t want to know. Well, she wanted to know, but not like this, and why now? Why all these years later? Would he have ever told her? Her mind circled around the questions, unable to sort them out. “You’re pushing me out?”

  “I don’t need the neighbors to know.” He looked away. “Look, I love you, Ingrid, but there’s hostility here towards Mountain View Crest. I can’t have shifters showing up at my door like that. People will talk.”

  “Wow.” She was stunned. Hurt. Angry. Overwhelmed. What now?

  Chapter 7

  She sat in her car, her suitcase on the seat beside her with nowhere to go. She’d go to a hotel for the night and figure out the rest later. She just couldn’t seem to turn the key in the ignition. Ingrid shook. Her hands white knuckled the steering wheel as she tipped her forehead to rest on the top of it. This was wrong.

  She got out of the car and took a deep breath. Approaching the house she’d just left, she went back inside.

  “Dad,” she said, walking back into the family room where he sat unmoving. “This is wrong. Please don’t turn me away. You’ve loved me all my life. Why turn me away now? Why not embrace the fact that you’ve been there for me. That took courage and strength and love. Why turn me away with hate now?” She was broken.

  He looked up, his face slack. “I don’t hate you. I’m saving you. If you stay here, and people find out…” he looked away. “It has to be this way.”

  “Then come with me.”

  “This is my home, Ingrid. I belong here.”

  “This has been my home my entire life, and now you want me to leave.” She couldn’t process the new information. It was overwhelming.

  “Ingrid, you’re an adult, a fully grown woman. It’s time to spread your wings and fly.”

  “Not like this. Not because of pain. Leaving should be because I want to explore and be independent, not because of some secret.” She wanted to fight the cause, but he had no fight left in him.

  “It’s time, sweetie. My life is here. I’ll come and visit, but it’s better for you to move on.” The pain in his voice was finally coming through, showing his truth. He was afraid….afraid for himself, afraid for her. “If you should turn at some point, if your animal comes out at some point…I wouldn’t want to take a chance with what the neighbors might do.”