Mated to the Wilde Bear

Laurel let herself into her apartment as silently as she could. The sliding glass door was already unlocked, and she sighed in relief, glad she wouldn’t have to bother with the noisy deadbolt on the front door. She only vaguely remembered leaving the house earlier. Her fox had been in a frenzy from too many weeks of not shifting, and she’d almost blacked out when she’d finally shifted.

She couldn’t even remember if she’d undressed first or where she’d stashed her clothes to retrieve them now. She hoped it wasn’t an outfit she liked.

She didn’t bother with light as she crept across the tiny dining area she shared with her roommate. Kelly was a light sleeper, and the last thing she needed now was a bunch of questions about why she was creeping inside after one am. Kelly was friendly enough, but she was also Laurel’s landlord, and she was a “no bullshit” kind of girl. Laurel had met her when she’d come to town for the interview with DOT last year. Kelly had been working in HR, doing background checks for new hires. These days, she’d graduated to working for a local bounty hunter’s office downtown that had an owner known for being anti-shifter. Even though Kelly had never said anything one way or the other about the subject, she was not someone Laurel wanted to cross.

Besides, Kelly was bound to have questions, including why Laurel was currently dressed only in a size XL men’s tee. Not a conversation Laurel was dying to have. After everything that had happened tonight, she just wanted a shower and bed. She’d sort out Xavier and everything he’d said tomorrow.

“Ow!” Her foot came down hard on something sharp, and she yelled out before she could stop it.

second later, the hall light came on, and Kelly appeared, disheveled from sleep and wielding a wooden bat. “What the…?” Kelly didn’t relax at the sight of a familiar face like Laurel

shock too, too distraught to understand. The apartment was trashed. Utterly and completely. Books and shelves all littered the living room floor. A floor lamp lay on its

upside down and sideways on the tile floor, which was covered in something white. Flour? Sugar? She ran a toe through it to check, but

Blood.

used to sit by the back door. The end table it sat on was now on its side. Above it, the window had shattered, leaving tiny shards of glass in a pile

god,” Kelly shrieked. “Were we

dread washed over as she realized what had really happened. Her fox. In her panic over shifting against her will, it had done all but tear

was the last time she’d seen her parents. But even then, it hadn’t been