Mated to the Wilde Bear

Laurel parked and stared through her windshield at the crowd spilling out of Mack’s Brewery. It was barely dinnertime and not even close to tourist season, but the place crawled with people. No, not people. Shifters, she realized, as the faces filling the outside eating area came into focus. She’d heard they liked to hang here. It was how she knew where to find them outside office hours.

And true to the gossip mill, here they all were.

Five men, all of them built and toned and straining against the fabric of their cotton tees with the Blue Bear Search and Rescue logo printed across the left breast. She knew them all from the DOT meetings she’d sat in on, had spoken to one or two on the phone even. But she’d never allowed herself this close to them. Xavier’s rescue earlier today was the one and only run-in she’d had with the Wilde Crew, and it hadn’t been anything like she’d expected.

She’d walked into that rescue determined to remain professional, in control, and politely aloof. Between her chilly demeanor and the ridiculous amount of perfume she’d sprayed in the car beforehand, she’d hoped it would be enough to keep him from sensing her animal. If he’d outed her in front of the rescue crews, she would have lost it. Thirteen months she’d lived here and managed to keep her animal a secret. Outing herself now would have devastated her and possibly cost her a job.

rise to the surface. But Laurel couldn’t

was

never to see him again. When she’d realized she’d missed his signature on the report, she’d been tempted to delegate it to her assistant, but Laurel was no coward. Besides, if the men in her office found out about her pushing her duties off on others, she’d never hear the end of

car and squared her shoulders. In and out, she told herself. Just be

took the stairs resolutely, bypassing the front entrance and heading straight for the deck. The noise increased

to run her hands through it. As if