Bear's Magic (Grey Lake Shifters Book 4).pdf

Bear’s Magic (Grey Lake Shifters Book 4)
Copyright © 2021 by K.L. King
First electronic publication: January 2022
https://trianglerockers.com/1566827
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s
imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses,
companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means,
including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except
for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Editing: Corinne DeMaagd
Cover design: Damonza.com

ChAPTer 1
“YOU COULD’VE STOPPED her. She helped murder an innocent shifter, a
harmless old woman. Didn’t you sense something was wrong? How can you
live with yourself?”
“No, I didn’t know. I would’ve stopped her. I would’ve told someone,”
Piper argued. She truly would have. She’d have kept her sister Cora away
from Noah Walters and his murderous plans.
“Well, it’s too late now, isn’t it? You’re useless. Just passing time until
you die, aren’t you?”
“No. I’m going to help my friends save Grey Lake. We’ll fight you,”
Piper hissed.
Laughter erupted all around her. “You? A bear? You fashion yourself a
witch, don’t you? You’re nothing. You’re just like the rest of the people in
this town. Lemmings. You can’t do anything without that—that redheaded
demon bossing you about.” The deep voice, a man’s voice, sounded as if it
were coming from everywhere all at once. It didn’t make any sense.
Whose voice was that? She couldn’t place it. “Stop, just go away. Spew
your hate somewhere else!”
Her tormentor howled with delight. “A little bag of fur giving me
orders? Well, once your mighty savior is out of the way, you’ll get what’s
coming to you. You all will!”
Then, silence. Whoever was trying to frighten her was gone.
Now, all she needed to do was to wake up. Piper knew she was asleep.
She had to be, but why didn’t it feel like a dream? She felt light as air, almost
ethereal, as if she were floating. She forced herself to concentrate on her
surroundings.

Dizziness hit her as she swung her head around, trying to get her
bearings. What the hell? She was in her own bedroom, floating up near the
ceiling above her bed. She looked down and gasped. She recognized herself
lying in her bed below, dressed in the same pajamas she was wearing last
night. How could she be in bed and above the bed? Was she dead?
She moved toward the Piper that was in bed. She could see her twitching
fitfully in her sleep. Good, I’m still alive. I need to get back into that body
somehow.
She closed her eyes and focused on the magic that lay resting deep
within her body. She was still a novice wielder of shifter magic. On good
days, she could feel the power like a tickle in the center of her body.
Sometimes she could call the power to her, and somewhere deep in her mind
was the ancestral ability to know how to use this force.
She flexed her hands and silently begged. Please, help me wake up. Get
me out of here! Get me back to my body! Crackles snapped like static
electricity from her hands, but she was still stuck floating outside of her body.
Please!
A loud crack and a boom sounded as a warm orange light flashed,
lighting up her dark bedroom.
Piper Sullivan awoke with a start, panting. She struggled out of the
blankets and sat up in her bed. She rubbed her eyes with her hands as she
caught her breath. Her hair was damp with sweat. Her hands trembled. This
was the third night she’d heard this voice in her sleep. She didn’t know who
it was, but he wasn’t a friend; that much was clear. She’d never had the out-
of-body experience before, though. What did this mean?
“Time to get up anyway. Maybe we’ll see that sexy federal agent later
today,” her bear chirped within her mind.
“Don’t talk about him like that. Jasper’s our friend, nothing more right
now. He’s just being nice. Besides, it’s not the right time for romance. We
need to focus on learning more spells. We have a town to save,” Piper
answered somewhat grumpily to her ever-optimistic inner beast.
“Hmmpf. Maybe I just like that he puts you in a good mood. Quiet
reindeer makes you smile. Hate it when you’re sad,” her bear chuffed.
Piper dangled her legs off the side of her bed. Her bear was right about
Jasper, she had to admit. She was able to find brief moments of happiness
when she was around him. It’d been such a devastating past few weeks.

Piper’s dad passed away after fighting the neurologic disease that had struck
him several years ago. She’d known he was slowly losing his battle, but she
still was overcome with grief at his loss. Having her sister hauled off to jail
for being an accessory to murder compounded the sense of loneliness that
threatened to suffocate her daily.
She rubbed her temples with both hands and tried to clear the fogginess
from her mind. Might as well head to work early. She could always get some
research done before opening the library for customers.
“Serious reindeer might show up, so there’s that to look forward to,”
her bear murmured.
Piper groaned and rolled her eyes. Her stubborn creature wasn’t going to
leave this alone.
“Maybe if you behave yourself, we’ll speak with him tonight. No funny
business, though. We have a busy day of work and research to get through,”
Piper cautioned.
“Yes, ma’am,” her bear chuckled. “I like it better when you’re bossy
instead of sad.”
Piper grinned despite her animal’s sassiness. She’d rather not be sad
either. Time to make the best of her day. She pushed off the bed and stalked
into her shower.

ChAPTer 2
https://trianglerockers.com/1566827
JASPER MACKINNON RUBBED his temple with his right hand. His head was
throbbing. He’d been sitting in front of his laptop for the past couple of
hours, trying to identify any abnormalities in the newcomers to Grey Lake
over the past couple of years. He was specifically looking for anyone with
ties to Alden Williamson, the man who’d been creating chaos in Grey Lake
for the past several months. Jasper searched for new residents with ties to
Providence—where Williamson was from—and those who’d been employed
by any of his numerous businesses in the past.
He knew Williamson had to have another accomplice working with him
within the area. The man was a phoenix shifter just like Grey Lake’s own
Tessa Lane, but the two couldn’t be more different. Tessa was a protective
sort, one who’d do anything to ensure the safety of the people of Grey Lake.
Williamson was malignant; he created havoc and fear among the Lakers, and
no one quite knew why. Figuring out who was helping the man was a
problem. Up to now, Jasper and his fellow Shifter Crime Bureau agents
hadn’t been able to identify those working with the power-mad phoenix
shifter until it was too late. They needed to be better. Jasper needed to be
better. There was too much at stake. And with what Tessa told him and Piper,
well…
There hadn’t been many newcomers to the cozy mountain area until
about three years ago. Since that time, though, a large pride of cougar shifters
had moved up from Connecticut to work on some mid-sized construction
projects. A few of the male shifters caused some trouble last summer. They’d
threatened and harassed an innocent newcomer to the village, who was now
mated to Jasper’s good friend Deacon Clay. Deacon’s foster brother, Heath

Jensen, the chief of the Grey Lake Police Department and alpha of the wolf
pack in town, and his force had taken care of the criminals within the group.
Three of them had physically attacked Deacon’s mate, Iris, along with
Heath’s sister, May. May had been grievously injured but had, thankfully,
almost fully recovered. She was now happily mated and married to the largest
grizzly shifter in town, Beau Shanley.
The remaining members of the cougar group had mostly been quiet
since then. Apparently, the three culprits had verbally and physically
terrorized several other members of the pride. With the men now dead, there
was a sense of new life within the shifter group.
The SCB and the Grey Lake PD had worked together over two straight
weeks to question all the cougars who had lived in the sprawling compound
with the three criminals. Those three men—Pat, Sean, and Jesse—appeared
to be the only cougars who could be tied back to Williamson, and only
indirectly. Authorities learned that the three had been hired by an
intermediary, not Williamson himself. One of the deceased’s former
girlfriends recalled Pat telling her that the three men met “some guy” in a bar
in Manchester early last summer. This man paid the cougar shifters cash on
behalf of a different man, a so-called “big wig from Rhode Island” to one,
cause some trouble among tourists in Grey Lake to decrease traffic to the
area, two, commit a series of low-level crimes to keep the GLPD distracted,
and three, try to convince Iris Williamson to go back home to Providence.
They’d been given strict instructions not to hurt Iris, but anyone else was fair
game. Jasper trembled with rage, remembering the damage they had done to
May. He was glad that the men couldn’t hurt anyone ever again, but sorry the
authorities hadn’t been able to tie them directly to Williamson or any of his
close associates.
Since that night, Jasper, Heath, and Deacon had even become friendly
with a small family of cougar shifters that lived on the outskirts of the group.
Sam Fitzsimmons and his younger twin siblings, Quinn and Leah, worked as
rangers for the National Parks system in the area. They grew up together with
their cousin Caleb O’Hara. Caleb unfortunately was also an unintended
victim of Williamson’s treachery. He’d suffered life-threatening burns from
phoenix fire when the gym he’d been working in had been bombed by a
traitor in the Grey Lake Police Department.
Cal Harris had been driven by the grief of losing his mate to illness into

working with Williamson. He was now dead, killed when he attempted to
shoot a still-recovering May in her hospital room. What a mess! One of the
biggest things bothering Jasper was the question of why. Why was Alden
Williamson so fixated on Grey Lake?
The developer had seemed to pop up out of nowhere with a fixation on
Grey Lake that didn’t seem to make any sense. No one knew why
Williamson was so obsessed with the small mountain village in the middle of
New Hampshire that was almost two hundred miles away from his home base
of Providence.
The man’s own children had even fled his poisonous influence and now
lived in Grey Lake. Deacon’s mate, Iris, was Williamson’s daughter. She’d
moved to Grey Lake on her own almost a year ago, knowing nothing about
shifters. She hadn’t even known she was a black bear shifter until Deacon
gently informed her. Her first shift only happened last summer when she was
forced to defend May from the three cougar shifters who’d attacked them.
Weeks ago, she and Deacon had shared the news that they were expecting
their first child.
Iris’s older brother Aiden was a more recent addition to Grey Lake.
He’d been working for the past several months with the GLPD and the SCB
to covertly gather information on his father’s activities. He pretended to be
fully aligned with his father’s plans and beliefs while working behind the
scenes to ensure his beloved baby sister was safe, well away from their
domineering, power-mad father.
Aiden had recently discovered that his father had ordered the kidnapping
and torture of his best friend, Jamie Stanton. Jamie had gone missing over
two years ago. It turned out that Iris’s wolf shifter companion, Riley, was in
fact Jamie in his wolf form; he’d been unable to shift into his human form for
months, if not a year or more. No one could figure out why. Once Aiden
learned that his best buddy’s life had been destroyed by his father, he was
done with the charade. He refused to return home to Providence, choosing
instead to cut all ties with his father. While Jasper admired the man’s sense of
justice, the loss of Aiden as a spy hurt the SCB’s investigation into
Williamson. That left Jasper busier than ever in his role as an SCB agent.
For the most part, he loved his job, but recently his mind was
preoccupied with the sexy, whip-smart head librarian in Grey Lake. His inner
animal wasn’t helping matters either. The moment he woke up each day, his

reindeer started nudging him toward the Grey Lake Library. His beast had
always been relatively easygoing until a few weeks ago when he’d seen Piper
Sullivan tied to a chair at the mercy of Noah Walters. His fear for the brave
woman, and the intense rage at her captor, nearly forced him to shift into his
reindeer form inside the archival room in the library basement. Knowing
Piper would be upset if he damaged the irreplaceable shifter historical books
was the only reason he’d been able to keep his beast caged.
“Go check on mate. Make sure she’s protected,” his reindeer huffed
within his mind.
He squeezed his eyes tightly shut. “We’ll head over later. We have to
stay here and work for now,” he replied to the anxious beast within.
The reindeer snorted unhappily. “You can work just as well at the
library. It’s shameful to keep her unprotected.”
His eyes snapped open. He was pissed. “She’s a freakin’ black bear.
She’s not weak. She probably thinks we’re crazy for showing up at the library
nearly every day as it is,” he hissed.
“She likes it when we visit. Can’t you smell her? When we first arrive,
she smells of sadness, but it changes to a scent of joy. She’s a powerful bear,
but there are horrible enemies out there hunting her. Trust me. I don’t ask for
much from you. Use both parts of your brain for a change!”
Oh, for God’s sake! His animal half was so riled up. His pulse raced. An
all-consuming need to get to Piper and see that she was OK pushed at him.
He looked at his watch—not even noon. He took a deep breath, trying to slow
his racing heart.
“Just wait a bit, please. We’ll go check on her during our lunch break,
OK?” he pleaded with the agitated animal within.
The beast grunted in response, but Jasper felt him calm just a touch.

ChAPTer 3
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
Piper rose from her chair at the circulation desk and headed to the front
door of the library.
Piper unlocked the door from the inside and held it open for her one
employee. Ms. Matthews was an elderly grizzly bear shifter who worked
part-time. A couple of years prior, she had stepped down as the head librarian
after almost forty years of service. It worked out well for Piper as she had just
finished her master’s degree in library science when the job became
available. Piper had dreamed of working as a librarian in the cathedral-style
building ever since her family had first moved to Grey Lake when she was a
young child.
Piper had always loved books. Of course, she loved reading books, but
there was more to it than that. She loved the feel and the smell of books, and
the older the better. Romances, mysteries, historical fiction, fantasy, science
fiction. She preferred fiction to non-fiction. She relished escaping into other
worlds through stories. It wasn’t that she needed to escape from anything; her
childhood had been full of love and happiness until her mother’s death. Piper
had always been interested in the world beyond the usual goings-on of a
small town.
She started collecting vintage books almost as soon as she started
reading. It had become almost an obsession with her father as her main co-
conspirator. He loved reading as well and shared her love for vintage editions
of books. He preferred literary classics, whereas Piper wasn’t as selective. A
spare bedroom in their home now served as a makeshift library. Piper sighed
heavily. The room was just another reminder that her father was gone, and
she was alone.

“What time did you get in?”
“What?” Piper asked. “Oh, I’m sorry. I was daydreaming.”
Ms. Matthews was staring at Piper with eyes wide and mouth pinched.
Piper smiled at the older woman. “I haven’t been here too long. I just
couldn’t sleep.”
Ms. Matthews sighed and placed a hand on Piper’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.
It’ll get better with time. By the way, did you see the appointment I booked
for you this afternoon?”
Piper frowned. “I’m afraid I didn’t look at the schedule yet. I just
dropped my bag off in my office and then headed right down into the
archives. I only just came up just a few minutes ago because I knew you’d be
here soon.”
“Well, one of the new professors at the college came in and wanted to
meet with you. It looked like you had some time before the children’s reading
room story time, so I booked him for an hour. Seems like a nice young man,”
Ms. Matthews said.
Piper shook her head to clear her mind. “Um, yeah, it should be fine.
Wait, we have new professors at the college?” She followed the woman along
the hallway, past the children’s library and reading room on the left, and up
to the circulation desk on the main floor. Ms. Matthews placed her large
purse behind the counter and then continued to the small breakroom. Piper
trailed behind her, trying to remember if she’d heard of anyone leaving the
school.
“Yes, a couple of them. They’re new to the area. I’ve heard that both
men are related to some shifters up north. Word is they trained at the
University of Maine, Orono in science. One has a PhD in biology—genetics
is his specialty I think—and the other has a degree in geology—that’s the one
with the appointment.”
“Geology? Now, that’s something I never really thought much about.
I’ll have to do some digging before his appointment.” Piper bit her lower lip.
“Thanks for the heads up.”
“Looks like everything’s already ready for us to open. Why don’t you
get some research done while I open up for the public?”
Piper grinned. “Thanks, that’d be great. I’ll just be in my office if you
need me.”

ChAPTer 4
“TIME TO GO check on mate. You had enough time to work,” Jasper’s reindeer
snapped.
Jasper leaned back in his seat and rubbed the back of his neck. His
grumpy beast was right. It was finally time for a lunch break. He’d spent the
entire morning sitting at his desk, looking for connections between any of
Alden Williamson’s numerous business holdings and the newer businesses
that’d popped up in the greater Grey Lake area over the past couple of years.
Since he’d found none, he would have to go back even further. He’d also
expand his search beyond Grey Lake to central and northern New Hampshire.
Williamson’s base of operations was Providence, so there was really no
need for him to have any businesses in Grey Lake or New Hampshire at all.
There weren’t any tax benefits for him to have businesses in the granite state
as opposed to Rhode Island. Most of the man’s money was tied up in large-
scale developments, such as business towers, luxury hotels, and casino resorts
that catered to an elite customer base. Zoning in Grey Lake prohibited this
type of development, so his interest didn’t make any sense, at least on the
surface.
Grey Lake was a homey mountain village in the center of New
Hampshire. Families and college students visited in the fall for leaf-peeping,
the winter for skiing and sledding, and the spring and summer for lakeside
activities like boating and tubing. Visitors came to Grey Lake to relax and
enjoy the beautiful natural setting, not to gamble or make high-stake business
deals.
“Enough! Time to go,” the beast within groaned.
“Alright, alright,” Jasper silently answered the grouch.

He logged out of his laptop, closed it, and placed it into the cabinet next
to his desk. He then locked it. He shook his head. It was SCB policy to never
leave your laptop vulnerable, but he and his co-workers all knew this was
essentially a useless step. The specially fortified lock wouldn’t stop a shifter,
but it’d take longer to break than a normal human-constructed device.
He looked around the open-concept room that served as a temporary
Grey Lake SCB office. The department had erected a single level,
prefabricated building not too far from the police station shortly after May
Jensen’s assault. Prior to that, Jasper had worked primarily out of the
Manchester office. He’d only been an agent for a little over a year prior to the
setup of the office in Grey Lake. Before that time, he’d been an arson
investigator with the Manchester Regional Fire Department and a volunteer
firefighter in Grey Lake. He liked the problem-solving aspect of his work
with the SCB. Spying his boss in the far corner of the office, he also noted
that he met some interesting characters in his newer line of work.
The ice-blond Declan Estey, the agent in charge of this local outfit, was
yelling into his phone at his desk, positioned in the corner as far away from
Jasper’s desk as possible. It wasn’t personal. Jasper knew the polar bear
shifter got agitated being in close quarters with other shifters for too long. It
certainly made for some interesting moments during a raid, he mused.
Sighing, Jasper threw his black SCB fleece sweater on over his black T-
shirt and grabbed the keys to his Chevy Tahoe. He slowly walked over to let
Declan know he’d be leaving the office, but Jasper stopped several feet from
the man’s desk. Jasper didn’t want to appear like he was eavesdropping, so he
pretended to be focused on his cellphone. He snuck a peek at his boss while
his attention was focused on his computer monitor. Declan’s face was red,
and his jaw was tight. He was an inch or two taller than Jasper’s six-foot-four
height and even broader in the shoulders. He looked incensed.
“I said no! What part of the word no don’t you understand?” Declan
boomed into his cellphone.
Jasper kept his head down. Whatever was going on sounded like it’d
ensure Declan was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Just perfect.
“She cannot come here. I don’t have time to babysit her!”
Jasper feigned disinterest. Instead, he casually reviewed the messages on
his phone.
“I know she’s not a baby, but Goddamn it, I’m too busy to make sure

she doesn’t get into trouble. Can’t she go with that useless mother of hers?”
A few seconds of silence. Then suddenly, a low-pitched growl rumbled
through the room. Jasper felt the hair on his arms rise.
“OK, OK. Yeah, I know. Yeah, yeah, family obligations. OK, OK,
whatever. Oh, for God’s sake, I said fine!”
Jasper snuck a peek up when Declan was momentarily silent. His face
was back to its usual pale color. Jasper lowered his eyes to his phone once
more. A few more seconds passed where Declan appeared to be listening to
the person on the other end of the call.
“I know, I know. Love you, too. Goodbye.”
Jasper heard a deep sigh and looked up.
“What?” Declan asked as if Jasper hadn’t been a silent observer to some
sort of nightmare family discussion.
“Nothing. I just wanted to let you know I’m going out for lunch. I’ll be
back by one at the latest,” Jasper said, forcing his features to remain
impassive.
Declan threw his hands up. “That’s what you were standing around for?
You could’ve left me a note.”
“Alright, next time I’ll leave you a note,” Jasper said with one eyebrow
raised. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Forget about it,” Declan said, rubbing his closely cropped hair
with a hand.
“Everything alright?” Jasper asked before his mind could stop his mouth
from asking the question.
Declan glared at him, but then sighed and rubbed his temples with his
hands. “Yeah, yeah. Just some family drama. Seems as though I’m going to
be having my niece staying with me for a while. Just what I need. Like we
don’t have enough to do around this cursed village of the damned, now I’m
going to have a teenager I’ll need to watch as well.”
Jasper’s eye started twitching. “That was your niece on the phone?”
Declan shook his head. “No, my mother. She’s been taking care of my
niece while my brother’s away on some expedition. She’s had her for six
months, and she’s had enough drama. It’s Uncle Declan’s turn apparently.”
He turned away and glared at his computer monitor. “I wonder if I can get
her into a boarding school. Are there any boarding schools around here?”
Declan asked distractedly.

Shoot. What was he supposed to say to that? Jasper couldn’t believe
he’d been screaming on the phone at his own mother. He shuddered. “Uh,
I’m sorry. I, uh, don’t know,” Jasper said, trying not to offend his
temperamental boss. He continued to back slowly toward the door. “Well, I’ll
just be off then.”
“OK, fine, whatever,” Declan said, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his
hands. “Hey, wait a sec.”
Jasper halted in his tracks. “Yes?”
“Can you do me a favor and ask Ms. Sullivan if she knows of any good
boarding schools in New England?” He smirked at Jasper.
At the mention of Piper’s name, Jasper snorted. Uh oh! That was his
beast. He could feel the animal crawling around under his skin. He frowned.
He needed to keep his animal under control. He couldn’t just shift in the
middle of the office. He inhaled deeply and silently counted to ten, forcing
the animal to retreat completely. He cleared his throat and finally spoke.
“Sorry about that.”
Declan stared at him, lips pursed. “I guess I’m the one who should be
sorry.” His eyes narrowed. “Didn’t realize you and she were serious.”
Jasper shook his head. “We’re not. I mean we’re not anything. No, I
mean we’re just friends.” His reindeer forced a loud grunt from deep within
his chest. Jasper winced. “Sorry.”
Declan leveled him with a look. “Looks like the reindeer disagrees with
you.” He swiveled around in his chair to fully face Jasper. “Look, you and he
better get on the same page. I can’t have a crazed reindeer running loose in
this town on top of everything else.”
Jasper felt his cheeks heat. He nodded mutely.
Declan raised his eyebrows at him. “You better get going. I can smell
your beast. Get him out of here. Take him to see his mate so he calms the hell
down.”
Jasper remained rooted to the spot where he was standing. How the hell
did he know what his reindeer thought?
“Just go!” Declan roared.
“Thanks,” Jasper croaked out. He finally made his escape and headed
off toward the library and Piper.

ChAPTer 5
PIPER SAT IN her office, gazing at the Grey Lake College website. Miles
Brackett, PhD had joined the faculty of the School of Life Sciences in
January.
Dr. Brackett comes to GLC from the University of Maine, Orono where
he earned his PhD in speleology.
Hmm, speleology, the study of caves. Piper wondered what sort of
information Dr. Brackett wanted from her. The only stuff she knew about
caves was what she’d seen when she was in her bear form. Her animal loved
to explore the Polar Caves on the outskirts of Grey Lake. She loved the cool,
dark hideouts. She remembered playing in caves with Cora when they were
kids. No, don’t go there right now. It’s not helpful to think of her right now.
Hell, at least work was a distraction from her dark thoughts.
Knock, knock.
She startled. It’s just the door, calm down.
“Piper, you have a visitor,” Ms. Matthews called.
She looked at her watch. Too early to be the doctor. “Come in.” she said
to Ms. Matthews, who opened the door and peered in.
“Who is it?” Piper asked.
“Jasper would like to speak to you. He’s waiting at the circulation desk,”
Ms. Matthews said. The elderly shifter smiled knowingly at Piper.
Piper’s faced heated. Jasper usually showed up at the library after
dinner. What could he want? She hoped everything was OK.
“Thanks, I’ll be right there.”
She squared her shoulders and breathed in slowly and then exhaled
deeply. She walked out of her office and toward the circulation desk. Her

breath hitched as soon as she saw him. He was wearing a black fleece top
with SCB on the front and beige cargo pants. He smiled as soon as her eyes
met his. He was gorgeous, but more importantly so kind.
She felt a smile break out across her face as she reached the desk. “Hi,
you’re here early. What can I do for you?”
He eyed Ms. Matthews who was standing to Piper’s left. “I was hoping
to steal you for a quick lunch. Would that be possible?”
“I’m not sure—” Piper started.
“Oh, go on you two. I can handle the fort for a bit,” the elderly shifter
said.
Piper looked at her watch and then back to her employee. “Are you
sure?”
The grizzly shifter waved her hand at Piper. “Of course.”
Piper glanced at Jasper, who wore an easy grin on his face. “You sure
you have time? You must be busy.”
Jasper nodded. “I have time to eat and so do you. What do you say?”
Piper looked back to Ms. Matthews, who nodded.
She turned back to Jasper. “OK, I’ll be back before my appointment.
Let’s go.” She called over her shoulder, “Thanks so much for covering
Ms. M.”
“No problem. Have fun!” Ms. Matthews answered.
Jasper waved his right hand. “After you.”
“Wait one sec. I’ll just go grab my purse,” Piper said. She rushed back
into her office and grabbed the black leather crossbody bag that held her
wallet. She pulled a compact out of the purse, opened it, and stared at her
reflection in the small circular mirror. She was wearing a maroon sweater, a
black knee-length floaty skirt, dark tights, and black leather Doc Martens
boots. Her long dark hair was pulled up in a half-up half-down style There
was nothing she could do about the dark circles under her eyes, but other than
that, she looked OK. “I guess it’ll have to do for today,” she said to herself.
She slipped the compact back into her purse and zipped the bag closed,
hurrying out of her office.
She smiled at Jasper despite her nervousness.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Sure, where to?”
“I was thinking Tessa’s. I heard they started serving lunch,” Jasper said.

“If that’s OK with you?” He gestured for her to walk ahead of him.
Piper nodded and led the way to the parking lot. Tessa’s was only a few
blocks away, but it was a raw March day. She wasn’t sure if he wanted to
walk or…
Jasper seemed to be able to read her mind. “Why don’t I drive.” He
looked up at the gray skies overhead. “Looks like it might start snowing soon.
Hard to tell.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Piper answered.

ChAPTer 6
JASPER JOGGED AHEAD and reached his SUV before Piper. He held open the
passenger side door for her.
She climbed in, and he closed the door behind her. He walked around to
the driver’s side door and eased into the vehicle. “How’s your day looking?”
he asked after he started the engine and then maneuvered the vehicle out of
the small parking lot.
“I have an appointment this afternoon, so I’ve been doing some prep
work.” She fidgeted with her hands in her lap.
“Anything interesting?” Jasper asked.
“Well, one of the new science professors at the college set up a meeting
with me. According to the school website, he studies caves. I’m not exactly
sure what he wants to meet about exactly, though,” Piper said.
Jasper stiffened. How the hell didn’t he know about this? He spent so
much time searching for newcomers to Grey Lake and he missed a new
professor? Why hadn’t he shown up in his research? “I didn’t know the
school hired any new professors recently.” He’d have to ask Heath if he was
aware. “Caves, huh?”
Piper shrugged. “Really niche, right? I didn’t know about any new hires
either. Professor Brackett came from U of Maine in January. Ms. Matthews
said they also hired another science professor, though I’m only meeting with
Dr. Brackett.”
He pulled the black SUV into the parking lot of Tessa’s Treats and shut
off the engine. When Piper moved to open her door, he said, “Wait just a
minute. I’ll get it.” He exited the vehicle, walked around to her side, and
opened the door for her.

“Thank you,” Piper said, her cheeks turning pink.
“You’re welcome.” He gestured with a tilt of his head for her to proceed
ahead of him.
“Hey there!” Iris greeted them from the counter as soon as they walked
into the bakery.
Piper waved a greeting, while he said, “Hey Iris!”
They advanced to the counter. Tessa usually manned the sales portion of
the bakery, while Iris remained in the kitchen, baking her masterpieces.
“So, I heard you guys were serving meals for lunch now. When did this
start?” Jasper asked, gesturing with his hand to the blackboard with a list of
warm and cold sandwiches, quiches, and soups.
Iris leaned in closer. “A few weeks ago. Tessa suggested it as a way to
continue to grow the business. She also thought it would be a good way to get
Aiden out of the house.”
“Aiden?” Piper asked.
Iris beamed. “I know! It was complete news to me, but he’s a terrific
cook. He started cooking for me and Deacon when he moved in. Tessa
sampled some of his food, and the rest is history. He’s been coming to work
with me—Jamie, too—every day since. Well, enough of my blabbering, I bet
you two would like a table.” She handed them two menus. “Have a seat
anywhere you like. I’ll be over in a minute with a couple of ice waters.”
“Thanks,” they responded in unison.
Jasper followed Piper to a table for two near a window at the front of the
bakery.
After placing their order, a chicken salad sandwich for Piper and a bacon
and cheese quiche for himself, they drank their waters in companionable
silence for a few moments. He studied Piper as she stared out the window.
She was a beauty with her chestnut hair and deep chocolate eyes, but he read
the exhaustion on her face.
“Hmmm,” Piper said. A smile pulled at the edges of her mouth.
“What’s that?”
“Aiden hasn’t been at the library as much lately. He’d been spending a
lot of nights in the archives since he moved in with Iris,” she said.
“Probably searching for a way to help Jamie shift back,” Jasper said.
Piper nodded. “He’d come in with Jamie, and they’d spend hours poring
through the old shifter books. He seemed so desperate those first few days.

He’s still coming in, but not every day like before. I think working here will
be good for him,” Piper said.
“You might just be right,” Jasper agreed.
Piper leaned closer to the table, folding her hands. “Besides, I think he’s
better off working with Mac to try to heal Jamie from whatever is causing
him to be stuck. I think it’s medical, not magical.”
“Why’s that?” Jasper asked. He knew Piper had a burgeoning ability to
use shifter magic.
She tilted her head slightly. “It’s just…I’ve spent so many hours looking
through the books in the archival room. I’ve never come across anything
about helping shifters to move between their forms.”
“When did you first become interested in the books in the archives?”
Jasper asked.
Piper closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. After a few seconds her eyes
popped open with a brightness that hadn’t been there. “Well, I’ve been going
to the library ever since we moved to Grey Lake years ago. Initially, I was
scared of the archives, you know, when I was still a kid. Seemed so
mysterious being in the dark basement and all. Once I started working there
during high school as an assistant, I started poking around the books.”
“So, you’ve been studying them a long time?” Jasper asked, leaning in
closer to the table.
“Well, first it was more of an exploring type thing. Reading about
shifters through history and their talents and adventures. Their battles.
Maybe, about a year ago, I started really studying the books of magic. At
least the books about the history of shifter magic. The actual spell books are
harder to interpret,” she said.
“Lunch is served,” Iris called out as she was about a foot away from the
table.
Jasper leaned back and breathed in the delicious aroma. “Smells great,”
he said.
“I agree. I may try that next time,” Piper said, staring hungrily at his
quiche.
He’d give her anything if she looked at him that way. “We can share,”
he croaked. Get it together.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Piper answered.
“I want to. Let’s split the meals. My cousins and I used to do this all the

time.”
“Oh, OK.”
He proceeded to rearrange the food then sat back as Piper took a bite of
the quiche. He watched as she closed her eyes.
“Ummmm,” she moaned.
His mouth watered. He needed to keep calm. “Did something trigger
you to study magic?”
Piper finished her bite. She opened her mouth, then closed it and tilted
her head. She seemed unsure.
He placed a hand on hers. “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want
to. It’s OK.”
She stared at him evenly for a few seconds and then nodded. “I think
I’m alright to tell you. I’m not ready to talk about it to many people, though.”
“I won’t say anything,” Jasper said, squeezing her hand.
She beamed at him. “I know. I trust you.”

ChAPTer 7
PIPER TOOK A sip of her water and then began. “My Dad gave me the push I
needed to investigate. During one of his better periods health-wise, he told
me stories about the relatives on my mother’s side of my family who were
able to use spells. He mentioned that the magical ability sometimes skipped
generations, like with my mom. He told me she always wondered if Cora or I
inherited any of the skill. Over time, he told me more and more stories about
my grandmother and her two older sisters. They were all bear shifters that
had these amazing magical talents. I think, without him saying it, he wanted
me to investigate, see if I had any powers. I thought it couldn’t hurt to try.”
Ring-ring-ring.
“I’m sorry,” Jasper said with a frown. He pulled his cellphone out of his
pocket and looked at the screen. “Shoot, it’s work. I need to take it. I’ll just
be a second.”
Piper nodded.
Jasper stood up and walked out the front door, holding the phone to his
ear.
“How’s it going?”
Piper jumped. She hadn’t noticed Iris until she spoke.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just came to check on you.” She looked at their half-
finished meals. “Is everything tasting alright?”
Piper shook the cobwebs from her head and smiled. “Oh yes. Everything
is delicious. We were just so busy talking.”
Iris beamed. “Good, I’m glad. Aiden will be happy to hear about more
satisfied customers.”
Piper snuck a glance out the window where Jasper was pacing back and

forth, still on the phone. She forced her gaze back to Iris. “How have you
been feeling? I mean, with the baby?”
Iris’s eyes twinkled. She smoothed out her apron and rocked back on her
heels. “Overall, pretty good. I’ve been a little queasy in the morning but feel
much better as the day goes on.”
“Good, you and Deacon must be so excited,” Piper said.
“Oh, we—” Iris started, but stopped as soon as Jasper entered the
bakery. His face looked grim.
“What’s wrong?” Piper asked.
Jasper’s eyes roved over the bakery before settling on her. “Something’s
come up and I need to go.” He turned to Iris. “Do you mind if we package the
rest up?”
“Of course. Let me take everything back and get it boxed up for you.”
Iris hurried off into the kitchen.
“We can go now. We don’t have to wait,” Piper said, pushing her chair
back and standing.
Jasper moved closer to the table. “We have time to package the food.
There’re already people at the scene.”
“I can walk back to the library. You can just head off. It’s fine,” Piper
stammered.
“No!” Jasper practically shouted, causing her to jump and Iris, now
standing back at the table, to squeak. “Sorry, I mean no. I have time to drive
you back. I insist, please.”
Piper’s jaw dropped at the intensity burning in his nearly black eyes.
“OK,” she said.
“All set,” Iris said. She handed Jasper a paper bag with their food all
boxed up.
“Thanks. Put it on my account, would you?” Jasper asked.
Iris nodded. “Sure thing. Do you know if Deacon is at the scene?” Iris
asked, jaw clenched.
Jasper gave her a kind smile. “Yes, he is.” He placed a hand on her
shoulder. “He’s safe. He’s there with Heath and some of the SCB agents.
They’re both fine.”
Iris exhaled audibly. “Oh, good! Thank you.”
“You ready?” Jasper asked Piper.
She’d been staring at the terrified look in Iris’s eyes. She felt unsettled at

her friend’s distress. She straightened her spine and turned to Jasper. “Yes.
Let’s go.”

ChAPTer 8
HE CLOSED HIS own car door once Piper was securely in the passenger seat.
He started the car but pulled out his phone instead of immediately
heading off. He started typing out a message to Declan.
Need eyes on Tessa’s Treats. Iris Clay inside.
Declan’s reply was swift. Already done. Mrs. G and Libby covered too.
Good. Declan had already placed agents on May and Piper—Mrs. G
stood for Grizzly and Libby for library.
“What’s wrong?” Piper asked, voice quaking.
“Pretty bear upset. Soothe her,” his beast hissed.
Her lips were pursed, her shoulders hunched. Jasper stopped typing on
his phone and placed a hand on her left arm. “I just needed to send a text.”
“Was someone else killed?” Piper asked.
He frowned. He shouldn’t be discussing this with her. She looked so
sad, almost as if she were resigned to something horrific having happened.
He put his phone on the dashboard charger and drove the vehicle out of the
bakery parking lot and onto Main Street.
“Not that I know of. Just some trouble we have to look into. I’ll check in
with you before closing time. Hopefully, I’ll be done by then.”
She nodded and stared out the passenger window.
He really hoped no one had been killed. He’d find out soon enough.
After watching Piper enter the library, he headed off to the western most part
of Grey Lake toward Calloway Farm. He bet he could drive to the farm with
his eyes closed. Ever since he could remember, his aunt and uncle had taken
him and his cousins there for hayrides and ice cream as soon as the farm
opened for the season. It was always one of the last activities they did before

heading off to Alaska for the summer each year. He had wonderful, carefree
memories of the family-run dairy farm with their well-treated cows and
horses. He hoped whatever he was about to walk into wasn’t as bad as Declan
had warned.
His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. He forced his anger down
deep within his core. He drove through the property’s gate and stopped next
to one of the GLPD police cruisers.
Red-haired wolf shifter Finn MacLeod was sitting in the vehicle. The
younger man looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes, stark against
his fair skin. To Jasper’s surprise, the usually easygoing man also looked
furious.
Jasper nodded to Finn. “Deacon and Heath up at the barn?”
Finn shook his head. “They started at the barn, but I think they’re out in
one of the fields. That’s where everyone is.” His expression was grim.
“Thanks,” Jasper said. He continued his drive up the windy gravel road
to the brightly painted, expansive red barn. He parked next to the two police
SUVs and Declan’s black SCB pickup. He grabbed his black backpack,
which held gear for collecting evidence and taking photos, slammed his car
door shut, and headed into the barn. He sniffed. Something smelled off. Like
death, but not the usual iron-tinged scent of blood that usually assaulted his
senses at the scenes of violence.
“Mr. Calloway.” He nodded to the gray-haired grizzly shifter whose
family owned the property for close to one hundred years. He held his hand
out, and the man shook it firmly.
“Jasper, this sure is a mess. I hope you guys can figure this one out
soon.” His amber eyes darted around behind Jasper as if scanning for trouble.
“I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve never seen anything…” His voice
trailed off.
“How’s Mrs. Calloway and the staff?” Jasper knew the man had several
farmhands and workers to keep the dairy farm and the small on-site ice-cream
operation running.
“Bonnie’s up at the house. My son’s there with her. The staff have been
told. They’re all in the barn waiting to be interviewed. My wife, though…
she’s the one who found them. Came running back to the house. I’ve never
heard a scream like that.”
What had she seen? What would scare a grizzly shifter? He patted the

man on his shoulder. “Why don’t you go check on her? Finn’s down at the
gate. He’ll keep everyone out.”
Mr. Calloway nodded absently. Once he moved toward the house, Jasper
turned and followed the scent of death.

ChAPTer 9
PIPER’S OUTLOOK CALENDAR beeped, alerting her to her appointment with
Dr. Brackett. She gathered her notebook with the information she’d jotted
down about caves in the area and stood up from her desk. She headed for the
main circulation desk where Ms. Matthews was holding court. When Piper
heard the older woman laughing softly, she smiled.
Ms. Matthews was speaking to a tall man with a head of slightly messy,
thick, chocolate-colored hair. The olive-skinned man was wearing glasses, a
dark blue collared dress shirt, and deep brown khaki pants. As she reached
the side of the circulation desk, the man swung his attention toward her.
Whoa, those eyes. The man’s eyes were an unusual light green that she’d
never seen before.
“Hmmpf, mate’s eyes better,” her bear huffed at her.
She willed her suddenly opinionated beast to behave.
“Oh Piper, good, you’re right on time. This is Dr. Brackett,”
Ms. Matthews said.
“Please call me Miles.” He stuck his hand out for her to shake.
Piper shook his hand. “Piper Sullivan, nice to meet you.”
Miles smiled and fidgeted with his hands. “Yes, yes. It’s nice to meet
you as well. It was hard to book you. You’re quite busy. Well, where should
we go?”
Piper tried to keep the frown from her face. She’d tried to keep
appointments to a minimum in the weeks since her father died and Cora was
arrested. It was just too much. “My office?” Piper suggested.
“Great, lead on Ms. Sullivan,” Miles said.
Piper led him back to her office and sat in her chair. She waved a hand

toward the seat on the other side of the antique desk. “You can call me
Piper.”
He gave her a half-smile. “Thank you.”
She tried not to stare at the man’s eyes, but they were like beacons.
“They’re strange, aren’t they?” Miles asked.
“What’s that?” Piper stammered.
“My eyes are an unusual color. Family trait,” Miles said.
He didn’t smell like a shifter to her, but… “They are rather unique,”
Piper said.
“My mother was a tiger shifter, my father a human,” he said.
Piper’s eyebrows shot up. She’d never seen a tiger shifter.
Miles continued. “I inherited the eye color, but nothing else.” He held
his arms out. “Ninety-nine-point-nine percent human.”
Piper cleared her throat. “A tiger shifter is definitely unusual for Grey
Lake, but not unwelcome. There are also many humans in Grey Lake. Also,
lots of human-shifter pairings. Everyone is welcome, provided they keep our
secrets.”
He laughed. “I’m not spilling any secrets. I don’t feel like being
experimented on.”
A chill ran down her back. “If word got out about shifters, there’s no
telling what would happen. People can be kind, but you never know.”
“I agree with keeping things secret. If someone ever decided to study
shifters, I’m sure there’ll be those who want to study the so-called defective
ones, like me. You know, the ones with some shifter DNA, but can’t shift.
No, all shifter secrets are safe with me.”
“Well, I don’t consider anyone defective whether they can shift or not,
but I hear what you’re saying.” She inhaled and let out her breath slowly.
“OK, then. Now, what exactly are you hoping to find out about our local
caves?” Piper asked.

ChAPTer 10
THE FEELING OF dread increased with every step Jasper took into the pasture.
His beast was mercifully silent. It was a raw late winter day, but the cows
should be out. Where the heck were they? Maybe they were in one of the
other fenced in areas. He spotted Heath, Deacon, and Declan standing
together up ahead. They were staring down at something large on the ground.
It was a cow. There were dead cows laying all over the field. Heath sounded
pissed. Declan was waving his hands around in front of him. A silent Deacon
was the first to turn at his approach.
“’Bout time you joined the party,” Deacon drawled.
“I just got here a few minutes ago. Got the call as soon as you left the
office,” Declan said.
Jasper’s breath caught at the carnage in front of him. So much death. He
took a step closer. “What the hell?”
“Never seen anything like this. Just empty husks. That’s all that’s left.
It’s as if their insides were scooped out,” Deacon said.
“I don’t even know how this is possible,” Heath said. “I mean look.”
Heath crouched down close to the remains of one of the white and black
animals. Jasper bent next to him. “It’s like someone or something devoured
their entire insides and left just bones and hide.” Heath looked at Jasper.
“Where’s the blood? There’s none on the ground. Snow’s nearly pristine,
too.”
He heard Declan mumbling on Heath’s other side. “Never seen a town
as crazy as this place. What the heck’s gonna happen next?”
Jasper pulled a set of gloves from his bag and put them on. He leaned
closer to the carcass in front of him and lifted a flap of hide to inspect inside

the body. “Smooth, just skin and hair. No subcutaneous tissue.” He leaned
closer. “Looks like most of the bones were left behind.” He leaned back on
his heels, still in a crouch. “How many?”
Deacon moved closer to his right and flipped through a pad of paper.
“Mr. Calloway says there were ten cows led into this field about four this
morning by one of his farmhands. It was Seth I believe.” He closed the pad
and looked at Jasper. “We haven’t counted yet, but when we got here, there
weren’t any signs of life.”
“Where’s Seth?” Declan asked.
“He’s up at the main house. He told Mr. C the cows were fine when he
last saw them. He was busy inside the barn all morning. Nothing unusual,”
Deacon said.
“Who else has seen this besides Mr. and Mrs. C?” Jasper asked.
“Just us. Mr. C kept everyone back. He stayed here until we arrived,
then we sent him back to the house,” Deacon said.
“Nobody heard anything?” Jasper asked.
Heath shook his head. He stood to his full height and groaned. “No.
That’s why Mrs. C came over to check on the cows around ten or so. She said
it was too damn quiet.”
“When was the last time the cows were seen alive?” Jasper asked.
“Seth came by around nine. Said everything was status quo. Nothing
unusual,” Deacon said, reading off his notepad.
“What?” Jasper asked, running his hand through his hair. This made no
sense. “Someone did all this within an hour without alerting anyone to the
fact that these animals were being slaughtered?”
“So, it would seem,” Heath said. He turned to Jasper’s boss, who’d been
uncharacteristically quiet.
“So Estey, has the SCB ever seen anything like this?”
Declan grunted in reply.
Heath and Jasper locked eyes. Heath scowled. “What does that mean?”
Declan bent down and looked closer at the remnants of the animal in
front of him. As he studied the animal’s hide, he spoke, “I’ve never seen this
before. I have also never heard of this happening to dairy cattle. This is some
brutal shit. These poor creatures never harmed anyone.”
Heath crouched down besides Declan. “So, when you say you’ve never

heard of this happening to cattle, would that mean you have heard of this
happening to some other type of animal?”
Declan coughed and stood up. He nodded to a now standing Heath.
“There was a report of something similar to this a couple of months back. It
was out in Eastern New York. Agent friend of mine told me about it. Wanted
to give me a heads up. Report involved four deer. We kept it quiet.”
Heath hissed. “You didn’t think to let us know?”
Declan growled. “Look, it wasn’t my team. It was out in New York, and
we’ve been pretty busy around here with our own brand of trouble.”
“Maybe this is our trouble. Maybe this has something to do with the
men in black that attacked Heath. Maybe this is the lead we need to find
them,” Jasper said, taking his camera out of his bag. He scanned the area.
“Did you have anyone else out here to collect evidence?” he asked Declan.
“Not yet. I wanted to limit the number of people who saw this horror
show. You take the photos. These two can canvas the scene.” He gestured to
Heath and Deacon with his head.
“Oh, we can?” Heath asked, sarcasm dripping from his words, eyebrows
raised.
Declan rubbed his hands through his short blond hair and groaned.
“Look, I think it would be best if we worked together on this. It would seem
wise to keep this as closed a scene as possible. This kind of a scene is really
liable to upset people.”
Heath’s jaw dropped.
A chill ran down Jasper’s back. Why the hell was Declan offering to
work with the police so easily? He usually barged his way in and took over
from them. He caught Declan’s icy blue gaze. This was not good. His polar
bear shifter boss actually seemed afraid.

ChAPTer 11
PIPER LOOKED AT the clock on the wall and sighed. It was almost closing time,
and Jasper hadn’t shown up or called. What are you thinking? He doesn’t
owe you anything. He was probably assigned to protect you. Did you actually
think he was interested in a mouse like you?
“Stop this nonsense. Mate will be in touch. Must be trouble at work.
Danger in Grey Lake,” her bear argued.
She shrugged. Either that or he didn’t want to waste his time with her.
There was no sense in mooning about things she couldn’t change. Besides,
she was still grieving her father; she didn’t have any additional capacity for
heartbreak. Better to keep things simple. No entanglements. Yeah, that was
the best way to avoid getting hurt.
“Won’t work, silly human. Kind reindeer is persistent. You’ll see,” her
beast replied.
She tidied up her post at the main circulation desk and headed out to
make the rounds before closing the library. She’d had a busy afternoon.
Dr. Brackett, or Miles as he repeatedly insisted she call him, had peppered
her with questions about the polar caves in the area. He wanted to design a
field study for one of his laboratory classes and needed some specific
information on the largest of the caves. She was able to provide some notes
and maps. He was thrilled when she’d offered to take him out to show him
one of her favorite caves on Sunday when she had a day off.
Miles was enthusiastic about geology and the earth sciences in general
and wanted to bring that excitement to his students. Lofty goals, Piper mused.
She’d never been particularly interested in science; it was all literature and

library science classes for her. Perhaps she’d have been more enamored of
the subject if she had an engaging professor like Miles.
Twenty minutes later, she’d just picked up her purse from her office and
walked to the front door when—
“I’m glad I caught you.”
She startled, and her head snapped up. Jasper was standing by the door.
He winced. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry I’m so late. I meant to
get back here sooner.”
His hair was all mussed up, but he otherwise looked well.
“It’s fine. You don’t have to keep running back here to check on me. I
can handle things here. I know you’re busy,” Piper said, pulling the library
keys out of her purse. She tried but failed to keep her voice even. She walked
toward the door, passing Jasper, hoping he’d follow her out so she could head
home.
She reached the door, pulled back the handle, and hesitated. Jasper
hadn’t followed her. He remained where he’d been standing. He was
scowling. Ooh, she hadn’t seen a miffed Jasper before.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “I need to close up for the night.”
“I know you can handle this.” He gestured with his head behind him. “I
like coming here and spending time with you.”
“You do?” she said quietly. Frowning Jasper was an even hotter Jasper.
“Agree with you, human,” her bear whispered.
“Course, I do. I come here because you’re an amazing person who I
want to get to know better,” he said.
“You weren’t sent here on orders? You weren’t assigned to guard me?”
Piper asked. She needed to be sure.
He flinched. “No! Did someone tell you that? Is that what you thought?”
he asked.
She shook her head. Tears threatened. “No, nobody said that. I just
wasn’t sure. So much has happened.” She lowered her head so he wouldn’t
see her cry. Shit, she needed to stop with the tears.
Oof! Before she registered what happened, she was tucked up against his
chest.
“Shh, it’s OK. Let it out.” He held her tightly against him and rubbed
soothing strokes up and down her back.
She had to hold back a moan. His body was so warm, his arms so strong.

Get yourself together.
“Let mate comfort you. He needs it, too,” her bear said. “See how he’s
doing. Show some concern.”
“I’m OK.” Her voice was muffled as she was still pressed against his
chest. After a few seconds, he loosened his embrace and held her at arms’
length. He raised an eyebrow.
Piper smiled weakly. “Really, I’m good. Sorry I snapped at you. I’m just
tired, but you must be, too. Now, you tell me, how was your day?”

ChAPTer 12
PIPER WAS KILLING him. He could smell the sadness in the air. A deep, dark
melancholy swirled around her. And she was asking him about his day? No,
he needed to take care of her.
“How about I follow you home, and we can order dinner, my treat?”
“I don’t know. I’m really tired,” she said without emotion.
“Have you eaten yet?” he persisted.
She shook her head and lowered her eyes. “No, I got busy and forgot.”
“Mate has to eat. Take care of her or I will,” his beast warned.
“Well, how about it then? You need to eat and so do I.” He groaned and
grunted as his reindeer continued to push at his being. The reindeer was not
happy that Piper wasn’t taking proper care of herself.
“What was that?” Piper was ever perceptive.
“My animal is upset that you haven’t eaten. He’s trying to force a
change.”
Her eyes widened. “Ooh, no you don’t, not in the library, you naughty
beast,” she teased.
His cock stiffened at her words. No, this isn’t what she needed right
now. She needed food and rest.
“He’ll behave,” Jasper croaked, “as long as he makes sure you eat
something.”
She rolled her eyes. “OK, fine. Let’s go then.”
About twenty minutes later, Jasper followed Piper through the front door of
her family’s home. The inside was all dark wood, but it wasn’t dank. The
atmosphere was cozy. He smiled as he eyed the numerous bookcases that
lined two walls of the spacious living room.

Piper was standing next to him, still in her coat, holding her purse. She
fidgeted with the strap of the bag. He noticed she’d lost some weight since
her father’s death. She was tall for a woman, but about average height for a
female bear shifter. Her shape was curvy but toned like an athlete. Now she
looked like she’d lost about fifteen pounds or so. She probably wasn’t eating
well. The dark circles under her eyes indicated trouble sleeping as well.
Someone needed to take care of her for a change.
“Hey, how about I get us something to drink while you put your feet up?
What would you like?” Jasper asked. The kitchen was just off the living
room. He propped his laptop bag against the wall next to the front door and
strode into the partially open concept kitchen.
“No, I can get it,” Piper argued.
He could hear the fatigue in her voice. “I insist. Just have a seat.” The
shiny black fridge had an ice and water dispenser. “How about some water?”
“Sure,” she said.
He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he went in search of
drinkware.
She removed her coat and draped it over the back of a recliner along
with her purse. She then plunked herself down on the largest of two dark blue
couches with a heavy sigh.
“How did your appointment go with the professor?” Jasper asked as he
pulled two tall blue glasses from a cabinet near the sink.
She was resting her head against the back of the sofa. “Oh, it went pretty
well. He was very interested in the polar caves in the area,” Piper said.
“Hmm, is he also a bear shifter?” Jasper asked. He filled the two glasses
with ice and then water from the fridge dispenser. He walked over and
handed a glass to Piper, then sat down next to her on the couch—not too
close as to crowd her, but close enough to keep his reindeer from revolting.
“Thanks,” Piper replied after taking the glass. She took a sip. “No, his
mother is or was a tiger shifter, but he can’t shift. He inherited her eyes—
these brilliant, almost glowing, green eyes—but that’s it.”
“Don’t want her looking at some other man’s eyes,” his reindeer hissed.
“Agreed,” he silently told his irate beast.
“Unusual, huh? I’ve never seen a tiger shifter before,” Piper said.
Jasper took a sip of his drink. “I’ve met a couple in the bureau, but

they’re both from the West coast. I haven’t seen any around here. This
professor seems nice?”
Piper took another sip and nodded. “Seems so. He’s trying to get his
students interested in science. He wants to take them on a field trip as part of
their lab. I offered to show him one of my favorite caves on Sunday. You’re
welcome to come if you’re free,” Piper offered.
He’d be free no matter what. He tamped down his jealousy and forced a
grin. “That would be great. I haven’t been to the caves since I was a kid. I’d
love to go.”
She gifted him with a warm smile that caused a burning in his chest.
“Feed mate, idiot human,” his animal scolded.
“I nearly forgot. Tell me what you’d like for dinner so I can place the
order while you tell me more about these caves.”

ChAPTer 13
PIPER WAS SO screwed. She had found a kindred soul in the muscular federal
agent. They’d been talking non-stop since he placed the order for their pizzas.
He’d noticed the Robin Hobb books on one of her bookshelves, and it turned
out he was also a fan of the fantasy genre. She was so happy to find someone
to discuss books with. She was friendly with May, Iris, and more recently
Mac, but they weren’t huge readers like she was. She wouldn’t have thought
Jasper would share her interest, but it just goes to show you, you can’t judge a
book by its cover. She laughed out loud at her own corny joke.
“What’s so funny?” Jasper asked, a half-grin on his face. He was sitting
next to her on the couch, looking through some of the books he’d grabbed
from her shelves.
She felt her cheeks heat. “Just, you know, here I was judging a book by
its cover. I’m embarrassed.”
He leaned his head closer to hers. “Don’t be. How would you know I’m
into these books? Not many people do.”
Ring, ring, ring!
She startled, lurching forward from her seat.
Jasper laid a hand on her arm. “It’s just the door.” He glanced at his
watch. “Must be the pizza. I’ll get it.” He patted her arm once and then rose
and ambled to the door.
Piper stood up and walked to the kitchen to get plates but turned at the
sound of familiar voices at the door.
Jasper returned from answering the door with May and Beau behind
him. They were holding hands. Petite, blond wolf shifter May was smiling,

but her enormous grizzly shifter husband looked harried with his auburn hair
sticking out as if he’d been rubbing it repeatedly.
“You’re not pizza,” Piper mumbled inanely.
May barked out a laugh, while Beau grinned. “Pipe, when I was a cop, I
was called a lot of things by the idiots I arrested. I have to say, though, I’ve
never been called a pizza.”
Piper groaned. “Oh, you know what I mean. We ordered a pizza and
thought you guys were it.” She walked over and gave May and then Beau a
hug. “What’re you guys doing here? Did I forget we had plans?” She didn’t
think she’d made plans with the Shanleys, but her mind was so messed up
recently… She looked at Jasper, who was frowning.
“No, no. This was a last-minute visit. I hope you don’t mind us stopping
over. We’ll keep it brief since you have company,” Beau said, eyes
twinkling.
Damn it. Her cheeks warmed once more. “No, it’s OK. Jasper and I
were just going to eat some dinner. Do you guys want to join us?” Piper
asked.
Beau tugged May in closer to him, wrapping one arm around her
shoulder. “No, I have plans for a quiet dinner at home with my lovely wife.
She just wanted to come over here and make sure you were OK.”
“What? Why wouldn’t she be OK?” Jasper asked. His tone was guarded.
“Here, sit down.” Piper gestured for May and Beau to sit on the couch
opposite the one she and Jasper had been seated on.
“Thanks,” May said, sitting down. Beau sat down close to his wife. He
pulled her against his body. May squeezed his hand and smiled lovingly at
him.
Watching the couple, Piper sighed. They looked so in love.
“Give mate some time, human. You’ll be there soon,” her inner bear
chuffed.
“Can I get you guys anything?” Piper asked.
May shook her head. “No, no. We’re fine. I just wanted to check on you
because I had one of my visions. I painted you this afternoon. I had just
finished one of my painting classes. The last of the students had just left and I
was cleaning up. I just went into this trance, and when I came to, I had
painted you.”
“Whoa, really? Are you OK?” Piper asked.

May nodded.
Beau squeezed her shoulder gently, worry evident in his eyes. “Thank
God for that.”
“What was I doing?” Piper asked.
May waved Piper over toward her. “Here, I’m not really sure. I took a
picture of the painting with my phone. Look.”
“Come look too, Jasper,” Piper said. She rose from her seat on the coach
and moved to May’s side, crouching next to where her friend sat. Jasper
followed her and kneeled on the floor next to Piper.
She gasped at the picture on May’s phone. The image was of Piper lying
in bed in the long thermal shirt and pants she wore as pajamas, her hair loose,
her eyes closed. It looked as if there were blue and orange sparks emitting
from her hands, which clutched at her comforter. May had also drawn
another more ethereal version of her. This second Piper was depicted floating
horizontally above the first Piper, looking down at her.
“What the hell?” Jasper growled. “Why does she look like a ghost?”
May shook her head. “I don’t know. Remember, I was in a trance. I
don’t think she’s a ghost, but it does look like she’s flying,” May mused.
“Floating maybe,” Beau added. “My wife was so upset, she insisted we
come right over and make sure you’re OK.”
Piper forced her gaze away from the image to May. She was biting her
lower lip and frowning. She was concerned. The small, but mighty, wolf had
a huge heart. She grabbed one of May’s hands in hers. “Thank you for
worrying about me. I’m not sure what it means, but maybe it will become
clearer soon.” She pasted a smile to her face to try to reassure May.
Ring, ring, ring!
“That must be the pizza,” Piper said. She stood and took a step toward
the door.
“No, stay there. I’ll go get it,” Jasper said.

ChAPTer 14
JASPER NEEDED SOME air. He gathered his thoughts as he walked to the door.
Seeing Piper floating in the air as if she were a spirit, as if she were dead, had
chilled him to the bone. And was that fire coming from her hands? His heart
raced.
It’s just a painting. It’s not real.
But he knew all about May’s powers, Piper’s, too. Maybe May had seen
Piper using some of her powers in her vision. He opened the door, paid the
teenager delivering the pizza from Pizza Chef—his favorite—and then
carried the two meat-lovers’ pies into the kitchen and deposited them on the
granite countertop. He had been amazed that Piper was a fan of his beloved
meat-lovers’ as well. He was the only one among his extended family who
ate meat. His parents had too, but … well, that didn’t matter. The more time
he spent with Piper, the more he learned they had so much in common.
He probably only had needed to order one of the extra-large pies, but his
beast was pushing to feed Piper. While he’d been searching for drink glasses
earlier, he noticed the lack of food in the cabinets. If he checked the fridge, he
bet there wouldn’t be much either. He wouldn’t go snooping, though. It’d be
presumptuous and rude, and Piper didn’t deserve that. Now, if she asked him
to get something out of the fridge, then that’d be fair game.
He grabbed two plates and selected a couple of slices for Piper and
himself. He was on his way back to the living room when Piper appeared
holding their two empty glasses.
“Do you need some help finding anything?” Piper asked.
He shook his head. “Nope. Was just on my way back. Are Beau and
May still here?”

“No. I just walked them to the door. They said to tell you bye,” Piper
said. Her gaze locked onto the plates. “That looks so good. I haven’t had
pizza for a while.”
“Well, I’m glad. There’s plenty here. I was going to bring the food into
the living room, but if you’d rather eat here in the kitchen…” This was so
weird, this feeling of being unsure of himself.
Piper’s shoulders lowered slightly, relaxing. “Living room is perfect.”
She walked over to the fridge and opened it. “I’m fine with water, but did you
want a beer or glass of wine?”
Still holding the two plates, he turned so he could see over her shoulder
into the fridge. Just as he suspected, it was pretty barren.
“Ooh, I’m sorry. I guess I don’t have any beer or wine here. I can look
in the cupboards to see if I have a bottle of something stashed away,” she
rambled. “The kitchen’s not usually so bare. I just haven’t had a chance to go
shopping.” Sadness was evident in her voice.
“No, water’s perfect. This pizza is so good, it doesn’t need beer or wine
to muck up the flavors,” he said, trying to lift her mood.
She smiled at him and refilled their glasses with ice and water.
He gestured with a nod. “After you,” he said with mock formality.
“Why, thank you,” Piper replied, playing along.
He followed her back to the living room and sat next to her on the sofa.
He placed the two plates on the coffee table in front of them. Piper placed his
glass on the table next to his plate and handed him a napkin that she’d
grabbed.
“Bon appétit,” Jasper said, grabbing his plate and placing it on his lap.
She chuckled and began eating.
He picked up a piece and tried not to devour it like a savage. It was hard
since this was his guilty pleasure, at least food-wise.
“Oooh, this is just as good as I remembered,” Piper said with a grin.
Man, if this was all it took to bring a smile to her face, he’d have it
delivered to the library every day for her.
“How was your day?” Piper asked him.
He finished chewing and placed all that remained of slice number one,
namely the crust, back onto his plate. “It was pretty busy. Normally I
wouldn’t go into details, but I trust you will keep this confidential, right?”
“Of course,” Piper said, placing a hand on his forearm.

His cock twitched at her touch. Keep it together.
He nodded at her. “I believe you.” He paused for a second, then inhaled
deeply. “Well, there was some trouble out on the Calloway’s dairy farm.”
“Is everyone OK?” Piper asked, frowning.
He nodded. “Yes, Mr. and Mrs. C and all the workers are fine. Several
of their dairy cows were killed, though.”
“Oh, no. That’s terrible. Was it an animal?”
He shrugged. “We’re not exactly sure. It was an unusual sort of scene.
The animals were eviscerated. All that was left was skin and bones. There
wasn’t even any blood at the scene.”
“What?” She placed a hand over her mouth.
“It gets even stranger. The attack happened during the morning when
everyone was awake, but no one heard a peep of distress from the animals.”
“Nobody heard anything?” Piper asked, leaning forward on the couch.
“I know. Doesn’t make much sense to me,” Jasper said.
She bit her lower lip and then took a sip of water, leaning back once
more. “Hmmm.”
“What’re you thinking?” he asked.
She shrugged. “It…it just seems supernatural. Almost has to be, don’t
you think? I mean, what else could explain it?”
“What do you mean by supernatural? You think a shifter did this?”
She grimaced. “Not a typical shifter, but a shifter using magic might be
able to do such a thing.”
“Have you ever seen a spell in your readings that could do something
like this?”
She shook her head. “No, but I’m still only scratching the surface of the
spells in the archives. There’re so many. This seems like something only an
experienced wielder of magic would be able to do.”
“Unfortunately, I think you’re right.” He leaned back against the couch
and scratched his chin. “Is it the devil we know or someone we don’t yet
know?” He took a bite of his second slice and chewed, watching Piper as she
slowly worked on her first piece of pizza. After swallowing, he said, “So,
what do you think about May’s painting?”

ChAPTer 15
PIPER CHOKED ON the water she was sipping. Dang it, Jasper never missed a
trick.
She cleared her throat and then replied. “Oh, it was very realistic. It
looked just like me.”
He frowned and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “I agree, but
that’s not what I meant. The scene she drew was rather bizarre. I was
wondering if you knew what it meant.”
Should I tell him? Will he think I’m crazy?
“He’s worried. Trust him,” her bear’s deep voice advised.
Seeing the lines of concern on his face, she had to agree with her beast.
She put her slice of pizza back down on her plate and sat up straighter. “I
believe I might.”
“If you’re comfortable telling me, maybe I can help,” Jasper said.
Piper placed her plate on the coffee table and leaned against the back of
the sofa. “You won’t tell anyone, will you? I’m not ready for people to think
I’m crazy.”
Jasper adjusted himself so he was facing her more directly. “I won’t say
a word. No one will think you’re crazy, though. Just so you know. This town
is so full of supernatural events that I’d believe almost anything is possible.”
He looked so serious, so earnest.
She inhaled a deep breath that she let out slowly. “Well, ever since my
father passed away, I’ve had a few disturbing dreams…or rather nightmares.”
She paused.
He nodded. “That’s to be expected. You were kidnapped, lost your dad,

and then your sister was sent away to prison all within a month. I’d be
surprised if you didn’t have nightmares.”
She gave him a weak smile. “Well, during the last nightmare, something
really weird happened. I found myself stuck outside of my own body.” She
stopped and tried to gauge his response. He was completely focused on her,
eyes kind, no judgment. She continued. “It was as if I was floating above my
body. I could even see my body—another version of me—lying in bed in my
pajamas. Once I saw myself tossing in my sleep, I knew I was alive. I just
didn’t know how to get my mind or soul or essence, whatever, back inside
my body.”
“That’s never happened before?” Jasper asked.
She shook her head. “It freaked me out. At first, I didn’t know if I was
dead, and my spirit was leaving my body.” When tears filled her eyes, she
blinked them away.
He placed a hand on hers and squeezed. “What did you do?”
“I was luckily able to call my magic to me. Somehow, the magic helped
me return to my body. I called it to me, begged it for help. I could feel
something like electricity at my hands. I heard crackles and snaps like
lightning.”
“Like your hands in May’s picture,” Jasper said.
She shivered. “Yeah, looked pretty close. At least what I could see from
my vantage point.”
“Is that why you haven’t been sleeping? The nightmares and this, this…
out of body experience?” Jasper asked.
“The nightmares are part of the reason. The out of body thing just
happened last night so it hasn’t affected me too badly, at least yet. Wait, how
did you know I haven’t been sleeping well?”
“Piper, you have dark circles under your eyes. The past couple of weeks
when I’ve seen you at the library, you’ve looked dead on your feet.”
Piper folded her arms across her chest and slid further from him on the
couch. She scowled. “So, you’re saying I look terrible? Is that it?”
Before she knew which end was up, Piper found herself wrapped within
Jasper’s strong arms, sitting on his lap. Her head was tucked down, her face
against his chest. “Hey!” she squeaked. “You implied I looked like a wreck!”
“Shhh, stop fussing.” He ran soothing strokes up and down her back.
She trembled at his touch. She breathed in his wild scent and relaxed

into his arms.
“You know that’s not what I meant, don’t you?” he asked.
“Maybe,” she mumbled, face pressed against his sweater.
He chuckled and continued to hold her close to him. “I don’t care what
you look like, other than you seem exhausted. You’re not taking care of
yourself. It’s not healthy. You don’t want to end up in the hospital, do you?”
She stilled. He was really worried about her.
He held her out away from his chest a bit and smiled. “Of course, I’m
worried about you.”
Woops, she didn’t realize she’d said that out loud.
He brushed a finger down her cheek. She swallowed heavily. It suddenly
felt hot in her home.
“Hey, focus. You need to finish eating and then get to bed. I’m not
leaving ’til you eat at least two pieces and head off to bed.”
His deep eyes were so intense. She found herself wanting to just listen
and follow his instructions, at least for now. She sighed. “OK, not because
you’re bossy, though. It’s because I do love this pizza.”
He stroked her cheek again, his eyes not leaving hers. “That so?”
She nodded. “I might be a little tired too, so I think I will go to sleep
early tonight.”
He chuckled at that. “OK then.”

ChAPTer 16
HOW COULD SHE think he was insulting her looks? He wanted her so badly that
it was all he could do to keep his hands off her. She needed care and
compassion right now, not his lips all over her beautiful naked body.
Hopefully soon, though.
“Take care of our mate,” his beast commanded.
Piper was taking a quick shower while he tidied up after dinner. There
wasn’t much for him to clean up, so he meandered through her home,
checking to make sure it was secure from intruders. He liked the layout of
Piper’s home. Similar to the homes of most bear shifters he’d met, the main
bedrooms were all downstairs at the basement level. The unusual
arrangement gave the bedrooms a homey, den-like atmosphere. Jasper liked
the fact that Piper was more protected from break-ins when she was in her
bedroom, it being underground. He didn’t know what caused the carnage at
the farm today, but it was gruesome. After witnessing the crime scene, his
natural instinct to keep her safe was even more powerful.
After ensuring all the windows and both front and back doors were
locked, he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and dialed Heath.
“What new disaster are you calling me about?” Heath growled.
“You know, most people answer the phone with ‘hello’’” Jasper
quipped.
“Most people know not to interrupt my alone time with my mate,” Heath
snipped.
Jasper could tell by the tone of his buddy’s voice and from Mac’s
giggles in the background that he wasn’t too angry. “Please give Mac my

apologies for interrupting. I just wanted to see if you had any new
information on today’s crime scene.”
“Nothing you don’t already know. I’ll inform you of any updates as
soon as I hear anything. I expect you to do the same. So, where are you this
fine evening that you are bothering me at this hour?” Heath asked.
“I’m at Piper’s. We just had dinner and I wanted to make sure her place
was secure before I left. We have a guy out in the woods doing surveillance,
but I still don’t like her being out here by herself.”
“Jay, she’s a freakin’ bear and a witch, too. She’ll be fine. Although,
you could stay out there and keep an eye on her. You know, just to be sure.”
Heath was baiting him.
“Heath, leave them alone!” Mac chided her husband in the background.
“Listen to your mate, you pest. By the way, May and Beau stopped by
here earlier.”
“Is everything OK? Why were they there?” Heath asked. He was still
May’s overprotective big brother, even though she had an enormous grizzly
shifter for a husband.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. May just wanted to show us a painting she
did.”
Heath groaned. “Do I want to know what of?”
“No. I don’t imagine you do. Nothing for you to worry about right now,
though,” Jasper said. He didn’t want to tell Heath about Piper’s out-of-body
experience. He wouldn’t break his promise to her. Just then he heard soft
footsteps moving toward him.
“Got to go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Jasper said and clicked the phone
off before waiting for Heath’s reply. He turned and saw a sheepish Piper
shuffling down the hallway. He grinned at the cute picture she presented in
her light blue thermal long underwear-style pajamas, her dark hair in a long
braid down her back. “You ready for bed?” he asked, trying but failing to
wipe the smile off his face. He couldn’t help it; she looked adorable.
She scowled, but the action morphed into a yawn. She covered her
mouth with a hand, and then nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see you out.”
He—and his beast—wanted to stay and guard her all night, but he
supposed that’d freak her out. He kept his mouth shut and followed her to the
front door. She opened it and turned to face him.
“Can I see you tomorrow?” he blurted out. Way to be calm and

collected, idiot!
She chuckled. “I see you every day at the library.”
He cleared his throat, which suddenly had become tight. “Will you let
me take you out to dinner tomorrow?”
“We just had dinner tonight,” she said in a low voice.
She was swaying on her feet. Poor thing was dead tired despite her
protests. He moved closer to her, wanting to catch her if she fell. “Yes, we
did, but I want to spend more time with you.”
“Well, that’s good because I want to spend time with you, too,” she said.
She lowered her head, but he’d already seen her flushed cheeks.
He let out a dramatically fake sigh. “Whew, that’s a relief. What time
would you like me to pick you up?”
She closed her eyes and bit her lip. “Since tomorrow’s Saturday, I’ll be
home by four. How about you pick me up here at five-thirty?”
He squeezed her hand. “Perfect. Now lock up behind me.”

ChAPTer 17
PIPER CLOSED AND locked up behind Jasper. For a moment when he turned to
face her at the door, she thought he was going to kiss her goodnight. She had
to admit she was a little disappointed that he hadn’t. On the other hand, she
was glad he left before noticing her hands.
She turned away from the door and looked down at them. She flexed
them open and closed as sparkles of dim orange light shot out from her
fingers. They didn’t hurt, but felt tingly, like she was full of static electricity
that wouldn’t dissipate.
She shuffled over to the couch and sat down with a soft thump. She
raised her hands up in front of her face, opening and closing them again. She
was wired, no longer tired. She couldn’t sleep now. Jasper would be so mad
if he knew she hadn’t gone right to bed. She smiled, thinking of bossy Jasper.
She got kind of turned on when he got all commanding with her.
“You like mate to take charge. Me too,” her bear chimed.
She was too riled up to go to sleep now. Her skin buzzed with energy.
Might as well make use of this burst of motivation and get some work done.
Mmm, maybe she could help Jasper out while she was at it. She hopped up
off the couch, walked down the hall, and descended the stairs leading down
to her bedroom.
“Yeah, well, I don’t think he’s going to be too happy when he realizes
I’m going out tonight,” she said out loud.
“Reindeer will not be pleased. Go to bed,” her bear hissed.
“Can’t sleep with all the magic running through me. I’m going to head
to the library to do some research,” she told her animal silently.
The beast groaned in response.

She packed a change of clothing as well as shoes into a small backpack
and zipped it up. She knew the SCB had an agent watching her house. Her
shifter senses enabled her to sniff him or her out every time she walked
outside her home. The best way for her to get to the library unencumbered
was to do it in her bear form. The agent would notice her, of course, but
would keep his or her distance if she was in her beast form, figuring she’d
want privacy.
She ascended back upstairs and exited the house through the sliding
glass doors in her living room, coming out onto her back deck. She placed the
backpack down at her feet and shuffled her slippers off, nudging them to the
side with her foot. Piper scanned the forest behind her home, using her
enhanced sense of sight and smell to identify anyone trying to hide among the
snow-dappled pine and birch trees.
After a few seconds, she spied her guard about two hundred yards away.
A large female wolf, jet-black in color and similar to Heath’s animal form,
was mostly hidden from view, using a couple of downed tree trunks as cover.
Must be one of Jasper’s colleagues since Piper had never seen her in Grey
Lake before. She didn’t sense any aggression coming from the wolf, so it was
time to shift and get down to work.
Piper pulled off her pajama top, folded it, and lay it down neatly on her
patio table. She then removed her thermal pajama bottoms and underwear,
folded them, and lay them on her top. She pulled the elastic from her hair and
pulled her hair loose from its braid. She stared out at the woods and relaxed.
The electric-like tingling was still running through her body, but she was able
to quiet her mind temporarily. She focused on her inner beast and called her
forth. Magic swirled around her body as she smoothly shifted into her black
bear form.
“Finally, it’s about time, human,” her bear said.
“Let’s head to the library so I can find some information to help
Jasper,” Piper coaxed her animal.
Her bear huffed. “So demanding, little human. Might as well get started.
As soon as mate finds out what you’re doing, he’s going to come and get
you.” The beast picked up Piper’s backpack in her mouth and ambled off the
deck into the woods.

ChAPTer 18
RING, RING, RING!
Jasper awoke with a start. “What the hell?” It was pitch black in his
room. He scowled at his cellphone on the bedside table.
He reached an arm out and grabbed the offending device. He frowned at
the display when he recognized the number of one of his fellow SCB agents.
“Zoey, it’s the middle of the night. What’s going on?”
Zoey Sadler was a wolf shifter originally from San Antonio. Primarily
an IT specialist, she was one of the officers taking rotation guarding Piper,
Iris, Aiden, and May. The SCB ranks were being stretched as they were
involved with numerous cases all over the US.
“I’ve been on shift watching your little librarian this evening.”
Jasper bristled, then shook it off. He liked people thinking of Piper as
his. That’s how he thought of her. Well, at least hopefully she’d be his soon.
“So, what’s the problem? Is she OK?” Jasper asked, voice rising.
“She’s fine, but, well…” Zoey trailed off.
“Well, what? What’s wrong?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but a couple of hours ago, around eleven or so,
she showed up on her back deck. She shifted and took off into the woods,”
Zoey drawled.
“What?” Jasper yelled.
“Hey, there. No need to yell. She’s fine,” Zoey said.
“I told her to go to bed. She was exhausted. Looked dead on her feet,”
Jasper ranted.
“Hah, well, seems like she had something to do. I followed her, of
course. She went right to the library. She shifted back and changed in the
bushes out front and let herself in. She hasn’t left since.”

“Shit, son of a bitch! What could she be up to? Are you right outside?”
“Sure am. She’s the only one in the building as far as I can tell. I don’t
see any lights on inside either,” Zoey said.
“She’s probably down in the archival room.” Jasper sighed. “Let me get
dressed, and I’ll head right over.”
“You don’t have to. Everything’s fine. I was just letting you know as
you seem to have a personal interest in this client.”
Jasper grunted. “I think she’s mine.”
Zoey laughed. “You think she’s yours? I’d say she was. You’re one of
the most even-keeled agents I’ve ever worked with, but you’ve been acting
different ever since this particular client was kidnapped. You’ve gone all
possessive and growly. I’ve seen it happen before when a shifter finds his or
her mate. Remember, I have seven older brothers.”
Shoot, seven older brothers? “You’re imagining things. I haven’t treated
her any differently than any other person under protection.”
“Hah! Whatever you need to tell yourself, reindeer. Take your time
getting over here. I’m here for the night whether you go and bother the poor
woman or not,” Zoey answered.
Jasper ended the call and closed his eyes. What would it take for Piper to
take care of herself?

ChAPTer 19
PIPER FELT MORE energized than she had in days, she mused as she unlocked
the front door to the library. It felt good to shift and let her beast out for a bit.
Shifting always left her feeling more refreshed. Her beast was usually more
cooperative once she got out for a while, too.
“Happy to explore, but you’re going to be sorry when mate finds you
here,” her bear warned.
“That’s nonsense. He’s not the boss of me. I have no one to answer to,”
she silently told the unruly she-bear. No one at all.
“Hmpf, if that’s what you think, then you’re not as smart as I thought,”
the beast answered.
Piper groaned. She turned and locked the door behind her. She knew
that the SCB wolf agent had followed her from her home, but it was still safer
to lock the place up. She rolled up the sleeves on her thin sweater, slung her
backpack over one arm, and strode past the circulation desk to the stairwell
that led downstairs to where the shifter archives were stored.
She typed the passcode into the electronic pad to the right of the room
and heard the familiar click as it unlocked. She smiled, thinking of how
Jasper had insisted that he be the one to set up the security system for this
room. Maybe it didn’t mean anything, maybe he’d have done it for anyone,
but she liked to think she was special to him.
“So dense. You are special to him. How many times do I have to tell
you?” her bear whined.
“You’re not an unbiased source, so you don’t count,” Piper scolded her
animal out loud. She flexed her tingling hands. “Now, let’s try to find a spell

that might explain what Jasper found at the farm earlier while the magic is
still thrumming through my body.”
She dropped her backpack on the floor next to the large table in the
center of the room and turned to face the wall of bookshelves to her left that
were filled with remarkably well preserved—thanks to Tessa—shifter books
of history and magic. She put her hands on her hips and bit her lower lip.
Where to begin?
Zzzzzst, zzzzzst!
She looked down at her hands. Light orange sparks shot out from her
fingers, traveling about a foot before disappearing into thin air. She spread
her fingers out, flicking them, but the sparks kept coming. This was so weird.
Thankfully, it didn’t hurt, just felt static-y. She hoped this meant she’d be
able to read the magic spell books. Her magical talents were so green that
even though the strange writing in the spell books was sometimes legible,
other times it looked like gibberish.
She closed her eyes and focused on Jasper. She wanted to help him.
C’mon magic, give me a break. He’s helped me so much, it’s my turn now.
Thud!
She gasped and turned to her right. A hardcover dark blue book had
fallen onto the floor from a shelf.
She walked over and knelt beside it. She picked up the heavy book, lay
it on the table, and took a seat. It looked to be at least a hundred years old,
and most likely even older than that. There was writing in gold script on the
cover. Piper squinted at the word, which was unfortunately not in English.
She opened and closed both hands, sparks flying off into the air. She closed
her eyes, slowed her breathing, and tried to quiet her mind. She opened her
eyes and stared at the writing.
The gibberish morphed into the word Guardians.
“Guardians,” Piper said aloud to herself. “What the heck?”
“Look inside, silly human,” her bear urged.
She opened the book and began slowly turning the pages, not wanting to
damage the precious artifact. The words on each page morphed as she stared
from illegible scribbling into English words. The book was divided into
chapters, with faded color images at the start of each new one.
Chapter 1: The Mighty An image of a massive black bear shifter, mouth
open, claws extended, ready to attack, heralded the first chapter of the book.

She turned the delicate pages with care. She flipped through to the next
chapter.
Chapter 2: The Seer A light gray, almost white wolf shifter with
unnatural colorless eyes was depicted in front of a crystal orb. A vivid scene
of war was projected in the air from the circular glass. What was this all
about? While her powers worked differently, Piper supposed May was a seer
of sorts. She flipped through the pages of text until she reached the third
chapter.
Chapter 3: The Healer A short dark-haired woman was kneeling beside
an injured lion. The female’s hands were lying on the injured beast’s
bloodied abdomen. Glowing orange light was flowing from her fingers. From
what she’d been told by May and Iris, and even the woman herself, Mac’s
powers worked like this. She continued past the rest of the chapter to the
next.
Chapter 4: The Magic Wielder A large black bear sat among evergreens
in the forest in front of a small fire. The animal’s eyes were closed, and its
paws were held aloft. Sparks of orange radiated out from the beast’s sharp
claws. Piper’s heart raced. Could this be her? She examined the pages of the
book. This couldn’t be. The book was at least a hundred years old. She
needed to talk to Tessa and find out what was going on. She knew the
phoenix was preoccupied with health issues, but surely, she could answer a
few questions, right?
Chapter 5: The Swift A sleek tan cat ran through the trees beneath a fire-
breathing orange phoenix. The feline’s paws were illuminated by a light
orange light. Who was this? Frowning, Piper continued.
Chapter 6: The Heart Several animals and humans were huddled
together in the woods in front of the mouth of a cave. Wolves, bears, flight
shifters, large cats along with several humans appeared to be in mourning. A
chill ran down Piper’s spine. This was wrong. She flipped through the
remaining pages of the book. This was the last chapter. She turned back to
the cover and sucked in a deep breath.
These were guardians of what? She looked at the clock on the wall.
12:30 a.m. Ah, so it was now morning. She looked down at the book on
the table in front of her. The magic energy was still flowing through her
body. Better get reading while she still could understand the writing. She
opened the book once more to the first chapter.

*
Bang, bang, bang!
Piper awoke with a start. She rubbed at her eyes. Where the heck? She
looked around. Right, she was still in the archives. She must have fallen
asleep. The book she’d been reading was open in front of her.
Bang, bang, bang!
Someone was trying to break into the library—no, they were trying to
break into this room, which meant they’d already broken into the library.
Crap! Get it in gear, Piper!
“Piper, it’s me, Jasper. Can I come in?” Jasper’s deep voice bellowed.
Woops! “Yes, just a sec.”
She heard the beeping of the keypad, and the door was pulled open.
A furious looking Jasper was standing there in jeans and a dark green
hooded sweatshirt, his hair in disarray.
“Told you he’d be mad,” her bear sang.

ChAPTer 20
“HI!” PIPER SQUEAKED. Her dark brown hair was loose and wild. One side of
her face was pink and lined as if she’d been sleeping on it. She looked sweet,
but he was still furious.
Stay calm. Don’t yell. You’ll freak her out if you shout. He forced
himself to take deep, slow breaths.
She tilted her head at him and squinted. “Are you OK? You look like
you have a headache.”
He couldn’t stop the growl he released. He coughed to clear his throat.
He could feel his right eyelid twitching. “Yes, I’m fine. What are you doing
here? It’s the middle of the night!”
She winced. “I couldn’t sleep.” A few seconds later, her eyelids lowered
slightly, and she scowled at him. “Hey, you’re not the boss of me. Why’re
you here anyway?”
He pulled a chair out from the other side of the table where she sat and
plunked down with a sigh. “The SCB agent who was watching you called me.
She told me she followed your bear over here hours ago. I was worried about
you. I thought you were going to sleep.”
She granted him a sleepy smile. “You were worried?”
He went to nod, but she interrupted.
“Wait, why did this agent call you?” Piper asked.
Jasper leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “She knew I’d
want to check on you.”
“Why?” Piper asked, eyes wide.
“She knows I care about you,” Jasper said. He watched her response
carefully. Would she dismiss him? Be scared of him?

He watched in amazement as her breathing sped up. Her pulse beat more
rapidly. He scented her arousal. Thank God!
“You do?”
His cock went rigid in his pants. Calm down, stay steady. He nodded.
She smiled shyly at him.
“But I’m still angry at you for not staying in bed. You’re not taking care
of yourself, so I’m going to have to do it.” He pushed his chair back from the
table and stood up. “Let’s go home.”
Her jaw dropped. She opened and closed her mouth, but no words came
out.
“C’mon, let’s get you to bed,” he said.
To his utter surprise, she pushed her chair back and stood slowly. Good,
this’ll be easier than I imagined, he thought.
She closed a large book on the table and placed it back on one of the
shelves with care. She then turned and picked a backpack up off the floor
next to the table. “You can just drop me off. I’ll be fine.”
He held out a hand to her, and she placed hers within. He yanked her
close, her body crashing into his arms. He felt her shiver. “Not so fast,
beautiful. I’ll be escorting you inside and making sure you stay in bed this
time. You look dead on your feet.”
She looked dazed. Or was it stunned? He couldn’t tell at the moment. He
was just glad she didn’t seem to be fighting him. Now, to take care of his
mate.

Bear's Magic (Grey Lake Shifters Book 4).pdf

Bear's Magic (Grey Lake Shifters Book 4).pdf

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Bear's Magic (Grey Lake Shifters Book 4).pdf