Growl for Me: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance by Natalie Kristen

CHAPTER
ONE

    Mina Stone glared at the
jangling phone on the passenger seat. It was her cousin, Eva,
calling again. Mina winced. She knew Eva was worried for her.
Mina's fingers twitched on the steering wheel. If she picked up her
phone, and confessed that she still hadn't reached Misty Valley after
being on the road for hours, Eva would freak out. But if she didn't
pick up, Eva might freak out even more and she'd send her vampire
mate, Gabriel King, out after her. Mina grimaced. She liked Gabriel
well enough but she just didn't want to have to deal with a Master
vampire right now.
    Mina gave herself a big
mental kick in the butt. She would have reached Misty Valley by now
if she hadn't missed that unlit road sign and taken a wrong turn.
    Her phone continued
vibrating angrily. Mina sucked in a steadying breath and answered
the call in her cheeriest, chirpiest voice, even though she knew it
wouldn't fool her cousin.
    “Hi, Eva! I was just
about to...”
    “Mina! Are you there
yet?” Eva's anxious, strident voice filled the entire interior
of the car.
    “No, Eva. I'm still
on the road. But I should be there soon. Don't worry...”
    “It's almost
nightfall. You should have reached Misty Valley hours ago!”
Eva's voice rose a pitch.
    “I took a wrong turn,”
Mina admitted. “I had to circle back, but no biggie. I'm on
the right track now,” Mina went on brightly, forcibly twisting
her grimace into a grin. Inject your smile into your voice. That
was one of the first things she'd learned to do in her old job as a
telemarketer. “I just passed a road sign that said it's just
less than an hour's drive from here to Misty Valley.”
    Mina gulped and squinted
into the thickening fog ahead. Tall, shadowy trees flanked the long,
lonely stretch of road leading to the small town of Misty Valley.
    The tiny patch of sky that
was still visible through the trees was darkening rapidly. As far as
the eye could see, there were no cars, streetlamps, houses or petrol
stations along the dark, narrow highway. There were only trees, fog,
shadows...and things which growled in the dark.
    Mina shuddered. She'd heard
them. Low, menacing growls rumbling out from the woods as her car
sped past.
    Her car. This rusty,
rattling tin can was the only thing protecting her from those
mysterious, growling creatures.
    If her car broke down right
here in the middle of nowhere, she would have to spend the night in
the wilderness, with nothing but the encroaching forest and its
inhabitants for company.
    Mina stifled a whimper and
applied a wee bit more pressure on the accelerator. She didn't floor
the pedal though. The last thing she needed right now was smoke
billowing from the hood as her car stuttered to a dead stop.
“Everything's okay. Please don't have a heart attack,”
Mina muttered, not quite sure if she was talking to Eva, her car or
herself.
    “Mina...you still
there?” Eva sounded really worried over the phone. “Shall
I get Gabriel to mist to you? At least he can keep an eye...”
    “No! I mean, thanks,
but no. Gabriel is a very busy vamp. I don't want to trouble him.
I'm fine. Really really. There's really, really no need to
send Gabriel out here,” Mina insisted. “I'm almost
there.”
    “Hmm...”
    Mina could picture her
cousin narrowing her eyes and chewing her lip as she considered the
best course of action. Eva was a capable, responsible police officer
in the New Moon City Police Department (NMPD), and she was mated to
Gabriel King, a Master vampire. Gabriel owned a chain of blood bars
and beauty parlors in New Moon City, and according to Eva, he was
planning on poking his fangs into the food and beverage business as
well. A chain of fast food outlets for vamps was in the works. The
blood burgers and nuggets would be “Fang lickin' good!”
    Mina had rolled her eyes at
the slogan, but she had to admit that Gabriel was a very smart, savvy
businessman. Gabriel King had been a rogue vampire, but he had
turned over a new leaf and