Growl for Me: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance by Natalie Kristen Page B

watching the
broken pieces fall at her feet with grim satisfaction. She had swept
them all away, like the pieces of her broken heart. Out with the
old. Out, out, out!
    She had been with the same
boy, worked at the same job, lived in the same city, for too long.
She wanted a break. She needed to get out of the city and just...get
a breath of fresh air and a fresh start. So when she saw the
advertisement that a construction company in Misty Valley was looking
for an office assistant, she had jumped at the chance.
    Her mother had objected
initially, but Mina had assured her that Misty Valley was just a hop
and a skip away from New Moon City. Although she wanted to leave the
city, she felt bad leaving her mom. They'd always been close. Mina
never knew who her dad was. According to her mom, he was a loser
who'd run away as soon as he learned that Lindsay was pregnant. Her
mother understood her better than anyone else. Just last night, she
had hugged Mina to her and whispered, “You'll find your
happiness, Mina. You need to throw out the trash, empty your cup, so
you can welcome the new, the wild and the wonderful! I just know
that wild and wonderful things are coming your way. I love you,
Mina.”
    Her mom's voice echoed in
her mind. Mina pushed her car to go just a little faster. She would
get herself safely to Misty Valley and call her mom. Her mother had
so much faith in her. Her mom trusted her to find her way. She
would not let her down.
    Determinedly, Mina drove on.
The fog was thickening and the trees seemed to press closer to the
road. At a sound to her right, Mina jerked involuntarily.
    It sounded like the howl of
a wolf. Mina's foot eased off the accelerator and she scanned the
surrounding darkness nervously. There were wild beasts in the woods,
and Misty Valley was a town of shifters. Eva had warned her that the
shifters in Misty Valley were different from the city shifters.
True, New Moon City had its fair share of rogue paranormals but they
had the Paranormal Affairs Council (PAC) to enforce the law. The PAC
Enforcers hunted and collared or destroyed the rogues to keep the
civilian population safe. But PAC law only applied to the
paranormals living in New Moon City. Misty Valley was out of their
jurisdiction. Mina wouldn't have the protection of the PAC and the
Enforcers once she stepped out of New Moon City.
    She was now on her own.
    The wolf howled again. It
sounded nearer this time. Mina jumped in her seat and swallowed.
Another howl sounded to her left, and immediately there was an
answering howl on her right. She glanced into the dark woods looming
up from either side of the road and saw glowing eyes in the shadows.
    Wolves? Wild beasts?
Monsters?
    Mina gulped loudly. Her mom
had said that wild and wonderful things were coming her way. Her mom
was only half right.
    From the sound of it, wild
things were coming for her all right.
    Mina had no doubt that
whatever these things were, they were wild, savage and deadly. They
were wild, but they weren't wonderful. Not at all.

     

CHAPTER
TWO

    Mina shrieked when she
glanced in her rear view mirror and saw a huge black shape slink out
of the woods and dart across the road behind her car. What was it?
A bear? A big wolf? A figment of her imagination?
    Mina cut her eyes to the
mirror again, but this time she saw nothing but a ribbon of empty
road behind her. Trying not to hyperventilate, Mina kept her foot on
the pedal and urged her little car to go faster along the dark,
deserted road.
    She shook her head. She was
sure she had seen that big, black shape. Just a few minutes ago, she
had been worrying about being alone on this long, lonely stretch of
highway when night fell. But now, she rather wished that she was
utterly alone.
    Clearly, she wasn't alone
anymore.
    The woods on either side of
the road was alive with movement and the sounds of snarling, wild
beasts. Through the shadowy trees, Mina could see eyes, pale,
glowing eyes following her as she rattled along