Tiger Bite: BBW Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance (Shifters Everafter Book 1) by Lola Kidd

One
    “Stop that girl!” the security guard shouted in the crowded marketplace.
    Jessica Sheridan pulled her cloak up around her face and crouched behind a vendor’s booth. She peeked out and saw four guards methodically moving among the shoppers. A few of the customers had looked up in alarm but no one was joining in on the hunt. That made her smile. She wasn’t the only one sick of her father’s security team.
    She had to move fast, but there was a chance she could still get away. They were getting closer to her position, and the vendor was bound to return any moment. She stood up and casually joined a group of men walking out of the market. She pretended to laugh at the joke one of the men told. The two closest to her gave her a strange look but didn’t say anything. She could see the end of the market just ahead. She was so close.
    “I think it’s time you returned home, Miss Sheridan.” Aleksander Kern, the head of her father’s security team, had a viselike grip on her forearm. A deep frown was etched on the handsome guard’s face.
    Jessica pushed her cloak off her inky black hair. “I was just headed back now. There’s no need to manhandle me.”
    Alek scowled. His deep green eyes locked on hers. “I’ll walk you myself. We can’t be too safe, can we, now? If anything were to happen to his little princess, your father would have my head.”
    “No, we can’t. Thank you for the help. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Jessica said sarcastically. She gave Alek a tight smile before snatching her arm from his grasp.
    She didn’t want to make a scene in front of the whole town. It wasn’t like it would do her any good. The people didn’t like her father’s guards, but they weren’t on her side either. They all pitied her, yes. She did have the dead mother card to play, after all. But she was only the governor’s silly daughter. People would probably whip out their phones and record her if she made a fuss.
    Since the early days of her father’s campaign, the public had loved seeing her clashes with the security team. As much as they hated the guards for disrupting their small town life, the people in town loved seeing Jess make a scene even more. She wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of catching her on camera.
    Alek was right—if anything happened to her, her father would go ballistic. Ever since her mother died, he had kept her under lock and key. He meant well, but it was too much for one girl to bear. She had been in a very precarious position since she became an adult. She wanted to be free of her father’s watchful gaze, but she knew it wasn’t safe. She was the daughter of a prominent anti-shifter politician. Without her security, who knew what would happen to her. Her mother had been killed by an out-of-control shifter. Without the guards, there was a good chance the same could happen to her.
    But it was a risk she was going to have to take. She knew her father was up to something. Representatives from Collins Jewelry had been having secret meetings with her father for weeks. The Collinses were the richest family in New England. They owned a chain of jewelry stores and a slew of other luxury companies. Their oldest son was still single and had only had eyes for Jessica during her father’s campaign three years ago.
    While he hadn’t said anything to her yet, she could guess what her father was planning. She was his only chance at aligning himself with the Collinses through marriage. It would be great for his political career and, as an added bonus, if she was married to Jasper, she would be safe forever and ever after. Jasper could keep guards with her around the clock and could keep her hidden away in one of his giant mansions.
    “Jessica.” Her father hugged her as she came into the governor’s mansion. He shook Alek’s hand. “Thanks for finding my little girl.”
    “No problem, sir. I hope this is the last time we’ll have this little problem.” He gave Jess