Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Dina) BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Hope Valley BBW online dating app romances Book 1) (10 page)
Authors: Ariana Hawkes
As she stood and watched, something began to change in his bear’s body. His fur seemed to be disappearing. His head was shrinking, the muzzle shortening. His torso became tighter, more compact, while his limbs lengthened. Then it happened in the blink of an eye: he had human skin, and his muscles rippled; there was the sound of bones cracking, followed by a loud crunch and a kind of whoosh. And he was standing on two feet: a naked man. Dina ran over to Logan and wrapped her arms around him. Her eyes stung with emotion. Logan squeezed her tight, gently rubbing her back.
“I’m so sorry for scaring you, baby,” he said tenderly.
“I wasn’t scared,” she whispered. He laughed. “Dina, I could smell it on you. You can’t hide things like that from me, you know!” She looked up at him.
“I’m sorry. I was so happy to finally see you as a bear; I didn’t want you to think I didn’t like it. I was a little scared at first, but as soon as I understood it was you, it was fine.”
“Good,” he said, stroking her face. “I felt like this was the only thing missing from our pair bonding. Now we’re complete.” He lifted her chin with his thumb, so she was looking him in the eye. “Dina, I love you,” he said.
“Oh, Logan, I love you too,” she replied, eyes bright with tears of happiness.
“You do?” he whispered, as if he could scarcely believe it.
“I do. My feelings have been growing for you every day, as we’ve been spending all this time together and getting to know each other so well. And now I feel like we’re so closely joined, we could never be parted.”
“It’s true, baby. We never will be,” he replied, dipping his head, and drawing her into a long, tender kiss.
After what felt like hours, Logan drew back.
“God, you must think I’m a disgusting bear,” he said. “I’ve been running around all morning, and here I am, touching you and I haven’t even had a shower!” Dina laughed in delight.
“You smell great to me,” she said. He smelled earthy and spicy – his usual exciting masculine scent. “But what happened with the fire?”
“Ah, just some idiot starting a fire by dropping a cigarette butt into a litter bin. We put it out easily. But if it hadn’t been reported to us quickly, it would’ve been a different story,” he said, shaking his head. “Now, I’m going for a shower. Want to join me?”
“I’d love to!” Dina said, eyes lighting up.
Three months later
The town hall looked beautiful. The clan had worked so hard at turning it into the perfect space for both humans and shifters to celebrate, and they’d done an amazing job. There was a huge barbecue, and plenty of outside seating for everyone to hang out and relax. There was a jazz band, of course, and a full bar. The sun was shining, the sky was a perfect blue, and a few of the trees were turning to russet gold, signifying that fall wasn’t far off.
Dina looked around in wonder. As a little girl, she’d thought she’d get married in the town hall, but when she’d grown up, the chances of that happening seemed slimmer and slimmer. And now here she was, being united with the most amazing guy in the world.
She’d made out to her friends that she and Logan had married spontaneously during a weekend away in Vegas. They couldn’t have a legal marriage, because he was a shifter and didn’t have a regular birth certificate. They’d already had a shifter-only ceremony in the forest with the clan. It had been ancient and mysterious, involving complicated rites. Now, they were having a symbolic ceremony with all their friends and family. Dina’s mom had been crying the entire time, and her dad looked like he was going to burst out of pride. Once they’d seen the venue looking so beautiful, Melissa and Kristin had forgiven her for apparently not including them in her wedding. She knew they’d understand once the shifter secret was revealed to them. They were her bridesmaids of course, along with Lauren. They were all wearing mint-green dresses in raw silk, cut in different styles to flatter their figures. Lauren’s dress had been the most challenging to design, as she was almost six months pregnant, and her baby bump was getting big. She was blooming, her skin glowing with health, and she looked deliriously happy.
Dina stood in a spot where no-one could see her, looking at all the happy guests waiting for the ceremony to begin. Logan came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
“Are you ready, baby?” he asked, gently rubbing her belly. She wasn’t yet beginning to show, but she could feel the new life inside her, alive and kicking, and growing day by day.
“I’m more than ready, Logan,” she said. She lifted her chin, and he leaned over her shoulder and kissed her tenderly. He looked so handsome in his gray suit and button-down white shirt. Dina was wearing a stunning white satin dress, and a headdress with a long train.
As they walked out into the garden together, all eyes turned on them. Dina looked from one friend and family member to another, and her heart almost burst with happiness. They reached the end of a flower-strewn aisle that the clan had created for them, and the girls took their place behind her, lifting up her train.
Tamika was waiting at the other end of the aisle. Dina and Logan were making out to all the human guests that she was an official wedding celebrant, and she looked the part, in a striking white suit. The jazz band began to play the wedding march, and they walked down the aisle slowly, Dina wanting to savor every single second of it. They stopped in front of Tamika, beneath an arch entwined with passionflowers, just like the one at the garden party.
Shyly, they spoke their vows to each other, a simpler version of the ones they’d spoken at the shifter ceremony, where they’d promised to be each other’s life-long mate. When they’d each said “
I do”
– the two little words that completed their union – Logan lifted Dina’s veil and kissed her. Their friends and family broke out into clapping and cheering.
“Congratulations, darling!” Tamika’s husky English voice boomed, and Dina hugged her. She knew she’d be grateful to her forever for connecting her with Logan. Then she turned to her bridesmaids and hugged them too. She looked from Melissa to Kristin with excitement. Once the shifter ceremony was complete, she was allowed to share the secret with either one of them. She’d been too busy preparing for the human ceremony to have time to do this yet, but once she and Logan returned from their honeymoon in Mexico, it would be top of her list. The only problem was figuring out which one to tell.
THE END
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Delilah, a young werewolf of the Zephirah Pack, has never seen snow before. Her father, the pack’s Alpha, warns her not to wander off by herself during a meeting between the most powerful packs in the region. Full of excitement, she disobeys him and runs off into the woods to play.
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Ariana loves to write spicy romantic stories with complex, quirky characters, plenty of suspense, and, of course, a whole lot of laughs.
She graduated in English and Latin Literature. Since then, she’s been writing full time, for both work and pleasure. When she’s not doing that, she loves reading literary fiction, fantasy, romance and erotica, and snuggling with her man and their two huskies.
