Sharp Change_BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance Read online

  Her disinterest was like a slap in the face. He struggled against the impulse to get near her, and wrestled his lust for dominance in order to stay away.

  When he first tried getting close to her, she’d blush and make a beeline to somewhere else. Anywhere else. His wolf growled at him each time, telling him to follow. But Chase wasn’t about to push himself onto a female who didn’t want him.

  Turning toward his brother, he realized River had been saying something while he’d been mentally stripping Sophia and doing all kinds of dirty, probably illegal-in-some-states things to her.

  The barrage of sexual thoughts overran his brain like a virus on a hard drive. Whenever her name popped into his head, he got so hard, he felt the denim tighten around his cock into a painful, unyielding fist.

  “So?” River’s brows lifted as he waited for a response.

  “So, what?” He winced at his brother’s disgustingly happy smirk. God, just shoot him now. He was going to have to put up with this for how long?

  “You weren’t even listening to me, were you? I said Sunday, Julia and I are having a barbecue, and we want you to come over. It’s not a party, so there’s no need to freak out thinking you’re going to be dodging panties. It’s just the four of us.”

  River’s strong features resembled his own—dark hair cut to the nape of his neck and brown eyes they got from their mother, and the fierce, angular planes of their faces from their father.

  His brother was a little shorter than Chase’s six-foot-three. Both were muscular and got a lot of female attention. Of course, now his brother was oblivious to any woman but his wife.

  “The four of us?” Chase put his empty beer bottle down.

  Julia came over, put down a napkin, and plunked down a fresh bottle. She leaned over the counter and gave her husband a quick kiss. Great, so he was going to have to watch them play footsie while Sophia pretended he didn’t exist.

  “Did you ask him?” She smiled at River, then turned to Chase.

  “I just did, sweetheart. He still hasn’t said if he’s coming.” He grabbed her hand and lifted it to his lips. She stared at him, the heat in their eyes clearly visible for anyone to see.

  Julia gave Chase a small frown. “Well? Can you come? I really want you there, Chase.” She gave her husband a small, pleasure-filled smile. “We’ve got something we need to tell you guys, but we only want to do it once, so you have to be there.” She grinned and her eyes sparkled when she spoke.

  He’d never seen River as happy as he was since meeting his mate. It made Chase feel uncomfortable to be a voyeur to their love-fest.

  “Ah, shit, come on, Julia. Do you honestly think I’d ever say no to you? I’d never hear the end of it from Don Juan over here.” He curled his lip in his trademark smile and winked at his sister-in-law.

  Julia was family now, and he’d do anything in his power to make the females in his family happy. Even if that meant torturing himself to be near the woman of his every dirty fantasy.

  She laughed, grabbed Chase’s face, and kissed him loudly on the cheek, which shocked a blush out of him. Fuck, now she was trying to turn him into a domestic animal.

  No way, he was alpha. Hear him roar.

  “Great!” she said. “Just make sure you come, or I’ll have to hunt you down and make a wolf rug out of you.” Without waiting for a reply, she went back to serving drinks, her happiness radiating warmth all around.

  “So, are you going to be okay with Sophia joining us?”

  Chase’s gaze landed on his brother and his shrewd stare. He didn’t want to know what River meant by his probing, but he could only think that his sibling had noticed Sophia’s obvious dislike of him.

  For fuck’s sake, the woman acted like he had rabies. Whenever he walked in, she walked out.

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

  “Hmm. Her shyness toward you drives you nuts.”

  Chase snorted. “Whatever. She’s never around long enough for me to get to that stage.”

  His brother sighed. “Don’t take it personally, bro. She’s that way with most people. Shyness is hard to overcome.”

  “So you say.” Chase swallowed half his beer. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

  River slapped him on the shoulder. “That sounds more like the brother I know. I’ll call you Sunday. Don’t forget.” River gave him the look that he’d given him before his wedding, the one that said if you try to get out of this, I’ll bitch and moan so much, you’ll visualize killing me multiple times.

  Fan-fucking-tastic.

  Ratface tossed his cell phone onto the table. The smack as it hit the wood echoed in the windowless room. It was fucking cold in there; being underground, it was like being in a freakin’ cave.

  He hated the cold. If he wanted to be frozen all the goddamn time, he’d be in fucking Alaska or some shit.

  The four others at the table snapped awake with his entrance. What a pathetic group of misfits. He was amazed they’d gotten as far in life as they had. Only good thing about it was that it made them dispensable. If one died, then another could easily replace them.

  All except him, of course.

  “Our person in the field just called,” Ratface said. “Seems our target ate dinner at a restaurant tonight and discussed things they shouldn’t have wanted sensitive ears to hear.”

  “All right, boss,” Goon said. “What did they say?” A high-pitched squeal giggled through the hyena.

  Ratface sighed and looked at the shifter. “I was gonna tell you until you interrupted, shit head.” He looked around the table. “We got confirmation. The goods are at her home and the lab in something called cold storage.” He mumbled to himself about more damn cold shit.

  “We gonna go get it now, boss?” Goon asked. The others nodded, giggling and licking their lips.

  “No, we are not,” he said. “We have to come up with a plan. Now shut up before I shut you up.” The group around the table fell quiet.

  Ratface paced. Without the boss telling him what to do, he’d figure it out himself. He could do this. He was smart, too. He owed this to his boss. Of all the things that happened, this was the least he could do.

  If the woman had stuff at her home and lab, then they needed to get to her home and the lab. Yeah, he was smart.

  They’d have to watch her and wait for a time when she was gone. From what intel they had so far, she spent a lot of time with her sister when not in the lab.

  The woman was so damn boring, working all the time. She didn’t even take breaks to eat. Only a human could do that. And she didn’t talk to anyone. Only when her boss made her leave to meet and eat did she get out.

  He wasn’t worried about this first task. Humans were so easy, too predictable. A whiny laugh trickled out of his throat. He couldn’t wait.

  2

  Sophia woke to a loud ringing next to her bed. She groaned, turned over, and tried to ignore the cell phone on her bedside table. But the boisterous sound of Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” wouldn’t shut up.

  Why the hell had she let Julia pick her own ringtone?

  She reached blindly until her hand grasped the phone and pressed the button on the side to stop the annoying sound. She put the device to her ear under the pillow, her voice muffled when she spoke. “The house better be burning down around me or you are so dead.”

  Her sister’s tinkling laughter on the other end made her wince. God, when did she start laughing so loudly?

  “Get your ass up, you lazy bum. Did you forget our barbecue? You’ve got exactly two hours to get up, get ready, and get a chocolate cake at the bakery.” Julia’s voice turned a little rough. “Do not forget the chocolate cake, or I’ll make you go back and get it.”

  “What the heck do you mean the barbecue? Isn’t that on Sunday?”

  “Sophia? Are you okay? You do know it’s Sunday, right?” Her sister’s humor faded as worry filled her voice.

  Ah shit! It had taken all of two seconds to burst h
er sister’s bulletproof happiness bubble. “Of course, I know it’s Sunday,” she lied with a chuckle. “I’m just messing with you. I’ll see you in two hours, ‘kay? Don’t worry, sis. I’ll be there.”

  She took a deep breath. Thank God Julia wasn’t next to her, or she’d smell the lie in no time. Stupid shifter senses. There was no hiding the truth from any of them.

  Ugh, her body was sore and sensitive, like when she was PMSing or ready to get the flu. Keep working like a robot, you nimrod, and your mistakes are only going to increase, she thought.

  The groan that slipped through her lips came out sounding more like a strangled frog, which begged the question, was she also getting a sore throat? She couldn’t believe she’d slept through Saturday. She must have been super exhausted.

  She needed coffee. Tossing the pillow to the floor, she sat up and looked around her room. Something was off, but she couldn’t put her finger on what. Her nose wrinkled at a distant foul smell. Something to investigate later; right now, she needed to take a shower.

  She sat on the toilet, relieving her ready-to-burst bladder. Still wondering what was different, she kept her eyes closed, stripped off her tank top and shorts, and walked into the shower. A low hiss pierced the air as warm water caressed her skin.

  She looked around, wondering where the noise had come from.

  There was nothing.

  She took her time washing her hair and hummed while she brushed her teeth. Much more awake when she got out of the shower, she stretched and yawned.

  She grabbed a fluffy blue towel and dried off, noticing how the material felt coarse on her skin. Sandpaper would probably feel softer.

  Apparently, she needed to change her fabric softener.

  Wrapped in her short purple robe, she walked out of the bathroom, not bothering with the foggy mirror. A noise at her front door grabbed her attention as she was about to get dressed.

  “Coming,” she yelled as she walked to the door.

  Leaving the chain on, she opened the door to look outside. On her front lawn lay her weekend newspaper, ready to get soaked by the sprinklers that were going to turn on in a few minutes.

  Growling at having to go outside and get it in her robe, she peered around and saw no one. She ran out onto her front lawn just as two of her neighbors walked out.

  The man across from her, Henry—or was it Harry—had asked her out once, but she’d declined. He grabbed his paper and took a deep breath. His head snapped up, and he looked right at her.

  The other man, Richard Lezz, she knew from The Back Door the few times Julia made her leave the house. He was a regular there and made her feel super uncomfortable with his slick, toothy smiles and I’m-too-sexy demeanor.

  Richard, or Dick as he preferred—although why he’d like to be known as Dick Lezz was beyond her understanding—also took a deep breath and turned to stare in her direction. Then to her consternation, they both started walking toward her.

  Something weird was going on with their faces. Dick had never looked so severe, and Harry looked positively feral. Self-preservation made her run into the house and lock the door.

  What the fuck?

  Taking shallow breaths, she peeked through the peephole and saw them stop in the middle of the street. They stared at her house for a few moments and turned back to their own, walking back slowly and looking at her place every few steps.

  What the heck was that about? She was tempted to make the sign of the cross and find some holy water. As she walked back to her room, she decided she’d have to control her mental instability at the barbecue. No need for Chase to know she was halfway past deranged.

  She pulled on a charcoal wrap dress and flat sandals. Walking to the bathroom, she looked at her hair and almost collapsed. When the heck had it grown so long? Granted, she pulled it back when it got into her face while working, but had she been ignoring it to the point it now reached her shoulders?

  She knew she’d gotten a cut only two weeks ago…hadn’t she? There was no debating she’d been preoccupied with her research. One thing was for sure: that long sleep seemed to have helped her get some color back.

  Her skin was positively glowing with vitality, and even her eyes had a clear, gemstone sparkle to them. Hey, maybe now that she actually looked better than just a geeky geneticist, she could find a way to make her vocal chords work in front of FBA Chase.

  For some reason, she didn’t want to question, she felt the need to check the street before she walked out. Her two neighbors’ reactions had scared the crap out of her. Plus, she didn’t have any weapons to fight big, four-legged, super-fast man-animals. Hmm…manimals…now that was funny. She’d made up a new word.

  Slapping her mental self into focus, she reminded herself those two neighbors were part of the shifter group. Thank God for the automatic starter button on her key ring. Her hands made a move toward the hall table and stopped. About to grab her prescription sunglasses, she frowned, lifted a hand to her face, and realized she wasn’t wearing her glasses.

  Squealing, she dashed to the bathroom and stared at her eyes all over again. Holy shit! She took in her surroundings with much more accuracy, and her jaw dropped. Her usual myopic vision was gone. It had been replaced with sight so perfect, she could see right down to the few strands of hair that littered the floor.

  She retrieved her smartphone and made a note of the first evident change that occurred after her accident. She grinned. That was one kind of side effect she wouldn’t argue with. Perfect vision rocked.

  Grabbing her black shoulder bag and keys, she made a run for the car. Surprisingly, it took her less time than she thought to get to it. She floored it when she saw Dick’s front door opening.

  She looked in her rearview mirror and caught him standing in the middle of the street, watching her car speed away.

  She’d stop at Tryx’s Bakery on her way to Julia’s house; otherwise, she’d find herself with one angry wolf.

  Tryx’s shop was an absolute delight of yumminess. There were cakes, cookies, truffles, pastries, assorted specialties, and of course, Tryx’s signature chocolate mousse cake. She only made that by request. Everything was displayed to make the customer want to try it all.

  Sophia walked in and was instantly surrounded by enough sweets to give her dentist work for at least six months. Every time she walked into the shop, Sophia was sure she’d gone down the rabbit hole.

  “Sophia!” Tryx grinned and came around the counter. As the only female in the alpha family, River and Chase’s cousin was thrilled to have Julia keep her company. Her short, spiky hair feathered over her face with a couple of blonde, pink, and blue strands, making her look like a little pixie. She wasn’t very tall for a shifter, only about two inches over Sophia’s own five-foot-three frame. She was slimmer than Sophia and Julia by a good twenty pounds.

  Tryx hugged her tightly and then lifted her head, narrowing her eyes.

  “What?” Sophia asked at the strange expression on Tryx’s face.

  Tryx gave her a look as if she were stinking up the place. She hoped she’d put on enough deodorant and didn’t smell funky. She’d had to stop wearing body spray to keep her sister’s new, sensitive shifter senses from complaining over the strong scent.

  “You smell weird.” Tryx wrinkled her nose and sniffed Sophia’s shoulder.

  Sophia took a tentative step back to put space between herself and the other woman’s frown. “Um, oh, that. You see, I got this dress dry-cleaned, and they told me they mixed it with someone’s stuff by mistake, so I think you might smell the other person. I think they were a shifter, too.

  “Anyhow, do you have that cake? I don’t want to disappoint Julia with as busy as she’s been lately.”

  After another sniff, Tryx’s brow smoothed and she smiled at Sophia. “Of course. I would never want to see my beautiful new cousin angry. It’s all ready, and I’ve added a bag of cookies just for you.”

  She strode to the counter and picked up a white bakery box and a bag. Both
were closed and tied with pink and gold ribbon, the shop’s signature colors.

  After she handed Sophia the box, Tryx stared into her eyes for what felt like an eternity, then gave her a soft, warm smile.

  Completely sure there must have been something wrong with the water, Sophia was glad to get out from under Tryx’s scrutiny. Not to mention she could smell the cookies in the bag, and her mouth was starting to water. She was sure if she didn’t eat one soon, she’d drool on her dress.

  She turned to face the door and almost jumped out of her skin. Five men stood there scrutinizing her. She staggered back with a thread of unease. Shit, hadn’t these guys ever heard of moving to the side to let a lady pass? Or at the very least not blocking the frigging door?

  Tryx jumped in front of Sophia and urged her back. Sophia stared at the other woman’s back as Tryx took an aggressive stance.

  Growling, Tryx unleashed her claws. The male faces were tense. The men stood rigid, as though they wanted to start a fight with her or turn the woman into puppy chow. It made no sense.

  The she-wolf snarled loudly and two of her big male assistants came out of the back, jumped over the glass counter and were ready to help the angry Tryx.

  Sophia wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was grateful when the men walked out the door, even if they did so reluctantly.

  She was about to give the pixie wolf her thanks but was cut off before she even started.

  “We’ll walk you outside, Sophia. Can you just do me a favor? You’re not stopping anywhere before you go to Julia’s house, right?”

  Tryx was obviously worried for her.

  “No. This was my one stop. After this, it’s straight to her place.” She hoped her response had reassured the wolf sprite. Her stomach cramped, and her eyes darted to the cake box. The sharp needling pain reminded her she’d yet to eat, and damn it all, she was hungry.

  “Is Chase going to be there?” Tryx looked hopeful.

  “Um, I guess. As far as I know, I think it’s just the four of us.” She didn’t really feel comfortable talking about Chase. The thought of him made her hot and bothered, not a good thing as far as she was concerned. That line of thinking was hopeless. Chase was known for his discerning taste.