Captivation: Shifters Forever Worlds (Shifters Forever After Book 4) Read Free

sisters.
    Maybe I should talk to her about this.
    Miriam had practically adopted Carina, called her an honorary family member. Carina thought of the other person Miriam called the same.
    Bain Kozlov.
    She fought the sensations that flowed through her at the thought of Bain. Ever since she saw that hunky polar bear shifter with a wide chest and clear blue eyes, Carina had been in a bucket load of trouble. She tried to convince her panther to relax. When Bain walked into a room, her panther would become restless, growling and snarling, pacing Carina's mind. No matter how much Carina insisted, her panther persisted.
    Bain.
    Bain, who always appeared for Sunday dinners at Miriam and Mikhail's with bruises on his face and scrapes on his knuckles. Bain, whose smile appeared immediately, lighting up a room. Bain, who made her pulse race, her nerve endings sizzle, and her stomach knot.
    Carina found herself missing the mountain of a polar bear shifter.
    Bain didn’t attend dinner last Sunday because he was in Bear Canyon Valley visiting his nephew Dominic.
    Oh yes, Bain’s presence had been missed at the dinner table with the Romanoffs. Everyone but Carina had commented on how much he livened up the atmosphere. Carina kept her observations to herself. She knew her non-poker face would give her away.
    The phone rang again, jarring her from her thoughts of Bain. She swiped to answer the phone.
    “Are you still out of town?” Miriam asked.
    “I'm coming back this afternoon.”
    “What is it? Something's wrong, isn't it?”
    How the hell did she know? “No. Yes. Well...” Carina didn't know what to say. “I learned something.”
    “You're coming to dinner tonight.” Miriam did not even pose that as a question.
    “No, I…”
    “I'll see you as soon as you get into town. We won't eat until you get here.” Her tone brooked no argument.

Chapter 5
    I n Bear Canyon Valley , in the comfort of Mae’s spacious home, Bain looked out the panoramic view before him. The relaxing mountains behind the valley, the sleepy town Bear Canyon Valley shifters lived in.
    He breathed out a sigh of contentment. This was the epitome of a place to grow up. An ideal place to raise a child. Specifically, a shifter child among other shifters in a town that would protect that child. It was a good place for his brother’s son Dominic.
    The aroma of Mae's cooking was a delight to Bain's senses. Then again, he was a bachelor, and the thing usually on his senses was take-out pizza. And beer, couldn't forget the beer.
    “Smells good, Mae.” He eyed the pot. “Looks like you have enough to feed an army, though.”
    Mae, curvy and voluptuous, her dark hair pulled back, looked up from the pot and paused her stirring. “Didn't I mention that Tanner and Teague are coming over?”
    Bain's eyes narrowed. “Sure didn't.”
    Mae looked a little sheepish, her cheeks a little bit pinker, probably with chagrin. “They eat a lot.” She turned back to her cooking.
    Bain noticed she was avoiding the topic, that topic being Tanner and Teague Navarro. Specifically, Tanner, who stood before the shifter Supreme Court, accused of killing Bain's brother Vey. Accused, but not convicted.
    Bain had no hard feelings about the matter. He had no false illusions about what his brother was, or what his brother had done, at least when they'd been together in New York. He did wonder what transpired here in Bear Canyon Valley.
    And then it dawned on him, that's why Mae looked embarrassed. She did have a reputation for matchmaking, and though this wasn't a romantic matchmaking, Bain sensed she was hoping to smooth the waters between the Navarro brothers and himself.
    Bain had heard that Mae had a run-in with Vey, too.
    “Mae, I hate to bring up an uncomfortable topic.”
    Her gaze rose again, she put the spoon on a ceramic holder on the stovetop, took a paper towel, and blotted tiny dots of perspiration from her forehead.
    She approached him at the table, then he rose to pull out