Free Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Lori) BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Hope Valley BBW Dating App Romance Book 5) by Ariana Hawkes Page A

profiles, each with a little thumbnail photo. Reflexively, he tapped the first one. A photo of a pretty, curvy blonde woman filled the screen. She looked nice, like a nice, normal girl. He sighed. But she wasn’t Karen. He couldn’t help comparing all women to her. She’d been his mate, which meant that they’d been completely bonded to one another. He couldn’t imagine replacing that bond with another.
    Another alert popped up on the screen:
    You’ve got mail! To activate your inbox, tap the icon below.
    That’s weird – he’d only been on the site for a minute. He tapped the icon. The message was from the blonde woman:
    I see you’ve left your scent on my profile. Want to get to know each other a little better?
    He slapped his forehead. People can see when you visit their profile? What have I done now? He tapped out a reply:
    I’m sorry, but I’m not actually looking for anyone. I just signed up to figure out how it works, so I can help a friend create a profile. Best of luck with your search.
    The woman’s reply came fast:
    Whatever, doofus. You could at least be honest and say that I’m not your type!
    He began to tell her that it wasn’t like that, but then he stopped. What was the point? She wouldn’t believe him anyway. He turned off the messaging capability, killed the app and dropped the phone in his lap. He had no business being on there.
    He laced his hands behind his head and lay back on the couch cushions with his eyes closed, listening to the music. He thought about Karen, as usual, and then, out of the blue, Lori rose up in his mind. Her unusual violet eyes seemed so vivid that she could have been there, right in front of him. There was energy between them, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. He could never, in a million years, date her. He believed in fate and omens, and the way they’d met said very strongly to him that being with her would bring disaster to both of them. Very deliberately, he forced her out of his mind.
    He drifted for a while, dozing on and off, having those weird, vivid dreams that come at the edges of sleep. When he finally woke up fully and went to bed, it was gone 5am.

Chapter Six
     
    Lori was sitting in Andrea and Magnus’s living room, and all her new girlfriends were sitting around her, casting glances at each other. As she took a sip of her coffee, she stifled a yawn.
    “Rough night with Nancy?” Dina asked, holding Hayden on her lap.
    “Mmm, I didn’t sleep much, but it wasn’t because of Nancy,” she replied. “Are there bears in these woods?”
    “Yes,” Dina said cautiously. “There are a few. Why – did you spot one?”
    “I’m not sure. I had the weirdest experience last night. Something woke me up in the middle of the night – a sound from outside. I went to the window and looked out, and I saw a pack of bears running by. I was sure I was awake, but I must have been dreaming, right? I didn’t think bears ran in packs, and, according to Google, they don’t. So it had to be a dream. But, after that, I was definitely wide-awake. I felt restless, and then Nancy woke up, and we didn’t get back to sleep properly until almost five.”
    “Maybe you weren’t dreaming. There are some unusual animals in the woods of Hope Valley,” Lauren said.Lori looked at her questioningly, but she didn’t say anything more.
    “You poor thing, you must be exhausted,” Melissa cut in.
    “My body is tired, but my mind actually feels energized. I can’t explain it; it’s like I suddenly woke up after a very long sleep. I feel like I felt when I was in my teens, before I met Rob.”
    “That’s amazing, sis,” Andrea said with warmth.
    “I feel like I’m entering a new phase in my life. I was talking to Bruno last night about the store I used to own here, and I was thinking about starting it up again.”
    “Great idea!” everyone said.
    “So how did it go with Bruno last night?” Lauren said, eyes sparkling, and ignoring the frowns Andrea was