Free Catching the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 3) by Meredith Clarke, Ashlee Sinn

attention got pulled back to that cat and my bear forced me to walk closer. He knew…something.
    “Where is Kenzie?” I whispered to Calvin, eyes still glued to the bright blue ones taking up most of the space on the cat’s face.
    It meowed and bowed its head.
    Calvin raised a brow at me and then dropped his gaze to the animal in his arms.
    I bent forward and sniffed the air around the cat. And then it all clicked. “Kenzie?” Jumping back, I almost stepped in the fire. “What the hell is going on?”
    Calvin sat on a log off to the side, cat still firmly resting in his lap. “There’s a reason the ISC sent Kenzie,” he said. The cat nipped at his hand and he frowned. “Fine. She’ll tell you.”
    “Tell me what?” I shouted. I wasn’t mad. At least I didn’t think I was. I was just confused. And wondering how in the hell Kenzie had shifted. And why did she pick a tiny cat?
    Calvin rubbed the bottom of her chin like she’d done to him yesterday. I didn’t like that and neither did my bear. So I lunged forward, grabbed Kenzie, and held her out in front of me. With my hands under her front legs, she hung there without putting up a fight. Those blue eyes, the color of faraway oceans, bored into my soul. “Are you really Kenzie?” I asked her.
    When she opened her mouth, a tiny squeak came out.
    So damn cute.
    I smiled and brushed my nose against hers. She pressed her face next to mine, trying to rub my skin and bristling beard that hadn’t been shaved in two days. So I repositioned her in my arms and stroked the back of her neck. Looking at Calvin, I asked, “Are you going to explain?”
    He started to say something but then Kenzie bit my arm. “Ouch,” I said and accidently dropped her. Of course she landed on all fours, shaking her head when she did. Then she strutted a few steps away, tail raised, showing me her back. A glance over her shoulder told me to stand still and several seconds later, she let out a howl that pierced my sensitive ears. I closed my eyes in pain for just a moment, and when I opened them, a naked and totally human Kenzie stood where the cat had just been.
    She crossed one arm over her breasts and the other over her perfectly waxed female area that I’d enjoyed so much last night. “Hi,” she whispered.
    I turned my head to look at Calvin and growled at him when he hadn’t averted his eyes from her yet. Then, jumping forward, I grabbed her clothes and handed them to her.
    “Thanks.”
    I couldn’t speak while she got dressed. But I did block her view from Calvin, the bear so close to the surface I worried what he might do next. When she finished dressing, her turquoise eyes looked up into mine, filled with unanswered questions and fear for what I might say. “So…surprise.”
    With another glance at Calvin, who seemed to be unusually busy with our breakfast, I could do nothing but shrug. “What are you?” I asked Kenzie.
    “Why don’t we talk while we eat,” Calvin suggested.
    Kenzie darted past me and grabbed the plate Calvin held out to her. Then she sat on the log and waited for me to join. Once we all had food in front of us, I raised my brows at both of them.
    Kenzie sighed. “I’m a witch.”
    “Who can shift?” I asked.
    “I’m not like you,” she said, disappointment flooding her words. My bear didn’t like hearing that tone. She wasn’t happy.
    I reached out and squeezed her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    She shook her head. “I just didn’t…I don’t know.” Leaning her head against my shoulder she said, “I’m sorry.”
    I didn’t need an apology from her. I really didn’t. But I still had questions. “Does Major know?”
    She nodded.
    “Does the ISC know?”
    Her head bobbed again.
    “That’s why they sent her,” Calvin added. I shot him a glare and he continued. “They knew that she’d be able to connect better with me and with the coyotes.”
    “Huh?” I sounded ignorant but I was at a loss here.
    “Calvin comes from a