Free The Hot Alpha Switch: A Paranormal Shifter Romance by Dawn Steele

guard and go all caveman on me. I mean, just pick me up, throw me over his shoulder, and cart me off to bed’.”
    Violet wants that? Kendra tried to keep her eyes from popping out.
    “You want him to be more exciting. I think Taran’s not exciting enough for you, Vi, after all that initial ‘I’m dating a billionaire’ thing wore off. You’ve always been more of a free spirit, and men like Taran never really did it for you. You just started dating him because he was so bloody nice.”
    Oh.
    “So I want excitement in bed?”
    Kendra had only ever been with one guy – a human. It was sort of an adventure. God forbid she should be with any werewolf lest they get any ideas!
    It had been during one of her secret excursions to town. She had gone to a bar. There was a guy there. An out-of-towner. Handsome, older, well-dressed. He wore glasses, which made him look very distinguished, like a college professor.
    Kendra had always wanted to go to college. So she sat next to him.
    “Hi,” she said.
    “Hi.”
    “Are you a professor?” Now that she thought about it, it was a stupid pick-up line!
    He smiled, clearly amused. Her tummy did a flip-flop.
    “Actually, I’m an aeronautical engineer. I’m here for business.”
    An aeronautical engineer! Kendra was officially smitten. She had always been in lust with brains, not brawn. And all the werewolf males were Neanderthals in one way or another.
    So they talked deep into the night. And when the engineer asked Kendra if she would like to go back to his hotel room, she readily said yes.
    Back to the present. Blair said, “It would appear so. You’ve always liked bad boys, Vi. Remember Dirk Townsend?”
    Uh, no.
    “Yes,” Kendra said.
    “Well, do you remember how he got caught trying to stir major liberal shit up on Guy Fawkes’ Day? Well, you like that kind of boy. Taran is the first good boy you’ve ever dated.”
    He was?
    “So how do you think I can mend my relationship with Taran?”
    Blair pursed her lips. “Well, Vi, you are my best friend in the world. But you can be such an ass sometimes.”
    “Huh?” Kendra was surprised.
    “It’s true. I have to tell you the truth. Taran has been nothing but loving and kind and good to you. But you don’t want him to be. Well, not all of the time anyway.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “I think you want your boyfriend to be a bit of an ass sometimes. You want him to take charge. Be in control. You don’t want him to put you first in everything he does. In short, you want him to be a bad boy.”
    Kendra was stunned. That was insightful. The irony was that Taran was everything she wanted in a guy and not what Violet wanted. And yet, he was Violet’s. She had to change him for Violet’s sake.
    “Should I try to change him then?” she asked dubiously. Was it a good thing to try to change someone for someone else’s sake? Especially when it was not for the better?
    But who was she to define what was better anyway?
    Blair said, “Absolutely. If you want him to go caveman on you, then you should totally drop hints.”
    “I can’t tell him straight?”
    “Oh, no. That would be too intimidating. For him, I mean. Not for you, since you’re hardly intimidated by anything.”
    “Then how would I let him know?”
    Blair smiled. “Leave it to me. I know exactly what to do.”

THE FIGHT
     
    The fight was held in a private arena in an abandoned warehouse area. No street lamps heralded their approach as Ronnie drove into the dark parking lot. And yet, the parking lot was filled with cars, even the more expensive ones like Camaros and BMWs.
    “This is a very secret fight,” Ronnie explained.
    “You mean it’s illegal?” Violet was beginning to get really uneasy about the whole thing.
    “Kind of.”
    Ronnie parked. They both slipped out to the back of the warehouse. Ronnie knocked three times on a door, and a heavily muscled man opened it.
    “You’re late,” he said gruffly.
    “I made it,” Ronnie