Free Captivation: Shifters Forever Worlds (Shifters Forever After Book 4) by Elle Thorne Page A

seen those values with his own family.
    “Mikhail—”
    “Go, son, there’s nothing like a pissed off panther shifter. And I would hate to see Carina pissed if you delay your departure.
    “On it.”

Chapter 23
    B ain walked into Mae’s kitchen and reached out to give her a hug while at the same time he couldn’t help but notice there was no scent of Carina being present. Doc had met Bain at the airport and brought him here. He’d said Carina had gone to Mae’s house to stay for a spell so he could keep an eye on Bree.
    Bain inhaled again.
    No Carina here.
    He frowned.
    Mae stared at him, not hugging him, leaving him hanging.
    His frown grew deeper.
    What the hell is this about?
    The temperature in the room became frigid. Mae’s eyes flashed her elemental’s presence.
    Why’s she treating me like I’m some kid that’s being grounded?
    “Carina wants to see you.” Mae frowned back at him. “You look like hell.”
    “Yeah, well—”
    “Save it. You shouldn’t have risked it by going alone.”
    Open-mouthed, he stared at her. So she—or maybe they?—were pissed at him for going to Jersey? “Where is Carina? Where’s Bree?”
    “Carina is waiting for you at Joe’s cabin. Bree is with Marti and Tanner, having a play date with Dominic.”
    Joe’s cabin? He’d been to Joe’s cabin the last time he’d visited. Joe had kept his cabin, though he and his mate Sara spent most of their time in a larger home, now that Sara was expecting.
    Doc tossed him the keys. “Take mine.”
    Bain snatched them midair, his eagerness to see her and his shifter skills making his actions a blur.

    * * *
    I n front of Joe’s cabin, tucked away on the mountainside, not easily found unless you’d been shown the way, Bain pulled to a stop and set the parking brake. There were no other cars in the driveway. Was Doc mistaken?
    He almost pulled away when his bear roared. The bear sensed something. Another presence?
    He stepped out of the vehicle and closed the door. He approached the cabin slowly, his radar always on guard. Since he’d first started this ordeal, he couldn’t relax. Not fully.
    Not even in Bear Canyon Valley, which he knew had to be the safest place he’d ever been.
    The door was partially open.
    Odd.
    He paused, wondering if he should shift—just in case.
    And if it’s a human and they see a big ass polar bear in the middle of the mountains?
    Okay, shifting maybe wasn’t the best idea he’d come up with. At least, not until he was sure he needed to shift.
    Bain took a step forward.
    The door flew open and a blur of black launched toward him with the accuracy and deadliness that threatened him.
    Bain called for his bear to come forward, but the bear did not.
    What the fuck?
    Bain barely had the time to process that one phrase and the thought that his bear, who had never abandoned him, was leaving him hanging.
    The blur was a sleek panther with luxurious fur and very long canines that were dangerously close.
    Bain was lying on the ground, supported by his elbows, while the snarling panther glared at him, her face next to his, her breath hot.
    “Carina?”
    Oh, he knew it was her, for who else could it be.
    He knew the woman he loved, even in her shifter form, though at first she’d caught him off-guard.
    No wonder his bear refused to shift and attack.
    Her beautiful head was sleek, her eyes dark, a green light flared in their depths.
    Her nose twitched as she sniffed, bringing her face closer.
    He sat up, forcing her back on her haunches. “You’re not going to kill me. So why don’t we go inside and talk about this.”
    His bear roared.
    That particular roar was trouble.
    Bain knew that roar only too well. His bear was fully aroused and fully in mate-claiming mode.
    Down, he cautioned his bear. We should talk to her first.
    Carina shifted, quickly and adeptly, with bone-crunching and a sinew-stretching noises that would have sounded excruciating to a human. She morphed into the beautiful, curvy