Free The PlayBear Billionaire: A Bear Shifter Romance by Maria Amor

surface of his skin, his bones already shifting around, preparing for the change that he expected to have to make. It wasn’t the full moon, but the moon was in its waxing phase—that would make it easier for him to change quickly. If Eric attacked him, he would be ready for it.
    There was a muted rustling in the underbrush; a human wouldn’t have caught the sound of it, but it crackled in Alex’s ears as surely as the footsteps of an elephant. He stopped short, flexing his hands, falling into a steady relaxation. He took a deep breath, moderating his heart rate as best as he could, knowing that he would be exuding moderately dominant pheromones.
    As Eric approached, Alex scented his rival’s pheromones—they were sharp, with a twang of fear and anticipation in them, the pheromones of an animal uncertain, wary, but potentially ready to attack. “Eric,” Alex said, looking in the direction from which he’d heard the sounds.
    “Hello, Alex,” Eric said, coming out of the deeper darkness of the woods and into the clearing where Alex stood. The sun was just down, the moon not yet risen, but Alex was as aware of it as any animal—aware of its pull on the earth, the influence of it on the magic that combined his human and bear essences.
    “What did you want to propose to hash things out?” The Forest Reserve was known to all of the bear shifters in the community that Alex and Eric both belonged to. It was not quite a sacred location, but was a landmark—a piece of land kept pristine in its natural condition, where groups of bears and wolves in the know could travel to be themselves, to hunt and forage. Mates came to bond; families brought their children there for their first transformation.
    “I propose that we combine the two companies,” Eric said, crossing his arms over his chest. The smell of fear and uncertainty intensified, rolling off him in a miasma that filled Alex’s nose. There was much more to the situation than Eric was trying to let on. “Equal partnership, we would both still be in charge, we’d both still make profits.”
    “I don’t believe you,” Alex said flatly. “I know for a fact that you want revenge on me, so what’s your game, Eric?”
    “No game,” Eric said, shrugging. “The elders want our squabble ended, and they don’t care how we do it. I thought this way would give us both an out.”
    “You’re lying. Eric—you really should know better.” Alex moved closer, standing tall, taking a deep breath and puffing out his chest. “You brought me here to attack me, so go ahead and do it.” Eric hesitated for a moment, looking around, the fear-smell intensifying yet again, tinged with the adrenaline of a coming battle.
    His bones were shifting in his face, his hands—but the full transformation hadn’t started yet. Alex could feel his own body gearing up to make the change, his bear-essence charging through him, responding to the threat of violence and the prerogative to defend his territory.
    There was the sound of more rustling in the underbrush, sticks snapping, but Alex was focused on his opponent. He decided to take matters into his own hands and began his transformation. He groaned as the bones in his body began to shift and move, stretching and realigning into new positions. He hunched over, his clothes tearing as his body built up, his face elongating, his teeth coming in sharp. His hands splayed out and Alex watched them transform into big, broad paws—the fingers thickening and the nails transforming into blunt claws, fur pushing out from somewhere underneath his skin, heavy pads replacing his palms.
    Eric groaned and as his vision changed, becoming green-tinged in the darkness, Alex saw his rival beginning his own transformation, curling in on himself and trembling as the force of the change overtook him. Alex completed his transformation with a growling roar, announcing to the forest at large that a contest of wills was about to take place.
    Eric’s form