Big Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES Fur BEARS Book 4) by Natalie Kristen

light...”
    “That's because I was shining a light in your eyes!” Zoe had laughed and rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.
    Zoe finished checking on all the patients in her ward and glanced at the clock. Her shift was over. Nick had just texted her to let her know that his team was rushing to complete a project by the end of the day so he couldn't come fetch her from work. But he promised to take her out for a lovely dinner later.
    “I'm leaving now,” Zoe waved to her colleagues. “See you all tomorrow!”
    “You have a date with Nick tonight, don't you?” Georgia teased. “Your smile says it all. Ah, love is a glorious thing!” Georgia declared and pretended to swoon.
    Zoe waved goodbye to her giggling colleagues and hurried out before they could see her blush. But she really did feel glorious. She felt so happy, so blessed to have found Nick. They just felt so right together. It was like finding the other half of your soul, your heart. She was insanely, deliriously happy.
    The only thing that bugged her was that she still wasn't able to shift. And no one could tell her what her animal was. The other shifters were equally baffled. They told her that she was definitely a shifter, but they just couldn't identify her animal.
    “Not eagle?” she'd asked a group of shifter nurses.
    “Not fully,” was their reply.
    At Nick's suggestion, she had asked Gramma and Ne-ma for help. But when Gramma and Ne-ma tried to cast a spell to draw her animal out, her animal simply retreated further and stubbornly refused to show itself.
    So what was she?
    She was so deep in thought that she almost walked right into someone's shoulder.
    “Zoe.”
    Zoe jerked her head up and started. “Oh, Mr Sinclair! I...”
    Sinclair smiled and gave a small bow. “Miss Riley, you're looking lovely as usual.” His eyes flicked to her neck and his smile wavered a little. Straightening up, he held a bunch of flowers out to her. “These are for you.”
    “Thank you. That's...really sweet of you.”
    “Well, I wanted to take you out on a date. But you didn't accept my bid that night. Instead, you chose that...bear.”
    “That bear is my mate,” Zoe answered sharply.
    Her tone was harsher than she'd intended. Not wanting to sound rude, Zoe added hurriedly, “Mr Sinclair, I want to thank you for putting in such a high bid at the auction. I hope you enjoyed yourself that night.”
    Sinclair smoothed a hand down his jacket and smiled. “Well, I must say my trip to Shadow Point has been very fruitful. But I'm leaving today.”
    “You're leaving? Are you here on business?” she enquired politely.
    “You can say that.” He sighed and looked at his watch. “Well, I just dropped by to give you the flowers. I have to be on my way soon.”
    “Oh. Do you have time for...a coffee? Let me buy you a drink at least,” Zoe said. “You didn't have to come and give me the flowers...”
    “You are a very special lady, Miss Riley. I'll take a rain check on that coffee, if you don't mind. I'm running late. But if you'd walk with me to my car...”
    “Of course,” Zoe said at once.
    Sinclair offered her his arm and Zoe hesitated just a beat before taking it.
    As she walked out of the hospital building with him, she couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. Something rose inside her and clawed warningly at her chest.
    Zoe pressed a fist to her chest, scowling at the sudden pain. Her animal was behaving badly. Whatever her animal was, it seemed to be trying to claw its way out of her skin to attack the well-mannered gentleman next to her.
    Zoe plastered a smile to her face and fought her rebellious animal down. First, it had tried to embarrass her on stage. And now, it seemed to be trying to cause havoc and destruction. Was it trying to ruin her reputation and get her thrown out of this nice, peaceful town? Just what kind of crazy animal did she have inside of her?
    Zoe was too busy waging an internal battle to notice that they had walked out of the