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

hospital parking lot and into a quiet side lane. There was only one car parked in that narrow, deserted lane.
    Sinclair turned to her, a slow smile spreading across his face. Zoe gasped and tried to pull away, but he was pressing something into her neck.
    “No one can see us. And no one can hear you,” Sinclair whispered in her ear. Zoe struggled but the needle pressed into her neck.
    “You really are a very special creature, Zoe,” Sinclair hissed, his thumb on the plunger of the syringe. The syringe was filled with a clear, colorless liquid.
    Zoe stared in horror as Sinclair's canines lengthened and jutted out of his mouth. They were thick and curved, not long and thin like vampire fangs. It was clear that he wasn't a vampire. He could walk in the sun, and...she could sense an animal inside him.
    “What are you?” she wheezed just as he pushed the plunger down.
    Zoe opened her mouth to scream but a numbing chill was spreading rapidly through her body. Her facial muscles froze as her brain began to shut down.
    Her eyes were still functioning even as her legs crumpled beneath her. She saw Sinclair open the trunk of the car and stuff her in swiftly.
    She saw the eerie, murderous glow of his eyes just before he slammed the trunk shut.
    He's going to kill me , she thought as she heard the engine roar to life.
    She could feel her animal struggling to emerge from her weakening human body. Her animal clawed furiously at her before it was pulled under by the drug Sinclair had injected into her body.
     

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

    Zoe jerked her head up and stared around wildly. Where was she? She seemed to be in the middle of a forest. There were trees all around her, and her back was against a rough tree trunk. Her hands were bound behind the trunk and there were thick ropes around her legs. She squirmed and struggled, but the ropes held her securely to the tree.
    She turned her head and saw Sinclair standing to the side, watching her intently.
    “Let me go,” she spat. “You freak!”
    “Freak?” He laughed, displaying his unusually long canines. “You've never seen a saber-tooth tiger before, have you?”
    “A what? You're telling me you're a saber-tooth tiger?” Zoe rolled her eyes and sneered. “Yeah, right. Saber-tooth tigers went the way of the dinosaurs and the dodo bird a long time ago.”
    Sinclair shrugged. “That's what people believe. There are only very few saber-tooth tiger shifters in existence now. We have difficulty...repopulating.”
    Her eyes widened as his meaning sank in. Then she began to laugh. She didn't know why she did that. But laughter was the best medicine, and the best distraction. She always encouraged her patients to laugh and keep their spirits up. Laughter distracted them from their fear and pain.
    “You're saying...that you're impotent?” she wheezed. “Okay, mister, there are lots of drugs these days to help with your problem. Just pop a pill and you are good to go for hours. Is that why you kidnapped me? Listen, I may work in a hospital, but there is no way I can get you any drugs without a prescription...”
    “Drugs aren't the solution,” Sinclair snarled, prowling towards her.
    “Then what...what do you want? Stay away from me,” Zoe said, suddenly frightened. His features were contorting, and she saw that he wasn't lying about his animal.
    “Don't touch me!” She tried to twist away but he gripped her chin viciously, forcing her to look at him.
    “A saber-tooth tiger is a very rare animal. To regain our ability to reproduce, we need to eat the heart of another rare creature.”
    “I'm not a rare creature,” Zoe squeaked.
    “Oh, but you are.” Sinclair smiled. “I need you to shift, Zoe. I don't want your human heart. I need your griffin heart.”
    “My...what? G-griffin? You're crazy!”
    Sinclair exhaled slowly. “I've been waiting for you. I could scent what you were when you were a teenager. But your animal didn't emerge. I was willing to wait. Years,