Jo will trust him to teach her how to stay alive, but can she trust him with anything more than that?After a night of drinking leaves Johanna Dixon waking up in the middle of the woods with no memory of how she got there or the night before, strange things start happening. Hearing noises no human should hear, seeing things that she’d never been able to see before, and strange… cravings. One night, after wrestling with the animal urges trying to take control of her mind, she finds herself drawn to a small, hole-in-the-wall bar, and can’t resist going inside.Gage Thompson couldn’t believe his eyes when the tall, built, red-headed shifter walked into Ursula’s. A woman like that could get eaten alive in this place. When a nasty pack of wolves starts in, Gage--for reasons he can't explain--steps in to claim the girl. Even a pack twice their size couldn’t handle a bear like him, especially if the animal next to him was half as deadly as she looked.Jo is confused by her new powers, a confusion that deepens when the gorgeously hulking man starts asking her questions about what she is. Gage can’t believe that Jo has no idea of the power she has. After convincing Jo she’s not crazy, Gage promises to teach her how to control her abilities. As they work together, an animal attraction grows between the two shifters, and passion threatens to destroy them both. Can Jo surrender to her animal side long enough to truly master it? And can Gage learn to let Jo in before she gives up on him forever?Excerpt“What are you, exactly?” he repeated. His eyes rose to focus on mine, and I felt his piercing gaze flow into me like melted chocolate.“Right now I’m a bit offended,” I answered.He gave me a puzzled stare. “I apologize if I’m being intrusive, but I could smell you from across the room the moment you came in,” he explained in a low whisper. “I had to come over and talk to you.”“Wow,” I chortled. “Now that’s a lovely new pick-up line. I bet that works on all the girls.” I glanced up into the mirror. The booth just behind me was full of disheveled and rowdy young men, and they were all staring directly at me as they crouched over their glasses. What was worse, I could tell now that it was them that smelled like dog. I looked back at Gage.His face scrunched and he stared at me in total confusion. “I can tell that you’re a bear,” he whispered. “I just don’t know exactly which species. You’re—different.”A shocking terror shook me, and I almost spilled my gin. I stared back at him in horror and dismay, a thousand wild thoughts racing through my tortured brain. My surprised face only baffled him even more.He really had just said I was a bear. I remembered seeing my claws and hair, but that had been a hallucination. I reached out my hand and grabbed his arm, testing to see if he were even real.The warmth of his skin flooded through me. The feel of the soft hair, his sinewy muscle beneath masculine skin, sent fevered chills up my spine. He looked down at my hand over his arm, but I couldn’t convince myself to let go. He was more than real—he was enthralling.
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