Shifter Nation: Fated Over Forty

They say life begins at 40.... But when infertility led to my divorce, it seemed more like the end. When I’d rather be at home in my sweats binging '80s movies, my dad begs me to go to Carlton with him for moral support as he presents my much younger sister to their unmated Alpha.

When I got divorced and moved to the quiet Oregon countryside.... The last thing I expected was for a hot stranger to pound on my door, demanding I go with him in the middle of the night. His sister-in-law’s in labor, and he swears she’s on death’s door. The weirder part? I’m not allowed to tell anyone what I’m about to see.

I definitely wasn’t there to find a new man, but when I felt my cheeks burning at the sight of him I knew it wasn’t just another damn hot flash. So when he asked me to go back to his place to ring in the new year, he didn’t have to ask twice. But we ended up sharing much more than one wild night. I’m technically old enough to be a grandmother, but now I’m pregnant.

When a rugged stranger with soulful eyes showed up and asked me to take a round with him, I soon learned just how good this carpenter is with his hands. But there’s another side of Pax unlike anything I’ve seen. At the risk of sounding certifiably insane, when I was attacked by a client, Pax changed from the man I’d come to love to a snarling, ferocious bear.

After Dean Thompson broke my heart 28 years ago, I left my hometown and never looked back. Now my adoptive parents are nearing their 80s, And even though they’re shifters, they need help more than they’d care to admit. So I packed up my life and my hormonal teenage daughter And finally headed home to Carlton. Just as we were getting settled, Mom accidentally started a fire at her chocolate shop. And who showed up to put it out? Friggin’ Dean.

An introvert like me had no business giving readings on stage, trying to prove myself to skeptical strangers—like the hunk across the room arching his silvery brow at me. The stormy-eyed firefighter asked for my help, looking for clues about his fallen comrade’s death. But the moment I envisioned bear paws instead of his buddy’s hands, weirdly enough, I made a believer out of him. I thought that was the last I'd see of Hugh, until he showed up at my door, wanting to know if I could tell him more—and then showing me a wild night neither of us would ever forget.

My husband sent pics of his eggplant to every woman in Florida. And once I caught on, it was time to divorce the pig. I packed up the RV we’d planned to drive cross-country together, and headed off on an adventure, all on my own. I rolled to a stop in Carlton after finding a paramedic job.

My ex gambled away my kids’ college funds Along with my dreams of starting a business. After putting everyone else first for the last 23 years, Nothing will stop me from making my dream a reality. So when a bear posts he’s looking for a surrogate, As crazy as it sounds after having three grown kids, I know this could be the ticket to getting my food truck off the ground. I loved being pregnant and know what to expect, But when I meet Evan at a coffee shop, My bear’s buzzing, and it has nothing to do with my latte. The man I’m sitting across from is my mate. And he wants us to start a family.

My husband got into a fight and plunged off a bridge, leaving me to raise our two children on my own. After struggling for the last fourteen years, I pack up my kids and move in with my crazy old aunt in Carlton. I land a waitressing gig, and the moment I meet the head chef, his deep green eyes have me spellbound.

Have a divorce party, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. It was, until I ended up in handcuffs. A group of Karens rained on my parade at the winery And in my drunken haze, I mooned every last one of them— Along with the responding officer called in to arrest my ass. Not a good look for a teacher starting off in a new little town. When he cuffed me, I stumbled into his rock-hard body, But he softened up once he brought me down to the station, Taking pity on me and caring for me throughout the night.

When I said I needed a midlife reboot, growing pumpkins in a town full of bear people wasn't what I had in mind. Neither was falling for one of them. I should've been more specific when I asked the universe for a change.

Christmas is supposed to be the season of miracles. But seeing my ‘90s high school boyfriend change into a bear isn’t the miracle I’d hoped for.