Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Jessica) BBW Bear Shifter Menage Romance (Hope Valley BBW Dating App Romance Book 8) Read Online Free Page B

Hope Valley! The thought zipped through his mind like a thunderbolt. Apart from Lucas, she was the best friend he’d had in his entire life. She was so fun and quirky, and shared his love for obscure rock bands. And she understood the real him, not the aloof side of himself that he’d projected to everyone else in high school. She was the only girl he’d been able to share his feelings with completely, and that included every single girl he’d dated.
    He’d lost his older brother when he was young and that had scarred him deeply. Jay had been shot while running in the forest. He had just started to shift and he was so full of energy and life, and passion for exploring his bear side. And he was everything an older brother could ever be – protective, caring, and always there to help. He’d taught him so much, too. And then he was killed. Christian was devastated when he found out. But he told himself that he had to be strong for his parents and for his younger brother, Grayson – just like Jay would have been – and he didn’t show his deep grief to anyone. He was so deeply scarred, and so petrified of shifting for a long time, that later in life, when his body was ready to shift, he couldn’t bring himself to do it for a long time. It took him 3-4 years to finally manage but he never stopped feeling fragile and restless in his bear form. He’d never spoken to anyone about this; not even Lucas. It was his Big Secret. But he had wished so many times that he could share it with Jessica. God! He had so missed their deep and meaningful relationship during these years.
    In school, he’d loved that she trusted him too, and not treated him like a guy, but as if he was her soul mate. The three of them had been inseparable at school. They did everything together, to the point that the teachers usually made them sit apart in class because they wanted them to mix with other people. He had so many fond memories of going over to her house in the evenings after school, scaling the ivy that clung to the wall outside her room and sneaking through the window. Lucas would do the same, and they’d hang out for hours, writing song lyrics and discussing their favorite movies and their dreams for the future. Jessica’s parents had never once caught them. She lived in a big, draughty old house in a London suburb, and she said her parents never stirred far from the fire in winter, or the patio in summer, leaving her to her own devices.
    When his parents had snatched him away and put him on a plane to the US, he’d felt like someone had taken a big bite out of his side. Once during a very intense evening, Jessica, Lucas and he had cut their fingertips and made a blood pact to always be in each other’s lives. Then his parents had ruined it, just like that. And for months, he’d been tormented by thoughts of Jessica and how confused and worried she must have been at them disappearing without a word. Losing her was as painful as losing Jay. He’d been mad at his parents for the longest time. He’d asked them over and again why he or Lucas couldn’t call her, just once and explain that they’d had to emigrate. But his parents refused to even discuss it with him. They made him put his hand on The Book and promise not to contact her.
    Back at home, he picked up his phone and gazed at the Shiftr app. It was a great design. He loved the way the pad of the paw was in the shape of a heart. Had Jessica had a hand in designing it? The thought gave him enough enthusiasm to open it up. He’d signed up mainly to encourage Lucas, who he knew was more than ready to find a human mate. He wanted a human mate too, but his parents’ determination that he find a bear mate filled him with guilt. He was in a kind of limbo – unwilling to accept a female bear, yet not ready to break his parents’ hearts. Deep down, he loved them a lot despite the pain they had caused him, and he knew they’d been devastated by Jay’s death, so he wanted to make