Authors: Ariana Hawkes
Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Adaira) BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Hope Valley BBW online dating app romances Book 6)
Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love
Adaira
Hope Valley BBW Dating App Romances
ARIANA HAWKES
Copyright ©2015 by Ariana Hawkes
All rights reserved.
This is a standalone, 48,100-word full-length HEA romance novel!
A 4.5-star rated, comedy romance featuring one kickass roller derby chick, two scorching-hot Alphas, and the naughty nip that changed their lives forever.
The only thing missing from Aspen Richardson’s life is a man who will love her just the way she is. In the small town she calls home, bullies from the past remain, making her wonder if it's ever going to happen. But, things are about to change in a major way, as the secret Aspen’s parents have been keeping from her comes out…
“This book definitely needs to be added to your MUST read list – you will quickly fall in love with this steamy and fast paced story.”
(If your device doesn’t support links, go to www.arianahawkes.com/freebook)
Leigh Canvey’s bear clan had a nickname for each of its members, an in-joke that had developed when the oldest were little more than cubs. He’d never grown out of his. In fact, with every year that passed, it seemed to suit him more and more. His nickname was Reclusive Bear.
Unlike the rest of the clan, he didn’t live in the forests of Hope Valley, but up in the mountains, all by himself. It was a whole day’s walk from his mountaintop cabin to the center of town, so he didn’t make the journey very often – only for special occasions and emergencies. Instead, he lived a self-sufficient life. He hunted his own meat and grew his own vegetables. He and the clan had built all of his furniture from the wood of mountain trees. The mattress on his bed had been sewn from animal skins and stuffed with pine needles. The floor was covered with animal skins too. He’d created his own plumbing system, piping the water in from a nearby stream. The only manmade items were a stove and a basin and toilet, each of which had been hauled up the mountain track.
Being self-sufficient gave him the freedom of not having to depend on others. It was his own way of protecting himself from the pain that people experience when they make themselves vulnerable to other people. His reclusiveness was his castle. It shielded him from being hurt, disappointed and abandoned. He had been abandoned once before – and he was never going to experience that pain again.
The clan always wondered how he didn’t get bored up there by himself, but his days were full. He spent most of his time in his bear form, running and swimming. Unlike the others, he had the luxury of hibernating all winter long, and in summer he adored the long days and the pure mountain air. In his human form, he loved to play the bouzouki, and he’d play sad, mournful songs he’d learned in childhood, which echoed through the woods. He also liked to read. When he was in Hope Valley, he stocked up on books, carrying an armload up to his cabin each time.
Leigh had never had a mate – he didn’t want one; couldn’t see the need for one. This was a source of amusement for the clan as he had easily the most dramatic looks of all of them. He was the tallest, the most muscular. He had a square, masculine jaw and cheekbones that you could cut yourself on – according to Lauren, the mate of his clan member, Connor. He also had a shock of dark brown hair, which only got cut during his trips to Hope Valley, and wide-set, golden-brown eyes. His clan laughed when his startling good looks turned the heads of many, many pretty girls, and he completely failed to notice.
“Don’t you think it’s time we got Reclusive Bear a date?” Dalton said to his clan mate, Niall, as they watched Leigh striding across a beautiful garden, hunting down a beer. They were at the wedding of their clan brother, Connor, to his mate Lauren, and two other close friends – Roman and Harley – to their mates Kristin and Melissa. The ceremony was being held at the opulent mansion owned by Tamika, the kind, eccentric creator of Shiftr – the secret dating app for curvy girls and shape-shifting men, which had got all three couples together.
Beer was the one thing Leigh wasn’t self sufficient in, and he couldn’t carry much with him on his journeys back up the mountain, so it was a rare treat, and he made the most of it when he was in the valley. They burst out laughing as he almost fell over two girls who were rooted to the spot, staring at his striking looks. Instead of stopping to talk to them, he mumbled an apology and kept going.
Beer in hand, Leigh loped over to Dalton and Niall.
“Cheers,” he grunted, clinking his bottle against their champagne flutes.
“Dude, couldn’t you have made an effort for the day?” Niall said, indicating the beer. Leigh scowled in incomprehension.
“I ain’t drinking that pussy stuff,” he said.
“It’s not too bad when you get used to it,” Dalton said, draining his glass. A waiter appeared at his elbow and handed him another one. Leigh snorted.
“Seems kind of sad that a bear who likes beer as much as you do deprives himself of it for most of the year,” Niall said.
“But then I appreciate it more.” Leigh held the bottle up so the sun shone through it. “Amber nectar,” he said reverently. Niall shook his head.
“That’s not even craft beer,” he said. “You can get better in a 7-11.”
“So when are you going to get a cabin near the rest of us, instead of living up there like the crazy old bear of the mountains?” Dalton cut in, inclining his head towards a mountain far in the distance. It was shrouded in mist, making the peak hazy and indistinct. Leigh lived right up there, 500 feet from the top.
“I’m happy where I am,” Leigh grunted in the belligerent tone he adopted every time one of the clan teased him about his lifestyle. But Dalton was three glasses of champagne down, and he wasn’t going to be put off that easily.
“You’re missing out on all the good stuff, bro. Not just beer – playing sports, watching the game, barbecues, the kids, hanging with your clan. Women.” Leigh grunted again.
“I’m past being offended that you don’t want to hang out with us more often, but don’t you want to find yourself a mate?” Dalton continued.
“What would I want with a mate?” Leigh demanded, but he sounded less certain.
“You know, someone to share your life with? Your bed? Have cubs with?”
“You could even find someone as unsociable as you!” Niall said with a giggle. Dalton shook his head at him.
“A glass and a half of champagne and you’re tipsy,” he said in disgust. Niall spread his arms wide.
“Hey, I’m serious. You could find a girl who likes her own company too, and you could get adjoining cabins. Or something.”
“That’s not such a bad idea, actually. Doesn’t Shiftr have filters for that kind of thing?” Dalton said.
“I don’t know, but I think some of the question they ask you were about how much time you like to spend with others.”
“Perfect. So that’ll help him find someone who’s the same.”
“What are you talking about?” Leigh demanded.
“Shiftr, the dating site we all used to find our mates.” Leigh wrinkled his nose. They knew how he felt about technology. It was pretty much how they felt about quantum physics: they were aware that it existed, but they didn’t expect that they’d ever feel the need to discover what it entailed.
“It works through your phone, and it’s really sophisticated, but really easy to use, and it helps you find someone who’d be perfect for you,” Niall explained.
“And Niall’s a complete technophobe, so if he’s saying that, then it’s gotta be easy,” Dalton said with a laugh.
“Are there girls like that on there?” Leigh said, pointing with his beer towards two pretty girls with full, hourglass figures.
“A ton,” Niall said.
“So why haven’t you guys met your mate yet?” Leigh demanded, with his typical delicacy.
“I’m dating someone,” Niall said. “It’s going well, but we’re a 90% match, and we’re not sure that we’re perfect for each other yet.”
“I’ve been on a few dates, with amazing girls, but for some reason, I can’t get above a 82% match, and I know I’m not going to find my mate at that level,” Dalton said.
“Then what hope is there for me?” Leigh said, anger showing in his voice. “No-one’s going to like me.”
Dalton and Niall both knew what Leigh had been through in his youth. As a child, he’d been unusually small and puny. His father didn’t believe that he was his son, and he accused his mother of cheating on him with a human. His mom chose her mate over her son, and they abandoned Leigh, leaving him to fend for himself in the mountains. Luckily, he’d been found by a full-blooded mother bear. She’d brought him up, nurturing him like one of her own. Finally, when he was around 13, he’d started being able to shift, proving his father wrong. And then he grew and grew until he was 6’7’’ tall – a giant in human terms. He’d encountered Connor one day – the first shifter he’d met since his parents left him – and had been welcomed into the clan. But he was so used to living up in the mountains, and he’d been so hurt by human interactions, that he remained a recluse.
“Dude, are you crazy?” Niall said at last. “Women are
staring
at you! Lots of them!” Leigh looked around wildly.
“Where?” he said.
Just then, the wedding music began and they walked over to a flower-bedecked archway at the end of an aisle where all the guests had gathered.
Connor, Roman and Harley were standing at the opposite end, waiting for their brides to arrive. The weddings were really just for show, as the couples had already had shifter mating ceremonies months earlier, but the women wanted to keep their relatives happy – and have the opportunity to wear a bridal gown, since they’d worn simple dresses during their ceremony.
At last, the three brides appeared and walked down the aisle one at a time, and everyone gasped. They looked absolutely stunning. Lauren was wearing an empire-line pale pink dress, with a long pink train and matching elbow-length gloves. Pink was her favorite color, and she refused to wear white, even at the cost of offending a few relatives. Kristin was in a white satin gown, with a green trim that set off her green eyes and auburn hair. The simplicity of it looked stunning on her tall, statuesque figure. She wore her curly hair loose, with a veil. Melissa wore a white dress with a lot of lace and a long train. She said she looked like a walking meringue, but she didn’t care. It had been her dream to get married in a dress like this ever since she’d been small. She had pink roses in her hair, which matched the flush of her cheeks. Their three mates gazed at them with love and devotion as they came to a stop beside each of them. Tamika was the celebrant, and she glowed with happiness as she married each couple. Getting couples together was her passion in life, and it brought her so much joy to see people from the app she’d created having their mating ceremonies and weddings.
Dalton and Niall noticed the look in Leigh’s eye as the couples walked down the aisle together and they raised an eyebrow at each other.
He wants to find his mate. That much is obvious
.
“Don’t you want that for yourself?” Dalton said more gently. Leigh snorted.
“I’m happy as I am,” he insisted – his usual refrain.
When the ceremonies were complete, Connor and Lauren came over to join them, a picture of blissful happiness. Connor was wearing a gray suit with a flower in his lapel that matched the color of Lauren’s dress, and he was carrying Willow, their tiny daughter, who was also dressed in pink.
“Congratulations!” the three of them called.
“Thanks guys!” Lauren said. “That was so much fun!”
“But why are you all looking so serious?” Connor asked them all.
“We’ve just been trying to persuade Leigh to give Shiftr a go, so he can find his own beautiful mate, but he’s telling us he wants to be a recluse forever,” Niall explained.
“Aw, Reclusive Bear,” Connor said, slapping Leigh on the back. “Living your life without your mate is only half-living. Your mate’s out there. You just need to put some effort into finding her.” Leigh grunted and hmmphed. A sly look came into Connor’s gentle brown eyes.
“Hey, I’ll do a deal with you,” he continued. “If you sign up to Shiftr, and don’t manage to find someone who’s at least an 80% match with you, then every single member of the clan will walk all the way to your place, carrying as much beer as they possibly can. And I really don’t want to have to do that, trust me. What do you say?” Leigh’s eyes lit up.
“I say that I’d better start building myself a store for all those beers when I get back home tomorrow morning,” he said.
“Not so fast!” Lauren cut in. “First, we’ve got to get you a real phone – one that has an app capability. Not that remnant of the Stone Age that I can see poking out of your pocket right now! And then we need to sign you up to the app. After that, you need to allow a little time to get matched with someone. Your perfect match might not be there the second you sign up. In other words, you’d better be ready to stay at our place for a few days!” Leigh looked panicked. He’d only spent three nights down in the valley in his whole life.
“Relax. We’ve got a spare room. You’ll have your own space,” Lauren reassured him.
“And it’ll be nice to hang out for a bit longer. The single bears will take you out drinking, and we’ll have a barbecue in a couple of days, and invite all the guys over with their families,” Connor said. Leigh frowned.
“But all my stuff’s up the mountain,” he protested.
“Like what?” Niall said with a grin.
“Uh, my razor and toothbrush.”
“Due, if you’ve used a razor any time in the last week, then I’m a wereferret, and there are shops here, you know. This might sound crazy, but you can just buy yourself a new toothbrush.”
“And wouldn’t you like to have a hot shower for once?” Lauren said, in a wheedling tone. “Or maybe a bath? Our tub has Jacuzzi jets.” Leigh’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“What would I want with Jacuzzi jets?” he said. Lauren shook her head slowly.
“Guys, the problem’s worse than I thought. We need to get Reclusive Bear a lady-friend A-sap, to help him appreciate that there are finer pleasures in life than catching your own food and rolling in the dirt.”
“But I like rolling – ” Leigh started to say, but his words were drowned out by a chorus of laughter from all the bears. Dalton laid a hand on Leigh’s shoulder.