The Griffin's Mate

by Zoe Chant

  Bear With Me. A lonely bear shifter + a workaholic conservationist + a sudden storm = one wet and wild mountain adventure!

  And many more!

  If you love Zoe Chant, you’ll also love these books!

  Laura’s Wolf (Werewolf Marines # 1), by Lia Silver. Werewolf Marine Roy Farrell, scarred in body and mind, thinks he has no future. Curvy con artist Laura Kaplan, running from danger and her own guilt, is desperate to escape her past. Together, they have all that they need to heal. A full-length novel.

  Prisoner (Werewolf Marines # 2), by Lia Silver. Werewolf Marine DJ Torres is a born rebel. Genetically engineered assassin Echo was created to be a weapon. When DJ is captured by the agency that made Echo, the two misfits find that they fit together perfectly. A full-length novel.

  Partner (Werewolf Marines # 3), by Lia Silver. DJ and Echo’s relationship grows stronger under fire… until they are confronted by a terrible choice. A full-length novel.

  Mated to the Meerkat, by Lia Silver. Jasmine Jones, a curvy tabloid reporter, meets her match in notorious paparazzi and secret meerkat Chance Marcotte. A romantic comedy novelette.

  Handcuffed to the Bear (Shifter Agents # 1), by Lauren Esker. A bear-shifter ex-mercenary and a curvy lynx shifter searching for her best friend's killer are handcuffed together and hunted in the wilderness. Can they learn to rely on each other before their pasts, and their pursuers, catch up with them? A full-length novel.

  Guard Wolf (Shifter Agents # 2), by Lauren Esker. Avery is a lone werewolf with no pack; Nicole is a social worker trying to put her life back together. When he comes to her door with a box of orphan werewolf puppies and danger in pursuit, can two lonely people find the family they've been missing? A full-length novel.

  Dragon’s Luck (Shifter Agents # 3) by Lauren Esker. Gecko shifter and infiltration expert Jen Cho teams up with sexy dragon-shifter gambler "Lucky" Lucado to win a high-stakes poker game. Now they're trapped on a cruise ship full of mobsters, mysterious enemy agents, and evil dragons! A full-length novel.

  Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, by Lauren Esker. Curvy farm girl Julie Capshaw was warned away from the wolf shifters next door, but Damon Wolfe is the motorcycle-riding, smoking hot alpha of her dreams. Can the big bad wolf and his sheep shifter find their own happy ending? A full-length novel.

  The Christmas Tree Bear, by Rosie Lynne. Bear shifter Willis Barnett meets his fated match in Charlotte Caldwell when she hopes to earn extra money as Santa Helper’s on Willis’ family farm turned Christmas Tree Town for the holidays. A romantic comedy novella.

  The Strength of the Pack, by Jorrie Spencer. Seth Kolski, a werewolf, hides his heritage and passes for normal. Until he meets Jamie. A full-length novel.

  Taming the Beast, by Honey Dover. Beauty is a paranormal investigator hired to deal with a man cursed to become a monstrous beast. Helping him recover his humanity will change her life. A novelette.

  Claimed by the Wolf, by Candi Jackson. Zenobia Jones ends up pregnant after a night with a billionaire—and lands herself in a war between werewolf packs. A full-length novel.

  The Right Bear's Arms, by Nora Eli. After a sizzling one night stand with bear shifter Jake, curvy Katie realizes her perfect man is everything she's tried to avoid. If they can both stop running from their pasts, they may find a destined future together. A novelette.

  Discovering the Dragon, by Sofia Stone. When reporter Chloe Martin investigates Lancaster Gold, she finds herself tangled up with the oldest son—Isaac Lancaster, billionaire dragon shifter. A novelette.

  Bear With Me

  By Zoe Chant

  Special Sneak Preview!

  Mark Visser ran a finger under his collar. What was the point of a tailored suit if the result was still this uncomfortable? All those measurements and fittings and he was still stuck with a shirt that was practically throttling him.

  He should have just bought off the rack. Maybe he’d burst out the shoulders, but at least he wouldn’t have been stuck with so many pins.

  Mark glanced sideways at the other groomsmen, wondering whether he was the only one to feel like his clothes had it in for him. A nudge on his other side jolted him back to reality.

  “What’s the matter, big guy? Worried I’m going to get cold feet?” Mark’s cousin, Tom, elbowed him in the ribs again, a teasing grin on his face.

  Mark felt a pang of envy as he looked at his cousin. Tom managed to make his suit look as comfortable as a T-shirt and jeans, though that could be because his head was so high in the clouds he had left mundane worries like “itchy neck” and “pinched toes” behind him.

  But that wasn’t the real reason Mark envied him. Cold feet? Tom was the most excited groom Mark had ever seen, and being best man was making Mark realize just how much he longed for someone he could spend his life with.

  Not that Mark’s lonely personal life was the important thing, here. He knew his responsibilities as best man. Most important: teasing the bridegroom.

  Mark kept his voice to a whisper, aware of the hundreds of pairs of eyes watching them from the audience. “If you’re thinking of running, you should have done it before Nana Marj got here. Make a move now and she’ll have you hogtied before you make it ten feet.”

  Tom made a face of mock fear. “Oh, no. That means … It’s going to happen. I’m really going to have to marry the love of my life.” He gave up hiding a wide grin. “We’re going to have to live together forever. Oh, the horror.”

  Mark watched as his cousin tried to rein in his grin, to at least look as though he was treating the ceremony with an appropriate level of seriousness. He failed utterly, and stood there grinning like a happy puppy.

  “You—” Mark shut his mouth as music swelled from the end of the room. The doors of the old ballroom swung open and for a moment, all he could see through them was a blaze of light. Then the first of the bridesmaids started to waft through, women he half-recognized as friends and relatives of the bride. From this distance he could see that they were all in a sort of dusky pink, with silver sandals twinkling on their feet.

  Then more bridesmaids poured through the door. And more.

  “How many bridesmaids does Kes have?” Mark muttered out of the side of his mouth.

  Tom’s grin was becoming glazed. “Twelve…” he whispered.

  Mark strained his eyes for a glimpse of white behind the ranks of pink and silver. He heard Tom gasp, and there she was: Kes Langridge, the woman who’d made his cousin happier than Mark had ever seen him in his life.

  She had clear, light brown skin and her brunette hair was caught up in a complicated hairdo that sent curls cascading down her back. Her dress was delicate ivory, a lacy concoction that clung to a figure that, until six months ago, had been slender and willowy.

  Tom and Kes had met seven months ago, Mark knew. What would it be like to know immediately that you want to spend your life with someone? Start a family with them?

  Kes walked forward, glowing with happiness. In a few months, Tom would have a child. His own family.

  And it’s not even as though she’s his mate! Mark thought, and immediately hated himself for it. Many of the Visser clan were bear shifters, but for whatever reason the gene—or whatever it was—didn’t crop up in everyone. Tom wasn’t a shifter, so he wouldn’t have a mate.

  Just someone he loved with all his heart, regardless.

  “Look at her, Mark,” Tom murmured, tears in his eyes. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

  “You’re the luckiest man in the world,” Mark whispered back, clapping his cousin on the shoulder.

  The ceremony went by in a whirl. Tom and Kes only had eyes for each other; as they said their vows, it was as though everyone else in the room disappeared. Even after they walked back down the aisle together, and the wedding photographer zeroed in and starting pushing people around, they seemed to be walking in their own private paradise.

  “Best man at the groom’s left—no, there.”

  The photographer, a gleefully autocratic woman
with a dark pixie-cut, grabbed Mark by the elbow and wheeled him into place. Mark blinked.

  “Smile, everyone! Lovely! And—groomsmen only, bridesmaids, wait at the side please!”

  Mark exchanged a grimace with Kieran, one of the other groomsmen, and took a step backward as the bridesmaids all flocked out of the way.

  “Oof!”

  Mark spun around and steadied the person he’d banged into. He had a momentary impression of red-gold hair, freckled arms and a warm, herbal scent before the photographer rattled out another order. The woman raced away, giggling. Mark stared after her.

  “Best man, you’re catching flies! Smile!”

  Mark tried to catch another glimpse of the redheaded bridesmaid as the photographs went on, but there was always someone in the way: another bridesmaid, a selection of the happy couple’s relatives, or the photographer herself, shepherding the guests into place like an efficient sheepdog.

  After half an hour of carefully choreographed photos, the photographer relinquished control of the bridal party to the wedding planner. Mark grabbed hold of Tom as they made their way through to the dining room.

  “Tom, do you have a minute—” he began, but Tom spoke over him.

  “What about that photographer, huh? Kes found her, the only wedding photographer who could guarantee she wouldn’t have everyone standing around for hours and hours.”

  “Do you know—” Mark tried again, but it was too late. Tom turned his head as the wedding planner called his name.

  “Sorry, cuz. Duty calls!” he called over his shoulder as he walked away.

  Mark stood still as the other wedding guests milled around him. His mind was on fire. The memory of the redheaded woman’s scent haunted him. It wasn’t floral, or spiced, like the other women at the wedding were wearing. It was something fresh, green. Like spring.

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe if he concentrated, sifting through the various scents and perfumes…

  There. He caught a hint of that fresh, herbal scent, and his eyes snapped open. Across the room, red-gold hair glinted in the light as the woman stepped through into the dining room. He started moving toward her, pulled forward as through by a river current.

  “Best man!”

  Mark could have screamed in frustration.

  “Yes?” he said, fighting to keep a growl out of his voice.

  The pale gray eyes of the wedding planner scowled at him from behind her tortoiseshell glasses. “You’re out of line. Wait back here with the maid of honor until it’s your turn to walk through.”

  “What? But I … Oh. Right.” Mark obediently shuffled into place. The maid of honor, a black woman in her twenties with a wide smile and hazel eyes, laughed at him good-naturedly.

  “It’s a good thing she’s here to tell us what to do, right? Who knows what might happen if we were left to walk in to dinner in the wrong order.”

  “The sky would fall,” Kes intoned from behind them. “And, lo, all of my aunties would leave the poor wedding planner terrible Yelp reviews for insulting tradition. God, I’m hungry, though.”

  “Is it an insult to tradition if the bride passes out from hunger before the meal?” Tom suggested, putting his arm around his new wife.

  “Probably,” she replied glumly. “Oh, we’re moving, go go go!”

  Dinner went smoothly. Mark didn’t even notice what he ate, but he managed to pull his head in long enough to remember his best man’s speech, and the embarrassing-but-not-too-naughty stories from Tom’s youth. At last the bride and groom stood up for their first dance.

  The dining room was alongside the ballroom, where the ceremony had been held. As Kes and Tom stood up and made their way hand-in-hand between the tables, the wall between the two rooms folded back like paper.

  A gasp along the table to Mark’s left made him turn his head. All through dinner, he’d been craning his neck trying to see where the redheaded bridesmaid was seated, and now, here she was, laughing in delight at the concertina wall.

  Her eyes were a sparkling blue-gray, like glacier meltwater, ringed by delicate lashes. The freckles he had noticed on her arms were sprinkled across her face, as well, not quite hidden under her makeup. Entranced, he followed them down her neck, where they grew thinner and then exploded in a constellation across her shoulders.

  After that, they disappeared beneath her dress. Mark shifted in his seat, suddenly aware that his body was very aware of the woman sitting less than ten feet away from him. He was half hard already.

  Mark flexed his thigh muscles, willing his erection to go down. When he felt he could trust his body not to betray him, he leaped to his feet.

  The music was playing. Kes and Tom were having their first dance. Everyone else was expected to start dancing, too, and he couldn’t bear the thought of anyone but him dancing with the gorgeous redhead.

  He half-stumbled into several chairs on his way over to her. Eyes turned his way, but he ignored them. His eyes, his whole being, was focused on just one woman. Just her.

  He barreled to a stop by her chair and she looked up at him, a question in her bright eyes. He cleared his throat.

  “Do you—would you like to dance?” he stammered, his tongue suddenly tied in knots.

  Click here to keep reading Bear With Me.