The Mating Season: A Paranormal Shifter Romance by Jade White

villages.”
    Kim’s eyes went wide. She remembered hearing stories from her grandma when she was a little kid about the various villages with shape shifters. They purposefully stayed away from the main nation to keep themselves and the other villages safe, especially after the white man appeared.
    “Our totem animal is the mountain lion. The great and powerful cougar. All offspring in the village have the ability to shift when they come of age. There’s only one problem. Most of the offspring for the past fifty years have been male. So we need to try to bring women from outside to form bonds with so our men can find mates to pass on the ability to the next generation.”
    The elder took a sip of his coffee, to let his story slowly sink in. Kim was amazed at the sheepish look on the men’s faces. Her mind was going a mile a minute. Shifters? Mating? What the hell was going on?
    Rusty studied Kim’s face to gauge her reaction and continued. “The fact that you’re here at the beginning of the season bodes well. You have two strapping young men willing to become your life mate. You can only pick one, though. I know that some tribes encourage their women to have more than one, since it means that her children would be better provided for, but ours, you can only pick one to be your mate.”
    Kim looked at Tony, then to Keith, then back to Tony again. She looked at Rusty helplessly. “But...what if I’m not ready to pick?” she asked.
    “Well, if you’re not ready to pick this year, the burning will get stronger. You will become more influenced by their pheromones as they yours. You will drive them to heights of animalistic lust to the point that they might not be able to control themselves. Their animal natures will take over, and eventually they will stay in their shifted forms forever,“ Rusty answered with a ring of doom.
    Keith piped up. “You know, I’ve felt attracted to you ever since you moved in. I mean, not just physically but I know there’s something more there. I can feel it, you can feel it. I would love for you to stand up with me on the mating day. I will take good care of you and keep you safe. Please don’t let what I am put you off. If anything, I can keep you extra warm on long winter’s nights,” he said with a wink.
    Tony cleared his throat. “I feel the draw to you, and I want you to be mine. I couldn’t help myself yesterday. You drove me to the madness. Just the scent of you makes me wild. I want to possess every part of you. Please accept my offer,” he pleaded.
    Rusty looked at Kim, his black eyes piercing her very soul. He could see the conflict deep within her and knew she wasn’t ready to make a choice just yet. Eventually, though she’ll have to, he saw it in the bones last night.
    Kim looked at both the men and tears began to stream down her face. “I just can’t. I can’t get involved in a relationship yet. Not with anyone. I’m just not ready after all the stuff I’ve been through. Please let me keep my freedom just a little longer? I don’t want Smiley coming after you guys either, I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to either of you because of me.” She was already having a tough time coping with the fact he probably murdered her aunt and uncle because of her. If she would have just gone with him, they would still be alive. She wouldn’t, but one life versus the lives of an entire family, the trade-off seemed unfair.
    Rusty seemed to know what she was thinking. “Look, don’t you go and get some cockamamie notion in your head to go off and let Smiley kill you thinking it’ll keep us safe. It won’t. He knows where we are. He might not know what we are, but it has been the first time a white man has ever set foot in our village uninvited. That is a crime in these lands. Our ancestors fought to eke out this small bit of land away from the white settlers who tried to kill us off. We managed to preserve the old ways and the old legends while the