“We can skip the meal and go straight to the fucking if you want,” Gunner’s date said as she ashed her cigarette on the floor.

Gunner cringed.

It’s for a good cause. It’s for a good cause. He kept repeating that phrase in his head over and over again as he stood at the perverted old ladies’ door.

“Dinner was the only thing included,” Gunner answered with a gulp.

“I’m not interested in dinner,” the woman said, licking her leathery lips. “I only want dessert.”

Gunner took a step back as she stared at him with hungry eyes like he was the dessert she was talking about.

He took a deep breath and silently cursed his alpha, Draven. The dragon shifter was the one who forced him into this horrible position.

Draven had set up a charity auction and forced Gunner and the other three shifters of the firehouse to be bid on by horny women.

The other three shifters all fared better than him. Zane found his fated mate when he went on a date with Gwen, the owner of the muffin shop next door, Axel was bid on by a pretty blonde who he immediately hit it off with, and Jax was the luckiest of all. He had put on such a mean, sullen appearance while he was on stage that no one at the packed auction bid on him.

Gunner was beginning to think that his friend Jax was a genius.

“I’m hungry for a big sausage,” she said, licking her lips as her eyes slid down to Gunner’s pants.

He gulped. “You can get whatever you want at the diner.”

“Whatever I want?” she asked, taking a long haul of her cigarette.

“Anything on the menu,” Gunner quickly clarified.

She tossed her cigarette onto her hardwood floors and crushed it with her scuffed-up red heels. “We’ll see about that,” she said as she dragged her index finger down Gunner’s chest. “I paid two thousand dollars for this dinner. It better come with a sausage.”

Gunner shivered as she sauntered past him, shaking her bony hips as she wobbled to the pickup truck. He grabbed the handle and glanced inside her house before closing the door. There was junk everywhere. It looked like an episode of hoarders, and Gunner wasn’t sure, but he may have seen a dead cat in the corner.

The woman was already lighting up another cigarette when she got to the truck. Gunner walked over with a sour taste in his mouth, wondering what would happen if he just took off running and didn’t stop until he got to the Canadian border.

“I never got your name,” he said as he walked over. She was wearing a sparkly red dress with long tassels at the bottom like a Vegas showgirl from the fifties. Like the woman, the dress had seen better days and looked as sexy as a shower curtain.

“Name’s Phyllis,” she said as a cloud of smoke puffed out of her mouth. “But you can call me Fill This.” She laughed as she pointed to her crotch.

“Phyllis is fine,” Gunner said quickly. He cringed as she took a step toward him.

“And what’s your name, big boy?” she asked, leering at him. “Or should I just call you Fuck Stick?”

“You can call me Gunner,” he answered as nausea crept up his throat.

It’s for a good cause. It’s for a good cause.

She took another step toward him and in a panic, he rushed into the truck and locked the door.

“A shy one, huh?” she muttered as she walked to the passenger’s side. “I like ‘em shy.”

Gunner started the truck as she climbed in. Her perfume was overpowering—like old potpourri that was used as an ashtray mixed with a rotting banana—and Gunner had to open the windows just so he could breathe.

“So,” she said as she turned in the seat to face him. “Let’s drop the romantic charade. Do you want a gum job?”

“A what?”

Gunner stared in horror as Phyllis pulled out her dentures and laid them on the dashboard. “A gum job,” she said, flashing her toothless smile. “It’s more slick on your dick.”

“Oh, God!” Gunner shouted as he struggled to open the door as she bent forward. He finally got it open and leapt out of the truck, cursing his alpha who made him do this as he ran over to the passenger’s side. He opened Phyllis’ door and picked her up, holding her away from his body at arm’s length where she couldn’t reach him.

“You just lost your front seat privileges,” he said as he opened the back door and tossed her in. “Try anything else and you’ll be in the cargo bed.”

He slammed the door and took deep calming breaths as he walked back to the driver’s seat. Joan’s beautiful face flashed through his mind as it often did. He sighed, wishing it was her that he was picking up instead.

“Okay,” he said as he slipped back into the truck. “Let’s set some ground rules.”

“Good idea,” she said as she fixed her wig. “So we can be bad and break them.”

Gunner just ignored her. “Rule number one. No smoking in the truck.” She whined as he reached back and plucked the cigarette out of her fingers and tossed it out the window.

“Hey!” she complained. “Are you going to give me something else to put in my mouth?”

“Rule number two,” Gunner went on. “No unwanted touching.”

She slid her bony hands over his shoulders making his skin tighten. “I don’t think that will be a problem. You can touch me wherever you want.”

He shuddered as he peeled her hands off him. “I meant no unwanted touching of me.”

She tried to giggle but it turned into a coughing fit. “Playing hard to get. I like that.”

“More like impossible to get,” Gunner muttered under his breath. “Rule number three. Clothes and dentures,” he said, picking her dentures up with his thumb and index finger and trying to touch as little of them as possible as he handed them back to her, “stay on.”

She rolled her eyes as she slipped them back in. “We’ll see what you have to say about your rules after I get you all liquored up.”

Gunner sighed as he glanced at himself in the rearview mirror. “Let’s just get this over with,” he muttered to himself.

He threw the truck into drive and drove off, hitting the gas a little harder than he normally did. Every time that Phyllis leaned forward to touch him, he would either slam on the gas, sending her flying back into her seat or he would make a sharp turn, sending her sliding to the opposite side of the truck. Eventually, she just lit a cigarette and left him alone.

Gunner’s chest tightened as he turned on the familiar road that led to the Wilde Ranch. He was the newest addition to the firehouse in Colwood, Montana. He had only been there for a few months, and so far it was a relief. He could breathe there. He no longer felt like the weight of the world was sitting on his chest.

He was originally a member of the Wilde Crew with Rory, Ashton, and Cole, but when their crew got a new alpha named Joan, it all went to shit. She was a fierce tiny woman with a huge ferocious bear hiding inside of her, and Gunner had fallen absolutely in love with her.

It killed him that she didn’t feel the same way, and when her bear bonded to the skin shifter Rhett, it was too much to take.

Gunner nearly jumped out of his skin as a frail hand slid up the back of his head. “There’s an inn up the road,” Phyllis whispered into his ear. “Should we get a room and test how soundproof the walls are?”

When Gunner felt a cold wet tongue on his earlobe, he jerked the truck to the side, sending Phyllis sliding across the back seat.

“You just broke rule number two,” he said, looking at her over his shoulder.

She held up her lit cigarette. “And rule number one,” she said with a mischievous grin. She grabbed the hem of her dress and began pulling it up her varicose-vein scarred legs. “Should I go for all three?”

“Oh, God!” Gunner said, jerking his head away as he felt his lunch creep back up. “Please don’t!”

She laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll save that for later. I don’t want to come across as too easy.”

Gunner shook his head. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want that to happen.”

He kept his eyes straight as he passed the Wilde Ranch where the inn was located. Every cell in his body was screaming at him to look, to see if he could get a glimpse of Joan, but he forced his eyes forward. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until the inn was far back in his rearview mirror. He took a deep breath and released his kung fu grip on the steering wheel as he continued to the restaurant.

After Joan had bonded to Rhett, it was too hard for Gunner to stay in the crew. Every look they gave each other was like a knife in the heart. Every gentle touch they shared was a twist of the handle. He had to leave.

That was when he had met Jax. The two lion shifters hit it off immediately and they often met at the bar for a few beers. Jax was a good listener and he helped Gunner through the tough time. When Jax spoke to Draven, and they offered him a place in the firehouse crew, Gunner had jumped at the chance. He couldn’t stay at the Wilde Ranch any longer. It was killing him, and it was killing the crew.

He desperately wanted to get over his feelings for Joan, but as much as he tried to let them go, they stubbornly lingered.

Gunner pulled up to the restaurant and he tried to keep his distance as they walked inside. He kept his eye on the horny old lady, but she still managed to slap his ass as he slipped into the booth.

“Aren’t you going to look at the menu?” he asked. He was reading his, but she hadn’t touched hers. She was too busy creepily staring at him from across the table. Her head began to slide down lower and lower, and Gunner was confused until he felt a foot touch his inner thigh.

“This is inappropriate,” he said, pushing her foot away. He leaned in close and whispered. “I’m not going to have sex with you.”

She pouted, looking like a wrinkly prune. “Why not?”

Gunner sighed. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “I’m gay.”

“Oh, fuck,” she cursed, shaking her head. She raised her hand in the air and called out to the waitress who was talking to another table. “Martini,” she shouted. “A strong one. Better make it two.”

By the time the dinner was over, there were eight empty martini glasses on the table. All hers. Phyllis was face down on the table snoring when Gunner paid the check and apologized to the waitress.

He had to violate rule number two when he picked her up and carried her to the truck. She was out cold, snoring like a hibernating bear in January when he laid her on the back seat.

It was a beautiful summer night, and Gunner took a deep breath of the cool mountain air as he closed the door and looked around. The sun was setting over the Abrasoka mountains, casting a pink and purple hue in the sky. The town was full of life tonight with the hardworking ranchers going to the restaurants and the bar. Colwood really was the perfect town, and a nice haven for shifters. Gunner just wished he didn’t have to worry that he was going to run into Joan or Rhett anytime he went out.

Gunner heard the siren before everyone else. He looked down the street as the fire truck turned and came driving down the road.

Axel was sitting on the roof of the truck, waving at all of the girls who were out on the street.

“Axel,” Gunner said, running alongside the truck. “Should I follow you guys?”

The polar bear shifter shook his head as he waved at two girls walking on the sidewalk. “Nah. Tom Hopkins’ goat is stuck on the roof again. Enjoy your hot date!”

Axel was laughing as Gunner slowed to a stop, watching as the fire truck drove away.

With a sigh, he walked back to his truck where his date was passed out in the back seat. “Let’s get you home, Phyllis,” he said as he started the truck.

He drove down the main street and turned left on Wilbridge Road. Another right turn and he was on the road where he lived with the other four shifters in the firehouse. He was a minute away from home, but he had to go back to Phyllis’ house to drop her off. It was such a nice night though, that he didn’t mind. He smiled as he passed Gwen’s muffin shop where Zane was probably inside slacking off.

A faint smell hit his nose that had him pressing on the break. “It can’t be,” he muttered to himself as he pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the engine.

The smell was subtle, but it was there. Charcoal. “That’s not Draven’s scent,” he whispered as he stepped out of the car. His inner lion was on full alert as he inhaled deeply.

Dragon shifters always smelled like burnt charcoal. His new alpha was an old dragon shifter named Draven, and his scent was all over the firehouse, but that wasn’t what Gunner was smelling. This was a new scent. It smelled a little sweeter, making his nose tingle.

“Stay here,” he said to his passed out date who definitely wasn’t going anywhere. Her head was hanging over the seat, her legs were spread wide open, and her deep snores sounded like a gorilla with a megaphone.

Gunner was hurrying across the road when he heard a crash and saw movement in the window upstairs. “Who’s the dead man?” he grunted as he sprinted the rest of the way.

Draven’s dragon shifter brother named Jarin had returned recently and turned Zane’s vicious Kodiak bear into a broken whimpering teddy bear with one punch, and the crew was supposed to be on high alert for any other dragon shifters stopping by. The smart thing to do would have been to call the boys back and wait for them to engage, but no one had ever accused Gunner of being smart before. And he wasn’t about to pass up on an opportunity to show the boys what he could do. The dragon shifter may have made short work of Zane’s Kodiak bear, but Gunner wasn’t a weak little bear. He was a motherfucking lion.

He flew up the stairs in two giant steps as he squeezed his hands into fists. “You picked the wrong fuckin—”

The rest of his words froze in his throat as the intruder stepped out of Draven’s room. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as a force gripped his core, stunning him and freezing him in place.

She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Huge curls of fiery red hair surrounded her head like a smoldering halo. Her skin was as pale as porcelain and looked just as smooth. Little freckles dusted the tops of her cheeks, making her stunning orange eyes look that much brighter.

Just one look at her and Gunner was disoriented. Dizzy. Euphoric.

How could someone be so gorgeous? How could seeing one woman make him so numb? How could one look make him forget about everybody else?

She stood in the hallway, facing him with dark narrowed eyes. Gunner couldn’t breathe. She looked like she was ready to rip his head off, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was knowing her name.

“Who are you?” he asked, his voice racing as fast as his heart.

He finally managed to pry his eyes away from hers to look down at the rest of her. She was slim with a hard muscular body that he desperately wanted to explore.

“Lions,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I hate lions.”

Before Gunner could raise his sweaty hands, she launched forward and hit him with a thunderous uppercut that lifted him off his feet. Two more crushing fists slammed into his stomach, smashing him into the ground and ripping the breath out of his lungs.

His head was spinning, and before he realized what had happened, a foot came stopping down on his face, sending pain and blackness ripping through him.

“I’m in love,” he whispered as he dipped in and out of consciousness.

His enhanced shifter healing kicked in and he shook the dazed thoughts out of his head as he climbed up to his wobbly feet. The door that led to the roof was open, and Gunner rushed up the stairs to stop her before she flew out of his life forever.

The ripping and tearing sound of a phase reached his ears as he ran up the stairs. His head was still aching and his stomach felt like he had been punched by a sledgehammer, but he pushed forward.

“Wow,” he gasped when he stepped onto the roof. There was a turquoise dragon flapping its wings to take off. She was much smaller than Draven’s dragon but infinitely more beautiful.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he muttered as he let his lion come. He gritted his teeth, flexed his arms, and felt his whole body burn as his lion exploded out of him.

The dragon pushed off the roof, taking off into the dark sky on her turquoise wings.

Gunner let out a low growl and then sprinted after her, leaping off the roof with his long black claws out.