Brody learned, at that point, that koala bears—cute as they seem—have big fucking teeth. The furry little gray monster swiped at him with sharp claws and bared his chompers menacingly. The little bastard wanted to fight?

Brody looked at Nell’s pale face. She was in shock, and Brody knew there was no putting this genie back in the bottle. Shit.

The crazed koala came after him again, and Brody had had enough. He tugged his embroidered golf shirt over his head and dropped trou, shifting seamlessly into his beast.

As a five-hundred-pound grizzly bear facing a comparatively tiny koala, the match was completely uneven. The koala seemed to realize it about the same time the alcohol he’d consumed when in human form caught up with him. He shuddered once, then collapsed into what Brody belatedly understood was a drunken stupor. The dude just passed out, right there on the bakery floor.

Brody sat back on his haunches, contemplating the hugeness of the mess the Australian had just created. Nell hadn’t quite fainted, but she was visibly shaken. Brody didn’t know how he was going to fix this.

And then, the Alpha walked in.

Big John took one look at the koala bear passed out on the linoleum and started to laugh.

Brody snagged his pants in his teeth and ducked behind a display case to shift. He struggled into them while the Alpha chuckled. When he emerged, dressed only in his uniform trousers, he looked at Nell but knew he had to square things with his Alpha first. It would be up to John, what happened next.

Although, if John had any thought about running Nell and her sisters out of town or trying to silence them permanently, he was going to have to go through Brody. He would protect the brown-eyed baker with every fiber of his being.

Whoa. That sounded serious.

Brody realized, in that moment, that all of the lunch hours spent here in the bakery were merely excuses to be close to Nell. He’d made up errands near the bakery, just so he could catch a glimpse of her through the window. And he’d come in more often than he probably should have.

All because of her. Nell. The sweet lady who baked the sweet pies he liked so much.

But he liked her even more.

Probably more than was good for him.

“I’m sorry, John. This guy just came in here and shifted before I could stop him,” Brody said to his Alpha, leaving the more troubling thoughts about the pretty baker for later.

“I saw most of it, though I couldn’t believe my eyes when he turned into a koala. Never seen a koala shifter in my entire life. Cute little fuckers, aren’t they?” John bent down to get a closer look at the snoring marsupial. At that point, he seemed to get a good whiff of the stranger and backed off quick, shielding his nose. “Whew! Eucalyptus and alcohol. Not sure which one is stronger. I’m amazed he was sober enough to walk in here.”

“He passed out. I can put him in a cell to sleep it off. Then, he’s going to have to answer for his actions.” Brody frowned. “And one of us is going to have to deal with the fallout.” He glanced significantly at Nell, still standing with her mouth open, behind the counter.

John looked at her too, then frowned. “She saw you shift. You’d better talk her down. I’ll take sleeping beauty to the jail.” He held out his hand for the keys. “You give me a call if you need help with Nell.”

John threw the small bear over one shoulder while Brody bundled the man’s clothing into a ball that John tucked under one arm. Without a backward look, the Alpha was out the door and down the street a moment later.

Brody realized he was still shirtless, so he found his golf shirt and spent a few stalling seconds turning it right-side out. He pulled it over his head before turning to Nell, once again. She still hadn’t moved.

“Are you okay?” Brody asked quietly, not wanting to startle her.

Nell blinked at him. “Was that…” She paused, then tried again. “Was that real?” She gestured widely to the floor of the bakery and back to Brody. “You were a bear.”

Knowing the time for lies was over, he nodded. “Yes, I am.”

That got her full attention. She stared hard at him.

“You can turn into a bear?” Shock. She was definitely in some form of shock. “How is that possible?”

Brody shrugged. “I was born this way. It’s what I am.”

Nell just shook her head, clearly unable to deal with the revelation. Brody sighed.

“Look Nell, I’m the same guy you see every day. Now you just know a little secret about me.” He tried to be casual. “And it is a secret. You understand? You can’t tell anyone about us. The world isn’t ready to know about shapeshifters.”

“There are more?” She looked slightly appalled by the idea.

Brody wasn’t certain if that boded well for getting her cooperation on this matter. And without her cooperation… He feared what the group might decide if Nell couldn’t be counted on to keep their secret.

“Honey, this entire town is made up of shapeshifters. That’s why it was so difficult for you and your sisters to get permission to open your store here. We weren’t sure about letting humans in.”

“Humans?” she repeated as if it was just sinking in, despite what she had seen. “You mean everybody is a…a…bear?” She looked outside at the people walking down the street, fear in her eyes. “Don’t bears eat people?” she whispered, working up to a full-fledged freak out, if Brody was any judge.

He decided to tease her. Now that she knew the secret, she was fair game. And he’d seen her first.

“Only if they ask very nicely,” he said in a husky drawl that made her gaze shoot back to his.

“Are you flirting with me? Now?” Outrage wasn’t quite what he’d been aiming for, but it was better than panic.

At that moment, the little bell on the door jingled, and two of the town’s most recent arrivals entered. Lyn Ling and her daughter, Daisy, had moved in last month. They were Chinese by birth, but the loss of her mate had sent Lyn running from her homeland, looking for a safe place to heal and raise her baby. Daisy was about four years old and cute as a button. She had just about every man in the settlement wrapped around her little finger, Brody included.

Daisy skipped up to the counter, looking with wide eyes into the glass display case as her mother said hello to Brody and Nell. As Nell looked from Brody to Lyn and back again, her eyes widened.

“You said everyone,” Nell repeated. “Oh, God. Lyn too? And Daisy? They’re…bears?”

Lyn scowled, looking at Brody. “What have you been telling her?”

“I didn’t tell her. Some dumb drunk koala came in here and challenged my dominance right here in the middle of the bakery. Nell couldn’t help but see. John left me to deal with it.”

Lyn huffed at him. “Well, it’s clear you’re not dealing well.” She then lapsed into Chinese muttering, probably saying unkind things about men in general, and Brody in particular, as she lifted her daughter into her arms. Pasting a smile on her face, she turned to Nell. “Yes, we are bears,” she said firmly. “No, we do not hurt people. Not unless they hurt us first. We just want to live in peace. In harmony with nature. Free to be who we are. Is that too much to ask?”

Nell was left gaping at the outburst from the normally quiet woman. Slowly, Nell seemed to calm down. Eventually, she nodded.

“No, Lyn. It’s not too much to ask. I guess, when you put it that way, it’s kind of what everybody wants. Freedom to do what we wanted is why me and my sisters came here too. As long as you guys…bears…are okay with that, I think we can get used to the idea of people turning into grizzly bears.”

“Not grizzly,” Daisy decided to interject in her high voice. “Panda!”