Tom Masdan was the one and only lawyer in Grizzly Cove, Washington, and he liked it that way. Tom figured if there was more than one lawyer in a town, they were obligated to fight things out in court, which is one aspect of his profession that he loathed. The conflict of the adversarial process annoyed his inner bear and made him want to scratch, claw and just beat his opponent into submission rather than wait to hear what some old guy wearing a dress and sitting on a podium had to say.

Tom thought, not for the first time, that maybe studying law hadn’t been the brightest idea he’d ever had. Then again, shifters needed legal representation every once in awhile, just like everybody else. That’s where he came in.

He enjoyed helping people like himself—people who lived under the radar of the human population. Shapeshifters had to learn to adapt to the modern, human world. That included following the laws of the countries in which they lived.

Tom had been born and raised in the United States. He’d gone to an ivy league law school back east. Since then, he had offered his services solely to the were of North America, or any foreign-based were that needed legal representation in the States. He filed claims, did a lot of paperwork, and helped shapeshifters of all kinds create the paper trail that humans found so necessary to their existence.

In his job, he had traveled all over, but had never found the one woman who could complete him. He’d never found his mate.

So when his long-time friend, John Marshall—known simply as Big John to most folks—proposed the idea of forming their own little enclave on the Washington coast, and putting out an open call for any bear shifters who wanted to move there, Tom was cautiously optimistic. The idea of gathering a relatively large group of usually solitary bears in one town was both novel and intriguing. It could also be dangerous as hell, but Tom trusted Big John’s ultra-Alpha tendencies to keep everybody in line.

John had asked Tom to begin the process of turning the large, adjoining parcels of real estate John had bought over the past several years, into a new town. There were lots of forms to file with the state of Washington, and quite a few building contracts to oversee. He’d also overseen the real estate deals of neighboring properties for each of the core group of bear shifters that had joined John on this quest. It had taken a good portion of the last several years of Tom’s life, but the town of Grizzly Cove had finally become a reality.

It was a really good reality too. The town was small by human standards, but already a few dozen bear shifters had answered John’s call for settlers. There were still more males than females, but with the recent decision to allow a few, select, human-owned businesses to open up on Main Street, things were beginning to change.

Just last week, the sheriff had found his mate in the human woman who, along with her two sisters, owned the new bake shop. It was a true mating, and Tom was happy for them.

But, it had become clear, that the so-called secret of Grizzly Cove hadn’t really been that much of the secret to the other two sisters. They’d taken the news about shapeshifters, in stride. It seemed they’d already figured it out.

Which meant that the shifter residents weren’t being careful enough. And that the two remaining sisters needed to agree not to spill the beans.

A job for Tom, the Alpha had said. Tom wasn’t so sure. He might be a lawyer, but he wasn’t necessarily a smooth talker. He did his best work on a computer, in an office. He wasn’t the kind of attorney who schmoozed clients over three martini lunches.

But Big John had asked him to try, so there he was, approaching the bakery he had never stepped foot in before. It wasn’t that he was shy. It was more that he hadn’t really wanted to interact with the new humans in town, until the experiment had been proven a success. The bakery was the first of many applications Tom had received from business people who wanted to open stores in their town.

The decision had been made to allow the bakery—and the three sisters—as a trial run. Their food was excellent, from all accounts, and most of the shifters in town liked the women, and were glad one of their comrades had found a mate.

Humans made decent mates and bears couldn’t be picky. There weren’t a lot of bear shifters in the first place, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to find mates outside their species. A lot of bear shifters took human mates.

It didn’t diminish the magic. Bears had more than most shifters, and Tom often thought, that’s why they were kind of rare. But what did he know? Only the Mother of All—the Goddess who watched over all shifters—knew for certain.

The bell over the door tinkled as Tom pushed into the bakery. Immediately, he was surrounded by the most scrumptious scents of baking bread, honey, and some kind of cheese. He took stock of the place and realized he was the only customer this early in the day. Only one of the sisters was there, working in the back.

That would be the middle sister, he’d been told. She worked the morning shift and her name was Ashley Baker. The irony of the Baker sisters owning a bakery had struck Tom as suspicious when he’d first seen their application, but he’d done thorough background checks on all three women and they really were named Baker, and had been since their birth.

The blonde woman came out from behind one of the ovens, wiping her hands on her apron as she greeted him. She took up her position behind the counter with a brisk sort of efficiency and Tom was struck momentarily dumb when she smiled.

“Good morning,” she said brightly. “What can I get for you?”

Sonuva… Tom’s bear sat up and wanted to roar. It liked the woman.

Hell, it more than liked her. It was thinking mate.

No. Way.

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