It took Kristin a few moments to work out where she was when she woke up. She was staring up at wooden rafters, instead of her white painted ceiling. There was a sweet smell of wood and nature in the air, and all she could hear was birdsong. Her head felt fuzzy. She reached down, picked up the glass of water that Logan had thoughtfully put out for her, and drank it all in one go. As she sat up, she registered that she had a slight headache. “Too much whisky,” she muttered to herself. She looked at the time on her phone and groaned. She had five hours to clear her head before basketball that afternoon. Absently, she unlocked the phone to check for new messages, and her eyes immediately zoomed in on the little orange app, with the playful, heart-shaped paw print. She tapped it. There were a ton of new messages from wolves, wanting to find out if they were a match, and right at the top were the messages from the tiger and the bad-boy wolf from last night. Her thumb hovered over the wolf. Waking up by herself, knowing that Dina was snuggled up with Logan next door and Lauren was with Connor a few cabins away made her feel lonely and empty. She clicked on the wolf’s message. It was just the standard alert, with the happy face and sad face icons. It wouldn’t hurt to exchange a few messages and find out whether the app was wrong about their compatibility. She tapped the happy face icon. Then she gazed at the thumbnail photo of the tiger. She couldn’t see his striking face or his muscular torso very well in the tiny image. She had an overwhelming urge to click on it and look at his profile again. But if she did that, she’d leave another track. And he’d know that what she’d written last night was bullshit. Sighing, she closed the app. She’d leave the messages from the other guys for when she was more awake.

There was no sound coming from the rest of the cabin. Dina and Logan were most likely still sleeping. Her stomach was growling: she needed breakfast. Gathering up her things, she tiptoed out of the cabin. She closed the door behind her, and looked around, disoriented. Ok, we walked towards the cabins from that direction last, night, I’m pretty sure, she thought, and began walking through a dense wood, with a narrow track lightly marked out.

Kristin exhaled in relief as the track led her out to the road, and her car. Although it was early, the fall sun was bright, and she enjoyed the drive home, partly through forest and rolling hills. That was one of the best things about living in a small town – you were never too far from green spaces.

As she turned into her street, her phone made a weird radar sound, and she jumped. What the hell was that? She drove to her driveway, parked, and picked it up. There was a message alert on the screen, bordered with hearts, stars and little orange paw prints.

Proximity alert!!! A Shiftr you’ve been messaging is very close by!!!

it said. “What?” she muttered, and tapped the message. The app opened up, an alert filling the screen:

This member is 412 feet from your current location!

And it was accompanied by a tiny photo of a shirtless guy. Reflexively, she tapped the photo.

“No!” she exclaimed. It was the tiger. This couldn’t be true. She looked around wildly, as if expecting to see him. He’s really here, on the same street as me? She looked up at her apartment building, and laughed at her own dimness. He couldn’t be in the building. It wasn’t that tall by a long shot. And, anyway, the radar sound had gone off while she was driving. She continued to gaze in her rearview mirror. It was probably bullshit anyway. Some marketing crap the app company had created to get you all excited about the guys on there. The thought made her irritable. Ok, she’d test it out. Carefully, she did a 180-turn in her car and drove back the way she’d come. She glanced at the app as she drove. The 412 feet had become 300, then 200, 100. She lurched to a stop as the distance from ‘your current location’ had dropped to 50 feet. Oh my god! He’s here! She looked from one side of the street to the other. So this means that he lives in one of these apartment blocks? As she gazed around in a panic, a tall, broad-shouldered man walked out of the entrance of the block on the far side of the street, and strode along the pathway in a loose, loping gait. He was holding a phone out in front of him, and he seemed to be looking at it intently. Shit! Is that him? She snatched up her phone and held down the power button until it turned off, and, at the same time, she ducked down low in her seat. Maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it was just some guy, you know, leaving his apartment and checking his messages on the way. She was now crouching down in her car’s footwell. She lifted her head a little, an inch at a time, until she could just see out of the opposite window. The guy was now standing on the edge of the sidewalk. He had brown hair, strong cheekbones, a square jaw, and – amazingly, despite the distance – she could make out that his eyes were green. Her head shot down again. Relax, doofus. It’s real sunny outside and the windows are tinted. There’s no way he’ll be able to see you. Once more, she lifted her head, and looked at him more calmly. It was the tiger; she was sure of it. His unique bone structure was emblazoned into her mind. His hair had a hint of gold, and he was wearing black jeans and a simple teal-colored sweater that clung to his muscles, outlining his amazing physique. He didn’t cross the street, but continued to stand on the sidewalk, looking around in confusion. Kristin drank in the sight of him. Christ, just looking at him was arousing. Images flooded her mind: that face, looking down at her, as she lay flat on her back; his bare torso pressed against her breasts; her legs wrapped around those alluringly narrow hips, as he pushed himself – stop! Wow, her mind was spinning out of control.

As Kristin stared, he tilted his jaw and took a deep sniff of the air. And then he looked right at her. Her breath caught in her throat. “He can’t see you, he can’t see you,” she told herself over and over. He smiled, revealing flashing white teeth. Then he shook his head, turned and walked back into the apartment building.

Kristin waited until he’d gone. And she waited another five minutes, and then she started up the car and drove back home. As she got out of the car and went inside, she discovered that she was trembling. What’s the matter with me? She thought. She walked into her apartment and shut the door, and a message alert on her phone pinged. It was from the app. It said:

I was going to comply with your wishes to leave you alone. But now that I know your delicious scent, it’s going to be next to impossible. I hope you realize that.

Kristin quivered all over, her legs turning to jello. He smelled me. From that distance. And all the car’s windows and doors were shut. One thought hit her after another: he knew I was hiding from him, so he probably thinks I’m a freak. And he’s my neighbor. Oh god, he’s so unbelievably hot. But none of that matters, because I’m not going to meet him, and get all into him, and let myself get rejected.

She stormed into the kitchen and began to prepare her breakfast – scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and spinach on rye toast. She whisked the eggs up angrily. Why does he think he has the right to message me, after I’ve told him to leave me alone, just because we happen to be neighbors? It was too much having him living right on the same street as her. Damn Shiftr and its stupid ‘proximity locator’! And damn that arrogant prick!

Her anger mounting, Kristin wiped her hands on a towel, picked up her phone, and, before she could think twice, she tapped on the tiger’s profile, and swiped right. He was gone.

“That’s that,” she announced to her empty apartment, and returned to cooking.

Before her eggs were done, she was having second thoughts. But it was too late.

* * *

Lauren called as Kristin was on her way to her basketball game.

“Great to see you last night, Lauren!” Kristin said, speaking into her hands-free microphone as she drove. “I’m trying to make the most of having you to myself before the little critter comes.” Lauren laughed.

“You too, hun! And there’s a few months yet. Hard to believe though, since I feel so big already! So, what’s going on in the Shiftr world this morning?”

“You’re calling to find out if I messaged the wolf-guy, right?” Kristin demanded.

“Yes, I am, I admit. But it’s because we really care about you. And we’ve shown you this app because we know there are so many great guys on there. The last thing we want is for you to root out a bad one and have a disastrous relationship with him.”

“How do you know he’s a bad one anyway?”

“Please. He’s the only one wearing a jacket, and did you see that conceited expression on his face?”

“Maybe you’re right. I don’t know,” Kristin said. “Anyway, speaking of conceited, you’re not going to believe this – the tiger lives right on my street.” Lauren’s gasp almost deafened her.

“What? That’s amazing news! But how did you figure it out?”

Kristin related the incident, while Lauren giggled helplessly.

“So, he’s arrogant enough to think he can come and sniff me out,” she finished.

“Umm, weren’t you the one who drove right up to his apartment, giving him the opportunity to scent you?”

“I was just checking whether the app was genuinely registering proximity, or if it was some marketing crap they were doing to make you think that your perfect man is right on your doorstep.”

“Uh huh. And he is, honey.”

“Stop! He’s even hotter in the flesh than in his photo, if that’s possible.”

“Kristin, please stop doing yourself down! You’re absolutely good enough for this guy. And I know for a fact that if he saw you, he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off you. So what did you reply to his message?”

“I didn’t. I right-swiped him,” Kristin said. There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. “You still there?”

“Yes, hun. I’m just quietly reeling in shock. And wondering if one of my closest friends is a masochist.”

“No, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m just saving myself pain in the long run.” Kristin was quiet for a moment, as she negotiated her way through a busy intersection. “So, will he be able to figure out where I live now?”

“Most likely,” Lauren replied. “Shifters have the full faculties of their animal, even when they’re in human form. I don’t know much about tigers specifically, but I’ll be surprised if they don’t have a pretty amazing sense of smell.”

“So he could catch onto my smell if I was out walking in the neighborhood, right?”

“Girl, to a shifter, the entire street is probably full of your scent. He’s probably inhaling it from the comfort of his armchair right now.”

“Ooh, that’s freaky,” Kristin said, unconsciously taking a quick sniff of her armpit. Lauren cackled.

“Hey! I can hear you sniffing your underarms, you know?” she yelled.

“I so wasn’t,” Kristin muttered, her cheeks warming.

“It’s not like that. It’s like they find your scent totally irresistible. Isn’t that kind of sexy?”

“I guess it is. But, seriously, what do I do if he turns up on my doorstep?”

“Let him in. Into your bedroom, of course!” Lauren said, and let out a gale of laughter. “Ok, I’ve gotta go now, chica, but I’ll call you tomorrow, and hopefully you’ll have something new to tell me about this sexy guy. Grrr!”

Kristin hit ‘end’, smirking to herself. Lauren was always so much fun to talk to. She sighed. And she was known for giving great advice. She also had to admit that the thought that her scent had infiltrated the entire street, and that the tiger might be picking it up and following it was actually as sexy as hell. She imagined herself as a sexy, fertile animal, being hunted down by a potential mate and that tell-tale tingle hit her between her thighs again. She pressed them together, but it only made things worse. She hadn’t had sex for a long time, and she missed it badly. She yearned to be taken roughly, to be fucked for days on end, until she was completely sated and worn out. She wanted to be possessed, her body covered in the marks of her lover. Dina and Lauren said that shifters made great lovers, because they were so connected with their animal side. The thought of making love with a tiger, beautiful and fierce and dangerous, turned her insides to mush. She realized that she’d been muttering a line from something: “Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the forests of the night…” What was that? A song? No, a poem. She’d studied it at high school. It was about the incredible beauty and power of opposing forces in nature. It had been her favorite poem for so long. She’d even written it out in calligraphy, and pinned it on her bedroom wall. When she used to recite it, she’d get shivers down her spine. Is that what it would be like to mate with a tiger? To come face-to-face with an unstoppable force of nature, and to absorb that force into your body? She kind of liked that idea.

* * *

During the basketball game, Kristin played particularly energetically, taking the team to an impressive win against their long-time rivals. While taller than the average girl, she was actually a little undersized for a basketball player, with some girls in the team a good three or four inches taller than her. Consequently, she’d learned to play aggressively to make up for it, and was one of the best at sinking hoops.

After they’d showered and got ready, the girls went out for their regular dinner and drinks session. The only time that Kristin really enjoyed eating was after strenuous exercise, and she always tucked into her post-game dinner with no guilt. They ate at a steak and burger place, then went on to a bar for beers. On the way, Kristin checked her phone. She’d promised herself that she’d stay off Shiftr for the rest of the evening, in case she made a drunken mistake she’d regret the next day. But there was a message from the company in her regular email inbox, with the subject line ‘Congratulations!’ followed by three red balloons. Intrigued, she tapped on it. It said:

Hi there, fellow curvy goddess!

The team here at Shiftr are writing to congratulate you on your incredible 100% match with one of the shifters on the app!! We get so few of these that we receive an alert whenever two of our members are 100% compatible. We don’t have access to your messages, of course ;) but we can see that you’ve already been swapping scents with your match – and what a deliciously sexy tiger he is! Grrr!

Wishing you great success in getting together with your perfect mate, and please keep us updated on how things go!

Excited to hear from you!

Love and licks,

Tamika xoxox

Kristin smiled at the message. The girls had told her how sweet and generous the creator of the app was, and how she was invested in everyone’s happiness. But her amusement quickly turned to guilt. Tamika had these high expectations for her, and she wasn’t going to fulfill them. She never would’ve shown up as the tiger’s perfect match if the app had known everything about her. The line from the tiger’s profile echoed in her mind: “no kids yet, but planning on having a big family some day,” and her stomach twisted in pain. She could never say write that line in her own profile. She’d even left the family section of the app blank.

After reading the message, Kristin put her phone on silent, and proceeded to get very drunk. Her team would never have guessed she wasn’t happy, as she was always the life and soul of the party during nights out, always cracking jokes, instigating drinking games, and encouraging her teammates to flirt with guys.

* * *

On Sunday morning, Kristin woke up to her second hangover in two days. She groaned and pushed her face into the pillow.

“Being taunted with insanely hot men that I can’t have is not good for me,” she muttered to herself. She reached out for a glass of water, but, as usual, she hadn’t remembered to put one on her nightstand before she passed out last night. She’d get up in a moment and go to the kitchen, but first she needed to prepare herself for becoming vertical. She turned onto her back and cautiously pulled herself up on her pillows. That wasn’t so bad. The room wasn’t spinning at least. What time is it anyway? She reached for her phone. Holy crap! It’s 11.45. She’d wasted the whole morning sleeping, again. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy going out and getting loaded with the team. It was just that she’d been doing it for a long time now, and she was well aware that it was a substitute for what she really wanted: to wake up with her true love, and snuggle for an hour or two, before going out and enjoying the day together.

Kristin flicked through her text and email messages.

“What the hell?” she exclaimed, pausing on an email. Apparently I messaged Tamika last night, asking – no, actually – demanding – to meet her. And we’re going for coffee in, uh, two hours and five minutes. She closed her eyes. “What on earth was I thinking?” she whispered. She’d just cancel and say she was sick. That was a good plan.

But then the image of Lauren popped up in her head. Lauren was so sure that she’d find someone, and she put so much effort into making her friends happy. She shouldn’t just give up like this. It wouldn’t hurt to speak to Tamika at least. She hauled herself out of bed, took a scalding-hot shower, and had fruit with low-fat yogurt, and a kale and orange smoothie for breakfast, and she started to feel a little more human.

Kristin was meeting Tamika at her place downtown. As she pulled out of her driveway, she hesitated. The most direct route involved turning left down the road, but there was no way she was going to drive past the tiger’s place and give him another opportunity to pick up her scent. Instead, she turned right and wound up going on a huge detour to reach downtown. Against her will, thoughts of the tiger returned in full force. Would he be a rough lover? Would he take her mercilessly? Outdoors? She’d always had a thing for sex in nature. She imagined him taking her on a blanket in a secluded spot in a forest, as her nails dug into his back. Or against a tree, its rough bark pressing against her bare breasts.

Wow, if I don’t wash my mind out right now, I’ll have to sort myself out in Tamika’s bathroom as soon as I arrive! she told herself, trying to think about really boring things instead – like all the bills she needed to pay, or how she was going to fill up page five of tomorrow’s paper.

Kristin’s jaw dropped as she pulled up in front of Tamika’s house. It was in an exclusive area of town. The house was all white, with huge iron gates in front of it. As Kristin started to get out of the car to press the intercom, the gates slid open. She drove through, parked, and walked up to the house. She pressed the doorbell, and the door opened immediately, to reveal a tall, very attractive woman with long, caramel-brown hair.

“Kristin!” she exclaimed, enveloping her in a hug. She smelled of expensive perfume. “I’m so glad you made it!”

“Thanks for inviting me, Tamika,” Kristin replied, taking in Tamika’s effortlessly chic style. She was wearing a floral maxi dress with a gold band at the hem, and matching gold sandals.

Tamika led her up a curved, marble staircase to the second story of the house, and out onto a large balcony.

“Sorry for making you come to my place, darling. I’m just so busy going through all the new applications for Shiftr,” she said in a powerful voice, with a strong English accent.

“No, it’s a pleasure. Truly,” Kristin replied, looking around. The house was impeccably decorated in a European style – all cool marble, high ceilings and wooden shutters, and the balcony looked down on a beautiful garden, full of fruit trees and roses. They sat down at a small, round table, and a man appeared at Tamika’s elbow. He had reddish-brown hair and a slim, foxy face, with a lively, inquisitive expression in his eyes.

“What can I get you, ladies?” he asked. Tamika turned to Kristin.

“I know I invited you for coffee,” she said. “But I’m simply dying for a Bloody Mary. To be honest, I’m a little hungover, and I think the only thing that’ll fix me is the hair of the dog that bit me, as they say.” She gave a loud, braying laugh. “How about you, honeybun?” Kristin shrugged.

“Sure,” she said. “I’ve got a hangover of my own to fix, so why not?”

“That’s the spirit,” Tamika said, slapping her on the knee, hard enough to make her jump. “Tell me, how do you like your Bloody Mary – nice and spicy? With celery salt?” Kristin nodded helplessly.

“Can you do your special mix please, Dixon? With lashings of horseradish!” Tamika trilled.

“Of course,” the waiter replied, with a wink. Kristin stared at his retreating back. Tamika evidently had some serious money.

“I was thinking of ordering an English breakfast – just the thing to cure any lingering queasiness. Would you like one too?”

“Uh, what’s in it?” Kristin asked.

“Bacon, sausages, blood pudding, eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, broiled tomato and brown sauce,” Tamika said proudly. Wow. It sounded disgusting, as well as seriously calorific, but Kristin didn’t want to offend this kind, eccentric woman.

“Sounds great,” she said.

The Bloody Mary was delicious, and at the first sip, Kristin did – to her amazement – feel quite a lot better.

“You’re very beautiful, dear,” Tamika said, looking at Kristin with pleasure. “I was so glad when Lauren brought Dina to me. And now you’re here too! Our shifters are very lucky indeed. Now, how can I help you? You were saying that you had a problem with your requirements?” Kristin nodded and took a deep breath.

“I love the thought of being with a shifter,” she said. “I mean, at first, I thought it was pretty out there, but now I know that my best friends are with bears, I think it’s really cool. But the problem is that they all want kids. Including the guy who’s supposed to be my 100% match.” Tamika nodded encouragingly. “And the problem is that I have PCOS, so the chance that I can give them what they want is pretty small.”

Just then, the food arrived. It actually smelled amazing, and Kristin’s tummy rumbled. She’d probably have to double the miles on her walk this afternoon to make up for it, but right now, she didn’t care. They started eating ravenously.

“But, darling, a lot of us curvy girls have PCOS, you know? It’s very common. I have it myself, and I’ve got a couple of pups of my own. Of course, I’d spent my twenties freaking out that I wouldn’t be able to have kids as well, but in the end, I had no trouble conceiving. In fact, I don’t mind telling you that Kyle got me pregnant the first time we ever mated!” Tamika finished in a whisper.

“Really?” Kristin said, eyes brightening. “I mean, I know it’s not impossible, so I could be worrying about nothing. But, I just hate the idea of a guy being tied to me, and then me being unable to have children.”

“There’s always adoption, or fostering. Both from the shifter world, and the human world. But I’m sure it won’t be a problem for you to get pregnant. Shifters are very sexual, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to try,” Tamika said, with a mischievous grin.

“Dixon’s adopted,” Tamika said in a low voice. “His father – a fox shifter – was shot by hunters when he was a baby. His mother was human, and couldn’t cope with taking care of a shifter baby by herself, so she gave him up for adoption to a lovely human-shifter couple, who already had two cubs of their own, and just fell in love with him when they heard about his situation. I’ve known him for years. He’s working as my assistant this summer before he goes off to college.” Kristin smiled faintly. She was open to the idea of adopting, but she also wanted to have her own child, growing inside her. In the last couple of years, the need had become almost unbearable.

“So how’s it going with the sexy tiger?” Tamika asked, breaking into her thoughts.

“Oh. It’s not,” Kristin said, staring into the dregs of her Bloody Mary. “He looks so amazing, but he definitely wants kids. It’s such a torture for me. I couldn’t stand the thought of falling for him, and then finding out that I can’t be a mother to his children. I actually right-swiped him, so I don’t have to see him anymore. But, would you believe that he lives on my street?” Tamika laughed.

“Yes, darling, I would. We created the proximity locator, remember?”

“Uh, good point,” Kristin said, rolling her eyes at her own naivety.

“You might just have a hard time avoiding him if he’s your neighbor.”

“Oh, it’s worse than that. I was messing around with the locator, and I got close enough to him that he scented me.” Tamika’s eyes got very big.

“And has he messaged you since?”

“Yup. He said something about not being able to leave me alone now that he knows my scent.” Tamika’s pretty face lit up with delight at Kristin’s words. “What? What is it?” Kristin said.

“Oh, nothing,” Tamika replied, her expression turning mischievous again. “These shifters are very tenacious, you know? Once they scent their mate, it’s hard to stop them in their tracks.”

“I am not his mate,” Kristin said, anger beginning to rise up inside her. “He’s got no right to think I’ve got any association with him at all!”

“If that’s the case, and you’re absolutely sure, you might have to meet up with him and tell him straight. Otherwise, who knows how long he might pursue you?”

“You’re right!” Kristin said forcefully. “I’ll meet up with him – go to a café, or some other neutral place, and tell him straight up: he’s not the guy for me.”

“Ok,” Tamika said, nodding.

“I’m sorry,” Kristin said, suddenly realizing that she’d ruined Tamika’s celebrations. “I didn’t mean to put a damper on things. I know you were all excited about the 100% match.”

“It’s fine,” Tamika said lightly. “There’ll be another fully compatible pair out there someday, for sure.”

“I mean, I’m not saying the app didn’t do a good job of identifying us as compatible. I just didn’t mention my issues with having kids on my profile, so that wasn’t included in the mix,” Kristin said, desperate not to offend her.

“It’s ok, dear, really.” Tamika squeezed her hand. “All I care about is that my girls and shifters end up happy and with their destined mate.”

After they’d finished eating and drunk a strong coffee each, Kristin excused herself, sensing that Tamika had things to do. She also needed to go home and finish up an article for tomorrow’s paper. As they said goodbye, Tamika hugged her fiercely.

“Be happy. I’m not worried about you, Kristin,” she said. Kristin stared at her curiously. There was more in her eyes than she was saying. As she turned to go, Tamika called her back. “Can you please watch out for Melissa though? I don’t think she and Timo are compatible, and the faster she realizes that, the faster we can hook her up with the right shifter.”

“Sure thing,” Kristin replied, with a wave.