One mistake and the whole thing would come tumbling down. God only knew what her father would do to punish her if she was caught, but Alex was more than worth the risk. If Kat kept to her plan, it just might work.

Looking back, she should have insisted on having her own apartment when she’d finished school, but her parents had wanted her to remain in the family home. Of course, her ever-present bodyguards would still be there, just like in college, so she wouldn’t have had much more freedom anyway. Besides, at the time, Kat had figured it didn’t matter because she was traveling so much anyway. Now she regretted not pushing harder for her own place.

Getting ready had taken a matter of hours — so unlike her typical ‘shower and run’ routine. Lounging in her huge, steaming tub, she scrubbed, polished and buffed until her skin glowed. It may have been the inner layer of epidermis for all she knew, but she didn’t care.

Lying back in the tub, Kat closed her eyes and saw Alex staring down at her. His green eyes flashed mischievously as he smiled that sexy grin of his. Heat pooled between her thighs and she couldn’t resist dipping her hand below the bubbles. Slowly she explored her folds before concentrating on the spot that took her to the brink. She thought of Alex. The way he’d looked at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The spark that burned her flesh where he touched her. His ice-on-fire eyes.

She imagined what his lips would feel like when they kissed, what his body would feel like pressed against hers, how big his— Fireworks exploded behind her eyes and her body spasmed with pleasure, releasing the anxiety she’d been feeling all day.

After recovering from her bath, she felt more energized than she could ever remember. She spent an hour on her hair alone, and then took her time with her makeup, carefully applying, contouring, and highlighting — and occasionally plucking, where needed.

Time raced by and she still had yet to pick out what she would wear. She tried on every dress she owned — twice — finally settling on a long, spaghetti-strap number made of shimmery silver satin that hugged her full hips and strained to contain her breasts. She’d bought it on a whim in New York and had never had the nerve to wear it in public. She slipped her feet into a pair of silver Christian Louboutin heels and admired her reflection in the mirror.

The ensemble needed one last touch. Digging through her panty drawer, she pulled out the tiniest black thong she owned, a gift from her best friend Tilly. “Just in case you ever need them,” she’d said with a wink over coffee. Kat had been mortified and amused at the same time, threatening to throw them away. Thank God she didn’t.

Leaving the house would be the biggest problem. Kat quickly scrawled a note saying she felt like a run and might stay out all night and dropped it on her perfectly made bed, where someone would be sure to find it. Her parents didn’t approve of her solitary camping trips to one of the many caves that dotted their land, but they certainly understood her feral need to be out on a beautiful night such as this. They would only start to worry if she wasn’t home by lunch, and she planned to be back much earlier than that.

Carefully shrugging into a big, fluffy, pink bathrobe, Kat stuffed her silver clutch and stilettos into a gym bag with a very long strap. Slipping into some running shoes, she slung the bag over her shoulder and said a little prayer before heading downstairs.

As soon as the guard on duty saw her, he stood. “We heading out, miss?”

Katrina’s bored smile belied the adrenaline pumping through her system. It would be a miracle if she managed this.

“Hmm? Oh no, Edgar. I’m just going for a run,” she replied nonchalantly.

The guard frowned a bit. “You don’t want an escort?”

“It’s fine. I mean, what’s going to happen? No bears would dare bother me on my father’s land, and no other creature would bother a bear.”

Her voice sounded squeaky and frightened to her own ears, but Edgar nodded at the logic of her statement and sat back down, watching as she left through the back door.

There had a been a time when it wouldn’t have been safe for her to run even in her own backyard, but the wars had ended when Katrina was just a cub. Some sort of treaty had been worked out between Clan Hamilton and Clan Fairchild, but she’d never been clear on the details. Probably above her pay grade, as the saying went.

The moment she was hidden in the shadows of the forest, Katrina hung the robe on a branch and stripped down to nothing. She laid her dress in the bag, careful to make sure it didn’t snag on the zipper, then slung the bag over her shoulder. As a human, it hit her right around the knee, but once she shifted into a bear, it would fit snuggly around her broad body.

With a shudder and a ripple of moonlight, Kat transformed into a golden she-bear. She itched to run hard and fast through the woods, to feel branches whipping across her furry face and the earth giving way under her brawn, but she resisted temptation. That kind of run would completely ruin her hair and makeup. If she was careful and didn’t get too sweaty, she’d shift back to her human form looking hot as hell.

Her father’s land was bordered by a great fence that was completely impenetrable — except for one spot. On one of her overnight runs years earlier, Kat had discovered a hole in the heavy-duty chain link fencing. Chafing under her parents’ strict rules, she’d immediately dug up some nearby shrubs and replanted them in front of the hole to hide it…just in case.

Her special secret had given her a satisfying sense of power. She had so little real control over her life, but this simple, human-sized hole had offered her an escape. It was her choice, and her choice alone, when to use it. As it turned out, she rarely did — only on special occasions. And if this wasn’t a special occasion, she didn’t know what was.

The trek to the hole in the fence took much longer than usual — she moved slow enough to not break a sweat — and Alex dominated her thoughts the entire time. How he smelled, how his eyes sparkled devilishly at her, how some deep, secret part of her ached to be released in his presence. By the time she reached the hole, every part of her body tingled in anticipation.

Shifting back to her human form, she shimmied through to the other side, also hidden by carefully replanted shrubbery. Concealed from passing cars on the nearby road, she dressed. Thanks to the moonlight, the compact she kept in her clutch revealed she didn’t look like a complete mess. She’d have to wait for better lighting to be completely sure.

Stuffing her bag deep into the bushes, Kat waited till the coast was clear to emerge. Her favorite ride-sharing app showed a driver just a few minutes away. He’d no doubt wonder about picking her up in the middle of nowhere, but she’d just tell him a story about a bad date dropping her off or something. Drivers were always kind and sympathetic to such tales. She smiled as she tapped in her location. This all had gone so much more smoothly than she’d feared. The rest of the night would be a breeze.

As she waited for her ride, a prickly sensation tickled her arms and the back of her neck. Her satisfied smile fell away, replaced by a puzzled frown. She’d learned to trust her bear’s instincts and right now they were telling her danger was near, but she couldn’t see, hear or smell anything out of the ordinary. Strange…

Of course, a normal human woman standing alone on a dark, deserted road and dressed to the nines in a skimpy dress and stilettos might be at risk, but not Kat. What she’d told her guard was true — no creature would bother her when she was in her bear form, and she’d be able to shift before an attacker could get two steps in her direction. Of course, her dress would be shredded, but she’d be fine.

No, this fearful thinking had been brought on by her father’s overprotectiveness. He’d managed to convince her the world wasn’t safe for her. Silliness! Still, she breathed a relieved sigh when the headlights of her ride flared in the distance.