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CHAPTER ONE

Victoria

“ W hat’s that sound?” my client asks as he looks around the shop with a worried look on his face.

“The air conditioner is on the fritz again,” I say with a nervous laugh. “It should stop in a minute.”

Hopefully .

I glance away from the intricate compass I’m tattooing on this guy’s forearm to sneak a peek at my oldest brother.

He’s doing it again. Magnus is drawing a tattoo at the front desk and growling to himself. It’s been getting worse lately.

“I don’t think that’s the air conditioner,” the guy says, eying my brother wearily.

“Is that guy okay?” his girlfriend whispers.

“Yeah, he’s just umm…” I’m trying to keep my voice bubbly and worry-free, but Magnus is looking like his grizzly bear is about to explode out of him in a vicious rage.

Shit . His shoulders look like they’re getting larger as he takes deep, violent breaths. He accidentally snaps a pencil and throws it on the floor in frustration. He’s gone through dozens of pencils this week alone.

“I’ll just go check on him,” I say as I put down my tattoo gun and hurry over. My heart is pounding as I slip behind the counter where Magnus is bent over, teeth gritted, fists clenched, and inhaling every breath like he’s at war with the air.

“We have customers,” I say, trying to keep my voice cheery as I bend down beside him. “Maybe a walk outside would do you—Whoa! Okay!”

His eyes are glowing golden as he whips his head around to face me with a low snarl.

This is not good. Where the fuck is Julian? He slipped out for coffee about twenty minutes ago, and I could really use him at the moment.

“Take a deep breath,” I say as I rub Magnus’ massive back. He’s borderline right now. One little push and his grizzly bear is going to burst out in the middle of our tattoo shop. I’d really prefer that didn’t happen.

But in case it does… I should really get this innocent couple out of here.

I pop back up and hurry over to the confused couple at my workstation.

“I think we should stop here for the day,” I say with a tight smile.

“Aren’t we almost finished?” he asks, looking at his freshly inked forearm.

“No, we’re finished,” I say as I grab his girlfriend’s purse and practically shove it into her chest. “I’ll call you to schedule the next appointment.”

I only have the chain on the compass left to ink, which would have taken me about fifteen minutes, but it will be a little hard to focus with my brother’s grizzly bear rampaging through the shop behind me.

Magnus lets out a deep, violent growl, not even trying to hide it anymore.

I can feel it vibrating through my body. My own inner grizzly bear perks up.

My clients must feel it too, because they skeddadle pretty quickly after that.

I show them to the door and am about to lock it behind them when our middle brother Julian returns with a cardboard tray holding three coffees.

“It’s happening again,” I shout, frantically waving him over.

“Shit,” he mutters as he rushes across the parking lot. He bursts into the shop and I close the door, lock it, and flip the sign to CLOSED .

Magnus rises from behind the counter like a possessed monster. His shoulders and arms are twice their normal size and his eyes are glowing like he’s some kind of golden demon. He’s huffing out violent breaths as his canine teeth extend into sharp points.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Julian says, his eyes wide with shock. The poor guy was expecting a coffee break and came back to this instead. “Magnus. Outside .”

Magnus turns and prowls around the counter, glaring at us with violent intent.

I swallow hard as I step a little closer to Julian. My inner grizzly is on full alert. She springs close to the surface, ready to burst out if I need her.

Don’t go far , I whisper to her.

This is bad. This is so bad.

Magnus has always been the cool, calm, completely in control brother. He’s always been the anchor in my life. Always steady. Always dependable.

I’ve always known I could count on him. I could go to him whenever I was in trouble and he would fix everything. He always had his protective eye watching out for me, making sure I was safe and secure.

But right now, he looks like he’s about to tear me to pieces.

“ Magnus ,” Julian snaps. “Get your bear outside before he ruins everything we worked so hard for.”

But Magnus looks like he’s too far gone as he steps up to us, snarling viciously. Thick brown fur slides out of his skin, but he’s still in his human form, hovering between monster and man. His long black claws are already out and they look deadly sharp.

He’s been slipping ever since Julian found his mate.

For years, it was Julian who had mate fever, but then Lainey walked into the shop and everything turned around. Julian became a gentle teddy bear and my oldest, most dependable brother, turned into this .

It’s like all of his grizzly bear’s patience has run out and he’s incensed that his mate is not here. I think Julian’s mate arriving woke the primal part of him up.

“Let’s take a deep breath,” Julian says in a steady, forceful tone, “have our coffees, and talk about this like humans.”

Magnus swipes his hand so fast it’s a blur. He nails the tray of coffees in Julian’s hand and the three coffees explode into shreds before splashing all over Julian’s workstation.

“ Magnus ,” Julian snaps. “This is?—”

“Let me,” I say as I put a hand on Julian’s flexed bicep.

“Magnus,” I whisper in a gentle tone as I step forward. “It’s me, Victoria. Can you come back out?”

My bear is pacing and twitching inside me. Warning bells are ringing throughout my body, but I push past them. I know my brother would never hurt me. Even if his bear is on the verge of turning feral.

“Victoria,” Julian warns. “He’s not in his right mind.”

I ignore him and push forward. “Magnus,” I say calmly. “Everything is going to be okay.”

He looks at my hand as I slowly reach out to touch him.

My heart is hammering in my chest from that feral look in his eyes. I know my brother would never hurt me, but I don’t recognize any of my brother in the snarling beast in front of me.

As soon as I touch his jacked furry arm, he pounces.

I scream as Julian pulls me back and collides into Magnus with a growl of his own.

The force of Julian yanking me sends me flying onto my ass.

I watch in horror as my two older brothers go at it, fighting fiercely in our tattoo shop.

Magnus slices his claws across Julian’s chest as Julian jumps on him, wrapping his arm around Magnus’ thick neck.

Julian roars as Magnus sinks his claws into his ribs and then shoves him off, his fingers dripping with blood.

“Oh shit,” Julian mutters as he lands on his ass next to me. He winces as he covers the bloody claw marks on his side. “The shop is about to get fucked up.”

We both watch in horror as Magnus’ feral grizzly bear explodes out of him, bloodthirsty and pissed-the-ever-loving-fuck-off at the universe for withholding his mate.

He throws his head back and roars so loud we have to cover our ears.

“We need to get him outside,” I say as I help Julian up.

Magnus’ grizzly attacks the leather couch by the door and rips it to shreds in seconds.

I still remember when we got it. The three of us were so proud to finally open our own shop after years of tattooing in the back of cars, at parties, and on campgrounds.

We found the perfect brown leather couch that fit the tattooed hipster aesthetic we were going for, and although it was more than we had budgeted for, we splurged and got it.

I was sitting on the couch laughing when Magnus and Julian carried it into the shop.

The nice aged leather is currently hanging in threads between Magnus’ claws. Its guts are sticking out—ripped stuffing, snapped springs, and broken wood spilled everywhere.

Magnus’ bear turns to us when we get to our feet. He snarls and lowers his head like he forgot we were even here.

This is not right. My brother has lost it.

“We’re not going to be able to hold him back like this,” Julian says. “We need to let our bears out.”

I don’t have the heart to tell him that our bears have no chance of holding this savage beast back either.

But, it’s the best of two bad options.

Come on out, I tell my girl. Maybe you can talk some sense into him .

Our bears are brothers and sisters too. Maybe my grizzly bear can help calm him down.

I grit my teeth and flex my arms as I let her come bursting out. I feel the sweet pain of the cracks and pops as my body expands and morphs into a grizzly and I’m pulled inside into the darkness.

She lands on her paws and snarls back at him. Julian’s grizzly emerges beside me, growling in warning as well.

Julian’s bear is a hulking beast of a bear too. And even though mine is smaller and not nearly as strong, my bear is still nothing to take lightly. I was raised with two older brothers after all. I can hold my own.

Normally.

But normally, we’re not fighting a larger, feral bear who is pissed the fuck off.

Julian’s grizzly circles right and my grizzly circles left. We’re trying to usher him toward the door before he destroys the rest of our shop.

But Magnus doesn’t head to the door. He sprints forward and lunges on Julian. The two grunting bears crash into the reception desk, shredding it to pieces.

No!

All of my tattoo sketches for the week are in there. It will be a miracle if they don’t get destroyed.

My brothers are a rolling blur of brown fur, snapping jaws, and slicing claws as they fight on the ground, taking out the mini fridge and a folding table in their reign of destruction.

Magnus ends up on top, pinning Julian’s bear to the ground.

He’s going to kill him…

My bear runs over and sinks her teeth into his back, piercing his thick hide with my sharp canines. He roars in outrage, but my bear holds on, pulling him back toward the door.