Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Melissa) BBW Werewolf Romance (Hope Valley BBW online dating app romances Book 3) (2 page)

As Shiftr opened and the screen filled with a stunning, shirtless man, Melissa gasped.

“Oh my God! He’s insanely hot!” she exclaimed. He was a glacial blond, with pale blue eyes and aquiline features. He had a slender, immaculately-toned torso, and he was posing in a winter scene, in front of a fir tree that was dusted in snowflakes.

“Scroll down and take a look around his profile,” Lauren said. Melissa’s thumb flicked up.

“It says he’s into boxing, astronomy and camping, and he’s looking for a feisty, curvy chick, who wants to travel the world on the back of a motorbike. Hmm, I’m not sure that’s me.” Lauren chuckled.

“Don’t worry, girl. There are more guys on this site than you’ll ever have time to check out.”

“He’s so hot though. Does he have any more photos?” Melissa said, and swiped left on his profile picture. “Ooh. I wasn’t expecting that.” The girls craned their necks to get a better look. The second photo was of a snow leopard, in exactly the same setting as the previous image. “Interesting.”

“Check out some more guys,” Dina urged. Melissa went back to the previous screen. The snow leopard shifter was replaced by a well-built guy with black hair and smoldering black eyes. His lips were parted in a suggestive, almost predatory grin. Melissa shuddered. “He looks sexy, but like a world of too much,” she said. Absently, she swiped left on his photo, and a huge, black wolf appeared. She laughed. “Do you have to put your spiritual animal on your profile or something?” she asked, looking around at her friends.

“Maybe,” Kristin said, eyes sparkling.

“I think that guy would eat me alive,” Melissa said, and scrolled down to the next guy. But when she saw his photo, she let out a shriek.

“No way! That’s Timo’s friend, Olsen!” she said.

“Oh my God,” Lauren said. “Connor and I have been encouraging him to try out the app, but I didn’t think he’d done it yet. Let me see.” She reached out with a purple fingernail and scrolled through his profile. “Aw, he’s so cute. He’s put his hobbies as firefighting and hanging with his clan. This boy needs some help.” She shook her head affectionately.

“I never would’ve guessed he had such a hot body though,” Melissa said, staring at his solid, muscular frame. “He’s even more buff than Timo, if that’s possible.” She swiped on his photo. “And he’s included a photo of a bear in his profile. That’s sweet.” She looked at the photo more closely. “Come to think of it, he does kind of remind me of a bear. An adolescent one that still has some growing to do. Timo reminds me of a bear too, though. He’s kind of cuddly, and a bit growly and grumpy in the mornings.” She laughed. “Actually, Connor and Logan are a little bear-like as well. Would you agree?” she said, looking at Dina and Lauren. They shrugged helplessly.

“I guess,” Lauren said at last.

“But, Roman,” Melissa continued, turning to Kristin. “He’s more like a big cat. He definitely has a feline quality.” The three women glanced at each other when Melissa wasn’t looking. It was time. Lauren took her hand.

“Honey, it’s not just coincidence that these guys all bear an uncanny resemblance to animals.” Melissa blinked rapidly.

“It isn’t?” she said.

“Nope. The truth is that the guys on the app are all half-animal. And your instincts were completely right. Timo and all his friends – his clan – are bears. Roman is half-tiger.” Melissa’s mouth fell wide open and the whites of her eyes were showing all the way around.

“They can all shift from their human to their animal sides at will,” Dina added.

“Which takes a little getting used to. But it’s actually really cool when you get over the initial shock. And shape shifters make amazing partners – and lovers!” Kristin said.

“Are you serious?” Melissa said. “This isn’t a joke at my expense, right? I know you guys think I can be a little gullible.” The three of them shook their heads solemnly.

“No, I swear, this is 100% the truth. Connor, Logan, Roman and Timo are all shape shifters.” Melissa was silent for a moment, then she let out a long breath.

“Well, I’ll be damned!” she said at last. “This explains everything.”

“It does?” Lauren said cautiously.

“I just
knew
that Timo was hiding something from me,” she said. “Now it all makes sense.” The other three burst out into relieved laughter.

“We were so nervous to tell you,” Dina said. “We were worried that you’d freak when you found out that you’d been dating a bear.”

“Well, all my besties are with shape shifters, so that would just be rude,” Melissa said, with a sparkle in her eye. “But why didn’t Timo tell me the truth? Was it because he thought we weren’t compatible?” Dina nodded.

“Yes. According to the laws governing shifter-human interactions, shifters aren’t allowed to disclose their true identity to humans until they’ve mated,” she said. “Unless they have a profile on this little app,” Kristin added, gesturing to the phone.

“So, the app gets curvy girls like us together with super-hot, shape-shifting men? Is that right?” Melissa asked.

“Yes!” they replied in unison.

“That is
exactly
what it does, girl!” Lauren said.

“Awesome!” Melissa said. “Now, show me how I create my profile, please!” They all laughed happily. This was going to be fun.

Kristin took the phone from Melissa and began entering all her basic details.

“Ok, now you have to sign a declaration that you won’t tell anyone about shape shifters until you’ve found your match. Just check the box here.” Melissa obediently tapped with her fingertip. “Now, hair – dark blonde, eyes – blue, height – 5’1” Hobbies?”

“Um, cooking, reading, salsa dancing, going to the movies, long walks on the beach. Is that really boring?”

“No, it sounds nice, and genuine,” Dina said. “I don’t think many people have crazy hobbies, if they’re being honest about themselves.”

“And what are you looking for in a guy?” Kristin said. Melissa took a gulp of her wine while she was thinking.

“Someone protective and kind-hearted, with a gentle side. Maybe someone who does charity work as well. Someone who cares about family. I don’t necessarily mean their own. Just someone who really wants to be with me, and have a family together.”

“So, I’ll put family-oriented,” Kristin said.

“God, I sound so dull, don’t I?” Melissa said.

“No, honey, I think you sound like practically every shifter’s dream,” Lauren said with a cackle. “Most of the guys on the app are looking to meet their life-long mate.”

“It sounds weird, but kind of cool to be someone’s mate,” Melissa said.

“It’s an amazing bond,” Dina said. “Way stronger than a human marriage. It means
forever
. It means that your mate will be there for you, no matter what. Shifters believe in destined mates. They don’t all find their destined mate, but it’s like the Holy Grail for them. Apparently, when you meet your destined mate, you feel a crazily-strong bond – like you’ve always known each other. Logan is my destined mate, and when I met him, I also felt this overwhelming connection to him. Like, I knew instantly that he was the one I wanted to be with, forever.”

“Wow,” Melissa breathed. “That sounds totally amazing.”

“It is,” Kristin said, a smile playing on her lips.

“And that’s why Timo was saying that we weren’t destined to be together. It all makes perfect sense now,” Melissa said.

“Ok, now we need some photos,” Lauren cut in. Before Melissa knew what she was doing, Lauren used her own phone to snap a headshot of her. “Perfect,” she said. “And do you have any more photos on your phone? Maybe another couple of headshots and a full body shot?”

“I think I’ll skip the body shot,” Melissa said. “I always come out looking like a sack of potatoes. Especially next to Kristin and Dina.”

“Not true!” Lauren said. “And shifters love to see how sexy and voluptuous you are! Come on, how about one of the pictures we took at the Hope Valley summer ball this year?” She swiped through her own photos until she found one she liked. “This one is perfect. You look amazing – innocent and wanton, at the same time!” Melissa glanced at the photo. She was wearing a white knee-length-dress, with a pink and yellow floral and butterfly pattern around the hem. Her hair was up in a French knot, and, as usual, she was wearing skyscraper heels to boost her petite frame. She bit her lip, trying not to hate how wide her hips looked and how puffy her arms were. She often felt like she got the worst of both worlds being both short and curvy. At high school, some of the mean kids had said she was like a ball – as wide as she was tall. 

“Ok, I guess it’ll have to do,” she said at last. She picked out a face shot that she didn’t hate. She looked happy at least, and her eyes were sparkling as if she had just been laughing. It had been taken in a park during a picnic, and the sun reflected off her hair, making it look like spun gold.

Kristin uploaded all of the photos.

“Ok, your profile is live!” she said with a flourish. “Now, all we’ve got to do is select your preferences. For a start, I’d recommend filtering by compatibility.”

“What’s that?” Melissa said.

“The app has a really clever piece of technology that assesses your compatibility with all the shifters, and gives you a percentage rating. Roman and I were actually 100% compatible.”

“And look how proud she is,” Dina said with a laugh.

“Hey! I’m proud that I didn’t miss out on being with him because I thought he was too good for me!” Kristin retorted. “So, I’d suggest that you filter at 80% compatibility at least,” she continued.

“Sure,” Melissa said, and shrugged, having no idea how that translated. “And you can also filter by animal, if you want?” Kristin said.

“What animals are there?”

“Pretty much all of them. Well, the big ones anyway. I mean, you wouldn’t want to be with a rat, right?” Melissa shuddered.

“Definitely not!” she said. Kristin tapped the ‘filter by animal’ option.

“Oh, hey, this is something new,” she said, as another screen popped up. “Looks like Shiftr has put together a quiz to help you find your ideal animal. Ok, I’ll ask you the questions: do you like your guys to be: a) adoring, b) protective, c) respectful, d) submissive, or e) domineering?”

“B! Definitely,” Melissa said.

Nine more questions followed, and at the end, Melissa tapped the ‘find your animal’ button.

“So my ideal match is a wolf. Interesting. I’m also very compatible with bears and stags. My lowest compatibility is with a lion, and my wildcard is an otter. Weird,” she said. “I love the disclaimer: ‘as with zodiac signs, while we have identified your ideal animal, your destined mate may be another species, so please don’t discount any strong matches solely because they’re not listed as your species match’.” Kristin laughed.

“I think Tamika is still beta-testing this feature of the app, and she doesn’t want to scare anyone off,” she said. “Tamika is the creator and owner of the app. She’s an awesome lady, who really cares that everyone finds their perfect match.”

“Ok, so I’m going to filter out lions? Is that a good idea?” Melissa said.

“Yes, you’ve got to be selective, or you’ll end up getting a million messages from shifters, and it’ll be hard to find the right one,” Dina said.

“Ok,” Melissa agreed. “And maybe tigers too. I think they’d be too much of a handful for me.” She flashed Kristin a sly glance. Kristin tapped on the app.

“Now, let’s take a look at your proximity locator, and see if any of these guys are nearby right now!” A map opened on the screen, full of flashing orange paw prints.

“Wow, there’s a ton of them,” Melissa said, her voice full of excitement. Kristin zoomed in.

“So, there’s a bunch at the national park. No surprises there. And there are a few downtown, but looks like the nearest one is just over three miles away from you.”

“Who is that?” Melissa asked. Kristin tapped the icon.

“Hmm, it won’t let me see. You’ve got to leave your scent on his trail, and then, if he likes the look of you, he needs to message you, and then you can communicate.”

“I guess it helps to protect against all those crazy shifter stalkers out there!” Lauren said. “Do you want to leave your scent?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what he looks like. Maybe we should look at some profiles first?” Melissa said.

“Great idea!” Kristin said. Melissa took the phone from her and located the main profile page.

“I feel like a kid in a candy store,” Melissa said, scrolling from one bare-chested guy to another. There were dark-haired guys; blondes; men with amber eyes; with pale green eyes; with coal-black eyes. Some were lean, others had more meat on their bones; some had angular bone structure, others had softer faces. They were all so different, but what they all had in common was incredible, unbelievable bodies and a wild, animal counterpart. Melissa shivered in excitement. Was it really possible that these guys could be interested in being with her?

She paused on a photo of a dark-haired guy with olive skin, high cheekbones and piercing amber eyes.

“He’s got to be part Native American,” she said. “And I love his body. He’s not too bulky. No offence, but bears are probably a little too large for someone as short as me. This guy is really nice and lithe. But what animal is he?” She clicked on his profile. “He’s an archaeologist. And yes, he’s a quarter Native American. He says preserving his culture is very important to him.” She swiped left on his photo. “He’s a wolf! I knew it.” Lauren leaned close to her to get a better look. But as she did, she let out a gasp of pain.