Swipe Right to Mate

By DJ Bryce

Victoria is floundering. She's lost her home, her boyfriend, everything... rather than go back to her parents with her tail tucked between her legs, or inconvenience her best friend, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

When she comes across a mating app, Tori thinks she may have just found a way to solve all of her problems, and maybe, just maybe, find love along the way.

A trial period with Mal, the sexy bear shifter who contacted her seems like the answer. But, when she gets there and realizes it's not only Mal she's there to meet, but also his best friend Kai, will this opportunity be more than this human bargained for?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bethany Lopez
• Release date: Mar 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463722992

DJ Bryce

Author DJ Bryce loves her men tall, dark, and Alpha. She can often be found relaxing with a cup of coffee, a handful of RedVines, and a good book, with her two dogs snoozing happily at her feet.She's a lover of The Walking Dead, Romantic Comedies, and writing sexy shifters.DJ Bryce is a pen name for USA Today Bestselling author, Bethany Lopez.

Book preview

Two

Tori

Stacia and I had stayed up well into the night, looking at possible mates, saving the ones that sounded good. I was trying to be sensible, yet realistic. If I didn’t find a guy’s picture eye-catching, I didn’t save him.

If I was going to mate with someone for the rest of my life, we at least had to have a mutual attraction.

We’d gone over each saved member’s bio, requests, and guidelines.

Some men were looking for someone right away and wanted a commitment before ever meeting in person. While others were open to a trial period. I was leaning toward the latter. It was scary enough to think I was finding my mate on an app, rather than the old-fashioned way, but I wanted to at least meet the man before agreeing to live out the rest of my days with him.

Stacia had agreed.

"There’s no way in hell you’re marrying, or mating, or whatevering, an absolute stranger," she informed me.

I hadn’t argued, because I’d already come to that decision myself.

So, that had helped narrow down the prospects. We’d gone back through and deleted anyone that was looking for instant gratification, and I’d also deleted anyone who was a big cat shifter.

Not to be prejudice or anything, but lions and tigers and such had always terrified me, and I didn’t think I’d be able to handle being mated to one.

That had left us with three possibilities.

Before going to bed, I’d completed my profile, including a recent photo, a brief bio, and the stipulation that I was only looking for men who were willing to have a trial period. That way, if anyone found my profile and wanted to contact me, they’d know a little bit about me and what I was looking for.

I contacted my three prospects to see if they were still looking for mates and would be interested in learning more about each other before possibly meeting, then fell asleep on Stacia’s couch feeling much better about my situation.

When I woke up the next morning, I was excited to reach for my phone and open the app, eager to see if anyone had contacted me back.

I held my breath when I saw I had four notifications.

The first one said, Thanks for reaching out, Victoria. I am currently in the middle of a trial with another prospective woman, but will let you know if things don’t work out.

I frowned, because that guy had been really cute, then moved on to the next message.

I’m so sorry, I forgot to take my profile down. I have already chosen a mate. Best of luck to you.

With a sigh, I deleted that message as well.

Shoot, this was turning out to be harder than I’d initially thought it would be.

I just realized I didn’t specify where I was in my profile, Victoria, so, before we set up a meet, I have to know if you’re willing to live in North Dakota…

That was the message from the third person I’d contacted. And, although I was desperate, I didn’t know if I was desperate enough to live with all of that snow. I guess I’d never really wondered about where shifters lived. The type of climate they needed.

What if all shifters lived in cold, desolate places? Could I still go through with it?

I looked at the photo for the fourth notification, not recognizing it from last night. There were two men in the picture, standing in front of a beautiful lake, holding up fish they’d obviously just caught.

Curious, I opened the message.

Hi, this is Kai and Mal. We saw your profile picture and had to click on it. After reading your bio, we’d love to meet you. You can check out ours, then let us know if you’re interested. Hope to see you soon!

Kai and Mal? I wondered why there were two men sharing one profile, and what they’d seen on mine that had made them click it.

I chewed my lower lip as I navigated to their profile.

It didn’t say much, just that they were Kai and Mal, which I already knew, and that they were bear shifters. They live on a lake in Indiana and are looking for someone to share their lives with.

Their lives…

Were they each looking for someone, but using one profile? If I decided to meet with them and do the trial, would I be on trial with both, then have to choose one at the end?

Although I had a lot of questions, I did think they were both pretty hot, and they were currently my only chance at getting out of here and starting my life over.

When I put it like that, I guess it wasn’t that hard of a decision.

I clicked reply, told them I’d love to meet them in person, and hit send.

My tummy tingled as my response went through, and I was partially excited, yet terrified, as I waited for their response.

I decided to shower, then grab something to eat on my way to work, so I wouldn’t be in Stacia and John’s hair while they were getting ready to start their days. As I was undressing and getting ready to step into the steam, my phone dinged.

I grabbed in eagerly, my fingers getting clumsy in my rush to open the app.

Fantastic. If it works for you, we can fly you out this weekend. If we all agree, we can begin the trial right away. Send us your email address, your first and last name, and your phone number, and we’ll email you the tickets.

My eyes widened, and I wondered if I was being foolish to trust them. After all, I’d just trusted a man who’d taken everything from me without looking back.

I took a deep breath, figured I had nothing left to lose since Kale had already taken it all, and sent Kai and Mal the information they’d requested.

It looked like I’d be taking some time off of work and heading to Indiana.

Three

Tori

As the plane began its descent, a fresh wave of nerves overcame me.

Stacia had made me promise to text her with my location as soon as I arrived at Kai and Mal’s place, and to message her every morning by nine am, so she’d know I was still alive.

I’d agreed and said a tearful goodbye to her at the airport.

Now, I was about to meet two men, one of which, could possibly be my mate. It was overwhelming to say the least, and as we taxied down the runway, I worried that they wouldn’t like me in person, or that I wouldn’t like either of them.

I was tall. Quite tall for a female, the doctors had always said, at six feet. I had large breasts and big hips, and a ton of sandy hair that fell down to my waist.

Not all guys liked women who were built like me, preferring more of a petite stature.

One of the things that had drawn me to Kale was that he was a couple inches taller than me, and therefore didn’t feel uncomfortable with my height.

As I crossed the airport, I realized the app hadn’t asked for stats like height, weight, or hair color, so I had no idea how I’d measure up to the guys I was about to meet. I was guessing, since they were bear shifters, that would be at least as tall as me, so hopefully it wouldn’t be an issue.

When I finished at baggage claim, I headed outside, which is where they’d told me we’d meet.

I looked around until I noticed a sign that said Victoria, then I looked up. And, up. And… up.

Whoa…

Standing there holding that sign with my name, were two of the biggest, hottest, burliest men I’d ever seen in my life.

My steps stuttered a bit as I started toward them, my heart beating painfully in my chest, my gaze going from one handsome face to the other, then back again.

Victoria? The blond one asked, his voice deep, but friendly.

Yes, I replied softly, probably too quietly for them to hear, so I nodded as well.

He grinned in response.

Hi, I’m Mal and this is Kai, welcome to Indiana.

Thank you, I said, looking carefully at Kai, who hadn’t said anything and wasn’t smiling, before bringing my eyes back to Mal. I’m happy to be here.

Do you have other bags? Mal asked, looking down at the ground next to me.

No, just this, I replied.

Kai frowned, and my stomach dipped.

Does that mean you aren’t planning on staying for the trial? Mal asked, taking the backpack off of my shoulder and putting it on his own.

Oh, no, I began, my heart thumping as Kai’s frown deepened. What I mean is, yes, I was hoping to stay for the trial, but, this is all I have.

With you? Mal pressed.

I shook my head.

No, at all. These are my belongings.

Now Kai was scowling, which made me nervous even as it did funny things to my nether regions.

I don’t understand, Mal said, his tone also conveying anger.

It’s a long story, I said, then looked around. Maybe we can talk about it somewhere else, like, your place?

Mal’s face softened, and he seemed to understand that I didn’t want to air my troubles in the middle of the airport.

"Of course, let’s