I knew she was my mate immediately. Her smell… it was like fire shooting through my veins.
My breath caught and my chest tightened. She’s so beautiful. So damn perfect. I haven’t been able to get her image out of my mind ever since. It’s like she’s tattooed on the back of my eyelids.
Every second that I’m not with her feels like torture. The tension mounts with every tick of the clock. It’s unbearable.
I can feel the obsession taking over me. I can feel it growing and spreading to every cell in my body.
And that’s just me. My bear has gone completely unhinged. I spent the night with him snarling in my ear. He’s furious that I’ve waited this long to claim her.
He doesn’t care that it’s complicated. He doesn’t realize that if I don’t do this properly, her father will hide her away and I’ll never see her again.
I squeeze the ax and slam it down onto the piece of wood. Normally, chopping wood calms my bear. The repetitive movement and the rhythmic sound of the ax soothes him and lulls him into a calm state, but today it’s having the opposite effect. He’s furious that I’m not claiming what’s ours.
“My mate,” I grunt when Cash is about to walk away. He turns back with an interested look on his face. “I found her.”
His face drops. “Tell me everything.”
I do, which isn’t much. I could tell him about how beautiful she looks when her blonde hair is wet and sticking to her round cheeks. How the sight of her curves makes me want to fuck her raw and unprotected until her stomach is round with my child. How the smell of her getting wet fills me with a burning that can’t be satiated. But I don’t. Those details are just for me.
“Her father is the Sheriff?” His shocked face starts to crack and suddenly he’s laughing his ass off. “Wow, you really know how to pick ‘em.”
I grunt as I place another log on the chopping block and split it in two.
“What did he do when he saw you there?”
“He pointed his shotgun at me and almost blew my head off.”
“That sounds like the Sheriff, alright.”
I shake my head as I chop a few more logs. Ever since that night in the bar, the Sheriff has hated us Ridge brothers. I can’t blame him after what happened.
“So, what are you going to do?”
I take a deep breath as I lower the ax and look at him. “She’s my mate. I’ll do anything I have to.”
“Are you willing to die for her?”
I nod. “Of course.”
“Good, because I think that’s your only option.”
I sigh as I place another piece of wood on the block. A smell on the wind hits my nose and my whole body freezes.
My core clenches as my chest vibrates with tension. Go to her. Claim her. My bear is on full alert.
I slowly turn my head and see her walking onto the ranch. Her hands are in the pockets of her jean jacket. Her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Her eyes search the ranch and she stops with a gasp when she spots me.
I stand up straight and take a long deep inhale.
God, her scent…
It’s intoxicating.
“Is that the girl?” Cash whispers. I totally forgot he was standing next to me.
“Yeah,” I mumble back without taking my eyes off of her.
“I’ll go on the road and watch out for any trigger happy Sheriffs flying in,” he says with a smirk. “If you hear me hollering, he’s coming.”
He slaps my shoulder and wishes me good luck as he passes me on the way to the road.
My heart is strumming in my chest. I can’t even think straight.
“Welcome,” Cash says with a tip of his head as he passes her. My Kinsley. My mate.
For the first time in weeks, my bear isn’t moving. He’s not snarling in my ear or bounding for the surface. He seems as jolted as me.
My eyes take in every gorgeous detail as she walks over. The flash of white teeth behind her nervous smile. The way the loose strand of hair dances across her face in the breeze. The subtle sway of her thick hips with every step.
The air charges with something as she gets closer. I can feel the electricity tingling on my skin.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
She suddenly looks uncomfortable and glances back in the direction she came.
“I’m sorry,” she says as she holds her elbow. “I’ll go.”
“No,” I bark. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. This is all coming out wrong.
I’ve never been good at talking with women. My words always come out so gruff and harsh. I do a good job of scaring them away. I don’t want to do that with Kinsley.
I want her to feel safe in my arms. Loved. Protected. I want her to know the sweetness in my heart that I have for her. Sweetness that’s hidden by a rough fierce exterior.
“My father warned me not to come here,” she says shyly. “I don’t know why, but… I felt compelled to come.”
“You’re my mate,” I say, probably a little too bluntly. “You want to be next to me because that’s where you belong.”
Her adorable cheeks redden as she fidgets with a button on her jean jacket. “How do you know? This is the first time we’ve even talked. How can you be so sure?”
“I’m sure. My bear is sure. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
She swallows hard as silence lingers between us.
“What have you been thinking about?”
My heart pumps harder as dirty thoughts fill my mind. I feel my cock swell and start to strain against my zipper.
“How we’re meant to be together,” I tell her. “I’m trying to deal with all of these protective feelings I have for you.”
Her gorgeous blue eyes widen as she watches me.
“They’re twisting my insides. They’re not innocent.”
“What if that’s… what I want too?”
I swallow hard as I stare down at her. She’s an angel. She’s young and pure. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. She doesn’t know how far a bear shifter can take it.
My thoughts are beyond protective now. They’re full on possessive.
I want to own her.
Every part of me wants to rip off her clothes and take her young naked body. I’m groaning as I picture thrusting my raw hard cock into her juicy cunt and planting my seed in her ripe womb. My dick would be all the way inside her with the tight walls of her pussy squeezing my shaft as I marked her neck. As I made her mine.
My teeth would mark her skin as my cock marked her cunt.
That’s what I want. That’s what I need.
Nothing short of that will do.
And once that happens, she will be mine. I will own her.
My baby will be growing in her stomach and she’ll never be able to leave.
But she won’t want to. We’ll be mated. Perfect for each other. Bound to each other. Forever.
“You don’t want me to be innocent with you?” I ask with my heart pounding.
She shakes her head as she looks at me with the sexiest eyes imaginable. “No.”
I drop the ax on the ground with a thud and take a step toward her. She steps back and swallows as her wide eyes dart up to mine.
I can’t imagine what I look like to her. I’m a big guy even for a shifter. I tower over her—about a foot and a half taller—and I’m all big hard muscle where she’s soft, round and delicate.
It doesn’t help that I’m only wearing a tank top undershirt that’s ringed with sweat and old faded jeans that have dirt stains all over them. I’m not looking suave and handsome like a man she deserves. I look wild. Untamed. An animal in human form.
That’s what I am after all.
Her eyes dart down my jacked arms to my hand that’s reaching for her. My whole body is on fire. My bear is breathless. I’m breathless.
She closes her eyes as I run my hand down her soft cheek. Her body is still tight with nerves, but a soft moan escapes from her parted li
ps.
I’m so hard it hurts.
My cock is raging in my pants. It’s desperate for a touch of her skin. It’s trying to rip through the thick denim in my jeans and if it gets any harder, it will.
“I want you so much, Kinsley,” I say as I run my thumb over her lips. Her whole body shudders as her eyelids open to show off lust-filled blue eyes. “It hurts how much I want you.”
I slide my hand down to her neck and run my fingers over her soft flesh. The soft flesh that will soon be marked by my teeth.
A new scent fills the air and it tingles my nostrils and sets my blood burning. Her arousal. Her wetness. I can smell it and it drives my bear crazy.
He’s no longer idly sitting by. He moves to the surface, tightening my skin, swelling my massive muscles even larger. My teeth ache and my gums throb as flat teeth elongate into sharp canines.
I squeeze my body and hold him back as she watches curiously. She’s not afraid. That’s how I know she’s mine.
There’s no fear because she knows I would never hurt her. She knows my bear would die to protect her. She knows this deep in her bones. Her body has always known it even if her mind is only now realizing it.
She reaches up and gently touches my jaw with a soft delicate hand. “Your teeth.”
I close my eyes. Self-conscious. Ashamed. Who could love a monster like me?
This girl deserves a handsome man in a designer suit who can bring her to the most expensive restaurants and finest shows. Not a half-man half-beast who lives in the wild and acts like it.
When I feel her fingertips run over them I open my eyes. She doesn’t look afraid. She doesn’t look disgusted. She looks intrigued. Turned on even.
“Why are they doing that?”
“It’s my bear. He wants to… claim you.”
Her soft cheeks redden and the sight of her shyness has my breath catching.
“Claim me.” She whispers the words under her breath.
“I’m trying to hold it back. To give you some time. Once I taste you, I’ll never be able to let you go.”
“I don’t want you to hold it back,” she says with an eagerness to her voice. “I want you to take me from my dad’s and keep me by your side. I want to be yours.”
She steps up to me and my hands slide down to her thick hips. If she wants it, she’s going to get it.
Her head drops to the side, exposing her neck for me as I lean in. My lips touch her hot skin and my cock jumps in my pants. I press it against her to let her see how hard she makes me.
She lets out a little gasp when my erection digs into her stomach.
The hot smell of her pussy fills my nose and my bear groans. “Is that him?” she asks, gasping as I kiss a trail along the curve of her neck. She tastes salty and sweet at the same time. This girl is going to be the end of me.
“Yeah, that’s him,” I whisper between kisses. “He likes you.”
Her hands slide up to my cheeks and she cups them as she turns my face so I’m looking into her eyes.
“Kiss me,” she begs.
I crush my lips against hers, taking her mouth in a desperate kiss. She moans as I thrust my tongue in deep, devouring her mouth like it’s candy.
Her soft body pushes against mine and she holds my cheeks like she never wants me to leave her mouth.
It’s a hard, rough kiss full of pent-up energy that’s been simmering since I first learned that a mate was out there waiting for me. She takes it all, giving me sexy little whimpers that I hungrily swallow as I taste her.
A muted hollering hits my ear, but I’m too focused on this beauty’s mouth and tongue to register it. I’m lost in her delicious taste.
It’s only when I hear the car speeding onto the ranch that I pull away from her mouth.
“Oh, shit.”
It’s the Sheriff’s car and he looks mighty pissed when he sees his daughter in my arms.
Chapter Six
Kinsley
“What did I tell you?” my father snarls as he jumps out of his car.
“Dad!” I shout as I pull away from the safety and comfort of Damon’s big arms. A deep sense of loss hits me as I leave him and every part of me yearns to go back. “You don’t understand!”
“Oh, I understand,” he says with his hard eyes narrowed on the man I’m growing to love. “He’s trying to take my daughter’s innocence.”
Damon shakes his head as I stand between the two giants who are about to collide.
“It’s not like that, Sheriff,” Damon answers. “She’s the one for me.”
My father’s eyes close as he winces. “Don’t say it.”
“She’s my mate.”
“No!” I gasp in horror as my father pulls out the gun on his hip. I jump on his arm, but he’s so strong. His forearms are as thick as tree trunks and just as unmovable. All I can do is watch in a panic as he points the gun at my new man and fires.
It’s so loud. The bang fills my ears with an intense ringing that drowns out my screaming.
The bullet cuts through Damon’s chest and he stumbles back as blood pours out, staining his undershirt a crimson red.
Tears are pouring down my face as I try to go to him. But I can’t move. My father’s hand is wrapped around my arm and he’s pulling me, dragging me to the car. He opens the back door and throws me in. He moves so fast. He’s behind the wheel and starting the car as I try to open the locked doors. It’s a police cruiser and locks from the outside so all I can do is plaster my hands against the window and watch as my father peels out of the ranch.
Damon is wincing as he holds his hand against the wound. Thick red blood pours through his fingers as he watches me leave with his skin paling.
“Why did you do that?” I scream at my father as he pulls onto the main road. Tears are streaming down my eyes making everything blurry.
“He needed a stronger warning apparently.”
“So you kill him?”
He scoffs. “He’s a shifter. He’ll be fine.”
My heart starts pounding as hope fills my body. I was so panicked and not thinking clearly that I forgot. Shifters have enhanced healing ability. But can he survive a gunshot wound to the chest?
“If I wanted to kill him, I would have brought out my bear.”
I sit down in the seat and cross my arms, furious at my father. I stare at his big hands wrapped around the wheel as an angry heat flushes through my body.
“It’s true what he said. We’re mates.”
“Over my dead body will my daughter mate with a Ridge brother.” His body tightens as he says it.
“Why do you hate him so much?”
“He’s no good.”
He’s wrong. Maybe Damon has done some bad things in the past, but I know he’s a good man. I could feel it radiating off him. There’s goodness and sweetness in there. I just know it.
I take a deep breath and say it. “You’re wrong.”
My father swerves to the side of the road and shoves the car into park. He rips out the keys and turns around with a snarl. “You’re wrong. You have no idea what this town is like. What these… monsters are capable of.”
“Monsters like you?”
“I have control of my bear,” he snaps back. “That’s more than Damon can say for himself.”
“What happened?”
“He killed somebody.”
“What?”
“That’s right. The man you claim to love… his grizzly bear mauled the old Sheriff.”
A sudden coldness hits my core as my heart races. Damon did that? I can’t see it. But the truth is, I don’t even know him at all even if it feels like I do.
“There has to be some kind of mistake,” I say with my voice racing. I felt his bear’s protective essence wrapped around me like a warm blanket. How could that loving creature kill someone in cold blood? I can’t believe it.
The rumbling of motorcycles fills the air and my father curses under his breath as he looks out the back window.
�
��Shit. Stay in the car. This might get ugly.”
My stomach hardens in panic as a horde of motorcycles swarm around us. The huge shifters riding them are revving their engines and making a scene of taunting my father as they circle the parked car.
I count five of them. Five against one.
“Who are these guys?” I ask, darting my head from side to side as they surround us.
My father grits his teeth. “The Copeland lions. I don’t know what the fuck they want.”
“Wait, Dad!” I gasp as my father opens the door. He’s actually going out there?!?
He steps out of the car and slams the door shut as the five shifters surround him. One by one, they step off their bikes and approach him.
My father may be a hardass, but he’s also a brave SOB, I’ll give him that. He’s standing there with his back straight and his arms crossed, daring them to get out of line. You got to be brave to be the only law enforcement officer in a town of shifters. Brave or stupid.
“Did you cats get lost? This is the Ridge Brothers’ territory,” my father says in his booming voice. I can hear it through the crack of the open window. “Are you guys looking for a fight?”
The biggest one steps forward with a hard stare. He has long blond hair that drapes down onto his black leather jacket. His eyes are an eery golden color that sends cold shivers racing down my spine. These rough scary men look like they’re up to no good and I feel intensely vulnerable right now. I wish that Damon was here. I wish I had his big strong arms wrapped around me once again where I know I’d be safe.
“We’re not looking for blood,” he says in a growly voice that makes my blood run cold. “We’re looking for curves.”
My father’s body tightens and his jacked muscles start to swell in warning. His polar bear is close to the surface, ready to rip free.
It’s then that I recognize the man who I saw in town yesterday. The creepy one who was leering at me. He’s got that same look on his face as he stares at me through the window.
“No,” I gasp. They’re not here for my father or for Damon or his brothers. They’re here for me. The curves they’re looking for are mine.
I shudder as they take turns giving me creepy looks.
Bare for the Alpha: The Ridge Brothers Bear Shifters #1 Page 3