by A. B Lee
“Darby’s…” Rebecca frowned hard at the thought of her daughter. She’d grown attached to the man, and in one damn day too. “Are they definitely going to kill him?” Janice shrugged again.
“That’s…” Rebecca stopped talking. It was wrong on so many levels that she just couldn’t comprehend it.
“Ok. That’s it… I can’t just sit here and not tell you.” Janice bit out.
“Tell me.” Rebecca urged, but the look on the woman’s face said she might not want to know.
“Chance has found his mate.” Janice sighed. There she’d said it. Well, some of it at least.
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Not when you’re Chance and your bear’s a little…” Janice scowled as she wondered how best to put it.
“Cuckoo?”
“Dominant.” Janice shrugged again. This was harder than she thought it would be.
“So, he’s worried that he’ll hurt his mate?” Rebecca scowled. Poor Chance.
“And his mate’s daughter…” Janice offered and waited for the bells and whistles to go off in Rebecca’s mind. That moment of recognition, of understanding didn’t take long, but when it happened, Rebecca’s mood and her face changed so much; so quickly that Janice was hard pressed to keep up with all of the emotions.
Chapter nine
“Are you shitting me?” Rebecca slapped her palms down onto the counter and pushed backwards, as if that was going to unsay everything, undo what had been done.
“Nope.” Janice bit down on her lower lip and grimaced.
“I’m…” Rebecca pointed to her chest.
“Yep.” Janice narrowed her eyes on her.
“That’s…” Rebecca swallowed down a good portion of her tongue.
“Isn’t it though?” Janice agreed.
Rebecca balked at the thoughts that shot through her mind on an endless loop of shock and comprehension.
A mate.
Chance’s mate…
“I can’t… Is he sure?” Rebecca scrunched up her face.
“Oh yeah.” Janice chuckled to herself. “Kind of kicks you right in the backside, doesn’t it?”
“That’s one way to put… How can he be sure?”
“Lots of ways. Your scent is a big one. How he feels when he touches you, sees you… the fact that he and his bear are so protective of you and Darby…”
“Darby!” Rebecca exclaimed. “But she’s not his…”
“No, but she’s a part of you.” Janice shrugged again. “I guess that’s how it works.”
Rebecca pulled back and turned away. Her mind was racing and she lifted her hand and ran it through her hair, stopping in mid-thought, before she dropped her hand back to the side and turned back towards Janice.
“So he doesn’t want to hurt me, he wants to mate with me?”
“Pretty much.”
“So why does he think that he’ll hurt me?” This wasn’t adding up. It wasn’t making sense.
“When Shane, the one outside the door, mated his human mate, he bit her and turned her into a shifter.” Janice explained, but the way that Rebecca’s eyes went wide, almost bursting out on stalks like some crazed cartoon character, Janice thought she maybe should have left that explanation out.
“She’s a bear?” Rebecca looked more than shocked. She was having a hard time getting her head around any of this.
“Yeah, but she’s still a good person.” Janice snorted a little chuckle and Rebecca did a double take.
“So when you mated Marcus…”
“He didn’t bite me.” Janice shook her head. “But I guess he still could.”
“Really?” Rebecca pulled her head back on her neck and Janice shrugged.
“It kind of goes with the whole mate territory thing.”
“And you’re ok with that?” Rebecca shook her head in disbelief.
“I’d be pissed.” Janice admitted. “But, you know. I love Marcus. Being a bear wouldn’t be the end of the world…”
“Ha!” Rebecca cleared her throat.
“He’s my mate. My fated other. I figure that if fate went to all that trouble, who am I to deny him?”
“That’s… so not…” Rebecca stalked towards the kitchen table, yanked out a chair, and plopped her backside down onto it. “Wow.” She looked wrung out.
“I haven’t known Chance long, but I’ve never seen him able to control himself the way he does when he’s around you or Darby.” Janice offered.
“I quiet his bear, his bad side?” Rebecca asked and Janice nodded.
“And then some.”
“I don’t know what to do with that, with any of that…” Rebecca waved an absent hand. Janice nodded.
“It’s food for thought.”
“It’s…”Rebecca blew out a hard breath. “It’s…” she shrugged. Then she frowned hard. “I don’t know what that is.” She shook her head.
~^~
“You told her?” Marcus growled in disbelief. Janice looked apologetic to say the least, but there was also an element of mischief in her eyes.
“It kind of slipped out.” She lied.
Marcus raised one eyebrow and stared down at her. She squirmed under his gaze.
“Ok, so I told her.” Janice shrugged as she turned and stalked towards their cabin.
“You did what?” Chance’s deep tone made the both of them turn towards him as he stood in the shadows.
“Lurker!” Janice snapped out. Caught in the act and not knowing what to do about it, she went on the offensive.
“You told her that she’s my mate?” Chance stepped into the light of the moon.
“Yes.” Janice admitted.
“And?”
“She was shocked. She was interested in what it meant. She was… shocked.”
“I get it.” Chance went to turn away.
“Don’t do that!” Janice stalked towards him and Marcus matched her strides. “Don’t just close down and go off in a bloody huff.”
“Janice.” Marcus warned, but she rallied towards him and held up her hand to silence him.
“No, Marcus. He has a mate. He needs to step up, to man up, and not keep running away from his problems.” Janice scowled as she turned her attention back towards Chance.
“That’s what I’m doing?” Chance demanded.
“Yes.” She snapped back.
“Because I thought I was facing them head on and ending them before they hurt someone.” Chance growled at her and Marcus growled a warning at him.
“Sure you did.” Janice snapped back. “You don’t think that by denying Rebecca her mate, denying Darby your protection, you’re not hurting them?”
“It’s better than dying at the hands of my bear!” Chance roared at her and Marcus was in between them in a heartbeat. Janice wouldn’t be silenced.
“You go hide behind your existential pose, Chance. When what you should be doing is exploring if your bear will be tamed by having a mate.” She snapped back.
“She’s not wrong, man.” Marcus growled. “She might be going about telling you in the wrong damn way, but she’s not wrong.”
“I give up…” Chance dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
“My damn point exactly.” Janice called after him and Chance missed a step, growling in annoyance as he corrected it. “You’re different, Chance. You’ve already changed.” She called out, but Chance kept walking.
Marcus turned to look down at her. He took one deep breath in and that broad chest expanded, and then it fell again as he slowly blew it out.
“Don’t hold back, baby. Tell him how you really feel.” Marcus grinned.
“He needed to hear it.” Janice shrugged. Marcus raised that one eyebrow again and she sighed. “What? Too much?” She asked innocently and Marcus spat out a chuckle.
“Never too much where you’re concerned.” He growled. Reaching out, he scooped her up against him and lifted her up his body with one arm. She wrapped herself around him like a vine.
“Let’s go explore too much of a good thing together.” Janice grinned.
“Yeah. Lets.” He chuckled as he stalked off towards their cabin.
~^~
Chance couldn’t keep away. No matter how hard he wanted to ignore the need to be near to her that was clawing inside of him, it remained. He went out for a walk to clear his head- which turned into a run- which led him right back to Rebecca’s farm.
“Wondered when you’d be back.” Shane stepped out from behind one of the thick oaks at the edge of the woods and eyed his friend.
Chance had already picked up on the man’s scent which was why he’d gone that way. No point in trying to hide himself away.
“You bit Lucy.” Chance growled at the memory and Shane growled in annoyance, it was still a sore subject in Shane’s mind.
“Don’t sugar coat it for me, Chance.” Shane shook his head in dismay, but he knew why something like that would be on the man’s mind.
“Did you ever want to kill her?” Chance asked. Shane was sort of taken aback by that question.
“Do you have the urge to kill Rebecca?”
“No.” Chance glared at him.
“Hey, just asking.” Shane held up his hands at his chest. “You’re not going to want to kill her, but every one of us has that need within us to bite. It’s the bear, and we all know your bear is headstrong.”
Chance nodded his understanding. There it was- the reason why he couldn’t mate. Not because he might kill, but because he would bite.
If she didn’t survive the transformation, if she couldn’t accept her bear and bond with it, make it one with her, she’d be dead anyway.
The sound of the back door opening took Chance’s attention. When Rebecca stepped out into the early morning light Chance felt every inch of his body tense with need.
“I should go…” he turned on his heels.
“Don’t you dare!” Rebecca called out to him. She’d seen the man make to leave, but she’d spent the whole damn night tossing and turning in her bed with Janice’s words ringing in her ears- she wanted a word with him- maybe two- definitely three…
Chance stopped in his tracks. Shane folded his arms across his chest and chuckled at his friend’s predicament. A mate was a powerful thing to behold- she could have him twisting in the damn wind with just a look…
“You need something?” Chance shot her a glare over his left shoulder. He hoped it would do the trick, but when she placed her hands on her hips and glared back- he wanted to growl in earnest. He’d seen this stance on the other mates and it was never a good sign.
“Oh yeah.” Rebecca sounded pissed off.
“Darby run away again?” Chance rubbed salt into the wounds in the hopes that she would be distracted from her present thoughts.
“Funny.” She glared harder.
Chance bit down on his need for escape. Like a dog with a damn bone- he didn’t think his mate was going to give up her quest.
Chance stalked towards her with Shane’s muted chuckle grating on his nerves. The closer that he got- the more she glared.
“What is it?” Chance was being deliberately off hand, more so than usual.
“I’m your mate?” Rebecca tipped her head to one side and regarded him with the eyes of a hawk. His expression never altered, not even a damn twitch.
“Yes.” Chance stayed blank, even with his bear clawing inside him with the truth on her lips. Now that she knew everything was different.
“And what? You forgot to mention that fact?”
“No.”
“You deliberately mislead me?” Rebecca swayed on her feet from side to side as she planted them against the earth and cemented her stance.
“I did not mislead you.” Chance growled.
“You just omitted the truth of it.” Rebecca folded her arms across her chest and pushed her breasts upwards. His eyes flicked down and his length turned to steel at the sight of those perfectly rounded globes inviting him to take a long step towards her, to touch, to taste her flesh…
“Yes.” Chance had to drag his eyes back up to hers. Those soulful brown eyes mesmerised him.
“You’re an asshole- do you know that?” Rebecca scrunched up her face.
“Yes.” Chance agreed with her take on the situation. How could he not? People had been telling him that his whole life.
“I…” She hadn’t been expecting him to agree. She floundered.
“Is that everything?” Chance asked as if she’d just given him a shopping list.
“No!” Rebecca snapped back. Right then and there she couldn’t think of how A led to B, but she was damn well going to have her say, even if she didn’t know what that was.
“I have to go.” Chance took a long step back from her and went to turn on his heels…
“No!” She snapped again, bringing him to a stop.
“Then would you make your point.” Chance bit out and saw her whole body tense. “Do you have one?”
Chance knew that he was being the asshole that she’d accused him of being, but what else was there to do? He needed to put some distance between them before he took her right there, up against the damn wall, down on the earth as nature intended…
“Yes.” Rebecca scowled back at him. “Give me a minute.”
Chance turned to leave again.
“That’s not a damn minute.” Rebecca moved then. Stalking around to get in front of him- as if that was going to stop him leaving if he had a mind to do it. Luckily for her, he didn’t take another step.
“Do you have any idea what I want to do to you right now?” Chance growled as he craned his head towards her and stared deep into her eyes.
Shock. It registered on her face, and then her cheeks filled with colour. His beast growled at the thought of having her, mating her, bonding with her.
“I do now.” Rebecca offered back, slightly more subdued.
“Then you understand why I need to leave.” Chance started to sidestep her but she got in the way again.
“I…” She was floundering again. There was a part of her that had to acknowledge that she wanted that too, but there was also a part of her that still feared him.
Chance took a step towards her, even thought it was the dangerous alternative to running the hell away. His hands fisted at his sides as he tried to hold onto his sanity.
He heard Shane move closer- saw his mate’s eyes flick in his friend’s direction before they snapped back towards him when a rumble of a growl went through his chest and caught in his throat.
“Trust me when I say you need to go back inside.” Chance growled each and every word in the hope that she would get the message. Her body tensed hard and then her chin lifted in defiance. It reminded him or Darby.
“I trust you enough to stay right here.” It was part lie and part truth. His eyes took her in, searching…
“That’s your first mistake.” Chance growled.
A heartbeat later and his strong arms had wrapped around her body. She felt the rush of excitement hit the tsunami of pure panic as he swept her up and started to run with her.
Chapter ten
“Chance!” Shane was hot on his heels, and yet when Chance entered the barn and slammed the thick wooden door behind him- shutting out even the sunlight- Shane was helpless to do much more than listen from outside.
If he rushed the door, broke it down, then Chance’s bear could get more than damn antsy protecting his mate, protecting his territory…
“Crap!” Shane growled out.
‘Jackson, we’ve got a big damn problem…’
~^~
Rebecca’s back hit the stone wall and she felt that jolt go through her body. The darkness of the barn only heightened the feel of the man that was pressed against her, caging her between the rock behind her and his muscled torso. Her mind spun as his breathing panted against her ear.
“Now do you understand?” Chance growled out as he tried to hold onto his beast- hold onto his urgent need to touch, to taste, to cl
aim her for himself.
Right now his beast was winning the battle.
“Yes.” Rebecca palmed the hard muscles of his chest- she didn’t push him away- instead her fingers curled against those muscles, but there was no give in them, they were like the rock at her back.
Chance dipped his head and took her scent at source. That sweet scent filled his senses and made his eyes close to the world around him. He languished there- losing himself for a long moment until his beast roared within him…
Then he punched out at the wall on either side of her and pushed away with a roar of frustration, of rage, of need…
“You should have let me go…” he started to pace. Not that she could see him, but she could hear his movements.
Rebecca held her breath as she listened to his movements, from right to left and back again. Close. Close enough that she knew he could be on her in a heartbeat if she moved.
Her foot tested the area to one side of her to see what was there… Nothing… She bit down on the need to move. She was in uncharted territory now, not knowing enough about him to be able to decide what was the best way forward.
“Chance…” Rebecca’s voice was deeper, more throaty.
Chance could scent an element of fear coming from her and his beast liked it about as much as he did. He was back in front of her again, caging her in, his lower body pressed against hers, and she could feel just how hard his cock was… fear gave way to desire as his arms came down on either side of her and trapped her there.
“I want you.” He growled against her lips. “Do you have any damn idea how much I want you?” He sounded as if he was having an argument with himself rather than questioning her.
Rebecca swallowed down hard. Excitement spiked within her…
“Yes…”
“No. You don’t… if you did you would have let me walk away.” He growled as his lips barely touched hers, and yet the vibration from that growl made the skin of her lips tingle- that feeling rolled across her body and right down to her toes.