by Bear Naked
No, what I wanted was a relationship with mutual respect. I also wanted a male that would know that I am not the kind of female to just bark orders at.
Sighing loudly because Melissa knew that what she had actually wanted wasn’t how this all worked. In the shifting world males were normally alpha, demanding, and dominant as hell. Only rarely were they like Manny, being soft spoken and gentle in his mannerisms. Breeds varied how “alpha” the males were in their world, and with her mate being a very big and kind of scary grizzly bear, he was one of the most possessive animals out there. She needed to be ready for when he came to her and demanded that she give herself up. Because he would, no doubt about that, but if he thought she was just going to roll over and do his bidding, then he was in for a very big surprise, too.
****
Declan had watched his female drive off. He could have gone after her, but he let her run. The chase was half the fun, and she was certainly making this an exciting, if frustrating, mating. He needed to find out about her, because knowing her first name alone wasn’t much help. What if she had a boyfriend or husband? A low growl left him. If she did and they allowed her to go to a bar in the middle of the night, then they needed their balls cut off. It wasn’t unusual for shifters to marry people that were not their mates, because finding that one person meant to be yours wasn’t a guarantee. When it happened it was by fate alone. Declan had known many people over the years that had given up on ever finding their other half and had found a male or female to spend the rest of their lives with. Did they love them? Of course they did, and even had families with them, but they would never full complete them like their mate could. His little wolf mate might think she had won this round, but she was in for one hell of a shock. But he’d find out about her soon enough when he got back to his place.
He spotted Maverick coming out of the bar’s backroom with a stack of papers in his hands. The lion shifter owned his own mechanics shop in town, and although he didn’t really work for Trace Dakota any longer, he still helped out with the books on occasion. Maverick spotted Declan and lifted his head in greeting before moving toward him.
“Didn’t know you were coming in tonight.” Declan lifted one shoulder and ran a hand over the back of his neck.
“I wasn’t going to, but I was feeling twitchy if you know what I mean.”
Maverick cocked a brow and nodded slowly. “Yeah, I feel yeah, man.” Declan didn’t need to spell out that he had come here looking for some easy pussy. “You need anything? I’m about to head home. I need to see my female.” Back in the day Declan and Maverick had crossed paths when Declan’s unit had been investigating the Russian shifter mafia. Although Maverick had been affiliated with the mob by being the number one hit-man for that organization, Declan wasn’t about to take him out. Maverick may have been killing off men due to Viktor’s orders, the boss for the American based Russian shifter mafia, but the males he took out were ones Declan’s crew would have eliminated regardless.
“No, in fact I’m about ready to head out as well.”
Maverick nodded, clapped him on the back, and made his way out of the bar. Maverick was a friend, well, as close as a mercenary and former hit-man could be. Declan had never considered anyone a “friend”, but ever since getting out of the Shifter Intelligence League he and Maverick had been as close as two males with shady backgrounds could get. The males he worked with in the SIL had been part of a team. They were close, looked out for each other, but no one considered each other anyone more than members of the same team. That was how they had been trained for years, and it was hard trying to get out of that mentality, even if they could.
He was about to head home and find out whatever he could about his mate when he saw the too skinny female he was supposed to have met out back for a quick fuck. She looked annoyed when she didn’t spot him right away, but when her overly painted eyes landed on him her face took on a more sensual expression. Shit, he didn’t have time for this, didn’t want to deal with trying not to be a bastard when he told her he wasn’t interested, and she came off as a female that might think she was the shit. He suspected that from the fact she walked like she had some kind of swagger, hadn’t taken the hint when she first approached him, and was actually hunting him out because he hadn’t met her for a fuck in the back alley.
“Hey. I’ve been waiting for you.” She batted her lashes up at him, but even though she smelled freshly of doused perfume, he was a shifter and could easily pick up on the scent of a male on her. As if his thoughts conjured up what he had just assumed, a male came down the back hallway adjusting his belt. His eyes zeroed in on the waitress, but his attention was already diverted to his buddies playing pool. Clearly they had both just fucked, and now she was after him. Declan might like a little easy pussy occasionally, but he really didn’t like sloppy seconds. “You still want to do this?” She lifted her hand to touch his chest, but he shook his head and stepped away.
“Nah, I’m not interested anymore, but I’m sure you got your fill.” She made a disgruntled noise, but Declan was already striding out of the bar and to his SUV. Once in his Tahoe he cranked the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. The only excitement he had ever felt was when he was out on the field, hunting his prey that were in the form of nasty bastards that didn’t know they were about to die. But this type of anticipation and excitement that coursed through his body wasn’t about killing off his enemy, but learning more about his mate so he could claim her. Declan had never been the flowers and candy type of male, never needed to court a girl, or sweet talk them into his bed. The females he went after were not looking for anything more than a few hours of pleasure. But the things he wanted to do with Melissa, the way he wanted to talk to her, work out how in the hell they were going to get through this mating thing, was so against how he normally acted that he didn’t even feel like himself.
He turned off the main road and continued driving over the gravel driveway that led up to his isolated home. The property available for purchase in Sweet Water was plentiful, and he had found a small acre of land to purchase that already had a cabin located on it. It was nothing extravagant, only a single bedroom home, but Declan didn’t need anything more than that. In fact, compared to the conditions he had been subjected to out in the field during missions, this place was a damn palace. His headlights illuminated his place, and he pulled the SUV in the driveway and pulled it to a stop. He headed inside, turned on the one light that illuminated both the living room and kitchen, and headed to the marble island. Under the lip of the counter was a small latch he had installed right after he moved in. After he pressed it, a hidden compartment opened, and he pulled the door out to take his laptop. He had a few handguns and a lockbox towards the back that held passports, currency from around the world, and other legal documents that would allow him to be just about anyone he chose. He needed those things when he had to travel, and knowing the right people to acquire those legal documents was imperative. But Declan had many connections.
He brought his laptop to the living room and turned it on. After it booted up and he was on the couch he started a general search on his secured data base. Her information came up instantly, and it was the fastest and easiest search he had ever done. But then again she wasn’t trying to elude capture like the people he went after, or changing her name and becoming someone entirely new. He looked over every little detail that made her up. The image that was pulled up with her information was recent, and she was smiling brightly. Declan was able to hack into just about any database, and the ones that proved more difficult were when he called in his favors from people in the higher-ups. He had learned a lot of useful, if not illegal, shit during his time with the shifter government.
Her full name was Melissa Amelia Damien. A thirty-seven year old wolf shifter, she had graduated from Sweet Water High, and immediately started at her undergraduate program for business at South Fall University. After getting her Bachelor’s she went for her Master’s in business management,
and moved back to Sweet Water after acquiring that as well. Now she worked as the administrative manager for a small counseling center at the center of town. He read about the people she was affiliated with, that she was single—thank fuck, because he honestly wasn’t in the mood to beat some male’s ass over who had the right to claim his mate—and that she had a small two bedroom house in a newer development. He was surprised to see that she was friends with Candace Dakota, and the fact Declan knew Trace fairly well, and that Declan could have run into his mate at any opportunity because they “ran in the same circle” had his heart beating a little faster.
He read up on every little aspect of her life for the next hour. The files he pulled up on her had bits and pieces of her life. Where she grew up, family, past boyfriends, even the make and model of vehicles she drove. He even found out what her favorite color, food, and flower were. All of that may seem like unsubstantial information, but to Declan it was like gold, because he could use every little bit of it. He set the laptop on the coffee table when he had gotten all the information he needed, and leaned back on the couch. For a few minutes he didn’t do anything but let it all sink in so he could process it. Maybe he should have felt like a damn creep for finding out about her the way he did, but then again she didn’t seem very keen on finding out that he was her mate, and asking her all this personal information right off the bat would only piss her off even more.
For the most part she had lived a pretty normal and uneventful life, but what was really having his blood pump, and had his bear trying to come out and tear some shit up was the list of males—human and shifter alike—that she was associated with. It had been a pretty big fucking list, and although she wasn’t a virginal teenager, and he didn’t expect her to have saved herself until he came along, that didn’t stop his anger from rising. His mate was pretty well versed in sex, but his human side tried to reason with his animal that Declan hadn’t been abstinent either. They were both grown adults, and he couldn’t be selfish in thinking that she had saved herself for him, since if she hadn’t known who he was until just a few short hours ago. But did that stop his bear from wanting to fuck up each and every one of those males she had been with, whether dated or slept with? No, and instead it had the opposite effect, and there was no way in hell he could control himself. So, instead of doing something he would regret in the long run, he stood, headed toward his back doors, and opened them. The air had a nice breeze to it, and the moon was full. Although he only owned an acre of property, the other twenty acres that were currently for sale were unoccupied. He went for the hem of his tee, pulled it up and over his head, and then undid his belt, unbuttoned his jeans, and slid his zipper down. Once he was fully nude he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. His bear became frantic at the knowledge that it would soon run free, but Declan needed this. After not getting laid tonight, finding out he had a mate, not being able to claim Melissa like he and his bear desperately needed to do, and now finding out that more males than he felt comfortable with had touched what was his, Declan was pissed and ready to run out all this volatile energy. But even if Melissa had only been with one male he would have still felt this need to taste the blood of his enemy, and any male that looked, touched, or even fucking thought about his mate was his fucking enemy.
His muscles swelled from the increased blood flow, his bones popped as his body grew exponentially, and the change came over him like a fucking tsunami. He no longer stood on his back deck as a man, but as his massive grizzly. Although his thoughts were purely controlled by his animal right now, the human side of Declan was still conscious, still able to understand what was going on, but not having the kind of control he normally craved. He shook his big body, felt his flesh move over his muscles and bones, and excitement moved through him. He needed this run like he needed to breathe. He took off toward the thick line of trees that surrounded three sides of his home, climbing the steep incline, going higher and higher, until he sensed the air thin from the increased altitude. He didn’t stop, not even when he huffed for oxygen. The trees thinned out the higher he went, and when the softer ground turned rocky he stopped and turned around. He was pretty high up in the Sweet Water Mountains, and the timberline was visible from his vantage point. His cabin looked small and minute, and he turned his big head from left to right, taking in the small, seemingly picturesque town of Sweet Water. His mate was somewhere down there, probably still cursing his ass and his domineering ways. A low rumble left him, and the sound of a twig snapping to his side had him turning around quickly and looking around. His senses were attuned and heightened to everything when he was in his shifted form. A rabbit scurried across the ground, far too fast for him to go after. He huffed out again, which caused the little animal to race into a hole in the ground. Running would let out all of his aggression, to a point, but wouldn’t release his arousal that thrummed through him like another being.
He ran for another hour until there was nothing left inside of him and he was moving slowly back down the mountain and to his cabin. He was exhausted, but even that didn’t completely dim how he felt inside. Once on his back deck he sat down and breathed in and out deeply until his heart beat a normal rhythm, and his lungs weren’t burning. He shifted back into his human body, the sensation slightly uncomfortable as he became much smaller than a grizzly. Declan sat on one of the chairs, not caring that he was naked, that a light sheen of sweat covered his flesh from the shift and run, or that the breeze felt even more chilled than before. The night was still, the sky completely open and the stars bright. He couldn’t count the number of times he had been on a mission, looked into the sky that appeared the same no matter where he was in the world, and wondered if anyone else was doing the exact same thing, just at a different part of the world. He may have his emotions and feelings under lockdown, but that didn’t mean he didn’t think about a lot of things that were deep.
****
Melissa couldn’t sleep, not when all she could do was stare at the ceiling and picture the bear. God, he had been so big, so, masculine, and the feminine part of her ached. Her pussy was wet and swollen, and the hot shower she had taken less than an hour ago hadn’t done shit to ease the ache between her thighs. She was hot, even only wearing her panties and bra. The wetness covering her stuck to her body, a dampness that had nothing to do with the shower she took, and everything to do with her blood rushing right below her skin and causing these hot flashes inside of her. She slipped her hand under the covers, over her belly and down to her pussy. Moving her hand under the material of her panties, she slid her fingers along her clit, and couldn’t stop the moan that came from her. She was just so worked up, and although she felt like a teenager touching herself, it was something she had to do. Her lust for her mate was like a ticking bomb inside of her, and the grizzly had lit the end of her fuse to start what was going to be a monumental explosion inside of her. She rubbed herself, and only seconds later felt the tendrils of an orgasm tighten at the base of her spine before moving through her whole body. Her toes and fingers tingled, and the sweet release that had been building since she first looked at her mate washed through her. But when the pleasure faded, Melissa was left lying on that bed still aroused. That orgasm had been like a tease, and her arousal started to grow harder inside of her. Damn that bear for making her feel this way, for opening up the gates of bonded mates so she felt helpless to stop any of it, and double damn her for walking away when she could have easily been so exhausted right now from letting him fuck her that she couldn’t walk. But on the heels of that thought was the fact that his overbearing attitude had been so strong that Melissa was taken aback by it, and was sure as hell not used to being spoken to that way. Well, it seemed her mate was just as hardheaded as she could be, which would certainly prove to be one interesting turn of events.
Chapter Four
“You’re shitting me.” Melissa glared at Ary, who wore a huge grin on her face.
“No, I’m not shitting anyone.” She glanced at Candace, K
ettah, and Alice who sat across from her. Melissa had called Ary this morning wanting to get together. A few hours later, Ary, Candace, Kettah, Alice, Kenzie, Talia, and Olive—the females Melissa was closest with—sat around the table at Luke and Alice’s home. The children played out back, and their screams of excitement and happy laughter could be heard through the open kitchen window. Alice stood and grabbed a carafe of lemonade from the refrigerator, but Melissa didn’t miss how she glanced out the window to check on the children. Even after this long of being mated with Luke, Sweet Water’s cougar shifting physician, and healing exponentially from her past abuse, Alice still was a mother hen. Melissa couldn’t help but smile as she glanced down at the starting baby bump on Alice. She was glad Luke and Alice were having a baby, glad that there was this bright light behind Alice’s eyes every time she rubbed a hand over her belly. She came back over with the lemonade and refilled everyone’s glass.