by Ashlee Sinn
But I stepped back and gave him a coy smile. Come catch me, it said. And a moment later, I let the bear free of her constraints and ran on all fours into the surrounding woods.
I didn’t know where I was going, so when Derrick caught up with his beautiful dark fur, I let him pass me. He grunted as he went by, a sign for me to follow. We ran for miles, exploring the forest and open meadows along the way. He kept nipping at me as we dodged around each other—a flirtatious gesture in our bear form. I nipped him right back.
The owls sang, the smaller animals skittered in the distance, and somewhere the wolves were out. It was a beautiful night that I never wanted to end. So when Derrick turned and started back toward his house, I slowed. Skidding to a stop in front of me, he turned and tilted his head—asking me why. I looked up at the sky and sat back on my haunches. He trotted over and brushed his nose against my face, grumbling in his chest the whole time.
No, I don’t want to go yet. The meadow we were in couldn’t have been more beautiful. Surrounding by tall pines on all sides, the open space felt like it only belonged to us. And with the moon nearly full, it lit up the tall grasses in a way that could only be imagined. Derrick pushed me with his shoulder and I almost fell over. Nipping at his nose, I told him that I wasn’t moving. And he understood, because a second later I found myself on my back with his grizzly paws on my chest holding me down.
And I saw that hungry look in his eyes again.
As if perfectly in sync with our thoughts, we both shifted back to our naked human forms. Derrick’s lips crashed into mine while I pulled him down closer to me. His warm body crushed me, but I absolutely loved it. With lips trailing up and down my neck, I called out into the sky with surprise by how much I couldn’t control myself.
“You are fucking amazing,” Derrick said. His lips danced over my collar bone and found their way to my nipples.
I cried out when he bit down, again surprised by how good it felt.
“I’ve had a crush on your for so long,” I whispered, squeezing his tight cheeks and pushing my hips up against his erection. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Neither can I,” he mumbled against my skin.
Shoving my hand between us, I grabbed his hard cock. The moisture already there provided extra lubricant and I stroked him in time with the way his lips sucked my breasts.
“Shit,” he groaned. “You feel so good.”
My energy nearly burst from my skin. No, not my energy. My bear. She claimed Derrick in every way that she could. And when he stopped moving and gazed down into my eyes, I knew he was having a reaction too.
“Did you feel that?” he asked.
Smiling, I said, “Yes.”
“What was that?”
“Our bears,” I managed to breathe. “They recognize each other.”
Derrick’s forehead crinkled in concentration and thought. “But how?”
I kissed those soft lips once more. “I don’t know. Maybe they were meant to be mated.”
At that word, Derrick tensed. “Mated?”
Squeezing his cheeks again, I pulled him closer between my legs. “Yeah, mated.”
For someone who’d been wanting a mate, Derrick seemed a little scared. But when I started to stroke him again, he quickly found his way back to me. “Mated,” he mumbled against my lips and then forgot all of his fears.
With lips crushing me and hands roaming against my skin, I couldn’t help how excited I felt. Pulses of energy skittered over my skin every time he brushed against it. My sex throbbed for more although I didn’t think I’d last too long. I wanted Derrick so bad I could hardly control myself.
So when he sat back against the ground and pulled me onto his lap, I couldn’t wait to push his cock inside. Lifting my hips, I let the tip slide along my folds. His mouth was preoccupied with my breasts again, but I definitely felt him shudder beneath me. I was wet, he was wet, and we didn’t need any more foreplay. As I lowered myself onto him, we both held our breath. The sensation of being filled up completely was one I’d never known before and holy hell if I didn’t want this all of the time now.
“So beautiful,” he whispered into my lips.
“So big,” I teased and loved the way he laughed below me. His large hands grabbed my ass and lifted me up and down over his shaft. With his legs out in front of him, it allowed my clit to rub perfectly against his lower stomach, and in no time at all, I felt the first signs of orgasm. I said as much when he started to move me faster and faster. The heat rose, and as much as I wanted it to last, I couldn’t hold back anymore. The air around me exploded when I screamed his name in the meadow that I never wanted to leave. He continued to push against my sex, smiling at the way I was enjoying myself.
Just before the last pulse of ecstasy came and went, Derrick pulled out, flipped me around onto all fours, and entered me again. This new angle, and the recent orgasm, felt so amazing that I couldn’t even speak. As he pounded me from behind like the man that I’d always wanted, I cried out into the night. Our skin slapped together in a fast rhythm, his fingers teasing my clit again. I covered his hand with mine, helping him get me off for the second time.
“You feel so good,” he moaned. “So fucking good.”
His dick hardened even more and his fingers sped up as his orgasm approached. I flipped my head back to call out into the sky again as he released his moisture into me. My body tensed with pleasure while we came together in perfect synchronization again. His warmth filled me up and he pulsed inside of me for several moments. With his head resting against my back, he nestled his arms around my waist and squeezed me hard.
“Wow,” he breathed.
I laughed. “Yeah.”
Derrick pulled out and ushered me down to the ground. Rolling me on top of him again, he gently kissed my lips and tucked my hair behind my ears. Then his eyes widened, and his smile froze as something crossed his mind. “Oh shit.”
Somehow I knew what dangerous thought had stressed him out. I kissed him and whispered into his ear, “Don’t worry, I’m on the pill.”
“Oh thank god,” he said. “I don’t…I didn’t even think. I couldn’t think.” His eyes met mine and we stared at each other.
“What do you feel?” I asked.
“I feel…whole.” As though the words surprised him, he chuckled. “That sounds so cheesy.”
Shaking my head, I grinned. “It doesn’t. I know exactly what you’re talking about.”
“Mates?” he whispered.
“It must be.” Lifting my head to see him again, I asked, “Is this what the others said it was like?”
“Kind of, I guess. They said that their bears knew. That they recognized their mate before the human part accepted it.” He brushed his fingers over my back. “This seems so quick.”
“Not for an animal,” I assured him.
“No, I guess not.”
I rested my cheek against his chest and sighed. Could this really be happening? Was life finally giving me a break by gifting me with this wonderful man that I’d always dreamed I could never have? Had I really found my mate?
We must have drifted off because when Derrick shifted underneath me, I noticed that the moon had moved to the other side of the meadow. “Let’s go home,” he whispered as he picked me up and carried me back through the woods. And when we arrived at his house and he took me upstairs to the loft, I feared that when I woke up tomorrow, this would all disappear.
As I drifted back to sleep underneath the pile of blankets and pillows he had on the floor, I wished that the night would never end and that I hadn’t dreamed about my mate being the most perfect person I’d ever met.
What the hell had I done? Slipping out from underneath Julia early the next morning made me feel like a coward. I was being a coward. A coward and a man who freaked out and woke up with the fear that last night hadn’t been a dream.
How could Julia be my mate? I mean, she’s an amazing woman—smart, funny, in sync with me. But it was Julia. Julia Housten w
ho’d I known forever. Julia Housten who had grown into a fabulous young woman with dreams and hopes and plans. How could I ask her to stay in Alaska with me when she had so much potential brewing inside of her.
I left her a note with the details of our afternoon meeting at one of Scarlett’s clubs, which I learned about from an early morning text from Major. I told her I’d be back to pick her up soon and to make herself comfortable. It probably wasn’t the right thing to do, but my human instincts were in a panic right now.
Knowing Major’s text meant he’d be awake, I jumped in my Jeep and sped toward the cabin he was staying in. It belonged to Brennan, but Brennan had no need for it right now since he’d been asked to live with Scarlett and her pack. So Major had been calling the place home since he’d arrived a couple of months ago.
I didn’t have time to pondered why it was Major I was running to. Perhaps because he was still unmated and I couldn’t talk to the brothers. Not yet anyway. They wouldn’t understand my panic.
Major was sitting on his tiny front porch, drinking his coffee and watching the dust kick up underneath my Jeep as I slid to a stop. When I got out, he looked at me with his almost-orange tiger eyes in curiosity.
“I said noon, right?”
I slammed the door and walked up to the tiger. Sitting in the camping chair next to him, I tried to think of the right words. But nothing came to mind.
“What’s wrong with you?” Major asked, voice actually filled with concern.
“Have you ever had a mate?”
Major bit down on his lower lip and stood without answering me. I thought maybe I’d pissed him off when he walked inside, but a few moments later he came out with another mug of coffee. Passing it to me, he sat down and tried to relax. The tension in his shoulders never went away.
“Why are you asking?” His voice had hardened, and I worried that I’d come to the wrong place seeking advice.
“Julia spent the night with me.”
This peaked his interest. “Julia Housten?”
I nodded and took a sip of the drink, disappointed when I learned it was tea and not coffee.
“Well, I’ll be,” he mused.
“What?”
Shaking his head, Major smiled. “I guess I’m not surprised.”
“Really? Because it’s scaring the hell out of me. Something happened last night…something that’s never happened before and I don’t know what to do.”
Major looked at me like I was a child. “What do you mean? You know exactly what happened last night.”
“No, not the sex. The…bonding, I guess?”
“Oh,” he whispered. Then, looking off into the distance, he seemed to slip into another place. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it? When you find your perfect soulmate.”
“Soulmate?” I choked out. “How is that possible?”
“It’s the animal inside of us. They always know. Well before the human side sees it or even accepts it.”
“How do you know this? You’re not mated.” I glanced over and saw his demeanor change. As though shrinking right in front of my eyes, Major hunched over into himself and dropped his gaze to the ground.
“I was mated once,” he whispered.
“Oh.” I couldn’t think of a thing to say and wanted to hit myself for even bringing it up. Major had always been so calm and cool, I guess I never even imagined he could have suffered through the loss of a mate.
“I lost her a long time ago,” he continued. “But we had many fabulous years together.” He turned to look at me. “Trust me when I tell you…don’t waste any time. Enjoy every minute with her and allow yourself to be happy.”
“It scares the hell out of me,” I admitted.
Major chuckled. “Good. That means it’s real.”
I left soon after that and hurried back to my house. What had I been thinking? Why didn’t I want to enjoy what nature was telling me was mine? Stopping at the store on the way home, I picked up some donuts and fresh fruit, eager to see Julia and hopeful that she hadn’t noticed my disappearing act this morning. But I had no such luck when I opened the door, rushed up the stairs, and found the loft empty. My note was crinkled up into a ball and had been tossed into the corner.
Shit. I’d already ruined this relationship.
I leapt down the steps, taking them three at a time and skidded on the wood floor. If I had slowed myself down, I would have found her when I first arrived. Now I needed to scent the air, which led me to the back patio. Julia was sitting with her legs pulled up underneath her, wearing one of my tee shirts and looking absolutely sexy in it.
“There you are,” I said.
She didn’t turn at first. Instead, she quickly wiped at her eyes and tried to hide the fact that she was crying. God dammit, I was an idiot.
“Julia, please don’t be mad at me.”
“You left me here. Why?”
Facing me now, my heart clenched in pain when I saw the broken look on her face. “I…I got us some breakfast.”
She huffed and turned away from me again. “I can tell you’re lying.”
Sitting in the chair next to her, I reached out to grab her hand. When she jerked it away from my touch, my heart seized. “Julia, I’m sorry. I was being stupid. I—”
“Can you just take me home?” she interrupted with a voice as cold as ice.
I didn’t know what to say, and when she stood and looked down at me, I sensed I’d made the worst mistake of my life. “Julia?”
“I’ll go grab my things.”
She marched by me and into the house while I sat in stunned silence. And after a few minutes of contemplating my options, I realized there was nothing I could say or do right now that would help my case. So, when she walked out the front door and sat in my Jeep, waiting for me, I complied.
Julia only spoke to me when I needed directions, and after mumbling a quick goodbye, she slammed the door shut and disappeared inside her trailer. Two houses down, I saw Zane watching us. Judging us. I revved the engine and thought about how nice it would feel to take my anger out on him. Especially when he flipped me off and walked up to Julia’s front door.
Squeezing the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, I did everything I could to keep the bear inside. After two deep breaths, I threw the Jeep into reverse and skidded out of the dirt road.
“Idiot!” I shouted to myself. “You fucking idiot!” Someone slammed on their horn when I almost hit them in the other lane. Swerving quickly back onto my side, I tried to shake all of these feelings away. If this is what being mated did to me, I didn’t know if that’s what I wanted.
I drove for two hours, wasting time before our meeting and doing my best to clear my head. The scenery helped a little, and so did the quick run I let my bear have. But when I pulled into the parking lot of Scarlett’s club and saw Zane and Julia get out of his car, all of that anger came rushing back to the surface with a vengeance.
“Whoa there, killer bear,” Bo said, suddenly standing next to me.
“What?” I snapped. “Where did you…?” I looked around and realized that I’d gotten out of my Jeep and had started stalking the two of them inside. Jesus Christ, what was wrong with me?
Bo raised his brows and sniffed the air. “You are ready to snap, my friend. What the hell happened?”
I pushed his hand off my shoulder and cracked my neck. “Nothing.”
“Derrick?” The concern in Bo’s voice helped bring me back to the present.
Shaking my head, I let out several deep breaths. “I’m just an idiot,” I mumbled.
“Well, yeah,” Bo teased. “But that’s normal.” He slapped me on the back and started walking with me toward the side entrance.
“You’re a jerk,” I said.
“Yep,” Bo smiled.
I noticed that he was alone and thought about what we were about to discuss. “Where’s Kenzie? I thought she was coming too.”
Bo looked away, igniting my suspicions. “Yeah, she was. But she wasn’t feelin
g well this morning.”
“Hungover?” I teased.
“Worn out,” he joked right back.
I had a feeling something else was going on but didn’t pry. We made our way inside and joined the others. All of the brothers were there, along with Emma, Scarlett, Major, Zane, Julia, and Seth, Scarlett’s second-hand man in her uncle’s wolf pack. The tension in the air nearly suffocated me, and it only got worse when I made eye contact with Julia. Not caring what she thought, I found a seat next to her at the tables that had been pushed together, creating a semicircle so that we could all see each other.
As I sat, Julia gave me a small smile. Progress? I sure hoped so. But I didn’t have time to think about it anymore because Major stood and clapped his hands together.
“The ISC has set a date,” he said.
The silence stretched as we all absorbed what this meant. I knew this day was coming, but the announcement of a date just made it all too real.
“In three days, we will be one of the locations that will have a reveal,” Major continued. “There will be one in Europe and one in Japan, as well.” When none of us spoke, he continued. “The ISC is sending in another representative to oversee our operations during the reveal.”
“Why? Aren’t you going to be here?” Emma asked.
“I am, but I will be shifting.”
Another round of shocked silence filled the room. “You’re going to reveal your tiger?” Brennan asked. When Major nodded, he continued. “And you’re okay with this?”
“I am,” Major said after a moment of hesitation. “And the ISC would like to see at least two or three more volunteers to do the same.”
Expose what we are to the world. He wanted us to give up our autonomy and live in the public eye as a shifter.
“I’ll do it,” Seth said. Scarlett snapped her head to the side to look at him, panic in her eyes. “You shouldn’t, Scarlett. Too much at stake. No one needs to know what you are yet. Just let me represent the wolves, and you can simply say that you employ me.”
“Seth,” she shook her head, “I don’t know about this.”
“I’ll do it too,” Julia suddenly added.