Bear His Mark: Wylde Den One (Alaskan Den Men Book 1)

by Talina Perkins

  Son of a bitch. He should have been paying attention to the radio this morning and not daydreaming about Irish, green eyes, sweet honey, and all the luscious curves of Aurora Starr. Each fucking heartbeat pumped his system with another dose of heat until his air supply shut off.

  “Man, you okay?” Everett clapped him on the back. He offered up a weak smile to help ease the worry lines already cutting deep ridges into Everett’s forehead.

  “Let’s go.” Adam broke away from the crowd as everyone exited the tent.

  “Fire this off if you find them before we do.” Chief handed him a flare gun and nodded.

  “Copy that.”

  “We have a little over six hours of real daylight left to find the hikers. We’ll take the south side while you Wylde boys take the north.”

  He nodded once. Fine by him.

  “Everett, I’ll head up to Starr point and scout out to see if they made it clear. You take the bottom.” Everett gave a two finger salute and tossed a two-way over to him.

  Static played over the radios before settling in on a station they shared with the other team members. In situations like this, time was crucial and teamwork meant lives saved.

  Adam shuffled his climbing gear over his shoulder and secured the straps around his waist. Team one took the southern route and already had rounded the bend out of sight.

  To his left a vast amount of pines served as a barrier between the town and any avalanches that could possibly strike. To his right a vast sea of sparkling powder stretched out before him. Ask anyone north of the Arctic Circle and they’d tell you a million and one stories about the grizzlies of Alaska. How the Draeonians of the old world, the first otherworldlies to discover the power of the ley lines, destined the Wylde’s souls as werebears because their spirits were too strong for a human’s life. Not even the werewolves could harness the power of the werebear.

  “Hey guys,” a newcomer’s voice came in over the two-way.

  His brother responded. “Come in, Pepper.”

  Adam grinned. So that was her name. His brother would be mated by the end of the season. The poor sap was too much in denial to see it.

  “The weather station just radioed in. The guy says two hours tops before total whiteout.”

  That narrowed their window by a hell of a lot.

  That was his cue. He wasn’t leaving this mountainside until he had something to show for their efforts. God, he hoped it wasn’t with body bags.

  His grizzly stretched and growled for the hunt.

  “Copy that.” Adam hooked the radio onto his backpack and turned to his brother.

  “Be safe.” Everett clasped his arm and pulled him in until their foreheads touched. A strong family connection tied den members together and it pulsed between them like a low rhythmic heartbeat. “Be wild!” He tossed out a sly grin and one last squeeze to their clasped hands.

  He held up his radio. “Hit me up if you find them. I’ll do the same.”

  “See you on the flip side.”

  His brother started his descent as he started the climb. Finally alone, he made quick calculations. On two legs, it would take him hours to scour the expanse he needed to cover. The hikers didn’t have that long. If they were missed by the avalanche and had any sense, they would have made their way to the nearest protection from the storm. Starr point was their best bet, and his. Carrying his supplies in his mouth would be a bitch, but he didn’t have much of a choice. With swift choppy movements he tossed off his pack and boots. Next his pants joined the pile and the rest of his gear, and then he stowed everything away in his pack or tied it to the exterior.

  Damn.

  Strong gusts whipped around the side of the ledge. He sucked air out of surprise and fell to his knees.

  Kneeling, he let the magic of the werebear take over. Heat infused his muscles from the force of his shift.

  Fresh snow, pine, and the approaching storm. Every scent more alluring than the next. He loved the wild, brutal world he and his den family called home for the last eighty-plus years.

  Bones cracked and fur replaced skin in a sweeping blur.

  Human fused with bear and through his beast’s eyes, everything came into crystal clear focus. In one swoop he gathered his pack between his teeth and ran. Power surged through his muscles and fear pushed him harder. Beneath his weight snow crunch and his paws punched through the fresh powder now coming down harder.

  Werebears were known for their tenacity and calculating moves. The US government caught on quick after the truth of shifters got out a handful of decades back. Within a few years Uncle Sam drafted shifters of all kinds into their ranks to form platoons depending on their strengths. His beast’s amped-up instincts caught and sorted every scent, labeling them local or foreign. One stood out among the many. Honey. Or at least that’s how his bear read the sweet nectar that whipped along the wind.

  He took a bend in the trail with a little more force than necessary. Snow shifted and he extended his claws for traction.

  Adam dodged a low-hanging branch and made short work of passing a felled tree covering the path.

  Flurries of snow spiraled in the air on a stiff ribbon of wind, bringing with it the smell of Aurora.

  He stumbled and took a nosedive into a snow drift. What the hell? It couldn’t be! Didn’t that woman know how to listen?

  Big, fat flakes fell harder and faster, several hitting him square on the snout.

  From the east a low, rumbled boom cracked through the sounds of the storm. A single flash of light caught his eye from the west.

  They’d found them. A part of him eased, but he couldn’t rest.

  Vibrations rumbled and fed into his paws. Something was wrong.

  Fear pushed him up the back trail to Starr Point faster than he’d ever moved before. Felled trees, snow drifts... nothing slowed him down. The farther he went the stronger the scent. Every few feet the path became more precarious for a grizzly of his size and the damn jagged rocks pierced the underside of his paws. He pushed harder. Each stab forced him to focus and forget the cold seeping into his fur.

  The rumbling grew louder.

  Avalanche.

  His heart stopped cold. Without breaking stride, he launched the full weight of his grizzly over the ledge. His gaze shot from side to side until he spotted her. Panic ebbed.

  There she was. Safe.

  The fist metal band clamping around his heart released.

  Movement above her caught his acute gaze. His attention flashed between her shocked expression and a mountainside that appeared to be shifting above them.

  Fear and panic collided with the adrenaline in his blood and tasted like a shot of acid down the back of his throat. He opened his mouth in warning, but only a bellowed roar came out.

  Son of a... no time to shift. His focus narrowed to her vivid green eyes as they pierced his and the same fear he felt mirrored back from the human kneeling over a pile of snow. Thunder penetrated the ground beneath him. Eyes wide, he did the only thing a two-ton bear could do.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Paws extended, Adam wrapped himself around her fragile body and tucked her close like a football. Skidding along his back, pure momentum carried them across the unforgiving ledge until a rock wall graciously stopped their progress.

  He roared in protest. That would hurt for a while. Never mind, he could take the pain. Rumbling continued for another thirty seconds or so before cutting off the main source of light and their only exit.

  This just went from bad to worse. The sun already dipped close to the horizon. In another half hour, it would be dusk.

  With snow covering the slits in the stone ceiling, darkness fell over them.

  Adam stiffened when the bundle in his arms flailed. Elbows, knees, fists and kitten claws.

  Mmm. Sexy. A right hook to the ribs, or was that another knee, forced out a huff of air.

  Every weapon the woman had she used. Small, muffled grunts and moans brought on other ideas and sounded like angels an
d bells to his ears. He wanted to shred her clothing with his bare teeth and ravish her until she gave herself up to him.

  Palms pressed against his massive, furry chest, her fingers began to tighten around large clumps as she pushed up. Wide-eyed and flushed with anger, Aurora looked down at him and his heart clamored before coming to an abrupt stop.

  “You big brute. You oaf. What the hell was that? You big overbearing...” Fury, rage, fear... it all rushed at him and worked its way into her words enough she didn’t realize her surroundings. Or the fact she pounded her fists into a grizzly ten times her size.

  Now this was the Aurora he remembered. A fiery woman with a sassy mouth that tempted him closer for a taste. Adam shook her loose and pushed to all fours, effectively bumping Aurora to her plush little ass and ending her tirade of expletives. He kinda liked it when she got all worked up, but she needed to conserve her energy. God, why had she left the safety of town?

  No telling how long they would be here. Her lips thinned and she stared back at him, her brows pinched together with a frown.

  She scoffed, but he doubted she could feel anything given how many layers of pants she had to have on under her outer snowsuit. Come to think of it, how the hell did she even move in that many layers? He made a mental note to ask her as he peeled off each and every stitch of clothing. And he would. Undress her that was. His bear was hungry for a taste of his mate. His bear growled.

  Adam stood over Aurora and puffed a hot blast of air in her direction before he pushed his massive weight through the narrow entrance leading deeper into the den. Or at least that had been his plan. Had it gotten smaller since their last time up here?

  Seconds later energy flowed over him and the cold wrapped around him. Grizzly shifters ran several degrees hotter than humans and even other otherworldly shifters. Springtime in Alaska was like full-on winter for the lower forty-eight and the bitter cold shrugged off killed mortals. It would do the same to Aurora if he didn’t find a way to protect her.

  But not him. The fierce need to mate singed his insides and cranked up his internal dial to hellish levels. Right about now, he welcomed the chill and brisk jump to his adrenaline.

  He turned abruptly and caught her off-guard as she went to follow him.

  “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” he offered up cautiously, taking a step closer. He knew he needed to get her deeper into the den away from the ice wall at their back, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Couldn’t pull away.

  As much as he tried, he couldn’t break the mesmerizing hold as she locked her gaze on him. Like honey to his senses, she lured him closer, whether she knew it or not. This close to mating season she played havoc with his senses. If he continued, there would be no holding back from going fucking crazy in lust for her until he had her back in his bed and coming every which way he could think of. And wearing his mark.

  He bared his teeth with a smile, silently loving the way her attention darted between his parted lips and bare chest.

  Irritated or not, the lust that swirled around them and brushed against his senses told a story of its own. Her gaze riveted farther south and his cock twitched under her heated attention.

  “Oh, God. Your clothes. You need something to wear. You’ll freeze. Although, from the looks of it nothing on you…” Aurora paused midsentence long enough to draw her eyes to his, “...looks affected by the cold.” She simply crossed her arms as if to keep from reaching out, and it made him want to pin her against the wall and see if she still tasted like honey in the springtime.

  He sniffed the air. Even through the thick material of her suit she had zipped up tight around her neck, he could scent her arousal.

  “You feel it too, don’t you?” She could try to hide it, but beneath the ire she fostered for him, something else simmered.

  “I don’t feel anything but cold.”

  His hand shot out and captured a wisp of hair that fell loose around her heart-shaped face to brush against her plumps lips. Gently, as not to spook his snow bunny, Adam traced the back of his knuckles along her jaw, tipped her head up and breathed in the deep sigh she released.

  “Liar,” he accused in the same hushed tone he remembered always affected her.

  Fire blazed in her eyes and it mirrored the mating heat that burned in him. An inch, maybe less, and he could have her lips pressed against his. Her body moving over him, his tongue delving within the warm lushness of her delectable mouth.

  She would reject him, though. Like she had the last time he stood this close and begged her not to leave him.

  “Are you going to eat me with your eyes or are you going to kiss me, Adam Wylde?” Her words came out breathy and raspy with need. How many nights had he dreamed of her saying his name one last time? Masturbated to the vision of her cemented in his memories?

  He glided closer. She’d lost weight since he’d seen her last by the way her cheeks hollowed as she spoke. He adored her ample, feminine curves perfect for his larger size and loved how she molded against his body. She wasn’t taking care of herself the way a mate would care for her.

  He would fix that.

  Never while loving a woman had he spilled himself by simply kissing her. With Aurora, he was bordering the edge of that particular experience.

  Wedging his thigh between her legs, he caught her waist with one hand and hauled her close with his other pressed to the back of her head.

  She would leave again, but not without knowing the truth. Knowing that they were intended as mates.

  Gasps and moans melted into his mouth as he claimed her plump, parted lips. Heaven. Sweet, delicious fucking Heaven. The first taste of divinity after five years of tasteless fruit nearly brought him to his knees.

  Soft palms pressed into his chest. Feather-light touches trailed down his chest. As though she were relearning the contours of his body, Aurora slowly mapped each scar that marred his chest she knew and a few new ones.

  Everything clicked and their surroundings melted away. Adrenaline jacked up his heart rate and hammered against the wall of his chest. Instinct drove the need of the mating heat through his veins until he couldn’t think, only act.

  With nimble fingers, he slipped the elastic band that held her long masses of sable hair away from her face and relished the way the silken strands slipped through his fingers. She’d grown it out. He tightened his grip around her thick, luscious hair and sank deeper into his siren’s heady taste.

  Liquid spilled from the tip of his dick to wet his abdomen. With the softest of touches, she glided a single finger up the length of his thickened cock and swirled the spilled liquid. Steel bands wrapped around his gut and it took all he had not to rip her clothes off and fuck her long and hard.

  For a fragile second, just one, he wanted to fall to his knees and beg her to stay.

  He ground his back teeth and let his head fall back, breaking their kiss. As each of her fingers encased his length, the tighter the cords in his neck drew. Damn, she was killing him. All he could think about was dipping his cock between her legs and coating his shaft with her juices. If she stroked him from tip to base one more time it was over.

  Need boiled over. His grizzly clawed at the thin shroud that separated him from his beast. With every second she touched him the neural connection of the mating bond shared between two destined mates grew stronger. The rhythm of her feelings mingled with his until he couldn’t tell his from hers.

  Fuck her. Claim her. Mark her.

  Instinct fogged over the last of his thoughts.

  “Don’t.” He reached between them, eyes squeezed shut. “Not unless you’re willing to take me, Aurora.” Damn. She robbed every last coherent thought from him. “You want that? You want me to fuck you and take everything away from you, because I’m ready?” Arms stretched out, he offered himself to her.

  In mere seconds he witnessed Aurora blink back the heat and longing until uncertainty clouded her eyes.

  “I didn’t think so.”

  Her fingers s
till wrapped around his pulsating cock.

  Frustration tore from him, and he pulled away with a deep growl reverberating off the walls. Maybe it would loosen the damn ice wall that held them locked in here and they could get off this fucking mountain. Being this close to her killed him every minute he couldn’t have her.

  Ire knotted deep in the pit of his stomach. He shoved his discomfort down with a tight grip and straightened to his full height. Peering down at his little snow bunny all dressed in white, he spoke slowly.

  “I see nothing has changed, sweetheart.” Looking at her, he reached out and thumbed the red blush that stained her cheeks. She wore her heartbreak on her sleeve, and it tore a growl from him. Why did she let the past rule her happiness now?

  “And why would it? Last I checked you’re still a werebear and I’m still human.” The need in her voice broke through, but her words served as an impenetrable wall.

  “That’s your father speaking. Not you. Or it didn’t use to be.”

  Human, shifter, witch, hell, even vampire. To Adam it didn’t matter where you came from. Love was just that—love. Nothing else mattered. Then again, he grew up in the new world only a few years after the otherworldlies showed themselves to mankind. Maybe humans needed longer to process the truth of there being another species out there besides theirs?

  “Tell me, has that changed, Aurora?” He stroked the tip of her chin and brought her gaze level with his. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye? After what we shared, I deserved that much.” He walked them back until he had her pinned to the stone wall of the den and slid between her thighs.

  “We were young.”

  “And?” Lowering his head, Adam inhaled as he ran his nose from her breasts to her mouth for emphasis. “You know now as you did back then, that we belong together.” Hands pinned above her head he looked into her eyes. “Can’t exactly lie about that, can you? Answer me, do you feel the call?”