by R. E. Butler
“It’s only been two days,” Row said.
“It’s just been a lot of driving.”
“I’m the one doing the driving. You’ve been stretched out in the backseat playing games on your tablet and driving me crazy with pop music.”
“You know you love my music.”
He snorted. “You have no proof of that.”
The attendant gave Row change, and Dani asked, “Where are we?”
“Wilde Creek,” the man said.
Row asked, “Is there any place in town to get a meal?”
“Not this late. Unless you want junk food, which there’s plenty of in the mini mart.”
“Ugh,” Dani said. “No more chips and snack cakes.”
“Thanks,” Row said to the attendant. As he and Dani got into the SUV, he said, “It’s a wooded town. We could go hunting.”
“You mean you could go hunting and I could graze? What if there are humans hunting? I don’t want to get shot.”
“I’ll keep you safe.”
Using the map program on his phone, he found a heavily wooded area nearby. It took twenty minutes to find the road that skirted along the woods. Row parked and got out, going to the back to get the supplies ready.
Dani got out just as Row heard the distant howling of wolves. “Ah, damn it,” he muttered. “We must be in pack territory. Get back in the car, Dani.”
When she didn’t answer him, he stepped around the side of the vehicle and saw her staring into the dark woods. “Dani?”
She turned her head slowly to look at him. “I hear him.”
“Him? Him who?”
“Mine. My…mine.” Her whole body shook and she exploded into her shift, far faster than Row had ever seen her do before. Her clothes hung in tatters around her form. She pawed at the ground with a snort, took one look at Row, and then leapt toward the woods.
“Dani! Wait, it’s too dangerous, they’ll kill you!”
Panic thundered down on him as his sister bounded into the woods and disappeared. Row stripped, shifting into his grizzly form and lumbering after her as quickly as he could. If they were in pack territory, Dani was in trouble. The wolves might not attack Row, but they would definitely go after a reindeer first and ask questions later.
As Row followed her scent through the woods, he became aware of another presence tracking her as well. He snarled, knowing it was a wolf. Row bellowed a warning, but the wolf never stopped moving, a shadow following Dani as closely as Row was. He could see his sister ahead of him, but he couldn’t catch up to her.
Realizing it was futile to get Dani to stop, he decided to intercept the wolf instead. Turning abruptly, he raced toward the wolf, following its scent as he closed in on his target. He barreled into the wolf’s side, shifting as he did so. The wolf shifted as well, and Row pressed them to a tree and snarled, “She’s not prey, she’s my sister.”
A feminine voice wheezed out, “She’s a reindeer.”
His rage surged. “I know that!”
He wanted to tear the female apart to protect his sister, even though he knew he’d never act on that. The wolf was running on instinct, just like Dani was, unfortunately.
Cold fingers pressed to his cheeks, and the female pleaded, “Please don’t kill me.”
At her touch, Row felt everything inside him quiet. He stared at the wolf, really looking at her for the first time, and he was stunned. By the light of the full moon, and with his enhanced eyesight, he could see her clearly. She was beautiful, with pale skin and lustrous dark hair. She licked her lips, and he growled at the sight. His heart clenched tightly enough to make his knees shake. He pressed his face to her neck and inhaled. She tensed, but she didn’t try to get away.
Immediately he knew who she was – his mate.
He wrapped his arms around her and sat down, not caring about the snow, only wanting to protect her from the cold. He stroked his fingers down her throat, taking in her sweet, woodsy scent. She smelled like flowers, and the forest at night.
“Adara mine. I found you. I can’t believe I found you.” The words left his mouth before he realized what he was saying.
He’d been trailing his sister, but he’d found his mate. The fates were smiling on him, and he wasn’t going to waste a second.
“I’m–” She opened her mouth, but he pressed his lips to hers, stifling the words with a kiss that seared him all the way to his soul. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and the taste of her exploded on his tongue like dark chocolate. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she moaned, kissing him back. His bear roared in triumph.
As his fingers trailed down her back, he realized she was scarred, badly. He rumbled angrily, furious at the injuries she must have suffered. “Who hurt you? I’ll slaughter them!”
She struggled to get off his lap, but he wouldn’t let her go.
“Who are you? Let me go right now!”
“I’m Row, and you’re mine.”
He stood swiftly, tossing her gently over his shoulder. He needed to find Dani and make sure she was safe, and then he’d deal with his mate. Whoever had harmed her badly enough to scar her was going to suffer greatly. Row had his share of scars from his battles, but females weren’t supposed to be fighting for their lives. He’d always heard that wolf packs protected their females and cubs, so why had she been harmed?
“Put me down, you loon!”
He gripped the inside of her thigh to hold her against his shoulder as he began to walk. “Not now, Adara.”
“My name is Kammie.”
“Kammie,” he said, rubbing the inside of her leg, aware of the heat of her skin and how close he was to the apex of her thighs. “Adara,” he explained. “My mate.”
Chapter 2
Kammie decided that the most uncomfortable position she’d ever been in was hanging over the broad shoulder of this were-bear who said his name was Row. One minute she was chasing a reindeer – which was hard enough to believe in the woods of Wilde Creek – and the next minute she’d been in Row’s arms. His glorious, muscular arms.
Shut up, Kammie.
She couldn’t hear anything but the sound of her blood rushing in her ears. She knew they were still in the pack’s woods, but the territory stretched for miles. This sexy beast had decided that she was his mate, and when she’d tried to get out of his arms, he’d put her in a position that she couldn’t get free from.
She could probably kick him in the face, but she had a feeling that even if she did connect her heel with his nose, he most likely wouldn’t drop her. Plus, he was gorgeous, and she didn’t really want to hurt him. Her wolf was in heaven, even though Kammie was anything but happy.
Row had said she was his mate, but he hadn’t really seen her body; the body she kept covered with long sleeves and pants no matter the weather. She knew that once he got her somewhere well-lit, he’d see the map of the abuse she’d suffered at the hands of her uncle. He might think she was his mate, but he wouldn’t want to tie himself to her forever. She would never be a trophy wife, a woman in a low-cut dress or a skimpy bikini, that a male would want to show off.
He hadn’t said anything since he’d called her adara and introduced himself.
“How about putting me down?”
His hand, wrapped around her thigh and holding her against his shoulder, tightened slightly. She didn’t want to think about how close he was to her pussy, which had been throbbing ever since she’d realized he wasn’t going to kill her.
“No.”
She groaned. “Where are you taking me?”
“To find my sister.”
“The reindeer?”
He grunted.
“So how does a bear end up with a reindeer shifter for a sister anyway? Is your mom a reindeer?”
“I’m the offspring of two bears. Dani is adopted.”
“Okay, seriously, I need you to put me down. My head is killing me.”
He stopped immediately, pulling her from his shoulder with such care that it made her feel
like she was made of glass. He cradled her against his chest and, when the stars had stopped sparking in her vision, she found him watching her with sincere concern.
“How’s your head?” he asked gruffly.
“You can put me down, Row.” So I can hop out of here like a freaking bunny.
“Not until I know you won’t run away from me.”
Is he psychic?
“I won’t run.”
He arched a dark brow.
“Okay, fine, I was thinking about it, but you’re really making me uncomfortable here. I’m naked and you’re naked, and you’re touching me.”
“Mates touch.”
She looked skyward and closed her eyes with a sigh. “You say that now, but in the light of day you’ll change your mind. Save us both some aggravation and just let me go.”
He blinked slowly and inhaled deeply, his chest expanding against her side. The slide of his hot flesh next to hers seared her, made her never want the moment to end – even as a small part of her, the frightened, beaten child part, was screaming at her to get away before he destroyed her completely.
He didn’t say anything as he began moving again, and he didn’t put her down, either. He paused every few feet and scented the air, changing his path as he walked with long, sure strides. She stared at the side of his face and neck. With her enhanced sight, she could see faint scars. They were old, like hers, and jagged as though his flesh had been torn by claws. Chewing her lip, she wondered what he’d been through. How strange would it be if he had been abused, too? It was one thing to consider eventually finding a male who wasn’t repulsed by her scars, or who would let her stay covered for the rest of her life. It was an entirely different scenario to think that her mate might have scars like hers.
Row stopped moving suddenly and began to growl, so loudly that his whole body vibrated. Kammie could feel the rage in the sound. Under normal circumstances, when she wasn’t naked in the arms of the male making the sound, she might have been terrified. Surprisingly, she was anything but terrified. She couldn’t really explain how she knew with absolute certainty that Row wouldn’t hurt her, but she did.
Row set Kammie on her feet gently and tucked her behind his back. “Let my sister go.”
Kammie peeked around his broad shoulder and saw her friend and fellow packmate, Adam, holding a petite blonde in his arms. They were a few yards away, but Kammie could scent the passion in the air and hear their panting breaths.
“Go away, Row,” the blonde said.
“Dani,” Row snarled, “come to me. We have a journey ahead of us.”
Adam growled darkly, his grip tightening on Row’s sister. “Mine.”
Kammie felt Row’s body bulk slightly, and his skin prickled under her hands as he began to let his bear loose. She liked Adam and she didn’t want him to be hurt, but she wasn’t sure how to defuse the situation.
Pressing her lips to his back, she gripped his waist gently and said, “Please don’t hurt my friend.”
Row’s growl cut off abruptly and he straightened from his aggressive stance. “You’re my responsibility. I promised our mother that I would take you to your people.”
“What if we get out of the woods and talk?” Dani suggested, sounding hopeful. “Adam isn’t going to let me go, Row. No more than you’re going to let that female behind you go. My name is Dancer, by the way, but everyone calls me Dani.”
Kammie giggled inwardly at meeting a reindeer named Dancer, and leaned around Row’s side again to smile at her. “I’m Kammie. I’m not sure where we are exactly, but maybe Adam’s house is close?”
“My house is about a half mile that way,” Adam said, jerking his head to the right.
“You might’ve mentioned your house was so close, instead of letting me molest you in the woods,” Dani said, chuckling.
“I had no blood left in my brain,” Adam said.
Row made a disgusted sound. “She’s my sister, man.”
“Sorry,” Adam said, not sounding one bit sorry. He swung Dani into his arms and Row immediately did the same to Kammie, falling into step behind the couple as they moved through the woods.
Row looked down at Kammie. “You didn’t run.”
Damn it. “I guess I didn’t.”
“Then you accept that we’re mates?”
Not remotely. “We’ll talk later. When I have clothes on and so do you.”
“Why are you so worried about clothing?”
“Because I am.”
Less than ten minutes later, Adam had opened the front door to his house and let Row and Kammie inside. Adam left them in the living room as he immediately carried Dani back to a bedroom.
Row’s hands tightened on Kammie slightly, and she stared up at him. “You can put me down now.”
“Are you going to run?”
“No.”
He sighed and put her down. His hand rested on her shoulder, just heavy enough to let her know that he’d be able to stop her if she took off. Which she wasn’t thinking about.
Not really.
A light clicked on, and Kammie reeled back out of instinct, trying to move into the shadows and cover herself.
Row didn’t let her get far. He drew her back to him so she was under the harsh light of the fixture over the foyer. “Don’t hide yourself from me.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “Row, please.”
The light clicked off, and he exhaled sharply just a heartbeat before he drew her close and wrapped his arms around her. He buried his face in her neck with a soft growl. “We’ll deal with this later. For now, I’ll let it slide.”
This time her eyes stung for an entirely different reason. He was being sweet – in a completely bossy, asshole sort of way. She let herself relax into his warmth and shoved her worry about what might come later out of her mind. She could live in the moment and enjoy this for what it was. Afterward, she’d have this memory for the lonely nights to come.
Adam and Dani came back into the living room several minutes later, both more or less dressed. Adam was wearing jeans, and Dani had on one of his t-shirts, which was just long enough to cover her to mid-thigh. Her skin was flushed and they both looked happy, especially Adam. Kammie hadn’t seen him really smile in a long time.
Dani handed them a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Row was taller than Adam, and more muscular, but the sweats were baggy enough to fit him. Row grimaced as Kammie tugged the long-sleeved shirt over her head.
“What?” she asked.
“You smell like another male in that shirt.”
Kammie rolled her eyes as Dani giggled.
Row snarled, and Adam tucked Dani behind him quickly. “Don’t snarl at my mate in my house. I don’t give a damn who you are to her.”
Kammie said, “You’re really mates, Adam?”
He nodded. “Yeah. What’s up with you and growling bear here? Do you need help?”
Row snarled so loudly that the pictures on the walls rattled. For a moment, just the briefest blip of time, Kammie considered telling Adam that yes, she did need help, but instead she shook her head. “It’s fine, Adam.”
It wasn’t remotely fine, but she’d deal with it later.
“Dani said you were taking her to see her people, but that’s clearly not your concern any longer,” Adam said.
Row’s face tightened in anger. “She’s my sister.”
“I’m her mate.” Adam growled. “I’ll take her to her people.”
“Or we could skip it,” Dani said, sliding her hands around Adam’s chest and resting her cheek on his shoulder as she peered around at them. “I don’t need to find my people to have found my home.”
Kammie thought it was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard. Adam didn’t seem to mind that his mate was seeing the scars from the burns he’d suffered as a teenager. Half of his body had burn scars, and Kammie knew he’d been struggling with his future in the pack and his inability to find a mate.
A part of her wanted to give in to the optimism that was t
rying hard to bloom within her, but she squashed it. It was too tempting to hope that Row actually wouldn’t mind her scars. She’d spent the years since her uncle’s abuse being ridiculed and ostracized. She wasn’t ready to believe that Row didn’t care about her scars, although the tiniest part of her wanted to.
Adam looked at Dani for a long, quiet moment, and then said, “You can borrow my truck to drive to Kammie’s.”
“You don’t want to drive us?” Kammie asked.
Adam glanced at Kammie for only a second. “I don’t really want to leave the house. You can bring the truck back tomorrow.”
“Late tomorrow,” Dani said.
Row made a disgusted sound, and Kammie just shook her head with a smile. After they said goodnight to Adam and Dani, Row followed Kammie out of the house to where Adam’s truck was parked on the street. Before her bare feet could hit the snow-covered sidewalk, Row had picked her up again and carried her to the truck.
He was clearly agitated, which made Kammie nervous. Her past told her that people who were angry tended to strike out at others. Although she didn’t believe that Row would hurt her, she couldn’t stop the instinctive anxiety that spiked through her. Trying to force the feelings away, she unlocked the door with the remote and Row set her on the passenger seat. He climbed in behind the wheel and started the engine.
“My place isn’t too far,” she said, suddenly feeling awkward.
Row put his foot on the brake and shifted into gear. “I’m sorry that I have a responsibility to my sister.”
“What? Why would you be sorry about that?”
“Because I should be focused on you, but I’m worried about Dani.”
“Adam’s a good guy.”
“She’s still my sister.”
“I’m an only child, so I don’t know what it’s like to feel responsible for another person, but I’m not worried about Dani and Adam, and you shouldn’t be either.”
He said nothing as she gave him directions to her place. Her nerves kicked up as he parked in front of her small home. Kammie had lived there for seven years, ever since she turned eighteen and was ready to move out on her own.
She felt as if she’d been on her own for far longer than just a few years, though. Her mom died when she was twelve. She’d hardly had time to grieve the loss when her dad took her to his brother’s home and never came back. She’d had a good life up until that point – loving parents, happy childhood – and then the rug had been yanked out from under her. Her uncle looked at her as nothing more than a burden. He was an omega, and unhappy with his place in the pack. He couldn’t be a ranked male because he was nearsighted, even in his shift. He harbored a lot of bitterness over his position, and when she was forced on him by the alpha, his resentment deepened.