by M. L. Briers
“You mean apart from the fact that you have a bear inside you?” He went to answer, but she wasn’t done. “The fact that you – the man you – can grow fangs and claws and kill me dead… or the fact that you’re built like a big old brick outhouse… no, wait, maybe the growling, sniffing, and general predatory behaviour you exhibit… there’s more, I just can’t think of it right now.”
“Well,” he looked a little lost in thought himself when she jumped in place and rushed out.
“Let’s not even get me started on this whole mate thing…” She added and he frowned.
“Maybe that’s one we’ll tackle later.” He nodded. He had a mountain to climb, and not the easy ones that they could see out of the windows of the lodge.
~
~
~
Nick hadn’t really been paying much attention to what was around him. He’d been preoccupied with trying to work through the whole issue of finding and losing his mate.
He wasn’t entirely sure when it was that he’d started to notice, or follow, the footprints in the snow that seemed to be leading in the general direction of his cabin, but when his beast raised its head and started to claw inside of him… then he started to pay attention…
It wasn’t so much the footprints anymore, as the faint scent in the air that was pulling on his subconscious mind, and making him physically plant his feet right next to the echo of hers in the snow…
Kristy.
He’d know her scent anywhere because it was now stored within his memory. Within his very soul.
His beast growled at the thought of her, out there by herself in the open terrain of the wilderness, as night was starting to close in, and heading towards his home like it was some homing beacon for where fate knew that she belonged.
Fate. Damn, he hated that concept.
How could fate have been so damn cruel to bring his mate to him only to have her already taken by a man his clan called friend? He called friend.
There wasn’t much that he could do about that, but she was still his mate to protect, and being a city slicker out in the wilds didn’t bode well for her. His beast pressed the urgency by trying to push forward… Nick pushed back.
He knew what he needed to do, and he started on fast feet, using her tracks and her scent as a guide to hunt her down. In his bear’s mind – the hunt was on for their mate, and he couldn’t do much about that now, save for keep the beast at bay as long as possible.
~
~
~
Kristy was getting tired. Cold and tired.
She guessed that she’d thought this whole – getting away from her troubles thing – was a good idea when she’d been bolstered by the Scotch in the veins and a need for some alone time. But now that the night was stalking the land and she was trekking through an endless icy wilderness, surrounded by trees, mountains, and not much else, especially in the way of life… she’d come to the conclusion that she was an idiot.
That realisation didn’t help her much now. She knew that she should turn back – that would be the obvious solution to any miscalculation in judgement – but the only trouble was, she’d not been paying attention to where she was going – she’d not looked for landmarks by which to navigate her way back, and even if she had… night was coming, how the hell was she going to see her hand in front of her face without street lights?
Kristy stopped in place and scowled at the frosty landscape about her. Turning a full three sixty on her boots – a little fear and a whole lot of panic rose inside of her.
Alone. Cold. Tired… Lost.
“Done for.” She muttered into the frozen silence of the space around her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
~
“Where’s Kristy?” Jackson singled out Zoe in the crowded bar as Dwight eyed the area for prospective female company for the long winter night ahead of him.
Zoe had wondered the same thing, given that the woman had something of a dilemma on her hands. What could she say to the man who was a big old part of that problem…?
“I think she’s at the cabin doing female stuff.” She nodded at her own lie and wondered if he’d take it further. She could think on her feet with the best of them, but a couple of glasses of wine under her belt did slow down the mental reflexes.
“Like…?” Dwight pushed and Zoe huffed inside.
The man was a royal pain in the backside. He had no moral compass to speak of and was akin to a Neanderthal. She’d only met him twice, and that was more than enough in her book.
“Shaving her pits, and other places…” Zoe offered him a death glare, but the man was either oblivious, or he was just plain used to it.
“Mowing the lawn.” He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows as she drew a breath and rolled her eyes.
“Shouldn’t he be on a leash?” She offered to Jackson and the man chuckled.
“He grows on you after a while.” Jackson assured her and she snorted her contempt for that idea.
“I’m not standing around him long enough for that to happen.” It was the perfect escape for her, leaving them standing at the bar, she turned and ran straight into the vampire…
“Throwing yourself at me already?” Zav offered her a smirk and she had to hold onto the urge to zap someone, maybe him, maybe Dwight, but her magic was buzzing in readiness for her to just let go.
“In what universe would you even think that was possible?” Zoe tried to sidestep the man, but he moved with her, counteracting her step and regarding her with clinical eyes…
“There’s just something about you that challenges my…”
“Masculinity?” She offered with a scathing look up and down his body.
“That’s the last thing it challenges.” Zav offered back and she snorted once more.
“I told you, jog on.” Zoe knew that the scent of her fae blood would be attracting him – if humans were a fine wine then she was champagne – but she just didn’t like the look in the man’s eye.
“You present a challenge and expect me to walk away?” Zav’s tone was teasing, but she had enough on her plate, what with Kristy doubting her choice of husband to be, and Chloe finding that she had a shifter for a mate – the appearance of Dwight – she really didn’t need a horny, hungry vampire pursuing her.
“Yes.” Zoe informed him, eyeing him up and down again – if he wasn’t a vampire then she might have been interested in a no strings attached, one night of lust, encounter, but he was, so she wasn’t. “Unless you want to play a game of pincushion with stakes.”
Zav’s grin was worth its weight in gold. The man, like so many of his kind, was certainly alluring, magnetic, and she didn’t doubt the way that her body responded to his presence was all part of the dark plan to lure her in… but she wasn’t about to give him what he wanted – even if she thought that she might just enjoy it herself.
“You know…?” He leaned in a little too close and she felt a rush of adrenaline flow through her veins with a whole heap of excitement and expectation on her traitorous body’s part. “I think you might be interested.” He whispered, forcing her ears to concentrate on him and only him as she tried to pick up his words over the chatter in the bar.
That act alone was enough to fuel a fresh wave of excitement inside of her as her senses focused on him and only him.
“You know…?” She offered back and watched as he centred all of his attention right back on her. “I think some people only see what they want to see.”
“Exactly, perhaps you need to look at me without the pre-programmed judgement that you offer my kind.”
“No, I’m good.” Zoe grinned as mischief filled her eyes, and Zav had to smile, because on her, that look was somehow contagious.
~
~
~
“Ah, crap.” Nick bit out as he spotted the flash of colour from the ski jacket against the backdrop of the snow.
He could scent her in the air now, strong and clear. It was definitely her and she’
d done the unthinkable – stopped to rest.
He gained ground on the padded shape on the ground. He noted that her head was down and her hat was obscuring any hope he had of seeing her face in that position.
He couldn’t even hear her heart beating because his own heart was too loud inside of his ears. Fear and anxiety gripped him like the hard embrace of a clenched fist within his stomach and mind.
When he reached her side she didn’t react. Dropping to his knees in the snow – he reached for her cheek. The warmth of his hand caressed the ice cold of her skin and he heard a small catch in her throat… his heart raced at the sound of it.
“Come on, Kristy. I’ve got you…” Nick wasted no time in scooping her up into his arms.
He noted just how limp she was. Noted the way that her head lulled against his chest as he brought her in as close as he could get her.
Setting off on fast feet further into the expanse of the mountain – he had no compunction about taking her to his cabin rather than back to the lodge. The cabin was closer and she needed thawing out sooner rather than later…and she was his mate. Home was where she should be.
CHAPTER TWELVE
~
“Call me crazy…” Dolph started and his mate pulled her head back on her neck and scowled up at him.
“I hope that description isn’t true.” Chloe said as her eyebrows tried to pinch together over her nose.
“Crazy for you.” He offered back with something of a cheesy grin as she grimaced at his words.
“Please don’t sing.” She shook her head, but locked her eyes with his when he started to chuckle. It was deep and low down in that big muscled chest of his, and it called to her girlie senses like a Siren’s song.
“That really would have you running away screaming.” Dolph assured her and was rewarded with the brightest smile that he’d seen to date.
It looked good on her. The amusement lit her eyes and gave him hope that he was going about this wooing thing in the right way.
It wasn’t as if there was a playbook to follow. Every mate was different, and humans were especially tricky sometimes.
Chloe caught herself smiling when she had wanted to spend her whole time frowning and scowling at him to keep him at bay.
There was just something about the man that attracted her attention in more ways than one, and she liked it and hated it at the same time.
Bear… remember that he’s a damn bear… not right now, but at any moment he could well shift into his furry side…
That would be bad…
I don’t want to be eaten by a bear, but then… being a mate meant that I should be the last one in the room eaten by him… so that’s good, kind of.
He has got the nicest, sexiest eyes – soulful – smiling eyes that shows a playful side… so, he likes to play with his food before he eats it…
No, I’m his mate… he can’t eat me… unless he goes insane and then all bets are off, apparently.
I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be with him… naked… that muscled body all hard… everything hard…
I wonder what that looks like?
He’s a big guy – I doubt it’s a pimple…
Wait, stop thinking about his…
“Something wrong?” Dolph had watched her kind of zone out and then snap right back into the moment again.
“Nope.” She rushed out, looking guilty than a fox stealing chickens. Her cheeks were taking on a nice rosy pinkness, and her eyes were dashing about in her head – trying to look anywhere but at him.
“Tell me what you were thinking?” He urged, and watched as her eyes widened a little, and her cheeks reddened.
“That’s not even… good conversation.” She sidestepped the mental images that were flooding her mind – but still she couldn’t seem to shake them. X-rated thoughts that needed to be banished.
“Maybe it’s better to show than tell?” That playfulness was back on his face and in his voice when her eyes snapped towards his and locked against his gaze…
“I don’t… maybe not such a good…” She was slowly shaking her head from side to side, and he wanted to throw his head back on his neck and laugh out loud, but he thought she might just have crawled right back behind that wall she’d been trying to erect between them and he’d been trying to take apart, brick by brick.
Dolph leaned in towards her, and noted that she swayed in towards him slightly, before making a conscious effort to pull back the other way.
“My mother always said, you never know until you try, and you should never knock what you haven’t tried.” His words were whispered near her ear, and a hard shiver ran her spine at the very thought of those magic words of wisdom from his kin.
Smart woman… except trying might just get me in a whole heap of trouble…
Trying might also be fun…
Nope, not fun… dangerous.
Stay alert. Stay aloof.
Keep your damn dirty mind on the right track! She berated herself.
“Beware Greeks bearing gifts…” She offered back up to him, and watched his dark eyebrows draw together over his nose. “We all know what’s inside your Trojan horse.”
~
~
~
“Kristy, listen to my voice and try to wake up a little for me, sweetheart.” Nick knew that he probably shouldn’t have been growling, and yet there wasn’t a damn thing that he could do about it.
His beast felt as frustrated and caged as he did. He wanted her home – he needed to warm her, to bring her back to him, and that couldn’t happen soon enough. The trouble was; the longer that he spent with her, the more she was going to imprint of him, on his bear, and the more he would imprint of her psyche as her mate.
That didn’t bode well for either of them – or Jackson – but that didn’t matter then and there in the great scheme of things. They’d have to deal with that bridge when they came to it.
He needed to know that she was going to be alright. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting out in the snow like that, but if her body was showing any signs of damage once he’d warmed her then he’d need Zav to fix her with his blood…
She probably wouldn’t like that idea, but it was better than the alternative. She could have frostbite… hell, she could be purple and black under all that clothing for all he knew, and that frustration was making him anxious…
With his cabin in sight; he noted the fresh snow that was starting to fall in large blobs around them, and thanked the spirits that he’d managed to reach safety when he did. The last thing that she needed was to be caught out in a blizzard, and from the scent in the air – he thought they might just be heading for a damn storm.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
~
Chloe enjoyed the extra time that she’d deliberately taken in the bathroom away from the shifter to try to regain her thoughts. It hadn’t helped. He was still front and centre in her mind when she finally pulled open the door and found him standing right there, arms crossed over his muscled chest, backside propping up the wall, and his legs crossed at the ankles – looking every inch relaxed – and yet every inch the predator.
Damn it to hell and back but he’s sexier than sin itself.
And there it was. Her body rushed to respond to just the damn look of him as he smiled like Lucifer claiming another soul for all eternity.
“You’re guarding the toilet door?” Chloe eyed him with disbelief as she sidestepped the tall blonde with the legs that went on forever and noted that his eyes didn’t waver from her once – not even when the supermodel walked by.
“I’m making sure you don’t do anything silly.” Dolph informed her.
“Like peeing on my foot?” She turned her head slightly to give him a suspicious look.
“Like trying to escape me out of the window.”
Chloe rolled her eyes away from him as her cheeks coloured rosy red. She felt guilty, and busted to boot.
She couldn’t say that she hadn’
t thought about it… she had… she’d even checked out the lock on the window to see if it would open for her. It had… but then she’d felt stupid, and climbing out of a damned window in the snow wasn’t exactly an answer to her problems.
“Why would I need to escape out of a window? If I want to leave, I’ll leave.” Chloe lied and he knew it. Worse than that, she knew that he knew it…
She needed a drink, a stiff one, maybe two, maybe a whole damn bottle…
“Let me get you that drink now.”
Dolph uncrossed his ankles and his arms, and used his backside to push away from the wall. Something as simple and masculine as that looked so damn sexy on him that she berated herself for where her mind went without her permission… back to him being naked.
Oh Lord, help me, but the man is sex on legs… nice big thick muscled legs… I wonder how hairy they are…
I wonder if he has a hairy chest.
Oooo, I like that – a manly man – not shaved off – the feel of it under my fingertips…
That’s not the only thing I’d like to feel with my… no, stop!
Drink. I definitely need a drink.
“Fine. I’m buying.” She scowled back at him and watched as he raised just one eyebrow in her direction.
“That would be over my dead body.” His voice sounded deeper, even more masculine, and it brushed over her skin like velvet…
“Don’t tempt me.” Chloe bit out, turning on her heels and stalking away from him, only to feel the heat of his body right there behind her.
~
~
~
Nick had tried his damnedest to concentrate on the importance of getting Kristy out of her clothes and warmed up as he’d undressed her down to her underwear and checked her body for signs of damage. It hadn’t been the easiest thing in the world to accomplish when his skin was brushing against hers and his eyes were taking in her near naked body…