by Jenika Snow
The scent of smoke was strong, masking any other I could pick up. And when I was finally at the campsite a few yards away, hidden behind the woods, watching, taking everything in, I was surprised to see only one vehicle. I didn’t even see anyone, but the tent door was open, and the sound of rustling within it was loud.
“Shit.”
The sound of the feminine voice cursing had my ears picking up. I felt my body tighten even further. All anger left me. Curiosity grew. The feeling of something monumental piqued my interest.
I stood a little bit taller, a little bit straighter outside that tent. There was something about her voice, something that pulled at me. It was just a feeling that had my bear becoming restless. I was having a hard time controlling him, the bastard starting to pace back and forth, his nails digging into the ground, this low growl leaving him. I was confused, didn’t know what was going on. The only thing I knew was I didn’t want to relent, didn’t want to turn around and leave, to stop the sound of that voice from penetrating me and seeping into every single cell in my body.
I found myself taking a step closer, moving toward that campsite almost as if my life depended on it. It was this tether inside me, pulling me forward. And it was only when I was several feet from the campsite that I finally stopped, my human side becoming a little bit stronger.
I took in the scene, trying to figure out what was going on and why I was acting like this. And then I saw her emerge from the tent, the fall of her long dark hair coming out of the haphazard ponytail she had at the top of her head.
My heart stopped, seized in my chest. The air left me, my body tightening, and everything in me came alive, awake. It was this feeling of my muscles contracting and relaxing. It was the sensation of being… home.
My mate.
My mate stood right in front of me, and she didn’t even know what she was about to get herself into, what type of possessive beast she’d been mated to.
Chapter Three
Mena
I heard a snap of a twig close by and tipped my head back to look out in the woods. The sun was just starting to set, colors of orange and pink painting the horizon as it washed over the forest and the campsite. It gave it this hazy, almost romantic feel, a cotton candy sense of wonder that made it seem like I was somewhere else, living in another world.
I turned around and scanned my surroundings, the knife my father had given me already in my hand. The sound of the fire crackling and the scent of wood burning filled my senses. I was getting supper ready, and although I wasn’t afraid, didn’t feel any kind of worry because of nature and the sound it created, that it made me feel, I was observant and on guard, ready if need be.
I inhaled deeply, since my sense of smell was normally acute and precise, but the fire masked many things. There was no wind, no presence of a breeze that would give me the scent of what was nearby.
As I looked into the woods, the darkness started to creep forward, to come in closer toward me, obscuring the trees, hiding them in the shadow of a blanket. I felt myself relax. There were animals of all kinds in these woods, big and small, just as afraid of me as I would be of them.
I loosened the grip on my knife and sat back down on the fallen log that happened to be in position parallel with the fire. With my back to my tent, I stared at those flames. I was content and happy, right in my element. I reached for the little pot and grate that would make up my stove and placed it over the flames.
I opened up the cooler and pushed the ice around. The fresh, cold items would only last me a few days before the ice melted, but I had enough prepackaged, non-perishable items to last me the rest of the week. I didn’t want to have to keep going back-and-forth into town, and although it was only a twenty minute or so ride, the point of coming out here was to get away from everyone, away from civilization and the crush of being social.
Besides, I’d always been a peanut butter and jelly kind of girl, a protein bar and fresh fruit kind of hiker. I could handle this, could deal with it even if I had to eat beef jerky out of a bag for the next seven days.
The wind started picking up then, coming from up north, down the mountain. It washed away the scent of smoke and fire, and I inhaled deeply once more, finally smelling the forest in front of me. Squirrels and rabbits, even a wolf in the distance. But there was a musky aroma, a scent of an animal that was stronger, more powerful.
A bear.
As I took in that scent once more, something in me shifted, my inner animal slowly rising, trying to wade through my human side. She was trying to get out.
Although I felt my bear’s strength throughout the years, I’d never felt the kind of push she was giving right now. It’s like she was attempting to fight for supremacy, like she wanted to break free and be the dominant one. And it was a new, frightening but exciting feeling. The very thought of shifting, of letting her take control, actually being in my bear form for once in my life, gave me this excited and anxious feeling.
I stood then, the blade in my palm, my fingers wrapped tightly around the handle, and I glanced into the woods where the scent and noise came from. The bear was still there, powerful and strong, saturating the air. It was a male. A grizzly.
I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply through my nose. Wild. Musky. Alpha. But there was some other scent mixed with all of that, one I couldn’t place, couldn’t decipher what it meant.
But what I did know was that it made me feel like I wanted more... made me want one thing.
Him.
Chapter Four
Cason
I didn’t go any closer her— even though I desperately wanted to, and even though I wanted to make my presence known and tell her she was mine.
Instead, I waited in the darkness, in the shadows. I watched her to make sure she stayed safe, protected. I was going through every scenario in my mind on how I would make her mine.
Charging forwarded in my bear form, roaring out that she was my mate, would most definitely frighten her, would have her running in the other direction from me forever. And that’s not what I wanted. I wanted her irrevocably.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I’d actually found where I was supposed to be, found what had always been mine. My life had meaning now, purpose. It was like all the other bullshit I’d done thus far had just been preparing me for this one moment, this one time where I would lay eyes on what was mine, on who was born to be by my side.
My mate, my wife, and the mother of my children—that’s what she was to me.
My everything.
I watched as she sat by the fire, staring into the flames. There was a little bowl in her lap filled with some peaches she’d poured out of a can. God, she was gorgeous with the wisps of her hair falling out from her ponytail. All kinds of possessive, filthy things ran through my head, things that had me envisioning pulling on those strands and tilting her head back as I stared at the arch of her neck, as I bared it to me and marked her.
My mouth salivated to do just that, my canines aching to pierce the tender flesh of her skin and create the mark that would let all others know she was mine, that she was forever taken.
I took a step closer to her, a twig snapping under my paw. But she didn’t look up. She knew I was still here. As I inhaled deeply and took in the scent of her human side, I also smelled the bear inside her trying to come out.
She was half shifter, yet her human genetics were dominant. Her bear was being drowned, submerged by her human DNA. It stopped her from shifting. I could smell she’d never done it, never experienced that pleasure of letting your bear out and having it run free.
But I knew that would change once I mated with her. I knew once my mark was on her, she’d feel her animal rise up, ripping, clawing from the dark depths within her. She’d shift. Not just for herself, but for me. She’d give me the pleasure, the privilege of seeing her animal finally break free, finally experience the joys of being able to run in the woods, feel the air, the wind move across her fur.
An
d every thought made me harder, more aroused. It made me want to just go over to her right now and take her.
“I know you’re out there,” she called as she stared at the fire, spearing a peach with the prongs of her fork and bringing it to her mouth.
I watched some of that peach juice slip down her full bottom lip, and a low growl of arousal and approval left me.
“I know you’re a shifter, so you might as well come out and stop hiding.” She lifted her head and looked in my direction then, and although it was pitch black, and even though she was only half-shifter, I knew she could see me watching her. “I didn’t come here to be watched and stalked while I’m on vacation.”
I found myself moving closer, unable to stop myself from going to what was mine. When I broke through the tree line, she slowly stood and set her bowl down. I didn’t miss the gun she had in her hand. She’d gone into the tent an hour before, rustled around, and had come back out empty-handed. She must have been hiding the weapon. I couldn’t blame her though. I wanted her to be safe, to feel safe.
I didn’t like that she was out here all alone for God knew how long. It wasn’t safe in the woods, and even though this was property that belonged to my family—belonged to her, because she was my mate—that didn’t mean it was safe. The elements, the wild animals. She could get hurt, lost.
And when I finally stepped into the clearing, staring at her, watching as her throat worked when she swallowed, smelling her nerves, her anxiousness, I hated that I was the reason she felt this way. I lowered my gaze to her hand, where she held the gun. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the butt, her hand slightly shaking. She was trying to appear strong, and although she was nervous, she wasn’t afraid in the face of clear danger.
Although I wasn’t dangerous to her per se, she didn’t really know that. Maybe she didn’t know I was her mate. Maybe she didn’t know we belonged together irrevocably.
She was half-bear, so in hindsight, those kinds of instincts could’ve been dulled, muted. But the way she looked at me and the scent of her curiosity had this need telling me she felt something more. It might not be as ingrained in her as what I felt, this undeniable bond and irrefutable love I felt for her.
But she would.
I would never walk away from her, no matter what.
Chapter Five
Mena
In front of me stood a massive eight-foot grizzly, his fur dark-brown, almost black in color. His body was powerful. I could smell the Alpha come from him. The realization he wasn’t just an animal but a shifter who no doubt lived in these woods made me… warm. I held the gun tightly in my hand, knowing I wouldn’t actually use it but having it for show, as well as letting him know if it came down to it I would protect myself at all costs.
“Why don’t you shift back? I assume you have something to say to me, because that’s surely why you’ve been lurking in the woods by my campsite this whole time.” I was trying not to show him how anxious I was, that his massive size and presence put me on edge. But even so, I didn’t feel like he would hurt me. I didn’t feel any kind of anxiety that I was in danger.
In fact, I felt the opposite. I felt safe around him, as if anything that tried to harm me, he would come up against as my massive protector. And that was a strange thought given the fact that I didn’t know who this person was, who the shifter really was beneath the fur and the power and the height and weight of his bear.
He didn’t move for long moments, and I didn’t even think he breathed. But then he finally let out of huff, air blowing out his nose as if he were sighing, maybe nervous himself.
I felt the air change, become thicker, hotter. I felt electricity move over me, causing the hair on my arms to stand on end. I watched as his body morphed, shifted from a powerful grizzly bear to the man who stood in front of me. He was still big and massive, his human height close to six and a half feet. He had muscles stacked on each other, and his skin was covered in tattoos. So much ink that I actually felt this tightness pool in my belly. Never had I felt such desire. Never had I thought a man covered in tattoos would be so incredibly sexy.
In fact, I never thought any man was remotely attractive, had never had any desire. And although it was a little strange if I really thought about it, a twenty-something-year-old virgin who had never wanted a relationship, it had never really bothered me, because it had felt right to be alone.
But I looked at this man and all I felt was desire, arousal, and so much need I couldn’t breathe.
What was it about him that made me feel this way?
I refused to lower my gaze down to the intimate part of him, but it was hard. It was really damn hard.
And then despite myself saying I wouldn’t, I looked down, felt my throat tighten, my eyes widen. There he stood in all his naked glory, hard muscles packed upon each other, tattoos trailing along his abdomen, down his hips, and over his thighs. There was so much ink, more tattoo than his tanned skin.
I felt my body heat, my face blush. My nipples hardened, pressing against the material of my shirt. And my pussy… God, I was getting so wet. And his dick—his dick was massive and long... as thick as my wrist.
My mouth dried.
He was starting to get hard, and I felt my eyes widen even more. This was obscene, me staring at him, him getting aroused. And still I couldn’t look away.
I lifted my gaze back up, trying to keep my cool, like there wasn’t some naked shifter standing right in front of me getting a hard-on. I blinked a few times and snapped back to reality, looked behind me at my tent, and started walking backward until I could reach down and grab a blanket. I tossed it to him, and when he caught it effortlessly, not saying anything as he wrapped it around his waist, I breathed out slowly. The material was tented in front from his growing erection, and I could see his brow lift at me in maybe curiosity, or almost a challenge.
I gathered my resolve, pushing everything away. The fact that he was gorgeous and naked made me want to go to him and throw myself against his body. I was acting insane, my bear pacing inside me, wanting out for the first time in her life.
“Why are you hiding in the forest just watching me?” I had to give myself credit. I thought I was handling my shit pretty damn well, not freaking out, even though I wanted to. He said nothing, didn’t respond, didn’t even move. I watched as his massive chest moved up and down slightly as he breathed, his focus trained right on me.
I lifted up the gun to show him, even though I knew I wouldn’t use it, and he probably did as well. “This is fully loaded and I’m not afraid to use it if need be. So why don’t you tell me what you want, why you’re lurking in the woods like a fucking creep, and then we can both be on our way.” My voice was hard and even. I should’ve won an Emmy for how brave I was acting.
I saw the way the corner of his mouth kicked up in a smirk, and despite how I was acting all collected and calm, my emotions gave me away. He inhaled deeply, this slow sound leaving him. I was afraid—not of him or that he would hurt me, but of this unusual situation. It wasn’t that I was a sheltered little girl, but then again, I’d never been up against a massive grizzly shifter before, not counting my father.
I was out of my element and nervous of the situation. And my default setting was to act tough even though I really wasn’t.
“You have some fire in your veins, don’t you?” His voice was deep and husky and sent an unusual feeling throughout every single part of my body. “I like it.” He took a step closer. “My bear fucking loves it.”
God. What was happening right now?
My heart started racing even faster, beads of sweat pooling along the length of my spine, between my breasts. I felt those droplets on my temple, as if I’d run a marathon and was trying to catch my breath. What was it about this shifter? I asked myself that over and over again.
I couldn’t place it, but it felt… right. And my bear—my animal—she kept pacing, crying out for more. She wanted to escape me. I’d never felt this kind of power from her befo
re. It was exhilarating, exciting, liberating.
“You didn’t answer my question.” I licked my lips, my voice a little tight.
He cleared his throat and went to lift his hand to rub the back of his neck, as if he were a little bit sheepish over the fact that he’d been caught and called out for creeping on me. I didn’t know why I found that endearing.
“I didn’t mean to be a fucking creep.” He dropped his arm to the side, his other hand still wrapped tightly around the blanket, covering himself, covering the massive erection he still sported.
It took a hell of a lot of self-control not to stare at it, trying not to notice how he tented the material of the blanket.
“I’m on vacation. I don’t know what you want….” My voice was nothing more than a whisper, because the truth was, I didn’t want him to go, and I didn’t know why that was.
“This property is owned by myself and my brothers.” He didn’t say those words as an accusation, not as a judgment, just a fact.
“I—I didn’t know. I didn’t know this was private property.” And I hadn’t, hadn’t seen any signs posted, didn’t even think about it. I felt like a fucking idiot now, my cheeks heating in embarrassment. “I’ll leave.” That was the first thing I thought of, the only thing I could say now. Here I was giving him shit for hiding in the woods, yet this was his property and I was the one trespassing.
“I don’t want you to leave.” His words had me freezing, had my eyebrows lifting up in shock.
“But you said it was private property. I’m trespassing.” Truth be told, I didn’t want to leave either.
We didn’t speak for several long seconds, just stared at each other. I wondered what he was thinking. Did he wonder the same, questioning what was going through my mind? Did he feel the same way I did?