by Jenika Snow
I inhaled deeply and could smell his arousal, his desire for me. But there was something else deep down, something that was overpowering, that had taken control even more than his lust was.
And that was possessiveness.
Toward me.
He took a step forward and I took one back. I didn’t know I was retreating. There was a different kind of fear settling in me. It had this feeling of the future, of all kinds of possibilities, of how far things would go, filling me.
But still, he kept coming closer, almost stalking me, his head slightly lowered, his eyes trained on me. I took one more step back, my foot catching something on the ground, my body propelling backward as I fell. A startled cry left me, and just as I expected to feel the hard ground greet me, he was right in front of me, his big, strong arms wrapped around my waist, stopping me from falling, pulling me toward his wide, expansive chest.
I dropped my gaze and surprise filled me as I noticed I had my palms flat on his chest, instinctively placed on his pectoral muscles to steady myself.
It felt good to touch him.
His skin was warm, hotter than what I thought it would be. Maybe because he had just shifted from his bear form.
I had to tilt my head back to look into his face, his focus still trained on me, his pupils dilated so much they almost ate up his blue irises. I felt myself fall even deeper, even harder for him.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I whispered more to myself than to him. I didn’t know why I was saying this stuff, having this verbal regurgitation, this messy commentary. It’s not like I wanted to say anything at all, because I was confused as hell.
My bear was so powerful right now, stronger than she’d ever been in my entire life. It felt right in his arms. And as she clawed forward, upward, I felt the hair on my arms stand on end, felt my muscles tighten for a moment.
I thought maybe I would actually shift.
But that was impossible. I was too much of a human.
I blinked a few times, reality and common sense slamming into me. I let go of his chest and took a step back, although everything inside of me screamed that I needed to be pressed right to him.
“Maybe I should just go?” Honestly, I was asking myself more than I was him. But he slowly shook his head.
“I told you I don’t want you to go.”
I took a step back and he followed me one forward. The tent now stopped me from retreating any farther, and I reached out and grabbed the bar that held the structure in place and kept its form.
“I don’t know what’s happening here.” Those words were nothing more than a whisper, meant to stay in my head, but they spilled out, moving between us. I knew he could hear them clear as day despite them being nearly inaudible.
He let this slow growl out and took one more step forward, crowding me. But I liked it. I yearned for more.
“Do you want me to tell you what’s going on, little bear?” The way he said that endearment had everything in me clinching, had the most intimate part of me softening… getting wet. He closed his eyes and I saw his nostrils flare slightly as he inhaled deeply. “Do you?”
I licked my lips and I swore I could taste him, this masculine, woodsy, and potent flavor that came from him like a shot of liquor straight to my veins. “Yes.” I all but moaned that word and felt my cheeks heat, humiliation flooding me. I’d never acted so out of character before.
“What’s your name?”
His voice had my pussy clenching. I was so wet, my panties soaked. I licked my lips again, my mouth so dry, my tongue feeling so thick I didn’t even know if I could answer. “Mena,” I whispered slightly, wondering if he heard me.
When he opened his eyes, they were completely black, the pupils swallowing up the blue and whiteness. He looked very primal right now, nearly ready to shift again, to show me how powerful his bear really was. And my inner animal was right at the surface, closer to escaping than she’d ever been in my entire life.
“Mena,” he said, and it rolled off his tongue almost seductively, as if he drew pleasure from the act. “I’m Cason.”
I played his name around in my head over and over again, and it felt so good. It felt so fucking right.
My hands were shaking, my nails feeling like they were getting longer, turning into claws. “Oh. God.”
“No, little bear.” He leaned an inch closer, and I swore a piece of paper couldn’t have fit between our lips. “Not God. What you’ve found is your mate.”
Chapter Six
Cason
I looked over my shoulder at where she stood in my living room, her eyes bigger as she looked around. The fact that she was actually standing in my home was surreal to me. When I told her she was my mate, I expected shock, maybe even fear. I didn’t know much about her, didn’t even know if she fully knew her shifter side.
I’d smelled her surprise at how close her bear was to the surface.
She looked at me, this realization, this feeling coming from her and slamming into me. I knew one thing for certain. She accepted it. And so I had given her an ultimatum.
She could stay and camp, and I would stay nearby to watch over, to protect her, because there was no way I was fucking leaving her alone. Or, she could come back to my cabin just a few miles away and we could get to know each other, to figure this out together.
This was new to me just as it was to her. And what shocked the fuck out of me was that she agreed to come home with me. She didn’t know who I was, didn’t know anything about me, but her heart and soul, her animal, knew she belonged to me as I belonged to her. It was ingrained in us, this undeniable proof that would never go away. We would be linked, connected for the rest of our lives, until we took our last breath.
“Are you thirsty, hungry?” I turned to face her, watching as she seemed a little awestruck at her surroundings. I’d feed her from my hand, make her whatever she wanted. I’d make sure she was full, sated. I wanted that desperately.
So we walked back to my cabin, and then I’d driven her back so we could pack up her camping gear, and now here we were. In any other situation, this probably would have sent red flags up for her, especially in the human world, but with fated mates, it was different. She might be half-human, but she knew me and I knew her. It was this integral feeling we had, this pull and security we both felt. She knew I’d never hurt her. I could see that in her face as she looked at me. I could smell her ease around me.
“I am a little thirsty, if you have any water.”
I stared at her a moment, at the arch of her throat as she tipped her head back to look at the ceiling beams and loft. I felt my bear fighting for supremacy, felt my canines elongated, saliva filling my mouth. My nails turned into claws, my body slightly bigger with my impending transformation. And although this wasn’t unusual, given the fact that I was starting to become more animal than human, more feral and primal, the reason I was like this right now was because my mate stood just feet from me, in my home, surrounded by my things, by my scent.
I kept picturing tearing off her clothes in a frenzy of passion, tattered remains of material laying across the ground as I lifted her small frame up, my hands cupping her ass, and walked us over to the breakfast counter. I’d set her on it and spread her thighs, step between them. I could practically smell how aroused she’d be, how sweet and musky she’d be for me. All me.
I grabbed her a glass of water, threw a couple cubes of ice in there, and then walked back toward her. She seemed startled when I was right beside her, and the territorial side of me rose up. The way she smiled at me as she tilted her head back and looked at me, the way her fingers brushed against my knuckles when she took the glass… had everything in me lighting up.
It was that small touch that had my eyes flashing. And I knew she saw by the way I scented her surprise, her… arousal.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “Your house is so beautiful.”
Pleasure filled me at her approval.
“Did you have it custom b
uilt?” She went back to looking around.
“I built it. With my brothers’ help.”
She looked over at me with wide eyes. “Really?” There was wonder in her voice. “You’re like…” She glanced around again. “Like a master carpenter.”
“It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life. It’s a passion of mine. It was my priority.” I swallowed roughly. “It was… until you.” I stared into her eyes, wanting nothing more than to kiss her.
Her bear was right there, the scent arousing, overpowering, and making me so fucking on edge with need. I could tell that was unusual for her, new.
But by the time I was done with her, by the time she was mine, her bear would be running right beside me, wild and feral… mated.
Chapter Seven
Mena
I had to be insane to just agree to come to some strange man’s house, who I met just a couple hours before in the middle of the woods. But I was his mate. He said so. I felt it.
And it made complete sense, as if everything that happened in my life thus far had been leading up to this one moment.
I’d been here for like an hour, sitting on the plush leather couch in front of the fireplace. One thing I noticed about his incredible cabin was that there was no TV, no stereo system. I didn’t really notice any appliances on the kitchen counters either. Of course he had a refrigerator, stove, all the main things, but there was no coffee maker, no blender. A man, especially a bachelor, should at least have a television, right?
Instead, he had this ornate fireplace right in front of the living room, with stone detailing and a wood carving of a bear and forest scene on the mantle. It was beautiful and incredible, and the detail was immaculate. You could tell whoever made it had really taken their time, had really loved the work they did.
I looked at Cason and knew he built it, that he’d been the one to put so much passion and love into everything in this home.
I looked back and stared at it for a full minute. But I felt him watching me, his gaze intense. I glanced over at Cason and saw him doing just that, his stare trained on me as he sat in the oversized chair beside me, as if he couldn’t take his look off me.
I felt that truth.
I could smell him, the need he had for me, the fact that this was truly my mate, that there was no going back.
I ran that truth through my mind over and over again, loving how it felt, sounded.
Cason.
I said his name repeatedly in my head, loving how it made me feel.
“You must have questions,” he finally said in this deep, possessive voice.
I brought the glass to my mouth, the water cold and refreshing against my tongue, down my throat. Oh, I had a shit-load of questions, but none of them sounded realistic; none of them sounded like they made any sense.
“Mates?” I murmured that one word as a question, but of course I knew this was real. My bear was still right below the surface, pacing. Although she wasn’t afraid, wasn’t as anxious, she was feral in this moment as she tried to get out. She refused to question this.
She accepted this.
And so did I.
“Yes. My mate. Fated mates, Mena.” He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs, his big, strong hands clasped together. His biceps were massive, causing me to feel extremely feminine. And his fingers, those digits covered with callouses from doing manual labor and woodworking, nearly made me drool thinking of what they would feel like on my flesh.
“I don’t know anything about mates. I’m only half shifter, never even let my animal out, because she’s so dormant.” But as I said that last part, I felt my bear push for dominance. She was stronger than my human now. So much stronger.
Those words came for me as if I’d been holding back, as if I couldn’t help but speak the truth, telling him everything about me, because it felt so natural. I was so far out of my element; I had no idea what the hell I was doing.
I didn’t feel like myself. I was on edge, excited, anxious, ready for the next step in my life.
“Tell me about yourself,” he prompted in his deep voice, a sound that had my nerve endings coming alive, lighting on fire.
I set my glass down and rubbed my palms up and down my thighs. My father would kill me if he knew I’d gone home with a stranger. My mother would freak out with worry. But how would they feel if they knew he was my mate?
Although they’d always been hesitant about me being with a shifter because of my father’s history, because of how severe and disheartening the shifter community had been to him, I knew in my heart that wasn’t how it was with every clan or pack. My father had an unfortunate experience, but I had a supportive family. And although they had their reservations about me being with a non-human, I knew they loved me and respected my decisions in life.
I knew they would be understanding no matter what. “I’m a half-bear shifter, although I know you’re already aware of that.”
He didn’t say anything in response, just nodded slowly, his intense focus still trained on me.
I swallowed roughly again, the lump in my throat refusing to go down.
“You’ve never shifted.” He didn’t phrase that like a question, but I nodded anyway.
I was so nervous, my hands shaking so frantically I had to place them under my thighs, trying to calm down, to sit still… attempting to relax my racing heart. The way he stared at me, watched me, made me feel like his prey, like he was the predator. But I’d never wanted to get caught, never wanted to be devoured more than I did with Cason.
For the next ten minutes, I found myself telling him everything about me. I told him about my father being an outcast for loving my mother, who also happened to be his non-mate and a human. I told him I worked part-time at the local real estate office, that I was going to school for business management the other half of the time.
I told him anything and everything, this verbal regurgitation of all the things I felt he should know, of all the things I wanted him to know about me.
He was silent for long moments, but the amount of focus he had on me told me he’d listened—absorbed every single word I said. “What about you?” I whispered, not sure why I was still so nervous.
I’ve never wanted something—someone—as much as I want him.
“I could listen to you all day… for the rest of my life.”
Oh. God.
His words were like accelerant on my already growing emotional fire.
“I want to know about you, though.”
He gave me this soft, warm smile, as if that pleased him immensely. “This land is owned by myself and my five brothers, but our cabins are spread out amongst the hundred acres.”
There were five other males just like him?
He told me about his woodworking passion, the fact that he worked construction with his brothers on a family owned company. I felt like I was learning the secrets of the world right now, and although this was all new information, it seemed like I’d always known it, like it had been buried deep inside me just waiting to be released.
And when we’d told each other every little bit of detail about us, we sat there just staring at each other.
“I’ve never shifted before,” I blurted out, confirming his words from earlier, the one thing I had never said to anyone besides my parents.
“You will,” he said with confidence.
“How do you know?” I asked like it was something he’d know and be able to answer without a doubt.
“Because I can smell the shift nearing in you. You’ve found me, mate, and that’s what your bear was waiting for. She was waiting for her other half to awaken her fully.”
His words seemed so… right and perfect.
“This is fast,” I whispered, unable to stop the words from spilling from me. “This is insane.” But it had never felt so right.
He didn’t say anything, just stared at me, as if he knew all the secrets of the world in this very moment. And the weird thing was, even though I felt so out
of my depth, so out of my element… I felt like I knew those secrets too.
And then he stood, his big body seeming to take up my entire view, to fill the entire room. He walked over to me, and I held my breath as I tipped my head back and stared into his face.
“It’s all so right.” The way he spoke was almost as if he meant to keep it to himself, as if he hadn’t wanted me to hear it.
Before I knew what was going on, Cason was right in front of me, his hands on the couch cushions on either side of my body.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I whispered once again, staring into his blue eyes, my heart beating so fast I felt it in my throat, heard it in my ears. He was on his haunches right between my legs, his hands on my thighs now, the masculinity and power from that small touch sending fireworks through my body.
“You want to know what’s going on?” Although he phrased it like a question, I got the feeling he already knew my answer. “What’s going on is we’ve finally found each other, Mena.” His voice was this serrated sound, half-human, half-bear.
I could see how tense he was, how much he was fighting the urge to shift into his animal. I felt right on edge with him, so out of control that the only thing that made sense was being with him.
“You don’t think this is fast and absolutely insane?” I knew his answer before he even responded.
He shook his head slowly. “Do you want to stop? Do you want me to take you home, to forget this ever happened?”
I was shaking my head before he finished speaking. “No. That seems so—”
“Wrong?” He finished my sentence, and I nodded.
God, it felt so wrong to be away from him.
“But we don’t know each other.”
He leaned in close so I felt the warmth of his breath along my lips. “I’ve known you my entire life, Mena. I may not have known your name or what you looked like, but I knew you were out there. I felt it. I felt you. My mate.” He smoothed his hand up and down my thigh, and I felt my body heat even more, my arousal climbing. “What’s going on is I’m going to be with you. You’re going to be with me. And it’s going to be everything we’ve ever fucking wanted in this life.”