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  I stared at Maddix, who seemed to have this perpetual scowl on his face. I almost felt a little bad for his mate when he did find her, because I knew Maddix would go crazy, his possessive need, the bear residing in him, taking over fully. He tried to act like he was in control, but we all knew that he was far from it. Him hiding off by himself, keeping away from us unless we forced him out of his cabin, spoke volumes of how wild he was becoming.

  I just hoped he found his mate soon.

  “I’m going to give her time,” I answered honestly. “I’m going to make her desire for me climb so high she can’t stand it anymore.” I looked over at her. “And it’s already there. I can sense it, smell how much she’s fighting to not want me or this.” Human or not, her body knew that we were made for each other, that she was mine.

  She’d fight it because she didn’t understand it. But as soon as I touched her, kissed her, as soon as I marked her, was deep within her, she would know that she was irrevocably, undeniably mine. There was no going back. And as much as I told my brothers I would give her time, the truth was I was an impatient bastard. There’s no way I could stop myself, not when the object of my dreams was finally before me.

  Not when it was taking everything in me not to beat every male’s ass in this bar for even looking her way.

  I hoped she was ready, because being mated to a bear shifter was no fucking joke.

  Bethany

  “I’m glad to hear that she’s going to be okay,” I said into the receiver, standing in the back room of the bar and listening to John finish telling me the details about Rhea’s wound.

  It wasn’t life and death, obviously, but I was glad to know she was stitched up and they were already headed back to her place.

  “I’ll talk to you guys later,” I said and disconnected the call. I shoved my cell phone in my purse, my hands shaking slightly. It was after two in the morning, the bar closing down, the last drunken stragglers being let out.

  I had excused myself because being out there had grown almost unbearable, what with the shifter watching my every move. I’d unashamedly eavesdropped on customers who had been discussing the fight that had happened.

  A recluse.

  Growly.

  A hermit who lived in the mountains in his own community with his brothers.

  Dangerous and strong, and most of all someone to steer clear of.

  Zakari was all of those things and more.

  I turned and looked over my shoulder at the door that led into the bar. Zakari and his brothers had left an hour ago, but even though they weren’t in the bar any longer, I still felt his presence. It was the strangest sensation, as if he were standing right beside me, his hand on the small of my back. Chills raced up my arms and legs, and despite me wanting to believe what was going on, I knew what was happening.

  Mated.

  Zakari, the bear shifter, had mated with me.

  Although shifters and humans coexisted, I wasn’t particularly educated on everything that had to do with shifter lore, which also included being mated to one.

  That spark of arousal I’d felt earlier tonight speared through me. It was as real as him standing in front of me as I was pressed against that brick wall. There was no denying that there was something between us, the strong sensation, pull, connection, whatever it was trying to bring us together. And here I was trying to be logical and rational, thinking about all of this.

  I remembered looking into his icy blue eyes and seeing one thing. Possessiveness. I knew the basics of being mated to a shifter, simply because I’d heard about it through the rumor mill. But experiencing it firsthand was unlike anything I could’ve ever imagined.

  Closing my eyes and breathing out slowly, I gave myself a moment just to collect myself. When I opened my eyes again, I felt resolve move through me. I knew Zakari would not let this go. I knew that being mated was a forever type of thing, something a shifter could not ignore.

  Wouldn’t ignore.

  And to be honest, I didn’t want to either. I liked the way I felt around him when he was near. His very scent made me drunk, had my body pliant, ready for him. Even now I was aroused, wet between my thighs, my nipples hard against the material of my T-shirt.

  I headed back out into the bar and saw Maggie finishing up cleaning off the counters. I lifted my hand and waved. She grinned, giving me a look saying I hadn’t fucked things up tonight. I was exhausted, my feet aching, beer spilled on my shirt and pants, now dried and causing the material to be stiff and smelling sour. I had my keys in hand before I even stepped outside. Although this was a small town, everyone knowing everyone, and the crime rate pretty much nonexistent, the city girl in me was always prepared.

  There were a few old-fashioned street lights framing the parking lot, my car off to the side and directly under one of them. That hadn’t been a coincidence. With my keys in my hand, I started making my way toward my vehicle. The sound of beer bottles breaking behind me had me looking over my shoulder.

  There were a few guys standing by an old beat-up pickup truck a few yards away, slurring and being overly rowdy. One of them looked over at me and I could see him grinning, lifting his hand and waving as if he were excited to see someone other than his drunken comrades. And then this low growl reverberated through the night air, causing my body to tighten, my pussy to become wet.

  I knew that sound. I had heard it just hours ago in the bar. The guys by the pickup sobered instantly, all noise stilling, their eyes widening. I faced forward again and saw Zakari just a few feet away. He had his hands in his pockets, his body so big he seemed to cast a shadow throughout the whole parking lot.

  I could see a truck off to the side and assumed it was his. On any other occasion I would’ve felt apprehensive being out here in the middle of the night with men surrounding me, alcohol dimming their inhibitions. But not tonight. Knowing that Zakari was right there, his growl warning the other man to stay away, calmed me. I felt safe in this moment, knowing he was here, feeling his very presence surround me.

  But I couldn’t do this, not now. I was confused over all of this. The whole mating thing was foreign to me. I needed to wrap my head around it.

  Licking my lips, I didn’t even say anything as I started heading to my car again.

  “I’m fucking this up.” His voice was so deep, so serrated that I actually stopped mid-step and closed my eyes, feeling the sound vibrations move along my arms.

  Exhaling slowly, I glanced over my shoulder to see he hadn’t moved.

  “I’m scaring you,” he said again and there was this note of tenseness and his voice, as if he hated that fact.

  I turned and faced him, not sure what to say or how to act. But something had to be said. I couldn’t ignore this. And I knew he wouldn’t either. “I’m not frightened,” I said honestly. I wasn’t, maybe even though I should have been. “And I know what I am to you.” Those words hung in the air between us and I felt this deep sound come from him before I heard it.

  “You know what it means to be my mate?”

  I licked my lips again and nodded slowly. He took a step closer and I felt my arousal climb higher. Everything inside urged me, demanded that I go to him, press my body to his and let him do whatever he wanted to me. I craved it, as if I were a junkie needing another fix.

  “So you know I can’t let you go?” He took another step closer.

  “And if I said I don’t want this?” I challenged him.

  “Saying it doesn’t make it true, now does it, Bethany?”

  The way he said my name was pleasure filled, as if he almost got off saying it. I swallowed roughly, my throat scratchy and raw, my heart racing.

  “Even right now you want me. You can deny it all you want, but physically, emotionally, hell, cellularly, you want me. It’s ingrained in both of us, a connection that can’t be denied or changed.” He took another step forward. “This is how it will be always.”

  Before I knew it, he was standing right in front of me. He lifted his hand up an
d cupped my cheek. “Bethany,” he whispered.

  I didn’t ask how he knew my name. I assumed he’d asked around at the bar, the same deal as when I’d listened in on the patrons talking about him and his brothers.

  “I won’t force you. Would never rush you. But you will be mine sooner rather than later. That I can fucking guarantee.” He leaned in and I held my breath, thinking he might kiss me. Truth was I wouldn’t have stopped him.

  But instead he buried his nose in my hair, inhaled deeply, and let out a slow, deep noise.

  “Soon, Bethany,” he said roughly. And I knew that was the truth. I knew with everything inside of me that there was no denying this bear shifter.

  There was no point when I wanted this just as much as he did.

  Chapter Four

  Zakari

  I told her I’d give her space, time, and I did.

  Three days.

  Three whole fucking days of torture on my end, waiting to see how she’d proceed, if she’d come to me or make me go to her.

  Seventy-two hours of me thinking about her, dreaming about her, hell, jerking off nonstop to the thought of her. Bethany Silver, twenty-one years old and currently living with her injured grandmother. I knew everything there was to know about Bethany, had asked around, did fucking anything and everything I could to get information on her.

  I didn’t care if it might be considered stalking. She was my mate and I wanted every little piece of information on her, like a starving dog wanting a tiny scrap.

  Even now, as I stood in my shower, the spray of water beating down on my back, the remnants of my cum going down the drain, my dick was still hard. It didn’t matter how many times I’d beat off to the thought of her, the fucker would not go down. And I knew it wouldn’t until I finally claimed her, parted those pretty thighs of hers and shoved my cock deep in her little pussy.

  I groaned and closed my eyes, bracing a hand on the tile in front of me and lowering my head. My eyes were closed as I reached down and grabbed my dick, my erection sore from how many times I’d pleasured myself. But the arousal was too strong in me, and so I jerked off for what was probably the third time today alone, feeling my balls draw up tight and exploding within a matter of seconds.

  Hell, I was surprised I even had any semen left for how often I seemed to be doing this. But today was the day. I was going to town, to tell Bethany that there was no more waiting. I couldn’t. My bear couldn’t. And I sure as hell knew that if my arousal was this strong that hers was as well. She might be able to control herself a little better than I was because she didn’t have a possessive, barbaric bear within her, but the mating between us would only get stronger the longer we were apart.

  We were the only ones who could sate this desire, and I was done waiting.

  I was finally ready to have my mate all to myself.

  Bethany

  “I don’t know why you came up here. I don’t need anyone’s help. I can manage on my own. I always have and I always will. Just go back to your father, who turned his back on me years ago.” My grandmother’s shrill voice rang out from down the hall.

  I rolled my eyes at the pity party she was throwing for herself.

  “I mean it. You’re just making this worse.”

  I clenched my teeth as I loaded up the dishwasher before closing the door and starting it, the hum of the machine drowning out her bitching. I didn’t know why I was here either, especially given the fact she didn’t want me to help her. She would be content to sit in her own piss, just so she didn’t have to have anyone in her house.

  Wiping my hands on a rag, I tossed it back on the counter. I was working on getting her a nursing assistant to come to the house, simply because I couldn’t be here any longer. She gave me a daily reminder that I wasn’t welcome. Whatever had happened in her life to make her so bitter and cold was driving her family away.

  I turned and grabbed my purse and keys and headed out the front door just as I heard her bitching more. Shutting the door behind me, I sat on the porch for a minute, staring off into the woods. The lot she owned was nothing more than an acre, but surrounding her was thick forest owned by a rather wealthy couple down the road.

  Three days had passed since the bar incident with Zakari. And for those three days I hadn’t been able to get him out of my head. Even my grandmother’s insistent complaining couldn’t stop me from thinking about him constantly.

  My body was on fire day in and day out. He was the first thing I thought about when I woke up, and the last thing on my mind as I went to bed. I had never been this aroused in my life, never needed someone this badly.

  Even talking to my father, hearing his reassurance that things would get better, that I’d be home soon enough, leaving this small town, pained me. Thinking about that had my stomach clenching and a sweat breaking out over my brow.

  Over the last seventy-two hours, I felt my need for him growing stronger. He was the only one who could make me feel complete, I knew that deep in my very marrow. And as I thought about his presence my heart raced. I thought about what I had left back home with my father.

  An apartment he rented to me for next to nothing, a family position that would never have me advancing in anything, aside from keeping his business on the level. He was really my only family, but even so I knew there was no future for me there, no real life where I could have a family of my own.

  A life where I could love and be loved.

  I closed my eyes and shook my head, strong and foreign emotions consuming me. I found myself walking to my car and climbing inside, shutting the door and curling my fingers around the steering wheel. I put the key in the ignition, cranked the engine, and backed out of the driveway. I had no idea where I was going to go, but I just knew I had to drive to clear my head and get my bearings.

  My body and mind were telling me to go to Zakari. It was like this rope, and one end of the rope was tied around my waist. Every day I felt myself growing closer to him, unable to back away.

  And I didn’t want to. I wanted to be as close as two people could be. It was crazy, ludicrous even, but I realized it had become my life.

  I’d been driving for five minutes when I saw a glare in the rearview mirror from the car behind me. No, not a car, a truck. Zakari’s truck. Without thinking, without even knowing what I was doing, I found myself pulling over to a small rest area off to the side.

  I cut the engine and climbed out of the car just as he parked on the other side of me. Bracing my hands on the hood of my car, I glared at him. He climbed out, his big body unfolding from the driver seat, this easy-going expression on his face, but one that didn’t fool me. His body was tense, his knuckles white from how tightly he had his hands curled into fists.

  “Are you in the habit of following me now, stalking me?” I lifted an eyebrow, knowing maybe I should’ve been a little weirded out about this, that he was here right now, but finding myself turned on.

  “I’ll be honest,” he said and grinned, moving to the side so he could shut the truck door. “I’m not above stalking my mate to make sure she’s okay.”

  My heart beat a little faster at his confession. In the morning light, he was even more handsome in a rugged, almost brutal manner.

  “But that’s not what I was doing today. I was actually coming into town to pick up some supplies, hoping to run into you, because it’s been three days.”

  I swallowed roughly and licked my lips. “Three days?” I pretended like I didn’t know what he was talking about, but the way his nostrils flared slightly told me he knew that I was full of shit. I had no doubt he could smell my arousal, especially given the fact there was a slight breeze blowing his way, probably amplifying everything.

  Could he smell that I was wet? Could he smell that I didn’t want to fight this, that I was ready to be his?

  And am I? Ready to be his?

  He walked around my car and was a few feet from me now. I held my breath, not breathing, my head tilted back as I stared into his face.
/>   For long moments we didn’t speak, and I swore he didn’t breathe either. His eyes flashed, this yellow breaking through the blue like a spark of lightning, or maybe a lightbulb blowing out, that flash before darkness. It was instant, sudden, and was gone as fast as it had come.

  “You feel that between us?”

  I found myself nodding.

  “That’s real. That’s our truth.” His voice was low. He leaned forward. “You can run, you can hide, but I guarantee you one thing, Bethany.” He grinned and I saw his teeth, his canines. They were elongated. My heart pumped harder at that sight, and my pussy became wetter. “I’ll find you. Anywhere, at any time. Your scent is engrained in my body. You’re mine. Forever.”

  And then I found myself in his arms, his hand cupping the back of my head, his lips on mine. I should have stopped him, should have pushed him away, tried to fight this, but the fact remained I couldn’t.

  I wouldn’t.

  I didn’t want to.

  I found myself rising on my toes and adding more pressure to his mouth with mine. I speared my hands in his hair, the feeling of his scruff scraping along my jaw and cheeks. It turned me on more, if that was even possible. My pussy was wet, my nipples hard, and my heart raced from the endorphins and arousal pumping through my veins.

  “Tell me what you want and it’s yours.” The way he said those words, whispered roughly against my lips, had my inner pussy muscles clenching almost painfully.

  It was like my body was cursing me for not stripping down and spreading my legs for him, letting him shove what I knew was a huge cock into me. God, he felt so thick and long against my belly, the denim of his jeans and the layers of my clothing doing nothing to hide how massive he really was.

  I pulled away and looked up into his face. God, this man was so brutally handsome that it had my breath catching. For a suspended moment I said nothing, didn’t know if I could be this bold, this brazen. But my body and mind were fighting a war right now, and common sense, logical reasoning, was not winning out over my need to be claimed.