The Bear’s Claim (Fated Protectors #1)

Prologue

Daniel

The crowd was a living thing, surging and pulsing with the music. Daniel Mercer stood in the third row, slightly left of center, watching Cody Brennan command the stage with the kind of ease that only came from practice and talent.

Beautiful talent.

Daniel's hands were clenched at his sides. Around him, people swayed and sang, their attention focused on the man onstage but not really seeing him. They only saw the persona. The brand. The carefully constructed image. They didn't see Cody the way Daniel did.

Daniel had spent the last eight months studying every interview, every documentary, every social media post, and every rare moment when the mask slipped.

He knew Cody's favorite coffee. Knew that he hummed off-key when he was thinking.

Knew the exact way he bit his lower lip when he was nervous—a tell that showed up consistently during interviews but never during live performances.

He knew things about Cody that Cody didn't know about himself.

As the song rose to a crescendo, Daniel watched Cody's chest rise and fall and imagined what it would feel like to place his hand there, to feel that heartbeat quicken with recognition, with fear, and with need.

The longing in Daniel's chest was almost unbearable.

It twisted there, a constant presence that never quite released its grip.

He'd tried to ignore it at first. Cody was just another artist, after all, just another voice on the radio.

But then he'd watched an interview where Cody talked about vulnerability, about finally being honest with himself, and Daniel had locked onto him.

This was his person. His obsession. His inevitable future.

Daniel had tried other approaches first. Casual letters, nothing threatening.

Just declarations of understanding, of knowing him better than anyone else ever could.

But Cody hadn't even acknowledged them. That was when Daniel realized the letters needed to be more explicit.

More specific. Cody was too wrapped up in his carefully maintained bubble to hear a subtle message.

So, the letters had become increasingly detailed. Descriptions of what Daniel wanted to do to him, descriptions that grew more vivid and more demanding. The lack of acknowledgment only fueled Daniel's certainty. Cody was playing hard to get. Testing Daniel's devotion, seeing if he was serious.

Daniel was serious.

The stalking had been necessary. Following Cody through cities, appearing in crowds, always watching, standing where Cody would see him, sending the message—I’m here. I see you. I’m inevitable. We’re inevitable.

And then, a few weeks ago, he'd finally done it.

He'd found a way into Cody’s hotel room, past security, past all the barriers between him and his obsession.

He'd stood over Cody's sleeping form and taken photographs.

Proof. Evidence that he could get to Cody whenever he wanted.

That the distance between them was only psychological.

Taking the photographs had been his favorite part.

He'd studied them obsessively since then, every angle, every detail of Cody's face in sleep.

He could see the exhaustion, the way the tension didn't fully leave his shoulders even at rest. Cody needed him.

Needed someone to understand him completely, to see past the performance to the wounded man underneath.

He would be that person for Cody. He was already that person, but Cody didn’t know it yet.

The song ended. then Cody waved to the crowd, with that practiced smile in place before heading backstage.

Daniel felt the loss of sight like a physical ache.

But he knew where Cody was staying. He’d go to his hotel room again.

Maybe this time he would leave some of the old photographs for Cody to know that he’d been there.

To let him know that Daniel was near, that he knew where Cody was, and knew where he'd go next.

Knew, with absolute certainty, that this was just the beginning.

This was the part where Cody finally admitted that Daniel was right about them.

That they belonged together. That all of this—the letters, the photographs, the constant presence and adoration—was love.

He and Cody were perfect for one another, and soon, Cody would come to realize it too.

He would come to see that Daniel was his one true love.

He had to believe that. Without it, he had nothing.