Chapter 2 #2
The beast within slammed against the mental barriers I’d fortified for all these years, mental walls crumbling like sandcastles against the tide. His howls of frustration reverberated through my skull. Claim her now, he demanded, claws raking against my insides.
She hates us, I argued back, the words tasting like ash and regret on my tongue.
Your fault. Fix it. We need her, he snarled, his desperation flooding my senses until I could barely think straight. The barrier between my inner animal and me thinned until we were nearly one consciousness, wolf and man merging in our shared need.
Without her, we die anyway, my wolf growled, the truth of it ricocheting through every cell in my body, a cold certainty that had been growing for months. At least fighting for her gives us purpose before the end.
I pushed him back with waning strength. My canines lengthened against my will, pricking my bottom lip.
The coppery taste of my own blood filled my mouth, triggering predatory instincts that darkened my thoughts further.
And God, I wanted to claim and fuck her from behind, right here against the SUV, consequences be damned.
I imagined sinking my cock deep into her pussy, feeling her wet heat grip me as I pounded into her while I grabbed her hair, bringing her mouth to mine, swallowing her cries of my name, her body remembering what her mind rejected, that she was mine, would always be mine by the laws of nature that governed our kind.
Not now. Not like this. Not when she gazed at me with a quarter century of justified resentment burning in her expression.
I flinched when she erupted in laughter, her face tilted skyward. “The universe has truly fucked me once again,” she said, her laugh sharp enough to cut glass.
Pedestrians eyed her warily, diverting around us and her luggage.
“Lady, you can’t just block the sidewalk,” a man in a business suit snapped as he squeezed past.
I grabbed her elbow to move her out of the way. Big damn mistake.
“Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Me.” Each word dripped with venom as she snatched her arm away like my touch had burned her.
I retreated with my hands raised in surrender. “Apologies. I was—”
“Go away,” she cut me off, her stare flashing with indignation. “I’ll get my own ride to Black Forest.” She grabbed her luggage and stalked away, spine rigid with hostility, each step a dagger in my gut as the distance between us increased.
I moved to block her path, my body reacting of its own accord. “Don’t be ridiculous,” I said, fighting to keep my voice steady. “You can’t leave.”
She studied me up and down, her gaze carving into me like ice picks, leaving frost in its wake.
“Why the hell not? You did.”
The truth of her words doubled me over from the inside, stealing the air from my lungs more effectively than any combat strike I’d ever taken.
Each syllable found the weak points in the armor I’d constructed around my heart, sliding between the ribs of my excuses with surgical precision.
My wolf whimpered, belly-up in submission to her righteous fury, acknowledging the justice in her attack.
Blood roared in my ears, drowning out the airport noise, leaving nothing but her accusation echoing in the sudden silence of my mind.
And I deserved every wound and would take a thousand more if it meant standing in her presence for just one more minute.
“Didn’t Quinn tell you that you’re in danger?” I asked, forcing steel into my voice, dragging myself back to the present crisis. I scanned the parking lot, nostrils flaring as I searched for threats among the travelers.
“What happens to me is none of your damn business,” she said, getting right in my space with her finger pointing in my face.
Despite being a foot shorter, she tilted her head back and somehow made me feel like I was the one being loomed over.
Her petite, voluptuous five-four frame vibrated with ferocity as she glared up at my six-four height, completely unintimidated by the predator towering over her.
“You gave up that right when you rejected me.” The scent of her rage was intoxicating, wild and potent and alive in ways my carefully controlled existence hadn’t been for years.
“You have every right to be livid with me for what I did, but be fucking sensible.” I inched closer, near enough to catch the subtle changes in her aroma, jasmine and vanilla but layered with the sharp tang of irritation and something else, the faint musk of arousal she couldn’t completely hide from my enhanced senses.
It made my animal pace restlessly beneath my skin, claws scoring my insides.
“Let me drive you to town, and after that…” My voice roughened with the effort of maintaining control.
“You’ll stay away from me.” She crossed her arms defiantly, the movement pushing her breasts together beneath her travel-rumpled top. My gaze dropped for a millisecond before I forced it back to her eyes.
Wrong. If she only knew.
Not only would she be seeing me every day, but her lab equipment was currently being installed in my Brewstillery.
Quinn and I had agreed it was the only suitable space in the Ridge with the necessary infrastructure.
I’d spent the past three days personally helping out and overseeing the setup, making sure everything was perfect for her arrival.
“Rozi, I know I have no right to ask anything of you—” I started, unable to stop myself.
“Finally, something we agree on,” she cut in, her tone sharp enough to draw blood.
“But I need you to understand what happened in Kenya—”
“This is exactly where this conversation ends.” She raised her hand like a traffic cop. “We’re not doing this, Thornbern. Not now. Not ever.”
“We’re wasting time.” I forced practicality into my voice.
“There’s a town hall meeting about to happen in a couple of hours, and you’re presenting.
” I stared at her like an idiot, drinking in the details of her face like a dying man offered water.
“Have you been well? All these years?” I was desperate for any connection with her, any crumb she might offer.
She met my question with pointed silence, her expression unyielding, though her scent changed subtly, a hint of sorrow layered beneath the anger. My wolf whined, eager to comfort her, to press our muzzle against her neck in apology.
“I’ve thought about you. Every day,” I admitted quietly. “Every. Single. Day.” My words were naked and vulnerable.
“That’s your problem, not mine.” Despite her cold tone, the slight catch in her breath told me my words had landed.
She stared at me for a couple of beats, then took a deep breath as if gathering herself.
“I gather that monstrosity”—she pointed over at the black SUV I’d been leaning against when she’d come out of the airport—“is yours.” A flash of humor brightened her eyes momentarily, the first break in her armor.
“Yes,” I said with a half smile. We both reached for her luggage at the same time, our hands connecting. A frisson of static skated across my palm. The momentary contact sent a wave of relief through my trembling limbs, easing the chronic pain that had been my constant companion.
Rozi jerked her hand away, her lips parting on an indrawn breath.
“I’ve got it.” She walked away with her rolling luggage dragging behind her.
Stubborn woman. My inner beast snorted in agreement and replied, Stubborn, perfect mate. Would you expect less from our chosen one?
“Open the cargo area, please.”
I moved to help with her luggage. Our hands brushed again, a whisper of skin against skin, but the jolt of electricity that shot up my arm might as well have been lightning.
For one breathless heartbeat, time stopped. Her pupils dilated, swallowing the honey-brown of her irises. Her fragrance spiked with a potent mixture of desire and rage.
Her expression hardened. She batted my hands away with enough force to make her point crystal clear, her strength surprising for her size—a reminder of the predator that shared her skin.
“Don’t.” The word carried two decades of hurt. Her voice cracked slightly on that single syllable, revealing depths of pain beneath her controlled exterior.
My predator pressed against my consciousness with desperate need. Touch her again. Pull her close. Make her understand. She needs to know what will happen to us.
I clenched my fists at my sides, fighting the primal urge to reach for her. She stowed her luggage inside, her movements jerky and tense, betraying the effort it took her to maintain her distance.
The air between us felt thick enough to slice with a knife.
I opened the passenger door with exaggerated courtesy, a pathetic attempt at normalcy.
She ignored the gesture, taking off her backpack, getting into the back seat, and shutting the door with enough force to make the SUV rock slightly.
The barrier she placed between us was both physical and symbolic.
“So this is how it’s going to be,” I muttered before getting behind the wheel. I turned around to glance at her. “You can sit up front. I won’t bite without permission.” I attempted a smile that felt more like a grimace, my canines pressing uncomfortably against my lower lip.
Speak for yourself. I want to give her our claiming bite. My animal half’s hunger for our connection surged forward with primitive need, images flooding my mind—her throat exposed, my teeth sinking into tender flesh, the copper-sweet taste of her blood as the bond sealed permanently.
“No, thank you.” She didn’t even look up from scrolling on her phone. “Please drive. I have a town hall meeting to attend.”
I sighed heavily, turning on the radio before pulling away from the airport, the engine’s growl matching my inner frustration. The music filled the silence but did nothing to ease the tension that vibrated between us.
This is going to be a long ride.
The beast within whined with frustration.
Take back what’s ours. As if the years of pain could be fixed with a simple apology, as if two decades of absence could be erased with words.
The fated bond hummed between us like a live wire, despite her anger, despite the physical distance she’d placed between us in the car.
My body was already responding to her proximity with heightened senses and a calming of the tremor that had plagued me for months.
Even in rejection, she was healing me, her mere presence acting as a balm to symptoms that had resisted my tonic.
The irony wasn’t lost on my inner beast. We need her. She needs us too. She doesn’t know yet.
Over twenty years of Special Forces missions, of facing death without flinching, of building a life and business from nothing, and now I was being brought to my knees by the sight of a five-foot-four woman with fire in her expression and a deeply entrenched grudge.
The irony would be amusing if it weren’t so damn terrifying.
If she left the Ridge without—
No. I couldn’t think about that. Not when the tremors were getting worse, not when the line between man and wolf grew thinner with each passing day. Not when I’d found myself waking in the forest three times this week with no memory of shifting or running through the night.
I might have abandoned Rozi once, but this time would be different. This time, I wouldn’t let her go.
Because this time, my life quite literally depended on it. And so did the lives of every unmated male in Black Forest Ridge.