5. After The Storm
Five
After The Storm
MARIE
I let my eyes travel over Mav’s body. His colossal frame is barely covered by the sheet that’s tangled around his middle. He’s sleeping with one leg bent at the knee, the other stretched. His thick, muscled thighs are on full display. The wide expanse of his broad back, all that beautiful olive skin, is almost entirely hidden by his bear’s fur. His thick, jet black hair is messy. Even his wild beard can’t mask his handsome features. God, he’s beautiful. Both in his magnificent human form and the savage beast lying underneath the surface.
I stare at the long lashes fanning his cut cheekbones. His full lips parted in slumber. The straight line of his strong, masculine nose. I want nothing but to climb back into bed and snuggle into his warmth. Let him wrap my body in his muscular arms. Bury my neck in the crook of his shoulder and get drunk on his woodsy scent. Feel him all around my body. Inside me.
I shake myself out of the dangerous turn my thoughts are taking. Maverick Ursinus isn’t mine and he will never be. He’s a fantasy come to life. A dream I was blessed enough to get a taste of. He’s the alpha who gave me more pleasure than I could have ever imagined. The bear that made me feel more safe than I have since my parents died when I was just a teenager. He’s the one I will measure every male to for the rest of my days. Nothing else.
He’s not mine to have and keep. Maverick is so far out of my league it’s laughable. A billionaire bear shifter with the world at his feet. What could he possibly see in a nobody like me beyond a quick fling? A way to scratch an itch before he moves on to someone more suitable. Someone who can stand at his side in the spotlight, not a shy wallflower like me.
I wipe a lone tear away from my cheek with trembling fingers, and tiptoe my way out of the cabin. Rushing into the hazy dawn light before my dream man awakens. Leaving like a coward before the fantasy comes crumbling down.
My heart clenches painfully with each step I take away from Maverick. From the bed where he claimed me so thoroughly. It feels wrong to leave him, to slink away like a thief in the night. But I can’t bear the humiliation of being cast aside. Of seeing regret in his eyes.
So I run. I run from the best thing that’s ever happened to me. The only man I’ve ever loved. Because I know, deep down, that I’m not enough. I’ll never be enough for someone like him.
Tears blur my vision as I stumble to my car. The icy morning air cuts through my thin coat, but it’s nothing compared to the chill settling in my soul. I’m doing the right thing, I try to convince myself. Leaving before I’m left.
But it doesn’t ease the ache in my chest. The hollow feeling that I’m making the biggest mistake of my life.
* * *
MAVERICK
I wake up smiling like a lovesick fool, but when I stretch an arm to reach for my omega, her side of the bed is empty. Blinking away the last dregs of sleep, I call for Marie. But there’s no answer. I roll my shoulders and crack my neck, feeling a delicious soreness in my body from hours of claiming my mate. I sit up, dropping my feet to the floor. My eyes meet the hairy paws of my bear. I turned in my sleep. Not surprising. Between how close I’ve been with my hibernation looming and the rush of finally claiming my omega, I’m more surprised I didn’t breed Marie in my bear form.
I go downstairs, making the wooden floors creak under my heavy steps. But the vast open-space is empty. I let out a long growl meant to call my mate. Still no response. What the fuck?
‘Where is she?’ my bear demands to know, as if I had any clue.
‘We were both out cold, buddy.’
I nudge at the door handle with a large paw, and step onto the porch. It’s cold but sunny, the storm is gone. And so is Marie’s car…
Dread curdles in my gut. She left. She fucking left me. After everything we shared last night, after I bared my soul to her, she ran.
‘No. No fucking way.’ Panic claws at my throat. This can’t be happening.
My bear is going apeshit, roaring and slamming against the confines of my mind. Demanding we go after our mate. Bring her back to our den where she belongs.
Why would she leave? I don’t understand. The way she responded to me, the way she cried out as I claimed her… I was so sure she wanted this as much as I did. That she felt the bond between us.
Was it all a lie? A figment of my hopeful imagination?
Anger surges hot and wild in my veins, battling with the despair that threatens to bring me to my knees. I refuse to believe what we have isn’t real. I’ve wasted too much time fighting this, fighting her. I won’t let her slip through my fingers now that I’ve finally gotten my head out of my ass.
I storm back inside, barely feeling the bite of the cold on my bare skin. I’m shifting before I hit the stairs, desperate to be in my human form, to go after my omega and demand answers.
She can’t just walk away. Not without hearing me out. Not without giving me a chance to convince her that this, us, is worth fighting for.
I threw on the first clothes I could find, not giving a damn about the cold. The only thing that mattered was reaching Marie. Making her see reason. I wouldn’t let her throw away what we had out of some misguided notion that she wasn’t good enough.
Fuck that noise. Marie Flores is everything. She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted, ever loved. And I’ll be damned if I let her go without a fight.
I almost rip the door off the hinges in my haste to get to my truck. The tires spit gravel as I peel out of the driveway. I’ll scour the whole fucking state if I have to. Turn over every rock, knock down every door.
I’m coming for my girl. And when I find her, I’m gonna shake some fucking sense into her. Make her see that she’s it for me. My mate. My forever.
And this time, I’m not letting her walk away.
* * *
MARIE
I wipe away at my tears, vision blurred, as I drive through the magnificent Tahoe landscape on my way back home. Even the amazing scenery surrounding me can’t soothe my soul. And my bear? She’s barking her head off, pushing against the thin layer of resistance I have left, demanding I let her out so she can run back to our alpha. Our alpha. What a fucking joke. Like Maverick Ursinus could want me for the long haul.
‘He claimed us! Marked us!’ my she-bear growls at me.
Yeah, and I’m not exactly sure why he was cruel enough to do such a thing. Show the entire world that I’m called for when I know he has no intention of keeping me. My bear growls again, and this time she pushes hard enough that the hairs all over my skin grow by almost an inch.
‘Stop it! He doesn’t really want us!’
The man is a fucking billionaire. He’s smart, powerful, looks like a wet dream, and fucks like one. I saw the women he used to date.
‘Used to!’ she yells in my head. ‘Don’t you think it’s telling that Mav stopped being a fuck-boi after you started working for him?’
I shake my head, inhaling deeply, knuckling the steering wheel hard, and close my mind to my stubborn bear. I already lost my parents. There is no way I’m giving my heart to someone who’ll eventually tire of me and leave. I step on the accelerator, building distance between myself and my beautiful boss.
Every mile feels like a knife to the chest. The farther I get from Maverick, the more my soul screams in protest. Invisible bands squeeze my lungs, making it hard to breathe. It’s like my very cells are being ripped apart, rebelling against the separation from my…
No. I viciously cut off the thought. He’s not my anything. Last night was a mistake. A beautiful, devastating mistake. One I’ll regret for the rest of my life.
But I can’t dwell on it now. I have to keep moving forward. Put Maverick Ursinus and our night together behind me. Forget the way he touched me, the way he held me like I was something precious. The promises he whispered against my skin.
I have to forget it all. Bury it deep and soldier on. It’s the only way I’ll survive.
So I point my car towards the one place I know I can lick my wounds in peace. The one person who’s always been there for me, even in my darkest moments.
Gran.
She’ll know what to do. How to help me pick up the pieces of my shattered heart. I just pray she doesn’t judge me too harshly for falling for my boss. For daring to reach for something so far beyond my grasp.
With a shaky hand, I fumble for my phone, dialing the familiar number. It only rings twice before her warm, creaky voice fills the line.
“Marie? This is a surprise. Is everything alright, dear?”
A sob catches in my throat. I swallow it back, blinking furiously against the fresh sting of tears.
“No, Gran,” I manage to choke out. “It’s not. I… I really messed up this time.”
There’s a pause, then a soft sigh. “Come home, baby girl. Gran will make it all better.”
* * *
MAVERICK
After calling for my mate without success, and searching all around the cabin, I make my way back inside. I can barely contain my furor and worry, and I have to muster all my mental strength to see past the red film obscuring my vision.
‘Easy, brother. Let me take over. We need to find our mate.’ I close my eyes, breathing deep, taking in her lingering scent. Our mingled scents. Fuck, we smell fucking perfect. Bear lets out a pained squeak and I feel the pang of her loss in the depths of my soul.
When I finally calm him down enough to change back, I waste no time. I’m dressed and in my truck within minutes, speeding on the winding mountain roads, going after my omega.
My mind races as I drive, trying to figure out where Marie might have gone. Her apartment is the obvious choice, but something tells me she wouldn’t make it that easy. Not if she was really trying to run from me.
Frustration burns in my throat. Why can’t she see what’s right in front of her? That we’re fucking meant to be? I know I’m not the easiest man to love. I’m gruff and short-tempered and emotionally stunted at the best of times. But damn it, I’m trying. For her, I’m willing to do whatever it takes.
She just has to give me a chance.
I’m halfway down the mountain when it hits me. Her grandmother. If Marie was scared and hurting, that’s where she’d go. The old woman practically raised her after her parents died. She’s the only family Marie has left.
I wrack my brain, trying to remember where the grandmother lives. Marie mentioned it once, in passing. Some small town on the coast. Peaceful. Picturesque. The perfect place to hide out and nurse a broken heart.
Well, tough shit. She’s not getting off that easily.
I yank the wheel to the side, making an illegal U-turn in the middle of the deserted highway. Horns blare as I cut off a logging truck, but I don’t give a fuck. All that matters is getting to Marie.
I push the gas pedal to the floor, hands tight on the wheel. Hang on, baby. I’m coming for you.
And this time, I’m not letting you go.