Chapter 21 Chloe
CHLOE
The text had been three words: Come over. Urgent.
Chloe stared at it the whole drive to Corin's place, her mind spinning through possibilities. Something about the land. The well. Maybe he'd found whoever was behind all of this. Or maybe something had happened to him.
That thought made her press the accelerator a little harder.
His house sat near the orchard, a sturdy two-story cabin that looked like it had grown from the mountain itself.
Smoke curled from the chimney, and his truck was parked in the gravel drive.
She pulled in beside it and killed the engine, her heart beating faster than it should when she saw him waiting on the porch.
Chloe climbed out of her car and crossed the yard, studying him as she approached.
He looked rough. A fresh bandage wrapped around his left shoulder, visible where his flannel shirt hung open over a thermal.
His hair was damp, like he'd recently showered, and there was something in his expression she'd never seen before.
Uncertainty.
Corin Vane, steady as the mountain, looked nervous.
"You're hurt," she said, stopping at the bottom of the porch steps.
"It's nothing. Caught myself on some rocks." He stepped aside, holding the door open. "Come inside. Please."
The please was what did it. Corin didn't say please. He stated things, offered things, did things. He didn't ask.
She climbed the steps and walked past him into the house.
The interior was warm, a fire crackling in a stone hearth, the walls lined with bookshelves and old photographs. It smelled like woodsmoke and honey. She'd never been inside before but she knew that this is what it would smell like.
"Do you want something to drink? Coffee? Tea?"
"I'm fine." She turned to face him. "Corin, what's going on? You're scaring me."
He closed the door and stood there for a moment, his hand still on the knob. Then he let out a breath and crossed to the couch, sinking onto the edge like his legs wouldn't hold him anymore.
"Sit down. Please."
There it was again. Please.
She sat in the chair across from him, her hands folded in her lap. The fire popped and crackled in the silence.
"I need to tell you something," he said. "Something I should have told you awhile ago. But I didn't know how, and I was afraid of what you'd think, and I kept telling myself the timing wasn't right."
"Okay."
"When I caught you that day. On the ice. When my hand touched your wrist." He paused, his jaw working. "Something happened. To me."
Chloe's pulse kicked up. She remembered that moment. The heat that had shot through her, electric and warm. The way he'd looked at her afterward, like she'd changed something fundamental between them.
"I felt it too," she said quietly. "I didn't know what it was."
His eyes snapped to hers. "You felt it?"
"Like electricity. Like touching a live wire." She hesitated. "I thought I'd imagined it."
"You didn't." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his gaze holding hers with an intensity that made blood rush to her face. "What you felt was the beginning of a mate bond."
The words hung in the air. Chloe heard them, processed them, but they didn't quite make sense.
"A mate bond."
"Bear shifters recognize their mates through touch.
Scent. Something in our blood knows when we've found the person we're meant to be with.
" He spoke carefully, like he was choosing each word with precision.
"When I touched your skin that day, my bear recognized you.
Immediately. Absolutely. There was no question. "
Chloe's mouth had gone dry. "You're saying I'm your mate."
"I'm saying my bear thinks you are. That I think you are." He ran a hand through his still-damp hair, and she saw that it was trembling slightly. "But mate bonds aren't ownership, Chloe. They're not claims. You have a choice. You always had a choice."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you were already dealing with so much. The accusations, the land sickness, people blaming you for things you didn't do. The last thing you needed was some bear shifter announcing that you belonged to him."
"But you didn't announce that." Her voice was steadier than she felt. "You just... showed up. Defended me. Walked me home. Nothing but respect."
"You do matter. More than I know how to say."
"Because of the bond?"
"Because of you." His voice dropped, roughening at the edges.
"The bond made me notice. But everything after that was just..
. you. And honestly, even before. The way you talk to plants.
The way you fight for your place here even when people make it hard.
The way you looked at me in Freya's garden that first day. "
Chloe's chest ached. She wanted to reach for him. Wanted to close the distance between them and find out if that electric warmth was still there.
But she also needed to think. To understand what this meant before she let herself fall any further.
"What does this mean for me? If I'm your mate?"
"Nothing you don't want it to mean." He sat back, giving her space even though she could see how much it cost him.
"The bond exists whether you accept it or not.
My bear will always see you as mine. But that doesn't obligate you to anything.
You can walk out that door right now and never speak to me again, and I'll respect that. "
"Would you, though? Respect it?"
"It would kill me." The honesty in his voice was brutal. "But yes. I'd respect it."
She believed him. That was the thing. Corin had never given her a single reason to doubt his word. He'd been patient when she was prickly, steady when she was scared, present when everyone else kept their distance.
He'd defended her to strangers without explaining why. Had guarded her cottage at night without telling her. Had torn apart an ancient well with his bare claws because the thought of her being hurt made him lose control.
And through all of it, he'd never once pressured her. Never once made her feel like she owed him something.
"I need time," she said. "To process this. To figure out what I want."
"Take all the time you need."
"You mean that."
"I mean everything I say to you." His eyes held hers, and the weight of that gaze made something flutter in her chest. "I've waited thirty-four years to find my mate, Chloe. I can wait a little longer for you to decide if you want me back."
The words were warm and heavy. She should leave. Should go home and think about all of this, make lists of pros and cons, talk to Freya, call Wendy.
Instead, she stood up and crossed to the couch.
Corin watched her approach, his body going very still. She stopped in front of him, close enough to see the gold flecks in his hazelnut eyes, the slight part of his lips.
"I need time," she said again. "But I want something else first."
"What?"
"Kiss me."
He didn't move. "Chloe."
"I need to know if what I felt was real. If it's still there." She took a breath. "Please."
His hand came up slowly, like he was afraid she might bolt. His fingers brushed her jaw, featherlight, and the heat was there instantly. That same electric warmth, spreading from the point of contact through her entire body.
"It's real," he murmured.
"Then show me."
He pulled her down onto his lap, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other settling on her hip. She had a moment to register the size of him, the solid warmth of his body beneath hers, and then his mouth found hers and the world dissolved.
He kissed her like he'd been starving for it. Like she was water and he'd been wandering through desert for years. His lips were soft but insistent, his tongue tracing the seam of her mouth until she opened for him with a gasp.
She tasted honey. Warmth. Something wild and ancient that made her fingers curl into his shoulders and her body arch against his.
This was what the bond felt like. This consuming heat, this desperate need to get closer, to crawl inside his skin and never come out.
When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard.
"Time," she managed. "I still need time."
"I know." His forehead rested against hers, his thumb stroking her cheekbone. "Take whatever you need."
She climbed off his lap on shaky legs, her lips still tingling, her body humming with want. He let her go without protest, though she could see the effort it cost him.
"I'll call you," she said from the doorway.
"I'll be here."
She stepped through the doorway and stopped. She didn't want to leave. Deep down, she already knew she didn't need time. It had just felt like the right thing to say.
For once, I am going to act on instinct, she decided. She stepped back into the house and shut the door.
“Chloe? Is something–”
She turned and closed the distance between them and pressed her lips hard against Corin’s.