Chapter 4
Wreck
Mate.
The word didn’t just echo in my head.
It detonated.
Like a nuclear bomb.
My Bear surged so violently against my control that my knees nearly buckled where I stood in the smoke.
Every instinct I’d spent twenty years burying ripped awake in a single, savage heartbeat.
Mine.
No.
No fucking way.
Not me.
I wasn’t built for a mate.
Not after what the Forest Ridge Clan taught me.
Not after the chains.
Not after I swore I’d never let my beast ruin anything ever again.
And I knew that without ever meaning to, I would ruin this woman.
But the Bear didn’t care about vows made by a sixteen-year-old boy bleeding in the dirt.
The female swayed in front of me, coughing hard enough that her entire body shook.
She was curvy—lush hips, thick thighs, soft breasts straining against smoke-streaked fabric.
Not the kind of female I usually went for, but I immediately saw the error of my ways.
Ash clung to her wild, dark hair, and her cheeks were flushed from heat and fear.
Her scent slammed into me again.
Not human.
Not Shifter.
Something else.
Something green and alive beneath the smoke.
Rain on leaves.
Fresh sap.
Damp earth after a storm.
Wildflower honey.
And magic.
Oh yeah, she had magic of her own.
The Bear roared approval.
Mine.
“Easy. Stay with me,” I barked, stepping forward through a wall of flame without hesitation.
The fire tried to block me.
It failed.
I leapt the last few feet just as her knees gave out.
She started to collapse onto the burning ground cover.
“Fuck!”
I caught her before her face hit the dirt, dropping to one knee as sparks exploded around us.
She was lighter than she looked, but not fragile.
Solid. Real. Warm.
Too warm.
Her breathing stuttered.
Shit.
Smoke inhalation.
I watched helplessly as her long lashes fluttered once.
Then she went limp.
And something inside me snapped.
Not the violent kind.
The claiming kind.
I tore my coat off in one brutal motion and wrapped it around her body, shielding her from the worst of the heat.
My hands were shaking, and I didn’t know if it was adrenaline or instinct or the terrifying reality that the universe had just handed me something I didn’t know how to handle.
Her fingers were clenched tight around something.
I glanced down.
I saw pieces of a small, somewhat charred plant peeking through her pale fingers.
The roots were exposed at the bottom, and curiosity piqued inside me.
She wasn’t squeezing it. Not exactly.
She was cradling it like the thing mattered more than her own damn life.
What the fuck?
Even unconscious, she held onto it.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered.
The Bear pressed forward again, scenting along her throat, her hairline, her skin.
Mate.
There was no mistaking it.
The pull wasn’t just sexual.
But that was definitely there.
Nah, though. This was deeper.
Bone-deep.
I wanted her.
Wanted to protect.
Claim.
Guard.
Cherish.
Destroy anything that threatens her.
I stood, lifting her fully into my arms.
She fit there like she belonged.
Too well.
And for a moment, I hated that.
I didn’t deserve nice things. Wasn’t built for good things.
And she was both.
“WRECK!” Havoc’s voice cut through the smoke.
I turned sharply as the Wolf came barreling through the clearing, Justin close behind him.
They both froze when they saw what I was holding.
Havoc’s nostrils flared first.
His eyes went wide.
“Whoa,” he said quietly.
Justin sniffed once, sharply.
“Is that—”
“Don’t. Come. Any. Closer,” I growled.
The sound wasn’t human.
It ripped straight from my chest, low and dangerous.
The Bear surged so hard my vision tinted gold at the edges.
Mine.
Both males took a step back automatically.
I’d never growled at them like that before.
Not with intent.
Not with warning.
“What is she? She human?” Havoc asked carefully.
“No,” I snapped.
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
Because every cell in my body was screaming it.
But I kept that to myself.
Justin tilted his head slightly, studying her with that calculating Dragon stare.
“She smells different. Like magic, but not.”
“I’m aware. And stop fucking sniffing her,” I bit out.
The Wolf’s gaze shifted to my face.
Then to her.
Then back again.
His lip twitched.
“She’s your mate,” he said quietly.
The words sent another violent pulse through my system.
I snarled at him.
“No. Just. Shit. Just back the fuck up.”
Havoc lifted both hands in mock surrender, though there was something wary in his posture now.
“Relax, Alpha.”
“I’m not your Alpha.”
Justin snorted softly.
“Yeah, well, you stink like fucking Alpha dominance and lust.”
The fire behind us flared again, forcing the moment to break.
“Look,” I said, turning without waiting for their response. “Finish this shit. I’m taking her.”
“Where?” Justin asked.
“To her fucking cabin. Get out of my way.”
“You sure that’s smart?” Havoc called after me.
“No,” I answered honestly.
I didn’t look back.
Because if either of them tried to stop me?
I wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t put them in the ground.
The ride back to her cabin was a blur of heat and instinct.
I kept one arm around her body, one hand steady on the ATV controls. Her head rested against my chest, and every time the vehicle hit a bump, I tightened my hold automatically.
She stirred once.
Coughed weakly.
My heart slammed so hard I felt it in my teeth.
“Stay with me,” I muttered again.
Her scent hovered around me, weaving through the smoke clinging to my gear.
Even through ash and sweat, it was unmistakable.
Alive.
Ancient.
Wild.
Not Shifter.
Not Witch either.
Something older.
The Bear shoved violently against my control again, claws scraping the inside of my skull hard enough to make my vision pulse gold around the edges.
Claim her.
The command thundered through me.
Absolute. Instinctive. Unrelenting.
“No,” I snarled under my breath, jaw clenching so hard pain shot down my neck. I forced air into my lungs through the smoke and the overwhelming sweetness of her scent. “We don’t even know what she is.”
The Monster inside me just sneered.
Doesn’t matter. Mate.
My grip tightened around her instinctively as I tore through the burning tree line with her cradled against my chest. Flames snapped at my boots while embers swirled through the night air, but all my senses centered on her.
Her heartbeat.
Too fast.
Her breathing.
Too shallow.
The soft warmth of her curled against me.
The scent of magic pouring from her skin wrapped around my Bear like vines tightening around something ancient and starving. Not Witch. Not Shifter. Something wilder. Older. Forest rain and moss and growing things tangled beneath smoke and ash.
Mine.
“Fuck that,” I bit out harshly.
It mattered to me.
It had to.
I wasn’t some Clan-raised male who blindly trusted instinct and Fate to make choices for him. I’d seen what happened when powerful males decided bloodlines and bonds mattered more than reason.
I couldn’t simply surrender to instinct.
Couldn’t put the beast above thought.
I wasn’t my father.
Wasn’t my brother.
And this sure as fuck wasn’t Forest Ridge.
But the closer I got to the cabins, the more impossible it became to ignore what my body was doing.
Every muscle in me had shifted into protection mode.
Every sound in the forest registered as threat assessment.
Every gust of wind that carried sparks too close to her made the Bear surge violently beneath my skin.
Protect.
Guard.
Keep safe.
The bond pulsed harder the longer I held her.
And when I reached the rental cabins, I knew immediately which one belonged to her before I even saw the number nailed beside the door.
Her scent coated the place.
Sweet earth.
Rainwater.
Wildflowers.
Home.
The realization hit me somewhere deep in the chest and lodged there like a splinter.
I climbed the steps carefully, my heavy boots suddenly feeling too loud in the silence. The female in my arms stirred weakly, coughing against my chest, and the Bear nearly lost its mind.
Easy.
Easy.
I kicked the cabin door shut behind me and froze for a second inside the dimly lit room.
Small.
Rustic.
Built from local timber and mountain stone.
A couch sat near the fireplace with a woven blanket tossed over one side. Hiking boots rested by the door beside an overstuffed duffel bag. A half-open book lay face down on the coffee table next to a mug that still smelled faintly of tea.
Female.
Soft.
Homey.
Mine.
The possessive thought came so naturally it made my stomach twist.
I crossed to the couch and tried to lower her carefully onto the cushions.
Tried being the optimal word.
The second my arms loosened around her body, the Bear exploded forward in furious refusal.
Mine.
A low growl rumbled out of me before I could stop it.
I froze.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
Her lashes fluttered weakly again.
A rough cough shook her body.
And just like that, I stopped trying to put her down altogether.
I carried her into the kitchen instead, one arm supporting her effortlessly while I grabbed a glass from the cabinet with the other. The cabin smelled overwhelmingly like her up close. Every surface carried traces of her scent, and my Bear soaked it in greedily.
Female.
Mate.
Home.
Fuck.
No.
I filled the glass from a pitcher sitting on the counter and grabbed a clean dish towel, soaking it with cold water before heading back toward the couch.
The thing creaked ominously beneath my weight when I sat down.
Too damn small for a Bear Shifter.
Too damn small for the both of us.
Didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered except the female unconscious in my arms.
I adjusted her carefully against my chest and finally looked at her properly without smoke and chaos between us.
Curvy.
Soft in all the places my hands immediately noticed.
Dark hair spilling over my arm in tangled waves.
Long lashes resting against soot-smudged cheeks.