Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
The land had become my responsibility when my family’s construction company bought it, but I’d considered it mine long before then. It was only thirty minutes from the wilderness my pack called home, and my beast had always been drawn to this area.
I leaped over a fallen branch. The storm had left its mark. Mud churned where runoff had cut too fast through a slope. There were fresh tracks from a deer near the creek. I cataloged it all without slowing, my instincts sorting threat from harmless as easily as breathing.
Then I caught it.
Disturbed ground near the access road. Tire tracks where there shouldn’t have been any.
I slowed to a prowl, my senses sharpening as my cougar lifted his head and dragged the morning air deep into his lungs. Then a sound tore through my chest—an instinctive cry I’d never felt before.
Something had changed. And my cougar knew it before I did.
I took one more step forward, and my cougar froze mid-stride, muscles going rigid beneath my skin. Every instinct I had was locked tight.
My mind finally caught on to what the scent was.
Human.
Female.
Sweet in a way that made me greedy. Because she was mine.
The last word wasn’t just a possibility. It was a certainty.
My hackles lifted as instinct slammed into me so hard it stole my breath. My cougar surged forward, his focus narrowed to a single truth.
Mate.
My beast wanted to find her. To put my body between hers and the world. To circle and guard. Ensure nothing touched what belonged to us.
To claim the woman who was born to be mine.
I couldn’t let instinct take the reins, no matter how violently it demanded control.
She was human and likely unaware of the supernatural world that existed around her.
My mate needed safety, not fear. And the only way to give her that was to slow down and find her the right way.
I forced my cougar away from the scent before the urge to mate could drag me toward her.
It wasn’t easy. My inner animal didn’t understand hesitation or distance.
He wanted to get to our mate. Now.
My truck sat where I’d left it, tucked beneath the cover of trees near the access road. I shifted back to human form in the shadow of the forest, the change rippling through me in a practiced blur. Opening the passenger side door, I grabbed my clothes and quickly dressed. My hands stayed steady despite the storm raging inside my chest.
Control wasn’t about killing instinct.
It was about choosing when to listen.
My cougar prowled inside me, restless and demanding, but the man held the reins. I grounded myself in routine—checking my phone, pulling on my jacket, and forcing my breathing to remain slow and even.
I didn’t rush. Didn’t tear through the trees like a feral beast chasing the scent that called to me like no other.
The first thing my mate needed from me wasn’t teeth or claws. She deserved a man who understood how terrifying it would be to wake up alone in the woods and find a stranger nearby.
I would find her, but I would do it the right way. Because being her mate meant protecting her from everything—including myself, if needed.
I shut the truck door quietly and followed her scent trail at a deliberate pace.
I spotted the car before I saw her. It was tucked too far off the access road to belong there. Mud splattered the sides, and the windows were fogged faintly from the inside.
My steps slowed without conscious thought as I approached, every instinct tightening.
She was curled up in the back seat—bundled in layers that didn’t hide how small she looked with her knees drawn toward her chest and a blanket pulled up to her chin. Her dark hair was mussed from sleep, and her face was pale and drawn with exhaustion.
My chest ached at the sight of her like that. Alone and unaware. It hit even harder than her scent had.
My cougar surged violently beneath my skin, a furious snarl tearing through my veins. Every part of him screamed that she should be warm and fed. That she should never have been left like this in the first place.
She should never have been alone.
I stopped only inches from the car and forced myself to breathe. There were no visible injuries, and I didn’t smell blood. The rise and fall of her chest were steady.
Then I stepped back a few feet—far enough to give her space but close enough that she’d see me when she woke.
As much as I wanted to, I didn’t loom. I kept my hands visible and posture calm, waiting for the moment when her eyes finally blinked open. And I willed my hard-on down with every ounce of my being. I was thrilled as fuck to experience desire for the first time, but I didn’t want my mate to think I was a pervert who got off on staring at her while she slept.