Page 55

DAMON

S hit . My cock felt half frozen by the time I stopped running at breakneck speed, trying to forget Sasha’s smell. The icy wind snapped at my exposed skin, freezing the rest of my body, for that matter. And the snow that covered the ground clung to my legs, freezing my blood.

My inner bear had gotten the better of me, back at the cabin, but dammit all if the man didn’t want to go along with it, as well.

I had clenched my hands into fists, my claws slicing into the tender flesh of my palms. She had run from us.

Our mate had holed up inside the bathroom.

If I was a betting man, I’d bet she was in there crying.

Fuck .

I clenched my teeth, my fangs protruding out and tried to drag in a steady breath, but my damn heart wouldn’t stop beating like a drum.

My erection had been in danger of snapping, and my bear had roared inside my mind loud enough to rupture my eardrums. He’d demanded I chase after our fated mate.

My vision had turned gold, and I felt my eyes turning red.

I had to know. I couldn’t stay in the kitchen any longer.

Not without claiming Sasha. The bear inside had been riding me too hard.

I had done the only thing I could do—stalk out of the tiny kitchen and take my ass out into the goddamn blizzard.

After flinging open the front door, I had raced outside and set into a hard brisk run, hoping that the biting cold would freeze over my fucking libido.

Which led to my predicament of standing out in the freezing weather. I swiped at the sweat that beaded my brow, panting and my hair damp.

At least I got the sexy little female out of my system.

I took in the surrounding terrain. The trees were bare, their trunks spanning beyond what my gaze could follow.

I’d run off miles of sexual frustration.

Tuning into my core, I studied my inner bear.

The beast heaved with exertion. Though the wild look in his eyes signaled, he was still horny as hell.

I knew the run had cooled his need for the female. He would hold. It would be fine.

I made my way back to the cabin, inhaling a calming breath—steps unhurried.

Before long, I spotted the log cabin cresting over the hillside, clenching my jaw as I thought back to Sasha.

The way her eyes glazed over as I sucked her finger into my mouth.

I remembered her soft whimpers as my tongue curled around her smooth skin.

My inner bear hummed as his interest piqued.

I shook my head. Dammit.

If I didn’t want permanent blue balls, I needed to get my thoughts under control. A sharp tangy smell filled my nostrils, making me jerk to a halt.

Fear.

Sasha’s fear clung to the air like fog. My heartbeat sped up as I sniffed the air.

A vicious snarl ripped from my throat. The unmistakable scent of male lay beneath the thick odor of fear.

A male werebear. One I was not familiar with.

Terror unlike anything I’d sensed before funneled through my veins like a cyclone.

Without another thought, I launched forward, barreling up the porch steps, and burst into the cabin.

A ragged gasp rushed from my lips. The couches were tossed on their side, stuffing from the decorative pillows streamed across the rug.

Claw marks raked the door frame, leaving wide fissures in the wooden door that led to the only bedroom.

The door hung on a hinge, deep marks slashed clean through the wood.

White hot pain lanced through my brain, sending me to my knees. I grabbed my head between my hands and gritted my teeth. My bear roared in agony. Then, like a vanishing flame, the pain was gone.

After exhaling a shaky breath, I sat back on my heels.

What the hell was that?

As I let out a mournful cry, my bear clawed ribbons into my insides—demanding we raced to our fated mate’s side. An iron tang curled from the bedroom. Blood—fresh blood.

And in that moment, I knew. I knew .

Sasha!

Her fear and panic had channeled through my mind, flowing into me through the incomplete mating bond.

With my heart in my throat, I surged forward.

Images of Sasha’s broken body, her flesh torn open, overflowed my racing thoughts.

I braced myself as I rushed into the room.

Someone had torn apart the furniture in this part of the cabin as well.

Pillows ripped and tossed, and the bed frame cracked in half.

My gaze swung to the lone window at the far side of the room.

I saw the window pane shattered and a shard of glass—still intact—snagged on a piece of fabric.

Relief loosened my chest as I stepped toward the window. It was a torn piece of Sasha’s shirt. She must’ve escaped through the broken window. She was still alive. The knowledge made my knees weaken. But panic soon overtook the relief. Sasha was out there with a werebear… all alone.

I rushed back through the cabin, running out into the night.

As I leaped into the air, I transformed into beast form.

As soon as I hit the ground on all paws, I tore across the forest, kicking up plumes of snow in my path.

In desperation, I sought Sasha’s aura of peaches and cream.

I wove around the barren trees. No trace of her.

Dammit!

I fought back the urge to growl in frustration and continued on.

Just when my bear was about to go mad with grief, I detected a whiff of a sweet aroma laced with the distinct smell of blood.

What I noticed as I rounded a bend had me stumbling to a stop.

The wearebear had entangled Sasha in a battle.

Her blood spilled over from a nasty gash at her shoulder, claw marks fanned her arms in bloody strips.

But the wounds didn’t slow her down. She moved like liquid, every attack honed with deadly accuracy.

The werebear had shifted into beast form.

His snout trailing saliva, he let out a fierce roar before lunging at Sasha again.

But the female spun out of the way, landing with grace.

She unsheathed her claws and raked them along the bear’s back before dodging a retaliatory blow.

The bear’s jaws snapped at where she stood moments before.

My vision bled red. I let out a vicious roar and reared onto my hind paws.

The other bear, a darker grizzly, didn’t have time to face me before I was on him.

We met in a colliding mass of hundreds of pounds of flesh, fur, and claws.

Our howling rocked the forest like a thunderclap.

Blood sprayed, staining the snow in crimson.

Yield! I slammed the mental command into the werebear’s mind—pulsed my dominance out in waves. But the bear only sank his fangs into my foreleg and ripped out a chunk of flesh. I howled in agony before raking claws across his muzzle. After an agonizing cry, the other werebear shrank back.

Again, I tried to touch minds with the bear.

My dominance buffeted him, and I watched him shudder under the weight of my power as an alpha.

Still, he pushed on, his eyes wild with defiance.

He lunged, and I darted to the left, avoiding his bared fangs.

I prodded the bear’s mind, reaching with mental fingers, as he flew past, and I hit against a metallic wall.

The wall loomed upward, barring every inch of the werebear’s mind—encasing it like a sheet of ice.

Then, like a tidal wave, understanding bowled into me.

Only one race could encapsulate minds with such precision. Wield such control. Dark Fae.

Sasha was right!

The bear growled and shot toward me like a bullet.

I ducked. As the bear flew over me, I rocketed up on my hind paws, slamming into his belly, and sent him soaring.

He crashed to the ground with an earth shattering thud that dropped the snow that had clung to the branches.

The bear was on his paws a heartbeat later.

He let out an explosive howl and launched himself at me.

I tried to dodge him, but this time, he struck true.

The male tackled me. We hit the ground and rolled in a flurry of shaggy fur.

Pinned beneath the bear, I dug my hooked claws into my neck, keeping those snapping fangs from sinking into my throat.

A flash of curly hair popped into view. Then Sasha was on the bear. She slashed at his back, his blood spraying her face. The bear pinning me down arched its back, a pained howl tearing from his maw. He whirled, fangs flashing, paw raised. Sasha made to move.

No! I screamed mentally.

Claws tore open the flesh of Sasha’s belly. Her scream pierced the air like a siren. She crumbled to the ground, a pool of blood building beneath her. Panic speared my mind.

Sasha! my inner bear bellowed. I couldn’t tear my eyes off her, her lifeblood pouring, melding with the snow.

Pain speared my flesh where my neck met my shoulder.

The werebear’s fangs hooked deep into me.

He shook his head in a vicious attack, jerking side to side, tearing my flesh away from my bones.

After howling, I caught the bear across his belly with my back claws.

Blood splattered my fur. The bear wailed, throwing himself off my body.

That was my opportunity, and I staggered to my paws and placed myself in between Sasha and the werebear—a living shield.

“Sasha,” I breathed past the raw pain, my regenerative powers slow to heal with such a grave wound. “Get out of here.”

She tried lifting her head inch by inch, her expression bleary with pain. Her eyes widened as she gazed up at me. Thank the gods she heard my mental thoughts. My legs trembled with fatigue.

“Save yourself, Sasha,” I growled, tossing a glance over my shoulder. I saw the werebear coming back to life, recovering from his serious injury—though not grave like mine.

Shit… he’ll recover faster than me. I need Sasha to get outta here.

“No.” Sasha’s voice sounded ragged, laced with pain. “I… I won’t leave you.”

“ Dammit , Sasha! Go!” I faced the bear, lips peeled back, exposing wicked fangs. “I’ll hold him off.”

Sasha pushed to her hands and knees. “Shut the hell up. You stupid bear.”

Damned female.

A roar echoed from my rear. The bear loomed on his hind legs, fangs bared and wicked claws extended.

A tinkling noise, like thousands of wind chimes, pierced the air.

Light flashed forth, blinding in its brilliance.

I slammed my eyes closed, spots bursting behind my eyelids.

I cracked my eyes open, then snapped them wide, seeing what stood in view.

An enormous wolf, almost reaching my height, faced the other bear, its hackles raised.

The wolf seemed to be made of celestial light.

Arcs of brightness shimmered and pooled off its body in waves of white.

Its body appeared translucent, Sasha emerging in view behind it.

My jaw slackened. Though wounded, Sasha was on her feet, her stance tall and proud.

Her eyes glowed with crystal light, only matched in brilliance by the wolf’s pelt.

She raised an arm toward the bear and with a flick of her wrist, the gigantic wolf launched itself at the bear.

Before the bear could counterattack, the wolf had soared onto his back and sank her fangs into his ruff.

The bear bucked and twisted, attempting to toss the wolf off his back. But the wolf held on with ferocious intent. She tore into the back of his neck, blood flowing from the wound like a faucet. Her claws shredded his sides in zigzag stripes. The bear moaned, his movements growing weaker.

These wounds aren’t healing.

Shock claimed a hold of me, rendering me frozen.

Something was blocking the bear’s regenerative powers.

I turned with care, my movements slow, back to face Sasha.

Her eyes still glowed with an otherworldly light, her hair whipped about in an absent wind.

Her arm remained raised, hand twisting, fingers flicking as she controlled the wolf like a puppeteer.

Another cry tore from the bear’s throat.

The wolf leaped off the bear, spun and rammed into his side.

The bear slammed to the cold, hard ground.

Without giving him a moment’s pause, the wolf crashed into his side again, sending the bear skidding back.

Ahead of the wolf was a sharp drop straight into a ravine.

The wolf slammed him again and again. The bear clawed at the wolf—a last feeble attempt—but his claws went straight through its translucent body.

It appeared as if air and light made up the massive wolf.

Blood soaked the ground in bright red streaks, pooling on the snow from the gaping wound at the bear’s neck.

With one finally shove, the bear slipped over the edge and plummeted with an echoing roar.

Then stillness bathed the forest as silence descended.

The danger having now passed; I allowed my bear skin to recede, my human form taking its place.

After pressing a hand to my neck, I found the wound almost closed.

The blood had slowed to a slight trickle.

I faced Sasha. The light had left her eyes.

With her arm lowered at her side, she stared at the ravine’s edge, where the bear had once been.

“Sasha,” I rushed toward her. “Are you okay?” I glanced at her torn shirt, to the claw marks that fanned her midsection. “Shit, Sasha…”

Her sluggish eyes slid to me, staring—in a trance—like she looked right through me. My skin prickled and the hairs on my arms stood up.

“Sasha?”

She swayed on her feet, her eyes rolling back in her head. I shot forward, catching her in my arms before she hit the ground.