Page 10 of Coveted By The Bear (When Worlds Collide #1)

M y animal was going crazy at the thought of Tommy Boy and Rick coming here to hurt Hope.

“You fucking traitor!” Tommy bellowed, lashing out with his claws.

I ducked and smacked him out of my way, scratching across his entire chest in retaliation.

“Keep him busy, Tommy. I’m gonna kill this whore,” Rick told him.

Fuck.

I knew he was the real danger. But Tommy was in my way. The fucker was big and strong.

He was dumb as a brick, but he took orders well. They both did.

Hell, I should know.

I trained them.

Maybe it should have bothered me that these men had zero loyalty or compassion for where I stood. But they should know the deal.

“Walk away, and I won’t kill you,” I growled.

The smell of Hope’s fear was acrid. My Bear was beyond incensed, and my chest was rumbling nonstop.

“Tiegs said we gotta end you, Miles, for your disrespect,” Tommy growled.

Fuck.

“I won’t hold back,” I warned.

Rick turned his attention to me, away from Hope, which was good.

“Are you fucking serious, man? You’re gonna hurt us for this bitch?”

That was it. My Bear would not tolerate any disrespect towards Hope, and I stopped trying to rein him in. I knew she was going to hate me now, but I had to protect her.

I gritted my teeth and unleashed hell.

Tommy came at me like an untrained cub, trusting his bulk to save him. But I was no slacker and two slices, one across his abdomen, the other across his throat, were enough to leave him disemboweled and choking on his own blood.

“You piece of shi?—”

But that was as far as Rick got. I grabbed his head with both hands and snapped his neck, tossing him away like a broken doll.

Something moved, and I turned my head. Hope froze against the wall. I knew how I must have looked.

Naked. Covered in dirt and sweat and blood.

Fuck.

Arms raised, I approached slowly. Broken shards of glass littered the floor, but they couldn’t pierce my tough skin.

She closed her eyes tight, and she was shaking so hard, I worried she might hurt herself.

“Easy,” I murmured, noting she had some scratches and cuts on her face and her hands where the glass must have hit her.

“You’re okay, Pretty Girl. You’re okay,” I whispered, crouching down in front of her.

“Look at me. Show me those eyes, Hope, come on.”

After one long, drawn out moment, she finally did. Then and only then did I exhale.

“There you are, Pretty Girl. Now, I-I know you have questions—” But that was all I got out before she hurled herself at me.

“Miles? You came. You saved me from them,” she whispered and held on to me for dear life.

Like I was something worth her attention.

Like I wasn’t one of those monsters she was still trembling from.

“I got you. I got you,” I repeated, holding her back.

After a few minutes of hell, I don’t know how long, Hope leaned back. Her brown eyes were so wide and clear and full of questions.

“I have to make a call, Baby. Okay? You just sit here, and we’ll talk until they arrive,” I told her and lifted her off the ground, setting her up on the desk so the glass couldn’t touch her.

I grabbed the phone, but she made a noise and shook her head.

“Th-they cut the line or something,” she said, and her voice was shaky.

Fuck.

I was still so fucking mad. Furious, she’d been scared and hunted.

Tiegs was going to pay for that.

“What about your cell phone?” I asked, keeping my voice gentle.

“It’s on the worktable out there. Bay 2.”

“Be right back. Don’t move.”

“Th-there’re several pairs of coveralls out there by the door,” she called out after me, and I scented it then.

I paused and sniffed. Could it be? I breathed again. Deeper.

Yes. It was. Beneath all her justifiable upset was the pleasant and familiar scent of my mate’s arousal.

Maybe there was hope for me and Hope after all.

I grabbed a pair of coveralls from a hook and snagged her cell phone off the table where she said it would be. Somehow, it had survived the battle.

I stopped and grabbed a tarp, dropping it over what was left of Rick and Tommy. My Bear was too riled to do more than that.

They knew the consequences of coming after me. Hope or not, neither would have been a match for my prowess and that motherfucker Tiegs knew that.

Whether he was toying with me or them, I was uncertain.

But this would not go unanswered.

I shrugged the coveralls on, trying to ignore the fact my dick was twitching in reaction to Hope’s proximity.

She averted her gaze, and her cheeks turned a dusky shade of rose.

So fucking cute.

She was reacting a lot better to this than I imagined. I felt her eyes on me as I made the call.

“Hello, this is Miles Orson,” I said respectfully.

“Miles Orson?” The stranger on the other end of the line replied.

“Yes. I am formerly of the Willow Creek Clan. I announced myself to your Keeper and have a meeting with Alpha Devlin next Friday,” I told him.

“I see. The name’s Daniel Devlin. You called me so you know I am the Head Enforcer. What can I do for you?”

“There’s been an incident at Lance’s Auto Repair that requires cleanup.”

“An incident?”

“Yes, sir. Two packages require proper disposal. I will give you a full report when someone gets here, but sir? My, um, that is, uh, a normal was present. She works here.”

“That complicates things, doesn’t it? I will be down there personally with a crew of men to clean up this mess. And Orson? I wouldn’t get too comfortable in Barvale.”

“Yes, sir,” I growled, deep and low.

Fuck.

“Miles?” Hope’s voice penetrated the haze clogging my brain.

Don’t get too comfortable.

Shit.

I knew what he meant. They would never allow me to stay in the territory not now.

“Miles. Hey, look at me?” Hope was pulling on my arm, more insistent.

“Hmm?”

“You said you’d talk to me. And uh, I really need to understand what just happened,” she whispered, her eyes pleading with me to help her.

Fuck.

Okay. I could do this. Maybe she didn’t know everything. Maybe there was still a chance I could smooth it over.

“How much did you see?”

“Oh well, do you mean the part where two Bears broke into the garage and turned into men who wanted to hurt me or the part where you arrived, also as a Bear, then turned human and saved me?”

Shit. Okay, so she saw a lot more than I wanted her to.

“First, as you now know, there are a lot of creatures that share this world and humans are not top of the food chain,” I began, trying not to freak her out.

“W-what are you?” she whispered.

“I’m what’s known as a Shifter.”

“Like a Werewolf?” Hope asked and scrunched up her nose.

Smart girl. Beautiful, brave woman.

“Sort of. But Shifters come in all shapes and sizes. Wolf. Elephant. Tiger. Bear,” I said, pointing to myself at the end.

“Wow,” she replied, and her eyes were sparkling with emotion.

“Are you scared of me now?” I asked.

I didn’t know if it was a smart question. Chances were her answer would tear me apart. But I just had to know how she felt.

“Scared of you? No. But you started to say something on the phone. You started to call me something before you used the word normal,” she said.

“You know, you listen better than anyone I ever met,” I said, huffing out a humorless laugh.

She wasn’t ready for this.

Hell.

I wasn’t either.

But no one ever got anywhere by being a scaredy cat.

“I was going to call you my mate. You see, along with lions and tigers and bears, there’s magic in the universe, Hope. Magic and destiny, and I believe you’re mine. My fated mate. My Bear does, too.”

Her eyes got even bigger, if possible, and I couldn’t stand the distance between us any longer. Slowly, so fucking slowly it was killing me, I reached out with my hand and gently cupped her face.

Touching her grounded me. Like all my nerve endings were attuned to the feel of her soft, silky skin and her fresh apple scent.

“Are you saying you like me, Miles?” she asked, leaning into me like she was being pulled by a magnet.

“More than that, Pretty Girl. My animal wants to claim you. I want to claim you. Make you mine,” I replied.

I knew I had to do this quickly. A few cars were pulling up outside and Hope and I didn’t have the kind of time I thought we would.

“Will you let me, Hope?”

“Let you?”

“Claim you. Will you be mine?”

“Y-yes,” she said, and I kissed her, losing a piece of my heart in the process.

Hope D’Amato probably didn’t understand what she just did by saying that whispered little yes. She’d earned the fealty of my Bear with that one word.

She was mine now. And I was never letting go.