Page 31 of Mated to the Mountain Bear (Bear Protector #1)

BEN

S he’s here in my arms, whole and unharmed. I repeat that to myself like a mantra, but my bear isn’t pacified by it. He’s raging inside me, demanding blood. This is just a temporary reprieve. It will be back.

“Ben?” Zara’s voice is soft against my chest. “You’re shaking.”

I force myself to loosen my grip, though every instinct screams to hold her tighter. His scent is everywhere around us, marking where he circled the cabin, where he touched my door, where he tried to get to her.

“Let me look at you.” I pull back and run my hands over her arms, examining her for injuries I know aren’t there, but still needing to check for myself.

“I’m fine, Ben. Really, I’m fine.” She catches my hands and stills them with her smaller ones. “Just scared. That’s all. What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry.” My apology comes out laced with guilt. “For leaving you alone. When I realised it had circled back...”

I shake my head and press my lips together to stop myself from saying too much. She needs me to be the calm one. I need to pull myself together.

“It’s okay.” She squeezes my hand gently. “We’re both okay. Jerry protected me.”

I double-check the lock, testing the handle twice. The deep scratches in the wood outside make my jaw clench hard enough to hurt my teeth.

“Come on.” I guide her to the couch, needing her away from the door and windows to satisfy my protective urges. “Sit down.”

She curls into the corner of the couch, which I consider to be her spot now, watching me with those perceptive green eyes. Zara knows there’s something more to what just happened.

“You’re cold.” I grab the thick wool blanket from the back of the couch and wrap it around her shoulders, making sure she’s completely covered.

“You don’t need to fuss,” she says softly, but she pulls the blanket tighter around herself. “But Ben, please tell me what’s going on.”

I pace in front of the fire, because the energy bubbling under my skin needs somewhere to go. The cabin suddenly feels too small, the walls, too thin to keep danger out.

“Ben.” Her voice is gentle, coaxing. “Come sit with me.”

When I turn, she’s holding out her hand, an invitation I want desperately to accept, but I can’t. Not when I know what’s coming. What needs to be done.

“I have to...” I gesture vaguely at nothing, then force myself to stop moving and really look at her. “There’s more to the story about why we all live up here alone.”

There’s another reason Beau knew she’d be safe with me, a reason that has nothing to do with isolation.

She tilts her head, considering me. “Now? Ben, I don’t care. You live on a mountain. There’s wildlife. I get that. But why was it trying to get in?”

My chest aches for her. She’s been through so much already, and I’m about to shatter her trust and turn her world upside down all over again.

“There’s more to it than that. My father was a dangerous man. I choose not to follow that path, but I share his… ability to inflict damage. I can, but I don’t.”

Zara says nothing, just eyes me warily as I move closer, drawn by the need to be near her, even as I dread what’s coming.

“It’s in our DNA. Much as I wish I weren’t like him, I am. And if I’m going to protect you, and get us through tonight, I need you to understand, because I’m going to have to turn into that other, darker side of me.”

She’s staring at me now. “It sounds like you’re confessing to being Batman.”

I groan. “Shit. I’m not good at explaining. Never have been.”

This is going to terrify her even more, but better now than in the darkness tonight when he returns. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be back.

“Ben, whatever it is…” She gives me a small smile, trusting me, even as I try to explain what I am, making this even harder to do. Because I know that after this, there’s a chance she’ll never look at me the same again, let alone let me kiss her. There will be no more coy looks or flirty smiles.

What she’s about to see might send her screaming down the mountain.

“So, I’m going to show you instead.” I have no idea what I’m doing, just that she needs to know. “Just... Don't be afraid, okay? I would never hurt you. Never.”

She looks uncertain now, the blanket clutched tighter around her shoulders.

“Okaaay.”

I can’t help myself. I cross to her in two strides and cup her face in my hands, needing to reassure us both, needing to steal one last moment where she still sees me as me.

Breathing her in, my nerves calm a little. Whatever happens, it’ll be worth it, because she’ll be safe.

“Mine,” I whisper against her soft skin and close my eyes then lean down and kiss her softly, an attempt to convey everything I can’t put into words but hope she feels.

When I pull back, her eyes are clouded with both arousal and confusion.

“Ben?” She reaches for me, but I retreat to the far side of the room and brace myself for her reaction.

“I need you to understand what you’re dealing with. Who I really am.”

She rises from the couch, letting the blanket fall, and walks toward me.

“I know who you are. I was kissing him earlier, remember?” Her voice has gone husky. “And I liked it. A lot.”

My eyes widen. She can’t be serious.

“So talking is the last thing I want to do.”

Fuck. Not now, when I’m trying to explain something this important.

“Zara, you need to know something…” I begin, but she shakes her head, pressing forward and walking her fingers up the buttons of my plaid shirt. The hint of dark chest hair she’s revealing makes her pause, her breath catching.

Without meaning to, my hands find her ass, and I drag her to me with a possessive growl, giving it a hard squeeze before I come to my senses.

“No. NO.”

Her chest presses against me, soft and perfect, filling all my empty spaces.

“Zara, this is important.”

“So is this. Very important.” Her hands smooth up over my chest, and she leans closer, breathing me in, her nails scratching the back of my neck.

Capturing both her hands in mine before she breaks my control, I hold them still. It takes every ounce of willpower not to give in to what she’s offering.

She studies my face, then deflates, finally accepting I’m serious about this.

“Okay, big guy. You can tell me.” She walks backward, giving us both breathing room, then sinks into the worn sofa and curls her legs underneath her. “First.”

I pace, stop in front of her, then pace away again.

“He’s here.”

She looks through the window and out at the quiet forest. “Who’s here? The wolf?”

“Him. Your stalker.”

She blinks at me, the colour draining from her face. Her heart rate picks up visibly, pulse fluttering at her throat. “How do you know?”

I continue to pace, trying to find the right way to explain this. Stopping abruptly in front of her, I drag a hand back through my hair and blow out a deep breath.

“Jerry is a dog.”

She waits for more, but when nothing comes and I continue to look at her, she frowns. Looking from me to the giant husky, who’s lying at her feet, and then back to me, she nods slowly.

“Yes, Jerry is, indeed, a dog.”

“And that, tonight, was a wolf.” My expression is serious. This is the most important thing she needs to understand.

“Yes, Ben, I noticed that when it was flinging itself at the door. I know the difference between a dog and a wolf.”

Exasperated, she raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue.

“But it wasn’t a normal wolf,” I say.

I can see her patience wearing thin. “Listen, I get it. Not a normal wolf. Don’t open the door. Can we get back to my stalker now?”

She’s focused on the wrong thing.

“It’s the same thing. Because he is the wolf.” I blurt out, unable to find a better way to put it.

She blinks at me, replaying my words in her mind, making sure she hasn’t misheard me. There’s no mistake in what I said. The wolf outside was the man who’s been making her life a living hell.

“Ben…” Her voice is careful, like she’s talking to someone unstable. “Wolves can’t write. Or pick locks. Or make phone calls.” She’s being a smartass, but I can hear the edge of fear under the sarcasm.

“This one can.” I’m deadly serious.

She sighs, letting her head drop into her hands. “Okay, sure.”

She thinks I’ve lost it. I can see her trying to figure out how to handle me, the madman she’s trapped in the woods with.

“Ben, I need to get in touch with Beau. I don’t think I’m safe here anymore. There has to be some way to call out.”

She wants off this mountain, to leave unprotected, but my bear won’t allow it, not with a threat right on our doorstep.

I growl and step closer, only a foot away from the couch now, blocking her path to the door.

“No. The only way is down the mountain, or over the hill to my brother’s. And neither of those is happening while he’s prowling around outside.”

A wolf like this won’t give up. He hasn’t gone far.

“You mean the wolf-man.”

“Yes.” The word comes out through gritted teeth. Her disbelief is pissing me off, even if it’s understandable.

She stares up at me, into my eyes, and I can see her wondering what it is about her that attracts broken men. Like I’m just another problem she’s collected in her already too complicated life.

“You expect me to believe that it’s a wolf who’s been hunting me for weeks, and that he travelled all the way from my home to here. On four legs.” She inches back on the couch, torn between staying and running. “After he broke into my home. With his bare paws and no opposable thumbs.”

I grit my teeth. I knew this was coming. Of course she’s skeptical.

“Yes. Because I can prove it.”