Page 80 of Mated to the Mountain Bear

He unlocks the door with a heavy key and quickly checks the interior. The cabin smells of cedar and coffee—masculine and lived in.

“Windows are reinforced. Door’s steel core under the wood. Lock this behind me.”

He tosses his keys onto the counter and hands me a radio from a shelf by the door, the plastic heavy and reassuring. His movements are economical, with no wasted motion. Then he grabs a set of keys from a hook, the metal jangling.

“Channel three. Mason’s maybe twenty minutes out. Beau too, hopefully.” He’s already heading back outside, boots heavy on the porch. “Lock it. Now.”

He doesn’t say another word.

The motorcycle roars to life, the sound shockingly loud in the quiet night. He’s gone in seconds, racing back up the mountain with the engine fading until all I hear is my own rapid breathing. The silence that follows feels worse than the howls.

I stand there for a moment, hand on the door, listening to nothing. Then I slide the deadbolt home with shaking fingers. The click sounds final.

I check the windows and test the back door. Everything’s locked up tight.

Five minutes pass. Ten. Fifteen.

A branch snaps outside, as loud as a gunshot in the stillness.

“Mason?” I ask loudly, hoping that even if it’s not, they’ll know I’m expecting company.

When I hear nothing but another rustle of branches outside, adrenaline dumps into my veins, and I start to pace. My heart slams against my ribs so hard, it hurts. I grab the radio with sweaty palms, nearly dropping it, when there’s a loud bang against the back wall of the cabin.

“Maddox?”

Static fills the cabin, then his voice comes through, breathless and strained. Behind him, I hear snarling, the sound of impact, and flesh hitting flesh.

“Maddox, there’s something outside.”

32

BEN

Watching Zara drive away with three wolves on her tail is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

The truck’s taillights disappear around the bend. My bear claws at my insides, demanding I chase after her, protect what’s ours. But I can’t. Not with a dozen wolves still circling, their eyes glowing in the darkness.

My mission here is simple. Buy Zara time to reach Maddox.

The alpha steps forward from the shadows. Even in human form, something’s wrong with him. His skin has a greyish cast, patches of hair, missing from his scalp. His yellowed eyes track where Zara disappeared.

“She won’t get far.” His voice rasps like sandpaper. “My wolves will bring her back to me, even if she doesn’t understand what we are yet.”

I let the rage fuel my shift. Bones crack and reform. Muscle and sinew stretch. The familiar pain grounds me, keeping me from losing control completely. When I open my eyes again, the world is sharper. Clearer.

The alpha’s sick scent fills my nostrils.

The first wolf hits me from the side, teeth sinking into my shoulder. I grab him by the scruff and hurl him into the nearest tree. The crack of impact echoes. Two more take his place. Then three. They know what they’re doing, working together like a practiced unit.

Fine. Let them come.

I tear through the next wave, claws finding purchase. One yelps as I catch its flank. Another crashes into the cabin wall hard enough to splinter wood. But they keep coming. For every wolf I throw off, two more pile on.

The alpha watches from a safe distance, arms crossed. “Don’t kill him yet. I want him conscious for what comes next.”

Those words make my bear see red. I surge upward, throwing wolves off my back. My roar shakes the trees. Three more leap at once. I catch one mid-air and slam it down. The other two latch onto my hindquarters.

Blood drips steadily now. Dozens of wounds, none fatal, yet. They’re wearing me down by degrees.