by T. S. Joyce
“Reynolds was who you mentioned after you had that nightmare.”
“He was the head of the Menagerie. He died a few years ago. I got to see it. He’d caught up to a couple of bears in the Ashe Crew, and the Gray Backs and Boarlanders came to help. Brighton and Denison Beck took him into the woods and put an ax to his neck. They took a kill I’d dreamed about my whole life. I was mad and relieved all at once. It dredged up a lot of memories, but it was finally over.”
“Is this why your bear fights?” she asked, cupping his cheeks.
Another nod.
“Is this why you were searching for a mate?”
Matt wiped a damp strand of hair from her cheek. “Yeah. I thought it would fix me. Or at least make me feel more even—more normal. My sister found that with her mate, Haydan. I want that, too.”
“Matt? Am I who your bear has chosen?”
Matt’s face contorted, his eyes looking tortured as he leaned in to kiss her. Resting his forehead against hers, he nodded. “Yeah. You’re my mate.”
“Oh, Matt,” she whispered, hugging him tight. How had everything got so screwed up? She’d known this—known there was something big happening between them. With every night they spent together, she felt the tether that bound their hearts thickening until it was unbreakable.
But this was supposed to be temporary. She was supposed to go back to her life in Minden, and if she was lucky, maintain a long distance relationship with Matt where she would visit as often as her new job allowed. But this? Being his mate felt too big for long distance.
What was she supposed to do? She’d only met him a week ago, but this vacation felt more permanent now. More like home. But what could she do here? There were no job opportunities two hours outside of town, and she couldn’t be one of those women who depended solely on a man to support her. She was too self-reliant for that, and someday, she’d grow to resent life here if it stole her independence. But now she couldn’t even imagine saying goodbye to Matt for any amount of time. Not after he’d finally opened up to her and shared his painful past.
She had one day left with him before she had to make the decision to leave or stay. “I don’t know what to do.”
Pain pooled in Matt’s sky blue eyes, and he kissed her again, harder this time. “I know,” he rasped out before he ground his hips against hers.
Desperate to think of anything else, Willa nipped his bottom lip and kissed down his neck until that sexy growl she’d fallen in love with rattled deep in his chest. He pressed his long erection against her and grabbed her ass hard. Spinning her in the water, he pulled her back against him and slid his hand around her front into her bikini bottom. When he slid his finger inside of her, she groaned and arched back against him.
“You know how fucking hard it was for me not to bite you when you begged for it the other day,” he growled against her neck. His teeth grazed her skin as he plunged his finger into her again.
Her breath came out in needy pants as she fumbled with the ties at her hips. The bikini slipped from her, and she threw it up onto the bank.
“I wanted to sink my teeth into your neck and force you to stay here with me. I wanted to give you a bear and tether you to the Gray Backs forever.” He sank lower in the water, pulled his finger from her, angled her hips back, then slid his hard shaft into her from behind until she gasped.
Reaching back, she gripped the back of his head as he trailed kisses up her neck. “Please,” she begged as he thrust into her again.
“Please what?” Matt cupped her sex with his palm and slammed into her from behind again.
Aw, hell, she didn’t know. Couldn’t think straight right now. Not when he was touching her like this. Worshipping her body, giving her what she craved. If he bit her, it would take away the uncertainty. She’d have to stay here with him. But if he bit her, she wouldn’t be in control of her life anymore.
When she didn’t answer, he stroked into her at a punishing pace, palm on her clit, shooting waves of pleasure through her nerve endings. She crashed back against him, blow for blow, gripping his neck as he clamped down on her neck with his teeth. Not deep enough to draw blood. Not deep enough to Turn her, but erotic enough to make her scream his name. Pressure built, and her insides tingled. Every thrust brought her closer to release, and Matt’s hips were jerking fast now, as if he’d lost control. Usually he was gentle, but not today.
He shoved her forward through the waves until her knees hit the bank and her hands fell onto the sandy bottom. Waves lapped at her wrists and knees.
“Fuck,” he gritted out as he bent over her, slamming into her from behind. He stretched her, filled her, brought her pleasure with a hint of pain. So big. Faster and harder until she exploded around him.
Squeezing her eyes tightly closed, she let off a helpless yell. Matt slid into her one last time and froze, gripping her hips. Inside of her, he swelled and shot warmth into her in a pulsing rhythm, over and over until his cum trickled down her thighs and into the waves that rolled against her knees. Holy hell he was hot. Matt the gentle love-maker had been sensual and seductive. But Matt the man afraid of losing his mate, the man who’d just faced down his past to share it with her, the man who’d fucked her like an animal to let her body heal him, was sexy as hell.
She was boneless as he lifted her and dragged her back into the waves. He was quiet as he stroked her sex, washing her gently in the current.
I don’t want you to go, he’d said.
After what he’d shared with her, and after finally exposing his primal side, she couldn’t imagine leaving him.
She’d have to find a job in Saratoga, find an apartment, and get used to a long commute to see Matt and the Gray Backs. It would all be worth it, though, if she could keep this sense of belonging with the man she loved.
With a small kiss on the smooth skin of his neck, she whispered, “I’ll stay.”
Chapter Twelve
Pain, pain, pain.
So scared.
Cold.
Skin tingling. Millions of needles. Can’t breathe.
Sun hurts. Too bright.
Legs won’t run!
Something big and terrifying growling. So close. Breathe!
Gasping, choking, vision blurs.
Woods, trees, sun too bright. Saturating everything. Turning it gold.
Hurts so bad.
Dying.
Roaring.
Roaring.
Screaming.
With a terrified gasp, Willa sat straight up in bed. Chest heaving and a whimper in her throat, she looked around. It wasn’t dark anymore. It had to be midday. Head pounding, she felt her scalp to see if she’d split it, but there was no blood. Not even a knot.
So if she hadn’t hit her head, why was she hallucinating that she was out in the woods?
Wake up, Willa. Wake up now.
She was completely naked, and her body was covered in cuts. She stared down at a long gash across her thigh that was shrinking by the second. “What the fuck?”
She was panting, breathing so fast she’d pass out if she didn’t relax.
Birds called and cicadas sang in waves. Louder, softer, louder, softer. Branches creaked in the wind.
Wake up.
She stood and looked down at the bloody mattress in horror. Stained red, it was ripped up, exposing springs from the long, jagged gashes of something big. Why was her body covered in blood?
Matt’s dream. He’d dreamed this, and now it was happening in her dreams.
A long snarl bellowed from her throat, and she sobbed in terror and searched the woods for the thing that was hunting her.
She felt sick. Her stomach was filled with something awful that didn’t belong.
Stepping away from the bloody mattress, she stumbled on a tree root and fell hard on her backside. Air whooshed out of her lungs, and she couldn’t suck it back in. She rolled from side to side, gasping. She wasn’t supposed to feel pain in a dream, but her entire body ached. Cuts, scrapes, bumps. Her i
nsides were burning.
The cicadas were growing louder until nature’s song was deafening. The birds were bursting her eardrums. “Shut up!” she screamed, holding her hands over her ears.
Matt did this to you.
Willa froze and drew her first deep breath. No. He wouldn’t have. He’d told her before they went to sleep last night that he’d never claim her like that. He liked her human, and that’s exactly what she was. A human.
You can feel her in you—your bear.
No, no, no.
She stumbled upward and patted her face. Her glasses were gone but she could see every leaf, every pine needle, every bird in the trees, every color variation in the bark.
He wouldn’t have. Matt cared about her. He wouldn’t do this.
But his bear was broken. He had told her it had been hard not to Turn her. Maybe he’d given into the temptation while she slept. She hadn’t felt good last night and had gone to bed with him right after dinner with the Gray Backs. She’d felt woozy and sick.
Crying, she ran her hand over the blood that coated her shoulder. Her palm came back crimson.
This wasn’t a dream.
“Matt?” she called to the unfamiliar woods. Another sob clogged her throat before she called his name louder. “Matt!” Her strangled voice dipped to nothing as she looked around. “Help me.”
With one more glance at the ruined mattress, she sniffed the air. The intense smell of pine burned her nose and overpowered everything. Where was she?
There was no sound of running water, so she couldn’t be near the river, and when she looked through the canopy above her, the mountains surrounding her didn’t look familiar. The sun was directly above, and no help on direction. She needed to find a road or running water…something.
What if she was in Boarlander territory?
Fear froze her in place, and she began panting again. Harrison or any of his bears would kill her for trespassing.
Why had Matt done this? Why had he Turned her and left her to die alone in the woods?
Forcing her muscles to move, she stumbled off into the brush.
It didn’t make any sense. Matt had made love to her last night. Been tender to make up for taking her hard at Bear Trap Falls. He’d been on the cusp of telling her he loved her. She’d felt it. And now this?
Creed had been right. The Gray Backs were broken and couldn’t handle anyone outside of their crew. She’d just been too blinded by her affection for Matt to realize it.
Another snarl left her lips as the gravity of her mate’s betrayal slipped over her shoulders.
Consequences be damned, she was going to kill him for what he’d done to her.
Chapter Thirteen
Matt hooked his hands on his hips and frowned at Willa’s Tacoma, still parked by his truck beside his trailer. Where the fuck was she?
The hairs rose on the back of his neck, and when he turned, Easton was leaned against his truck, arms crossed, staring at him. Weird. Usually Easton spent his days off in his shack in the woods.
“Where’s trouble?” Jason asked.
Willa had become a part of this place over the last week. It was really strange coming home to an empty house, and apparently he wasn’t the only one who thought so. “I don’t know. Maybe she went to the falls?”
“Why didn’t she take her truck?” Jason asked.
Matt wondered that himself. Willa was too smart to go wondering off in the woods alone, and the bombshells had left mid-week, so there was no way she hitched a ride with them.
The snap of a branch sounded from the woods, followed by a soft sob.
“Willa?” Matt called, instincts kicking up.
“Why’s she crying?” Jason asked, trotting behind him.
“I don’t know. Creed!” Matt called to his alpha over his shoulder.
Willa stumbled out from behind a tight grove of trees, and Matt skidded to a stop in horror.
She was naked and covered in caked, dried blood. Her dark hair was snarled, and she looked like she was having trouble walking, but that wasn’t what had stopped him in his tracks.
Her eyes were churning an inhuman green color.
“No.” His voice cracked on the word. “No!”
“Why?” she cried, stumbling toward him. “Why did you do this to me?” She was crying now, wailing as her shoulders shook with emotion.
“I didn’t. I wouldn’t.” What the fuck had happened? Boarlanders? Ashe Crew? He was going to kill the mother fucker who’d Turned her. “Where were you?”
“In the woods.” Her eyes narrowed to lethal slits. “In the woods where you dropped me on a mattress to bleed and shred it, just like your dream. You left me to wander these woods, lost and afraid for six fucking hours.”
“I wouldn’t. Willa, I swear I didn’t do this.”
“Liar!” she roared, the word tapering into a snarl.
“Whoa,” Creed said, stepping beside Matt. His hands were out in a soothing gesture meant to calm wary horses. It seemed to be pissing Willa off more, though. “You feel that?” he murmured.
“Yeah, she’s a fucking dominant,” Jason said.
“She can’t Change right now though, right?” Clinton asked from farther behind them where he’d stopped. He smelled like fear. “She’s already Changed. She won’t be able to do it again for weeks. Right?”
“No, she won’t Change now,” Creed said, stepping slowly closer to her. “Willa, we’ll get everything figured out, but it wasn’t Matt who Turned you. He was up on the landing with me all day.”
A jolt of realization made Matt turn toward Easton. “But you weren’t. You were here all day with Willa.”
“Wrong,” Easton said, angling his head. “Willa was in the woods. I was in the trailer park, waiting for Willa to return.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Matt gritted out.
“Willa was going to leave, but she can’t leave. She’s one of us now.”
“What did you do?” Creed snarled.
“I did what Matt wouldn’t. I made her one of us!” Easton’s green eyes lightened to the same eerie color Willa’s were now.
“You claimed my mate?” Matt yelled as fury blasted through him.
“I don’t want your mate, Barns. I want her to stay here, with us, where she belongs. Now she will. She has no choice.”
“You crazy sonofabitch!” Creed yelled, his voice cracking with power. “This right here is why I didn’t want women up here. You can’t fucking handle one. You don’t even think you did anything wrong, do you? Look at her, Easton. Look at her face. Look at the blood on her. You did that. You hurt her.”
Easton looked at each of his crew, then finally at Willa. His eyes darkened with uncertainty. “But now she won’t hurt anymore. She’ll heal fast. I took care of her. She’s ours.”
“You took my choice away from me,” Willa whispered shakily.
The smell of rage was pungent against Matt’s nose, and he dragged his gaze back to his mate. He’d never met a female bear who could wield as much dominance as was coming off Willa’s skin.
“I had already agreed to stay. I didn’t want to be a bear, but you put one inside me without my consent. Did you drug me last night?”
“What?” Matt asked, shocked by her question.
“I want to know if Easton drugged me,” Willa roared. “I was sick last night. Did you put me to sleep so I wouldn’t feel you drag me into the woods this morning? So I wouldn’t feel you bite me?” A long, low growl rattled her throat as she glared down Easton, who could no longer hold her gaze. “Answer me!”
“Yes,” Easton said, voice hitching. “I put sleeping pills in the drink I brought you at dinner.”
“Willa, we’ll figure this out,” Creed said softly.
Oh, Matt knew exactly what his alpha was feeling. The hairs on the back of Matt’s neck were electrified, too. Beaston had created a beast in Willa, the stupid fuck.
“I’m going to kill you,” she said in a growling, inhuman
voice. She took a step toward Easton as he took a step back. “I’m going to bleed you like you bled me.” Her eyes went vacant. “I’m going to dance to the song of your breaking bones, and if you’re really, really lucky, I won’t eat you until after you’re dead.”
“Willa, you aren’t going to Change,” Creed said in a careful tone. “It’s too soon. You can’t.”
A long snarl rattled her throat, and she arched her gaze toward the alpha. With a slow blink, she allowed a dead smile to transform her face into something fearsome. “Wrong.” An enormous brown grizzly exploded from Willa’s skin. She landed on all fours, hard enough to shake the earth under Matt’s feet. Eyes on Easton, she roared her death warning loud enough to rattle the trees and shake the birds from their branches.
“Run,” Creed whispered. He dragged his wide, dark eyes to Easton. “Run now if you want to live.”
****
Everything was bathed in shades of red.
Easton turned and ran for the trailer park, but he wouldn’t make it far. Willa had longer strides and powerful new muscles that pushed her forward. Her claws dug into the dirt with each step.
“Willa, stop! You’ll regret hurting him!” Matt yelled from behind her.
She’d regret nothing. Easton deserved to die. He’d forced her to Turn. Drugged her. Abandoned her in the woods, afraid and alone.
He’d made her into this…this…monster.
How could Matt love her now? He’d looked at her with horror in his eyes. A deep ache drummed through her as she pushed her legs harder. She was gaining on Easton now.
With a yell, Easton transformed into a silver grizzly. A true gray back. He spun right as she lunged for him, taking her full force in the chest. She ripped and bit and snarled and slapped. She raked her claws down his belly, slicing through skin and muscle until the air smelled like iron. He roared in pain and fought back in the jerky desperate moves of one who wanted to live. Stupid fucker shouldn’t have killed her human then.
Something hit her side, bowling her against Creed’s trailer. The wall splintered inward, and she brought her seething gaze to a brown bear that smelled like Jason. She charged, but he got out of her way. Easton was on the run, but he was no match for her. Not injured as he was.
