by Snow, Jenika
“You’re sure you want to be settled with me?” she teased, but I stayed serious. “I have no family, nothing to offer you.”
I sat up and pulled her into the same sitting position. I wanted her to see that she had my full attention, that there was nothing more important than her. “There’s nothing I need in this world except you, India. I mean that. Do you understand?”
She licked her lips and nodded. I grabbed her hand and brought it to my heart. “You feel that?” She nodded again. “It beats for you now. Only you.” I pulled her in close and held her, my nose buried in her hair. “My mate.” God, the feeling I had right now was one of completion. I pulled back just an inch, still holding her, and pushed her hair off her shoulder, staring down at the mark I’d left on her neck. It would always be there, a reminder to not only any male who dared look at her, but to her and me as well. I’d look at it and know that she was mine.
Irrevocably. Undeniably. Forever.
Chapter Ten
Oli
The following day
I sat in the cab of my truck and stared at the grocery store. I had my cell pressed to my ear, listening to Asher talk about what was going on back at home.
He was talking about pregnancies, too much PDA being thrown around, and how mated couples were annoying as hell. But it was going in one ear and out the other as I thought about tonight, as I thought about being with India.
But then again, she was always on my mind, a constant presence that made me feel whole and settled.
I was making dinner for her tonight, would feed her, make sure she was nourished. It was something I desperately wanted to do for my mate. To be able to provide for her, make sure she was full, have her eat out of my hand, had every possessive instinct rising.
It tamed the bear deep inside, knowing we would be taking care of our India.
“And now you’ve gone and got yourself mated,” Asher grumbled and I snapped my focus back to the present.
I looked at my hand wrapped around the steering wheel, my knuckles white. “Well, your time will come, brother.”
Asher kept to himself a lot of the time, the brother who acted like he didn’t need a mate to be happy.
But we all knew that was a load of shit.
“You think I want to mate after all these years?” He acted, sounded, like he didn’t give a fuck, but I could hear in his voice he was lying.
Although I knew Asher wanted his female, craved her like all of us did, like any shifter did, he’d lost hope of ever finding her. It was that hopelessness that had him retreating into himself, not expecting that he’d ever be complete. He was skeptical of it all, even after seeing three of his brothers find their females.
And I hated seeing him like that, hated that he’d lost the drive. But his time would come. If I had to go out there and help him find his other half, so be it. Because I knew as soon as he saw her, as soon as he scented her and the mating heat took control, he’d feel like a dumbass for ever doubting that he’d find her.
After I got off the phone with him, I sat there for a moment, feeling so fucking nervous. I’d already claimed India, gave her my mark, filled her with my seed, but cooking for her, being domestic and shit, that scared the hell out of me. I didn’t want to screw this up, and that was my fear.
I climbed out of the truck and ran my hands down my jeans. I started heading into the grocery store when my entire body froze, a scent I recognized slamming into my nose, having a growl being pulled from me, my anger instantly rising.
I swung my head to the left, the scent strongest in that direction. There was a wind that had picked up, mixing the smell throughout the air, surrounding me. I turned my body in the direction it came from, my bear right at the surface, my fingernails turning into claws, my canines punching out. It was the scent of the fuckers who’d hurt India, who’d put their hands on my mate.
In this moment, I was just reacting on instinct, needing to right the wrongs that had been done to India. I found myself walking behind the grocery store building, seeing a line of dumpsters, two men leaning against them, smoking cigarettes. They both had bottles wrapped in paper bags, the stench of their greed and intoxication nauseating. They didn’t hear me approach at first, both of them engaged in conversation. But my shifter hearing picked up on them discussing robbing a house, one owned by an elderly man who lived alone.
“Man, he’ll be alone and asleep. Easy pickings, easy money,” one of the guys said and took a hit off his cigarette, blowing a cloud of smoke in the other guy’s face. He grinned, showing a set of crooked, yellow teeth.
“I don’t know, Ricky. I don’t like the idea of hitting up some old dude’s house when we don’t even know if there’s going to be anything of value in there. The risk might not be worth it. It’s probably just a bunch of old worthless shit and pictures of his grandkids.”
“Marshall, we’ll get this done, in and out, real easy and quick like. It won’t be like the medical van incident where the bitch was still there.”
My bear broke free, and I wasn’t strong enough in that moment, as my human, to stop him. I felt the shift take over, the feeling of my bones breaking and realigning, of my skin being replaced with fur, of my hands turning into paws.
I was on all fours now, and growled low, my focus trained right on the two bastards who were about to see what exactly it meant to fuck with a mated shifter.
They turned and looked at me, their eyes widening, the bottles they held dropping to the asphalt, the sound of shattering glass filling my head. I moved a step closer and they moved one back. The scent of their fear was putrid in the air, and it pleased me.
I tipped my head back and roared, showing them my teeth, reveling in the fact they were about to piss their pants, they were so scared. I didn’t need to tell them why I was here or what I was about to do.
I didn’t need to remind them of what they had done to piss me off, that they’d fucked with my mate. I didn’t need to tell them anything because I didn’t fucking want to. They were going to get what was coming to them, and I’d feel a little bit better about it. I might not have been able to protect India when they’d shown up, but I would avenge her.
What I wanted to do was kill them, tear their throats out, feel their blood on my fur. But death wasn’t in the cards for them today. I’d scare them, rough them up, make them see that what they were doing had repercussions.
And if they ever fucked with India again, I would come after them and tear their limbs from their bodies.
And then I lunged forward, about to make things right where India was concerned.
Chapter Eleven
India
I stared at Oli, seeing the dried blood on his face and chest, his dark hair matted together where it had stuck to the strands. I covered my mouth with my hands and just shook my head, not even sure if I wanted to ask more.
He’d come to my place about twenty minutes ago, this intense air about him, almost frighteningly so. He hadn’t kept me wondering about why he looked the way he did. He’d told me everything, how he’d found the men who’d trashed the van and hurt me, how he’d hurt them.
I dropped my hands to my sides, feeling my eyes wide as saucers. “And you’re sure you didn’t kill them?”
He made this low, almost frustrated sound and lifted his hand to scrub the back of his neck. “I should’ve killed them. I wanted to.”
“But all the blood.” It looked worse than it was, I was sure. He wore a white shirt, so the red splatters seeped, spreading out on the material.
“They each felt some pain, superficial wounds for the most part. They hurt you, India, left marks on you.” The sound that came from him was distinctively animal. “What I gave them wasn’t even what they fully deserved. They’re crooks, abusers. They’d been talking about robbing an elderly man when I came upon them. They’re lucky I let them live.”
Even in this moment, I couldn’t help but stare at his biceps, at the way the muscles bunched under his tattooed flesh.
This shifter, my mate, was fiercely protective, and although maybe I should’ve felt something akin to disgust given the fact he’d hurt the men who’d trashed my van and left marks on me, I felt nothing but relief.
I felt nothing but myself growing closer to Oli.
I cleared my throat and looked away, not sure what to say in this moment, how to react. My arousal seemed misplaced given the circumstances, but it was there, front and center, something I couldn’t deny.
“You’re more than welcome to get cleaned up in my bathroom. I don’t have anything that would fit you...” I felt my pulse quicken and my face heat at where my thoughts were going. Here was Oli, covered in blood, yet all I thought about was him with nothing on.
“I actually have a bag of extra clothes in the truck.”
I glanced up and saw he was grinning, no doubt able to sense exactly where my thoughts were, exactly how my body was reacting.
He left out the front door and was only gone a few minutes to grab his bag before he came back inside. I showed him where the bathroom was, leaning against the doorframe as he set his bag on the ground and turned to face me. For a second neither of us moved or spoke.
He came up to me and I tipped my head back so I could look into his face.
“The very thought of not being able to protect you...” He trailed off, not finishing his sentence. He held my cheeks in both of his hands, leaned down and kissed me soundly. I was shoeless, so when I curled my toes they rubbed up against the cold tile floor, sending shocks of sensation up my legs.
“Are you mad at me?” he murmured against my mouth and I found myself shaking my head right away. “Because the last thing I want is for you to be upset with me, but I had to do this, India. I had to avenge you.” He pulled back and ran his thumb along my bottom lip. I opened my mouth involuntarily.
“I’m not upset with you.” I said those words honestly. “But what if you hadn’t found them at the grocery store? You would’ve had to let it go, right?”
He shook his head. “I would’ve found them eventually. It was something I had to do, avenging you, making things right. It wasn’t something my bear would allow me to let go of.” He leaned down and kissed me again and I moaned, the sound leaving me at the feel of him pressed up against me.
I wasn’t thinking about anything but being with Oli. I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck and rising up on my toes, kissing him back just as feverishly.
“Come into the shower with me, India.”
Chills raced up my arms and legs and disappointment filled me when he pulled back. But that faded as I watched him start to get undressed. He lifted his eyebrows, raking his gaze up and down my body, silently telling me to do the same thing.
And then I did, taking off my clothes and tossing them beside his. He’d already turned the shower on, the steam from the hot water filling the bathroom. I shut the door with my foot and he grinned, reaching out and pulling me up against his body.
The hard length of his erection pressed against my belly and a gush of wetness slipped from between my thighs. Oli lowered his head and kissed me, ran his tongue along my lips before dipping inside my mouth. I let him fuck me there, thrusting that muscle in and out, something I desperately wanted him to do between my thighs.
He slid his hand down my back and gripped my ass, squeezing the mounds, his blunt nails digging into my skin. And then he lifted me easily. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he held me as if I weighed nothing.
He stepped into the shower with me in his arms, the warm water moving down my back a second before he pressed me to the chilled tile. He broke the kiss and started licking at my mark, causing me to moan, to need more.
“I need to be inside of you, India.”
I nodded, unable to form words.
“I need you in my life always.”
“God yes.” I tipped my head to the side to give him better access. “Fuck me.”
He made this deep sound, one that vibrated right to my core. “I’ll never get enough.”
“Me either.” And I meant that. I meant it so much I felt the truth in those words.
“I’ll never let you go. If you run, I’ll follow. Always.”
And as fast as this mating was, that’s exactly what I wanted with Oli. I’d finally found my home with him.
Chapter Twelve
India
Two weeks later
I couldn’t help but laugh as I listened to Zakari and Maddix start to argue about who made the best mashed potatoes. It seemed so mundane and ... normal.
Yet here I sat, the massive table occupied by six bear shifters and two of their human mates. It seemed so strange, yet so right at the same time.
I looked over at Oli and saw he watched me, the look of adoration on his face so genuine and powerful that my breath actually caught. I reached under the table and took his hand in mine, a zap of electricity traveling up my arm at that light contact.
I didn’t know what the future held, but I did know I had Oli by my side always. I felt that truth deep down in my bones, to my very marrow.
“So, Oli told us you own a mobile medical van?” Bethany was the one to ask, her smile sweet as she picked up her glass of lemonade and took a drink, watching me over the rim.
I cleared my throat and nodded, feeling everyone’s focus trained on me. I just couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable, a little bit awkward. This kind of atmosphere wasn’t something I was used to, but they made me feel like I was at home.
That’s not something I’d ever experienced before.
I wanted to absorb it all, as if I were basking in the sunlight, tipping my head back and closing my eyes, just letting that warmth wash through me.
“Yeah. It’s not anything big, just something to take up and down the coast, trying to help the less fortunate.”
Bethany smiled at me, and the men grumbled in approval.
I didn’t know how I knew that, but the sound felt familiar to me. Maybe it was because of Oli, because of our mating, of the change I felt in me. I felt like I’d been dropped into another world, another reality. I felt like this was where I was supposed to be, as if I’d been plucked out of it before I could remember and placed elsewhere.
“But eventually, one day, I’d love to have more medical vans, ones that can be more use than just being stationed by the coast.”
For the next half hour we sat around just talking, me learning about the family, about the bears’ backgrounds, their lives, and the mating of Zakari and Maddix.
“Let’s get out of here,” Oli said softly, his mouth by my ear as he whispered those words, his lips brushing the shell.
I nodded, not trusting my voice. He had my hand in his and was helping me to stand before I could even say anything. He grumbled something to his brothers about needing alone time, and then he led us outside.
I didn’t know where we were going, where he was taking me, but before I knew what was happening, he was leading us through the woods, this well-worn path in front of us, twisting and weaving through the trees. It was so beautiful, with the trees surrounding us, the sounds of birds in the distance, of little animals scurrying on the forest floor.
Oli held my hand the whole time, taking his time as we walked down the path. After a while, I realized he was taking me to a clearing, the sound of a creek and the smell of fresh water filling my head.
It wasn’t just any creek, but one that was fed from a large pool, a trickling waterfall attached to that. It was gorgeous, with rocks surrounding it, the light feel of mist filling the air. It was relaxing and peaceful, but when Oli turned and faced me, and I saw the heated look on his face, I knew this wasn’t going to be a moment where we just sat and contemplated life.
He took a step toward me and I took one back, this tango of moves, my body seeming to know what he wanted me to do.
A tree stopped my retreat and I reached back to place my hands on the rough bark, my breathing increasing as I looked up and into his face.
> He looked positively … hungry for me.
“I am,” he growled low and immediately buried his face in the crook of my neck.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, holding him close, wanting so much more.
“I need you, India.”
I rested my head back on the tree and made a soft sound of desire. “I need you too, Oli.” Never in my life would I have thought I’d be about to have sex in the middle of the woods with my bear shifter mate. But I’d found a whole other part of me had opened up since meeting him.
“Let me make you feel good.”
I felt like I was finally being myself for once.
Oli started kissing and licking a path down my neck, along my collarbone, and stopped right at the top of my shirt. Could he feel my heart beating underneath my skin? It felt like a freight train behind my ribs.
He ran his tongue over the swell of my breast, the part that rose gently above the hem of my shirt. And then he gripped the edge and pulled it down, exposing the cotton-covered mounds.
He groaned deeply and latched his mouth onto my nipple, right over the material. A soft sound of need escaped me, and I reached up and grabbed his head, curling my fingers into his hair, keeping him close.
“That’s it, baby. Pull it until it hurts.”
I gasped when he gently bit at my neck. I pulled the strands hard enough he hissed and then moaned. He pressed his lower half into my belly and I felt how hard he was.
I reached down for the button and zipper of his jeans, but he shook his head, gently pushing my hand away. Oli pulled back and I forced myself to open my eyes, this hazy feeling washing over me as desire clouded everything else.
“This is for you, not for me.” He whispered those words, his voice harsh even though it was soft. And then he went to his knees, undid the button of my jeans, pulled the zipper down, and pushed my pants down my thighs.
