Stillness wrapped around me as I ran, my wolf stretching into each long stride like he owned the whole damn mountain. The cold air burned through my lungs in the best way. Up here, hours away from the woods and the Wilderness Pack called home, everything went quiet in my head. Exactly what I needed.
I leaped over a downed pine, landing soft on the other side. My paws dug into the ground, my claws catching just enough to propel me forward again. There were no voices, responsibilities, or favors my packmates seemed to think a single wolf had time to handle.
It was just me and the hunt.
I angled north, pacing along the ridgeline. I knew there was a lynx chain somewhere deeper in these mountains. From the little I’d heard about their kind, they were territorial as hell. Even cougars like Garner tended to wander more than lynx did. Dragons were the only shifters I knew of that were more solitary. Although Artemis had loosened up a little since Marielle came into his life, and even more with the birth of Lilibeth.
I stayed clear of marked territory out of respect. Shifter politics could turn into a shitstorm fast if you weren’t careful, especially between breeds that didn’t cross paths often.
But I wasn’t trespassing. Not even brushing a border. Just enjoying the kind of freedom you couldn’t get anywhere else.
Except something was off. Prey trails were scattered, some doubled back on themselves, like they’d been startled by something that didn’t belong. The deeper I ran, the stranger it felt. A disrupted rhythm in the forest’s usual pattern.
Then fate slammed into me so hard I stumbled mid-stride. A wild scent dropped into my awareness like a live wire straight into my bloodstream. My wolf lunged toward it instantly, every instinct demanding we follow that trace to its source.
The world tunneled down to a single point—my mate.
The certainty was absolute. I’d always wondered what it would feel like. Now I knew it hit harder than being struck by lightning. I’d seen that happen to a moose once on a hunt, and even that didn’t compare.
My paws tore at the ground as my wolf surged forward without permission. I barely wrestled him back enough to keep my mind in control while every part of me strained toward the scent.
I skirted the edge of somewhere I had no business being, but fate didn’t give a damn about shifter politics. The pull dragged me forward like I was tethered to it. My wolf didn’t question it. He wanted to reach the source of that irresistible scent. To never let her out of his sight. Not when she was the one thing the universe had carved out just for me.
I slowed the moment the trees thinned, my wolf’s paws digging into the earth as I battled for control. Then I saw her.
A lynx stood in a shaft of sunlight, small but powerfully built. Her pale gray eyes were fixed on me. Her tawny fur had darkerflecks across her shoulders, and her ears were tipped in black. Her tail twitched once before going still again.
She was exquisite. And mine.
My wolf surged toward her so hard I had to drop my shoulders low, bracing myself and forcing my instincts back into a cage of sheer willpower. If I moved too fast, I could spook her. And the last thing I’d ever do was frighten my mate.
I lowered myself onto my belly, keeping my head down, my eyes half-lidded in submission even though every inch of me burned to get closer. To scent-mark everything between us until nothing in the world could separate us.
Then she shifted.
Her body rippled, fur sliding away to reveal soft skin, long blond hair tumbling down her back as she rose onto shaking legs. She gasped when she remembered she was naked, her arms snapping up to cover her hourglass figure.
I jerked my head away instantly, shoving my wolf back so I could shift as well. Bones folded and stretched in a rush of heat, and a second later, I stood in human form, dirt under my bare feet, my heart pounding like it wanted to break free of my chest.
“Hold on.” I reached for the small waterproof bag tied loosely around my neck—something I’d started carrying after too many inconvenient shifts during hunts left me stranded. I tugged it free and pulled out the spare clothes. After dragging on my sweats, I held the shirt out to her without turning my head fully. “Here, for you.”
Her fingertips brushed mine as she took it. The contact was fleeting, but my wolf roared inside me.
I finally looked at her. Gray eyes met mine, wide and luminous. My shirt hung loose on her frame, the hem brushing her perfectly shaped thighs. Her hair fell in tousled waves around her shoulders, and her cheeks were flushed from shifting. Or from standing in front of me like this.
But it was the recognition in her expression that stole the breath from my lungs. She felt the bond humming between us.
“My name is Booker.”
Her breath hitched.
“I won’t hurt you,” I added, keeping my hands visible and not moving toward her. “You don’t have to come closer. You don’t have to do anything at all.”
Her gaze darted down my chest, then back up to meet my eyes again. She didn’t speak, but her pulse fluttered fast at her throat.
Even if I couldn’t touch her yet, I knew one thing without question. I’d just found the other half of my soul. The only woman to send desire coursing through my veins and made my dick push against the soft cotton of my sweatpants for the first time in my thirty-three years.
The forest shifted before I heard anything. My wolf snapped to attention beneath my skin, his ears pricking and muscles tightening.
