Grizzly bears don’t handle rejection well,Korrak thought grimly.And if Bracken really is what I suspect he is...
Korrak closed his eyes briefly, feeling the duality of the bond like opposing forces in his chest. He couldn’t let emotion dictate action—not entirely—but he also couldn’t ignore the way the bond sharpened his focus and clarified his priorities. Winslet’s safety. The clan’s security. His territory’s integrity. Everything else was negotiable.
“I know,” he said quietly, opening his eyes to meet Kol’s concerned gaze. “But what’s done is done. The bond doesn’t make us weaker—it makes the stakes clearer.”
He turned back to the window, his mind already working through tactical possibilities. The southern border movements weren’t random. They were designed to provoke a response, to test how quickly he’d react and what forces he’d commit. Classic misdirection.
“Double the patrols on the eastern and western flanks,” Korrak ordered, his voice taking on the crisp authority of command. “Keep the southern response minimal—observationonly. I want to know exactly how many bears we’re dealing with and what they’re really after.”
Kol nodded, already pulling out his radio. “You think it’s a trap?”
“I think Bracken is smarter than Viktor gave him credit for,” Korrak replied. “This isn’t about territory. It’s about drawing me away from what he really wants.”
His gaze flicked to Winslet, and the mate bond pulsed with fierce protectiveness. She stood straighter under his attention, her chin lifting with the stubborn courage that had first attracted him.
“We brace for now,” Korrak said, straightening to his full height. “But we defend on our terms, not his. This ends when we say it ends.”
Kol headed for the door, understanding the unspoken weight behind those words. The Alpha wasn’t just guarding land anymore—he was guarding his mate. And nothing in the frozen north would stop him from doing exactly that.
NINETEEN
WINSLET
The door clicked shut behind Kol, leaving Winslet standing in the sudden quiet of the living room. The oversized t-shirt and boxers she’d borrowed from Korrak felt like armor that didn’t quite fit—protective but temporary, a reminder that she was still finding her place in this world of ice and predators.
Korrak remained by the window, his thermal shirt stretched across shoulders that seemed broader now, more commanding. The completed mate bond had changed something fundamental in his presence, making him even more focused and powerful somehow.
But Kol’s words wouldn’t stop echoing in her mind.Bracken is more than he seems.
A chill crept up her spine. More than he seems. The phrase circled in her thoughts like a vulture, picking at details she’d tried to forget. Bracken’s uncanny ability to intimidate without raising his voice. The way other men deferred to him instantly, even dangerous men. His possessiveness that went beyond jealousy into something primal and territorial.
He’s a grizzly shifter just like Viktor.
Her stomach twisted violently. She pressed a hand to her mouth, fighting the urge to be sick. For two years, she’d shared a bed with a cunning predator. Had kissed those lips, felt those hands on her skin, and trusted him with her body and heart. The man who’d controlled every aspect of her life—he wasn’t just a crime boss. He was an apex predator playing at being human.
“Winslet.” Korrak’s voice cut through her thoughts, steady and grounding. “What is it?”
“Bracken’s really a shifter.” The words came out strangled.
Korrak’s ice-blue eyes sharpened, but he didn’t seem surprised. “We suspected as much.”
“But I lived with him for two years.” Her voice cracked. “How could I not know? How could I be so blind?”
All of Bracken’s behavior suddenly made terrible sense. The way he’d demanded absolute obedience. His explosive rage when challenged. His insistence that she stay home all the time where he could watch her—classic territorial behavior.
“Because he didn’t want you to know,” Korrak said, moving closer. “Rogue shifters are experts at deception. They have to be to survive in human society.”
But that raised another question that caused her chest to tighten with fresh fear. “Why hide it from me? If he wanted to control me, wouldn’t revealing his true nature make that easier?”
Korrak’s jaw clenched. “Because telling you would mean trusting you with his greatest vulnerability. And men like Bracken don’t trust anyone.”
The truth of it settled over her like a heavy blanket. Even when Bracken claimed to love her, even when he’d proposed marriage, he’d kept the most fundamental part of himself hidden. Just like he’d hidden his criminal empire and his violence.
She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. “I need to get dressed. Train more. If he’s really coming?—“
“He is.” Korrak’s voice carried absolute certainty. “The question is when and how.”
Winslet headed toward the bedroom, her mind already cataloging the moves Korrak had shown her last night. She was pulling on her jeans when her phone chimed from the dresser.
