“That’s why he’s not a good fit for Tuk’mara,” she answered, her voice as calm as a spring breeze despite her incoming death. “The heart of the villageshouldbe scared to death he’s going to fuck it up," she said with a wry smile.
She used her last bit of strength to cup my face, her eyes soft and steady. "You’re not like him. Form a maul. Find a mate you can love like your father couldn’t love us. Show them all what I see.”
Then she laid back and closed her eyes forever, leaving me with that last wish.
I’d had no choice but to try to fulfill it.
But look at me now. Cowering and naked in a tree while my second and third maul had been attending to the only female whose scent we all agreed on from dawn to dawn.
I gritted my teeth against the bitter cold and debated bringing out my polar bear to get me down. Maybe that miserable white beast would?—
I froze when I saw her.
Noelle.
She appeared at the mouth of the totem den, her form dark against the snowy trail. My heart lurched, and my bears stirred inside me. Then I narrowed my eyes as she started toward the road, bundled in the moon boots her bear had spared and the old Army parka I hadn’t bothered to grab before I stormed out.
Ursa’s Claw, she was cute. Too cute. Both my bears snuffled with excitement, responding to the sight of the female we all knew was perfect for us.
But what the hell was she doing?
Leaving, just like you said she would, my polar growled, simmering with anger.
Follow her, my black bear urged, quieter but insistent, every muscle in its sleek body coiled to chase.
I gritted my jaw, torn between instinct and reason. I’d tried to run away. Tried to do the right thing—for Cody, who’d have his heart ripped apart if she didn’t stay, and for the tribe, who needed a leader with a stable maul.
But now, this pretty little Fresh Bite had made doing the right thing impossible.
I shifted slightly in the tree, every nerve in my body screaming for action.
Did I let her go, telling myself I’d done everything I could to protect her—and my maul—from myself?
Or did I follow in my father’s path, refusing to let go of the female I knew on sight was fated for me.
noelle
. . .
I thoughtabout leaving Ash and Cody a note before departing their den in the moon boots I’d found still intact amongst my shredded clothes, a huge coat that smelled like Mak, and nothing else. But in the end, I decided against it.
Only a couple of days had passed since I’d left Gemidgee, but I’d woken up that morning feeling Noelle in every sense of the French word for Christmas—happy and hopeful for the day to come. Also, strangely healed.
At least, I had in those first blissful moments of waking.
Then I’d seen the rays of morning light streaming through the cave window and remembered everything: the crash, the bite, the estrus, and the three ridiculously sexy bear shifters waiting for me to choose them—or not.
Forget the poetic stuff. I’d literally woken up to a new day, and my sister, Holly, had to be worried sick about me.
I needed my phone to call her and let her know I was alright—just… detoured. That was my goal as I tiptoed past Cody’s massive bear form and grabbed the first coat I came across. Totally not on purpose.
Mak’s coat smelled just as good as Cody’s and Ash’s. I’d already reveled in Cody’s warm cinnamon and Ash’s fresh-roasted coffee scents, but now my bear was practically drooling over the smoky, campfire marshmallow aroma clinging to this one.
But as I made my way toward the road, I couldn’t stop thinking about Mak. His tragic backstory. The way his coat smelled. And, most of all, the way his eyes had burned when he looked at me—as if I were both a blessing and a burden he couldn’t bring himself to carry.
And that was when my bear let me know what I’d really come out here to do, announcing it with another release of estrus.
“No! No! No!” I whispered, panic blooming as another strange urge overtook me.
