Mate.Mine.
The word echoes through every part of me.My bear surges forward with possessive pride.
Ours, he corrects.
He’s excited.So am I, but I need to focus on her right now.I need a plan.She’s hurt, and whatever she was running from could still be nearby.
I glance back toward the woods.The forest has gone silent again.
Too silent.
My instincts scream danger.
Without wasting another second, I carry her inside the cabin.The front door swings open with a shove of my shoulder, and I hurry to lay her carefully on the couch in the living room.
For a moment, I stare down at her.Her face is pale beneath the dirt and scratches.A bruise is forming along her jaw, and her lips look dry and cracked.She’s exhausted.
She must have been terrified to run like that,I think.
My bear snarls inside me.She’ll never be afraid like that again,he vows.
I nod in agreement as rage burns through my chest.Who the hell did this to her?
We’ll find them,my bear vows.And we’ll make them pay.
Before I can do that, though, I need to get my mate help.I might be a loner, but I have a few friends in the pack.I grab my phone off the kitchen counter and call Knox.He’s my closest friend here, the one I’ve known the longest, and also a bear shifter.He might not quite understand my desire for solitude, but he respects it.
I hit dial, and the phone rings twice.
“Logan?Is everything okay?”Knox asks, the concern clear in his voice.
“No,” I admit.“I need a doctor at my cabin.Now.”
“Are you hurt?”
I know he’s wondering how bad it is if my bear can’t help me heal.
“Not me.My mate.”
“Yourmate?”
Pride fills me at the word.
“Yeah.She appeared on my property and collapsed.She’s freezing, and it’s obvious she’s been running from someone or something.She’s scraped up.”
“Running from the cult?”Knox asks, his voice low and deadly.
“I don’t know.I didn’t see anyone chasing her, and she’s currently unconscious.”
“We’ll be right there,” Knox promises, ending the call.
I set the phone down and return to my mate’s side.She hasn’t moved, hasn’t even stirred.Unease fills me.
I kneel beside her, brushing the hair away from her face.She’s beautiful.Even unconscious and covered in dirt, there’s no denying it.Midnight black hair, soft skin, curves that I instinctively know will fit my hands perfectly.And those blue eyes I glimpsed briefly.
My bear rumbles as he paces inside me.He’s on high alert, listening for any threat outside the cabin.
I glance out the window, scanning the trees and bushes for signs of anything out of place, but it’s still.
