My bear surges forward with a snarl.Kill him,he roars.
I break through a thicket and skid to a stop so suddenly that dirt sprays up around my boots.Thirty feet ahead, in a small clearing, is my mate.
Vivian is struggling in the arms of a man twice her size, her dark hair tangled around her face, her body jerking as she fights him.His hand is clamped around her wrist, the other at her waist, dragging her backward through the brush.
She’s terrified.I smell it instantly.I can see it in the way she twists, hear it in the ragged, desperate cry that tears from her throat when she catches sight of me.
“Logan!”
One of the men looks up, and that’s it.That’s the end of him.
Something savage and absolute rips through me.My bear doesn’t ask this time.He takes.
Bones crack.Muscles stretch.Heat explodes beneath my skin as I shift mid-stride, fury swallowing every human thought I have.
I hit the ground as a bear and roar.The sound tears through the woods, loud enough to shake the leaves overhead.
The man’s eyes widen, and he shoves Vivian so hard that she falls to the ground.Then he turns to run.
Coward.
Mine,my bear roars.Hurt our mate.Touched our mate.
I’m on him before he makes it three steps.He screams once.Just once.My claws sink into his back, driving him into the dirt.His body hits the ground hard, and I rear back with a roar that rattles the trees before bringing all of my weight down on him again.
A wet crack.Another.He tries to scramble away, sobbing something I don’t care enough to understand, but I’m beyond hearing words.All I know is that he had his hands on my mate.
He hunted her.Frightened her.Thought he could take what belongs to me.
Rage burns so hot that it blacks out everything else.My jaws close around his throat.
And then… silence.
My bear pants over the body, chest heaving, claws dug into the ground.
The other man shakes in his boots as I prowl towards him, my bear flashing its teeth at him.He tries to run, but I lunge for him, quickly ending his life too.
My bear is on edge, scanning our surroundings for any other threat.
Then I hear it.
A broken little sound behind me.
Vivian.
The blood rage vanishes so fast that it leaves me dizzy.I spin, and there she is, a few feet away, sprawled in the dirt where he threw her.Her light blue eyes are huge, fixed on me.Tears track through the dust on her cheeks.Her whole body is shaking.
Pain spears through my chest at the sight of her, and I shift back immediately.
The forest air hits my bare skin, but I don’t give a damn.I drop to my knees in front of her and reach for her carefully, slowly, like she might break apart if I move too fast.
“Vivian,” I rasp.“Baby.”
She makes a choked sound and throws herself at me.Relief slams through me so hard that I nearly collapse.I catch her against my chest and pull her in, wrapping my arms around her so tightly that I hope she can feel it clear to her bones.
She’s here.She’s alive.She’s in my arms.
“I’ve got you,” I murmur against her hair.“I’ve got you.I’m here.”
