His bio said, “Musician and computer engineer. I write songs about the little moments that matter in life. I write code because the songs don’t always pay. I’m close to my family, and I’m looking for someone to share quiet nights and soft music.”
It was so sweet and sincere. Everything she wasn’t. She threw back the whiskey, sucking a breath through her teeth as it burned down her throat. She then stared at his face. At his gentleeyes and the smile that promised warmth and safety and all the things she’d spent her life learning to live without.
She shook her head. There was no way this would work. He would want to soften her. She could see it in his face. In everything about him. The first time he saw who she really was, he would be disgusted. He’d be terrified. He would run and hide. That was the best case scenario.
He might be determined to make the match work. But that would mean sanding down her edges and making her into something she wasn’t. She’d watched it happen to other women like her who chose men over themselves. The slow erosion of everything that made them dangerous. She wouldn’t survive it.
But maybe he wouldn’t. And that would only be worse.
If he let her, she would destroy him. Her darkness would swallow his light. Whatever gentle life he’d built for himself, she would tear it apart just by being in it.
He wasn’t built for her world, for the violence and conspiracy and the cold mathematics of who had to die so that others could live. He deserved someone who could match his softness. Not a wolf who had killed with her bare hands and would do it again without flinching.
Siren stared at Folk Bear’s sweet face. She was trapped between wanting him and knowing better. She tapped on the messaging app, and it loaded, her cursor blinking.
What did you say to someone like him? Someone good and kind and completely wrong for her?
Her wolf pressed against her, wanting her to reach through the screen and claim him. She started typing.
“Life is complicated right now. Not sure this is the right time. Sorry.” She hit send before she could take it back.
Chapter
Three
Reed Bright’scottage sat on a quiet street at the edge of town. It was a two-bedroom craftsman he’d bought three years ago with the money he’d saved from his work at the Institute and a small trust fund from his father.
The cottage was small but solid. There was a back porch just big enough for two chairs. He kept his backyard tidy, the lawn mowed, and the hedges trimmed. He liked the work, liked the satisfaction of things being well-maintained.
The second bedroom had become his music studio. He’d installed foam panels on the walls, set up a desk with monitors and a recording interface. When he woke up the morning after the brewery gig, he shuffled into the kitchen, bare feet on the cool wood floor.
The space was small but functional. It had white tile counters and open shelving he’d installed himself. The window over the sink looked out on the backyard, and a row of potted herbs lined the windowsill.
He started brewing a pot of coffee, the familiar gurgle and hiss filling the quiet house. While it brewed, he reached for his phone. He scrolled through the notifications. Text from his brother Ash about a family dinner at the orchard later that week. An email from Danny about the gig last night. A notification from mate.com.
Reed scrolled past it. The app sent notifications all the time. New suggestions, profile views, occasional messages from someone with a 60% compatibility who wanted to try anyway. After years on the platform, he’d learned not to get his hopes up.
But this notification badge looked different. He’d never seen it before. He tapped the button, and the app opened. The screen that appeared made his heart stop.
“Congratulations! We found your fated mate.”
Reed stared at the words. Read them again. His bear surged inside him, fully awake like it already had drunk the whole pot of coffee. It pressed against his chest with an intensity that made it hard to breathe.
His fated mate. Not an 80% match. Not a 97% match. His mate. The one. The only one the universe had made for him.
This is what had happened with Ash when he found Eliana. What happened when Ivy found Henry. And when Holly met Elias. All three of his siblings had found their fated mates. And now he had too. It was the moment that every shifter longed for. It was the reason his father had built the algorithm in the first place.
Reed’s hands were shaking when he tapped through to see her profile.
Username: Reaper Wolf.
Her photo filled the screen. She had dark hair and sharp eyes. She was wearing a leather jacket and black jeans. She wasn’t posed or smiling. The shot had caught her mid-conversation. Her attention was on something outside the frame. Her expression was intent and focused. She was stunning. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his whole life.
His bear knew her instantly. It recognized her on some level that was beyond logic or even thought. Reed scrolled down to her bio.
“Security specialist. Not looking for games.”
Most profiles were paragraphs of cheerful self-description, lists of hobbies and hopes. Hers read like a warning. Like a door with a sign that said, enter at your own risk.
