Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
“Why did you save me back there?” I ask as I watch her beautiful face. She blows the red hair out of her eyes as she focuses on the road.
“Because…”
“Because why?” I want to hear her say it.
“Because maybe you were right.”
“About?”
“About us being mates.” She looks at me and my chest flutters with those gorgeous green eyes on me. I adore her freckles. I could stare at this girl’s angelic face for years and not get bored. “When I saw that guy turn into a polar bear shifter—”
“That’s Grayson.”
“Yeah. Him. It all kind of clicked. I knew you were telling the truth. About all of it. And I could feel that you were right. Then, when you kissed me…”
Her cheeks begin to turn an adorable shade of pink.
“I knew I couldn’t let you go.”
We sit in silence for a long moment as we drive along the curvy mountain roads.
It suddenly hits me that my bear is silent. He’s calm. He’s not trying to rip his way out of me and he’s not snarling in my ear. Even during all of that action back there, he was calm. He was letting me handle it. He was ready in case I needed to pull him out, but he wasn’t trying to force his way out either.
It almost makes me think… No. He’s gone feral. It’s over for us. This might be a nice break, but the beast will return and I can’t risk having Hazel around him when he’s out of control.
“Who was that big guy?” she asks. “Jackson.”
I sigh as I look at the huge pine trees whipping by us. “That’s my older brother. He’s the leader of The Foxhounds.”
“Your own brother is trying to kill you?” she says as she looks at me in horror.
“It’s not his fault,” I say in a low voice. “He’s just doing the right thing.”
“Don’t say that,” she says as she looks at me with a ferocity in her eyes. “Don’t ever say that again. You deserve to have a life. I just met you, but I can tell that you’re a good man. I wouldn’t be mates with someone shitty.”
“It’s my bear who’s the problem,” I say with a sigh. “He’s dangerous to be around.”
She huffs out a breath as she turns back to the road. “You let me worry about your bear,” she says with a firm resolve in her voice. “I’ll tame him properly.”
I laugh as I watch her in awe.
She whips her head back, looking at me with a challenging stare. “You don’t think I can?”
“I think you can do anything,” I say as my heart aches in her presence. “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. You’ve already changed everything for me.”
She gives me a little wink. “And I’m just getting started.”
CHAPTER SIX
Hazel
“Whose cabin is this?” August asks as I slam my shoulder into the solid wooden door. It doesn’t budge. I grunt as I try again.
“Lou’s.”
“Who’s Lou?”
“The grumpy cook where I work,” I say as I try slamming it open with my other shoulder. “He comes hunting here sometimes. Uses the elk meat in the hamburgers.”
August is looking around the secluded property. There’s nothing but trees and mountains around here and we’re far from the road. I think we’re as safe as we can get from the Foxhounds.
I’m lucky I had the address in my phone. The owner sent me to fetch Lou here one time when the backup cook took a fit, quit, and walked out in the middle of his shift. Lou was not happy to see me.
“He doesn’t mind that you use it?” August asks.
“Umm… No.”
He would totally mind. Actually, he would blow a gasket if he knew what I was up to.
“Help me out here, would you,” I say as I step back from the door. “I forgot the key.”
Those sexy blue eyes roam over me as he steps up to the door. With one soft push of his shoulder, the door flies open with a crack.
I was expecting a crappy hunting cabin with only the bare necessities—grimy cot, outhouse, bucket of water for a sink, large carcass of a dead animal in the kitchen—but this is nice. It looks like a cute little couples’ retreat you’d book off of Airbnb. There’s a nice stone fireplace with some birch logs piled up beside it, an adorable kitchen with a cast iron stove, brass pots and pans hanging over the tiny island, comfy couches, and a beautiful bedroom with a big king-sized bed. Only one bed. Interesting…
I didn’t know Lou had it in him. If he ever decides to quit his job as a grumpy cook, maybe he can have a promising career as a grumpy interior designer.
“Want me to make something?” I say as I head into the kitchen. “You must be hungry.”
“Why do you say that?”