Page 68 of The Renegade Mate

“You could have killed him!”

AJ glanced out at the meadow. “I’m not like other Shifters,” he said softly. “My family wronged a powerful witch, and she took her revenge on our animal forms. My bear is insane. When he takes over, I have no control. And he … he just wants blood. Doesn’t matter whose—adult, child, Shifter, human.”

Fantastic. As if we needed more complications. But still, his words unsettled me. There seemed to be genuine sorrow in his voice, a weight and a burden that he carried. Didn’t mean I’d trust him, though.

“I try to stay away from others as much as possible. The encounter with the boy was … unintentional.”

I snorted. “You were on Bridgetown Pack lands. You were bound to encounter someone sooner or later. Why risk it? Why were you there?”

AJ hesitated, as if he was considering how much to tell me. “Tristan. He has my mate. He knows I’ll do anything to ensure she’s not harmed.” He shrugged. “So, I now follow his orders.”

I was getting an uneasy feeling about this. “And what exactly are your orders?”

His eyes met mine, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of something—desperation, perhaps, or maybe it was just the reflection of the moonlight.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I truly am. If there was any other way … but I have no choices anymore.” He paused, looking straight at me. “I’ve been told to kill you.”

Chapter forty-two

Mai

Before I had time to react, AJ’s eyes glazed over, turning a shade of primal gold. His muscles expanded, bones contorting and snapping with sickening cracks, fur sprouting from his skin. Where AJ had stood a moment before, a monstrous bear now crouched, its form almost surreal in the moonlight. I couldn’t believe how quickly he’d Shifted. Was this a bear shifter thing or an AJ thing? I didn’t know enough about bear shifters to know. A scent—musky, wild, tinged with an underlying note of madness—wafted toward me, causing my nostrils to flare and my senses to sharpen. My mind took in all the little details that would freak me the hell out later, like the fact that AJ’s paws were massive, each one the size of a dinner plate. Claws, longer than my fingers and seemingly honed to razor-sharp points, extended from his paws like deadly talons. A growl, so deep and bone-chilling that it seemed to echo from the depths of the earth itself, reverberated through the night air, setting every nerve in my body on edge.

Holy fuck!

Every instinct I had told me to run. I’d fought AJ before, but I’d had the help of my Pack then. This time, it was just me and Jase. The bear grunted, swinging his body to the left and right, sussing me out. AJ said he didn’t have any control when his bear took over, but I briefly wondered if the bear remembered what AJ knew. My wolf and I were one; she knew what I knew and vice versa, but this bear seemed surprised to see me and Jase here.

I took a step back toward Jase. I didn’t have time to Shift. I was going to have to fight AJ while in my human form.

Fan-flipping-tastic.

I took another step back, hoping I could make it to Jase, maybe pick him up and slink out of here. The bear had other ideas. He charged at me. I dodged to the right, but his claws caught the edge of my jacket, shredding it like paper.

I had to stay away from those claws. One swipe, and he could disembowel me.

I ran right, and the bear followed me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jase dragging himself forward. What the fuck was he doing?

Was he seriously trying to distract AJ? What was he going to do? Offer himself up as a chew toy?

AJ turned. He’d seen Jase, too, and lumbered straight toward him.

I picked up a stone and threw it at AJ. The stone flew through the air and hit him right above his nose.

Goal!

The bear swiped at his face, then roared at me. The sound shook my whole body. And I got a good look at his killer teeth, saliva dripping down them.

Alrighty, then.

I sprinted left this time, trying to draw him away from Jase. The idiot boy started snarling and crawled after us. I wanted to hug Jase and shake him silly at the same time.

“Hey, AJ, over here, you oversized furball! Bet you can’t catch me! Too slow and dumb, huh? Come on, try to keep up.”

The bear swung his head around to me and barreled forward. Jase growled loudly, trying to get AJ to concentrate on him.

AJ veered around, distracted by Jase’s growls. I picked up another stone and another, throwing them at the bear. I’d been great at stone skimming as a kid, always beating Jem and my parents. To my surprise, I hadn’t forgotten those skills and put all my strength into sending the stones like little missiles toward AJ’s head.

He wasn’t buying it, though. The bear had caught sight of prey, injured and weak, and was going to take the easy win. He swiped at Jase, his claws punching through the skin on Jase’s side. The scent of fresh blood filled my senses as Jase let out an agonized whine.

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