Page 72 of Watch Me Burn

“What? Where?”

“Heading right this way.”

A predator? I thought Conall was the only predator in Dyea. Unless he means?—

“Another vampire?”

Now that I know about the beef between wolf shifters and vampires, and how Conall considered me his mate from the moment he first caught my scent, it makes sense why the other vamps in the village kept their distance from me and Elise. I honestly thought it was because they were just too snooty to welcome a vampire fresh out of her Fang City—and I haven’t stopped thinking that considering Elise lives alone now and they still don’t want anything to do with her—which makes me wonder why one of them would be chasing my best friend inside mine and Conall’s home…

“No. It’s not a vampire. Unless my nose is on the fritz, I think it’s abear.”

Okay. Bear. It’s Alaska. There are bears here. I haven’t been unlucky enough to run into one yet, but Conall wasn’t kidding when he told me the wilds were dangerous.

Well. So am I.

I flex my fingers, a pair of fireballs enclosing my hands. “Whoever it is, I’ll get rid of them. A little singed fur will get this bear to understand he doesn’t want to mess with us.” Switching directions, I march toward the front door before my mate can stop me as I tell him, “Watch my back.”

“I always will.”

I know.

Conall protects me.

And I protect Elise.

Watch me burn.

My mate has learned his lesson. Between his tail being lit up and Linda’s silver knife getting him in the side, he knows betterthan to try to challenge me. However, he’s still a possessive, protective male. He’s right behind me as I fling open the door, prepared to face one of the Alaskan grizzlies lumbering their way out of the woods and over to our place.

Only it’s not a bear. At least, not a real one.

It’s aman.

He’s big. Brawny.Tall. Close to six-and-a-half-feet without any shoes on, he’s wearing a pair of low-slung jeans and nothing else. He’s tanned all over, a head of shaggy dark hair falling forward into his honey-colored eyes as he searches over my head, swiveling his as he glares inside the house.

And that’s when I notice the two healed-over puncture wounds on the side of his neck and gape at him a little.

I know what those are. Those are mate marks. Conall has something similar-ish. Just like how he bit me to finalize our bond, he kept the echoes of the scar from when I burned his tail as a way to show that his mate marked him. As quick as shifters heal, they can actually choosenotto. Conall wanted proof that I was his, even if it was a burn on his ass cheek.

This big fella obviously kept these as his mate marks. But they’re more than that. They’re also fang marks.Vampirefang marks.

Conall sniffs. Another growl. “This is my territory, bear. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“What am I doing?” rumbles the big guy. “I’m here for my mate.”

Hiswhat?

My gaze returns t the silver points on the side of his tanned throat. I think of the possessive gleam in his honey-colored eyes, so similar to how Conall looks at me. The way Elise came rushing in here, hiding, as though afraid when the delicate vampire isneverafraid…

I’m here for my mate.

He’s here forElise.

Oh,hellno. If I thought Peter stalking her in Clarity was bad, that’s nothing compared to a predatory shifter male who is convinced you’re his mate.

Trust me, I know. And while it worked out for me and Conall once I got past him pissing a territorial warning in my old backyard, I never ran away from him, hiding out in my best friend’s kitchen.

I saved her from Peter when I was human.

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