Page 22 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

Her quiet response warmed his heart.He bent forward and pressed his lips to hers.After a moment, he slowly released her and sat up.She rolled onto her back and smiled up at him.

“You’re lucky,” she said, folding her arm behind her head.

He gave her a surprised look.“About what?”

“That I have morning breath or I wouldn’t let you out of this tent that easily.”

He laughed at her teasing.“Maybe you are the one that is lucky.”

“It might be worth taking a chance,” she quipped.

He shook his head.“The birds are awake.There’ll be no more sleeping.”

She groaned and rolled onto her side.“I’m so looking forward to my own bed.”

He pulled the quilt up and folded it.“What is your bed like?”

She sat up and began breaking down her air mattress.“It is huge and soft but not too soft.I have mounds of feather pillows and rich Egyptian cotton sheets that wrap around me like a cloud.”

“It sounds… nice,” he commented.

“And a shower… or maybe a bath.I need one!”she said, sniffing her clothes and wiggling her nose.

“You smell good to me.”

She lowered her arm and gave him a bemused smile.“Wait until I’m clean.”

His smile faltered.“I’m sure it can’t be any better.”

With a quick turn, he unzipped the screen and felt the gentle breeze on his overheated face.Pulling on his boots, he crawled out of the tent and stretched.Tracy’s comments about beds and showers were not helping his overactive imagination.His initial morning arousal had escalated into an insatiable and fiery desire.With her disheveled hair and dreamy smile, she looked absolutely stunning in the morning light.

“I’ll be back,” he said, knowing he needed time to regain control.

Tracy watched with dismay as Mitchell disappeared from view.Her fingers clutched around the quilt he had slept on.Lifting it to her face, she hugged the nylon material to her and breathed in his scent.It was a mixture of forest and a scent exclusive to him.She closed her eyes as an intense emotion swept through her that bordered on pain.

We protect him,her bear solemnly vowed.

Yes, we will protect him.

She knew he wasn’t immune to her.He had felt their connection.When he had asked what was happening, she knew what he was talking about but had been afraid to tell him.Did a human see the threads that bound them when they found their shifter life-mate?

What if they don’t?What if—What if he refuses to accept me?

The aching loneliness of such a rejection could drive some shifters mad—literally!It was too soon.She needed to give him time to accept her and her bear.Hell, she hadn’t even introduced him to her other self yet!What if her bear scared him?

Ella no afraid of Ty bear,her bear insisted.

Human men may not be as accepting.

She slowly packed away the interior of her tent before she exited and packed away the tent.Her mind was bouncing from one argument to the next about whether she should try to explain a shifter’s mating ritual to Mitchell when her bear released a low growl of warning inside her.

Her eyes narrowed when a man stepped through the gap between the bushes and stood staring at her with a smirk on his face.She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

“I thought you had run back to your village,” she stated, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him to show she wasn’t intimidated by his presence.

Jace frowned when he noticed she was alone.“Where’s Mitchell?You didn’t kill him, did you?”

“No, she didn’t kill me.”

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