Page 77 of Flare
His patience was rewarded when Ward’s pickup backed out of the driveway, tires spitting gravel.
Andrew watched as Ward’s pickup disappeared around the corner, racing toward the billowing smoke on the outskirts of town.
“Good boy,” Andrew murmured.“Run along now to save the day.”
He allowed himself a moment to savor his success. The old wooden barn he’d set on fire would keep Ward and the other volunteer firefighters busy for hours.
More than enough time for Andrew to have a talk with his runaway mate and convince her to return home.
His gaze settled on the blue Subaru parked in Ward’s driveway. Emily’s car. Confirmation that she’d been hiding out here like the ungrateful bitch she was.
His bear rumbled with displeasure at the reminder of her desertion, but Andrew pushed the animal back down. Complete control was essential now. He couldn’t afford to let his emotions get the better of him this time.
Emily was his. His bear had chosen her, and he would have to make her understand what that meant. She belonged withhim, not wallowing in the company of these backwoods shifters.
Andrew checked the street one last time before emerging from his hiding place. He moved with purpose but without hurry, projecting the confidence of someone who belonged. If anyone was watching, he didn’t want to look suspicious.
As he approached Ward’s house, Andrew mentally rehearsed what he would say to Emily. He’d be firm but reasonable.He’d remind her of their engagement, of the life they’d planned together. He’d explain that her shock at seeing his bear form for the first time had been understandable, but something they could work through together.
Andrew walked up the driveway past Emily’s car, rounded the corner of the house, and headed for the back door. He’d observed enough to know that doors in this town were usually left unlocked during the day. Small-town habits were so weird, but in this case, useful.
He was ten feet from the door when the smell hit him.
Andrew froze, his nostrils flaring as he drew in another breath to confirm what his bear already knew. Ward’s scent clung to the air around the house—expected, of course—but it was interwoven with something else. Something that made Andrew’s blood run cold before super-heating in his veins.
Emily’s scent, tangled with Ward’s, and tainted with the unmistakable musk of sex hung in the air like an accusation.
Andrew’s vision tunneled, the edges darkening as his bear surged forward, clawing for control. His hands curled into fists so tight that his manicured nails broke skin. But he felt no pain through the white-hot rage now coursing through him.
“No,” he whispered, the word escaping through clenched teeth.“No, no, NO!”
His bear was howling inside his mind, a feral scream of possessive fury that threatened to tear him apart from within.
That filthy Swanson fucked my mate!
The thought exploded in Andrew’s mind like a grenade, shrapnel tearing through every careful plan and calculated move. Hisbody vibrated with rage so intense it felt like his skin might split open from the pressure of containing it.
Emily is mine. MINE!
His bear had chosen her to complete him, to submit to him, to obey him.
His property. His possession. His mate.
And Ward Swanson had dared to put his scent all over her.
The betrayal cut deeper than Andrew could have imagined. Not just Emily’s betrayal—though that burned like acid—but the violation by another bear shifter. Even worse, a goddamn Swanson shifter.
Andrew’s breath came in ragged gasps as he struggled to maintain control. He needed to think, to come up with a new plan.
But his bear was beyond reason now. It demanded blood and retribution for the crime against their mate. The animal part of him wanted to tear into the house, find Emily, and mark her so thoroughly that no other male would ever dare approach her again.
After that, it wanted to find Ward and rip him apart, limb from limb.
A familiar burning prickle ran across Andrew’s skin, the first warning sign of an involuntary shift. The sensation intensified, transforming into an unbearable burning that seemed to liquefy his very bones.
“Not here,” he hissed, pressing his back against the side of the house as he fought the change.“Not now.”
But his bear would not be denied. The rage was too potent, the violation too great.
