Page 5 of Marked For A Bite
Four hours and seventeen minutes after leaving Silvercrest territory, Logan parked three blocks from Zoe Raymond's address. The modest bungalow sat nestled between similar houses in a quietly gentrifying neighborhood where nosy neighbors and security cameras posed constant surveillance threats. He pulled on the bulletproof vest beneath his black jacket, the familiar weight settling against his chest like armor.
Standard extraction protocol. Get in, assess the situation, and extract the target safely.
But as Logan approached the back of her house through shadows cast by towering oak trees, he felt something unexpected in his chest. A pulling sensation, like an invisible cord attached to his sternum and stretching through the walls toward whatever waited inside. His wolf stirred restlessly, its ears pricked forward with interest rather than wariness.
What the hell?
The back door's lock yielded to his picks within thirty seconds—old hardware, minimal security, perfect for a quick entry. Logan stepped into a kitchen that smelled of abandonedcoffee and something else. Fear. Sweat. The raw scent of a wolf in distress.
He found her curled in an oversized armchair in the living room, and the photograph hadn't done her justice. Even terrified and shaking, Zoe Raymond was stunning. Her curly dark hair fell around her shoulders in disheveled waves, and when she looked up at his approach, those hazel eyes held flecks of gold that seemed to glow in the dim lamplight.
"No, no, no." Her voice cracked as she pressed herself deeper into the chair. "Please, I can't control it. I don't know what's happening to me."
Logan raised his hands slowly, his voice dropping to the calm tone he used with spooked animals. "Easy. I'm not here to hurt you."
But Zoe's breathing accelerated into near-hyperventilation, her whole body trembling as she stared at him like he was the personification of her worst fears. "You're here because of what I am."
"Breathe." Logan slowly stepped closer, that strange pulling sensation intensifying with each inch of distance he closed. "I'm here to help you."
A scream tore from her throat as panic took hold completely. Logan moved fast then, covering the distance between them.
"Shh. I know you're scared. But we need to keep quiet." He leaned down to press his hand gently over her mouth to muffle any further sounds.
And the moment his skin touched hers, the world exploded.
The mate bond slammed into Logan like a physical blow, stealing his breath and sending shockwaves through every nerve ending in his body.Mate.The word thundered through his consciousness with absolute certainty, primal and undeniable. His wolf howled recognition, a sound of pure possession and protection that echoed through his bones.
Shock hit first—thirty-four years of believing he'd never find his fated mate, and she materialized as a terrified hybrid who needed extraction, not complications. Then hunger crashed over him, swift and devastating, as every cell in his body screamed to claim what belonged to him. The urge to bite, to mark, and to make her his rose so sharp and sudden that Logan had to clench his jaw against it.
But denial followed close behind, cold and logical. This was a mission. She was his responsibility, not his potential partner. The timing couldn't be worse, and getting emotionally involved would compromise everything.
No. Absolutely not. Not now. Not her.
Zoe's eyes had gone wide above his hand, the gold flecks brightening as if responding to some internal flame. Her breathing slowed, and Logan felt her pulse steady beneath his fingers. Whatever she was experiencing, it was affecting her strongly too.
Mate bonds work both ways. Even for untrained hybrids.
Logan forced himself to remove his hand slowly, though every instinct screamed to maintain contact. "Better?"
She nodded, still staring at him with those impossibly expressive eyes. "Who are you?"
"Someone who can explain what's happening to you." Logan stepped back, needing distance to think clearly. "But not here. We need to leave. Now."
"I can't." Zoe's voice carried the exhaustion of someone who'd been fighting a losing battle. "I'm dangerous. I attack people when it happens."
"You're not dangerous." The words emerged with more intensity than Logan intended, his wolf pushing its protective instincts to the surface. "You're manifesting. And there are people who want to hurt you for it."
The weight of their situation settled heavy in the space between them. Logan had a mission to complete, but the mate bond complicated everything.
Focus. Extract first, deal with complications later.
"Pack light. Whatever you can't live without." Logan moved to the window, scanning the street for signs of trouble. "We leave in five minutes."
THREE
ZOE
Zoe slowly pulled herself up from the oversized armchair, and her legs felt unsteady beneath her. The Columbia hoodie hung loose on her frame, the soft grey fabric damp with perspiration from two days of fighting her own body. Her black yoga pants clung to her curves, and she became acutely aware of how disheveled she must look compared to this man who appeared carved from granite and wrapped in tactical efficiency.
