Page 6 of The Alpha's Bounty
MATE.Keep.Take.Now.
“Calm down,” I murmur to him, to me, to the trees, to the ache that suddenly blooms under my skin.
The words catch against her lips, because yeah, I’m still kissing her.I tear myself away with a discipline that tastes like ash.
My bear rakes his claws inside my chest in protest.
I slide my hands away from her like I’m defusing a bomb.Step back an inch.Another.The cool air bites my face like a reprimand.She stares at me, stunned, a flush rising in her cheeks.Confusion flickers in those silver-gray eyes.She looks like she’s bracing for impact.
Good.Because I’m the storm.
“Cyrus,” I say roughly.“My name is Cyrus.”
Brilliant.Introduce yourself after you tackle-kiss your mate.My father would cuff me upside the head if he were still here.
Her throat works.“Is that… supposed to make this less weird?”
There it is: dry, wary humor threaded with fear.It punches a laugh out of me, more breath than sound.My bear rumbles impatiently.He wants to wrap her up, haul her against us, bury his nose in the place where her neck meets her shoulder, and breathe her in until the world steadies.
Then I remember the folder.The charges against her.Theft.Missed court date.I skimmed those pages and tucked her face into the back of my mind.How old did the report say she was?Nineteen?I never imagined the girl in that photo would step out of the trees and gut me alive.
“Why did you—” Her voice shakes, then tightens.“Are you going to arrest me?”
The question slices through my haze.There it is.The fork in the road that I never saw coming.Do I choose duty or fate?
It’s not a hard choice.Not with her scent permeating my lungs and my bear carving the wordmineinto every thought.
Bringing her in is my job.Now that I’ve found my mate, the reward money will boost the pack coffers—the fund we use when roofs cave in or cars break down.It’s the example I set, the line I hold.We don’t shelter criminals.We keep our territory clean.We keep it safe.
But she’s my fate, standing on a frost-silvered trail, watching me like I could be the next person to hurt her.In no version of this universe will I hand my mate over to anyone.Not now that I’ve found her.
“No.”The word is granite, and my bear nods his approval.“I’m not arresting you.”
She blinks as if she misheard.“You’re… not?”
“No.”
The forest breathes again, a thin wind stirring the high branches.
Mina takes a small step back, measuring me, measuring the surrounding space.I know that look.I’ve seen it in prey.She’s cataloguing exits in case she needs to bolt.
I raise my hands, palms facing her, no threat.“I’m not here to hurt you, Mina.”
Her name sounds like a vow on my tongue.
Her chin lifts a fraction.Suspicion lurks in her eyes, but underneath it, a tremor of recognition.“Why aren’t you taking me in and collecting the bounty?”
Because you’re the scent I’ve dreamed about, the missing half of my heartbeat, and the remedy for every restless night.
My bear is all teeth and urgency.Say it!Tell her.Claim her.Mark her!
I ignore him.For now.“Because you’re not a threat to my pack,” I tell her honestly.My bear growls, so I add.“And because I’m not letting you go.”
Mina’s breath hitches.She wraps her arms around herself as if she’s guarding against the elements, though the day is crisp rather than cold.
“I don’t understand,” she whispers.
I hate the fear I hear in her voice.Of course, she doesn’t understand.Humans don’t learn about the bond that chains two souls together with a simple look.They don’t know what it’s like to feel their mate’s heartbeat beneath their ribs.
