Page 22 of Stolen Mate

Derek felt as if someone had just wrapped their hand around his heart and squeezed. “What was her name?” he asked, praying she didn’t give him the one answer he dreaded hearing.

“Teresa Travers. I tried searching for her online. I found someone about the right age in Anchorage receiving benefits, but then she just disappeared into thin air.”

Not thin air, Derek thought. Teresa Travers had been kidnapped, brought to his father’s estate, and turned without her consent. She had never settled as a she-bear, and when she found out she was pregnant she reached out to the Shadow Sisters—the same group his sister had worked with. The ‘Sister’ they sent to get Teresa out had never arrived, but Teresa had managed to get away and had come to Mystic River. The ‘Sister’ had stayed behind, been murdered and buried in the ground of Akiak, his father’s estate. How did he tell his fated mate that his family was involved with the kidnapping and death of her birth mother?

CHAPTER 10

Derek

“Are you all right?” Tess asked, unfolding her long, shapely legs from where she’d been curled up in the chair to stand and head towards him. “You don’t look well. Maybe you should sit down.”

Derek stepped away from her. Every primal instinct in his being cried out for him to take her, claim her, and make her his own. His inner polar bear didn’t care that her mother had been turned, or that someone who wanted to help her had been murdered, or that in the end her birth mother had been killed because of the man who sired her. All it cared about was that she was his fated mate. His bear did have a point. If he claimed Tess and made her his own, she would be protected from his father’s clan.

Akiak would have no claim on her, even though they might try to assert one. If she was his, claimed and bonded to him, Zak would back his claim. Zak had a splinter clan that he had yet to name. Derek and Annie both felt it was because he still harbored hope that their father would relent and step down, leaving Zak to take over as alpha of the Akiak clan. Derek was the only polar bear-shifter in Mystic River, but he claimed allegiance to his brother’s clan.

But without Tess being formally bonded to Derek, his father’s clan had the stronger claim. Both of her birth parents had been members of Akiak, and the child had been stolen away by her mother before she was born. Derek knew that was not a technicality that Zak would allow to take precedence over Tess’s wishes, but still, having Tess bonded to him was the safer route.

All of which was complete bullshit, and Derek didn’t give a damn about any of it. All he knew was that Tess was his fated mate and regardless of her wishes, he wasn’t about to give her up.

“No, I’m fine,” he said, forcing his body to at least look relaxed.

“You don’t look fine. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

He shook his head and tried to smile. “Not a ghost per se, but an old story around these parts.”

“You think you know something about my mother?” asked Tess just as Derek heard a vehicle coming down the driveway, crunching the gravel beneath its tires. Saved by Betty. “I’ll bet that’s Betty. Let me go get what she brought you.”

“Okay, thanks,” she said, sounding a bit bewildered.

He stepped outside, never more grateful to see anyone than he was at that moment.

“It looked like both bags had clothes, so I grabbed the one that had toiletries.”

“Thanks, Betty.”

“Is she all right? Do you want me to give her a quick once over to make sure there’s no cause for concern?”

“That might not be the worst idea, but she has no idea she’s a shifter.”

Betty shook her head. “I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”

“Me, either. Why don’t I give you two a little privacy? The cabin is just one big room. I’ll introduce you and then head down to the river to catch some fish.”

“I’ve been wanting to take a look at what you did to this place. Annie and Sienna really went to town bringing things in for you.”

“Don’t I know it, but I have to say, I really do like what they did.” They walked up the steps and into the cabin. “Tess Dixon, this is Betty. She’s Doc’s nurse. She offered to give you a quick once over so you don’t have to worry about if something is wrong.”

Tess looked embarrassed, but stepped forward, extending her hand. Betty seemed taken aback but recovered quickly. “Nice to meet you, Tess.”

“Same here. Please don’t think Derek’s done anything wrong. Apparently when he found me, I was naked. He loaned me his sweater.”

“Derek’s a good man. He was going to go catch you some dinner. The trout are running. Do you like trout?”

Tess grinned. “Love it. I don’t fish much anymore so it’s hard to find good, fresh trout.”

“Trout it is,” said Derek. “I’ve got some sweet potatoes and green beans I can make as sides.”

“Yum. It beats the hell out of the burger I was planning to have.”

---