She was my fucking everything, and I was going to show her that, each and every day. A day would never go by where she questioned if I still loved her, still wanted her. She deserved everything I had to give and so much more, and I’d spend the rest of my life showing her just that.
My mate. My life. My forever.
Marked by The Alpha (Bare Bites Book 1)
PROLOGUE
Gavin
“Gavin, calm down. Shifting isn’t going to help anyone,” my second, Tomlin, said softly. He was being careful not to make any sudden movements, which was smart, because in the state I was in, I could have bitten his damn head off.
“I can smell her. She’s here alone.” The scent of her fear was permeating my nostrils and making my bear rage, desperate to be freed. I walked up to Tom, crowding him with my height. Instinctively, he lowered his eyes and looked away, but I still heard the hesitation in his growl. Tom was an alpha, so bowing down to anyone was hard on him, but he couldn’t deny that I was his superior. Maybe Tom didn’t approve, but all of my reason was gone; the man in me had been stripped away long ago, and the animal was crawling to get out. I would destroy anyone in my path in order to get to her. Fifteen years. I’d waited fifteen fuckin’ years for her, and I was going to do everything in my power to find her.
“Gavin!” Mercy called out to me from the forest. Her call was desperate and urgent, and the bear in me ran. When I got to the clearing, I saw Mercy standing there looking helpless, trying to coax the young girl to come to her. I leaped toward them, and for the first time in a long time, I finally heard the true center of my heartbeat. Her scent wasn’t foreign, but she wasn’t a bear shifter either—she was a wolf.
I would never forget the sight of her.. She was curled up on the cold ground, shivering uncontrollably, huddled up to a tree and blanketed by fresh snow. I knew, without a doubt, that I’d found her. My mate. She seemed fragile and helpless and didn’t look a day older than eighteen. Rage boiled within me. What kind of a pack leaves one of their own alone and defenseless? I walked up to her, careful not to startle her. I had to coax her; the scent of her fear may block her other instincts. She might not recognize my scent and run. If she did run, I knew I’d chase her. She couldn’t be left alone, no matter the cost. The bear in me wouldn’t let me leave her, and neither would the man.
“Hey, sweetheart,” I whispered softly. I was holding the growl at bay, but it was demanding to get out. I was trying desperately to keep the animal out of my eyes. I knew she needed to only see the man. She slowly looked up at me, and her eyes made me stop in my tracks. One was blue and the other green, and they were beautiful.
Out of nowhere, she leaped straight into my arms. Her fragile arms held on tightly to my neck. I cradled her against my body as the relief flooded through me and calmed my bear. She nuzzled her face in my jacket, and I could feel her petite body shivering. I opened my jacket and let her curl up farther into my chest, seeing as she’d already imprinted herself onto my heart. I looked down at the sweet angel in my arms.
“My name is Gavin. What’s your name sweetheart?”
“Liza,” she whispered softly. In that moment I knew she felt it too. She knew who I was. She knew I’d keep her safe and let her into my inner circle. She knew too that we were destined to be together.
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Claiming His Mate (Bare Bites Book 2)
CHAPTER ONE
Mia
“I’m going for a run. I can’t take any more of this,” I spat at my father, putting on my shoes.
“You can’t run away, Mia. We aren’t done here,” he said, barreling toward me, trying to use his massive body as a form of intimidation.
“That won’t work on me. You forget that I’m your cub. You’d rather die than hurt me or break my spirit. I’m not one of your damn lieutenants.” I stared my father down, something that he only got from my mother and me. Everyone else in the community wouldn’t dare to speak out against him for fear of the consequences.
My father scrubbed his face, his shoulders moving in rapid succession.
“Mia, you just go for your run, honey. Gavin…” My mother turned to my father. “Let’s give everything time to cool down before things get out of hand.” She placed her hand on my father’s back, rubbing gently.
Seeing my parents together solidified the power of a mated bond. Nothing in the entire world could tame my father’s bear like my mother’s touch. I smiled at my mother, grateful for her intervention. Before my father got a chance to say anything else, I rushed out the door, slamming it behind me.
Being the daughter of an overbearing bear alpha wasn't easy. From the moment that I screamed my way into the world, I was a ward of the most ferocious leader the Bare Mountain Clan had ever had.
My father was beyond controlling—I knew he didn’t do it just to make me crazy but also because he loved me. That was the nature of the bear—to protect their loved ones at any cost—but what my father didn’t understand was that his protection felt like a noose around my neck.
Leaving home for college wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I wanted to be in a bigger city. I needed to see things beyond these vast mountains.
My father had trained me well. I was perfectly in control. It wasn’t like I was going to just shift out of the blue, exposing our kind to the outside world.
I wasn’t a moron and would never dream of risking the way of life for others like us.
I kept running, soft earth beneath my feet as I put the drama of my family—my clan—behind me. Being a shifter had ruined my entire life. I hated being shackled to my biology with no way of releasing myself. The one thing I loved about being a shifter was that I could run for hours without getting tired. Running was the only freedom I’d ever known.
I was lost in a runner’s trance and not paying attention to my surroundings, something my father would have chastised me for. I always needed to stay alert, he relentlessly warned. Even though this area was Bare Clan territory, we also bordered with a wolf pack and a mountain lion pride, both of which could gravely injure a bear on its own.
When the scent first reached me, I should have been scared. I should have turned around and run the other way, but there was something holding me there—grounded and immobile.
Wolves.
This smell wasn’t the normal scent that they gave off though. Usually something rancid wafted in the air when a wolf was near, so putrid it caused a burning sensation in my throat. The only wolf that had ever smelled sweet to my senses was my mother, but that was normal for a cub to experience with their parents. My father’s scent was the same for me. They were the scent of safety, comfort, and love.
This time, the scents were mixed together, a hint of sour dancing in the notes of chocolate and sugar.
Out from the forest’s trees came three wolves, eyes hard on mine as they stalked me slowly, every movement methodical.
They were beautiful, graceful and, above all else, deadly.
Two bared their teeth at me, growling savagely with their ears pinned back. They were letting me know that I was inferior. I could smell their need for my submission. I should have been scared, I should have turned and run, but the third wolf, the largest of the three, was calling to me. His scent was soothing, warm, and I could feel my bear wanting to go to him, needing to go to him for my very survival.