Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kodiak

I smell her. My Callie.

Her scent is all over the fucking parking lot and clubhouse. It tickles my nose as it’s carried on the crisp wind. When I walk inside, the scent grows stronger, pulling on my body as my hands clench. I follow the trail as it leads into the kitchen, entangling with Spike’s earthy, ashen smell. Dragon. Male. With my female.

I fucking lose it.

A rumble starts low in my belly and steadily gathers power until a massive roar launches from my throat. The fucking walls shake with the magnitude as I stomp toward Spike.

My pres looks up from where he’s sitting at the bar, slinging back a shot of whiskey. His dark gaze slides over me and then turns back to the bar, dismissing me as if I’m not a threat. It pisses me off more, and I roar again, picking up a chair and tossing it out of my way. The wood splinters as it crashes into a nearby wall.

Brothers move out of my way. A few seem amused. Others want to watch the show.

“You don’t want to do this,” Spike says calmly.

Yeah, I do. Rational thought is gone. Only fury remains. “You were with my female.” My nose lifts, inhaling, knowing, fucking knowing that his fingers touched what belongs to me. “You touched my mate!”

My brothers freeze in place around the bar, and a few jaws drop open. They don’t have a fucking clue.

“Callie is MINE!” I yell, shoving a pool table so hard it slides across the hardwood floor and slams into a billiard rack. Pool cues and sticks scatter across the floor.

“VP,” Spike warns.

Nope. I don’t want to hear it. “You. Touched. Her.”

A sigh leaves his lips before he stands and faces me. “Is Callie your mate?”

The question is ridiculous to my bear. He’s so fucking angry he snarls. “YES!”

“I didn’t know that when I met Callie.”

“Mine,” I say through clenched teeth.

Spike shrugs. “Never said I wanted her, Kodiak.”

“Never said you don’t,” I growl.

He flashes me a grin. “No. I didn’t.”

My bear growls as if my pres is denying my claim on Callie. Fucking dragon .

“Get your head on straight, VP. I shook her hand. That’s fucking it.”

Before I can think it through, I’m charging toward him. I can feel the shift in my body. The crackle on my spine that comes before the bear takes over, a lightning strike that zips over my skin in warning. He’s about to tear apart the whole fucking bar.

That’s when I realize I’m not just pissed. I’m jealous . Jealous because Spike sat and spoke to her when she stomped off and glared at me. Jealous that he got to touch her when she recoiled after I spilled her drink all over her sweater. My shoulders roll, and my neck pops as I try to wrangle my bear and the rage controlling us both.

“Callie is my mate . MINE,” I repeat. My bear likes to hear those words. He wants everyone to know. If he had his way, I would roar it from one end of Yukon Bluff to the other.

I’m about a foot from Spike, puffing out my chest and snarling like an uncontrollable beast.

“Calm the fuck down, Kodiak.” Smoke leaves his nostrils and curls around his face, poofing in a cloud that circles our heads. “Don’t fuck with the dragon.”

“Don’t poke the fucking bear,” I growl back.

The left corner of his mouth twitches. We’re more alike than both of us will ever admit. Stubborn as fuck too. “Callie needs help. Your mate needs help.”

Those words throw a bucket of ice water on the wildfire of my fury. “Is she in trouble?”

“No, but she’s asking the club to help give the kids at Mercy Falls Refuge a merry Christmas. She needs a Santa.” He slaps a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll tell her she can expect you to deliver the toys to the kids.”

“The fuck ?” Spike has to be joking.

“You. Santa. Just need a beard, a suit, and a jolly ho-ho-ho.” A grin spreads across his face so wide I know he isn’t fucking with me. He’s serious.

“A Santa?” I croak, trying not to lose my shit.

“Yep. Callie needs a guy she can count on. That’s you, right, VP?”

FUCK. He knows I can’t say no when he puts it like that. I can’t let my mate down. But all those snotty, dirty, sticky-fingered kids … “Fine,” I manage to grind out through clenched teeth.

Whatever my mate wants, she gets. Whatever she needs, I’ll provide.

“Good. That settles it.”

Almost. Calmer this time, I repeat my earlier words. “Callie is mine.”

He dips his chin. It’s slight, but I don’t miss it. “Yours.”

The second the words leave his lips, my bear retreats. A warm, fuzzy, foreign feeling of euphoria coats my skin and douses the last of my anger. I feel giddy. It’s fucking ridiculous. At the same time, I kinda love it.

Callie needs a Santa. I’ll be her jolly St. Nick. And maybe I can get her to forgive me for bumping into her outside of Beanie’s Brew.

It’s so quiet in the clubhouse that I can hear everyone breathing. It’s weird. As I glance around the bar, I notice all my brothers staring at me with something akin to awe.

Chomp, an alligator shifter, clears his throat before he takes a step in my direction. “Kodiak, you found your mate?”

A collective intake of breath awaits my answer. “Yes. My Callie. She’s fucking beautiful,” I brag. “Sweet like peppermint and spicy like cinnamon. She smells so good I want to gobble her up.”

I probably don’t need to add that last part, but I can’t seem to resist.

Spike snorts. “I could smell you on her. As brief as your interaction was, she carries a bit of you on her already.”

My bear likes that. A lot. Rumbling echoes in my chest.

I need to smear more of my essence on her. My sweat. My cum. Skin on skin. Nibbling, sucking, licking Callie until she’s so full of me the whole fucking world knows it.

Fuck. I’m fucking hard again, straining against the zipper of my jeans. I press on my dick, groaning at the thought of claiming her. She’s consuming me, and I’ve only known her for a few hours.

“Well, shit,” Spike curses. “We’re all on edge now.”

I don’t have a clue what he means until I see my brothers all lost in their thoughts, bodies tense, and eagerness bleeding into the connection we all share as shifters. Their emotions are all over the place, but I sense the one thing driving each of us in this moment: longing.

We yearn for the one thing that’s been denied to each of us. With sudden clarity, I realize what this means for my brothers, Spike, and the club. We can all find mates.

I laugh and pump my fist in the air. “I’m just the first,” I state with a grin.

Tension eases from the room, and I feel their hope gathering like a building storm. Electricity crackles on my skin and the urge to shift is almost overwhelming. We all want to scatter, roaming over the town until we find the woman created for each of us. It feels less like a possibility and more like a certainty. The power of that hope surges through me, and I spin on my heel.

I need to find Callie.

Callie

“Shit,” I curse as I yank on the handle of my door for the third time. It’s stuck. The snow outside has become wetter and mixed into an icy sleet that coats the entire exterior of my vehicle. I won’t be able to pry it open with my hands; that much is certain.

Think, Callie.

I don’t have access to warm water. The food pantry is shut down and closing early due to inclement weather. I already waved goodbye to the owner after our meeting. I’m here alone in the freezing wind, trying hard not to cry as I stand in the parking lot. An idea occurs to me.

Hand sanitizer. That works, right? I think I saw it on a TikTok video.

I have to give it a try.

I’m digging in my purse, desperate to find the small bottle I keep on hand when I hear the sound of a vehicle approaching. My head snaps up, and I lock on a black SUV. It’s the same one I spotted earlier when I parked my car. Whoever it is, they’re back.

Shit.

I ditch the idea of using the hand sanitizer and go for my phone instead. My glove wraps around the smooth surface as I lift my hand free, realizing too late that my cold fingers aren’t gripping it tight enough. The device slips out of my grasp and arcs on a current of icy wind. I watch in horror as my cell lands in the snow, sliding downhill away from me as it picks up speed.

The phone glides to an eventful stop, smashing into a parking spot's concrete slab. I hear it crack before it shatters, and I wince.

This is officially the worst day of my entire life.

In case things can’t get any worse, fate decides to fuck with me. The engine of the SUV revs, and the vehicle turns in my direction, slowly moving into the empty parking spot. Frightened, I back into my car, watching as the SUV’s slick black body begins to rock. In a few moments, it’ll have enough momentum to rise over the block and head up the hill. . . toward me .

I do the only thing I can. I scream. The sound launches from my throat with an equal mix of terror and frustration, belting from my lungs with a desperation that makes my knees quake.

And then, in the distance, I hear the rumble of a motorcycle’s engine. My heart thrums louder, almost slamming into my ribcage as I stare at the street, recognizing the big man riding toward me, his massive shoulders covered in steam. The snow and sleet melt off him as fast as they land, almost like he’s as hot as the sun.

The SUV backs up, turns, and speeds away seconds before the biker pulls to a stop. Before I can say a word, he’s kicking down the stand, running toward me with all the grace and power of a predator. But I don’t feel threatened. Just the opposite. Something about him feels safe.

“It’s you,” I whisper, at a loss to say more.

The guy from the coffee shop. The clumsy brute who spilled my hot cocoa all over my sweater.

“Kodiak,” he growls as he reaches me. “Are you okay, Callie?”

He knows my name. How? It’s my first thought after I recover from the surprise.

“I can’t get into my car,” I finally reply, blinking as snow falls harder, landing on my eyelashes. “The door is stuck.”

“The ice. I bet it’s frozen over.”

I nod.

He frowns and walks away from me, returning to his bike. I’m almost angry until I notice what he’s doing. Kodiak reaches into his saddlebags and pulls out a blanket. He returns to me with quick, purposeful strides, wrapping the thick fabric around me without a word.

I huddle into the warmth, grateful as I realize he’s pulling a portion of it over my head and keeping some of the snowflakes out of my face. Shivering, I watch as he approaches my car. A quick pull on the handle yields the same result I had. Nothing.

“Gonna try something else.”

Sanitizer? I almost suggest it until I see him turn his back. What’s he doing?

There’s a sickening crunch that sounds like the metal frame of my car groaning in protest. Then I watch in shock as the whole door is torn from the hinges, dangling from his hand before he drops it on the snow-covered ground.

Holy shit! He just tore off my door!

Wait. How strong does a person have to be to do something like that? Shit. He’s fixing that, right?

I take a couple of steps backward, biting my lip as Kodiak turns my way.

He shakes his head when he sees my expression. “Fuck. Sorry. Shit.” He sighs. “I’m fucking everything up.”

Silence. I don’t know what to say. It’s ridiculous. The whole damn day has been a comedy of errors from the moment I met him. It’s so awful that I shake my head and giggle. But it doesn’t stop there. Oh, no. That giggle turns into a chuckle. And before I know it, I’m laughing. Nearly hysterical.

It only takes about ten seconds before he joins me. Our combined laughter loosens something in my chest, and I feel lighter. Less stressed. More relaxed.

I don’t dwell on the reason. It doesn’t matter.

Kodiak shrugs. “Well, I’m calling in a tow. In the meantime, let’s get out of this weather.”

“Where?” I ask, already knowing that I’ll go with him. I don’t want to stay here alone.

In the back of my mind is the reminder of the black SUV, but I push it away. That’s a conversation for later.

“You pick the spot, but I need to get you warm and out of this storm.”

“And my car?”

“I’ll pay for the repairs. No worries.”

That’s enough to satisfy me. “My place. I want to change clothes.”

“You’ll have to give me the address, and I’ll need to stow the blanket, so it doesn’t cause an accident during the ride. I don’t like that you’ll be at the mercy of the weather, but we have no choice. I do have a helmet for you. That should help.”

I reluctantly give up the blanket as he stores it, pulling out a helmet. He straps it on me and shrugs out of his leather vest, draping it around my body and zipping it up around me. It’s warm from his body heat, and I fight the urge to lower my head and sniff the material.

How odd.

“You’re going to be cold,” I point out, gesturing to his white tee shirt and the thin red flannel over it.

“I’m good.”

Okay. I’m glad I have my gloves and a jacket since my arms aren’t covered nearly as well as the rest of my body. His leather vest covers me almost as well as the blanket, nearly reaching my knees. With the helmet, I won’t get slapped in the face with snow and ice.

Him? He’s going to freeze and turn into a human popsicle.

“Get on my bike, Beautiful.” He ticks his chin at the sky. “It’s about to get worse. We need to move.”

I don’t hesitate to settle on his seat as he takes his place in front of me. Once I give him my address, he plugs it into his phone and uses the GPS for directions.

Kodiak’s touch is gentle as he reaches for my hands, wrapping them around his torso. “Hold tight. Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

Right.

“You’re safe, Sweetheart. You’re with me.”

It’s the last thing he says, alleviating my worry and fear before he starts the motorcycle, the bike rumbling to life beneath us, and we ride from the parking lot.