Chapter 12

"Why don't you guys take off?" Sly breaks through the deafening silence filling the room at my very direct question. "We're going to clean up this mess and transport Jimmy to the clinic tonight."

Kade drags his eyes from mine. "Are you sure you don't need my help?"

"Nope." Nan shakes her head.

"What about the full moon?" His eyes—beautiful and eerie at the same time—travel over his friends. His wolf friends? Are they all wolves? Or bears? Do bears and wolves cohabitate in the wild? What other animals could they be? Is it crazy that I'm not afraid of them, yet locking eyes with Mr. Wilcox and Dr. Barton terrified me to my core?

"I think we've had enough unleashed time over the last twenty-four hours." Wiley jerks his thumb over his shoulder. "We'll be fine skipping this full moon and will ask for forgiveness from the MC. Get out of here so we can clean up."

I climb off Kade's lap and walk to Jimmy's side, the one farthest away from Mr. Wilcox on the floor. Leaning forward, I press my forehead to his and whisper, "What do you think?"

"I think a bear is in love with you." Jimmy chuckles lightly. "Either that, or these drugs are really good."

I bite my lip to suppress the smile threatening to break free. I must be losing my mind feeling giddy about this. "Do you feel safe?"

"I feel safer now than I have at any other point in my life. Do you?"

I think about what Nan said about trusting my female intuition. "I do."

"Then you should go with him. I'll be okay here."

"Are you sure?"

"My only goal was to give us a chance away from the Family. Things didn't start out the way I planned, but I think we'll be okay." Jimmy kisses my forehead. "I love you. You're my best friend. Now leave and come see me tomorrow."

I pull back and make eye contact with Nan, Wiley, and Sly. "Take care of him."

"We will." Wiley nods.

I turn to the door to find Kade's back to us, his shoulders bunched with tension. Without a sound, I walk up and slip my hand into his. "Let's go home."

The breath exhaling from his chest as his fingers tighten around mine says everything that needs to be said. He worried I would run, screaming in terror into the night. I suppose that's what most people would do. Maybe it's what I would've done a few days ago before true evil confronted Jimmy and me. But I'm not afraid of a man who turns into a wolf, or a bear, or anything else. Not when I feel deep in my soul that Nan's words are true. Kade will move heaven and hell to protect, care for, and love me.

Now I need him to tell me what he needs from me to deserve his love, because I'm ready to earn it.

We walk in silence to his truck. He lifts me in and I slide to the middle, waiting for him to settle beside me. We drive out of Great Falls, faced by miles of road winding through thick trees. It took us two hours to get here this morning from Kade's cabin, but we spent an hour eating at the diner.

I can't wait an hour.

"Please pull over." I place my hand on his thigh, his body coiled tight under my fingers.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. But please find somewhere safe and private to pull over."

He nods, motioning to a scenic trailhead sign on the road. "We can stop here."

Pulling the big truck over, he shuts off the engine and grabs my hand that creeps higher on his thigh. "I guess you want to talk?"

I shake my head, unfastening my seatbelt and crawling onto his lap. "First, I want you to kiss me like you did this afternoon."

A low growl comes from his lips as he slides a hand up my bare leg and cups my bottom under my summer skirt. Kade's eyes flash a golden hue that I now understand. It's not my mind playing a trick on me, but his bear saying hello. He slides his fingers into my hair, tilts my head, and brushes his lips over mine. This time I stick my tongue out and lick at them, daring him to push harder and take what he wants. His fingers tighten as he plunges his tongue into my mouth, our kiss hot and heavy with no end in sight. I pull at his T-shirt to free it from his belt, desperate to run my fingers over his warm skin.

"Does this mean you're not afraid of me?" he whispers against my lips.

"Why would I be afraid of you? You'll never hurt me."

"You're right, I won't. Ever. I didn't rip that asshole's throat out because I was afraid you'd get hurt in the fray."

"Will you show me?"

He arches his brow. "My bear?"

I nod while tracing the ridges of his stomach with my fingertips and playing with his belt buckle. "Maybe you should explain the mate thing to me now?"

He glances over my shoulder out the windshield. "Let's take a walk, Honeysuckle."

We exit the truck and walk down a dirt trail through the trees to a clearing overlooking a small canyon. With the full moon overhead, it's a scene from another world. I've never seen anything so beautiful. Kade guides me to a large boulder on the edge of the cliff with a flat top perfect for sitting. I climb up and sit cross-legged in the middle with my hands in my lap.

"I think I should start with shifting and explain how it works afterward." He yanks his T-shirt over his head and kicks off his boots while unbuckling his belt. Although I've seen him mostly naked, watching him strip causes my insides to quiver in anticipation of what's coming. I desire him in a way I didn't think was possible for one person to want another. Did any of the Family women desire their husbands like this? I can't imagine they did.

I bite my lip, my gaze traveling over his sculpted muscles and long member hanging between his thighs.

"Sweet Fates, Dinah. Don't look at me like that." He grabs himself, squeezing it like he did this morning.

Good gosh! Was that only this morning?

"I'm sorry." I yank my eyes up to his.

He shakes his head, a smile curling his lips, and leans against the edge of the boulder to put his face in front of mine. "Kiss me, Honeysuckle."

I bend forward and place my lips against his, warmth infusing my limbs and tingles shooting straight to my pussy.

Kade pulls back abruptly. "Don't scream."

I don't know what I was expecting, but within a blink of an eye, a giant brown bear stands where Kade last stood. Unable to help myself, I suck in my breath and jerk my head back as the bear tilts his head up and sniffs at the night sky before turning his gaze on me. Somehow, I can see Kade in those brown eyes, just like I could see his bear earlier through his golden ones.

I reach out tentatively. "Can I touch you?"

He chuffs and jerks his head, pressing his body against the side of the boulder. I push my fingers through his coarse, thick fur to his skin underneath. Something like a moan comes out of the bear's—Kade's—mouth, and he turns his snout into my hand, nuzzling and licking my fingers. The fur around his face is considerably softer, and I hold his muzzle between my palms and lean forward to kiss his nose.

Next thing I know I'm in Kade's arms as he pulls me off the boulder to straddle his naked body on the ground. He kisses me like a man consumed, one hand under my skirt gripping my bottom, the other tangled in my hair as his tongue dances with mine. I grind my pussy down on him, the thin layer of red lace the only barrier between us.

"More." I gasp and reach between us to grip him, ready to learn and experience everything there is to being Kade's mate, even if I still don't know exactly what that entails.

He hisses, throwing his head back as I slide my hand up and down his shaft. "We need to slow down. We shouldn't rush your first time."

"Please," I beg. "I want more."

"Honeysuckle, I'll give you everything I have and more."

"Because I'm your mate?"

"Yes." He frames my face in his big hands. "My bear knew it the moment he scented you. In all the world, we shifters only get one mate, and we are biologically driven to find them. Usually it's another shifter, but occasionally it's a human like you. Your scent drives me and my bear wild—our need to claim you, mark you, inject our serum into your bloodstream and cum into your womb makes us near feral with desire."

"How would you mark me?"

"With a bite."

"Will it hurt?" I tighten my grip on him, the lower half of my body pulsing with need. He can tell me it'll be the worst pain I'll ever experience and I'll say yes if it means he'll ease the ache between my legs.

"A little, but I'll do everything within my power to have you so out of your mind with pleasure before I do it, you'll barely notice." He arches his hips, thrusting up into my hand while slipping his fingers beneath my panties to stroke my tender clit.

I press my lips together, reveling in the pleasurable sensations rocketing through me. "One last question. Why? Why do you have to mark me?"

Kade groans and stills my hand, touching his forehead to mine. "As a man, I can deal without embedding my serum into you, but my bear needs the connection. My serum, which I transmit through my bite, is like a biological marker and a giant warning sign to other shifters. It lets them know you're mated—off limits and protected—but it also connects us on an ethereal level. You'll be bonded to me. I'll sense where you are and be able to feel when you're in distress. It's like having a live wire tethering us."

"So you can protect me?"

"You and our children. It's animal instinct, Honeysuckle, and if I don't mark you, my bear will not be satisfied. He'll grow more and more hostile over a short period of time, driving me mad in the process."

"I'll be bonded to you." My brow furrows as I contemplate this. Kade is offering me a lifetime of love and protection, but the words remind me of the world Jimmy and I ran away from—a place where they give a woman to her husband and she's his to govern and control. I don't believe Kade would ever treat me like a breeder, although he has mentioned children twice today, but what about my hard-earned freedom? "Does that mean you'll own me?"