Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Something smelled really bad and Ashley had a bad feeling that the smell that was turning her stomach was the wet, furry mess moving beneath her. When it shifted with a loud groan that definitely wasn’t human, she squeezed her eyes shut and began praying that this was just a really bad dream as she was forced to grab hold of what was definitely wet fur and bit back a whimper.

She really wanted to go home now.

She also really wanted whatever she was sprawled on top of to stop moving. Swallowing hard and telling herself that everything was going to be okay, Ashley told herself to open her eyes, but she knew that she was a horrible liar. She didn’t want to find out what she was lying on top of, why she was naked, or what would happen once she opened her eyes, but she knew that she didn’t have a choice. Slowly exhaling, she lay there for another minute as she willed her eyes to open and felt her stomach drop when she realized that she was lying on top of a really freaking huge bear.

“Oh, my god…” Ashley mumbled weakly.

“Your new best friend is an asshole,” Kale said somewhere to her right as Ashley lay there, swallowing hard as she struggled to remember how to breathe, but it was difficult knowing that she was on a large freaking bear!

“What happened?” Ashley asked hollowly as she forced herself to turn her head only to find herself frowning when she spotted Kale leaning back against a tree, shirtless, covered in scratches that looked like they were already healing, and looking amused for some reason.

“You and the asshole played tug of war with a deer before raising hell all night, chasing squirrels, and bitch-slapping fish,” he drawled, watching her closely.

“I don’t remember any of this,” Ashley mumbled, frowning as she tried to remember what happened last night.

The last thing she remembered was Kale tearing off her tracker and…

Nothing.

“No one remembers their first shift,” Kale told her, shrugging it off as he folded his arms over his chest while she lay there, struggling not to panic.

“I’d really like to go now,” Ashley mumbled, wincing when the bear beneath her grumbled and shifted onto its side, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut again and pray that the bear beneath her wasn’t on the verge of waking up to look for a snack.

“I bet you would,” came the murmured reply that didn’t exactly sound like he was in a rush to help her.

“I really would,” she mumbled weakly, nodding only to rethink the move since she really didn’t think that moving was a good idea right now.

“You know what I would like?” came the bored question.

“To save me from being mauled by a bear?” Ashley asked, sounding really hopeful to her own ears as she forced herself to open her eyes only to end up biting back a whimper when she spotted Kale still leaning back against the tree only now, he was examining his fingernails, looking bored.

“That sounds fun, but no,” Kale said dryly as he dropped his hand away. “I was thinking that we could talk.”

“Wouldn’t you rather talk behind the safety of a locked door over pancakes?” Ashley suggested with a hopeful smile that quickly died away when he said, “No.”

“I could always climb down and make it back home on my own,” she pointed out, only to grab handfuls of wet fur with a whimper when the large bear beneath her stretched in its sleep, threatening to send her flying.

“You could,” Kale murmured in agreement as she lay there clinging to the bear, deciding that now would be a lovely time to have this conversation.

With that in mind, Ashley cleared her throat and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

“Oh, this and that,” Kale said, watching her curiously.

“Could you perhaps be more specific?” Ashley asked as she risked a look down and found herself staring at large paws tipped with sharp claws that she really didn’t want to become better acquainted with.

“I thought we’d start with all those secrets that you’re keeping from me,” Kale drawled, looking like he had all the time in the world for this conversation.

Clearing her throat, Ashley said, “I’d be willing to negotiate the terms of that conversation.”

“You have nothing to negotiate,” Kale pointed out.

Biting back a wince, she murmured, “This is true,” in agreement before adding, “But I would still like to discuss other venue options for this interrogation.”

“And what will you give me if I agree to the terms of your surrender?” came the amused question as Ashley found herself wondering if she could slide down the back of the bear and-

“Anything!” Ashley yelled, squeezing her eyes shut when the bear beneath her stretched in his sleep again, forcing her to hold on tightly.

“Anything?”

“Yes!” she quickly said when the bear beneath her started making noises that didn’t sound promising.

There was a heavy sigh and then, Kale, bless him, was plucking her off the bear and throwing her over his shoulder. Relieved, Ashley opened her eyes to find the huge grizzly bear sitting up and-

Was the bear pouting?

Yes, yes, he was, Ashley thought, sighing heavily as she tried to prepare herself for what was coming.

* * *

God,he was fucking exhausted, Kale thought with a pained groan as he felt the pain in the ass that kept him up all night crawl over him and settle next to him on the bed.

“What are you doing?” Kale asked, sighing heavily as he turned his head so that he could watch the woman who should have passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow settle back against the headboard as she did her best to balance a plate of cookies on her lap.

“Renegotiating the terms of our agreement,” Ashley said, looking so fucking adorable wearing one of his old shirts with her hair pulled up into a messy bun as she nibbled on a large chocolate chip cookie that he was tempted to steal.

“Oh, yeah?” Kale asked, watching her as she grabbed another cookie before she finished devouring the one in her hand.

After a shift, shifters usually needed three things, food, sex, and sleep, which is why he’d dropped her off in her bathroom and told her to take a shower and get some sleep before they talked. It appeared that she’d decided to take care of hunger first, Kale thought as he watched her devour another cookie. For a moment, he lay there, running his eyes over her, watching the way that she devoured the cookie with a murmured, “So good,” as her eyes closed on a moan, as he looked for any sign of the other need that shifters usually needed to take care of and the one that he’d been thinking about all night.

While Ashley had been running wild through the woods, investigating every fucking thing that she came across, he’d spent the night trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his mate was a shifter. He never saw it coming, never so much as caught a hint of what was about to happen, and now that it had, he knew without question that his mate was an Impure.

That alone would have been enough for most shifters to reject their mates, afraid to weaken their lines and what it could mean for their offspring, but Kale couldn’t fucking care less. Not when it meant that her scent alone would help protect her, but not as much as his mark would, Kale thought as he found his gaze shifting to her neck.

Once upon a time, the idea of marking his mate had turned his stomach, but now…

His cock swelled at the thought of sliding his fangs into her neck as he slid his cock inside her tight, wet-

He watched as a blush crept up her beautiful, lightly tanned skin as her answering scent reached him, letting him know that her body was reacting to his scent. He was tempted, so fucking tempted, to reach for her and show her how good sex between mates could be. The only problem was that she had no fucking clue that he was her mate.