STORY EXCERPT

“Put me down!” Elijah panicked as the big bear shifter carried him away from his cousin. Was this guy insane? Not only had he bitten Elijah, but he was carting him off to who knew where to do God only knew what.

Elijah was now regretting sneaking away from the pack house. He should have kept his ass home and none of this would have happened.

“If you claw my back one more time,” the guy warned, “I’ll put you over my knee.”

Elijah narrowed his eyes as he dug his claws into his captor’s butt. The shifter snarled as he stopped and set Elijah on his feet. “What gives?” he asked. “You know you’re my mate, and hopefully you know the deal about the mating heat. Why are you being so stubborn?”

Elijah could barely see his mate. He needed his glasses. Without them he was pretty much blind. He gazed up into the man’s blurry face as he scowled. “You didn’t have to go all caveman about this.” He pushed his finger up the bridge of his nose out of habit, before remembering again that his glasses weren't there. “We could have talked before you decided to kidnap me.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. My bear took over and all it wanted to do was get you home.”

His mate’s voice was silky and deep. Elijah just wished he could make out his face. Even half-blind, he saw how wide the guy was, though. “And you think that’s an acceptable excuse?”

“Maybe not an excuse,” his mate said, “but it’s the reason.”

Elijah stepped to the side, shifted, and took off back toward Jesse as fast as his four legs would carry him. His mate shouted for him, but Elijah didn’t' stop. He bypassed the arguing men, who included his cousin, and made a beeline for the pack house.

Luckily, in his wolf form, he saw perfectly. Elijah’s muscles burned so badly that they felt as if they were on fire, but he refused to stop until he reached home.

By the time he landed on his doorstep, Elijah could hardly walk. He shifted, opened the door, and staggered inside. Avery came from around the corner—or at least, Elijah thought it was Avery. The guy was nothing more than a blob.

“You okay, Munchkin?” It was Avery’s voice. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Elijah was too winded to talk. He passed through the foyer and collapsed on one of the couches in the living room, groaning as every inch of his body throbbed. He hadn’t run like that since, well…never. And now Elijah knew why. Exercise was too damn exhausting.

“Need….my…glasses.” Elijah flopped to his back, wishing he had something cold to drink to ease his parched throat. It was so dry that his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Avery returned a second later and tapped something against Elijah’s face. Elijah took the glasses and put them on. Everything came into focus, including Avery’s gorgeous face. Man, did he have a body to die for. Then again, Elijah was attracted to every single one of Jesse’s pack members.

Who wouldn’t be when all of them were mouthwatering?

“You better put some clothes on,” Avery warned as he held a bowl of ice cream. It smelled like strawberries. “You know how insane Jesse gets about you.”

Elijah waved a hand, wishing Avery would go away. Jesse had been overprotective of him since Elijah was a mere pup, always acting like his father instead of his cousin. When hunters had killed Elijah’s parents, Jesse had taken him in and raised him. Elijah got that Jesse felt obligated to take care of him, but sometimes he swore Jesse wanted him to live as a monk.

Shifters thought nothing of nudity, though Elijah had to admit, seeing any member of his cousin’s pack naked flipped every trigger he owned. But ogling a naked shifter was considered rude, and Elijah averted his eyes whenever one of them strolled through the house showing off every gorgeous inch of his body.

“I have more pressing matters.” Elijah jackknifed when Jesse howled somewhere in the distance. That was a warning that danger was close.

Avery set aside his bowl and went to the french doors, where he looked past the glass.

“What the fuck?” Avery turned toward him. “You have any idea why Jesse is being followed by the bears?”

Elijah’s brows shot up as he leaped from the couch and raced to his bedroom. He threw on a pair of jeans so fast that he nearly caught his cock in the zipper. His room was on the second floor and on the opposite side of the house from the front door, but he heard shouting as he slid a shirt over his head.

Scared but curious, he tiptoed to the upstairs landing and peeked down. Jesse and Clint stood in the foyer arguing. The rest of the bears were nowhere in sight.

Where was Elijah’s mate? No way in hell he hadn’t come with the others.

“The decision is Elijah’s,” Jesse barked. “If he wants to go, then I won’t stop him.”

Elijah rolled his eyes. That was a damn lie. If he went down there and told his cousin he was leaving with his mate, Jesse would duct-tape him and shove Elijah in a closet to keep him there.

“Then call him here,” Clint snarled. “Because trust me, Duane isn’t going to wait another minute for his mate.”

Duane. That was his mate’s name?

Elijah chewed his lower lip, wondering what he should do. Duane was a freaking bear. A bear! He felt faint just thinking about going to live with a clan of bears, let alone being mated to one. From the stories he’d heard growing up, bears were uncivilized savages. He’d never met one before tonight, but from the way these guys were acting, it was hard not to believe what he’d heard.

He sat on the top step, hoping to remain unnoticed, but lady luck wasn’t on his side. One of the bears stomped through the front door, and Elijah instantly knew it was Duane.

ADULT EXCERPT

Duane had been awake for twenty-six hours now, and he wasn’t in the mood for Jesse’s crap. Between Noel giving birth, Wade getting shot, and hunting down those humans who were after Wade, only to find his mate in all of this, Duane was running on fumes.

His temper flared when he saw Elijah bent over a chair, his hand pressed to his stomach. Duane glared at Jesse. “Piss off, wolf. I have my mate to take care of, and if you try to stop me or try to take Elijah away, I'll tear this fucking town apart.”

Wade pulled in behind Jesse’s truck and got out, eyeballing Jesse. “We got a problem?”

Jesse shoved a finger into Duane’s chest. “Hurt him in any way and I’ll rip your fucking spine out.”

Duane flipped Jesse off before hurrying to Elijah’s side. “Come on, sweetheart. Let me get you home.”

As soon as Duane touched Elijah, he knew his mate was in heat. His skin was hot, and his cock outlined his pants to the point he thought Elijah’s dick would burst through the material.

Duane didn’t like the fact Wade would be riding with them. Although his brother was already mated, Elijah’s scent would drive any shifter crazy with lust. It was already wreaking havoc on Duane.

He wasn’t sure he could make the ride home without trying to fuck Elijah. Duane carried Elijah to the truck, but instead of putting his mate in the middle, Duane got in first, seating Elijah by the passenger door. His mate stuck his face against the air vent, resting his cheek against it as the cold air blew over him.

They didn’t make it to the access road before Duane pulled Elijah onto his lap.

“Don’t you dare try and fuck him in my truck,” Wade warned. “And I just might go blind if I see your hairy ass.”

Duane slid his hand up Elijah’s leg.

“I’m not fucking joking,” Wade growled.

“You need to be concentrating on the road instead of me,” Duane said. “Keep your eyeballs straight ahead.”

Wade scowled. “Please don’t tell me you’re unzipping his pants.”

Duane growled. Elijah sat on his lap, grinding his ass into Duane’s cock. He had only so much control, and it was slipping fast. Duane needed to touch Elijah. His bear still hadn’t backed down, demanding Duane take Elijah right there and impregnate him.

He slid his hand down the front of Elijah’s pants and curled his fingers around his mate’s cock.

Wade hit the brakes so hard that Duane had to stop Elijah from crashing into the dashboard. His brother got out and slammed the door, then stabbed a finger through the open driver’s window. “One cum stain on my seats and you’ll be scrubbing this truck for a week.”

Right there on the road, Wade stripped and tossed his stuff into the bed of the truck before shifting into his bear form and taking off. Duane swung the door open and helped Elijah out.

“I swear, if you don’t fuck me in the next thirty seconds, I just might attack you,” Elijah said as he tore his clothes off. His skin was flushed and his cock was hard.

Duane had never undressed so fast in his life. As soon as he was naked, he took Elijah down to the forest floor. His mate whimpered as he rocked on all fours, sticking his ass higher in the air.

Duane knelt behind Elijah, lined his cock up, and let the natural lube shifters had bathe Elijah’s channel. He waited a heartbeat before he pushed inside Elijah’s snug ass.

Mother fuck. Duane had died and gone to heaven. Elijah’s ass gripped his cock so tightly that Duane wasn’t sure how long he would last. Instinct took over and Duane covered Elijah’s back with his chest, clamping his teeth on Elijah’s shoulder as he thrust hard and deep inside his mate.

Duane had never been this desperate when it came to sex, but Elijah was driving him crazy with his keening squeals and loud whimpers. Duane moved so fast that he feared he’d have friction burns on his dick by the time he came.

His canines grew, and Duane licked along Elijah’s shoulder before he sank them deep into his mate’s skin. Elijah cried out, his ass clamping around Duane’s cock. He was stunned when Elijah growled, kicking and bucking as Duane held on, fucking him even harder.

Elijah tried to reach behind Duane and claw at him, but Duane captured his mate’s wrists and held them in place. Sex between shifters was usually hard, fast, and at times, brutal. Duane had been taking it easy on Elijah because he was so small, but his mate didn’t have the same care in mind.

Duane snarled around Elijah’s shoulder as he came, but he was still hard, and Elijah was still bucking under him.

Pulling his canines free, Duane reared back and used one hand to keep Elijah’s arms behind his back. This time he went a bit slower, growling out his pleasure as Elijah did the same.

“I’m gonna let your arms go, but if you try to claw me, I’ll spank this pretty ass of yours.” Duane released his mate’s wrists and gripped his hips instead.

Elijah panted, his fingers digging into the ground. “I feel like I’ve taken some kind of sex drug,” He whined. “I can’t seem to get enough.”

Duane ran his hand down Elijah’s back. “It’s the heat, sweetheart. I’m sorry you’re going through it.”

“Just do something about it,” Elijah snapped. “I don’t know how much more of this heat I can handle.”