Series: Mated for Life Series by Stacey Espino
Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 44685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 179(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
The fight suddenly ceased, and the gentle lapping of the water over the stones was all she could hear for the longest time.
“Caleb?” she whispered as softly as she could. If the animal was gone, she needed to find him and see if he was still alive. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead.
Something grabbed her from the other side, and Bethany screamed loud enough to startle herself. “Hush, Bethany. It’s just me.”
“Caleb?” She whirled around and began patting him down. He had to be seriously injured. Where was the blood? Why wasn’t he staggering?
He held her in place, a firm hand to each shoulder. “I’m perfectly fine. Didn’t I tell you there was nothing to worry about? I’ll never let anyone or anything hurt you.”
“But I heard… What the hell was that?”
“Seems we have a bit of a bear problem this year, but don’t you worry about them. I’m at home in the forest.”
“You’re not afraid of bears?”
He smirked, no sign of fear on his face. “They should be afraid of me.”
Chapter Five
The second date hadn’t ended as he’d hoped. Caleb pulled his truck up in front of the diner, putting it into park, then advanced toward the door. After he’d taken Bethany home last night, he’d waited for Joe to arrive, only for the cowardly invasive fucker to not turn up. There was no way Joe wouldn’t be here now.
Last night, he’d injured the prying bastard, and he intended to finish what he started. He should have taken Bethany’s virginity, mated her, and woken up this very morning to fuck her again. His cock was rock hard and even as he needed to fight, he wanted to go get her, to take her back to his home.
He needed to mate with her. To surround himself with her scent.
His pack had kept a wide berth of space from him this morning. He’d already destroyed three doors that would need to be repaired.
The glass of the diner’s door smashed as he opened it, and he didn’t care. Caleb turned over tables that were in his way.
He smelled the blood, and as he got into the back office, there was Joe, nursing his wounds.
“You just can’t leave me the fuck alone, can you?” he asked.
Caleb wrapped his fingers around the man’s neck. “You dare to come back here after spying on my woman? You think I’d let you get away with it?”
“In case you couldn’t tell, I didn’t exactly put up a fight last night.”
He gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more than to fucking rip out his throat, but he paused.
Last night, he’d been overcome with rage when this man invaded his time with Bethany, but he hadn’t been thinking clearly. He’d struck Joe and left him to cower off so he could take care of his mate.
“Why?” Caleb asked.
“It may escape your notice, but I wasn’t actually there to ruin your time. I’m guessing from her fading scent you didn’t get as far as you wanted.” Joe coughed and Caleb went against his senses, letting go of his throat.
He took a step back. If he was too close, he’d kill him.
Joe collapsed, coughing.
He waited. “You’re telling me you were only there for what? A stroll?”
“I’m a bear and even though we don’t have to be at the mercy of the full moon, it doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun at your expense.” He winced. “Bears don’t exactly get the best rep and during the full moon, people always assume it’s wolves.” He leaned back and groaned. “Fuck, you got me good. Do you have poison in your claws?”
“No, that would have been a lot easier for you.” Caleb lowered himself down into a chair and glared at his enemy. “You use the full moon to travel and hide. What of your pack, or do you call it a herd?”
“A sleuth.”
“Ah, right.” He stared at Joe, the scent of his pain heavy in the air. He should be preparing for his woman tonight as he wanted to surprise her and bring her back to his home. This wasn’t exactly how he intended to spend his morning.
“Are you not going to ask?”
“What?”
“Why I was alone?” Joe asked.
He stared at the man, waiting. “Well, why were you?”
“It’s simple, I have no sleuth of my own anymore.” Joe winced.
Caleb stared at him. He remembered him mentioning an alpha. Was it all bullshit? “But aren’t bears supposed to be one big happy fucking family?”
Joe shook his head. “Not everything is as easy as it seems. I was merely running.”
“You picked my area of the woods, why?” Caleb had a feeling Joe was in hiding but he wanted to know why, and for how long.
Joe placed an antiseptic wipe on his stomach and cried out. “Fuck, I forget how much this hurts.”
His enemy didn’t say a word as he placed the Band-Aid across the wound. “You know, if this had been from any other animal, I’d have healed already. It’s just rather unlucky that bears and wolves are repulsive to each other.”