Him.
Damon.
The bear shifter who said I was his mate. Who said I was his.
This was insane. He was crazy. Yet everything he said felt so… right. It felt perfect and good, like everything I’d been missing in my life. And I’d seen him standing there, looming over Ronnie, violence surrounding him, and all I felt was desire.
I felt this arousal the likes of which I never experienced before. Hell, I’d never actually experienced lust in my life, not unless I was in the privacy of my own home, thinking about some faceless man, a person I didn’t even know yet knew better than I did myself.
But as I looked at Damon, that faceless man in my mind had morphed into him. It was like I knew him, like I’d known him for years. I’d touched myself to Damon all these years. He was what I’d been missing.
I wasn’t a stranger to shifters. Although I lived in the city three hours away from what they called “bear country,” I’d gone to school with lion and wolf shifters. But this was different. This was real, and I didn’t want to ignore it, even though I probably should.
“Hey, Rue?”
I blinked a few times and turned to look at Ronnie, who sat on one of the log benches beside me. He held up a beer bottle in my direction, and I smiled and took it gratefully. Maybe some alcohol would do me some good, numb these thoughts and feelings that ran rampant through me.
I brought the beer bottle to my mouth and took a long drink of the hoppy, wheat-tasting alcohol. I didn’t much care for the flavor of beer, but then again, maybe a nice buzz would help me ignore all the other stuff currently going on.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded but didn’t look at Ronnie after he asked me the question, instead continuing to stare at the flames. Thankfully, he didn’t probe, didn’t ask me anything else. He left me alone, as did everybody else. They were immersed, consumed in their own conversations, in their own worlds.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, but I was now on my third beer, the bottle since warmed from the fire and my hand wrapped around it. Everyone started to get up to go to bed, the moon full in the sky, the flames now dwindling so it was almost pathetic.
“You staying up or heading to bed?” Ronnie asked.
“Probably staying up for a bit. Not too tired right now.”
“Do you want me to wait up with you?”
I looked at Ronnie and shook my head. “No. That’s okay. I won’t stay up much longer.” He looked like he might argue with me, offer to stay, even though I really didn’t want him to. But thankfully he didn’t say anything.
I just wanted to be alone with my feelings and thoughts. Finally, he nodded and stood, giving me a shy smile as he shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and headed toward his tent. I looked back at the flames, at the embers in the burning wood, white and yellow, orange and blue colors dancing along the charred logs.
I heard an owl hooting in the distance, something small scurrying around in the woods. I stood and zipped up my jacket, the autumn night breeze brushing over me and sending a chill along my skin now that I wasn’t right in front of the fire.
I stared into the forest, the light from the flames barely penetrating the thick darkness.
I felt this pull, as if something were calling me, tugging me forward. And then I found myself walking into the forest, not even afraid of the dangerous things that could be lurking in the shadows, hidden behind trees. I swallowed harshly, the thick lump in my throat refusing to go down.
I didn’t know how far I walked, but when I looked over my shoulder, the campsite was a good distance away, the dwindling fire like a little speck of light.
I inhaled deeply, still able to smell the smoke from the fire, but also this strong, wonderful wilderness aroma that wrapped around me. It was a mixture of pine, of firewood, fresh air, and freedom. It smelled like a male.
My heart started racing and I turned around, my mouth opening on a silent gasp as my eyes widened. I saw a massive form looming in front of me. And although my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, it wasn’t as if I could clearly make out who was in front of me. But I knew. I knew who it was. I knew who he was.
His eyes seemed to glow despite the shadows wrapping around him, and as if my body had a mind of its own, I felt myself warming, becoming wet between my legs, my nipples hardening.
“Mate.” He said that lone word on a roughened growl, his voice distorted, sounding inhuman. I knew he was mostly bear, his animal controlling him right now.
“You’ve been watching me?” My throat was tight, my voice rough. “Stalking me?” I don’t know why that turned me on, knowing I’d been thinking of him.
“I make no apologies for watching out for my mate.” He took a step closer to me and I refused to move. I was standing my ground, showing him that I wasn’t afraid of him or this.
I wasn’t. I was aroused.
“You shouldn’t be creeping around in the dark watching a woman.” God, my voice was so low, barely audible. But I knew he heard me nonetheless. “It’s weird, right?” I didn’t know why I phrased that like a question.