“Why am I here?” I struggle to open my eyes but the light hurts so I squeeze them tighter.
“Hold on,” he replies. I feel him move away from my side; the warmth he exudes immediately missed. I see the room darken behind my closed lids and decide to try opening my eyes again. This time, I’m successful, and seeing the man walk toward me is apparently my reward. He’s tall, much taller than me, and while he’s built, he’s more lithe like a swimmer than a bodybuilder. His scent teases my nose and so many emotions roll over me that I gasp.
He’s our mate, my leopard states. Isn’t he yummy?
I can’t answer her because his eyes have captivated me. Deep, forest green with a gold ring on the outside. I see his nostrils flare and worry that he’s scenting the desire that is coursing through my body at the sight of him. He sits next to me again, his hip pressed against mine, and takes my hand in his. “I was worried you wouldn’t wake up,” he murmurs. “Didn’t know if they’d given you anything, but our club doc couldn’t find any drugs in your system.” Thankfully, he doesn’t mention my reaction to his nearness, although I can tell that he’s not immune to me either based on the prominent bulge I saw when he walked my way.
“Just weak from minimal food and water,” I reply, finally finding my voice. “I tried to fight them when they made me shift and I guess it took more out of me than I realized.” The aches and pains that wrack my body have me wincing and then I get pissed. I’m not a wimp, not by a longshot, but these past few weeks wore me down.
“I saw what you managed, sweetheart. You definitely did some damage and enabled me and my brothers to get inside and rescue the other women.”
“D-did you get them all?” While I’m worried about the women who were kidnapped, my primary concern is, of course, the people who started this need to be stopped. The look on his face tells me that he and his brothers didn’t and I feel my heart clench. If all the people responsible for this heinous activity weren’t caught, what’s to keep them from starting it again somewhere else?
“We need to get the head guy, Dean Roberts. He’s supposed to come back to the place you were held to check over the pelts. He’ll be met with my brothers instead. All the women are safe and back with their families.”
“I need to call Gemma! She must be sick with worry.”
“I’ve already called her, Jayda. She’ll be here in a little while, sweetheart.”
“How do you know my name?” I ask.
He grins down at me, taking a finger and running it down my cheek. “She told me when she came to ask for my help in finding you. But I was already looking.”
“Why were you already looking for me?” As far as I know, I’ve never met him before. Even though I recognize that he’s my mate, that’s on a visceral level, not one that I was already aware of in my head.
“Because my leopard told me I had a mate, Jayda, and when I met Gemma and held your hoodie, I knew it was you,” he replies. “But my club’s bounty hunting business? We had heard about female shifters being taken and were already trying to find y’all.”
“Oh.” What else can I say? I mean, I never thought I had a mate out there, but I can’t argue the fact that his scent calls to me. I want to pull him onto the bed and roll around until we’re both marked in each other’s essence. I want to shift and run with him through the woods, frolicking and playing. Suddenly, I want it all, and that thought alone scares the shit out of me.
He leans down and gently kisses my forehead. “I’m sure you’d like a shower; I’ve got a T-shirt and some sweats you can use while your clothes are in the wash.” Eww, yeah, no. These are being burned. He sees the look on my face and starts laughing, causing my insides to clench with need.
“I’d rather burn them,” I reply. When it dawns on me that I’m laying on a bed as filthy as I was, I cringe in horror. Most women meet ‘their one’ all decked out with their hair and makeup just so, and the perfect outfit gracing their bodies. Me? My clothes are tattered and torn. I’m positive that my bra is only a memory which means that my boobs are flying free, and I’m sure I’m rather fragrant as well. Mortification causes my face to heat up and I turn my gaze away from him.
“We can do that, Jayda. Hey, now, no looking away. I didn’t expect to find you looking like a runway model, sweetheart. We’ve been searching for weeks for all of you.” I hear his words and see the sincerity in his eyes, as well as hear it in his voice, but even still, knowing he has seen me at my absolute worst has me crying inside.
“Not exactly how I imagined I’d look if I ever found my mate,” I admit, glancing down at myself. Someone, probably him, took the time at least, to clean the blood from my hands, although I don’t remember shifting from my animal back to human. “When did I shift back?” I murmur.
“I was
