Page 37 of Mysterious Mate

CHAPTER 19

WILLOW

Abear. Cage is a fucking bear!

Willow should have known. The signs had been there all along. In the dim light of the safe room, she leaned against the cold stone wall, her mind a whirlwind of revelations. The paranormal romance books she’d devoured late into the night had suggested that creatures like Cage existed, hidden amongst humans. But who believed such things? And yet, she had seen the impossible with her own eyes. Cage, the man she had shared her life and her bed with, had transformed into a bear.

She thought back to their conversations, especially the one just before the attack. He had been trying to tell her something, something important, and now she was convinced that this was it. Had he been hinting at it all along? His reluctance to let her testify against Frank, his insistence that it was too dangerous—everything made sense now. He wasn’t just concerned for her safety; he was worried about exposing his world, the world of shifters, to public scrutiny. His reticence, his attempts to distance himself, all fell into place.

On the monitor, the battle raged on, but Willow’s focus was on Cage. Even in his human form, fighting with a ferocity she had never seen, he was mesmerizing. His movements were fluid, almost graceful, a stark contrast to the raw power he wielded. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Now she understood what he meant when he said he’d protect her. He wasn’t just a man; he was a freaking force of nature.

The fight seemed to be winding down, the enemy retreating. Willow took a deep breath, steeling herself. "We should go," she said to Jones, her voice trembling but determined.

“Maybe we should wait here,” Jones suggested.

“I don’t think so. Let me put this another way. I’m leaving. Now you can either go with me, or I’ll go alone, but not you or anybody else is going to stop me.” She started to leave, walking to the keypad that would unlock the door. She hesitated, her hand poised over it. “Are you all like Cage?”

“We aren’t all grizzly bear-shifters…”

“Don’t tap dance with me Jones. Are you all shifters? That’s what you call yourself?”

“Yes ma’am. The answer is ‘yes’ to all your questions.”

“Then shift yourself out of my way,” she growled, surprising herself with the sound.

Jones hesitated but nodded, leading the way out of the safe room. They moved cautiously through the corridors, the sounds of battle fading. Willow’s heart pounded in her chest, a mix of fear and adrenaline propelling her forward.

As they reached the main hall, a sudden movement caught her eye. Before she could react, someone lunged at them from the shadows. Jones went down with a grunt, and Willow felt a strong hand clamp around her arm. She opened her mouth to scream, but the sound was cut off as a rough hand covered her mouth.

She was spun around to face her attacker, and her blood ran cold. It was Frank, her now ex-husband. He looked different, more feral, but she would recognize those cruel eyes anywhere.

"You really thought you could escape me, didn’t you?" he sneered, his grip tightening painfully. "The Shadow League came through for me. They changed me to be like them. And now, you’ll join me."

Willow’s heart pounded in her chest. Somehow, she knew he was a shifter. She wasn’t sure what kind of shifter, but a shifter, nonetheless. The thought was terrifying, but she refused to be cowed as she had been in the past. She would not let him take her again. She would not become like him.

She bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth. Frank yelped in pain, his grip loosening just enough for her to scream. "Cage!"

Frank’s face twisted in rage, and he struck her across the face. "You belong to me," he hissed. "You always will."

Willow’s vision blurred, but she fought through the pain, kicking and scratching with all her might. She managed to get another scream off, a desperate cry for help. This couldn’t be how everything ended. She was not going to allow this to happen.

Suddenly, a familiar swirling mist began to form around her, the same mist she had seen envelop Cage and the gorilla. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of it. In her mind’s eye, she saw an enormous grizzly bear charging toward her. The sight was both terrifying and oddly comforting. As the bear leaped, everything went black.

When Willow awoke, she was lying on the cold stone floor. Her head throbbed, and her body ached, but she was alive. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, and saw Cage kneeling beside her, his expression a mixture of relief and rage.

"Willow," he said softly. "Are you okay?"

She nodded weakly, her eyes searching for Frank. He was lying a few feet away, unconscious or worse. Jones stood nearby, looking shaken but unharmed.

"What happened?" Willow asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Cage’s expression hardened. "He won’t bother you again. I promise."

Willow’s mind was still reeling from the attack and the transformation she had witnessed. She looked at Cage, her protector, her shifter. "You’re a bear," she said, more a statement than a question.

Cage nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. "Yes, I am, and apparently so are you."

"What? No. I can’t be.” She shuddered at the thought.

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