Page 15 of Coveted By The Bear

I recognized Tiegs, my old Alpha. But he sounded strange. Crazed even.

“I should have sent you to join your parents the second I got stuck with your sorry ass. I saved you! You owed me!”

“I paid that debt, Tiegs. I owe you nothing,” I returned.

“We’ll see, Soldier. I will give you one chance to make this right. Come back and claim the Sow.”

“No. Zara is not mine to claim. And I’m not your Soldier, you are not my Alpha anymore, Tiegs. That was your choice. You made it when you sent me away!”

“You’ll regret this, Miles. You belong here. With your Clan!”

Visions of Hope filled my head. Her sweet smile. Her tantalizing scent. Her bountiful curves.

No, Tiegs was wrong. I didn’t regret a thing.

“I belong right where I am. I’m not your Clan. Not anymore. I wish you well, Tiegs.”

“YOU WILL OBEY ME!”

His snarling roar made me hunch my shoulders, but even though I recognized the Alpha command in his voice, it did absolutely nothing to me.

My entire body shook with anger, but I wrestled with my Bear to keep my skin.

Once I convinced the beast that the relief I felt at not being forced to listen to the old Shifter’s edict outweighed my fury, he backed off.

Even my monster couldn’t argue with the fact that we’d both rather be working for our mate, then fucking around with Tiegs and his poisonous ways.

“Goodbye, Tiegs,” I said, ending the call, and hopefully that chapter of my life.

Regret over the way everything happened was something I knew I would have to put to rest, eventually. It was still too new, too raw, right now for me to forgive myself.

I knew deep down that Zara was better off without me. Just like I knew Hope was my fated mate.

I wanted to redeem myself for her. I wanted to make the wrongs of my past, my most recent past especially, right, so I might be worthy of the sweet, soft normal the universe picked out just for me.

I was only a man. A Bear. One Shifter among billions of living, breathing beings.

Who was I to question the Fates?

If this was where they led me, maybe I owed it to myself and to Hope to give it a chance.

I knew I had to try. Building her a deck seemed as good a place as any. I got to work and tried not to flinch at the spark that flared to life inside my chest.

It was small, but it was there. And that made all the difference in the world.

September evenings were cool, and my vision was damn near perfect in the dark. But just in case she had nosy neighbors I set up a halogen light on a stand, careful to keep it in the back so it didn’t blind me.

The hours passed quickly. I had the whole frame up and a good portion of the deck floor installed by the time I looked at my phone. It was almost one AM, and my inner Grizzly was scratching at me to go check on Hope.

Something was nagging at me to call her, so I did, frowning when she didn’t answer the first round of ringing. I finished putting all the tools away and covered the rest of the lumber for the night and I dialed again, jogging to the back of the house.

Her home was a few miles away from the auto shop, but I would be there in no time. I could use my supernaturally enhanced speed as long as I stuck to the forest.

“Hello?” she answered, and my beast rumbled.

Whatever angst I was feeling ebbed away. Like just hearing her voice calmed the monster in me.

“Hey, how you doing, Pretty Girl?” I asked, my face stretched by my huge grin.

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