Page 11 of The Alpha's Runaway Mate
The bond pulses between us again, hot and undeniable. Whatever this is, it’s not a dream anymore. It’s real. And standing here, looking at him, I realize I don’t want to run. I want to know what happens next.
SIX
NOLAN
The shift tearsthrough me like fire racing through dry grass, hot, unstoppable, violent. Bones crack and realign, muscles stretch and reform, and then it’s over. The echo of it rolls through me like thunder, leaving me standing barefoot in the dirt, chest heaving, sweat cooling on my skin in the early morning air.
The wind should bite. The ground should be cold, but I don’t feel any of it. The only thing I feel is her. Jessica. My mate. She’s on the trail a few feet away, frozen like she’s stepped into a nightmare she doesn’t understand. Her wide eyes lock on mine, hands trembling at her sides. Her lips part, and her pulse thrums a frantic rhythm I can hear even over my own ragged breathing.
The bond hums between us, electric, alive, strung too tight. Heat threads from her chest straight into mine, burning me from the inside out.
Her fear hits first, sharp and bright like lightning, but underneath it is something deeper, curiosity, disbelief, and that sweet edge of want that’s been haunting me since the momentshe walked into Snarl. I catch it in the quick hitch of her breath, in the way her eyes flick over my body before darting away.
“Jessica,” I rasp, my voice rough from the shift, deeper than usual. “Don’t run.”
She flinches but doesn’t move. Her gaze skims down again, and that’s when I realize why. I’m standing here with nothing on, completely bare, power humming through me, skin flushed with heat.
The Alpha in me wants to close the distance, to soothe her fear, to touch her until she understands she’s mine. The man in me knows one wrong move could send her running into the woods. I dig my heels into the earth and breathe slow, forcing stillness. She needs to see a man, not a monster.
“You,” her voice shakes. “You were a bear.”
“I am a bear,” I say quietly, taking one careful step forward. “And a man. I’m both.”
Her breath catches, but she doesn’t move. The sunlight cuts through the trees in thin, golden blades, catching on her hair. She looks impossibly soft, sleep-rumpled hair, flushed cheeks, the quick rise and fall of her chest. Beautiful. So damn beautiful.
The bond tugs harder, a rope around my ribs pulling me toward her. I fight it, dragging in a steady breath. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” she lies. “You just… turned into a man right in front of me. Forgive me if I’m still trying to catch up.”
A faint smile touches my mouth. “You’re taking it better than most.”
Her eyes drop again, and her face goes redder. She’s trying not to look, but her gaze keeps slipping, and the sight wrecks me. She shouldn’t be thinking about my body, not after what she just saw. But she is.
“Sorry,” I say roughly. “Shifting doesn’t exactly come with clothes.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” she mutters. The sound of her voice, low and breathy, shoots through me like a live wire.
The bear inside me rumbles, a low vibration deep in my chest. He wants her close, wants her under our hands, wants to mark her so every supe in Evermore Hollow knows she’s ours. But she’s human. She doesn’t know what she’s standing in front of, what this bond is doing to her… what it’s doing to me. “You feel it, don’t you?” I ask softly, taking a step closer. “The pull.”
Her eyes flick up to mine, wide, uncertain. “I don’t know what I feel.”
“Yeah, you do,” I whisper. “You felt it the second we touched. You dreamed about me last night. I felt it too.”
Her breath stutters. “You, what?”
“The bond,” I say, voice rough like I’m confessing a sin. “It ties us together. I couldn’t stay away from you if I tried. And now that you’ve seen what I am, there’s no hiding from it anymore.”
She stares at me, stunned. I can feel the storm of emotion rolling off her, fear, confusion, heat. The bond between us pulses stronger, so hot I swear I can see it shimmering in the air. I take another step, close enough now that her scent surrounds me. Soft skin, human sweetness, the faintest trace of adrenaline. My self-control is hanging on by a thread.
“I should give you time,” I say, though my voice doesn’t sound human anymore. “But every second I’m near you, it’s harder to remember why.”
“Nolan…” she whispers, hearing my name from her lips nearly undoes me.
Slowly, I reach out and brush my fingertips against her cheek. She shivers but doesn’t pull away. Her skin is warm and smooth, and when her lips part on a shaky breath, the last of my restraint frays. “You’re mine,” I whisper. “And you don’t even know what that means yet.”
The bond flares, bright, blinding, and I feel her pulse echo in my chest. Her pupils dilate, her breathing quickens, and the world narrows to just her. I should step back. I don’t. My thumb slides along her jaw, trembling with restraint.
“Jessica,” I rasp, my voice half man, half beast. “Tell me to stop.”
