Author: J.D. Tyler

"Okay." He hesitated to leave, and she gazed at him for a long moment, lids heavy. "I really like you, Ryon."

His lips turned up. "I like you more than a little bit, myself."

"Why do I feel this pull toward you?" she asked sleepily.

"Why do any man and woman feel chemistry?" His tone was light, but his gut clenched. He knew she wasn't just talking about simple man-woman attraction, and her next words proved it.

"What I'm feeling is more than that, though I'm plenty attracted." She paused, her brown eyes liquid with heat. "It's like there's some sort of golden thread connecting us. Does that make sense?"

"It does, yes." Reaching out tentatively, he brushed a strand of black hair from her face, ready to withdraw it if she protested. When she didn't, instead turning her face into his touch, his wolf practically whined in pleasure, and the man celebrated this small progress.

He'd have to come clean, soon. He couldn't put it off much longer.

For now, he'd leave her with something that she'd hopefully think about, in a good way, after he was gone. Kneeling by the side of the bed, he brought his face close to hers. Looked into her eyes, questioning silently, again giving her time to call a halt to the kiss he was about to plant on those plump lips.

Invitation was clearly etched on her pretty face, and he closed the small gap between them, bringing their lips together. Lightly at first, then with more pressure, fusing their mouths. His cock went rock-hard in his jeans, pushing insistently against its confines and demanding to be let out to play. She wasn't ready for more, however, so he reined in the impulse to crawl onto the bed with her.

They explored each other, tasting, tongues dueling. She was sweet, ambrosia on his tongue, the flavor unique to his mate. He figured his flavor was the same for her, and wanted to ask, but he didn't dare. Not yet. This was a good start, his mate welcoming his kiss, and he was thankful for that.

Finally, he pulled back, and saw the dazed expression on her face. She felt desire for him, the want plain to see, even if he hadn't picked it up from their bond. She desired him, but was uncertain. Confused.

He hated that confusion and the circumstances that had made it necessary. They should have met, fallen in love first. Then become Bondmates later, when they were both ready. But life didn't always happen according to a neat little plan, and the wolf shifter's makeup didn't allow a lot of time for courting when he met his mate. Ryon's mating certainly hadn't gone the way he'd always envisioned it.

"I'm going to let you rest, okay?" he asked softly.

"Will you be back later?"

His heart lightened. "I will. I'll check on you in a while and we'll have a talk."

"I'm looking forward to that. I suspect I have a few more surprises in store."

God, she had no idea. Giving her another kiss, he headed out, his emotions a weird mix of trepidation and joy.

He had a beautiful, smart, kind mate. Any man, or wolf, would be proud to have her at his side.

Now, if she didn't hate him for what he'd done, his life would be perfect.

. . .

Daria's senses reeled long after Ryon walked out the door.

"Holy shit, that man can kiss," she whispered to herself, staring at the ceiling. Her body was a sensitized mass of nerves, all straining for the man who'd left her alone when she hadn't wanted him to go.

His closeness, his warmth and clean manly scent, called to her as no other man's had, ever. The attraction was a tangible thing between them, waiting to be explored and unleashed. She had no doubt that they would end up in bed, sooner rather than later. They both wanted it, and she couldn't think of a reason why two consenting adults should deny the pull. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. She felt it.

That gave her pause. Felt it? Yes, she had. And not just in the "normal" way that people meant when they said they experienced attraction for someone. It was almost as if she could touch his attraction for her, the need and want in him, as though she had some sort of hotline to his feelings and emotions. How was that possible?

Raising her good arm, she examined her wrist again. The punctures were barely visible now, and the rest of the scratches were all but gone. Just in the few short hours since she'd last looked. One inescapable conclusion kept coming back to her, and it made her pulse flutter in anxiety.

Ryon, or someone, had bitten her. They were wolf shifters and as such, had special healing abilities. Daria should have died. At some point after that, she had been bitten. And now she was almost ready to go hiking, she was so well healed. Had one of them bitten her in order to save her life?

Okay. Assuming that was true, why would Ryon be so reluctant to share that with her even when she'd asked about the marks? Saving someone's life was a great thing, and so what if they used a bit of an advantage nature gave them to do it? There had to be more to the story. That would explain why he didn't want to discuss it.

She had a suspicion she wasn't going to like the explanation, or else he wouldn't be working so hard to avoid it.

Giving in to the lingering tiredness, she dozed for an hour or so. When she came awake, she sat up, restless. Her arm was itching around the spot of the bite mark, and she felt like she was about to jump out of her skin. A walk might help, so she decided to act.

First, she did away with the annoying sling, tossing it to the nightstand. She held her casted arm this way and that, and experienced no pain. Padding to the bathroom, she took care of business and then took a bath, which was a long process since she had to be careful of her cast. Just that small routine made her feel better. Next she dug in her backpack for her brush and a scrunchie to make a ponytail. Items in hand, she returned to the bathroom mirror, brushed out the long tresses and pulled all of it back, securing it with the stretchy band.

Scrutinizing her face, she wondered what Ryon saw when he looked at her. When she studied herself, she always saw a no-frills woman who never wore makeup of any kind. But then, makeup never looked right with her bronzed skin tone, even if she didn't spend most of her year in the wilderness where there was no one to appreciate it or care. She supposed her face was nice enough, with high cheekbones, thin, arched brows, and thick black lashes framing her brown eyes.

Nice, but plain. Nothing to account for the intense desire that had been rolling off Ryon like steam from a boiling pan of water. Not that she was about to complain.

In the bedroom, she retrieved the piece of paper Ryon had written the important numbers on, and pushed it into the pocket of her jeans. She walked out of the quarters into the hallway, firmly closing the door behind her, and glanced around.

Setting off in the direction of Ryon's room, she came to the door that corresponded to the number he'd written on the paper. The man owed her a talk and he was going to follow through.

After knocking, she waited for any sign of life beyond. She was just getting ready to knock again when the door swung open. Ryon stood there bare-chested, and she couldn't help that her eyes immediately fell upon the broad expanse of taut skin. He was toned a golden hue, a fair-haired man with the complexion of someone who was outside frequently. His pecs were dusted with just the right amount of hair, enough to tickle and fun to play with, but not too furry.

"Hey there," he said, eyeing her curiously. "I was going to check on you soon. Everything okay?"

"That's what I'm here to find out." She wasn't going to be swayed by his hunky self standing half-naked in the doorway.

His expression became serious. "You deserve the truth. Why don't you come in and we'll talk about-" A buzzing noise interrupted what he was about to say. With a grimace, he pulled an iPhone from this front jeans pocket and looked at the display. "Nick. I have to take this."

Turning, he went back into his quarters as he answered and waved her to follow. From his end of the conversation, she could tell that hers with Ryon would have to wait.

"Hey, boss." Pause. "Now?" Pause. "All right, I'll tell her." He ended the call.

"What is it?"

"Nick wants you and me in the conference room for a meeting with the team." He made a face. "It has something to do with the body in the woods."

She shrugged. "I don't know what more I can contribute, but I'll sit in and listen."

"Let me just put on a shirt." Quickly, he disappeared into his bedroom.

"Don't bother on my account," she muttered.

He called out. "What?"

"Nothing!" Damn, wolf shifters must have supernatural hearing, too.

He emerged wearing a dark T-shirt that read NEVER ENGAGE IN A BATTLE OF WITS WITH AN UNARMED PERSON. She snorted and he glanced down at it. Then he snickered. "Oh, well. Guess it'll do."

They walked out together, and he kept his pace slower so she could keep up. Her energy wasn't 100 percent, though her pain was pretty much in the past.

"You're doing great without the wheelchair," he observed.

"I just needed that extra bit of time to get back on my feet, but now I'm fine."

"We'll get Melina to x-ray that arm again. She might be able to take the cast off."

She gaped at him. "After a couple of days? Are you nuts?"

"Nope. You'll see."

He didn't offer more, and it frustrated her to no end. She tried to put it out of her mind as they came to the conference room. Inside, the Pack guys were assembled, some sitting around the huge oval table, some standing or leaning against the walls. All of them appeared interested in what Nick, at the head of the table, had to share with them.

"I've had some news from the sheriff," he said by way of calling them to order. When the room stilled, he went on. "This afternoon the body of the second hiker was found about two miles from the woman. They're almost positive it's her husband, from the clothing and some of the belongings that were scattered. Deveraux slipped us a sample of the man's tissue, for comparison against the woman. Of course, our lab is looking for shit the humans would never dream of."

A few grim chuckles followed that statement.

"And have they got anything from the woman?" Micah asked.

"Yeah." Nick rubbed the back of his neck, as though he was searching for the exact right words for what he had to tell them. "There was no wolf DNA present in the saliva on the lady's tissue, either natural wolf or shifter. Even if the white wolf was capable of shifting into half-human form, our lab doesn't feel there's any way she could've done that sort of damage. The teeth marks aren't consistent with the length or curvature of our fangs."

"What are they consistent with?" Aric crossed his arms over his chest.

"This is the fun part. The marks in the tissue and the way the victims' bones were crushed match an animal with the massive skull of say, a tiger, and the teeth of an alligator. The skin was punctured, two jagged rows of long teeth evidenced there, just like a roadmap of the creature's mouth."

"Jesus," Ryon breathed. "What the fuck?"

Grabbing a remote control for the projector, Nick turned on the device to shine an image on the wide screen. "What the fuck? about sums it up. This is a computerized composite image of our mystery creature based on the lab's findings."

"How the hell did they come up with something like that?" Jax blurted. "That thing is impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, as we all know firsthand. The victim's tissue was slathered with the DNA of the attacker, and it turns out that the DNA contained shifter gene strands of a tiger, a bear, a wolf, a huge lizard-and a human." This caused some exclamations of shock. "I created this picture with the lab's help, as a beast that contains similar characteristics of their findings, using the strongest traits of each shifter, and merged with a human. It won't be exact, but we're dealing with something like this guy."