I hit the accelerator, taking the next turn at full speed. The tires squealed and the rancid scent of burnt rubber filled the car. I didn’t care. I had to get to Lin. The truth was, I wasn’t sure why the urgency. Flowers weren’t a reason to worry. But my wolf instincts were telling me something was wrong. The last time I’d chosen to ignore those instincts, I lost the woman I loved. Never again.

The GPS directed me to an apartment building north of downtown. I killed the engine and jumped from the car. I could hear sirens in the distance, which only heightened my urgency to get to Lin.

Skipping the elevator, I sprinted up three flights of stairs in record time. When I reached Lin’s floor, I yanked open the stairwell door and entered chaos.

I pushed through the crowd of residents who’d gathered at the sound of fighting. Ignoring the woman who asked if I were the police, I kicked open Lin’s door, then had to duck when a body flew over my head.

“No means no,” a voice growled from within the apartment as a man hit the wall behind me. He fell to the floor with a thump, leaving a large dent in the sheetrock and the residents gasping in the hall.

I took a moment to look over his features. Even with his eyes closed and his face streaked with blood, I recognized him. My wolf begged to rip this guy’s throat out, but the urge to check on Lin was stronger.

Crouched low, I spun on my heels and didn’t have to search far. She stood in the middle of her living room, her chest heaving with exertion. Covered in sweat, her ripped clothes were stained with blood. Her eyes flashed solid gold when they landed on me and her whole body shook with the obvious need to change.

Making sure my movements were slow and steady, I stood and stepped into the apartment. “Lin, are you okay?”

She opened her mouth to respond, then slammed it shut with a growl. I turned in time to wrap my hands around Dale’s throat before he launched himself at my back. His dark eyes and protruding teeth told me he was as close to shifting as Lin.

“You prick,” he spat.

I lifted him off the floor, my grip tightening around his neck. “I let you get away with touching my mate once. I won’t do it again.”

“Your mate,” he wheezed out. “Since when.”

“Since forever,” I replied.

My grip tightened around his throat, cutting the rest of his air off so I wouldn’t have to hear him speak again. I watched, fascinated as his face turned red, then purple. His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air that wasn’t available.

My wolf was almost in complete control at this point. The boar had tried to hurt my mate. And would have if she hadn’t been such a strong woman. We’d picked an admirable mate, my wolf agreed. And neither of us had any qualms about killing her attacker.

Lin wrapped her arms around my middle, pressing herself against my back. Her body still shook but her warm presence calmed me enough to see reason.

“It’s okay. Let him go now, Brandon,” she whispered.

I did as she asked seconds before the police showed up with their guns drawn. The party was over.

Shutting the door behind the last police officer, I used the chain lock to keep the broken door shut. Unless I could persuade Lin to come home with me, it was the best I could do until maintenance came in the morning.

I turned back to the brave woman waiting for me. She still shook with residual adrenaline. I would have insisted she shift into her wolf, but I had a better way of releasing all that energy.

I needed to feel her warm body next to mine. Hear her heartbeat and know she was alive. That had been the scariest part of it all. Even before tonight. When she’d disappeared all those years ago, I hadn’t known.

“Do you love me?” A soft growl made its way up my throat, and I knew she could hear the desperation in my voice.

Her eyes widened but her chin lifted with a defiance that had my cock twitching. “Yes.”

In a flash, I had her pressed against the nearest wall. I worked my hips between her thighs and thrust my arousal against her core, growling when she gasped.

“Say it,” I demanded.

Her gaze connected with mine and softened. “I love you, Brandon.”

The sound of my name coming from her lips did something to me. I took her mouth in a searing kiss that had us both groaning. She opened for me immediately, and I explored and tasted, and it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

I pressed my hips into her, rubbing her through our clothes, and feeling her get hot and wet underneath me. One of her legs wrapped around my waist as she ground herself against my cock.

“Yes,” I said as her sharp nails dug into my shoulders. “I’ll make it ten times better next time when you’re riding my cock. But I need to hear you come for me, Lin. Right now.”

Her body tensed, then her head fell back against the wall as she shuddered in my arms. I continued thrusting against her, drawing out as much of her pleasure as I could. Her release was beautiful. Magical. Her skin flushed pink, and her parted lips were swollen from my kisses. And when she slowly came down from her high and opened her eyes, they shined with vitality.

I couldn’t help but kiss her again.

“Shower,” she gasped as my mouth left her lips to explore the skin on her neck and shoulders.

At her words, I realized she was busy pulling at my clothes and she was right, we both needed a shower. “A shower sounds good.”

As I carried her down the hallway, Lin tortured me by nipping the sensitive skin behind my neck. My steps quickened and when I finally reached the bathroom, I promised retaliation. If her purr was any indication, she sounded pleased with the idea.

I set her down long enough to get the water started and take off our clothes. She climbed into the shower first and turned to meet my gaze. Water streamed over her shoulders, dripping off the tips of her breasts. I cupped them in my palms, the sight too inviting not to, and her eyes clouded with pleasure.

Arching her back, she reached for my waist and held on tight as she moaned. “Brandon, please.”

“I love you, Lin. When you left, I was so angry.” My voice cleared some of the lust from her gaze.

Releasing her breasts, I wrapped my hands around her back as she pressed her body against mine. My cock, sandwiched between us, throbbed for attention, but the words kept tumbling out.

“I’m sorry,” she said, placing a kiss on my chest.

“You told me your reasons for leaving,” I reminded her. “Let me tell you mine for not coming after you.”

I gave in to my need to touch her. One of my hands found its way back to her breast, while the other rubbed slow circles over her backside.

“Back when mom was sick, you took care of my whole family. You cooked, cleaned, ran errands for us. And you did it with a smile on your face, Lin. And it killed me because it wasn’t real. I could see the pain every time I looked at you. And too lost in my own grief, I did nothing.

“See,” I told her. “I’m at fault as much as you are. I lost you.” My voice cracked with emotion I wasn’t sure how to communicate. “I’m so sorry.”

“You never lost me, Brandon,” she said. “I love you. I always have. It’s why I left in the first place. I’d lost so much. First, my birth parents when they gave me up for adoption, then your mom died, and I feared I’d lose you too. It made no sense,” she said, shaking her head.

“No, I get it. I do,” I told her. “Do you still carry those same doubts about me?”

Lifting her head, she looked at me, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I never doubted you, Brandon. I may worry from time to time, but I’ve come to realize, my need for you is stronger than my fear.”

Backing her up against the shower wall, I pressed my forehead against hers. “I will never leave you.”

“You can’t promise me that,” she began, but I cut her off with a swift kiss. And by the time I finished, she was panting too hard to say another word.

“But I can promise to love you forever. You said I’ll always be your home. Well, my home will always be with you. You’re my mate, Lin. You’re mine,” I growled, feeling breathless myself. “You always have been. You always will be.”

Eyes shining with unshed tears, her smile lit me up from the inside. “Yes,” she whispered against my lips as she pulled me down for another kiss. “Mine.”